R & R

One problem with social media is that it could lead followers of a given medium to believe the author/subject of the medium's life consists only of that which is recorded in the medium. Though Lukas is happy 80% of the time he's awake, he does his share of screaming, crying and thrashing and I believe there is only one photo of this sort of behavior. The last number of months I've also done my share of screaming, crying and thrashing and there is no record of that here, nor will there be. 

That said, the R&R we had for 12 whole days in Thailand was warmly received by me, and by Lukas who got to be outside more hours in those 12 days than the previous 4 months combined. And of course Daniel had no complaints.

We had one week of conference where we got to sing worship songs with good music and received excellent teaching from the Bible, we listened to and told stories, we ate delicious fruit and Thai dishes, swam in the ocean, bicycled, breathed clean air, and went shopping at a store where I bought the kind of floss I like and some dark chocolate. 

We also had a week vacation at a guesthouse where we had time to sit with Jesus for much of Lukas' morning nap, we got to swim and play at the beach and pool and bicycle some more (including a worthwhile adventure that involved lots of thorns and trash, and a regrettable phone incident, but a secluded beach with a beautiful view).

We are thankful.

Climbing is a new favorite, we spent HOURS going up and down the stairs, as well as up, down, in and out of anything that was like a step such as this restaurant cart:

 and this suitcase:

Lukas was happy to discover playrooms. Kitchens are a favorite with all those doors to open and close, plastic fruit to throw into the doors with holes, and various instruments to examine.

And not our most flattering photo, but it's the only one of all three of us and proves we were there together:

Rani

When we move, we won't miss the dirty air, or the excessive traffic, or the noise, or the construction on both sides of our house.

But we will miss the people we have come to love. One is Rani (Ronnie), our house-helper. She is amazing. Everything is more work and takes longer here, but Rani's amazingly fast and good work three mornings a week makes all the difference so we can go to bed at night. And on top of her fast and good work, we like her, and will miss her. Yesterday was her last day and as she left all our shoulders fell as we realized it's come to an end! So she invited us to her home, and we went for tea this afternoon. We pray God's blessing on her.

Rani, her daughter Snayha (12), daughter Tanzia (2) and Rani's brother

Just Give Me a Pile of Boxes

We are moving again, and while Lukas seems to have some angst when he sees suitcases (though Daniel would probably not confirm this statement) he does not yet have a category for broken-down boxes. This pile kept him busy until we took them away to fill them about 30 minutes after their arrival. 

After much surrendering prayer and a lot of trust in my husband and of course God, I (peacefully) agreed to send most of our goods via the local courier service. This was after sending a test box or two of less important things containing other peoples' stuff... Everything has arrived safely, and we're pretty sure Paul didn't actually throw them in the river after picking them up at the courier office in Rajshahi.

You may ask, "why isn't he wearing pants?". 

To which I may reply, "would you like to wear a diaper continually? What's a puddle or two when there's no carpet anyway?"

His Birthday Party (two days later)

After all the travels, we came home and had a proper celebration of the 1 year old. My friend Ingrid made him this lovely cake and won his heart forever.

 Here he is working on his cake. We're proud of his slightly blue belly at the end, and even more proud that he kept his shorts clean and his face from excessive messiness. We are also proud of the color of his diaper lumps the next day.

His Birthday

Thanks to Hanna, we got to celebrate Lukas' first জন্মদিন in beautiful Sylhet. All birthdays are very important here, but the first one is especially important, and the parents are expected to go all out and invite everyone they've ever met. This is not my style, though I suppose it will have to be eventually. But this year, we could avoid it and just be outside all day. We had a hike before breakfast, after breakfast with the whole Thomas clan, and again after afternoon nap just us three at a tea garden. 

Here's the birthday boy during the first morning hike, where we accidentally walked through someone's back yard and acquired a following, but by the time this photo was taken there was a single follower who was too shy to be captured.

This is the view from where we stayed.  This is some of the cleanest river water in the country, having just flowed out of the jungle on the India side with very few people upstream. It flows out of the limestone Meghalaya hills, which give it the turquoise color.

And here's a video with a special greeting from Lukas to you, as well as some talk with a goat who did turn back a little to say hello before trotting off. Goats are a new favorite. They make us giggle and shout.

The Wedding

The day after Christmas we began our journey: we took auto (like a golf cart), plane, taxi, CNG, bus and private car to get to Sylhet, but it was all worth it of course to celebrate Hanna and Jose's wedding!! It was a beautiful place and a beautiful day. These are Jacob's photos from his nice camera:

Elias took this one! I got to do the hair :)

First time all the Thomas' were together since our wedding!
Kina, Karin's sister, is on the right.

Babies in punjabis :)

Obed's happy place

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve lunch: 9 adults and 4 kids and piles of Christmas food around a table that normally seats 6.  Aunt Kina from Sweden had come bringing Swedish hard bread, mesöst, chocolate, and anchovies for the special Christmas eve hot dish, Janson's Frästelse.

Elias and Maia had their own little overflow table.

The chief chef:

Maia was Lukas' favorite, and just had to show up to get him smiling.

Christmas carols before the presents were opened:

A Random Collection of Cute Ones

Daniel's photo for Farmor & Farfar's frame

Big, fluffy beds are slightly preferable to pack-n'-plays

Did you know ear buds are meant to be chewed and not shoved in your ear?

Bunny

Bunny is an important part of our family, as he is Lukas' sometimes best friend and sleep indicator:

• Not tired - bunny is completely ignored.
• Tired - bunny is received warmly with some ear petting
• Ready to sleep in 2 min - bunny is cradled and stroked
• Beyond tired - bunny is tossed to the floor, but then sought after, stroked and tossed again.

We are glad Bunny doesn't have feelings.