Wishing you a...

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas

and God's richest blessings for the coming year!

With love from,

The Esaus

The first of many firsts...

When you're new to a country, pretty much everything can be classified as a "first."  We've already had a lot of "firsts" in the mere 2+ months we've been here.... some better than others :)
So, here's a quick snapshot of some of our Thailand "firsts"...

The first place we stayed when we arrived in Thailand...

"The Bai Bua Resort" in Ang Sila.

First major ice-cream face...

(there have been many, many more since this was taken!)

First batch of cookies baked in my very first Thai oven...

... I used THIS recipe and they turned out great!

Opening our very first parcel... from Nammy & Dampa Glen :)

Celebrating our first American Thanksgiving with the Owen family...

Opening our first parcel from Gramma & Grampa Esau...

Experiencing my first BRUTAL mosquito bites in Thailand...

First batch of beautiful Thai flowers... birds of paradise.

And we'll be experiencing another "first" today!!  Jon just went to pick up our very first Thai car!  Up until this point, we've only had bicycles to get around on so we're VERY excited about this new found freedom.  Its amazing how much you take transportation for granted until you don't have it anymore :)  I'll post pictures of our 'new-to-us' car once its home safe and sound.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Our Christmas decorating had to come in stages this year.  When we packed our bags to come to Thailand, I had hoped to be able to bring some of our Christmas decorations because I wasn't sure what we'd be able to buy here, in the way of Christmas decor.  But, if you remember from this picture, we were already maxed out on luggage and weight so the Christmas decorations didn't make it in.  

But, we had some very sweet family members give us some $$ before we left and they told us that it was specifically to buy ourselves new Christmas decorations once we arrived in Thailand.  Thanks again family-- you know who you are! :)

We managed to find a tree and most of our decorations at Makro (the Thai version of Costco) so we started with that.

Then, after some more searching through the Chiang Mai markets with Carmen, I managed to find a star for the top of the tree, some fabric to make a tree skirt (that only cost me $1.50!!) and even some snowflake ornaments to add to the branches.

I'll definitely want to add to our decoration collection in the years to come (the tree is a little more 'sparse' than I would like it to be) but overall, I was fairly happy with what we were able to find.  And for great prices too!

We knew we also wanted to find some traditional Thai decorations and were delighted when we found these woven lights at the walking street market.  They were perfect for our bannister...

They took a while to put together because the balls were flat when we bought them.  We had to carefully open each yarn ball, round them out and then snip holes big enough to fit the white lights through.  But even though they were a lot of work, we love the addition they bring to our staircase :)

We got all of our family Christmas shopping done at the Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Market and were happy to be able to send home authentic Thai gifts for everyone.  We hope you like them family! :)

Last night we attended the Christmas outreach at our housekeeper/nanny's church.  I'll post some pictures soon!  It was an awesome evening of great food, lots of laughter and good fellowship.

So, despite the warm temperatures and tropical climate, we're SLOWLY feeling like Christmas really WILL come this year :)

Asleep on the spot...

As some of you may have read on my Facebook status today, Callie hijacked my iced latte and proceeded to finish it off. I was a bit worried that nap time may be brushed off due to the caffeine. But here's what I found when I went to check on her this afternoon...

Guess the latte must have been a decaf?? :)

The latest Thai saying...

We learned a new phrase in language class yesterday and thought it was very fitting for something we've been wanting to share with you.

Here's the question:
"Khrawpkhrua khun mii kii khon kha?"  (How many people are in your family?)

And my answer would be:
"Khrawpkhrua dichan mii sii khon kha."  (I have 4 people in my family.)

Do you get it??  If not, I'll spell it out for you.

Our family currently has 3 members... Jon, Callie and myself.  But, as of late May 2012, we will have 4 members.  Yes, that's right.  We are expecting our 2nd child!  Certainly not what we were expecting for our 1st year in Thailand, but we're excited and thankful that the Lord's timing is always right.
I'll be very honest... it has made for an extra tough transition with exceptional exhaustion and morning sickness amidst moving to a new country and culture and starting full-time language training, but I'm finally feeling quite good these days and we're getting more and more excited to meet this little one.

So... were you as surprised as we were?? ;)