New Year Fun!!

Happy New Year Everyone!! Lunar New Year, that is!! Where I live it is quite a celebration. My family missed New Year's Eve because we were traveling, but I heard it was like nothing I could ever imagine! Since then, there have been fireworks all day every day, especially in the evenings. The beauty of the whole fireworks thing is there are no limits. You can buy and shoot off ANYTHING and ANYWHERE. Which is perfectly wonderful to my husband and son!! This week Rob, Hudson, and Hannah...well and me too, have been throwing colored smoke bombs off our 6th floor balcony. We have also been throwing off poppers which explode when they hit the ground. It is all sorts of fun!

On the 3rd day of the New Year we celebrated with friends. Here is a snapshot of our fun day split into 3 Parts, the Playing, the Eating, the Fireworks!!!

Part 1 - The Playing

We started the day meeting up with some friends at the park across the street from our house. We felt very local becasue our family along with hunderds of other local families were all at the park, playing. Festivities could NOT be complete without blow-up toys. All the kids, big and small alike, played for several hours.
This sweet girl had fun sliding down all the slides! Daddy and daughter enjoying the day! Hudson playing with his two little buddies. Rob won a BB gun with his efforts at the ring toss. He drew quite a local crowd and everyone was cheering him on. And there was COTTON CANDY!!Hannah and her friend were thrilled with their first taste of the sweet stuff in 2 years!I couldn't resist the way our little friend ate her cotton candy. Isn't this what we all really want to do?? Just stick our whole face in it?

Part 2 - The Food

After the fun at the park, we went back across the street where there was a HUGE shao kao area set up. Shao Kao is local BBQ. It isn't Rib Crib, but it is good. They take your chosen meat and rub spices into it, then place it onto the fire. It was particularly fun this evening becasue there was a lot of music playing and the people who were BBQing were all dancing and singing with the music. This place had every kind of meat you can imaine. Beef, chicken, lamb, ostrich, .......and SHARK!!

And no, we didn't eat BBQ'd shark. But this guy was cooking it.We went for the lamb and the beef. We bought 13 sticks of lamb for $1.50 which was plenty of food. As well as a few sticks of beef. It was sooooo good!!Then we found the people who come from the west bringing muslim bread. (I am sure there is a proper name for it, I just don't know it) This guy is pounding out the bread then putting it down in the fire pot beside him to bake. This is the most amazing bread!!! Between the bread and the BBQ, we were well satisfied! Part 3 - The Fireworks

If you remember my post from last year about New Years you will know that my husband looks forward to this event more than any other!! He is a pyromaniac at heart, and loves fire. So, this is his perfect opportunity to be a little boy. And wouldn't you know it, all the men we were with have this same excitement. I don't know who had more fun, the men or the children who were doing fireworks. (All these pictures are dark, but maybe you can see what we were doing)

Here are Hudson and Rob lighting something. Interesting, we were doing all of this in the middle of our apartment complex, with apartments all around. Safe huh?

The four tubes in the middle are where the BIG fireworks were shot. The guys would light them all at once and then an explosion in the sky would take place, just like the BIG Fireworks on the 4th of July. You can see "the dads" quickly walking away waiting for what has been lit to fire. Ummmm.... where are the children? Oh, there they are, trying not to get blown up!!

Here was our firework scene with children and dads all playing Fire together. The moms, were all off to the side watching all that was going on and making sure everyone was left with all 10 fingers and toes!

In closing....

I would like to say that we had such a fun time enjoying and experiencing this holiday like the locals do. I want to share a last picture with you. The people in this picture are all so very special to me (minus a few who came later, BG). I am thankful for every one of them. Sometimes we focus on what we have "left behind" to come here, but for me I have gained special treasures through the people in this picture. You may never know their names, but they are truly wonderful people through which the Father continually blesses my life!

Thoughts

These pictures have captivated my thoughts today. I knew when I took them that they would be special because in my heart I identified with these pictures. I saw in my son’s eyes a beautiful trust as he followed Rob into the “unknown” and they climbed together. It is the kind of trust I want to have in my Heavenly Father as He continues to lead me each and every day.

The wall the boys are on is basically nothing more than ruins. Ruins of a history that I am unclear on, but they make up an old city gate and a wall that runs around the central part of the old city. What once used to protect a city and make a people feel secure is little more than a tourist photo opportunity with no chance of keeping out the “bad guys”.

As I look at these pictures I see the Scripture in Song of Solomon come to life as our bridegroom says , “Come and run with me!” How many times are we like the small boy who wants the adventure of climbing to new heights, but is afraid. He has no choice but to trust in his father’s hands and strength to pull him across and the faith and belief that his father will not let him fall. In the second picture the father is securely holding on the boy’s hand, yet looking at what is ahead. Always sure footed and steady. As they progress along the wall the father is always in front, guiding, teaching and going before us in all things.

This is such a beautiful picture to me. As you may or may not know, our family is moving out to a more remote place this summer. We are leaving the comforts of “city life” for the unknown. A lot of times I feel all I can do is place my hand in my loving Father’s and allow him to lead me into new places, new heights. When I find myself afraid or unsure, I have confidence I can trust in the security of the hand that is leading me and holding me close!

I look at this picture and I see the Father asking me daily to join Him in His work. I simply must follow!

Not for the Squeamish

The O Fam has been hanging out in Thailand the last two weeks. I hope to have quite a few posts this week about our travels. The highlight of our trip was my mom's visit to Thailand. But....more on that later.

Today I would like to share with you a rather gross/cool experience we had, and even paid for. We had been in Thailand a few days when we began seeing people with their feet in a fish tank with the fish swarming their feet. We inquired as to what in the world they were doing, and found out that the fish "eat off" the dead skin on your feet. So, on an afternoon we had free.....we did it. All the cool kids were doing it, so we joined in!

And let me just say.....the first 5 minutes was DISGUSTING!!!!! As soon as you stick your feet in the water fish swarm your feet and begin nibbling. It is a feeling unlike I have ever experienced. I couldn't look, just had to close my eyes until I got used to it. And still, after that, it was hard to watch. Even the pictures make me a little sick.

I was the first to put my feet in, and it took me a while..... Then, Hudson stuck his feet in, laughing hysterically the whole time. Then there was Rob. He put his feet in, then immediately yelled pulling his feet out. A Thai lady was sitting close by and got so tickled watching Rob, she had to hide her face she was laughing so hard! But finally Rob was able to keep his feet in the water. You will notice there are no pictures of Hannah. Let's just say, maybe she has the more sense than the rest of us!