Happy Birthday Andrew!!!

My little brother turns 21 today!

(And this is the most embarrassing photo I could find in my small collection at the moment. :-) Good thing he's on a ship with no Internet...the pic is really just for the rest of us to enjoy!)

I miss you!
Happy Birthday!!!

Lots of Love from your big sister :-)

happy mother's day!

When God thought of mother,
He must have laughed with satisfaction,
and framed it quickly -
so rich, so deep, so divine,
so full of soul, power, and beauty,
was the conception.
-Henry Ward Beecher

My mother is the QUEEN of laughter. She really is. She’s also the GREATEST MOM IN THE WORLD!!! Now I know everyone says that about their mom, but I really am telling you the truth. My mom is the greatest!!!

And I could tell you all the ways she is the greatest, but that would just be rubbing it in and make all you other moms look bad. :-)

So I just want to say…I love you mom! And even though we are worlds apart right now, you’re still with me! I am my mother’s daughter - and very proud to be! (Someday, when I grow up, I want to be just like you!) You make life look easy. Your laughter and kindness are contagious. You are so beautiful! I appreciate all you do and all that you are. Thanks for being the greatest mom in the world!

I love you!
Kristi

bugs, bugs and more bugs!!!

The rains have come to Thailand. They started a few weeks ago and I was really excited to enjoy the thunderstorms rolling outside my window in Bangkok. I love falling asleep listening to the thunder and the rain falling down. But then I had to walk to work in the rain; and carry groceries home in the rain; and then my umbrella broke. The excitement didn't last long. :-)

Now…along with the rains…have come the BUGS!! I’ve been spending a lot of time at the refugee camp and it is suddenly flooded with bugs! Every shape and size!! The picture below shows a mere example of how essential it is to scan the outhouse before using it! This morning I entered my cubicle in the trailer for interviewing and there was a HUGE hairy spider on the floor! Spiders don’t bother me. But this one was mighty ugly! I don’t know if it was poisonous or not…but it was very very furry! I asked one of the guys to take care of it – I didn’t want to touch it! He didn’t either! So he called for one of the refugees; who came in, smashed it and carried it outside!

Today I’ve felt like bugs were all over me. It’s just that feeling you have – like when you slide into a bed full of bed bugs. (Yes, unfortunately that has happened here on several occasions!) And then you can’t sleep because it feels like they’re all over under your skin! And it drives you mad! That’s how today felt; along with the heat and the smells and the very questionable lunch. Oh speaking of lunch…there were bugs in my lunch as well! I don’t think they were a delicacy either. I think there are just so many of them because of the rains…that they got caught up in the frying pan! Yum! Yum!