LOI KRATHONG

The full moon day of the twelfth lunar month is Loi Krathong. Thais in massive numbers congregate around the rivers and open fields to release floating fire lanterns in the sky and lotus shaped baskets or boat with candles and flowers down the river. The most impressive is the release of the floating fire lanterns which they do in massive numbers. This festival area is called "Yi Peng". The monks perform a meditation while people follow along and then they announce that it is time to release the lanterns. Loi Krathong is my favorite time of the year in Thailand. The town is decorated beautifully with a very festive atmosphere and it also marks the beginning of the cool season. Which is glorious here. We went to Loi Krathong last year but unfortunately we had to leave before the releasing of the lanterns because the girls were getting tired and fussy. This year I went with a friend who likes to take pictures as much as I do. What a great time.



Prior to releasing the lanterns the monks proceed down off the stage and ceremoniously light the torches/candles that will be used to light the fire lanterns.

The flame holders are quite ornate

People are starting to get their lanterns ready
The excitement is building as more people are filling their lanterns with hot air.
It is just about time to let them go!
Here we go!
Let em goooooo!!!!!!

This is one of the most spectacular things I've seen! The pictures don't do the event justice.
I keep firing away with my camera trying to get the best shot.

Sometimes it is hard to really appreciate what you are seeing as it is all happening so fast.

I believe there are approximately 3,000+ lanterns being released simultaneously.

They finish that first huge wave of lanterns and people continue to release lantern after lantern until the night sky is filled with little glowing orange dots.

The winds carry the lanterns up and in a swirly pattern and decorate the black sky. The weather was beautiful with clear night skies. What an amazing night!

Towards the end of the evening they shoot off fireworks in the midst of all the floating lanterns.

Groups of monks gathered together to send off a row of floating lanterns (comb loi). The Thais believe at Loi Krathong that when they release the lanterns and float the Krathong(banana leaf basket) down the river they are washing or releasing the years sins away.
UP
UP
AND AWAY!!!!

Bali Indonesia

Acacia has her first break from school during October, so we decided to visit our PC(USA) Missionary loved one Becca Young in Bali. Becca works in PDA Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for the Tsunami area and also teaches systematic theology. I think she has a Master's Degree in just about everything. Let's just put it this way, she is smart! Since all the planets were aligned we were also able to coordinate with our other Missionary loved one Carmen Goetschius from Zambia to join us to soak up the Balinesian sun and culture. Carmen will also accompany us back home to spend a week in Chiang Mai before she returns to Washington State. This first picture is of a Balinese temple built on a rocky outcropping which is a beautiful backdrop at the hotel we are staying in. Thankfully Becca has some sort of residency card and was able to get us rooms for about half off and speaks fluent Indonesian. You ROCK Becca!!!


This is Becca wearing traditional Bali head gear for riding a motorcycle. She says everybody is doing it, besides it feels so good.


This is our wonderful friend Carmen who spent 13 months in Zambia (Check out her blog she has amazing stories and pictures)
We stopped at an Indian restaurant and Carmen is helping Acacia decide on what to order. Acacia is quite the picky eater so Carmen has her work cut out for her. Good luck Carmie!



This is Daddys pathetic attempt at tranforming Acacia into the "Little Mermaid". Acacia also got to bury Daddy in the sand. Then we both ran to wash off in the waves. I think I may still have some sand somewhere on my body in all the nooks and crannys.



Anna loves to ride on Daddy's shoulders!


I asked Carmen to take a picture of the family sitting out on the golf course which has grand views of the ocean and is especially beautiful during sunset.

I was going to put a flower behind my ear, but it kept falling out.

Shelly laying down in one of the many pool side cabanas reading to her hearts content. The hotel also offered free supervised kids activities that the kids loved so they were happy and we got time to just read and relax.


Carmen and Shelly making their way into the jacuzzi amidst the many pools and slides that surrounded the hotel grounds. The kids were in hog heaven with all the pools. They also had a very long twisting/turning slide that was well hidden among all the greenery.


Shelly got to celebrate her birthday in Bali too. So, we had a nice romantic birthday dinner at this beautiful cabana overlooking the ocean. I can't believe Shelly is already 30 years old. Time sure does fly!


This is the birthday dinner cabana from a distance.


The whole Faucett family enjoying the Bali sunset.


Does it get any better than this! Thanks Carmen! Thanks Becca! We had a wonderful time with you all!!!

Poor Tiger Lily

We let Acacia's cat "Tiger Lily" out for the evening about a week ago and didn't see her for about 2 days. She finally showed up in the backyard and was very lethargic and meowed/groaned whenever she was picked up. We saw a lump on her right side and brought her into the vet. We came to find out she had 3 broken ribs and a bruised heart. We thought maybe she was hit by a motorcycle or something, but the vet thinks she was either kicked really hard or hit by some blunt object. She was in the animal hospital for 5 days and we were really worried about her. We've already buried 2 of the girls kittens and didn't want the same fate for this one. We were able to take her home on the 5th day and she seems so much better. I have to give her antibiotics and antiinflammatories for 7 days. She has to wear that bandage around her rib cage for 7 days also. We are very glad to have "Tiger Lilly" back and it looks like she is on the road to recovery.

"Princess Party"

Well,after a couple weeks of trying to schedule a birthday party for Anna and her school friends it finally happened. Of course it was a Princess party. It was a nice little gathering of young up and coming Divas primed for some Princessing around.
Oh my gosh, there she is!!! She looks just like an angel with that amazing glow about her.

































So there's this princess that walks into a castle and tries to order a drink at the ball...... Oh, I've heard this one, it is so funny!




The princesses all had to search the yard for a princess shoe that they got to keep. How great is that?!

As we all know there can't just be princesses, so we had batman too. He's kinda like a prince, sort of.
Chocolate..........Oh, sweet chocolate. HA HA HA HA HA.... MMMMMMMMMMM. Hey, can I have some more? Mommmmmmmmmmmmmm can I have some more chocolate? All the divas got to decorate their own cupcakes. Don't worry all the kids had to give up their keys since they were drunk on chocolate. Happy Princess Birthday Party!!!

Anna's 5th Birthday

Our little girl is now 5 years old and she is already a DIVA. Anna raced down stairs to a table full of gifts and sat down for her birthday breakfast. Mom bought her the perfect gifts-Princess dresses. Anna will wear the same princess dress for weeks. The Thais love it!!!
Whats for breakfast Mom? How about a birthday cupcake to start the day.
Anna tells me that it is all about accessorizing. YOU GO GIRL!
Acacia likes to get in the mix and help with fashion tips too. Anna received 3 other Disney princess outfits for her wearing pleasure.
"There's no place like home", "There's no place like home" Unfortunately the shoes are a little on the narrow side and Anna has wide feet so it looks like she has swollen feet. She walks a little funny in them too. Anna, do the shoes hurt your feet? No..... They're perfect.
Thanks Mom and Dad this was the best birthday ever. I can't believe what great parents you are!!! I mean anybody would be lucky to have you as parents, I can't say enough. I feel honored to be your daughter. Oh, honey please stop you are embarrassing me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ACACIA !!!!!!

Happy Birthday sweetheart!!! (August 28th)I can't believe you are already 7 yrs old. Where did all the time go? Acacia woke up to presents and balloons in the living room. Breakfast was being prepared by Mom.
It's not everyday you get a number 7 shaped pancake with sprinkles. Really a once in a lifetime experience.
We got to celebrate later with ice cream sundaes. Unfortunately, Acacia came home from school with a bad headache on her birthday. The original plan was to have all her friends come over after school and have a birthday party at our house. We cancelled since Acacia wasn't feeling very good and so we scheduled it for next Friday. Her party with all sort of activities was centered around a kitty theme. Acacia loves kitties/cats!!!
So, Mama with her great creativity came up with fun activities and crafts to do, all with kitties in mind. As you can see she is sporting cat ears and a collar. Each child made their own collar and ears in the very beginning and then wore it during the entire party.

We played games like (dog, dog, cat) basically the same as duck,duck, goose. The kids loved it and were able to run some of their sillies out. If you know what I mean.
Acacia sporting her new fashion statement. I think it is Kitty Dior, or something like that. I'm not quite up on the fashion these days. I do like how she is striking a pose.
Anna having fun watching the other girls play pin the flower to the hello kitty while waiting for her own turn.
Acacia is showing her friends how pin the flower on the hello kitty is done. Good job Acacia!!!
The kids also got to decorate their own cupcake with all sorts of goodies to create, what else....... a cat.
This is Miss Melody, Acacia's 1st grade teacher last year. The kids kept chanting for Miss Melody to take a turn. It is hard to refuse 14 screaming girls.
Acacia is leading a game of Kitty says. Are you noticing a theme here. I'll give you a hint......Meeeeooowww!!!
Time for the traditional fishing for prizes. This one was a crowd favorite since everybody received a couple of gifts each.

This last game involved two teams competing against each other by batting a ball with their paws up to a milk dish and then lapping up the milk from the bowl.

Acacia and Tona are the first ones to go and both did a great job.

This is Acacia's friend Jordan showing great kitty technique of lapping up milk. Way to go Jordan!!

I don't know what happened and why they turned, but this ended up being something out of the "Lord of the Flies". Parents finally showed up and picked up their little ones and all was well again.

Happy 7th Birthday Acacia
Love Dad, Mom and Annapurna

"That's Entertainment"

TV...... Who needs a TV when we have non-stop entertainment at the drop of a hat. We have fashion shows, American/Thai Idol shows and So you think you can dance shows. The selection is endless. The girls feel it is their duty to entertain us.
Today we are being treated to a puppet show. One thing you can't see is off camera and that is Anna singing background songs for the production. Acacia did the same for Anna on her puppet show. They really are team players.
Hey Shell check out what Anna is doing! Shell, Shell get up you are missing the best part. Ok, so the productions run a little long and can sometimes be a little hard to follow.
Anna tends to use every part of the stage and has quite the imagination. Sometimes she really surprises us with what she comes up with.
I hope they have tickets available for their up coming shows. I hear they sell out fast! I don't want to be left behind. Break a leg girls!!!!

Love Dad