One year and counting...

     It's really hard to believe that we have officially been in Cambodia for ONE entire year!  We arrived here in Phnom  Penh last February 15th, lived with a Cambodian family for a couple of weeks and then found the home we are currently living in and began our language study!

     At times it seems that time has just FLOWN by...and at other times the days have seemed to drag - you know those days when you just miss your family SO much that you want to pack up and go home.

     This is actually the first time in a few years that we have lived in one place for this long!  In February of 2005 we moved from our home in Wilmore, KY and spent the next 4 months traveling between families and churches while we raised support for our apprenticeship with CAMA Services.  Then in July of '05 we moved to Battambang, Cambodia for 11 months.   After Battambang we moved to Manila, Philippines (for 10 months) where we studied at Alliance Graduate School.  We spent the first 6 months of that time in an apartment in Quezon City and then the last 4 months in a house a little ways outside of the smoggy city near Antipolo.  In April of 2007 we moved back to the US from the Philippines and settled for a bit of time in Lexington, KY while we waited for Aiden to be born.  Then we began several months of traveling back and forth between Texas and Colorado between our families.  In all, we spent 10 months in the States.  And now we have been in Phnom Penh for 12.5 months!!!!  WOW!

     Needless to say we are getting a little 'stir crazy' and feeling the need for a move! ;o)  Ok, maybe not...it has actually be really, really nice to have a place of our own for a bit of time.  However, the time is coming that we will be moving from this city out to the province.  We are still waiting to hear whether we will move to Siem Reap or to Battambang, but our projected move date is sometime in April!

With a new baby coming in a few months time we've got a TON to do so here's how you can be specifically praying for us:

 

          1)  For a decision to come sooner than later on the city where we will move to  (the sooner we know the sooner we can begin looking for a house to rent...which can be a grueling process!)  BUT we also know that this is a big decision for the CAMA personnel here on field, so pray for their wisdom and for God to speak clearly to all of us on which city we are to live in.

         2)  A new home!  There are a few things we are looking for in a home...especially since we'll have two little energy filled boys running around!  We'd like to have a nice outside play area (with NO snakes, and few mosquitos thank you very much!), preferably a quite neighborhood with some other children around to play with, a decent kitchen for me to play around in (Khmer kitchens are quite different than what we have back home...and I want a nice place to make good food my all my boys!!), a nice area where we can really REALLY relax and be a family.  Most homes here have tile floors and tiles half way up the walls which can make for a "cold" feeling and its hard to decorate.  I want my home to not be TOO western feeling, but also to be comfortable and relaxing for us.

** I'm also hoping that our new landlord would be willing to let me paint a bit in the boys bedroom....I've never had the chance to have a "nursery or kids room" and I want to do something FUN....or at least make it colorful for them!

3)  Closure - though our good-byes won't be long term as we'll be back in the city several times a year, we still need to have good closure with neighbors, people at church, and all our language tutors

I'm sure there are more things that I just can't think of at this point, but we'd appreciate your prayers for all these things.