A Fun Trip to Thailand–Part 1

In early July we took the short trip over to Thailand to take care of some visa red tape and to spend a few of our precious vacation days. This time we returned to the place where both Zane and Jude were born, Chiang Mai, which is in the mountains in the north of Thailand. Here are some pictures of our time there, but first let’s take a look at Zane getting his hair buzzed by Daddy in order to prepare for the hot weather.

Also, the day before we left was Canada (July 1), so we went to the only restaurant in town run by Canadians and decked ourselves out in red and white.

By July 4, we were in Thailand, and since our kiddos are also American, here they are decked out in red, white, and blue.

A couple more days after that was Jude’s birthday, July 6. While we weren’t at home and able to throw him a big 1st birthday party, we did do some pretty special stuff. We went swimming, had a birthday cake at lunch, and went to the Chiang Mai Night Safari after pizza and more birthday dessert at dinner (the restaurant gave him a free dessert for his birthday). Here are some pics from Jude Benson’s 1st birthday.

On this one with the giraffe, I’m not zooming in!

That’s it for Jude’s birthday. Stay tuned for Part 2.

June Happenings

Last month was fun, and tomorrow (7/2) we head off to Thailand for a visa run and a few remaining vacation days.  We’ll be there until 7/12, so we’ll be sure to post about that trip once it’s over.  The thing we’re probably most excited about for the kids is the night safari in Chiang Mai (we’ll be in CM the whole time).  At the night safari they drive you in a bus out in the pitch dark, flip on the lights, and there are wild animals all around to see.  We’ll tell you more after we’ve actually done it.

For now, we just wanted to go ahead and recap the month of June.  First off, I (Jeremy) don’t know if Anita has mentioned this, but we got her a sewing machine a few months back and she’s getting better and better at making stuff.  I’m gonna post a few samples of what she’s done lately.

Zane with his new belt:

Callie with her July 4 dress and hair bows to accessorize:

Anita had an Old Navy shirt that didn’t fit right, so she made it into a dress for Callie.  See the process below:

Another dress & headband with flower:

I’ll just go ahead and say that I’m super proud of Anita for taking on this sewing thing.  She enjoys it, and it’s a blessing to the family.  Way to go, Gorgeous!

Another big event for June was that Jude finally stopped eating mushed-up baby food.  Now that he has a few teeth, we just cut up a little of what we’re eating and he does great feeding himself!  Here’s a cute pic of him at a local restaurant sitting at the table like a big boy.

The last big event was that Anita had her birthday on 6/24.  Callie had preschool, and Jude stayed home with our helper to take a nap, but I took the day off and took Anita and Zane to Mickey D’s for breakfast and the newly opened Starbucks in our town (just got this a couple months ago!) to spend the morning together.

After that, Anita and several of her girlfriends went out to lunch together, followed by a shopping trip while Daddy watched the kiddos.

Then for dinner we went out as a family for Indian food, which is one of Anita’s favorites around here.

Here’s a pic of the flowers I gave her for her birthday. 

Happy Birthday, Anita!  I love you and am happy to have you as my wife! 

PS – Happy Canada Day, Sweetie!