Life in a new city.....

We spent our last night in Ind!a hanging out with some of the greatest people we know .... people from all walks of life, each with a personal story. Even though it was a short season, we will take the life lessons learned with us wherever we go ... and we'll always remember the people that became our family on this side of the world.

Emma loved this little baby....

A few hours before we left the country, a close friends of ours was released from the hospital. She had been so sick and it was exciting to witness the Father restore her health before our plane took off just a few hours later. She stopped by for a visit with her mother after being discharged and we enjoyed showing them some pictures of our new country that we took when we were here earlier in the year.

It really is amazing how two different families who have always lived worlds apart can become so connected in the heart.

This picture was taken as she and her mother were getting on the autorickshaw ... many tears were shed with the realization that this would likely be the last time we would see her. The Father blessed us abundantly by bringing her into our lives.

Driving off in their rickshaw ... in some way, it seemed to symbolize the closing of one life chapter and the beginning of a new one.

After flying through the night, we were met at the airport by a dozen or so new friends the next morning. One of the biggest gifts He continues to give us through our journeys with Him is the people He brings into our lives. Since arriving here, we have been checked on continuously, have been taken to markets, malls, and some of the best Thai restaurants around, and have had meals provided for us our first week here. Definitely a gift from our Father....

The picture below is from the terrace of the guesthouse where we stayed for our first week. Notice the mountains in the background. We've been told that our new city sits in a "bowl" with those mountains wrapping around the 1 million+ people who live here. You can pretty much always look up and see the clouds hovering above them. He spent the last year of our lives giving us some incredible sunsets and now, He has is showing us His creation in a whole new way with the mountains that surround us.

We've got a container that should be setting sail today or tomorrow, but we were able to borrow a few things for our new home (below) so we could go ahead and move in until our things arrive. This whole journey has involved Him carrying us through faith. In our flesh, we would likely be sitting back in the states right now, but He continues to show us that with Him, it really is possible. By faith, we KNEW He would lead us to the right place ... and even to the right home ... for us to grow physically and sp!ritually. We were contacted before moving here and told that a home had been found for us. We had no pictures to look at, but it didn't really matter to us. We know with absolute confidence that He is in every aspect of our lives, including the place He wants us to call home. When we pulled up to the house, we all just about went crazy over the yard .... and the green, green grass!! The home is nice, but it is the YARD that we are most excited about. He has BLESSED us in ways we do not deserve, and our new home is no exception. To many, it may not seem that big of a deal, but to our kids, kids who haven't experienced grass since we lived in Fort Worth, this was a little slice of goodness!! And of course, with a yard, we quickly got our priorities in order and got a dog ... before we even got a bed! :) Thank You, Father, for our home ... our hope is that we will bring You glory in it.

The "major" appliances were furnished in our last home, so one of the first things we did was go in search of the biggest bargains on a fridge, a stove, and some a/c's. We found the best deals and they were quickly delivered and installed!

Our last city sat about 3,000 feet above sea level and other than a few months out of the year, the temps really weren't that bad. Not the case here ... in fact, it's not really even considered the "hot season" (we have 3 seasons - hot, cool, and rainy) and we have had days where we needed a shower 10 minutes after taking a shower. We had a couple a/c's already, so we picked up a couple more and had them installed. We don't run them all the time and actually only start cooling the upstairs a few minutes before we go to bed. We're a little nervous about our first electric bill and will definitely be monitoring the usage.

One of the coolest things about this place is seeing banana trees full of bananas. In fact, the picture below is what we see when we open our back door. Our resident monkeys (AKA kids) are still trying to figure out how to get up there and pick a few.

While we had a water filtration system before, the common thing here is to have bottled water delivered. We met an English-speaking neighbor who helped us get started with delivery service with the same guy she uses. We have a water cooler that will arrive with our crate that will keep our big water bottles and will provide cold water and hot water, but for now, we're bottling up our own little bottles from the big bottles. We've roughly estimated that we'll use 7 4-5 gallon bottles per week, which will cost about $6.30 a month for drinking/cooking water. Not too bad, but just another one of those things we've always taken for granted ... drinking tap water. Below is a shot of Noah multi-tasking a water break and some squeegy action!!

Another "cool find" for the kids have been these snails. At one point last week, they had collected 21 total in less than 30 minutes. We weren't surprised to see Noah carrying them around, but we never expected to see one crawling around on our "pretty in pink princess." We were actually driving to school this morning when she all of a sudden said, "look at my baby snail." She had one in her hand and was planning to show her friends at school. We quickly pulled over and gave the baby snail a new home at a local park. :)

We've also enjoyed some of THE best tacos ... complete with home-made quacamole!!! YES!

Jazzy has acclimated pretty well ... if only she could get her paws on one of those birds!

And here's our new puppy ... we knew right away that our yard would soon be home to a dog - we just didn't think it would happen THIS quick. We went to a local animal shelter and adopted her less than 2 weeks of arriving. We were given some great advice from a good friend recently ... "when moving to a new place, do what you need to do to make your new home YOUR home." We have always been (and will probably always be) pet people ... and Shelby has already added a whole new feeling of 'home' to our lives!

We haven't ventured up to the mountains yet, but here are a few shots from around our new city ... this is at one of the main intersections near our home. We LOVE the simplicity of this place. Still has over a million people, but compared to the size of our last city, this place has the feel of Mayberry.

A local fruit/vegetable vendor downtown.....

We do have a vehicle here, but there is a "good selection" of public transportation that we can take from time to time. Unlike our last city, there are no autorickshaws ... but there is something similar called the tuk-tuk (pronounced took-took) as well as truck that has a covered back-end for it's passengers (pronounced song towel). The picture below is of a man driving another form of transportation ... a bicycle rickshaw.

Noah took the picture below driving back towards our home ... again, notice the mountains in the backdrop. We just love looking around and seeing them.

It can be a little trying (okay, a LOT trying) at times living out of suitcases while waiting for our things to arrive, but overall, the kids have done well. We know that their names are specifically being spoken to the Father by friends/family from around the world ... and through those conversations, He has enabled our children to be who they are.

While in fulltime language study, homeschooling isn't an option, so Noah and Emma attend an international school here (there wasn't room in the 8th grade class for Elizabeth, so she continues to homeschool ... and is doing GREAT). As great as the school is, though, it has definitely been an adjustment for everyone.

As parents, it's been just amazing to watch the Father grow the kids over the past year. They've seen poverty like never before, they've been His hands and feet to people that most of society here looks down upon, they've experienced heartache ... and in that heartache, they've experienced HIM. They've gotten to experience His creation in ways none of us ever expected and they've grown to truly appreciate what He did on those first 6 days.

Here's a shot of Noah with one of his teachers and some friends at the end of his first day....

Another one of the blessings since arriving here is meeting a local friend who has spent time giving us some great cultural lessons. We didn't spend much time studying this culture prior to coming here because it was never our plan to be here. But she has taught us much by taking us around to some of the local markets, introduced us to some great restaurants (where our family of 5 can eat for under $5) and showed us what to order, and explained some of the local beliefs. We had the privilege of attending a gathering last Sunday morning to hear her husband talk about the important things. She is a blessing to our family! This is a picture from last Sunday morning.

This is a temple she took us to last week....

We've also spent time down in some incredible markets.....

She has also taken us to some great restuarants and "helped" us order!! :) THE best food we've ever eaten!

It's been great being around our new friend who clearly understands....

There are reminders all around ... every 200 meters, for example, you will see something like this...

And this .... this picture of a sp!rit house was taken in the front yard of our next door neighbor ... you will find these throughout our city.

In anticipation of the stress caused from learning a new language, we decided to check out the pool down the streeet the day before our language classes started. As it turned out, so far anyway, language has been fun ... difficult, but fun!! It will never be easy learning a new language, but we're optimistic that He will enable us to just bust off! :) We have class with another 40-something couple from Mississippi and have laughed more in the last 2 days with them than we should have been allowed. BTW, Noah turns 11 on September 22 and we plan to have his birthday party at this pool. He's got a list of boys ready to invite!!

These 3 are having a blast trying to figure out this new place ... this picture screams hippopotamus for some reason!

Elephants are very much the theme here ... we actually saw a jumbo version of one tonight on the side of the road with its handler.

After a few hours of swimming, we went upstairs and ate a great Thai dinner. You can eat inside in the a/c or out on the terrace, which overlooks the rice paddies and the mountains. We chose to eat outside, but had to quickly move when the monsoon rains rolled in. What's really neat about the monsoon season here is that you can see the rain come in over the mountains before it ever gets to us. The diversity in His creation is simply amazing!!