Like I Care.

Tammy cut my hair yesterday... i. love. it.

I did the long hair thing, which, I have to say, was nice for putting up in a clip for running and traveling... but it looked like crap, as I have the finest hair on earth and it amounts to nothing when pulled into a ponytail.

I could use my little ortho-elastics to capture my entire ponytail.

So, I am happy to report that my Entertainment-Reporter-Erin-Cebula-inspired hair cut was a good move, and I'm just happy to look like someone who cares.

Now if I could just get these braces off I'd be ridiculously gorgeous.

Ridiculously.

I said it.

Baan Sak Fan Orphanage

After our wonderful week in Phuket, we drove an hour and a half north to Phang Na province.
We spent most of the week at the most amazing place... Baan Sak Fan Orphanage.

Meet Gai & Somraum...
two amazing, loving, selfless Thais who left their life in another region and moved, with their own 3 kids, to Takuapa after the Tsunami--to raise other people's kids.

See these smiles? They're the real deal.
This couple are doing an amazing job of loving, leading and caring for about 20 kids, mostly teens, who don't have anyone else to take care of them. Most of these kids lost their parents in the Tsunami of '04. In some of their eyes, you can see a little sadness, but mostly this is a group of very happy, healthy, amazing kids--in a new family of their own. We were basically the fun squad... showing up for 4 or 5 hours a day with crafts and sports and games... we had an amazing time getting to know Gai and Somraum, as well as the kids. The kids were pretty shy with their English, but we still had a lot of fun making cards and decorating notebooks... (thanks to my scrappin' friends who sent me off with a whole dufflebag full of craft supplies!)

beading and manicures... We also got the kids hooked on Dutch Blitz, Uno and Twister...
Lots of fun playing with the kids, despite the language barriers... our kids did so well, diving into every new experience and person...We fell in love with everyone of them and can't wait to visit them again.

A group of Swiss doctors donated the money for the land and the buildings, and supported them for 2 years. Now they are in a situation where they daily depend on God to meet their needs. They have a brilliant plan to become financially self sufficient--chicken farm, pig farm, palm farm (for palm oil). Businesses that will provide reliable income for these kids, this great big family. They have such a solid plan, and Joel and I are honored to advocate for them here in Canada so that they can get things going, and extend their ministry to kids who need love and care. These are savvy, sophistocated people and all they need is a little help from people like us. A little money goes a long way in Thailand. If you're interested in helping them, we'd be than happy to tell you more.

These Little Piggies went to Market

Joel had searched all his life for a certain type of girl. At 22 he settled for Dawn Kern. 17 years later in a Phuket Market he found her.

The pancake lady.

I too, have a non-sexual crush on this woman.

(That kind of assumes Joel's crush on her is also non-sexual... hmmmmmmm.)

Becky took us to the market and we found our way back a few times (mostly for pancakes)… the sights and smells were something else. We’ll spare you the smells, here are a few sights:

We bought some amazing fruit and veggies, left all the meat products behind, and the boys had to pause at the cookie vendor. We’ve become addicted to these little shortbread-like cookies with pineapple jam in the middle. I’ve got 4 bags coming home.


Surprise, surprise, it’s all about the food.

Christmas Day in Thailand

Christmas Day

The boys opened their Christmas present (new snorkel gear) last night and we headed out to the beach first thing this am. We went to Ao Sane, a quite, lesser known spot with decent enough snorkelling and had a great time. The sand wasn’t soft and powdery, but small bits of coral—nice that it didn’t stick to everything. We had a great lunch at a restaurant right on the beach and then drove around the island for a while…saw the touristy beaches (which looked great and weren’t tooooo crowded).

For our Christmas Day dinner we drove around and decided to try a cute little place with a thatch roof. Once inside we realized that it was a place where you can fish for your own giant prawns and then they cook them for you. It sounded a little corny and we had a little language barrier issue, so we weren’t sure how it was going to work, but we eventually figured it out and ordered some interesting crab and prawn dishes and the kids fished the whole time, caught about 6 prawns which they BBQ’d for us and we promptly inhaled. The kids had such a good time, we chatted with a TV star from Dubai (according to, as if we’d know) —and it’s definitely the most unique Christmas dinner we’ve ever had! Next year we’re going to go to a shoot your own turkey restaurant.