My mom was wondering what a "typical" day for us is like so I thought I would try and share right here:

Josh and I wake up at 6:00am. (Ryan wakes at 5:00am and goes for a morning swim.) Josh takes a quick shower and I may start laundry if I have diapers or clothes that need cleaning. There is a washer and drier from the US on the premisis but there are a few fun quirks about them: Our washer fills up with a very slow trickle (there is no hot water for the washer so everything is washed with cold water) so we grab a hose to fill the washer up faster. In order to dry clothes, the drier needs gas so you have to turn the gas tank on. If you forget to turn the gas tank on then you come back in an hour and your clothes are nicely tumbled but not dry. If it is sunny outside then I hang our things on the line to dry. The sun really gets the stains out of those cloth diapers! Aiden usually wakes at about 6:30 and I do my morning things with him (change diaper, play a little, nurse).

I will digress a little here and tell you about our living quarters:

Josh and I have a small-ish bedroom that opens to the outside with an attached bathroom. There is another building called the "lounge" that has one open room with a couch, chairs, computer desk/computer, small sink, gas stove (remember to turn the gas tank on!), fridge, tables, etc. Our bedroom does not have air conditioning, just a fan, but the lounge has air conditioning which we use if it is hot outside.

So after Aiden is "good-morning-ed" and Josh is dresed and ready for the day, we go to the lounge. Ryan is usually in the lounge at this time too and we do a little devotional time together. We have been reading a little of James and singing a few songs afterward. By then, another family who is also living here have come into the lounge and we all have breakfast together.

Breakfast is usually toast, cold cereal, fruit (they have some wonderful fruit here!), and chocolate-drink. Today, though, we had eggs, instant grits, and toast! Who would have thought we could have a good Southern breakfast right here in Thailand! Then we clean up from breakfast. We make sure to sweep and put all reminants of food away since the ants here are quite ambitious and they find any food that is out.

By then it is around 8:20 or so and Josh and Ryan head over to the clinic which is a 3 minute walk away. Aiden and I put on our swimsuits and go for a morning swim. The pool is quite nice and we really enjoy our time in it. Then Aiden and I rinse off in the shower and I put Aiden down for a nap. During his nap I try and get some Bible reading in, maybe check my e-mail, work a little more on laundry, or do some knitting. If Aiden gets a good sleep he wakes at around 11. If he wakes before that it has been because his gums are hurting and I get to spend alot of time paying intense attention to him. The lady who helps with the cleaning around here (I don't remember her name since the Thai names are different and difficult for me to remember) may come and take Aiden for a little while.

Josh and Ryan get back from the clinic around 12:30 and we have lunch together. There is a cook who cooks lunch and dinner for us on weekdays (yes, we really feel spoiled!). Lots of times the meal is yummy Thai food but she also knows how to make some western food. For instance, yesterday we had fajitas. It was the cook's first time to make tortillias and she did a good job. They were a little chewy because she used more oil than the Mexican ladies do but they were still quite good. Today we had spaghetti! I am hoping to spend some time with her so I can learn to make some of the tasty Thai dishes she makes.

The afternoons are filled with different activities. We may go to a hilltribe village to help with Bible studies, study Thai language, or on Fridays, help out with a kid's club type of thing where they try and teach the kids some English, and tell Bible stories. Before dinner I like to go swimming one more time. This time I go with Josh so I can have someone help me hold Aiden. Yesterday, Ryan went on a bike ride with some of the boys and then he played tennis with the nurses. Josh played basketball after our swim. For dinner we get yet another wonderful dish from the cook. Then Aiden goes down for the night and we stay up a little longer talking, reading, and doing various other leisurly things. We usually take another shower before we go to bed since it is warm and humid here and it is nice to not be too sticky when we go to sleep.

That's our weekday! We havn't been here over a weekend yet so we will let you know how our weekends are perhaps next Monday.

We love you all, thank you for your prayers.

PS if you want to send us a letter or something you can send it to:

(name)
Chiangklang Baptist Clinic
PO Box 1
Chiangklang, Nan 55160
Thailand


Just send it via regular mail (not UPS or FedEx) so we don't have to pay any pick-up fees. I think it takes about 2 weeks if you send it at the regular speed and about 1 week if you pay the extra cost for faster delivery.