Christmas '08

Christmas started out with a bang... on the bedroom door... AT 7AM!  We held off putting most of the presents under the tree until early Christmas morning and it was just KILLING Micah to not be able to see his presents :-) 

Micah was begging us to buy him a Play station 2 so that he could play ONE game, The Warriors.  It's based on a movie by the same name from the 70's about a gang trying to make it from one side of NY to the other before all the other gangs beat them up... NOT a game that is on my approval list (a game about killing zombies... yes, but not a game about NY gangs) Anyway, we told Micah that he was going to pee his pants when he opened his presents on Christmas morning. 

Both kids were elated to open a WII on Christmas morning.  They're hard to come by in the States but all over the place here in Thailand (that's probably why we can't get them in the States) they also got a set of attachments, mostly for the sports games and about ten WII games.  That thing is so much fun that Mike and I have played too.  The WII keeps track of everything that is played AND how long it’s been played.  As usual, we have video clips and pictures below. 

I looked all over the place for some board games so that we could have kind of a family game night but couldn't find them anywhere.  However, one of the WII games set that I bought was called Family Game Night!  There's Battleship, Connect 4, Scrabble, Trivia Pursuit and a bunch of other board games that we can play together. 

We've been using Gmail Video Chat a lot lately because it works so well, even with the poor bandwidth... and it's free!  So we got to see Mom, Dad, Tom, Lisa and the girls open some presents on Christmas morning.  Mike did the same with Kalia and Lukie who were celebrating Christmas with their Aunt in Utah this year.  

Adam is getting ready to take is holiday leave from Afghanistan.  We are praying and crossing our fingers that they will allow him to fly to Bangkok.  It’s been over a year since we’ve seen him!  

Men in the Kitchen

Whoa... stand back everyone, there are men in my kitchen!  I just had to get a video of this precious moment.  Mike and the boys are making pierogies, a traditional polish food, for dinner and *boy* were they GOOD!

Ban Kruit

Mike and I had an abbreviated honeymoon in Ban Kruit this past weekend. We took a 5-hour train ride south and we were very surprised by what we found.

There is a small, private resort attached to a youth hostel. When I was first presented with this option, I told the travel agent that we simply could not honeymoon at a youth hostel. However, I reconsidered when the airports closed down for almost two weeks.

We purchased a package deal that included a bungalow on the beach, transportation, meals, a massage and some sightseeing. This trip cost a fraction of what we would have paid to go to Koh Samui and I am sure we would not have been as pleased! I think this place is the best-kept secret in Thailand. Actually, because it is on the hostel circuit, they see some big groups at times.

We spent a lot of time cruising the beach for shells. The water was nice… no jellyfish! In addition, for the sightseeing, we saw a coconut “farm” and the most beautiful temple I have seen so far in Thailand… The Thang Sai Wat. The King’s birthday was on the first day that we arrived and that night they had the Temple lit up like a Christmas tree! It was, by FAR, the most stunning thing I have seen in Thailand! We visited it the next day and took many pictures… see the slideshow to the left. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera were dead and I did not get any pictures of it at night. Oh well, we’ll just have to make the trip next year :-)

Angel Resume

I do not know how or when we got started on the subject of the Afterlife but Mary has talked about nothing else since.  She has made it very clear that she does not what to be re-incarnated UNLESS she can come back as my daughter again.  So, she is determined to just stay in heaven with God and perhaps hire on as one of his angels.  She has asked that I talk to God about this but I told her that is really her responsibility.  Finally, she put together something resembling a resume for the position of Angel.  It is made out to God and Jesus and she would like me to attach some balloons to it so that it can float up to heaven for their consideration.  

Click on the image above to see it in full screen.

Political Strife in Thailand

There is a growing band of discontents here in Thailand know as PAD (Peoples Alliance for Democracy) they are not too happy with the Thai Parliament because of their ties with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (pictured above).   

Thaksin is one of the wealthiest men in Thailand and it's clear that he used his money to get into politics and in turn used his position to acquire more money.  Currently, he is in exile, living in Dubai.  He was convicted of corruption in some big land deal and his wife was convicted of tax evasion.  He is facing a two-year prison term should he return to Thailand. 

Even though he and his political party are banned from politics, his allies remain in power today under a new party name, the People Power Party (PPP).  That is why the PAD is so furious.  The PAD took over the Government House about 3 months ago with demands of dissolving the current administration.  The current Prime Minister is exiled in, and trying to run the Government from, Chang Mai. 

Last week the PAD took over both of Bangkok’s airports and they have stranded about 100,000 visitors.  This is really starting to take a toll on the local economy.  Mike and I will not make that trip to Koh Samui this weekend and Micah’s trip to Chang Dao is cancelled.  In addition, the mail is not moving, which may affect the timing of any Christmas presents sent through the mail.  

This group of protestors is relatively small.  The Embassy keeps tabs on their whereabouts at all times and sends out SMS messages notifying us of the areas to avoid.  We are never in harms way and our lives remain mostly unaffected by these demonstrations.  

Later on that day...

The PM stepped down and the airports will open in the morning :-)