Update!

Mackenzie, Emma and I ride the school's van to school. I love it because I spend the time talking and playing with the kids and also trying to read Thai signs. Here are some pictures from the most recent van ride:

He is such a sweetie!

He decided to take a picture

With his mom!

This girl is so loveable! On our first day Mackenzie and I met her she came over and gave us both a biiig hug. She is very friendly.

With her mom! I love this picture. I was able to take pictures of some of the kids with their moms when we dropped them off after school. I think this one really shows her personality!

This woman had a dog and a cat in her basket on her bike. Mackenzie and I were amazed. I wish I could've gotten a better picture of her.

These are just a few of the kids. There are 30 students total. There is so much about them I want to tell you, but I'm also struggling with what I should not say in order to protect them and their identities (also the reason I didn't tell you their names--rest assured, they have names and I do know them, but most importantly so does God.)

We have been so busy these past few days. Mackenzie and I have gotten to work on lots of projects. The most recent/time consuming has been cataloguing the library.

It is such a blessing for these kids to have a library. There is a lady who has overtaken the library renovation project. She's really taken it upon herself to get books donated and has raised the funds needed in order to get new windows in and repainting the walls, etc. She was telling me about how it is really difficult to find Thai children's books, because reading is not really encouraged in Thailand. It is seen as a selfish thing, because when you read, it is an individualistic thing, so you are by yourself rather than in a community of people. As a result, many people in Thailand never learn to read. They know what road signs are, but it is not a pursuit. So there really aren't very many Thai children's books, and to buy them right out from a bookstore, they are very expensive. The librarian told me a book could cost the equivalent of a days wages. There aren't really libraries (as far as I know) except for at schools. SO--our English book collection outways our Thai book collection, but it is okay. It is a decent collection. And we *have* books for the kids to read! It is great. They are looking into another cataloguing system--the one we are using now is rather inefficient. There are some volunteers who are in the area who might take on that task sometime soon.

On another note, Mackenzie, Emma and I decided to go for a walk the other day near our neighborhood. We found lots of food resteraunts and vendors!
(DAD--tell Tanner he would be fine in Thailand, chicken *cough*rat*cough* on a stick is a common thing.)

Bananas taste so much better here.

Some commmon sights:

er....poinsettas (Mom and Dad, will you tell Grandma K.?)

errrrrr......water buffalo?

plants grow even out of rocks here. Everything wants to grow.

Roosters! They just sort of...run around here.

Also! Here's a fun story. The nice couple who invited me to go up the mountain. When we got back from our walk, we were passing by their house and they were home! We got to chatting and they invited us in for dinner :) NOW we'll be having dinner with them every Wednesday. Also, this weekend, we're going to go with them to Lampang, which is south of Chiang Mai about an hour and a half. It'll be a fun adventure! We're going to meet her whole amily. That's what we could gather anyway :). I am grateful for their hospitality and our new friendship. Please pray for us that we would have an opportunity to share the gospel with them, and pray for them to understand us and for God to do the rest. I don't know what they believe, I am guessing they are Buddhist.

Okay, I think that's all for today. God Bless you all! Pray for our neighbors, the school kids and also for one of our teachers (Brittany) she is sick!