Shirley, Joy, and Matt having way too much fun during out staff retreat!

Audrey tells me that given the heaviness of my past few blogs, the time has come for a light-hearted and fun update.  We really enjoy a good amount of laughter these days and it's always fun to share fun moments.  We just finished our annual staff retreat---one of our favorite experiences from last year.  We put on the 3-day event for our houseparents as a thank you for all of their hard work and a time for us all to laugh and learn together.  We were all shot after three days in 108 degree heat, but we laughed more than we sweated and that is saying something!

Some lovely ladies with beautiful hearts (Baby Pound is sort of photo-bombing this all girl crew).

Some of our House Parents doing during a team building game.

Another example of quality team work!

All of our office staff prepared various lessons from scrapbooking to recognizing predatory loans to fixing leaky sinks.  It's good practice for us with our Thai langauge and for our house parents with their English.  And everyone gains some useful, fun new skills.

Audrey teaching photography basics.

Serious interest from moms and dads about how to fix leaky sinks in the home--Kevin Kennedy did a great job!

Not so fun, but much needed: how to recognize predatory loans and bad debt...Thailand needs Christian Banking as a ministry.

After all that excitement we had a few days off for the Songkran holiday (Thai New Year).  It's fun to see the whole city engage in a squirt gun fight, but this year we laid a little lower with a pregnant mama.

Everyone at the office was ready for a holiday.

In other news...we got our first car in Thailand!  We've loved our scooter for getting around town, but with a pregnant Audrey on the back, and stifling heat, it seemed time to invest in a good, used car. We're grateful to our friends from another Christian foundation who sold us a great truck at a good price. (I think the look on Audrey's face when he asked if we were still riding the scooter around got us a discount!)

Our new ride!  And the cutest pregnant lady ever.

Audrey and Baby Pound both are doing well on all accounts.  We've had smooth pregnancy so far--such a blessing.  Is it normal to get impatient?  I'm ready to meet this little guy!

One of the small things that has really been a blessing for Audrey and I in our new home, has been walking/jogging each morning around 6:30.  We meet so many of our neighbors and everyone is so excited about the baby. An old man has become Audrey's friend and talks with her every day (in Thai) and yesterday he gave her mangoes from his yard.  We love our neighbors in heart and pray for creative ways to love them in practice.  I tried baking bread for our Yaiy ("Grandma" and landlord) but she seemed unsure what to do with such a large loaf--Thai people aren't really bread eaters, they're all about the rice. :)