Veal anyone?

A lot of highlights to this week. It was my last couple of days before Jack started back to school, so we decided to play, play, play! The week started off with a very hot and LONG visit to Lumpini park, which is always fun. We played at two different playgrounds there and also learned that not very many vendors are out on Mondays, so it's a good idea to bring extra water! We went through our two bottles pretty fast in that heat! We ran into the sister missionaries at the park, who we adore, and had a nice visit with them while the kids were in the swings for at least 45 minutes. No pictures from this outing, but believe me, we had a blast and were very hot and quite sweaty!

Tuesday, our last day before school, we met friends at the children's museum. It was fun to let some of our friends meet for the first time. Scarlett and Heather met us there, along with Mary Jane and her girls, and Jeanette Nielsen and her 5 kids, who she homeschools. It was a GREAT time together, and a great way to spend our last morning before Jack and Scarlett started school. Plus, that night, Jack was exhausted and went to bed quite early!

This is Jack, Narissa, and Scarlett in the huge bubble maker. It surrounds them with bubble until it closes in on them, or more often than not, they karate chop it. They were a fun bunch.

There was an entire house made out of sweets. It was real food that they had hardened somehow, but it looked so good, I caught Jane with green frosting on her lips a couple of times! Very cute!

Jack has really wanted a mo hawk forever, so we decided to give him one. It lasted as long as it took to take this picture. He thought it was pretty cool. We promptly buzzed him to his usual cool cut with absolutely no maintenance. He likes that he looks like his dad, and I like that I don't have to comb his hair anymore, only to have him try to make it spiky the second he walked out of the bathroom. This is his "tough guy" face, if you were wondering. I think his eyes just keep getting greener. You can really see them in this picture. I swear they used to be brown!

Jeff was sick for a couple of days this week, so he stayed home to recover. We loved it. It was nice to have him home, even if he wasn't 100%. He also had a lot of church work to do this week in the evenings, so it took a lot out of him. I loved this picture of him reading to the kids one of the days he was home. He does this all the time, but we rarely catch it with the camera.

Jack's first day back to school! Yay! He was SO excited to be in K2 (the big kids!), although a little apprehensive about entering the purple door, instead of the white. Jeff went in late that morning so he could watch Jane while I accompanied Jack on the bus and sat in class with him for the first bit. He has a darling teacher, Teacher Harmit, who has taught at his school for 23 years now. Out of the 16 students in his class, there are 10 different nationalities. Anything from Finnish to Japanese. Jack is the only full American. I love hearing his classmates talk because they all have unique accents, and most speak a different language at home. I love that he can be around such diversity.

Jack and Jane being silly before going down to catch the bus. I didn't get school pictures this week because I didn't want to add to the chaos and excitement of it all by making him stop and pose all over. I'll get some good ones after Jack gets back into his groove and it won't seem like a big deal.

Jack missed the last week of school last year because of our trip to Utah, so they sent home a bunch of his things the first day. I especially liked this painting of me. Doesn't it look just like me? This boy does more crafts and projects at this school than I've ever seen! He really loves the paints and clay.

This is Jack and Janie waiting for the bus the second day. I think Janie wanted to go with him. I know so many people here that think I'm crazy to not have her in school, but she's just SO young! It's hard to explain that I want her with me. At this age, I'm better than any school!

We went down to get dinner from our favorite chicken lady, only to find her so busy that she only had one chicken breast left. She sent Jeff home with three chicken wings instead of another breast. I wasn't sure if the children would eat it, especially Jane who doesn't eat meat. She grabbed one herself out of the bag after seeing Jack with one and started in on it (Jack, by the way, is about as carnivore as they come!). These are real wings too. Not the fried stuff from pizza hut. Wing shape and everything, just stuck on a stick and grilled. She ate every bit of that wing. I couldn't believe it. I took pictures and even kept the bone because I knew Jeff, who was out for the night, wouldn't believe me. What do you call a girl who won't eat meat, fruit, and very few veggies? This was a huge breakthrough for us! Way to go, Jane!

One day this week, I went to the grocery store and had them deliver the groceries because I was on my way somewhere with the kids. I wasn't there to receive them, so I was in for a surprise when I got home! There was all kinds of stuff there that I'd never seen before! I discovered that I was missing some juice, cereal, and veggies. BUT, I had all kinds of expensive farang food in my fridge and on my counter! We had American juice, taco sauce, canned tomatoes (name brand), fancy peppers, zucchini, and some veal cutlets! I couldn't believe it. After we realized they mixed some bags up, Jeff sprinted to the freezer hoping to find some ice cream. It was an exciting moment for him, but he was disappointed in the end. Poor Jeff. I didn't know what to do about the mix up, so I just emailed the market to let them know what had happened. I never heard back, so we are now enjoyed our brief taste of some farang foods that we definitely wouldn't have paid for ourselves!

So, this picture is of Jane helping me make zucchini bread, because I actually had zucchinis. Yum! My kids are the best "baker's assistants" I've ever had!

We had the privilege of having two of our friends from church over for lunch after our church meetings today. This is Manu and Rajesh, both from India, although different parts. They have both joined the church since we have been in the ward, and we were privileged to be at both of their baptisms. It was fun to hear about their experiences in Bangkok, their background, and especially talk about the church. Jeff handed out home teaching assignments today, and for two brand new members, it was a new concept, but I have a feeling, they will both be fantastic home teachers. They've already contributed to our ward in such a great way. They are so happy and positive and have such a fresh perspective on the gospel and life in general. We felt so blessed to have them in our home and really hope to have them again.

Is Janie cute or what? We call this the Peter Pan pose. I love when they stand with their hands on their hips. Especially when you can see these darling legs of hers! I don't think she even wore pants at all this day. Who would want to cover them up if you don't have to?

Today was a big day at church because Bishop Sampson was released. He is moving back to the U.S. for a bit, then onto the Philippines or Singapore. We will miss him dearly! They had an open house to say goodbye to him tonight at one of the member's homes. He has been fantastic, and we feel lucky to have even had this short time with him.

Brother Andersen is now Bishop Andersen. You might remember him from our Thanksgiving post. We spent Thanksgiving night with his family. There's even a picture of him unscrewing the chair that Jack somehow managed to get his little body stuck in. Oh, that boy. We love Bishop Andersen and are excited to also love him as our bishop.

Also, at this open house, we got to say goodbye to the DeZoysa family. Jeff home teaches them, and Bro. DeZoysa has also been the ward clerk, so we will miss seeing him at the door greeting us every single Sunday morning. They are just waiting on Visas and then they will be off to Canada to start a new life!

I've kind of thrown this post together, so I apologize. It's been a crazy and wonderful week. I'm looking forward to getting back into our school mode, which creates some sort of schedule for us. We love you all!