6 years ago we moved to Asia

 6 years ago we moved to Asia. So much has happened since then. Besides the obvious of learning language and getting settled in our lives in Asia, we learned to live at a much slower pace in life in order to survive Thai culture. We had our fair share of miss communications due to culture and language barriers. I learned to drive a motor bike in Thailand, as well as learned to drive on the left side of the road. Our son was born in Thailand a little over 2 years after our arrival. We were 24 and incredibly ambitious. The world was at our fingertips and we were going to grab hold. After years in Thailand we decided to move to Vietnam and have basically started over again. What we thought our lives would be like when we moved to SE Asia in 2005 and what they look like today are very different. Through all the difficult seasons of life I am always and forever grateful that I married the man that I did. I wouldn't want to live this crazy adventure with anyone else. So happy 6 years of living overseas anniversary. Hard to believe we have been married 8 1/2 years and most of that has been in Asia.

What the future holds

We leave Hanoi mid August and head to Chiang Mai for about 3 1/2 months. We will be delivering baby girl mid October and before that Tim has some work to be doing in Chiang Mai and Kunming China. We already have a place to rent in Chiang Mai, but our lease in Hanoi was running out on Aug. 9th so we needed to either put all of our stuff in storage for 3 1/2 months (not ideal in this climate), or find a new place AND subletters at the same time. I have been looking at various apartments for about 2 months now, and NOTHING has really 'fit' our family. For those of you reading this blog that are at all familiar with Hanoi you know that inflation is OUTRAGEOUS and the cost of living very high here so finding something suitable in our budget has been just shy of impossible. When Tim's parents left on July 18th we began searching the internet for apartment options to see if there was more out there than what we had already seen. We asked the Lord to lead us and to give us both peace about the next move. We had only 2 weeks to figure it all out before heading to Chiang Mai. The stress levels began to rise at the start of the week. On Wed. night we visited an apartment and it was not only in our price range, but felt like it could be "home" right when we walked in. A bonus was that we got to stay in the same area we live in now instead of moving 30 minutes away. It was a total answer to prayer. The bad part was a 3 bedroom apartment in our area for the price they were asking was bound to go quickly so we said we would take it right away, but in the next 36 hours to follow the realtor couldn't get a hold of the owner. I tried to calm my nerves and prayed it would all be sorted out. The peak came Thursday when we still hadn't heard from them. My stress was at peak, with a little over 2 weeks to go until we leave and still no answer. Shortly after a good cry and a facebook post I got a call from Tim that we had an appointment to pay the dept. on the apt. the following day and it would be ours. To top it all off we also found a very nice couple to sublet the apartment for the months we are away. So after American Thanksgiving end of November (for you non Americans) we will be heading back to Hanoi with a baby girl and our very own apartment to move into just in time for Christmas holidays. My heart was put to ease and once again am reminded of Gods faithfulness. It has been a long journey over this last 6 plus years living overseas of learning that I am NOT in control HE is.

So we move out of our house on Aug. 1st and spend the first week of August unpacking our stuff and getting settled in our 'new' home before leaving for Chiang Mai.

So as we DIVE head first into this next phase please keep us in your prayers. Pray for Preston to be at peace as we once again find ourselves living in suitcase mode and adding another life to the family.

out in the village

Right before Tim's parents came to visit he was in a village with a couple of people from the UK. They visited places that had never seen foreigners before. They were welcomed with open arms. 

They came and went...

It has been a summer full of visiting teams and family. Tim left for the village on Tuesday the 5th of July and a week later, 1 hour after getting back in town his parents arrived. It has been a fun  filled 10 days. We showed them all the sites and had them taste lots of local food. They brought a TON of baby stuff (thank you to everyone who contributed) Im so excited for October to be here and I know it will come quickly. Below are some of the pics taken while family was here.

Preston is only 3 1/2 and literally has NO fear of water. He is a GREAT swimmer and had lots of fun with Marlee.

At the American/Vietnamese war museum

Marlee read lots of books to Preston. When she left, Preston said, Im going to miss her, she is my best friend.

Sauteed EEL anyone?

Boats through the river and under huge caves.

Nice Helmet Jule now you just need Hello Kitty Stickers to go with it.

lemon muffin recipe

Okay so my In-laws are coming on Saturday and I wanted to make sure there were a few 'comforts from home' around for them to snack on while they are here. I have made peanut butter cookies and choc chip cookie dough and froze them so I can just put a batch in the oven when we want them. You don't want to spend any more time than you have to with your oven on b/c when it is 100+ degrees outside with no air-conditioning that makes the kitchen about 110+ and humidity. Anyway, I also wanted to make a variety of mini muffins for quick on the go breakfast while they are here so we can make sure to get all the sites in and not have a lot of kitchen clean up :)

I made the lemon muffins using little key limes (because they are so cheap here) Lets just say the batch I made to freeze is all gone and I'll have to make another before the In-laws arrive. They are so light and refreshing.

Now if you are like me and don't follow recipes very well I would suggest you not do that for this one. In order for them to be light and fluffy you have to follow exactly. It is well worth it I promise. My only suggestion is to double the recipe. This made 24 mini muffins. Preston gave it 2 thumbs up!

Lemon Tea Mini Muffins
2 eggs, separated
1/2 C butter, softened
1/2 C sugar
1 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 T lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel
Topping:
1 tsp suar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Dash ground nutmeg

In small bowl, beat egg yolks until lemon-colored (apprx 5 min). In large mixing bowl, cream butter and suar until light and fluffy.  Fold in yolks.  Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with lemon juice and peel, stirring just until combined.
In another bowl, with clean beaters, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold into batter.  Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 2/3s full.  Combine the topping ingred.; sprinkle over the batter.  Bake 20-25 min. I baked at 350 Cool for 5min. before removing from pan.

This is what 23 weeks looks like

Definitely packing on the weight quicker than I did with Preston. However, loving that God chose to bless us with baby #2. This pregnancy has been different in EVERY way. For example I can't brush my teeth take a pill or drink water before I eat breakfast or I throw up. This morning I took my prenatal vitamins and then started cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast and had to quickly run to the bathroom because taking the vitamins first made me sick. CRAZY! 

Still looking for girl name suggestions, so if you have any bring on the names. I think we might have narrowed down the middle name to: Grace, Hope, or Marie but drawing blanks for first name.