A few days before my parents left Cambodia, we took them to Angkor Wat. (The trip worked out perfectly since my parents flew out of Siem Reap at the end of our visit.) The big events were an elephant ride and exploring the temples. It was really fun watching my mom take in everything. I think she had a blast. My dad was very hesitant about riding an elephant, but once he got on, he had a great time with the kids.

Thankfully, besides a short rain shower, the heavy rains held off until we were finished for the day. We were very thankful for that. Thankful we could share the trip with my parents.

In the middle of June we were delighted to welcome my parents for their first visit to Cambodia. It had been over two years since we’d seen my parents. They went through quite a time to get here, missing their flight from Seoul, Korea and arriving a day late. We really appreciate all the adventures they went through to come all the way to Cambodia to be with us. We appreciate all the time and money they spent to make a trip halfway across the world to see our world.

The kids were really excited to see Grammy and Grampy Grace (as they started calling my dad). We loved hearing them laugh with delight as they played together. Becca learned some new tricks from Grampy Grace and enjoyed hearing stories about Grammy’s first graders. Anna who typically is a bit resistant at first was warm and friendly when they arrived. Isaiah had so many memories of my dad from when he was 1, he was really excited. Clara was her happy self to meet her grandparents for the first time.

The first part of my parents’ time with us was pretty rainy and we spent a lot of time inside. We spent one morning moving a lot of our belongings into storage. We were able to visit the Sleeping Buddha and a waterfall on non-rain days.

Among other local things, my mom enjoyed going to the market and riding the moto and my dad enjoyed eating pork and rice at a local Khmer rice shop we affectionately call The Shack.

It was really great to have my parents here. We’d been looking forward to their visit ever since they mentioned it before we moved to Cambodia. It was nice for us to be able to show them our life…some things just can’t be explained without experiencing them. Between having little kids and the time difference, it’s hard for me to talk on the phone, so it was really nice to be able to talk to my parents in person without having to be on a device.

We really enjoyed my parents’ visit.  I’m very thankful for my parents’ complete support of our being here. They are always so excited for us and grateful we’re here. They encourage the kids in their adventures here. That means a lot. I’m thankful for the way they raised me to go and serve the Lord and the ways they encourage our whole family as we serve the Lord in Cambodia. Thankful that they were able to come and see our lives here. Maybe they’ll come again during our next term….

A big thanks to my mom for all the pictures. I haven’t even seen the pictures she took on her phone yet. Next week I hope to post pictures from our trip to Siem Reap with my parents. Maybe I can get my mom to guest post on her impressions from their visit sometime.

This month (July 13th), Clara celebrated her 4-month birthday. For awhile I’ve been calling her Smiles #2 (since we called Anna Smiles), but I have switched to calling her Giggles. Clara absolutely loves to laugh. Sometimes she just looks up at me smiling with anticipation as she waits for me to make her laugh. She is sunshine during this time of transition.

Clara started rolling from tummy to front in at the end of June. She is now a fast roller and can cover a lot of ground. She’s also working on inching forward. This sweet girl is on the move.

A short update on our family: On July 11th we moved out of the house we’d been watching and went to Phnom Phen for a week. We had a friend coming for a three-day visit and needed to renew our visas and driver’s licences. It was the first time the kids and I had been back since we left last July…don’t miss it at all! The best part was seeing friends and eating at our favorite Khmer restaurant.

This week we moved into temporary housing while we wait for our rental home. We’re in a one bedroom flat…we’re praying they can have our house ready by August 1st. It’s going to seem HUGE after living here.

Tuesday Josh and I celebrated 8 years of marriage. So delighted that God is blessing me with my man. Being in Cambodia has brought us closer together (we’re finding that living overseas can make or break a marriage). If not for my dear man, I’m certain I would have lost it here. So glad to have his faithful friendship and leadership.

Thankful for the four precious children God has blessed us with. So glad I get to be on this parenting journey with Josh.

Our major accomplishments for the year: we’ve moved to Ratanakiri and delivered our 4th child together. Looking forward to our new adventures together in this next year!

For our anniversary Josh and I went to the Ratanak Resort. It was a lovely place to relax and spend extra time with each other.

Monday Clara turned 3-months old. She’s quite the little mover in her pack-n-play: she rolls from tummy to back, moves from one end to the other on her tummy (not sure if this is intentional), often does an 180 degree from the position I left her in.

Clara loves to laugh. She seems to think diaper changing time is really hilarious. The other day Josh had to ask her to stop laughing while listening to Dr. Casillas’ sermon…she was a little too loud.

The dress Clara is wearing was mine. I thought I’d left it in the States and was happy to find it recently when I was going through clothes. So thankful for our sweet smiley Clara Grace.

Isaiah chose to wait to have his birthday cake until Aunt Emily arrived on Saturday. He also wanted Uncle JD and Aunt Kim to come for cake too.

We had pizza for supper and then enjoyed cake and ice cream. For his birthday we gave Isaiah his first real Legos and a car rug (bought at IKEA in Bangkok).

So glad to have this crazy little man in our crazy little family!

Happy 4th birthday to Isaiah! Our little man was extremely excited the night before his birthday. After I put him to bed he came out to tell me the reason he was grumpy was because he was saving all his joy for his birthday. When I told him he didn’t seem grumpy at all, he insisted he was grumpy so he wouldn’t use up his joy for his birthday!

Part of Isaiah’s birthday countdown calendar was a sleepover with Mommy when Daddy had to be away for the night. Isaiah was thrilled to be Daddy for the night. He wanted to use the computer like Daddy.

It’s been fun watching Isaiah be a brother. He loves playing with Becca and Anna. The other day he wanted to hold Clara too. He’s praying for a baby brother and two more baby sisters (so Clara can have baby sister and that baby sister after that can have a baby sister!).

We love all Isaiah’s silliness and hearing him walk around the house singing Bible songs he makes up. Thankful for our little man!

This week is also Clara’s 11 week birthday! She’s now rolling from stomach to back, laughing, and moving all over her bed. She’s a sweetie!

This is Isaiah’s contribution to the blog:

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May 18 Meeting with Village and Sub-District Heads
On May 18 Josh drove out to Saom Kaning village and met with the head of the village, as well as the head of the sub-district. The village head told Josh he has no problem with our family moving to the village, but first there needs to be a village-wide meeting with us present to allow the members of the village to vote.

The sub-district head said he would approve us only if the district authorities (in particular, the district police) say yes. We’re waiting for him to meet with the district police before we plan a meeting with them.

We thank the Lord that no one has said no yet. Please pray with us as we begin making contact with higher officials to seek their permission: first at the district level, then at the province level. It’s possible that higher officials will say we need official approval from further down first.

In the meantime, we will begin looking for a house to rent in one of the two towns closest to Saom Kaning Village. We will need permission to live in a nearby town, as well, but we expect it will be easier to get permission, because we would be living among Khmer rather than a minority group. Please pray that we can find a home and get permission to move in before the beginning of July, when we vacate our present house.

May 20 Meeting with Jarai Church Leaders
This meeting included about 18 Jarai church leaders, two partners from another mission organization, my team leader, and Josh. Our team leader, JD, facilitated the meeting. The meeting focused on what the churches can do to promote better understanding of the Bible in their churches. The focus then narrowed to the possibility of a Bible translation that reflects the way Jarai in Cambodia speak, and we were encouraged that there was general agreement that the existing translations are hard to understand and that unbelievers in particular don’t understand them. (The existing Jarai Bibles — a New Testament and a complete Bible — are good translations, but they were translated into the variety of Jarai spoken in Vietnam, which is hard for Jarai here to understand.)

Although some concerns were raised about undertaking a new project, we believe that these are issues that can be worked through. We plan to have another meeting in June or July to allow the Jarai make a decision about whether or not to begin a translation project. Please pray that they will have wisdom as they think about and discuss the issue over the next month or two. And please pray that we can find ways to overcome the potential obstacles, as well.

Thank you so much for your prayers. It is very much by your prayers that we are sustained and guided in the work God has called us to.

May 13th Clara celebrated two months. Can’t you tell she’s thrilled! Clara enjoys interacting with us – she is full of smiles and coos. Love this little girl!

Everybody has different opinions on who Clara looks like. There are moments Clara has the looks of the other kids, but she really has her own individual look (see collage on the left).

Life is pretty full around here. Not many dull moments. The other day when our kids were wrestling, I overhead one say: You’re not supposed to be screaming. Dead people can’t scream. We all laughed!

Taking pictures of all the kids is becoming more difficult, but I managed one.

Here’s something to show how dusty/dirty everything gets in our home: I’m constantly cleaning dirt from under Clara’s fingernails. How can an infant have dirt under her fingernails?

Becca lost another tooth two weeks ago.

This past Sunday Clara celebrated 5 weeks. We’re enjoying her smiles. She started smiling several weeks ago…it almost felt like the week she was born. Guess she was amused with her exciting birth.

Of our three older children, Anna is the most attentive to Clara. She’s always asking, “Clara hold me,” and wanting to talk with her. Lord willing they will be great friends.

One week after Clara was born our home owner’s dog had another litter of puppies. The kids have enjoyed playing all 7 of them.

Happy 2nd birthday to Anna Grace! We love our sweet little bundle of mischief. Anna loves to play and laugh and she has quite a sense of humor. She loves growling at people and attacking Isaiah. She’s quite the talker and her vocabulary is growing.

For several days before her birthday Anna denied it was going to be her birthday. Said she didn’t want a party, or cake, or presents. She didn’t even like people singing happy birthday to her. After I got her presents out, she decided she wanted presents and she was pretty pleased with the cake, once it was in front of her.

We did a double birthday party for Anna and Josh (since on Josh’s birthday we were driving all day), but it ended up being more focused on Anna, so we had another party the next night for Josh. Our meal was a buffalo roast, and our team leaders’ family joined us for dinner. (It is a very busy week for us, since our helper is gone for Khmer New Year’s.)

A very happy 35th birthday to Josh! Delighted that he chose me to be his wife and accompany him on this adventure. He’s a wonderful husband and daddy and we’re blessed to have him!

One month has flown by with being in Bangkok and coming back to Cambodia. Clara has adjusted well to Ban Lung and is keeping a good schedule. She’s a pretty happy girl and smiles and is starting to coo.

Three Weeks: Anna spent her 3-week birthday riding in a car-seat for two days. She did great!

Four Weeks:

Last Saturday we started our two-day trip home from Bangkok. We are really thankful for the place God provided us to stay in Bangkok during Clara’s birth (The Alliance Guest Home). Our kids loved the freedom of being able to run around the small campus and make friends with the staff there. The maintenance man was a special friend: Uncle David brought them candy and treats almost every day. The Guest Home was a great fit for our family. (Pictures below are from the playground at the Children’s Museum, which wasn’t too far from the guesthouse.)

One thing we won’t miss is riding taxis everywhere. (We kept track of the many different colored taxis we saw: yellow/green, yellow, green, red, pink, purple, white, blue, and orange.) We had some interesting adventures: the taxi that experienced radiator failure and dropped us off on the side of the road, the taxi driver that took us in the opposite direction from home for a while and then dropped us off and said he had to go home and didn’t have time to take us that far, the few that had no idea where they were going, and the many, many times taxis didn’t want our business since our home was too far away.

While in Bangkok, we took a trip to the zoo. We enjoyed seeing the animals – the zebra and monkeys were a favorite. For some reason the WWII bomb shelter there was also a big highlight for the kids…at least that’s what they told us afterwards. We were able to see a seal show and a Kenyan acrobatics show.

A week before Clara was born, Josh and I went out on a date to a nice restaurant that was walking distance from our apartment. The food was delicious, especially to a pregnant mama (yes – I ate the whole steak!). Afterwards we went to a coffee shop for dessert and took some fun pictures.

The Tuesday and Wednesday before we left, we got together with two of Josh’s former Thai students from University of Texas in Arlington. It was fun to be able to visit with them in their own country. The last time we saw them was in 2012.

There’s a lot I won’t miss about Bangkok: the traffic, the taxis, not being able to speak the language. There’s a lot that was nice: rarely saw any ants, no red dust (I was so clean!), not needing a helper. But I think the one thing we enjoyed the most was all the extra time we got with Josh. It was really special to have him around so much and to have lots of evenings without commitments or loads of work to be accomplished.