Thailand - Part 2 The Temple

Our first real outing after arriving in Chiang Mai was a trip to the Doi Suthep temple. It was one of my favorite outings of the entire trip. Our Chiang Mai YWAM leader had told us to go and observe what we saw. I've only been to a Buddhist temple once in my life, which was in high school, so it was a very foreign place for me. We saw people burning incense at altars beneath the Buddhas. Whole families came to worship together and many young people came as well. The thing that stood out to me the most was the reverence the people had for this place. I felt that this area was a spiritual gateway to the country. There were so many amazing sights and smells to take in, it's impossible to describe it without actually being there. Here are some of the pictures I took that day:

Temple bells which are rung with prayers.

Some of the many Buddha statues.

These statues are all encased in gold.

The pinnacle of the temple was undergoing construction.

Sitting alone on the temple steps - a picture is worth more than a thousand words.

One of my favorite shots I took. There was a mist rising from the valley that day that created an ethereal atmosphere.

The temple had beautiful architecture and design.

Hill tribe dancers.

Hill tribe family in traditional dress.

Stairs leading up to the temple.

Altar high on a roof.

I'm Baaaack!!

Hello dear blog world! I took a two month blogging hiatus and am finally back in the land of the living. After going to Thailand, coming back, school starting, Sarah's birthday and a host of other events in my life I have finally returned! I had plans to be organized and go through my 400+ pics from Thailand and pick out the best ones, blog about the trip in segments within the first few weeks of my return, but alas, life closed in. I have since re-evaluated and realized that my expectations of myself were waaay too high, (as usual), and that I will slowly blog about the trip over time.

I had a great time in Thailand and fell in love with the people and the culture. I've heard there is a three week rule when it comes to visiting Thailand. You should stay at least three weeks in order to take it all in, but if you stay longer than that you won't ever leave!! I can see how this is true: the food, landscape, people, shopping, massages, and culture are the best and I can't wait to go back again someday! This is my tiny re-cap, and here are a few pics. I will write in more detail later, I promise!

Hanging out at a buddhist temple in Chiang Mai called Doi Suthep.

The elephant camp we went to. I even rode an elephant!

Beautiful orchids bloomed everywhere!

View of Chiang Mai from the back of a taxi.

The whole team: Adam and Deanna, their kids Rowan and Tatum, me, Andrew and Jen, and Sayuri.

Model Making Day

Yesterday Ron and I finally cleaned out the play room closet and I was happy to discover some of Justin's birthday presents from last year that had gone missing. Deanna and Rowan, I apologize for losing them!! We had been moved in for only a few weeks when we had his party, and boxes were everywhere, so they got absorbed somehow.

Today Justin had a blast painting the model train and putting stickers on the tee pee. Mom glued the train together and made the tee pee, Justin did all the rest!

Justin loves his tee pee - it has become a garage for his cars.

Carefully painting away...

Can't you see I'm busy mom?!


Yeah, the paint brush is a bit too big for him. :)

The finished product and a very happy boy -thanks Rowan and Dee!!

The Process of Apple Pressing

I mentioned apple pressing in another post, but wanted to go into the process more in depth because it's SO cool! Ron did another round of pressing today at our friend Russell's house. I took pics of the process step by step so you can see how it's done. So here it is, the apple pressing tutorial!

Apples and pears ready for the pressing. They made apple-pear juice today and it was so delicious!

This is the chipper part of the press. The apples are put into the top of the red box, then ground up via a motor and go into a bucket. I made the fabric bag in the bottom by the way - my contribution.

This is where the pressing happens. The top is turned by hand and the lid crushes the apples down in the bucket. The juice flows out the bottom and the pulp goes into the bag.

The juice flows into another bucket and is sived through cloth.

Russell hand made the press. He and Ron are a great pressing team!

The juice is then heated to pasturizing temp.

Then it's strained to get out all the chunky stuff.

It's funneled into the jars.


There you have it: Delicious home made organic apple juice! We took 4 of these home today!

Give Away!!!

I've never done a give away, but lately I've been thinking it's time! I'm giving away a hankie apron, made by yours truly, size 2-4 T. It has a cute vintage button on the pocket and would be the perfect accessory for any little girl who wants to help mom out in the kitchen! With Christmas coming up it would get lots of use, or it would be a great gift. I will draw a number randomly from a hat, (I won't peek, promise!), and the winner will be announced on my blog October 31st!! Good luck everyone! (I will ship anywhere in the U.S.)

Boys Love Dirt!

Our friends Tom and Tracy came out for a visit from Texas this summer. We got to meet their new arrival, Abram Oak, for the first time! He is such a cute little bundle! Their other son, Riley just turned four so he and Justin are close in age. They had a splendid time playing out in our yard. Tracy, Tom and I enjoyed eating lunch and too quickly it was time for them to go. Tracy went outside to get Riley. This is the sight that greeted her:

I hadn't adequately warned her about what Justin does in the dirt...every day. It's a sand box of sorts for him. Just picture a dirt bath...

Riley had to borrow a change of clothes from Justin since they were going to visit more people that day.

Thanks for the great visit Tracy!! The boys sure had fun in the dirt and I'm sure this story will be told for years to come! :) Thanks for the pics too!

My Birthday

This year my birthday came and went quietly. There were no big parties, no family came to see me, and Ron was gone all day. The kids were both having a rough day and it was "one of those days." At first I kind of felt sorry for myself honestly. I'm not one for a huge blow out birthday party, but usually a friend does something special for me, or we go out to dinner, see a movie, get a cake, etc. None of that happened this year and as I wallowed in my misery I stopped to think. I've learned that in situations like this there's usually a lesson I'm supposed to learn, or a nugget of truth I'm missing out on, and if I sit and let myself have a pity party it will pass me by. I started thinking about the things I did have this day and began to realize this was a special birthday, better than most, and that I was missing out on it! Two friends had given me beautiful hand made cards, (thank you Allison and Mandy!) and Sarah made me a special "mom" card only a daughter could make. Justin had greeted me with, "Happy birtday mom!" in the morning. Allison gave me a gorgeous necklace and ear ring set from the craft it forward I did a while back, thanks Allison!! My mom had sent me a card and some nice presents the day before wrapped up in a beautiful package. That night when Ron came home he gave me this cute fire and light heart dish along with some low calorie ice cream, (he knows I'm trying to cut the calories!) It was a great day, and I think 38 is a birthday I'll remember for years to come! Focusing on the positive things helped me to get my mind off of myself and onto the amazing people in my life and the things I have to be thankful for. Thanks God for the lesson, hopefully I'll learn from it!

My lovely collection of hand made cards my friends and family made and the Fire and Light heart Ron bought me for my birthday.