Christmas in Bangkok

I am not sure what to write. It is Christmas in Bangkok.

I could write about the lovely pictures my family sent from Midland, Texas. They sent holiday wishes,

celebrated Davidson’s victory over Kansas

and wished us a Merry Christmas in Cambodian.

We so miss being there, but this simple gesture brought us back to the family dinner table and their love. The Silver Fox sent a picture that says that she is catless for the first time in her life – perhaps she is looking for a new one.

Susie declared that it is the first time she has been homesick in over a decade. We truly wanted to be there.

I could write about Susie’s parents. They are crazy and wonderful. When we were traveling in the Andaman Sea this week among the beautiful islands, I thought of sailing with Nana and Papa during Thanksgiving.

Papa served in the navy and is an unapologetic sailor. He crossed the Long Island sound in a Sunfish - as a 10-year-old - without a life jacket. This tells you two things. First, he is a talented sailor. Second, he could never work at Camp Champions.

I could write about the Camp Champions team. We are so deeply blessed to work with people that we both respect and love.

We get a chance to serve families doing something that we love. We work with dedicated and inspirational college students, committed high schoolers longing to make a difference and campers that make our lives joys.

But working in a job that matters with people that you love is not the end of it. Our team made this trip possible. From the camp team to the Outdoor School group to day camp operations to our fantastic support team, these wonderful people are so talented that we can travel with just the internet and their skills.

I could tell you how we spent the day.

We went to a huge weekend flea market. The place was massive. I think it was featured in an episode of “The Amazing Race” in order to induce confusion and chaos.

We bought some cool souvenirs and ate street food. The girls liked it. I think Wiley’s soul left his body.

I walked the streets along our neighborhood and came to an odd conclusion:

I do not understand this country. I like it, but I do not get it. They have altars at their homes and at their businesses. These altars are not limited to mom-and –pop places. Here is our apartment.

Here is the local Caterpillar dealership.

They love their monarchs. I mean, they LOVE their monarchs. The king’s birthday is Father’s day. People wear yellow (the royal color) because that is the color of Monday – the day of the king’s birthday.

This city features loves tradition and embraces modernity. They respect families, yet have the wildest of nightlives.

English is so pervasive that we do not even feel mildly confused here.

I just do not quite get it.

Nevertheless, we are happy to be here. Even more importantly, we are happy to be a family. So few things really matter. We might be seeing the world, but all that pales in importance to being here for each other.

As the year winds down, we want to simply say thank you to everyone that has helped to make our lives such a great joy.

We also want to share a couple of fun shots from today.

Here is Ronald McDonald Thai-style: