Flag Football

Gideon had the opportunity to play some flag football last Saturday with some missionary guys. Most of the guys on his team are affiliated in someway with Logos. They played a team of guys from another international school and of course Gideon's team dominated with out even a little bit of practice. Any chance Gideon gets to play some football, especially here in Cambodia where American football is not a big deal, he will take it even if it means hurting himself and being sore for the next week. I went to watch so here are some pictures of the team in action.


Team Huddle



Gideon was the guy who snapped the ball every time.


Check out those lightening fast reflexes that make him a great football player!


I don't think Gideon will allow me to go watch him play again. I worry to much that he pushes himself too hard and of course can not sit out when he gets hurt because that is not manly! One guy on the team dislocated two joints in one finger, taped them together and went back in to play the next 45 minutes. At the end of the game he couldn't move that finger at all. Why? Why do men feel they can't sit out and take a break. Anyway this last picture was the best part of the evening. The beautiful sunset!

Back From our Holiday in Xiamen

We had a great time in Xiamen with our family, Gideon's sister- Anne, her husband- Keegan, our nephew- Asher who we hadn't seen since he was 3 months old now he is 18 months, and our new niece- Hannah who was born a week before we arrived. Some of our highlights included: Playing cars with Asher, holding Hannah during nap time, teaching Asher our names (He never quite learned Kristy, but he always gave me a hug before he gave Uncle Gideon a hug so I was ok with not having a name.), eating dumplings, exploring Xiamen and all it has offer: McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen and Wal-Mart :) We also got to see the Non-American sides of Xiamen. We took the ferry over to a smaller island called Gulang Yu. We walked around the european style village, walked up a huge rock to see a great view of the island, ate some good sweet and sour pork, and visited the Xiamen Acquarium. Our Christmas was opposite from traditional, but it was good to be with family. Gideon and I also got a chance to pamper ourselves and spend the night at a fancy hotsprings hotel for a night. We spent 2 hours relaxing in the several different pools the hotsprings had to offer. Gideon enjoyed the ESPN on our hotel t.v. We both enjoyed the all you can eat breakfast buffet in the morning.

We are back in Cambodia and we start back up at school tomorrow. We loved spending time with our family and loved the developed and modern feel of Xiamen but it good to be back to things we are more familiar with. Enjoy some pictures from our highlights of our trip!



Gideon held Hannah for 2 hours almost every day during afternoon nap time!



Dolphin tank at the Aquarium. Asher kept doing this old man walk and this photo makes us laugh because he looks like a little old person next to us!




View from the top of Sun Light Rock on Gulang Yu Island




Relaxing at the hotsprings hotel!

Celebrating Christmas in Cambodia

We have done lots here to make it feel like the Christmas season. There a couple of reasons why this season feels so different in Cambodia. One is it continues to be 80 degrees outside. Two, we are not around our family. Three is most people do not celebrate Christmas as we know it, not even the Khmer Christians. Most Khmer Christians do not put up a Christmas tree or give presents to their children. To celebrate they go to their church on Christmas for a service and have a dinner together. On one hand it is so encouraging to know that the Christians here are getting it right. Their focus on Christmas isn't about the decorations and the presents but about being thankful for Jesus being born. On the other hand it is hard to not see Christmas lights on houses, decorations in stores, and Christmas music being played on the radio. Of course there is a bit of that because of the foreigner population here.

Since the start of December we have done something "Christmasy" each weekend. We went to a craft fair put on by NGO's helping women and children in Cambodia. We made Christmas cookies, helped decorate a friends fake tree, made two pecan pies, and ate a delicious potluck christmas dinner with our staff. Not to mention all of our decorations in our school classrooms. It is so fun being able to really celebrate the real reason for this season with our classes. In pre-k3 I get to tell the Christmas story every day in the month of December. Last week I had two students come up to me and say, " Mrs. Walker, I love Jesus" It was so heart warming to hear them say that. I responded, " He loves you too." Later on in the week one of the students told me, " I love Mary." It made me a little sad knowing that his statement of his love for Jesus was nothing more than letting me know he can remember then names of characters in a story we are learning about. I know it is a seed planted in their hearts. As they grow and learn more English they will continue to learn about who God and Jesus are!

For the last 12 days of school before Christmas Gideon's 5th graders are doing an Advent Challenge. Each day they have to do something that is encouraging or helpful to others. For example on the first day they had to give 12 people a high five. On the second day they had to open a door for 11 people and so on and so on. He is so creative.

Please enjoy the pictures of our Christmas celebrations! Leave us a comment and let us know how you have been celebrating Christmas!

A Week Long Holiday

For the first part of our holiday break we traveled to a small town 3ish hours south of Phnom Penh on the coast called Kep. We stayed for 3 nights. We had a great time of eating, eating, and more.....eating. We went with the Jones' and we had a great relaxing time. Gideon got to watch the stats online of the Broncos for the first time this season while we sat in the lounge of our bungalow we stayed at, eating our complimentary breakfast and looking out at the ocean! We rented a moto to drive to the next town over, because we heard they serve the BEST RIBS EVER (look below for photo so you can too start drooling)! AND they were right! We also took a short 30 minute boat ride over to Rabbit Island where we snorkled ( not the best snorkeling), ate fresh crab with pepper, sunbathed, and snorkled some more! Check out some pictures below of Kep!









We returned on Thanksgiving day! Our Thanksgiving was not traditional. We ended up eating out at a French Restaurant. We ate chicken, mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, and a greek salad. It was just the two of us! We had and have soo much to be thankful for. We did get to skype with both of our families on their Thanksgivings. I really wanted to try cooking a dinner for some of our friends. We were thinking about doing it on the Friday after, but after Thanksgiving day had passed I felt like we had celebrated it and all the hard work of cooking a big meal for lots of people wasn't so exciting to me anymore. So instead we went out again with some friends and had Khmer style BBQ where they bring you the raw meat and veggies and you cook it yourself on the BBQ that is at your table. It was a fun evening.

By the end of the week long vacation we were ready to get back to school. We honestly missed seeing our kids! And we are people that like our routines so it was good to get back into our daily school routines.

We hope you all had a Great Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for each and everyone of you!

Kristy and Gideon

What Have We Been Up To?

I would like to update you with a series of photos! Please Enjoy!





Last Saturday night we attended the fourth annual Logos Talent Show. The photos above were 4 of Gideon's boys in his class that participated. We had a fun time watching the kids sing, dance, play instruments, and show off their drama talent! We also enjoyed some pizza during intermission!



Here is one of my get well cards one of Gideon's 5th graders sent me while I was sick. It reads "The Encouragement Card". Another one read "Danger this card is dangerously encouraging" with a skull and cross bones drawn on it. They are so creative!







This month's theme in Pre-K3 is community helpers. This last week we learned about chefs, cooks, bakers. We were practicing our pizza, hamburger, cookie and cake making skills with our newly made chef hats, playdo and our toy cooking utensils!







This week 5th grade had social studies presentations on some ancient people groups that I can not even remember. One of them was the Scythians. I've never heard of them before! I'm sure Gideon's 5th graders are way smarter than I am. I'm not sure what is up with the elephant mask. Gideon will have to blog about that!



Gideon went to take the trash out last night and Sopana and Sokvathana our landlords' boys were singing Awesome God! So precious. Remember our landlords are not Christians. We didn't catch them in the act, but they were so happy to re-inact for us their rendition!

There is a bit of what we have been up to. This Friday starts our Fall Break. It is the Khmer holiday of Water Festival. Gideon and I will be traveling to a beach city 3 hours south of Phnom Penh called Kep for 4 days for a little rest and relaxation!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. We miss you all and would love to be praying for you so please send us any prayer requests or just a comment letting us know how you are!

Freshy, Lucky, and a New Doo

Our landlords always had two dogs, and now they have three. One of their dogs, Lucky, went missing about a month ago. They told us they missed him so much. It was great at protecting their car if they had to park it outside their gate, and warning them of snakes in their courtyard. When they got two puppies they decided to name one after Lucky, and the other one Freshy. I do not know why they named the one Freshy. Here is a picture of Gideon and I holding Freshy and Lucky. They are so cute.


I also had my first experience last weekend of getting my hair done in a Cambodian Salon. They washed my hair, took me back to the sink and rinsed it, and then two girls started blowing drying it at the same time without combing it first. The owner of the salon does all of the dying and cutting and then she has her employees, younger girls, who do all the blowdrying, washing, and styling. I think in all I had about 5 people working on my hair through out the hour and a half a was there. The owner lady is named Helen. She was very friendly and spoke English very well. I was a little surprised that they started blowdrying my hair when it was so tangly, but they worked all the tangles out. After my hair was cut and dyed they asked if I wanted it straightened. I think it took them 30 minutes with two girls working to straighten it. The whole time I was watching the steam come from my head and thinking this can not be good for my hair. I will probably not do that again, because it took forever and I was getting really hot sitting in the chair for that long with two straightening irons working so close to my head. But they did get my hair really straight. Here is a picture of my hair after my appointment.

Being Sick in Cambodia

I'm not the one who usually goes to the doctor. I suffer a cough for a month before I think I need something to help me get rid of it. But since I'm in Cambodia I thought it would be wise to go get checked out before things got worse. I had been sick with a cold that was working itself into a cough for about a week. I went to school during this time and went about all of my activities that I was apart of. I did feel a little more tired than normal, but nothing I thought I needed to slow down for. Boy was I wrong. Last Sunday I woke up not feeling the greatest, but thought maybe it was my sensative stomach and I overate some chinese noodle soup I throughly enjoyed the night before. We have been meeting with the Jones on Sunday mornings as our rendition of church. We have decided to be accountability couple partners for one another; asking each other during the week how we have spent time getting to know Jesus! Last Sunday I took a shower and got ready to meet with the Jones, thinking I don't feel great but maybe I just need to get up and get going. I made it until 12:00, but I had been shivering with the chills the whole time we had been at the restaurant with the Jones. Gideon drove me home and I spent the next 24 hours laying in bed.

I was throwing up, shivering from the chills, wearing my fleece jacket (now I know why I brought it), tucked in tightly under the covers. During the night I felt like I had to go to the bathroom; I got up and passed out, woke up turned on the light so Gideon could watch me pass out the second time. My black outs were for only about 30 seconds each! I stayed home from school that Monday thinking maybe I will be home Tuesday, but I will for sure be back on Wednesday. Tuesday was the day I went to the doctor first. We had asked a teacher for a recommendation and she gave us one. So I called in the morning to make the appointment and Gideon decided he wanted to come. We still called Wibol, a tuk tuk driver, and he drove us there because I wasn't sure I could handle the moto ride. The doctors visit was pleasant. I got my blood drawn to be tested, and she advised me to take a pregrenancy test. I was sent home with the instructions to eat more and drink more especially Royal D which is a powder to put into water that has extra electrolytes. Eat so I wouldn't pass out, and drink so I would become hydrated again. I felt pretty good on Tuesday and was excited to get to go back to school. Well Wednesday morning came around and it just was not happening. Whenever I stood up I got the chills and was dizzy. Thursday I felt better, but decided to go to the doctor again, because just drinking and eating more did not seem to help. I had passed out once more, and was not feeling any better on Wednesday.

This time the doctor visit was a little more interesting. First she wanted to admit to the hospital for two days to be observed. I'm so glad my friend Leanne was with me to help me say NO. Then she got on the phone with her head doctor who thought the pain and dizzyness I was feeling was due to my premenstral cycle; basically i thought i would come to the doctor because I was pmsing. I think I know how to handle that and do not need a doctor. In the end a get told the same thing: eat more, drink more and come back if your problems persist. I for sure the second time around I would be given some sort of medication that would quicken the healing process of whatever was going on inside of my body.

Thursday Gideon sent home a email saying yay!! Kristy is better. Which we thought I was, but Thursday night I started to have really bad diarrhea which lasted until Friday afternoon. Also my legs and arms become seriously itchy on Friday night. Our Landlords gave me some medicine and it is Saturday night and I am saying I am better. Thank you for all your prayers for me during this time. I have never been this sick for this long in my life. It was quite miserable. I became so emotional on Friday. Every email I read that day made me cry, every time I talked to Gideon I would cry.

I did not make it to school all week long. But I did hear back from my teaching assistant that taught while i was gone that all of the kids have been praying for me. And all of Gideon's class made me get well cards. Most of them had soccer balls on them since I coach some of them in soccer! They were all very creative and encouraging.

So what did I learn from being sick in Cambodia:

1) If you get a cold or cough here drink lots, and lots of fluids and let your body rest so it doesn't become a bigger and longer illness.
2) It takes longer to heal here than in the States. Nobody knows why maybe its the climate, humidity, dustiness, I don't know!
3) Gideon is so unselfish. Because I was passing out on the way to the bathroom Gideon made me wake him up everytime before I went so he could be there to catch me when I fainted. He sacrificed his sleep so he could make sure I was safe. Then sleep deprived he would go to school. He even coached my soccer team for me on Thursday.
4) I will be spending more time in prayer asking God to keep us healthy. We take our health for granted a lot. I was about to go crazy staying in my bed for 6 days, and I would rather not have to go through that again!

I might take some pictures of the get well cards so you can see how creative Gideon's class is!

Thanks again everyone for the prayers! Love each and everyone of you!

Kristy