A Village Baby

Abi's first week in the village was a tremendous success. She is a great village baby and our friends in Mae Salong were thrilled to finally have some extended time with her.

Music is an important part of Abigail's life.
Nana wrote her a lullaby.
Daddy makes up songs for and about her all the time.
The Danny Kaye classic "Little White Duck" is her official bath time theme song.
Then there is the beautiful Danny Oertli song that Lori wrote about.

Well the theme continues in our home in Mae Salong, here we have our Akha Mom (one of Abi's Akha Grandmas) singing to Abi in the traditional Akha mode:

Click To Play

We also captured (in still life) some of Abi's other experiences in the village. Following are some shots of her in her beautiful Akha hat, the crowds that gather around her, her Akha family holding her, and bundling up for the "cold weather" in Mae Salong.

Take a close look at that last picture. We are weighing her on the chicken scale at her Akha grandma's home. This is the first time we weighed Abi since she was born. We knew she was healthy, so we didn't bother with weighing her every week and following the percentage charts. After two months she weighs 5.4 kilograms (11 pounds 14.5 ounces).

Tags:

• Akha
• village
• babies

Like Mother Like Daughter?

Tags:

• Abigail
• family

Thank You Hope Chapel!

We just want to take a moment to send out a huge "Thank You" to our home church, Hope Chapel Northglenn, for the awesome care package they sent in honor of Abi's birth. It was filled with adorable onesies, toys and all sorts of other great "baby stuff" (not to mention the goodies they sent for Mom and Dad like black beans and Starburst candies.) We feel so blessed to have a home church who remembers and cares for us so well, despite the distance that separates us!

• Abigail
• church

Nana and Papa

We're so happy that Nana and Papa (Lori's parents) were able to come visit us in Thailand just 13 days after Abi's birth! I say they came to visit "us," but let's be honest here, the main focus of this trip was, of course, little Abigial!

Just days after their arrival, they accompanied us up to Mae Salong for Abi's dedication and Akha naming. What a joy it was to have them there for such a special event! Next, we made the first of three trips to Chaing Mai to apply for Abi's passport. We decided to make a vacation of it and had a great time just hanging around the hotel and eating out at the wonderful international restaurants in Chiang Mai, like The Duke's and Arcoba'leno. Later on, Nana and Papa were a huge help for the Clinic Day in Wiang Pa Pao. They helped us to prepare all the medicines ahead of time and made outstanding "assistants" and "cameramen" on the clinic day!

When we weren't traveling about, we had some great family time at our home in Chiang Rai! Nana pampered us all with some American home cookin' and Papa helped us with a few projects around the house. And of course, we all took turns holding, burping, watching and generally fussing over Abigail whenever we got the chance!

Thanks for coming Nana & Papa! We miss you already!

Tags:

• family
• Abigail