critters and such

Misc. 6.23.09

Life is seeming to get to a "new normal" for us. Marc has been really busy since the Cross Cultural Project students have been here. We were spoiled having him home everyday when we first got here as everyone was out for summer break and the staff had "down time". Slade Adams is also staying with us this summer and we have loved it, especially Sophie. Every morning she says, "Where Daddy is? Where Slade is?". Then when they leave she always cries and says she wants to go with them. She has even referred to Slade as "my Slade", then she randomly looked at me one day and said, "I'm Slade's baby". Wow, we're going to be a mess when Slade has to leave.

Sophie and I are at home on most days. Its much different than the first time we were here. We have gone on campus a few times to eat with Marc but there's really not much opportunity for us to get around the students right now. We have three Thai staff women who are on campus everyday and I look forward to opening my home for them to bring some of the students they are ministering to. I love being at home with Sophie, she is growing so fast. She's talking a lot. She LOVES puzzles and painting. We have a little fish pond in front of our house and she always wants to go "catch the fish". We have a net and she splashes around in the water quite often, poor fish. I'm so thankful for the house that the Lord has provided, it is quickly becoming our home away from home.

One thing I've had to get reacquainted with is the abundance of "critters" that are inevitably going to find their way into your home. Ants in abundance, ginkgoes (aka. geckos), tuk-kae (lizard a little larger than a gecko), frogs, spiders, mosquitoes, roaches and occasionally snakes. I will be sure to include a picture of most of these as they have been much obliged to pose for my camera. The most disconcerting visit we had was from a friendly garden snake. Sophie and I were sitting in the living room, I was reading as she was playing. She started to walk into the dining room and I heard her say, "What's him doing?" "What's who doing???!!", was my response as I sprung from my chair. And sure enough, there's a little green snake slithering across the floor. Now, I'm not particularly scared of snakes, I kind of like them. But there's something about one crawling into your house that is quite unnerving. I scooped Sophie up and we ran upstairs to get Marc. He was able to catch it and dispose of it. Initially, I wasn't going to offer this information to my mom as I didn't want her to worry but she recently told me that she and my dad had a 5' king snake in the house, wrapped around the base of my dad's recliner. So, I figured this little garden snake would be nothing to her :-).

The only other exciting thing that has happened around the Lewis house is that Sophie was able to feed a baby elephant on the side of the road. It is very common to see a man walking an elephant down the street trying to make money. He sells small bags of sugar cane or bananas (20 baht a bag) for you to feed his elephant. Sophie (and Slade) were very happy to give the baby his breakfast. She hopes to see a mama elephant sometime soon.

I might try to take a power nap now as the princess is sure to wake up from hers any minute.

Until Next Time,
Sherry, for the Lewis'