It’s the beginning of a new year, and we have much to be thankful in 2023 and much to look forward to. Within the first 8 months of this new year we will pack up our house (putting away all our belongings in containers to keep them safe from rats, water, mold, etc); pack bags for our family; fly to the US; visit with extended family, friends, and many churches; drive through over 15 States, pack up lots of boxes to fly back to Cambodia; and then fly home to Cambodia. It’s overwhelming to think about, and as much as we’ll enjoy seeing people, we’ll both be glad when we’re back home here in August. What other job requires people to uproot their family for 6+ months? This is a sacrifice we make and also a gift we get as we work as international missionaries. People often mention how nice it is for us to get such a long “vacation” and they don’t really understand. It’s not a vacation and it comes with joys and struggles. We are excited and we’re not. But in 8.5 months it will all be over, and we’ll be enjoying all the good memories we’ve made as a family and with others. There’s no place like home...and home for us is Cambodia. So thankful God has planted our hearts here.

This week we’re continuing Christmas celebrations with nightly singing. I guess we’re now celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas! Josh and I are trying to take more pictures of ourselves together. Each morning we get up and drink coffee and pray together. We now have two rocking chairs, received from long-time missionaries in Cambodia who no longer need them – one from the Crowleys, and one from the Carsons. We hope we will be as faithful as those two families have been to serve the Lord in Cambodia.

We had our Christmas celebrations on the 26/27. Christmas Eve we had our traditional taco meal; did some singing, while drinking hot chocolate and eating Christmas cookies; and watched The Muppets Christmas Carol.

Christmas morning we had a breakfast of omelettes and sausage, with mocha. Afterwards we sang a little bit and the kids exchanged Christmas gifts. The Crowleys joined us mid-morning for cinnamon rolls and the kids’ performance of the Christmas story. To begin the performance, Josh recited the genealogy from Matthew. We then had lunch (buffalo roast, potatoes, salad, and rolls), dessert, and an afternoon of singing Christmas carols with the Crowleys.

In the afternoon, the older kids and Josh played Catan – a gift we’d given them for Christmas; and I played games with the little boys. We then had dinner and ended the evening with singing and gift-giving to the kids from us. It was a very Merry Christmas!

We ended up delaying our family Christmas celebrations, since there was a wedding right across the street on Christmas Day. The bride was Davi’s cousin, and we’ve known the family since moving to Oyadao. You really can’t understand what having a wedding nearby is like, unless you live here. Weddings are done outside with a loudspeaker. All the ceremony stuff is blasted toward us, so loud that we can’t listen to Christmas music in our own house. The evening meal is a huge party that goes past midnight, with loud dance music and dancers on stage. This was all right across the street from our house, and it was LOUD!

Clara was asked to be a part of the morning wedding tradition of walking from the groom’s house to the bride’s house. (It’s just acted out, since the groom lived 45 minutes away!) Clara had to be ready before 5am to have her make-up done. (Somehow they roped me into having my make-up down too!) After the “walk” – they serve a breakfast of Khmer rice porridge.

I took the girls to the evening party, and we stayed for a little over an hour, leaving before the guest started dancing. Each table needs to be filled with 10 people before food is serve to the individual table. People are constantly coming in for about 2 hours. Thankfully we were seated away from the speakers and the other guests were older people. The music was so loud you really couldn’t talk with anyone. But it was a fun time to get dressed up! The ladies get really dressed up for these meals.

Our church had their Christmas celebrations Saturday evening, Dec 23 – a meal and service; and then Sunday morning, Dec 24, a service and meal. We helped the kids/youth do a Christmas pageant again this year. Becca was assigned the role of Gabriel. The elementary children sang the 10 Commandments to a tune I wrote and the other kids groups sang different songs we’ve put together using verses from the new Bible translation. In the morning, the adults sang a new Christmas song we wrote and then Jesus Kind and Strong (City Alight), which Josh translated for them a few years ago. Josh preached at the morning service.

Christmas is a really fun time for everyone with lots of extra pictures and singing. All our kids enjoyed both times at church. It’s one of the highlights of our church year.

Maria turned 5 months on the 22nd! She is a darling little girl who loves to laugh and interact with people. She is starting to inch forward a little bit more. We love our little Christmas girl!

One of the things we enjoy during Advent is our nightly singing time. This year the four oldest kids accompanied us on the piano. On a typical night we sing 8 songs, but on one night we have a concert included every song that can be played. When we have doubles, the kids decide who gets to play that song for the evening.

Our Christmas Countdown Calendar started 10 days before Christmas. It included crafts, cookie baking and decorating, reading, and other special activities for the season. One yearly tradition is Josh reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Another is the kids making giant gingerbread cookies! We made our wrapping paper this.year, with painting feet and dancing around on the paper – but I didn’t take any pictures.

We introduced some of our Jarai friends to Christmas cookie making. I made cookies with the two ladies I’ve been working with all year on learning to read their own language. And Becca made cookies with our Jarai friend who comes to teach Becca and me Jarai.

The first two weeks of December we were blessed to have several special visitors who came up for the Tampuan Bible dedication. It was a delight to spend two afternoons with the Carson ladies, who came back from Australia to participate in the dedication. We’ve missed this family over the past year, so it was great to catch up with them.

Other friends included the Lambrechts, Crystal, and Mee-Sun. So good to visit with people who are involved in Bible translations in Cambodia and have a heart for giving people God’s Word.

On December 3rd Clara, along with 11 other Jarai church people, was baptized. Thanks be to God. Clara responded to these questions as part of her baptism.

Do you wish to change your heart, abandon your sin, and believe the Lord Jesus, in order to have salvation?

* Yes, I do.

Do you wish to abandon Satan and all evil spirits, as well as all the things they tell us to do?

* Yes, I do.

Do you wish to abandon the pleasures of this world?

* Yes, I do.

Do you wish to abandon all the covetous desires of your flesh?

* Yes, I do.

Do you believe in God the Father?

* Yes, I believe in God the Father.

Do you believe in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who saves mankind from sin?

* Yes, I believe in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?

* Yes, believe in the Holy Spirit.

December 1st we had our annual family Christmas decorating party and started our nightly advent singing. Everyone had fun putting their individual ornaments on the tree. Our tree is mostly filled with homemade ornaments. It’s a tree full of memories. After we decorated, we started our Advent singing – each night each family member gets to pick a song to sing – that’s often 8 songs (though our younger ones sometimes fall asleep before it’s their turn).

Happy birthday to our Becca Grace! We’ve had a great two weeks celebrating in the midst of Micah’s birthday and Thanksgiving festivities. Becca’s countdown calendar had a Clue Game theme. Each frame that was opened included a treat as well as clues to who did NOT commit the crime. Becca started the game by making her own guesses. Treats included ice cream, going to the salon for nails and hair, movie, sleep-over, gifts, etc.

Becca’s birthday fell on a Sunday, so we celebrated on the Friday before and then had a sleep-over Sunday night. Becca made a brownie cake with peanut-butter icing and decorated it herself. We had lasagna and salad for her birthday meal, played Cadoo, ate cake, gave gifts, and then watched a slideshow of pictures and movies from her 14 years.

Becca is in the 8th grade and is an avid reader. She has read almost all of Dickens’ works (saving a few for our plane ride back to the US next year). Recently she was reading the works of Shakespeare. Becca is a very expressive pianist and works hard each morning to practice. She gets up at 5:30 every morning to start her day and practice the piano; she’s usually the first person up every morning. Becca teaches our younger kids a SS class during our Khmer Bible study. She plans her own lessons and activities, working through the Bible. She also teaches an English class every Sunday afternoon to our neighbor kids. Becca also enjoyed writing. She has several different non-school writing projects in process. She also produces a family newspaper once a month. Becca enjoys art – painting, drawing, and lettering. She also crochets stuffed animals. It’s been fun to watch Becca grow in so many different creative abilities.

Sunday night Josh left for Pastor’s Bible school, so Becca and I had a sleep-over. We ate popcorn and played lots of Dutch Blitz. For Becca’s birthday movie we watched Lamb & Flag Studio’s Corrie Ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. It was an excellent production and well worth the time and money to rent.

We’re delighted with God’s gift of Becca and His protection in her life. Thankful. Happy Birthday Becca!

Today is Micah’s 3rd birthday! This is Micah’s first year to have a birthday countdown calendar, and all he cares about is being able to put it in his shelf once it’s completed. When I told him it was his birthday he said, “Then I can put the calendar in my shelf.” We went swimming for his birthday last Saturday.

We gave Micah his birthday present several weeks ago when his old moto broke. We didn’t want him to go weeks missing out on all the fun riding with Ezra.

Micah is a fun little boy who is full of energy and is almost always ready for a good time. He loves laughing and being a goof. He’s mostly potty-trained and still wears a diaper at night. He still sleeps in his pack-n-play. He eats a lot – but it’s not very evident from how skinny he is – he still wears size 12 month shorts.

He loves playing with Ezra inside and outside. They are double trouble and love laughing together. Micah loves to build with Magnatiles and to play outside with trucks in the dirt. He loves to be read to and enjoys joining in with Ezra’s school, learning his letters. I’m surprised at how much he is able to do with Ezra. Every time I see those boys playing together I’m so thankful God gave them to each other!

Micah wanted a tiger cake for his birthday. He helped bake it the day before and watched me frost it this morning. Tonight we’ll have spaghetti for dinner, eat cake, give gifts, and watch a slideshow of pictures of Micah’s 3 years. Isaiah gave his present (play dough) to Micah this morning to spread out the fun during the day!

In the afternoon, Isaiah made a fort with the boys and they did a craft together. Micah enjoyed his cake and loved the gifts his siblings gave to him: Becca – clothes, Anna – a giant dump truck, Clara – small truck, Ezra – guns.

We’re so thankful for our Micah and look forward to seeing all the ways he’s going to grow this new year!

One of the things I love to do is help people learn/memorize Scripture through music. The Word of our Lord is strong and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. My hope is that people will know God’s Word and that He will bring it to their minds throughout their lives.

Today we celebrated Cambodia Coronation Day by crowning 7 Kings and Queens of Cambodia! The morning included crown-making, face-painting, and the coronation with entertainment included. This evening we will have a piano recital with recitations by each of the newly crowned monarchs.

Last Saturday we had a family carnival for our kids just for fun. It included lunch downstairs and several games, then ended with ice cream and soda.

Our little three month old loves to smile and talk…and maybe sing, since her talking sounds like singing. She’s full of smiles when I interact with her, but they are hard to capture with the camera. Since last month, Maria has become an avid thumb sucker, which is a huge help in her napping and sleeping. She is starting to take naps in her bed in the mornings. I think she was born for sucking her thumb.

Maria continues to sleep great through the night, usually from 9ish to 6amish. Becca finished her gift to Maria and presented her with Elinor, a pink elephant.

Right at the 3 month mark, Maria started rolling from her stomach to her back. This causes a slight problem, since she won’t sleep on her back. But that’s ok.

We’re all loving watching little Maria grow little by little. She still has her crying time while I put the other kids to bed at night, but Anna seems to be her favorite, and Maria quiets down soon after Anna goes out and holds her and sings to her.

One of the blessings of being in PP during Maria’s birth was all the friends, new and old, we were able to interact with. There were several families that stayed at the CMA Family Home while we were there and our kids enjoyed getting to hang out with them.

Our kids especially enjoyed when the Waldocks stayed a fews and overlapped with the Kanes. It was like an MK summer camp – lots of loud, fun group games. Our teammates the Kanes and Farmers were also there for several days. It was nice for the kids to have friends to play with.

We enjoyed many visits with the Nhoemvans. The kids worked on the Mary Poppins rehearsals twice each week and enjoyed those get-togethers. I enjoyed all the extra chats with Ayra and Kim C.

We loved being able to attend CCOP each Sunday. The younger kids loved having a service in English and going to their classes. We enjoyed meals with the Whittakers – who have been our friends since we arrived in PP. A few people from CCOP provided us meals after Maria was born – I was so touched by their kindness. I cannot mention meals without thanking Heather W. for providing us at least 4 freezer meals…and she is a very busy IW.

We thoroughly enjoyed Josh’s participation with the SIL Grammar workshop. Our family got to eat lunch with the participants each day, and the kids loved interacting with the grammarians. It really was a treat for them. The kids also did baking for the grammarians to have snacks. At the end of the workshop the whole group along with other SIL workers went on a dinner river boat cruise. It was a bit stressful with little kids and not exactly safe railings, but the kids loved it! And there was karaoke! I rewrote the words to My Favorite Things and started off the evening singing about Grammar. I think all our girls got up and sang hymns without accompaniment and Josh joined a group of guys to sing a S&G song. Very fun.

I wouldn’t chose or suggest having to travel 9 hours away to have a baby, but if you have to do it, it’s a blessing to be in a place where there are people who love you and your family. We enjoyed getting to know other new people too – who would invite us over or visit with us. So thankful for the IW family in PP and for the kindness of the staff ladies at the Family Home.

We left PP on August 14 and drove to Crowelys’ house and then returned to our home the following day. Everyone did great in the car and a few days later a friend came to welcome us back. So Thankful!

We celebrated International Talk Like a Pirate Day the third week of September. In the evening, the kids did a great production of Jonny Duddles’s book, The Pirate Cruncher. Becca wrote the script. They did a great job.

The younger boys have been keeping busy watching the builders, copying the builders, and just playing and having fun. Ezra is almost done with learning all the lower/uppercase letters. Micah usually participates with us. Micah wakes up at night once in a while and Josh walks him back to sleep.

Till next year…..ARRRRRRR!

Maria turned two months on Sept 22nd. She has a cute smile and loves to talk. She’s happy one minute and crying the next. As far as we can tell, she just likes to cry before she falls asleep…in someone arms and NOT in her bed. Her toughest time of day is around 7pm when I’m putting the kids to bed – she wails! For some reason, she takes no comfort from Josh and often Anna or Clara walk her around until her falls asleep, or I come out again. However – she’s a great sleeper in her bed at night. Maria now consistently sleeps through the night, going down around 9 and sleeping until 6am-ish. It’s a nice gifts from her!

We’re all enjoying our baby girl, and more and more she seems to be enjoying her family. She loves people and hates being alone.

Here’s a few comparison pictures when Anna was the same age.

Maria doesn’t like to sleep in her bed during the day, though she sleeps in bed like a champ at night. So we just go with the flow and try our best to continue the day.

Around 3 in the afternoon, the day Maria was born, Josh brought the kids over to meet her. They had all seen her briefly that morning before we left for the hospital. All the siblings were very anxious to hold their new sister. Micah just kept laughing with excitement while holding his new baby “aria” (he was having trouble remembering the m).

No one seemed bothered that the new baby was a girl, instead of a boy. And our boys kept commenting about how cute Maria was.