Trip to Thailand

On July 24th through the 29th we had the great opportunity of going to Bangkok, Thailand. A requirement of the Philippines is that any foreigner must leave the country for a night after six months, in order to return and stay for another six months. So, for our excursion we chose the beautiful country of Thailand. The below pictures are just a little of what we did..sorry they aren't in chronological order...we are still figuring out this blogging thing. (-: Enjoy!

The view from the top of our hotel. It was really breathtaking!

One of the things we got to do was visit a small zoo...here Dean is scratching an itchy spot for a little monkey. It was hilarious because the monkey kept moving around so Dean could keep scratching his back, neck, arms, etc. We were cracking up because it was like he was saying, "That's great...now, a little over to the left!"

Where are we and where are we going? We had about 4 different maps of Bangkok, so we were well prepared for checking the city out.

A small glimpse at the streets in Chatachuk market, one of the world's largest markets. We had no idea it was so famous but they said that people come from all over, just to rummage through the trinkets and see what treasures they can find! It was a really neat place to check out but SUPER crowded!!

This is us, dining at a small, outdoor "restaraunt" at Chatachuk. We had authentic Pad Thai and something else that looked like an eggroll - it was DELICIOUS and very cheap!

This is me, waiting in line at Customs when we entered the country...please let us in! We promise we aren't drug smugglers!!!

The view from our hotel room during the day...

The view from our hotel room at night...

One of the many houses on the river that we got to see during our river "tour".

One of the famous Buddhist temples...not sure what it is called, but really famous...??

This is us as we began the river tour of Bangkok.

A really neat bridge we got to see on the tour.

Houses and businesses positioned right on the river.

View of Bangkok from the boat.

We learned that many people will put their goods in a small skiff and row up and down the river and try to sell things. They have a famous River Market where there are rows and rows of boats and people just buy things directly there, right on the water. Pretty neato!

We went to a snake show while on the river tour...they didn't really tell us about it when we signed up for the thing, and I think I know why. I (Christin) was terrified! Here a young guy holds a viper INCHES from his head! The viper actually did bite his hair and when he pulled the snake back, the venom was on his head! I mean, TERRIFYING!!!

Here is a cobra, getting ready to try and bite this man... At one point the snake went over the small two foot wall that stood between us and the snake tried to move into the crowd...needless to say, I was practically sitting in the poor ladies lap that was right behind me I was so scared... don't worry, I apologized later...

Our last night in Thailand, we got dressed up and ate at a nice restaraunt. Here is Dean's meal..chicken curry served in a pineapple! It was really good and really fun to eat out of!

Us, at the nice restaraunt, waiting for our food. Sorry the picture is blurry...

And that is it! Hope you enjoyed seeing some of Thailand with us! We have a gazillion more pictures if you ever want to see more, so just let us know...especially the snake show part...(-:

Summer guitar recital

This summer I, Christin, worked with four of the older kids here at Samaritan's Place and taught them how to play the guitar. They learned basic chords, parts of the guitar, the strings, simple beats and songs. As part of the lessons, I required them to each learn and play at least one song in a recital for the other kids and the staff at Samaritan's Place. They all did GREAT and I was really proud of them!! As a "present" for all of their hard work, they each received an official copy of the songs they had played and they got to choose a pic to keep.

Below are the pictures of the recitals.

This is me and Darline - Darline was the youngest student I had.

Darline playing her song...

This is Jesryll. She is incredibly good at the guitar and decided to play THREE different songs for the recital. Very gifted in music I think...

This is Jaylord - I was really impressed with his determination to learn the guitar because he is LEFT handed! He was a real trooper and practiced a lot in order to be ready for the recital. He did a really good job!!

Here's a pic with me and Francis (sorry we don't have any solo pictures of him above..), Jesryll and Jaylord. I think they are very happy and relieved the recital is over...(-;

Sweet little Chad

If you have read our most recent update, we told you of a little boy named Chad being adopted to a family in the states and how he (Chad) left with them two weeks ago. In light of that, we wanted to share a few pictures of Chad while he was here at SP....Here, a week or so before he left for the United States, Chad was playing in the dirt, and not supposed to be. Busted!

This is the night before we left for Bangkok - the last time we saw Chad. He was getting tons of hugs and kisses those last few days from us! He's a sweetie...

This is Joseph and Gena, the houseparents of Chad. They were the ones that were taking care of him and being his "parents" until he was adopted by the family in Arizona. They considered Chad as one of their own... Very selfless and loving people.

This is a picture of Chad that we took when we first arrived. Amazing to see how much he has changed in the months that we have been here. You'll notice he is holding a ball - that is one of his all time favorite toys. If he sees another child holding or throwing any type of ball he will yell, "BAH!" and run after it! So funny!