Happy Birthday, Kris!

January 1st may be New Year's Day, but in our family, it's also Daddy's birthday. We were determined to do something special for Kris, and we definitely wanted to make him a cake, even if it is a little more difficult than normal. So, I tried...


It was moist.
It was chocolatey.
The upside down bowl had a water moat all around to keep the ants off. It worked well! (At least, you couldn't see any ants...)
There was enough cake for everyone.
Kris liked it.
The cake did not fall off the plate.
We all enjoyed it!


We bought one of the amazing, singing, flower candles/torches in China to use on Kris' cake. We finally learned how to turn off the song by cutting the wire so it wasn't singing "Happy Birthday" all night long.



Hopefully I can add the fun video of the candle soon.

Christmas Morning

I'm pretty sure that Christmas morning in Cambodia held all the excitement that it does in the U.S.



Can we open presents yet?




Everyone waiting impatiently while breakfast is cooking


Kris made excellent bacon and pancakes! He always knows just when to flip 'em so they are cooked through but not burnt. It's an art. Yum!



We brought our Advent calendar with us, and here the kids are placing the last item - baby Jesus - in the manger. Now it is complete!


We brought a couple of small gifts for the kids to open here. They loved and appreciated these small things. I think that being here has really helped them to be grateful for things that otherwise they would take for granted.


David likes his new yo-yo.


A small basketball hoop for our "tiny boy" (that's what Daniel says he is).


Katherine is investigating her new tea set.


Mr. Hale is excited about his Isaac's new toy!


Isaac was certainly present, but not so aware of his first Christmas.


We had a few mystery guests appear during our morning festivities:







We hope that you enjoyed being with your family this Christmas, and that, most of all, you were blessed by reflection on God's great love for His people by coming as a baby to die for our sins. Our place in His family is truly worth celebrating!

Christmas Eve

Anna and David busied themselves on Christmas Eve making decorations for the Hales' home. Thomas helped a little too. Here are a few pictures of their decorations.









We enjoyed making Christmas cookies, and found that even without an electric mixer, it's fun and simple!


Anna thought to draw a picture of Jesus on the cross, "Because that's the true meaning of Christmas."


And here is her picture of the empty tomb. These were sweet reminders of what is truly worth celebrating!


Time for some Christmas Eve candy!


Our homemade, packable Christmas tree. If you are thinking that the stand looks like a rocket launch...it is! That was Kris' idea, and it worked well!


Our happy decorators

Ava Ruth Green

Today, my sister Sarah had her fifth child, Ava Ruth Green at 7:20am. She was 6 pounds 9 ounces. We were thrilled! We were unable to visit her in the hospital because we didn't want to share our germs (possible stomach virus). But that didn't mean we couldn't celebrate! Anna put out the placemats she made last year for me and Kris, made some new makeshift ones out of paper napkins for herself and brothers, and made a special table decoration commemorating Ava's birth. This was her idea!


"Ava's birth"


Daniel's checking out the table

Sarah and Andrew, we are so thrilled to have a new niece and cousin, and we love Ava so much already.

Good-bye, well-loved crib

For the first time ever since we've lived in this house, we took down our crib. It was momentous. The kids were ever-present, watching and "helping" as much as Kris gave them opportunity. It was a sweet time for me of remembering all the precious baby years God has given us. Daniel seemed to know just what to do with his toddler bed, and it didn't take long to get him to understand that we expected him to stay in it.

Joshua Caleb

July 15th marked the first birthday of our darling little nephew Joshua. We can't believe it's already been a year since his birth! He is precious, and smiley, and I wish we could be around him more. We celebrated in Houston with family and friends at El Tiempo, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, and one of Joshua's favorite too, so I'm told!

July 4th

Our fourth of July was relaxing in Tyler with Mom and Dad. Lots of swimming, eating, and we ended the evening with fireworks. It was fun!

Here are a few pictures of us eating...

Thomas Turns Four!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Thomas! (Perhaps when he's fourteen he may not want to be called sweet, but he's so thoughtful and in tune with what others are doing that I just can't resist calling him sweet right now.)
For his fourth birthday, Thomas requested that our family play miniature golf together. He did not realize that golf outside at the beginning of July was not such a fun game, so we opted to visit Amazing Jake's at Collin Creek Mall, where we played a game of putt-putt in the air conditioning.






Hole in one!


Mr. "I-Don't-Miss-A-Thing"

We ate the buffet first, then played golf, then rode on the go-carts (Kris and Thomas) and the bumper cars (Anna and David) before finally, - or so we thought - heading downstairs to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat chocolate rocket cake.





As it turned out, the manager was the kind man wo retrieved the rocket cake for us from the back refrigerator, and upon discovering that it was a birthday celebration, he gave us 4 cards, with $10 to spend on each of them, for us to use upstairs on the games. He also awarded 40 tickets to Thomas to "buy" something in the prize shop. So instead of leaving, we spent about 2 more hours playing the bowling game, the go-carts, the merry-go-round, the flying airplanes (as opposed to the ones that's don't fly - you know...) and bumper cars, and more bowling, more go-carts, and more airplanes...you get the idea. We thought we'd never use up the cards! It was a lot of fun, and we were so thankful that the Lord blessed our family with a fun day and an unexpected surprise for Thomas' birthday. And then, as we were leaving, a woman gave us four HUGE lollipops that she won and did not want! It was quite a memorable and fun day. And it reminded us of the love that God daily lavishes upon His children. He gives and gives and gives, even though we are so undeserving, and when we think (and know) He's given so much already, He gives us more. It makes us want to be a blessing to others in the same way, and never forget His lovingkindness toward us.
And thanks again to Kris' mom for a dinner of Chick-Fil-A, the perfect finish to a full day!

Father's Day

Father's Day presented a fun opportunity to take our Daddy to a new place to celebrate what a blessing he is to us! It is such a joy to see the kids interact with him. They love him so much. Here are Kris and the kiddos at a fondue restaurant in Dallas.

It was a very memorable evening and we had a great time!

Apricot time!

Our apricot tree is prolific this year! Our current quantity of jam measures over four gallons, and we have at least one more batch to make (but need more jars!). We also tried out apricot pie. Needless to say, we probably won't have to buy any apricot jam this year! I won't mention that we found out that flies may lay eggs in the rotting apricots, which means MAGGOTS! But, we are developing our character and learning not to be so squeamish (at least, those of us who needed to learn it...) Here are some pics from the last week:

First Grade

Anna's last day of First Grade at Coram Deo Academy in Carrollton was May 6th. The final awards ceremony was May 11th, and our whole family attended. It was very long (2 hours), which was to be expected, and Daniel sat perfectly still on my lap the entire time, which was not at all to be expected. Truly, I was amazed, as was the sweet young woman behind me who commented that she was completely "stunned." "So am I!" I told her.

Here is Anna with Mrs. Wilson, her wonderful, exceptional, gifted teacher/comedian who was such a HUGE blessing in our lives this year! She loved her students and it showed.



We are looking forward to Second Grade at Coram Deo next year! Here we come, Miss Kisko!