FuN, fUn, FUN

Tomorrow is Family Fun Day at Grace. The kids are REQUIRED to attend, or they will be marked absent. Parents are expected to attend, voluntarily, but if we don't then we are shamed for the next month or so.

Nothing like being made to have fun! Fun fun fun. Yee-ha. Whoop-ti-do.

Chiang Mai on Flood Alert

Bangkok Post Breaking News

Cyclone hits Burma, heavy rain in Thailand

Thailand's Meteorological Department warned local residents in eight northern and western provinces to brace for heavy downpours and possible flash floods due to tropical cyclone Mala, as it moves into Thailand from Burma.The storm made landfall in Burma, then quickly lost intensity, the Burmese meteoroligical department said. There was heavy rain today in Rangoon, where clogged drains failed to cope with the downpour, causing 30cm floods on some downtown streets, residents told Reuters.Mala's power abated as it crossed the coast of southern Rakhine state near Gwa township, Meteorology and Hydrology Department Director-General Tun Lwin told Reuters.The Meteorology Department of Thailand said flash floods are forecast in Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai, Tak, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Udon Thani, Kanchanaburi, and Ratchaburi.Two to three-metre high waves are expected in the Andaman sea and the Gulf of Thailand.Meteorological Department director general Suparerk Tansriratanawong warned that some districts in Chiang Mai will be hardest hit with heavy rainfall.However, residents in mountainous areas should be alert to heavy rain and the possibility of flash floods. - (Bangkokpost.com, TNA)

Getting an early start

Hey, it isn't even rainy season yet! What's up with Typhoon Mala? All I know is that it better stay to the north!

Texa-Thai

I guess this guy thinks he's from Texas! That thar's a genuine water buffalo skull. I found this parked outside the Sheraton Hotel the other day.

Happy Friday!

Well, it made my Friday happy, anyway!

Storm Mountain

Here is a picture of the storm that I blogged about below. Click the picture for a larger view.

Aye Caramba!

I just got back from eating lunch at Miguel's Fresh-Mex Restaurant. It was muy delissioso! I had a nice bean and cheese burrito with a small enchilada ranchero and it was excelente! I was muy impressiado! I wil certainly be back there.

It earns 4 out of 5 french fries!

45 days or so

Yes, it is going to happen again. Packing up and moving, that is. The process has begun. My wife says that it seems that all she does is either pack or un-pack. Anyway, on June 12, we will board the plane to Hong Kong. We have a lot to do between now and then, including my being gone on a two week trip.

Is this really necessary?

We found this for sale in the mall. My question is: Do we really need to be encouraging young girls to "develop manipulative skills"? Egads!

Stormy night

Last night, a pre-rainy season storm came to Chiang Mai. It was really wonderful! There were big black clouds that were reminiscent of an Oklahoma wall cloud. It brought thunder and lightning, strong winds, and wonderfully lower temperatures. When the storm started, the temperature was around 99 degrees, within 2 hours, the temp was 73 degrees. Now that is good stuff!

Tent social

We rented a big tent for a spring social at our house this weekend. Four men came to set it up.


First, they set the poles.

Then, they stretched out the tarp and put in the legs

Then, this guy shimmied up the pole to fasten the tarp to the structure.

All this for $15! Wow!!!

Ginny comes to visit

We had a nice visit from Ginny (who actually came to CM for other reasons). She is a delightful young woman. I am glad to finally meet her. I have been following her blog for some time now. She is a firecracker! She brought me the coolest things from where she lives; an old currency note with the former dictator's picture, two currrent notes, two post cards and a really cool coalition pouch. What a great gal!

TGIF

Well, it is Friday and I realized that I haven't blogged much this week, so here is the "catch up" posting. I found some fun pictures that I have taken here in Chiang Mai but haven't posted yet. This is just a nice glimpse into paradise. Enjoy!

Excuse me?

I took this at Tesco-Lotus in the drinks department. Why even bother? Yuck!

R rated Barbies

I took this picutre with a the local Tesco-Lotus store (like Wal-Mart) in the toy department. Just exactly what are they selling here? Egads!

No Photo Allowed

I think the reason they don't want you to take photos is that they don't want anyone to really know that they serve "green tea iced donuts". Yuck!

Sample Menu

This is a shot of part of the menu from the China Palace Restaurant at the Sheraton Hotel, here in Chiang Mai. We normally don't order anything from this particular page. It is, however, our favorite restaurant.

Note from Emily

A few days ago, Emily wrote this note on the white board on her bedroom door. I thought it was pretty good for a first grader!

Resurrection Sunday

If Christ did not rise from the dead, then there is no hope of eternal life. Praise be to God that Jesus Christ is no longer dead and we have eternal life if we believe in Him. Why not make today the day that you believe? Do not wait! You do not know how long you may have on this earth. If you were to die tonight and stand before the judgement of God and He asked you, "Why should you enter My kingdom?", what would you have to say? That you have been good? ...that you never killed anyone? ...that you did your best to be kind to others? What makes you think that is good enough? The wages of sin is death. The free gift of God is eternal life THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME."

Please email me if you want to ask Jesus into your heart/life and don't know how. I would love to help you through it.

May God bless you on this Resurrection Sunday.

Easters Past

Here is a picture of my Aunt Patsy, my mom, my sister, Pam, and me, all dressed up for Easter Sunday, 1969. Talk about a sharp looking group of folks! This was taken in the driveway of my grandmother's house in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. The rose bushes were incredible!

Songkran

Happy (?) Songkran, or Thai New Year!

Well, the day is fill with the Songkran Water Splashing Festival. It started with "sprinkling" idols of Buddha with water, then, progressed to sprinkling others with water. However, now, it is an all out water war! We watched as groups of people in backs of trucks drove around dumping buckets of water on other truckloads of folks, motorcycle drivers, and groups of people waiting by the side of the road to do the same thing! We accidentally got in the thick of things and ended up in the Songkran parade. It was actually pretty neat, as we saw some of the roots of the festival, as evidenced in the lower photo (above). We enjoyed watching people get absolutely soaked. The top photo shows that folks get exhausted having so much fun. The one guy, looked like he was taking a nap! (bucket head guy)

FuN wItH eLePhAnTs!

Well, we spent the morning in the mountains riding elephants! We had so much fun, feeding the baby elephants, petting all that we encountered, watching the elephant show, including some incredible pictures painted by elephants, and just having a great time! What a way to spend a day.

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

My darling older daughter, Audrey, turned 10 years old today! I can hardly believe that she is now "double digits". She is an incredible little girl, er young lady, and I am proud to be her father!

Big Hair

Audrey and Emily both were anxious to get rid of their corn rows and the result was "Big Hair". We called this one "Moesha".

"Shazaam, Sgt. Carter!"

OK, here is another screen shot to show the difference between the temperature in Hong Kong and Chiang Mai! In the words of Gomer Pyle, "Gaw-ly!"

Tooth Fairy Visitation

Yes, that's right. The tooth fairy made a visit to Emily last night. She is now trying to sing the song "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"

Kamala Beach

This is the beautiful Kamala Beach in Phuket, Thailand. We had a wonderful time at the Kamala Bay Garden Resort. While it is across the street from the beach, it is certainly in walking distance. It is a beautiful beach with perfect sand. Shade trees keep the sand cool til noon and it isn't over-run with hawkers. I would go back here in a heart-beat.

Tsunami Hazard Zone

Despite the beauty of the beach, there is an ever-present reminder of a potential danger and of the past disaster. This beach was hit by the tsunami in 2004, but didn't face the devastating loss of life that other beaches endured. There were less than 40 deaths on this particular beach. While that is a whole lot of people who lost their lives, it doesn't compare to the thousands in other places.

Corn Rows

This trip accomplished two goals on my girls' "Thailand Wish List"; a train ride and to get their hair braided. It took 3 women 3 hours on each kid to get them to look like this. Egads!

Fishing Trip

On Monday, I went on a fishing trip. It was an all day affair, but quite honestly, it turned out to be one of the best days of my life. It was just so much fun! There were 16 of us on the boat and we all caught at least one fish.

We caught tuna. We trolled for about 3 hours to this stopping off place where the boat guys cleaned some of the fish and fried them on board in garlic. They had sliced cucumbers, fried rice, and fresh pineapple. We swam and snorkeled and had an incredibly wonderful time.

This is the captain of our boat. He really was very good at reading the signs and taking us to find the fish. We caught mostly tuna. It was my first time to catch a fish in the Indian Ocean!

Anticipation of a whooper!

With the look of concentration on that face, this is bound to be good!

Big one one the way!

It must be a huge one on the line!

In My Mind

This is how big it was in "my reality".