Monday, September 26, 2011

A "New" Life in Cambodia

Hello Everyone,

Kristy and I are on our second, small, fall break of the year, and are REALLY enjoying the rest and time together. We were not able to go to the luxurious hotel like last time, but so far the break has been fantastic! We have watched several movies and have gone out to eat often. Some of our friends and us have begun calling it a "stay-cation"!

Kristy enjoying our celebration breakfast! She looks so happy!

As many of you have maybe already learned, there is a reason why Kristy looks so happy in this picture! As the title of this post says, we have found a "new" life in Cambodia. In fact, by the time you read this post, that "new" life is going to be 9 weeks old!

We would like all of our friends and loved ones to know that KRISTY IS PREGNANT! YEA!!!!!

We found out about five weeks ago, but have keep it low key, because we really didn't know what to do! I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to make sure all the daily chores get done, while Kristy is feeling nauseous almost all day everyday!

However, we did find time to go to the doctor during this vacation and were blessed with a ton of information. WE EVEN GOT TO HEAR THE BABY'S HEARTBEAT! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! Here is a picture of our prenatal baby!

He/She is about the size of a kidney bean! (And no, its not because I am so short!)

As you can probably tell, Kristy and I are REALLY excited. We feel absolutely blessed (and sometime scared out of our minds) by God to be able to be parents soon. Although I have absolutely no clue as to what to do, Kristy helps me out! She is already a great mom, while I am the frantic crazy dad!

Here is a shot for all the moms! Kristy's tummy at 9 weeks. (So beautiful!)

With all this news, we have been trying to plan for the future. We have doctors appointments in Cambodia every month until Kristy's 5th month. At her 5th month (End of January) we will be flying to Bangkok, Thailand to have a very important ultrasound that detects possible problems. After that appointment, Kristy will wait until March 10th before she returns to the U.S., while I stay in Cambodia. (I know... it will be rough) She will stay with her mom and dad in Grand Junction, until I arrive in the States on around April 14th. We plan to have the baby in Grand Junction! That is the tentative plan for now... but we are still listening to what God wants!

We will be staying in the U.S. for a little bit, but we feel that living in the States is not what God has called us to do right now. However, with that said we are trusting in God to guide us in the direction He wants us to go!

PRAYER CONCERNS:
- Kristy and the baby's health and development
- Gideon's mental health (especially in March - April) Also, that God teaches me how to be a stronger Christian leader for my family!
- Help focus on our mission here until we have to go
- God will clearly show us His plans for us
- Kristy's Teaching Assistant is going through some rough issues...
- This holiday is a Buddhist celebration of the spirits. PLEASE PRAYER FOR CAMBODIA!
- Cambodian Christians who have to go back to their buddhist families who expect them to participate in buddhist ceremonies or rituals
- Our students who have to deal with being the only Christian in their family.
- Amongst our busy lives, I can still get my Masters done!

PRAYER REJOICES:
- Kristy is pregnant!
- God continues to provide for our needs through friends and family.
- God's love is sooooo apparent!
- Our staff community is really gelling together, which we thought might be difficult with so much staff changes
- Our students bring A LOT of joy to our lives
- It has been moderately cool lately
- Our new apartment really feels "homey"
- Loving families that are sooo encouraging

Blessings to all!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Already 2 Wonderful Years Together



Hey Everyone!

To celebrate our anniversary this year we extended our teachers retreat in Sihanoukville by two nights at the Sokha Resort.We told them it was our anniversary and they put flower pedals on the bed, in the bath tub, and baked us a cake. Even though the date on the cake was wrong, and it didn't taste that good it was still fun. Gideon was treated to a massage and I got a pedicure and a french manicure. We worked out at the gym, swam in the ocean one morning, it is raining season here so it did rain most of the time, and ate the best buffet breakfast. It was wonderfully relaxing and we did not want to come back to Phnom Penh.

The night before our actual anniversary we celebrated by going out to a nice restaurant here in Phnom Penh.

We started a bit of tradition where we remember our favorite memories from the previous year while we celebrate our anniversary. We are truly blessed with such great memories together!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Cambodian BBQ







A few teachers went out a couple of Saturdays ago to celebrate with Sophorn, Gideon's TA at Heng Heng which means lucky lucky. It was Sophorn's birthday. We ate beef, shrimp, lots of veggies, and some ate squid, but not me. They bring it all to your table and you cook it on the grill. It was delicious for only 3 dollars each and you are stuffed! This is the kind of restaurant that you don't go to unless you are with a Khmer person. There are no menues and you have to be really loud in order to get one of the wait staff to bring you what you want. Sophorn is in the middle in the very first picture!