Sawasdee Bpee Mai

Happy New Year or Sawasdee Bpee Mai! In Thailand more emphasis is placed on celebrating the New Year rather than Christmas which makes sense considering this is a Buddhist nation. Since returning from our ski trip we have been busy with New Year's celebrations. We hosted Mark's entire administration team to a special dinner at a local restaurant in a private setting with the beach as a beautiful backdrop. The weather is just perfect in the evenings and early mornings, it's not as hot as normal and there are more cool breezes. It was a wonderful evening with his team. He gave a motivational speech as this year will be most daunting with the project coming to completion late 2011 and a special thanks for all their hard work in a most difficult 2010. Pray for Mark as he leads his team, especially for protection as new units will be started up soon, there are many safety concerns.

On Friday night I had to chaperon a birthday party that Dustin and Nathan attended while Ethan joined his Dad for the annual New Year Celebration for the entire organization. I'm including a few of those pictures, I think we missed out by not being there!

I will be traveling on Saturday to Houston to spend time with my mother who has recently been diagnosed with some type of Lymphoma cancer. We are still unsure of the exact diagnosis and prognosis. Her birthday is Sunday, I can't even remember the last time I was with her to celebrate her special day. I will spend 3 1/2 weeks with her and Dad, she will have her first appointment at MD Anderson Hospital this Wednesday so hopefully we will know soon what she is up against. But thankfully she belongs to the ONE who already knows the whole future, we know He loves her so much and we can trust him with her future health. Please join me in praying on her behalf, for restored health, wisdom for her Dr.'s, for Dad as he steps into a care-giver role, for Coli (my nephew) as he runs the boot shop, for my guys as I will be apart from them, safe travels....Thank you for interceding with us for my Mom whom I love very, very much!

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