Some friends of ours (
Ben & Heather) did this great thing on their family blog, showcasing the first few lines from the first post of each month to get a good summary of 2006... and I thought it would make a fitting "summary" of ours to do the same thing. (If you want to read the full posts, you can use the "archive" menu down and to the right to access our blog, month by month.) So here goes:
January 2006(no blog posts, but we started out the year snug in our home in
Midlothian, Texas)
February 2006
(again no blog posts, but we were living in
Virginia, doing some cross-cultural training to prepare for life overseas)
March 2006
"Transported to Another World" - city#1
For our first post from the other side of the world, we'll give you a taste of some of the fun things we saw on the roads here in a 15 minute walk home after lunch. They're just a smidge different than what we saw every day back in Texas!
April 2006
"East Meets West" - city#1
It is incredible to see the blending of American culture even into this remote part of the world! This province is a mix of central and eastern Asian cultures, and now... American culture as well! Colonel Sanders is expanding eastward!
May 2006
"A City With Style..." - temporary city
We are visiting a new city, en route to Thailand to have our baby... Though in the same country, this city is a completely different world than where we've been living. There is a significant middle class here, with a large amount of purchase power, that just doesn't exist in our city. It is interesting to see a different part of this country we now call "home".
June 2006
"Would You Like Lizards With That?" - Thailand
The other night we went out to a place called Mike's here in Chiang Mai Thailand that is well-known for its great burgers. ...With it being one of Jessica's mom's first nights in Thailand, we were trying to ease her through the culture shock of her first time abroad, so we thought it would be a great place to get an easy, familiar meal. Just after they brought us our fries, she looked down and right next to her basket of fries was a lizard...
(Indulge me and allow me an additional entry for June!)
"MARANATHA HAS ARRIVED!!!" - Thailand
Yesterday, nearly 24 hours ago, Maranatha Pearl Connell entered the world on June 4, 2006 at 1:23 p.m., here in Chiang Mai, Thailand! She is such a precious baby and the boys are enjoying this new wonder of having a baby sister.
July 2006
"Goodbye Thai, Hello Home!" - Thailand
Well, tomorrow we'll be on a plane out of Thailand, headed back to our new home. Saying goodbye to Thailand isn't going to be difficult for us- we're ready to get back to some semblance of normal. Even Maranatha's crib has been strange here...
August 2006
"You Say Goodbye & I Say Hello" - transition from city#1 to city#2
Well, after countless days without internet, we're finally online again! In our old city, we said goodbye to friends, young and younger; A sad goodbye to Jessica's language tutor, who the kids had grown fond of as well; And now we're saying hello to a new place! These 2 youngest members of our family are getting used to the new apartment...
September 2006
"That's Quack-tastic!" - city#2
We went to a Beijing Duck restaurant tonight and tried the famous dish... the best part was the little tortilla-like things that come with it, because we could fill them with sizzlin' beef, and it ALMOST tasted like fajitas.
October 2006
"Home Sweet Home" - city#2
Here's a picture of Maranatha & I showing off our front door and entry way, complete with coat hooks, cabinets for shoes, and a "No Smoking" sign just to the left of our door.
November 2006
"Goodbye, Daddy" - transition from city#2 to Hong Kong
The kids give daddy bye-bye-hugs. After Doug's extreme exhaustion & fatigue over the last 4 days, the doctors decided he needed to go to Hong Kong for further observation and evaluation. A friend offered to go with him for initial testing until we have a better idea of what's wrong and how long he'll need to be there. Because of the age of the kids and logistics of getting our whole family there, we decided it would be best for me to stay here with the kids for now. Last night, we had a sad goodbye.
December 2006
"Live From Hong Kong"
Forgive us for not posting before now. As you can imagine, it's been a task just getting Jess and the kids to Hong Kong, getting semi-moved into our apartment here, getting groceries (everything's SO expensive here!), and taking care of all the details involved. This is a HUGE city! Just getting around here takes forever, especially with 3 little ones. Doug is feeling better, aside from some really annoying muscle spasms and pin-prick-like pains that come on randomly in his limbs. And so far, all the tests have come back normal, which is a blessing, but also is puzzling...
To sum it up in a word: transition!
West... to East
4 person family... to family of 5
Steady family life in a 2-story house... to ever-changing life in multiple locations: a 4-apmt quad, several 6-story apmt complexes, innumerable hotels, a teak bungalow, and now a 17-story city apmt building
Preparation & packing for life overseas... to the Real Thing
Being an everyday American... to Being the only Americans in a city of over 300,000 people
Eating the familiar (and fattening) foods... to eating differently but much healthier
Being a family that almost never got sick... to having a year filled with sickness & injury
But, through it ALL, Jesus has been our Constant Source of strength,
proving Himself Faithful and True.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." - Hebrews 13:8
Though we are still uncertain about the future of Doug's illness, and uncertain about where we'll be even next week, we are certain of this: He Who has held us and kept us and brought us this far will hold us and keep us and take us where He wants us for the rest of our days. We hope 2006 has been a year of God's unfolding faithfulness in your life as well.
Grace and Peace to you, from the Connells (currently in Hong Kong)
And though you might think it's the little boy in the middle, NOPE! It's Baxter that "doesn't belong". Both the other boys' names are Ethan! :) Our Ethan thought that was really funny.
We took a tram up to the top of a nearby mountain that overlooks the city for a spectacular view. Outside of the mountaintop shopping area was a playground with a beautiful open view of the ocean and the mountains descending into it. It was a great afternoon, one of the only times during our 6 weeks in Hong Kong that the kids got to play and have fun with other kids.
We took a tram up to the top of a nearby mountain that overlooks the city for a spectacular view. Outside of the mountaintop shopping area was a playground with a beautiful open view of the ocean and the mountains descending into it. It was a great afternoon, one of the only times during our 6 weeks in Hong Kong that the kids got to play and have fun with other kids.
