New Year's in Bangkok

After Christmas we drove down to Bangkok to celebrate the New Year.  It was an eight hour drive from Chiang Mai.  We stayed at one of our company guest houses which was close to all the malls and restaurants.  Since traffic can be horrible in Bangkok, we took the skytrain and public buses.  Isaac loves trains and he rode plenty of them while we were in Bangkok.

Hanging out the window of the Bus to give a traffic report

Our first day in Bangkok we visited the Grand Palace which has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782.

Where is Jake the Pirate?

We spent a lot of our time at the malls in Bangkok.  They are a destination in themselves.  We even went to our first Ikea.

They had our favorite...cake batter with strawberries!
We really need Cold Stone in Chiang Mai!

New Year's eve we went to Hard Rock for dinner and then to Central World Mall for the countdown.  This is compared to Times Square being one of the largest celebrations in Southeast Asia.  There were a few hundred thousand other people at this location for the countdown and fireworks.  Luckily we were within walking distance of the guesthouse or I don't know how we would have made it back.

Chiang Mai Christmas

We prepared ourselves for a difficult Christmas away from home and family.  We had never spent Christmas away from home.  Every year we had the same traditions that we loved doing.  

We thank God that He provided new friends, gifts, delicious food, a home, and family to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

We had never hosted Christmas Eve when we were at home.  This year we had our friends over for dinner and a gift exchange.  During dinner some of our other friends came by caroling as they made their way through the neighborhood.  

Christmas morning included the tradition of opening gifts in our stockings.  

We spent the morning and afternoon at home enjoying food and family.  When we lived in Colorado, Nate's mom had the tradition of making a baby Jesus birthday cake.  We continued that tradition for breakfast.  Steph is an incredible cook but she had never cooked a turkey before.  We splurged and bought the cheapest turkey in Chiang Mai ($40) and Steph cooked it to perfection.  She made a wonderful Christmas dinner!!

Christmas morning is Christmas Eve evening in the states.  Our family had sent us gifts and we had sent them gifts.  Through Skype we were able to watch each other open presents.

Skyping Nate's family

Steph's sister lives in Australia so we were skyping 
from 3 different continents

Christmas evening we went to our neighbors house where many of our friends gathered.  We had a wonderful Christmas, much better than we had expected.  

Christmas at the office

Our office is located on the same property as a tribal children's home.  Children from the hill tribes around Chiang Mai live there away from their families so they can go to school.  Every year our office has a Christmas party for them and gives them gifts.  Isaac loved handing out the gifts and watching the children open them. 

Isaac getting ready to hand out a gift

Handing out a gift

Enjoying all the toys

Isaac's 3rd Birthday

We had so much fun celebrating Isaac's 3rd Birthday in Chiang Mai.  Steph's mom got to be here and celebrate with us!  We were so blessed by all of our friends and family at home who sent fabulous goodies for us and lots of fun birthday presents for Isaac!  We are so grateful and thankful for all of the thoughtfulness that went into gifts for our sweet boy and for us!  and we are SUPER excited to open our Christmas presents too!!  Thank you so much we love you guys!!!!

Thanksgiving in Thailand

 We thought we would share with you all how we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Thailand.  As hard as holidays are not being with your family and friends, we had a great day with new friends and a family we have only begun getting to know.  We are so grateful and thankful for all of the people that we have been getting to know and developing relationship's with.  We are looking forward to sharing many more holidays with them!

Our Thanksgiving started out with Nate playing flag football, only 2 casualties (none of the them Nate!!!).  Nate and another friend organized the game and had a great turn out!  After football we came home and rested (the heat can really get to you here!!), Stephanie finished 2 Apple Pies and about 5lbs of Mashed Potatoes for dinner.  Around 4:00pm we walked down the street to our friends home where our dinner was going to be held.  We had the pleasure of sharing dinner with 50 or so new friends and family members.  Several of these people were Thai and this was their first time to join in on the festivities.  

We really got to enjoy a 4 day weekend due to a team retreat that was held for the team we are a part of.  We had a fabulous weekend, and are looking forward to next weekend when Steph's mom will come to visit!

We started our Thanksgiving off in true American fashion, Nate played some friendly (but of course competitive) flag football!

Isaac wanted to play but is still a bit too little to play with the big boys!

One of the families we work with hosted this fabulous turkey dinner for our office!  They did a wonderful job of making it look like fall, beautiful decorations and we are extremely grateful for all of the effort they put into making Thanksgiving fun for us!

Our Thanksgiving plates!

Isaac and Steph right before the eating began!

Our friend explaining the meaning of Thanksgiving.  We had several Thai friends attend our dinner, many of them are new believers and for all of them it was their first Thanksgiving experience.

Isaac and Daddy being silly after dinner!

How do you celebrate Thanksgiving on the other side of the world you may ask....well, we watched a two year old version of the Macy's parade off of youtube, on the side of the house, because it is just too hot to be inside! 

Recent Pictures

Isaac has a serious love for trains right now!  We took him to the Chiang Mai Train Station so that he could see a real train and play in the Engine.  He LOVED it, now every time we go somewhere he ask's if we are gonna go to the train station.

We took a Saturday trip to the Umbrella Factory.  We had such a blast seeing how they are made.  You can walk around the factory where they whittle the top part, and assemble the body.  They also dye the paper there, as well as hand paint each one.  At the end of the factory is the shop where you can buy your own umbrella!

Isaac has made some new friends.  The top left a new friend and Isaac watching a movie while we watched a Broncos game, Isaac playing golf, Isaac and another new friend on our way to the pool. Bottom left Isaac and Khun Ben, she is the one that keeps Isaac entertained while we study language, Isaac enjoying a
D-Milk (a cookie shake) and watching a movie, Nate and Isaac...Isaac swiped the Ipad...or as he calls it switching sides, Isaac sharing his phone with some friends we met in a restaurant.

Teaching English

I (Nathan) never liked school growing up.  While in elementary school I would sometimes run and hide in a near by field so I did not have to go.  In junior high I was bullied and in high school I would show up, go to class, and then go to work. My grades were average and could have been better if I would have put forth a little more effort.

My feelings about school changed during my junior year of high school when I enrolled at Warren Tech, a vocational school.  I studied travel, tourism, and hospitality.  That year changed my view about school and changed my life.  My teacher, Sharon, invested everything she had into her students and her class.  Without that class and Sharon, I don’t think I would have ever continued on to college.  Without graduating from college my family would not be in Thailand doing what we are doing.

One of the ways I have been serving the Thai community has been through teaching English.  I have had the opportunity to teach hotel staff, vocational students, and vocational teachers from all over Thailand.  While I have enjoyed doing this, I never had a chance to build relationships with the students because I would be with a different group of students each week.

Recently I have been given an opportunity to teach english at a vocational college to travel, tourism, and hospitality students.  This will be with the same students each week starting in October through February.  It is amazing to be able to look back over 15 years and see how God was preparing me for my time in Thailand, even when I was a junior in high school.  I am so excited to build relationships with these students and share my love of travel and my love of God with them.

Please pray that I will be bold in sharing the Gospel and that God will begin to work on the heart of the students.   

Teaching English

Vocational Teachers from all over Thailand