Christmas Carolers

So the night after Christmas we had a special treat. As our family was winding down for bed the children's violin and singing group came by our house for some caroling. They shared with us about five songs and a little dance number too. You never know what you'll see in this part of the world and you must always be ready for a show. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and I wish you a happy new year.

Weekly phone pic

So this week I got my US phone unlocked after quite so time of trying. I tried a few places here and no one could do it so I finally called AT&T and without a pause or care they gave me the unlock code with instructions to unlock the phone. With that I now carry a aspect phone with a camera on it, with which I will try and take photos every week and have a phone pic of the week (hopefully), depicting some aspect of Thai living. Here is the first, this is my brother in law walking the streets of Bangkok, giving you a feel of city strolls.

Life changes

So life can change pretty quickly, moving from one country to another, one job to another, from country living to city living and trading cultures, but the biggest has been my schedule. I find it sad that when the clock shows 9:00 pm I find myself thinking I should be in bed. Now if you know me you know the departure that is for me. I have been a night owl all my life, my previous job had me up till 1 or 2 in the morning and sleeping in was 11 or noon. Now however I wake up at 5:45 am and consistently find myself in bed by 9 or 10. I remember my wife asking if i wanted to watch something on the computer and I looked at the clock and it was 9:15 and telling her it was too late! Yup too late! Sleeping in now a days is 8 or 9, wow what a change. I now feel old not cause my body is aching or my sight is leaving but because I'm tired by 10.

Field Trip

So the a couple of weeks ago Kaiya and I joined the freshmen class on a field trip to a flower garden and crocodile farm and elephant park. It was a cool experience, especially for Kaiya. The elephant show and park just enthralled the little girl, we got to see a show feed the elephant and even feed them by hand. At first she wasn't so sure about it but after a while she wanted to buy more bananas to feed the huge animals, and after the ride she wanted more cause in her words the ride was too short. Thailand is one big adventure for the little one and even bigger for her parents.

More Fruit

So this is a melon apple, not very strange but a little different. It is basically a mini honey dew. It seems sweeter than a regular honey dew but it just may have been the ripeness. The apple melon is a neat little delicious fruit.

Strange Fruit V

So this is a custard apple, it is not an appealing looking thing but it's not too bad. It pulls apart very easily into many little pieces with with little meat pods inside. The flavor is like a pear but the texture is mealy. Not a bad little fruit the texture leaves something to be desired but the taste is nice.

Strange Fruit IV

So this is salak a strange little fruit with a tough skin that you have to squeeze to get open but it has little prickly's that hurt when you do. Inside is a two seeds surrounded by the meat they are connected together and it they look like a little brain. They have a sweet nutty flavor, and I'm not sure they are worth getting pricked for, but the ones I had might have been over ripe. Kaiya enjoyed them but she is loving all the new fruits.

Foods of Thailand

So Thailand is know for it's sticky rice, which most people have eaten with mangos. While on our staff retreat we had a stop at a food place where they were selling sticky rice that was stuffed into bamboo and roasted over a fire. You have to crack open the bamboo to get at the sticky rice, which is sweet and smokey with the flavor of the bamboo infused. They also had sticky rice cooked in banana leaves. Both kinds were good but nothing beats regular old sticky rice with mangos.

The Job

So the responsibilities are many, the school big, the student body huge, the time limited, the task of getting these kids, and some staff, to see that the kingdom of heaven is at hand... impossible. But with God no thing is impossible, in fact the impossible is just the beginning with Him. I ask of all who read this to pray for the salvation of those we minister to here. We must be actively praying before we get active.

Pezzzzz!!

So for those of you worried about my pez addiction, don't worry I have already found 12 new pez. What is better you can't find these in the states so I am actually getting more, because I have my brother being my purchasing agent in the US. There is pez everywhere and now I can get more!

Rainy Season

So here is a downpour on a sunday morning in which I had to go into work to do a presentation. As you can see the driveway was flooding, but not only the driveway but the street all the way to school up to mid calf. I had to walk barefoot in the middle of the road in dirty water while in my good cloths and holding my dress shoes in hand.

Strange Fruit III

So I'm back from the world of no Internets. We now have Internet in our home and will be updating regularly again. Here we have dragon fruit a very colorful fruit on the outside with a black and white center. It's so cool to see a pile of these at the store or market. The fruit is a soft mealy meat with a sweet earthy flavor, it's not my favorite but it's o.k. and very pretty to look at.

Strange Fruit II

So here is Kaiya holding a mangosteen another new fruit to my pallet. As you can see from the picture they have a beautiful red colored exterior that is both light yet hard to cut through. Once you get to the flesh of the fruit you have reached heaven. The meat is fleshy, slightly chewy with flavors that combine grapes cherries and passion fruit. These little fleshy segments are delicious and well worth the little effort to reach them.

Links update

So if you look at the links to the right side you will notice a change. One now links to Alana's blog Thai Tales and the other to our flicker account with the family pics. So click them and check out all of the family's goings.

Strange Fruit

So here is Kaiya holding a plate of rambutans a strange looking fruit with a jelly type meat surrounding a big seed. The taste is hard to describe but I get a hint of a cantaloupe flavor though my wife does not think so. I often think when I see a fruit such as this who was the first person to think they could eat it, it looks kind of scary, bright red with little hairy spikes jetting out all over, but they are tasty.

We have arrived

So our Thai adventure has begun. Here we are on a water taxi, it's quite a neat experience riding on one and seeing the sights from the canal. We were on our way to the Adventist hospital to get our typhoid shots and to check out the rash that I had developed as I was leaving California and had taken over all of my body, (which turns out is the worst case of poison oak I've ever had). So far were adjusting well to the time difference the kids are doing great and Kaiya is eating tons of bananas. The food has been marvelous and the people a great too I am looking forward to sharing more as time goes on and I can find time to update.

New Adventure

So today we board a plane and embark on a new adventure to Thailand! Hope to be posting more often here with pics and stories from another land. Stay tuned for more.

He has arrived

Yesterday March 29, at 12:25 pm Jonah Hunt Montes arrived coming in at 8 pounds even and 19 3/4 inches long. We are all in love with the little guy especially Kaiya who keeps asking about her baby. Alana was a champ delivering the little guy the all natural way impressing the nurses who don't see that much anymore. They should be home tonight and the family will be complete, MoM, DaD, Girl, Boy and Dog. Click on the link on the right side bar on this site to see both Kaiya's and Jonah's newest pics. God bless.

Favorites of o8 Fatherhood

So being a father does change you, in to many ways to mention and in ways you don't even know till way later. I have enjoyed being a father immensely and as Kaiya gets older and is able to interact more and communicate more it becomes more fun. We have started to have father child dates recently or as she puts it ice cream date, and those moments have been awesome and will continue to cherish these moments cause man she is growing fast. I have enjoyed her at every stage and thank God for the blessing she has been to our lives. I just hope and pray that I can be the father God wants me to be and that I can live up to the great responsibility of raising her and the other little one on the way. It is tiring stressful and challenging to have little ones but man is it the coolest thing ever. Enjoy the blogger exclusive pic of daddy and Kaiya being really cool for the camera.

Favorites of o8 the Election

So one of my favorite events of 08 was the presidential election. It was historic, surprising, and very interesting. I was glad to see that for the most part it was a year in which the winner did not use fear or the lowest common denominator. I found myself more than any other election glued to the news shows during important events of the election. Is that cause I'm getting older? I hope not, I think cause of the intrigue of it all. I won't go into all the ins and outs of it, cause by now we've heard it all, but it is one of my favorites of the 08 year.

Best of 08, finally!

So it's been a while since I've blogged and the best of 08 is way late , but better late than never. My first best of goes to Jon Foreman's entry into the solo world. He released four ep's named after the four seasons. An acoustic set of songs that are just plain beautiful and a little experimental. Along with the beautiful music goes wonderful lyrics that speak to the spiritual struggles of Jon which really touch at the heart of the human experience. If you have a chance you must listen to these four ep's which are now available on one album.