Father's Day on Doi Suthep

On Father's Day we went up the mountain, Doi Suthep. We drove up past the Buddhist temple and the king's winter palace, up on to a one lane winding road. Then we drove back down to the Buddhist temple and took pictures and looked out over the city below. 

Way up high above the city, where we were almost in the clouds. It was a beautiful day to drive up the mountain.

Hope made friends with this friendly little dog. 

The steps leading up to Wat Doi Suthep (the Buddhist temple).

Naga, the water serpents.

This monk allowed me to take his picture.

Making merit by ringing the bells. There are many foreigners who come to Thailand because of Buddhism. They have adopted the Buddhist religion and come here to make merit. Not sure if this lady is actually a practicing Buddhist, or if she just thought ringing the bells was interesting. Hope thought it would be fun to ring the bells, but I explained to her why we don't need to ring the bells. Accepting Jesus' sacrifice and lordship is all we need in order to be saved. No merit-making required.

This reminds me of a certain Bible story.

Traditional Thai dance performed by a student.

Another student performing traditional Thai dance.

The golden chedi inside Wat Doi Suthep

Bowing to an emerald Buddha

We made some friends while we were there. This little boy was practicing his English with us.

Another student dancer dressed in hilltribe attire.

The First 6 Months

We flew across the Pacific Ocean from Houston to Bangkok on December 14, 2010. Hope had just turned three four days before our departure. Traveling with two little ones was challenging but that bassinet was a lifesaver!

We spent the first three weeks in Surin, staying in the home of this wonderful Northern Khmer family. I had been a student missionary in Surin several years ago, and had actually taught the two youngest girls English. It was great to get to know the whole family and form a friendship with them.

While we were in Bangkok, we saw several rallies of different political parties. They would parade past the front of the Bangkok Adventist Hospital where our guesthouse was.

Haven developed right lower lobe pneumonia while we were in Bangkok, and thankfully we were staying right at the hospital. It was very convenient for Robbie and Hope to be able to go home when they needed to. Praise the Lord that has been our only hospitalization so far!

Hope made friends with a little girl while Haven was in the hospital.

Robbie took the skytrain to his Berlitz language classes.

We enjoyed traveling around Bangkok in the canal boats. Just had to keep our mouths closed to keep the water from splashing in them.

We took the train several times. We took a trip to Laos to renew our visas, and then took the train up to Chiang Mai when we were looking for a place to rent before we moved to Chiang Mai for language learning.

This is the house that we decided was best for our family. 

This is how we get around.

But since this happened, the girls and I don't go out much.

Our first overnight guest was Elani Richards, a friend from the Ladd Springs Church in Tennessee.

We had our first real get-together at our house when Chris and Shannon Sorensen came up. We invited a couple from church and their son to come to dinner as well. We had a fun time welcoming the Sabbath together.

Sabbath afternoon at BuaTong Waterfall. For more pictures you can visit my other blog.

On Father's Day we went up Doi Suthep. This was up past the Buddhist temple. We were starting to get into the clouds. I'll be posting more pictures of our Father's Day trip.

Language learning: The reason we are in Chiang Mai. Please pray for us, especially Robbie, as we are trying to learn as quickly and efficiently as possible, to gain the greatest fluency that we can for reaching Thai and Northern Khmer people with Christ's love.

Stay tuned! I'll be posting again shortly.