We started Advent this year with our nightly candle lighting and singing – eight songs each night. We’re reading Jotham’s Journey (a gift from friends), and we’re really enjoying the nightly readings. We’re trying out something different this year. Instead of doing all our Christmas activities leading up to Christmas, we’re focusing more on Advent before Christmas, and then we’re going to have the 12 Days of Christmas once Christmas Day hits. Christmas will be the start of all our fun instead of the end of all our fun. I’ve been thinking about this for a few years, and so far it’s going well.

Even though we’re not “starting” Christmas yet, we did put up our tree. We had our decorating party last Sunday evening. Originally we were planning it for Friday evening, but the power was out for 12 hours and didn’t go back on until the kids were all in bed. We had a fun time Sunday evening combining Advent with tree decorating.

This past Sunday evening our church hosted a youth Christmas gathering for all the churches in our province. There were about 20 different villages represented from the Jarai, Tampuan, Khmer, Krung, and Kachok people groups. The evening started with a meal, after which there was a service. During the service, each church group got up and performed a special number for Christmas. Besides this there was general singing, a Christmas pageant, and a sermon (Josh was asked to preach this year). The program continued past 11PM. Our family only survived until a little after 10, when the announcer said the program was scheduled to stop but that the head of the committee requested that they go on another hour with singing.

Our youth wanted to perform the Christmas pageant we normally do at our church Christmas. We’ve been rehearsing with them since November 17th. The kids really had fun during our dress rehearsal with all the costumes. This year Becca was a magi and Isaiah was a sheep. Everyone did a great job this year. We plan to do the same play with the same cast for our church Christmas at the end of the month.

For 10 days in November our kids were all on even years (or months – Maria)! We’re thankful for the children God has given our family.

Thanksgiving Day we had an evening celebration. It took a while to cook everything in the oven, since I could only cook one item at a time, so we didn’t eat until close to 7. After our meal we had a time of singing, Scripture reading, and thanksgiving. Clara made an apple pie for dessert.

This past weekend, Micah worked on one of his birthday presents. He did a great job painting and is a great dinosaur!

This week we celebrated Becca’s 15th birthday. We started the celebrating about two weeks ago with Becca’s birthday countdown calendar. This year’s calendar had a Dickens theme. Each day had questions about Dickens with the answers and surprises inside the doors. Becca’s birthday movie was The Sound of Music, the first time for our family to watch it together. Other treats included gifts, fresh squeezed orange juice, and snacks.

On Becca’s birthday Isaiah shaped her eggs in a special way. In the morning we took pictures, and Becca decorated her cake – with peanut butter frosting. In the afternoon I did a birthday salon for Becca on the back porch. In the evening, we all dressed up for Becca’s birthday dinner of tacos and chips (I made chips from corn tortillas). After dinner we headed downstairs to do a Jane Austen era dance. Everyone enjoyed it, minus two of our boys. After the dancing we returned upstairs for cake, gifts, and a slideshow of Becca’s past 15 years.

Gift-giving is always fun. Becca’s siblings were quite excited about giving their gifts to her. It’s so fun to watch their joy in giving. Becca’s special gift this year was receiving her great great grandma Hanyen’s high school ring. My great grandma gave it to me when I was a young teenage. Two other gifts were Jane Austen books that I received 24 years ago from my grandparents.

It’s a delight to watch Becca grow as a young lady. This year she is in high school and is doing well with the academic challenges it is presenting. She loves her family and Cambodia and others. She’s grown in her desires to be a help and in finding creative ways to help her siblings. Recently she’s started a Young Ladies Society with her sisters. Becca loves to read and write. Some of her favorite authors are Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. We very thankful for our dear daughter and can’t imagine life without her. We love you Becca!

Last week we celebrated Micah’s 4th birthday. He had a fun time with his birthday countdown calendar geting little gifts, making his cake, watching Toby Tyler, and eating special snacks. The night before Micah’s birthday, Isaiah helped me decorate his door (Josh was away at Pastors Bible School).

Micah had a fun day celebrating his birthday. It started with seeing his door and phone calls. After breakfast he was read books, and then Isaiah gave him one of his gifts to play with. During this time I was working on frosting his monkey cake. Most of the day different siblings played with Micah. Ezra gave Micah his gift after lunch, and then the boys went outside to play in the dirt. Micah requested a spaghetti dinner for supper, with salad and garlic bread. Then we had cake, did gifts, and ended with a slideshow of pictures from Micah’s 4 years.

Micah is a very fun little boy with loads of energy. He loves playing with his brother, Ezra. Every morning they wake up and are busy building things. He like doing school and loves reading books and being read to. He loves playing outside. We love our Micah and are so thankful for him!

Last Friday we gathered to celebrate 30 years of Crowleys in Cambodia. Our EMU team is so thankful to God for bringing the Crowleys here 30 years ago and through them, bringing each of our families to serve here as well. We love the Crowleys our EMU Cambodian Family. We are blessed.

Our time together included lunch; a time of thanksgiving, prayer, and singing; and dessert. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the faithfulness of JD & Kim as they continue to serve God.

November and December are big celebration months for us with two birthdays in November, Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, and all the extra celebrations with friends and church that go with that. This week we started Micah’s birthday countdown calendar. Let the fun begin!

Today we had our 10th annual Cambodia Coronation Day celebration. One of our kids asked if anyone else in the world celebrates this holiday…ummm, maybe the king in Phnom Penh. We had a good morning or finishing our crowns, play practice, cookie baking, face painting, and the coronation ceremony and party. Tonight we’ll have an after dinner show, including a play and presentations.

This week Maria turned 15 months. One thing she loves to do is copy her siblings. Recently she’s been reading books, repeating the same syllable sounds as she reads. It’s so cute.

The girls have started a ladies’ literary society. They are reading a novel together 1-2 nights a week, while I put the boys to bed. Saturday they had a tea party.

Our boys love to play and are wonderful playmates for each other. They love their downstairs space and build wonderful cities with blocks, MagnaTiles, and a train set. They’ve currently set up a popcorn factory (they make popcorn out of paper) that drops the popcorn into a train, which then transports the popcorn to other parts of the track. I wish I had a picture.

A few weeks ago Ezra asked Josh to put up a seat in the tree for them to sit in. The other day when I was meeting with a friend, I looked out and saw both boys sitting in their seats eating ice pops. It’s so much fun being little boys.

Maria decided this week that she doesn’t like to nap. Quite a change from last week. I think it’s the fact that her two top front teeth are starting to make their presence known. So who knows what next week will hold.

Due to Titus’ death and sickness, we postponed celebrating International Talk Like a Pirate Day until last Thursday, when everyone was feeling well enough to participate. We started the day with patch-making. It’s great to have older kids who can help the younger kids, so I don’t have to help everyone. After that we read some books, and then Becca and Isaiah hid “gold coins” for the other kids to find. Isaiah made a map of our upstairs, and each kid had their own color of coins to find – each place marked on the map. All the kids had fun with their activities. We had a snack as a reward for the treasure hunt. Then Becca made M&M cookies with the boys, while the three middle kids did an art project. (I worked on meal prep stuff.) After lunch we had a normal afternoon. For the evening we had a spaghetti supper and the M&M cookies for dessert. Then the kids did dramatic readings of different picture books. Josh, Ezra, Micah, and I did a performance of Caps for Sale. The boys loved being the monkeys. Once the performances were over, we did our pirate dancing and watched a few informational videos about pirates.

In comparison to last year, this was a much better Pirate Day for me. Last year I rather resented all the work it was, especially when there was a lot of complaining and other issues to resolve. This year there was a lot more helping and everyone enjoyed their roles/responsibilities. It was a good day! Arrrrrr!

Every morning at breakfast we read through one chapter of the Bible. We’re on our second time through. This time we’re reading the Bible chronologically. We started around June 6th, 2021. On September 28th we finished reading through the OT. The last time we finished the OT was May 28, 2020. (We always get slowed down when we have our 6 months in the States, since family routine flies out the window when we’re staying in the homes of others.) Now…on to the NT, reading through chronologically!

After over a week and a half of sickness, we’re finally coming up on the other side, though still hanging on to coughs and congestion. The only ones to remain healthy are Josh and Maria. We had to postpone Pirate Day. It’s been a blur. Yesterday was our first sunny day in over a week. So nice to see the sun! Ready for September to be over and looking forward to starting October fresh and healthy!

Last Friday my best Jarai friend’s son drowned. The wake lasted four nights, and the funeral and burial were Tuesday. Josh was at the wake every evening and spent the night sleeping under the house with the family and church people (Friday, Sunday, and Monday nights). I was there every day with Biah next to the body and then casket (they didn’t get him into the casket until Sunday afternoon). Before we left for America Biah told me I was like her “friend, sister, mother, and husband.” This gave me the confidence to be present and to hold her when she wept. I have experienced much this past week (never before have I held the stiffen hand of a dead child, or smelled a body decomposing). Never before have I seen such expressions of grief. Someday I shall record it in more detail. In the end – after they had finished tiling the grave shut ad put the roof on, Biah said “It’s ok. God does what he does.” Thanks be to God for His grace in the life of this grieving mother. Thanks be to God.

Last month Maria hit 13 months, and she really thinks she’s as old as all her other siblings! She says a few words: yes, baby, mommy, and daddy. She loves looking at books. She examines the pictures as thought she’s actually reading the book. I’m not sure we’ve ever had a child who pays such attention to details in books at her age. One other thing she loves to do is “write.” We were quite surprised when she picked up a pencil the other day and held correctly at the tip and started to “write” on a paper. It looked better than my pencil hold! The next day when I tried to get a picture, her hold was similar but not as good. So fun to watch!

A few days before Maria turned 13 months, I put her in two of my baby dresses and took some pictures. Maria is not one to pose for pictures; she’s too busy and too interested in seeing her picture on the camera to stay still.

Our time in the States was hard on Maria. She was a very happy baby when with us, but she wouldn’t nap in her pack-n-play or go to nursery. The days she was held by other people were often her worst nights – it’s as though she was anxious, often waking up 4+ times per night. I wasn’t sure what to expect on our return to Cambodia and was wondering how in the world I was going to teach school and read the Bible with ladies in the afternoon, if Maria wouldn’t nap unless being held in silence. Thankfully, after about a week in our home, I tried putting Maria down to nap listening to music (Who Made You). The first time I let her cry for 20 minutes and then she slept for 20 minutes. Two days later she went down with only a little crying. Now she’s napping twice a day and as long as the music is playing, she’s been doing fine. I’m so thankful. It’s made a big difference to my day. Maria is a sweet little girl who loves her siblings. She loves playing chase.

Yesterday we started our 2024-2025 school year! Looking forward to 9th, 7th, 5th, 3rd, kindergarten, and fun grade! Every year before the start of the school year I get overwhelmed with the thought, “How am I going to be able to teach all these grades and care for the little children?” It’s a huge job. God gives grace, and I find myself praying through a lot of my day. Thankful for these precious years with our kids.

Friday night we arrived in Phnom Penh with all 17 pieces of checked luggage. We had smooth flights. On our 15-hour flight they put us next to two empty seats. When we arrived in Korea, we rushed to our connecting flight and made it just as they were boarding. So thankful we made our flight! As we started to board one child said, “We just got off a plane.” Our 5-hour flight to Korea was mostly one of sleep for everyone except me. When we got out of the airport in Cambodia, we were happy to see our friends the N’s and K’s waiting for us. So happy to be back in Cambodia!

This week we celebrated Ezra’s 6th birthday! He’s been requesting a giant “E” cake, which was nice and easy to do. A few weeks ago my parents gave Ezra a bike – early since we’re going back to Cambodia this week. He’s loved riding up and down the sidewalk and at a park. Ezra wanted spaghetti for his birthday. After dinner we watched a birthday slideshow, gave gifts, and ended with cake!

We’ve been in PA for the past week and much of our time has been packing our luggage, which takes a very long time. The kids have been doing projects – one day the older four went to my mom’s school to help her get ready for the new school year. Another day there was a birthday party for Maria and me.

Monday we were able to visit with the Jensens (not related) and enjoyed fellowshipping with them. Tuesday we went to Lake Tobias and enjoyed the animal safari and zoo. To end the day we went to Dover’s National Night Out. Unfortunately after we finished eating a rain storm came and we had to seek shelter, thinking we could wait it out. That was not the case. My dad got separate from the group, and Josh got soaked searching for him and getting our van. An exciting adventure. We went from sweating to shivering in one day.