A Day in the Life of the Garsees

Just Go With It AND General Tso's Chicken

2012-02-11T13:06:00.001+07:00

Seems the life of a pregnant woman is never certain.

I was so excited to enter into the second trimester thinking that my energy would come back. Although, I don't ever remember it coming back when pregnant with Cayden, i thought it will come back with this baby.

To my utter dismay, most days, I HAVE NO energy!

NONE!

Somedays, it's 11am and I'm still in pj's lying on the floor trying to motivate myself for the day ahead.

One day last week I told Clinton that I would be perfectly happy if he got me a hotel room for week and let me sleep! Of course, that's not practical and didn't happen, and when I said it Clinton looked at me, with a very strange look head cocked to the side....like "Are you serious??"

Lots of days this is how I feel, "Someone get me my blankey. I just need to sleeeeeeep!!"

THEN there are days when this gush of energy hit's me and I'm ready to plan my meals for the month, scratch my creative itch in the kitchen making things my pregnant palate dreams about, clean out the cabinets, closets, and the toy boxes.

Friday was an amazing day! I homeschooled Joseph, did some Tot school with Cayden, and started my dinner prep at 2pm!! On that day we had Spaghetti and Meatballs that I got from the The Pioneer Woman and it was delicious!!! I mean good! So good I called Colton and told him, "I made some meatballs that will make you cry. Hurry and come get some."

Then Saturday, I couldn't seem to do anything!! I stayed in my pi's ALL DAY LONG!

I teeter between feeling like a total looser OR giving into my "hormonal state" and throwing a big slumber party watching movies and eating pop corn and staying up late because I have an "excuse".

Tuesday, we had another wonderful day. I got school done with Joe by 1am laid the baby down at 1:30, gathered my ingredients for dinner, took a little nap and began dinner prep at 5:20.

We had amazing Butter Chicken (an Indian dish), and I made homemade Naan Bread that I got from Indian Simmer. It was an amazing dinner. I felt so good and productive, and I don't even have a picture.

Today as I type, it's 11:17 and all I've done is read my Bible dress my children, call my husband and tell him I love him, and eat breakfast.

SO I've decided to just GO WITH IT. Chill out, Amber!

Hey! I'm 40 and pregnant AGAIN! Need I remind anyone that this is my 7th pregnancy and fourth in the last three years!! What do I except of myself?!? Right?? ahem

Right!

For some of the good days this week, here are a few pictures. ; )

Last night, I made General Tso's chicken and it was DELICIOUS!!! I found the recipe on You Tube a while back and after making it several times (it's quickly become a family favorite) have tweaked the recipe to our liking. Started cutting chicken at 5:20pm and we sat down to eat at 6:20! How's that for fast!

Amber's version:
4 chicken breasts (cut very small)
2 eggs
flour

Sauce:
five garlic cloves
five slices of ginger about an inch a piece
1c chicken stock
7Tbls sugar
1/3c vinager
1/4c Hoisen Sauce (heaping)
1/4c Sesame Oil
1T + 1tsp corn starch
1/4c low sodium dark soy sauce
Sesame seeds(optional)

Directions:
Cut chicken in small pieces.
Whisk egg and put chicken in the egg
Dredge in flour and deep fry in hot oil in small batches @375F until golden brown
Drain on paper towel

In a mixing bowel whisk chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, hoisen sauce, sesame oil, corn starch, soy sauce. Set aside.
Slice garlic and ginger into thin slivers then sauté in oil over med low heat until you smell the aroma of the garlic and the ginger. (about a min)
Mix sauce ingredients in with garlic/ginger until bubbles form.
Quickly add the chicken and stir fry until well coated and the sauce thickens.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds

Serve with hot white rice! YUM!!

Last night we had Baked Potato Soup. Talk about easy AND good! This whole dinner was ready from start to finish in 45min!

I like that! I'm into easy.

Baked Potato Soup

Cheddar Biscuits like Red Lobster

And here's a picture of Mr. Garsee playing "Mr. Wolf, what time is it?" with Joseph and Cayden. I have this picture because I was sitting on the porch, which means it was another good day. ; )

Mr. Wolf has caught the Little Pig

Now Clinton's the Little Pig and he's being Chased by Joseph the Wolf

Tell me about your day!

Love
Amber

2012: The Year of Promise

2012-01-16T15:43:00.002+07:00

This post has been a long time coming! Fourteen days to be exact. ; )

I want to share something that God spoke to me for the New Year with you. When reading another ladies blog, she talked about getting a name/theme for each new year. Like what God wants to do with their family for that coming year or what to focus on. Koinonia (communion) or Eucharisto (thankfulness) are some of her themes.

After reading that post, I told God that i wanted Him to give me a theme too. I really liked that idea and want to begin to incorporate it into our life each year. So I began to pray and kept hearing the word promise but couldn't quite get what God was saying.

A few days later, a good friend of mine wrote me a message and told me that God was doing amazing things with Chase in Mexico. My response to her was, "Yes, yes yes! Amen! THIS is the year of PROMISE"

As I was typing it, I could feel the Holy Spirit's breath on it.

About three hours later, I decided to listen to a Bill Johnson teaching on the iBethel website. I went to their Sermons of the Week and you'll NEVER guess what the very first message for 2012 was titled!!!!
2012: The Year of Promise
I flipped out!!!!! I hollered, " Clinton, come up stairs quick!!!" So much excitement filled my heart and soul that God had confirmed His word to me. That this year was going to be a good year and one of overflow and promise!

2011 was a really hard year for me. I think it was a really hard year for many people, and I was glad to see it go and am so excited and expectant for what God has for us in 2012!

Not only am I excited for our family but I'm also excited for the body of Christ as a whole. I thought my word from the Lord was for our family only, but after hearing Bill's word I realized it was for the body of Christ as well! THIS really excited me as I have many friends who've struggled through 2011 too.

So let's put 2011 behind us believe God together for an amazing year filled with many promises!!

Changing gears just a bit, we brought in the New Year with one of the Thai families that we're very close to;(praying that they will give their hearts to Jesus soon).......We cooked together, ate Thai food to our hearts content, then brought in the new year popping fireworks.

Our dinner consisted of an amazing Thai salad made with green mangos over the top of fried fish, grilled chicken and pork, fried fish patties, fried rice, cucumbers marinated in a yummy sweet/spicy sauce! All of it was delicious and anything but traditional. But hey! our Christmas dinner was Pizza so we're breaking all the rules lately and liking the freedom to do so. ; )

Here's a few pictures so those of you in America can see just exactly what I'm talking about and see what you're missing out on. ; )

Yam pla sam lee(mango salad over fish) for the children.

A closer look. Doesn't it look delicious!

I could've eaten all of it by myself!

Pork courtesy my husband.

Delicious nam jim (dipping sauce) for the pork

We ate our spread on the floor (thai style)

cucumber salad

more mago salad without the fish

Lee and Noom our good friends.

Nong Saaw, she's been in our life since she was 8! She's 15 now and loves Jesus!

What was your New Years like?

How did you celebrate?

What did you eat?

What are some of your traditions?

I love to hear from you

Love
amber

Disappointments That Cut Deep

2012-01-07T16:52:00.001+07:00

I just hung up the phone from our social worker in Bangkok, the one who handled Bank's case and who is now handling Joseph's case.

Back in November, she told me to call in January to see if we could have our board meeting.

I called today in hopes that we would indeed get an appointment.

But again, my hopes were dashed as I listened to her tell me that my paper work needed to be translated and we had to get on the books for an appointment and she didn't get our paper work from Songkhla (our province) until December and I have to be jai yen yen (calm down) and and and......as she spoke her voice became a murmur and I couldn't even hear anything she was saying.

I felt disappointment hit me like a thick wave. Tears began to stream down my face, actually gush would be a more accurate description. I was crying so hard that I could barely talk to the woman. She kept saying, "Amber, calm down. Be still. Stop crying it's New Year"

I'm thinking....."calm down, stop crying it's New Years??? Are you serious???" I have been home in almost 3 1/2 years, lady. My family has never seen my last three children. Are you serious?? Calm down??"

So for those of you who don't know, we have one more appointment with the board in Bangkok and then we wait for 6 months while being visited three more times. After that the adoption is final on the Thai side. Joseph becomes ours in name and in authority in Thailand.

AFTER that we wait two MORE years before America we accept our application to make him ours on the American side. We've gone through this whole loooooong process with Bank and we're finished with the two years on the American side in March. We praise God for that!

So for now, we wait.

When I hung up the phone, I couldn't stop crying. My heart was broken. My emotions are high right now as many of you women who've been pregnant can attest to.

Then I remembered something...... The Thai adoption center isn't in charge of my life. They don't dictate when we go home or how long we stay here. God's in charge. When God sees fit that we get that appointment, we'll get it. The End!

I look to the hills from which my help comes from; it comes from the Lord!

Love
amber

Mammas

2011-12-31T10:52:00.002+07:00

I've been contemplating much about the role of a mamma. Mammas are shaping the lives of people each and everyday. What a tremendous responsibility!!

When I look at myself and see many areas where I am seriously lacking, this kind of frightens me. When I see the fear that I allow to grip me, and the lack of faith in my life, I call out to God in my lack and pray that He changes me. I want to be changed into His image. I want to be like Him. I want my children to be like Him. I want my children to be giants in the spirit! I want to be full of faith and emit that to my children.

I long to see ALL the promises God has promised me come to fruition. I long to see my seed be the generals that they were called to be.

General # 1

The other day I had this revelation. I was thinking about all of my children and how hard the enemy has tried to steal our seed. I have three babies in heaven, the enemy tried to take Cayden from us at 37 week gestation, but praise His name I realized that there was no fetal movement and went to see the doctor. That day I had an emergency c-section, two of my boys were thrown away by others and God brought them into our family, and two of my boys, have struggled to follow God and lay hold of the things of God. I've often wondered, "Why?"

Then I heard the Lord speak so clearly to me that my children have mighty calls of God on their lives and the enemy doesn't want to see their destinies fulfilled.

General # 2

Three nights ago, one of my sons was talking to his brother on the phone. He began to encourage him that in a war, privates aren't messed with by the enemy. There's no strategic attack plan to try and take out the privates, but that it's the generals that the enemy wants to take out. As he was talking, I had tears streaming down my face, as the Lord was confirming His word to me. He said to his brother, "......, you're not a private in this army, you're a general and that's why the devil is messing with you so badly. You have to realize the call of God on your life is so great, your talents are so great that the enemy wants to take you out!"

I was floored that my son, could encourage his brother in such an amazing way!

General #3

Two days ago, all of my pregnancy symptoms disappeared and I began to worry. I told Clinton and he said in faith, "remember God gave you a dream and said 'This baby will live'.

General #4

The enemy has tried to take this baby from conception. Not knowing I was pregnant, I went to have a mammogram. I was on the 25th day of my cycle. The tech didn't use a lead apron. On the 26th day of my cycle, my period didn't come and my pregnancy test came back positive. The enemy urged me to have a mammogram as I was fearful because of breast pain. I was moved by fear. When in reality, my breast were hurting because I have a baby growing inside me. He's such a liar. I've succumbed to his tactics way too often.

I'm tired of being moved by fear. I don't want my children to be moved by fear.

General #5 (complete with his Thor sword)

While resting in the afternoon, that same day, I began to get so frustrated that the enemy moves me to fear so easily and I declared out loud, "Satan is after my seed!!! You can't have my seed! God's given them to me to look after to raise up and I will have this baby too. This baby is a general in God's army and you can't stand it!!" Then I began to quote all the scriptures God has given me over my children. My faith began to rise up!!

The next day, pregnancy symptoms were back in overdrive. I was sick from morning until night!! God's kiss on my faith. Then around 9pm, my good friend called me and said she was thinking of me. She said while sleeping she had a dream of a chubby curly headed little girl in our house. : ) Amen!!

So this is my point.

For us to believe God for godly seed no wavering.
satan is after our seed, and we must fight in the spirit for the souls and sometimes the lives of our of our children.
My point is that if God's given you generals, your job is great! We MUST rise up to command our little army and make them into the men and women God created them to be.
Fear can not be a ruling force in our lives. We must be ruled by faith

Is it a big job? You bet!

Can we do it? You bet! We can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength.

I want to leave you with this. I have it taped on the wall of my school room. I copied it from an Above Rubies women's devotional. So very powerful!! (please overlook my penmanship ; )

love,

amber

Letting the cat out of the bag

2011-12-27T16:57:00.001+07:00

Hi! Merry Christmas! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas. We did. Thailand Christmas' are always interesting and never the same. You have to create the mood you want to have with your family because all around you everyone is carrying on as if nothing special were about to happen.

Oh wait! I'm supposed to be letting a cat out of the bag...not be talking about our Christmas. hehehe but I guess in a way it's all related.

We haven't let the news out yet, but I wanted to let it out for you first. I don't really know how many blog readers I have but if you're still reading my blog you must be pretty faithful cause I'm not too good at keeping it up.

Anyway....there I go again. I'm pregnant!!! I'm 10weeks in a few days. I haven't gone to the doctor yet and don't plan on going until around 13 or 14 weeks. All of my other pregnancies were so governed by fear, and anxiousness that we've decided to trust God on this one. I don't want to run to the hospital and get an ultrasound to "confirm" my pregnancy.

I'm VERY pregnant! No one can sleep like a pregnant woman. I'm taking two hour naps and going to be around 10:30pm and waking around 8:30am! I'm also extremely nauseous!! I've never been this nauseous with any other pregnancy. This too is a good sign for someone who's had several miscarriages. All of my symptoms help my heart to be at ease that all is well.

The baby's due on Clinton's birthday, July 28th. And for all the curious minds... this ones our last. I turned 40 this year and my old body just aint what it used to be!!! ; )
If it's a girl we'll be happy but if it's not we're totally fine with that. Actually after having all these boys i can't really imagine having a girl. Daddy's still holding out though.

So back to Christmas. Christmas Eve, we took the family to eat Japanese food! The baby was craving wasabi. Yes, I know, folks, we've been in Asia waaaay too long. But none the less. That's what we had and it was wonderful. We ate and ate until our hearts were content. Colton and his wife joined us which made it all the more cozy.

We all went back to our house to watch Home Alone. Don't' ask me?!? I think it was Colton's idea. So glad it was late and I made Joe and Cayden go to be because that movie is filled with stinky attitudes.

The next morning, we did Skype with Chase and Nonnie as we opened our presents. It's been so hard Chase being gone but am so thankful for technology!

So then came the preparation of the wonderful Christmas meal, right?!? WRONG. I had planned it all out the day before and even did all the shopping for it. Colton requested Mexican. So the menu was quesadillas, hot sauce, tacos, and cheese dip.

BUT, my pregnant body wasn't cooperating with the plan. I kept talking to myself all day and trying to get myself excited about making the sacred dinner, but it just wasn't working. Suddenly, at 1:45 the pregnant sleepy hit (that i can only compare to jet lag) and there's not escaping it. I woke from my nap at around 3:45 still not excited about making Christmas dinner.

Finally, at around 5pm I timidly asked, "Colton, would you be terribly disappointed if we didn't have a traditional Christmas dinner and ordered pizza instead?" He was like, "No, not at all. Pizza sounds good to me. His wife was really excited that she didn't have to eat Mexican as was Bank. " So pizza it was!! At 7:30pm our pizza and hot wings arrived, and we enjoyed one another's company without all the fuss of making a Christmas dinner.

We ended the evening watching White Christmas, which has become a family tradition. Heck, at least we still have some family traditions! ; )

Here's a few pictures into our home.

This is our advent pockets we made when Clinton's mom was here last year.

Winter painting my amazingly talented husband painted.

Our sweet tree

Hark the herald angles sing, Glory to the new born King

How was your Christmas? I'd love to hear some of the things you and your family do.

Love,
Amber

What's on my mind

2011-12-07T00:15:00.000+07:00

My heart is so heavy this week!

I want to bring you into a little part of my world and share my burden with you. It's my desire in sharing, that you would get the burden too and join with me in prayer for this family. I'm going to try and give you a little background and also paint a picture for you.

Three years ago, our team met this family who were living in abject poverty. The mother and father whose names are Bia (mother) and Oh(father), were only 28 at the time. Both of them enslaved by the sprit of poverty, and laziness. The father in chains to alcohol. At the time they had 6 children and the mother went to jail shortly after for several months.(breaking and entering).

When we met them the two oldest daughters, who were 9 and 10 at the time, had never gone to school and there were no plans of them joining school. All the children ran around naked in utter filth all of the time(except the two oldest girls, of course). Though there were serious problems in the home the mother and father loved each other, which is a plus. He had always been faithful to her even during her many long visits to jail. Though much of the time he would spend passed out drunk, he still loved his wife and kids the best he knew how.

Fast forward to today, they now have 8 children. The father is no longer enslaved to alcohol but is enslaved by a much bigger demon....Ice and he's pulled his wife into his addiction with him. So what used to be a pretty mild mannered drunk has turned into a raving wife beating, gun slinging maniac!! He's kicked her and all the children out more times than one and attempted to cut off the fingers of his mothers husband, which forced them to move out.

He's now selling ICE for a policeman who also pays him with prostitutes. So now his hearts turned away from his wife and his children. He beats her, kicks her out. She leaves for a few days and then returns. This has happened twice just this month.

Now this grandmother has played a vital role in the lives of these children as the mother was too lazy to raise them, incarcerated, or pregnant and the father was passed out somewhere. Now she's gone.

Thak, a beloved friend and team mate took in the two oldest daughters three years ago so that they could attend school. At the time the girls were 9 and 10 and had never been to school, and there were no plans for them to go to school. So when schools in session they're with her. When there's a school break they go back home to be with their parents. Both girls have been either number 2 or 3 in their class for the lsat three years!!

But as we have it now, both parents don't want any of the children. They came and dropped them off to Thak, all eight of them, several weeks ago and haven't been back. Thak brought the two littlest ones back home three days ago because she was so stressed out, going from two to eight all in one day. After one day the father called and said, "you have to come get these kids. I can't handle them." So we got in the truck and picked them up.

When we walked in the house, the air was filled with the smell of drugs. There were shoes lined up at the top of the stairs and the door was closed. There were a room full of people smoking ICE. The mother came out of the room, holding the smallest baby and the two year old clinging to her leg. She sat down on the stairs eyes glazed over and said,"Thak you have to take them. I can't do it. I'm so dizzy. My heart's racing"

Tears began to stream down my face as I stood in this hovel of a house and looked up the stairs at a naked baby girl and a lithe brown eyed boy whose face was crusted over with dirt and snot.

Thak said, "Bia, go get Bii Mai some clothes she soaking wet with pee." Bia sat on the stairs and looked at her dazed and confused. Eyes glassed over. Thak went up the stairs took the naked baby and the dirty little boy and we headed back home.

My heart was heavy, friends. My heart is heavy. I haven't been able to sleep for the last few nights thinking about the house, the mother, the father.

Here's the front of the house.

This is the downstairs. The floor is covered with red dirt that runs in from the back door when it rains. As you can see there's no cleaning going on in this house.

There's standing water about 4in deep in the bathroom. The black on the floor is...well....who knows what it is.

Here's a picture of Bia, very high, holding her last baby Bii Mai (New year). This was the evening we dropped the kids off.

This is the room where the get high. There's people over all day and all night either buying drugs or smoking drugs with the mother and the father. Things are left just as they are. When they're done eating they just walk away and leave the paper/wrappers there. The cigarette papers and butts are scattered all over the floor. Filthy clothes lie in piles all throughout the house.

This is the community bedroom. To the left, the mother is sleeping in a drug induced coma as the small little girl lies in her own feces and urine. with sweat dripping down her little face.

Dum (Dark) third child/ 9 years

Uan (Cubby) 1st child/12years

New Dii (Good) 6th child/3years

Pii Tak(defender) 7th child/2years

Tuut(angle: renamed by Thak) 2nd child/11years

Bow Yai(Big boy) 4th child/6years

Bii Mai(New Year) 8th child/1 year on Dec 11th.

Thak with two littles hanging on her.

I didn't get a picture of child number five. His name is Eeat.

So here's my burden. I can't get Bia and Oh off my mind. Their addiction plaques me. My heart aches for them. My heart aches for the children. My heart aches for all the young boys that come in and out of their house to buy drugs..lives wasted. My heart aches for all those addicted, all those wrapped in chains and living their lives as slaves.

Love
Amber

What a week!

2011-11-27T15:49:00.001+07:00

This past week was something else! Between rowing Cranberry Thanksgiving, starting a new exercise regime, and preparing for the actual Thanksgiving, I had my hands full! Oh and did I mention trying to corral Cadyen, who is into EVERYTHING!

Here are my two exercise buddies. We're doing in home walking with Leslie Sanson. This is how I lost 28lbs before I got pregnant with Cayden.

They both went and put on shoes cause mommy had shoes on.

After about five minutes this was their position. ; )

And THIS my dear friends was my house after 30min of walk walk walking!

Tomorrow I'll post some pictures of our Thanksgiving feast! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did!

Love
Amber

The Zoo

2011-11-17T21:55:00.001+07:00

It's rainy season here so our family days have been spent in doors. But last Saturday, God held back the rain! So we headed to the Zoo. I took lots of pictures, but only posted a few. I was having so much fun with my camera that Bev bought me!! It takes amazing pictures!!

This area is for the deer. There's no fences or anything around them. They roam free through this little forrest area. We saw about 20 of them. They're so beautiful! I love this one of the mamma and her baby fawn. So sweet.

Joseph loves to feed the elephants. He's grown up so much. This picture was taking me back two years ago when I was pregnant with Cayden. We were on family vacation in Kho Lak and we went over to Phuket to see an animal show. Joseph was petrified to feed the elephants. I think I even have a few pictures of him crying. Now he's got his own basket and he's feeding them on his own!

Need I say anything?!?

"Look at this elephant, Daddy."

He stuck his tongue out for the picture. ; )

I think this picture is so amazing it almost doesn't look real. I didn't do any photo editing at all. This is a la natural.

This guy was putting on a show for us! He swung around on his rope like crazy!

Love this shot!

Here's a picture of the water park they've added to the zoo. We were so excited to go but were sorely disappointed once we arrived.

When we arrived there were village children running around naked, little boys standing in the pool peeing, people with food and drinks by the pool, people swimming in their jeans...need I go on. There are several reasons that the pool was heavily populated by the less cultured crowd. (i'm trying to be kind here, people. I'm really grasping for the right words)

For starters, they don't charge any extra money to get into the water park. You pay your $2.50 to get in the zoo and you get in the water park too. This invites the less fortunate to come by the dozens........ Truck loads of them!
Second, the don't require you to wear a bathing suite. There are really nice water parks in other parts of Thailand that require you to wear not only a bathing suit but also a swimming cap. If you don't have one you can rent one for $1 or 2.

You probably think I'm being mean and exclusive, but I'm not, really! I love being with Thai people city and village alike. I mean I spent many of my first years in Thailand in the slums. I really love the poor.

But one thing I really have a hard time with is seeing a new place, which took a lot of money to build, be ruined by ignorance or lack of appreciation. I see the destiny for this water park if they continue on this path.

One of the times we got out of the pool, I noticed something white on Clinton's cheek. I was like, "Uh, honey, I think there's some snot on your cheek." He reached up to wipe it off and sure enough someone else's snot that was in the water had made it's way to my husbands face.........UUUUUGH!

Need I say more, people?!?

Peekaboo Wednesday

2011-10-26T22:36:00.001+07:00

I thought it would be fun to invite you into a day in our house. I know, I know! You've all been dying to see what happens at the Garsee home on an hour by hour basis. We live such exciting lives who wouldn't want to know. Right?!? (wink)

Although, I think I should add a disclaimer to this post in Cayden's defense: Cayden was very sick so this day wasn't the typical as far as his attitude, but none the less it was an hour by hour play up until the doctors appt at 5pm.

9am So here's the first pic of the day...Cayden crying as his daddy's leaves for school. Please remember he's sick. Oh! and ignore my filthy door

10am Breakfast is over and I'm cleaning up the dishes while the boys are playing with water. Pouring, measuring, getting REALLY wet. But they were having fun! That's all that mattered at this point. ; ) and ignore my dirty refrigerator and dirty cabinets. ; 0

11am The next two are of Cayden as he has "blanket time" while I teach Joseph. Oh joy!

Please please let me off my blanket!

Joseph matching pictures to words! Way to go, Joe!

Cayden's fine motor skills worksheet. ; ))

11:45am Fall leaves art project. He loved doing this one. It was so much fun

Here's the finished product. We made lots of these and added them to our bulletin board. I'll put more pics of that up soon.

12:30pm Lunch... I had to put a picture of Cayden in his highchair. Since he could stand, he's been standing in his highchair. We've spanked, hollered, taken his food away....to no avail. So we just let him eat standing up. As you can see, I'm super mom and his lunch was nutritious banana muffins. Yes, I gave my child banana muffins for lunch. He was sick.... what can i say.

Joseph and I had noodles for lunch, but I don't have the space for pics.

I thought I had taken more pics, but i guess the day got away from me. The last one of of us on the way to the doctor.

Hope you enjoyed these pics. Next time, I'll try to get them all the way to bedtime. ; )

Trip to the Northeast

2011-10-21T18:11:00.002+07:00

Here's a cute picture with beautiful mountains in the background to give you a little glimpse of what our surroundings were like while we were up North.

I've been so busy since we returned from the northeast that I haven't even been able to post about our trip. My days are so full, my nest is so full and I'm a blessed woman.

But on this cool Friday afternoon, I'm sitting on my sofa watching my little boys play the Wii and I decided there's no better time than the present to post!

We went went up to our good friends, the Stubenrauch's house for a prayer retreat and then spent a few days in the big city of Bangkok.

As many of you know we worked with Brian and Marybeth for ten years. We moved to Thailand together, had babies together, celebrated birthdays together, baptized new Thai believers, graduated three classes of Bible school students, started a village church and many many more amazing things... but God called them to another part of Thailand back in May. So we were able to go and spend a few days in the cool mountains of Leuy, laughing, singing, praying and EATING! ; )

Our family, well ME if you get right down to it, decided the view was so amazing that it would be a PERFECT place to take a new pictures. The rice fields were so green and lush, who could pass up a pic.

Here's Chase doing what he does best....loving on his little brother

All the brothers!

Married couple

Beautiful Joseph

There's more pics to come.......

School room pics

2011-09-26T21:19:00.002+07:00

I know it's been a long time coming but here it is in all it's glory. ahm

First, I wanted to show you one of the sections of our bulletin board where i have the sight words listed. I saw this caterpillar on someone else's blog but I didn't want to draw millions of circles. Okay maybe not millions, but i didn't want to draw ANY circles. SO! I went to BHG website and found these amazing labels I looooove them. There's 27 pages of labels that you can pick from. Or if you're like me you'll be compulsive and print them all off. ; )

Here's sweet Baby Cayen showing off the new school room table.

Add caption

Here' the view standing at the front door. To the left I have all of our supplies, art, play-doh, crayons, map pencils, and some learning boxes for Cayden. LOVE this side of the room!!! On the right side are all the school books and some of Cayden's toys. Then there's "the" desk where all the magic happens. hehehe On the second shlef of this said desk is my beloved new best friend. THE LAMINATOR. Under her is the printer but you can't see it. You can also see at the bottom of the desk my file folders. LOVE those too!!

I'm a file folder kind of girl!!

Here's the left side again just because. ; )

A full view of our beloved bulletin board!

Another view of our sight word section of the board. It will be fun to see this caterpillar grow! I have about 100 site words to add, four each week. We might have to open the window to the left to give him room.

This wall is where we're learning our days of the week and keeping track of the whether. I'l be adding lots of cool stuff to this wall. It's on it's way!! I went nuts on Amazon one night while lying in bed. It was 1am and waaay too late for me to be up. I spent our food money for the month. The next morning Clinton asked for some money and I said, "We don't have anymore." He replied, "Excuse me?" I said with trepidation, "Well, last night, ahm. you see I stayed up way too late and...well... you see I used all of our money on school supplies." I won't tell you how the rest of the conversation went. ; )

And I had to add this pic because as I was heading up the stairs with the camera around my neck, I walked into the boys room to sing and pray and this is how I found baby Cayden. He's been really sick for two days. You can keep him in your prayers.

Printing, Cutting, and Laminating

2011-09-25T21:22:00.000+07:00

Today baby Cayden woke up with a fever, so we weren't able to go to church. Hummm What to do??? I decided to finish my task at getting the school room ready. Oh what a time I had. In between wrestling scissors, pencils, puzzles pieces out of Cayden's hands, I finished organizing the school room. Complete with labels, a white board on the wall, and a bulletin board decorated for fall.

I can't tell you how much fun I'm having! Throughout the day I reminisced about schooling the older two boys, and can I tell you it wasn't this much fun. In fact, I remember being scared out of my head and feeling like I had NO idea what I was doing. Wait a min! I didn't know what I was doing!! I frightened poor Chase through his learning how to read experience and probably scared him for life in the arena of learning. Oh His grace! I thank the Lord for every rememberence of the scripture, "My children are taught of the Lord and great will be the peace of my children" That's one I cling to, friends. ; )

Anyway, I could sing this next paragraph....the rest of the day was spent getting curriculum together! I printed, laminated, cut, and pasted ALL day long. I actually JUST finished a few mins ago. If i had any idea a laminator would be so much fun I would have bought one long ago. This could be my new hobby. I've laminated everything I could get my hands on. Flash cards, labels, school work, Cayden, my lunch. Oh wait! Just kidding. ; ) But it's possible. If I could laminate my house I just might try.

If you don't have a laminator, go out and get one! Quick! You're life will never be the same!!

i CAN'T WAIT TO START school tomorrow!! We'll be doing our Sing Spell Read and Write, BFIR "Angus Lost", studying some site words, and doing a Fall craft. ; )

For baby Cayden, we'll be doing some sewing, blocks, and counting fun with cereal. WE'll see how this goes.

Pics coming soon. I promise!

Kindergarden/Tot School

2011-09-24T09:21:00.006+07:00

Yes, I know I'm a little late but I guess late's better than never, right?? We've been doing school for the last four weeks, but just recently I've been introduced to many amazing homeschool blogs. To be honest, i was considering putting Joseph in school. After homeschooling for 13 years, I just didn't have any steam in me to keep going. BUT! God is so good to give us just what we need when we need it.

This weekend, I'll be spending time getting our school room ready. With Chase leaving, with him goes all of his music equipment. And he has a lot. So our small room was a school room/music room/office, but will now be my office and school room!!! I'm so excited!

I'll post some pics when I'm done. I have lots of fun things coming from Amazon, and CBD books, and Rainbow Resource. I can't wait to get it all and start hanging things on the wall. So much fun.

I was up until 1:30am last night reading blogs and getting ideas.

If you're a homeschooler to little ones I'd love to hear your ideas or see pics of what your Tot school looks like.

Here's a link to one of the sites I'm currently gleaning from for Cayden:
Tot School
Totally Tots

And here's a few I'm gleaning from for Joseph:
Homeschool Creations
Confessions of a Homeschooler
Delightful Learning

love Amber

Our baby's a man

2011-09-23T19:51:00.001+07:00

Chase the lover

Chase the thinker/protector

the photographer/ and man does he have an eye

The stud. He's too good lookin for his own good.

The waiter. He's got more patience than all of us!

Full of Joy

The Serious

Letting go

2011-09-23T15:58:00.001+07:00

As many of you know, life with teenagers tends to be on the exciting side. They're always on the go. There's always a new mission, a new quest, or something new on their horizon.

Our Chase Tanner, is heading out again. This time he's going to Mexico. We're not quite sure how long he'll be there, but we're believing that God's going to do great things while he's there. He'll be spending time with our good friends the Pruetts and the Pricers. He's going for the purpose of doing an internship. If you would have asked me several weeks ago what I thought Chase would be doing with his life in the further, I can assure you Mexico would have never been on my list.

As a mother it's always a bit scary when your children leave the nest. You never know what to expect. Uncertainty feels so thick. Sometimes I can feel choked by it. As I write this post I'm quite emotional and have tears flowing down my face. Why is the unknown so scary?

My prayer is that with the same degree God protected him last time, he'll protect him again. With the same love He kept him, He'll keep him again.

Oh Father, my prayer is that you be with him and guide him. Lead him and protect him. Love him and hover over him. Cover him and hold him.

Pics from Joseph's birthd

2011-06-20T20:42:00.001+07:00

I know it's taken a few days for me to download the pics. So sorry. I've started a new exercise routine and started back homeschooling with Joseph, so time is a commodity around here. ; )

We had a wonderful party! We invited some of Joseph's Thai friends over, played games, ate Issan food(Eastern Thai food), ate cake and opened presents. He had a wonderful day despite the fact that Lily(his new friend), and the Stubenrauchs weren't here.

At first, I thought we'd have a low key party and just have our family, however, when I asked Joseph what he thought about that, he was almost indignant. He said, "No, Mommy, I want ALL my friends here"

I said, "Joseph, who are ALL your friends?"

He replied, "You know! Everyone."

I questioned, "Like who?"

He said, "Lily, the Stubenrauchs.... everyone"

Me: "Oh I see. Everyone. But there's just one problem, Joe, the Stubenrauch's don't live here anymore and Lily doesn't live here either."

Jo: "Mommy! Lily was just at my house. She can come for sure."

After much explanation, I convinced him that none of those people could make it but that his Thai friends could come. He was happy with that idea.

He's our social butterfly! He loves lots of people and lots of action.

This first pic is of him and his cake. However, in all my craziness, I forgot to put the long awaited for sprinkles on the cake. He talked about those sprinkles for days, but in all the preparation we BOTh forgot!

This sign was on the table with a piece of candy for when Joseph woke up. Because Clinton leaves before Joseph gets up he wanted him to have a little something special. Sweet Daddy!

I'm not sure why I added this picture exactly! Except for the fact that I love pink lemonade and it was so pretty in this glass container, but my picture didn't turn out near as cute as the real deal.

Joseph's friends. They're all within 6 months of each other. The little girl in red, Ice, is just 15 days younger than Joeseph, then Neuy who is only 3 months younger, then S who is 6 months younger.And our Joseph is smaller than all of them. sigh.

New fishing pole! He loves it!

Our dinner. So Yummy.

All the big kids where there too.

Daddy made pin the tale on the donkey. They had so much fun!

Cayden wanted to give it a try too.

And bean bag toss. Only ours were with socks that were folded inside one another. ; )

Last but NOT least the light sabers! Daddy hit the jackpot with these! He's gone to sleep with them every night since.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSEPH! OUR LIFE IS SO MUCH BETTER BECAUSE YOUR'RE IN IT!

Joseph Clinton turns 5

2011-06-17T16:27:00.000+07:00

Our Joseph Clinton turns 5 today. His order was for a chocolate cake with chocolate icing with chocolate chips and sprinkles. ; )

He's his mother's child!!

Flowers in the vase. Check

Balloons hung. Check

Streamers hung. Check

Cake baked. Check

Icing made. Check

House cleaned. Check

Okay, good! We can have our party now!

I'll have pictures of the party later on tonight.

love you
Amber

Joy

2011-06-16T13:49:00.004+07:00

For most of my life, even saved, I've thought that joy was found in a destination, in a person, a new something and I've always ended up disappointed. Walked away empty.

I ebbed and flowed with circumstances. In those peak moments living excited. Fully alive... only to crash into depression, or disappointment when back home or familiar or old.

I lived for the when. When these boys grow up, when I'm finished homeschooling, when i move to the mission field, when my children love the Lord with all their hearts, when we go on furlough, when I get pregnant, when the baby's born, when the adoptions are finished, when i get a bigger house, when I loose weight, when they're all married, when we go on vacation, when when when...... always "when"

I've missed chunks of life always looking. The hand positioned at the forehead in search.

It wasn't until recently that I've realized that joy is a condition of your heart, it's a disposition that you can attain through having a thankful heart in ALL THINGS and a heart that trusts Him in ALL THINGS. It's living in His grace. Soaking up the rain, embracing adversity, seeing Him in your dry circumstances. Seeing that there's always a well. For those in search of water, there's always a well.

"Oh the joys of those who trust the Lord" Ps 40:4

"May the God of Hope fill you with all joy as you trust in Him, SO THAT YOU MAY OVERFLOW" Romans 15:13

One author says, "The secret to JOY is to keep seeking Him in the place we doubt He is" She adds, "Inserting VERBAL gratitude into stressful situations is almost like being healed of mental blindness. I've begun to see again! The human experience is the sum of what the soul sees and I see exactly what I attend to and what the eyes focus on is what the life is" (emphasis added)

Our lives are what we make of them. "We don't have to change what we see, we have to change the way we see."

Oh to live on higher ground. I've started an ascent. I've not arrived there yet, but my vision has been lifted. There are lights on all around me. Scriptures written on my bare walls brings life to my soul. Trusting Him. Giving verbal gratitude in the most ridiculously hard situations. My husband looked at me in awe last week as I gave thanks out loud to a rebellious heart that was spewing out hurtful words. He began giving thanks too. It's contagious.

Do you need to come up with me? Do you want to come up? Try it. Try to give thanks as many times a day as you can remember. Give thanks when things are hard. Look for Him in your laundry. Look for him in your messy house. Look for him in the face of your crying baby. Look for him in the face of those who are hard to live with. Your dirty, hot house. Your squabbling children. In your lonliness. In your empty bank account. You fill in the blank.

Look for Him and thank Him in the ugly and messy situations of life. Thank Him instead of complain. See what will happen.

Give thanks in ALL things today.

Love Amber

A wedding

2011-06-07T11:12:00.000+07:00

Well, it took me long enough to figure out how to actually get this many pictures up on a post, BUT I DID IT.

Spent the entire day, had babies running around with dirty diapers, house a mess, pj's on until noon..... but i did it! Oh the sweet feeling of accomplishment!

The only problem is that the pictures aren't in order how they happened. You have to look at the first three pics and then go to the end of the pictures and work your way backwards OR you could go to my flicker site and go to Sets "Colton's Wedding"

Not sure why they are from last to first but that's for another time. ; )

Hope you enjoy looking through them. I would love for you to leave a comment.

love
amber

Colton's wedding pics

2011-06-06T21:23:00.001+07:00

ambergarsee's photostream on Flickr.

men and phones

2011-05-19T11:18:00.000+07:00

I've always wondered WHY men have to walk when they talk on the phone. My husband has done it as long as I can remember. Anytime he's on the phone he paces back and forth, but usually leaves the house and walks around the yard. If he's having a significant conversation that I would like to be "let in on" I have to follow him around as he paces.

As my boys grew up and began to talk on the phone they too paced!

Perplexing.

This morning, while Cayden was napping, Joseph was asking me if he could call the Stubenrauchs. I called Mary and explained that all morning Joseph's been asking me to call. She told me to hold on and put Micah on the phone.

AS SOON AS THE PHONE WAS IN JOSEPH'S HAND, HE BOUNCED OFF THE COUCH AND BEGAN TO PACED AROUND IN CIRCLES ALL AROUND THE LIVING ROOM!!

What is is about the male species that compels them to walk and talk??? Why can't the sit still??? If you have any ideas on this phenomenon I'd love to know.

Sadness

2011-04-29T21:02:00.000+07:00

It's with great sadness that I tell you that we've lost our baby. We went in for our first prenatal visit, and the doctor wanted to do a routine ultrasound to make sure everything was okay.

To our dismay, there was no heartbeat. I was 9 weeks pregnant but the baby only measured 6w5d. Our hearts were once again crushed by the loss of a child. There our precious little baby was, we could see it in the sac surrounded by amniotic fluid, but the heart was still.

Each time we face something so challenging, it causes us to cling to God even more. In our times of confusion and pain, if we reach out to Him, our faith grows!

I have no idea why our baby died, but I trust God in ALL things. And I'm trying to be thankful for ALL THINGS. A friend introduced a book to me that's impacting my life greatly "A Thousand Gifts". This is an amazing book that talks about how to bring joy into our everyday mundane, lives. Some people don't live mundane lives, but most of us housewives/stay at home moms are living very mundane lives. If you're not naturally geared to be happy and upbeat you can get very bored and discouraged easily.......that would be me. But this book brings things into great perspective and is helping me to see God and good in ALL things.

A scripture that God gave me the day we found out our baby died was in Psalms 118:13
"I was pushed hard so that I almost fell, but the Lord God was there for me" That's a powerful scripture and it describes exactly how I felt and do feel. Actually all of Psalms 118 and Psalms 20 were both tremendous encouragements to me.

I thank God for His word! It brings life.

What are some of your struggles and how did God meet you?

I would love to hear from you.

Fresh Off the Pres

2011-04-03T21:05:00.000+07:00

Well, this is especially for my blog readers. I haven't made it Facebook official yet. We'll wait a few more weeks for that.

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!

On Cayden's 1st birthday we found out that I was pregnant. That will make this baby and Cayden the exact same space apart as Colton and Chase. The neat thing is, we didn't even plane it like that!

God is so good!

We're so excited!!!! Baby Garsee is due in November!!

Love

Amber

Musings about the pee problem I'm having in my house

2011-04-03T19:40:00.001+07:00

If any of you are fortunate enough to have little boys, or a husband I'm sure you've experienced the problem that occurs in the bathroom on a very regular basis. You're bathroom being overtaken by the stench of pee, the drops of pee on the seat, and the slim of pee on the floor.

I am the blessed mother of 5 boys and the wife of one lovely husband, causing the pee problem in my house to have escalated to unmanageable degrees.

I thought I had railroaded the problem when one day I emphatically proclaimed that, "ALL BOYS MUST sit while peeing". After waking every morning and then getting up from the toilet with my bottom wet from sitting in someones pee, I finally exploded and made the proclamation.

The first morning pee of the male species comes with such a surge that it sprays EVERYWHERE! It's like a cloudy mist that fills the bathroom. And if there's no mist, there's always drops left behind.

Yesterday morning, with eyes barely open, I went into the bathroom and sat down and before too long I realized that my feet felt slick and slippery. I looked down and there was a small puddle where someone's pee had trickled down to the floor, and now my foot was resting in this smelly pool.

I yelled down the stairs, "WHO JUST PEED IN THE UPSTAIRS BATHROOM???" Certain the answer would be Bank, my husband answered, "It was me" My husband, who always sits, had decided to stand that morning and those last little trickles wound up on the floor..........ugh! The battle lost again.

I find pee on the back of the seat, on the seat, on the floor, and sometimes when Joseph is feeling artistic, I've found it on the wall.

I feel I've lost the pee war........I now have baby Cayden another little boy and with the failure to train the ones I have now, it's certain he'll follow the other boys and their wild untamed pee ways.

If any of you mothers out there have any suggestions, there's always welcome! ; ) I don't the think older ones are able to be trained but maybe just maybe I'll have luck with the younger ones. sigh.........

Love,
Amber~

Birthday party for our baby

2011-03-26T16:47:00.000+07:00

These birthday pictures are not in order. The ones under this post are should be the first ones in the series. I didn't realize that it would only let me add so few pics and posted the others first. Note Cayden's little shirt with the number 1 on it. ; )

Take this hat off!

Bank is turning into a man right before out eyes. A handsome one too!

Birthday post

2011-03-26T09:27:00.000+07:00

Clinton came home from America one day before Cayden's 1st birthday. He had us drive to Bangkok so that we could celebrate there. This was the first birthday in Garsee family history that we were alone. But God was so good to us! Beverly, Clinton's mother, gave us some money so that we could vacation together. We had a wonderful time!

I'm sorry but I think he may be the cuttest baby in the whole world!!! Look at that face and those dimples! I conclude that he has Colton's smile but looks a lot like Chase Tanner.

Joseph doesn't look too happy in this pic but I assure you he is! He looooves to match clothes with Cayden and was very happy that their whole outfits matched! Colton and Chase suffered through this family tradition of matching but I think I might have to convince Joseph before he gets married that it's no longer necessary to match his brother. ; )

Cheese!

Me and my baby look alike!

Clinton and his baby boy. You'll notice fish in the background! We went to the Aquarium in Bangkok for Cayden's birthday. We had a wonderful time and I was able to practice using my new camera! Got some great shots! More to come

Love
Amber~

So much to tell!

2011-03-25T20:55:00.000+07:00

It's Friday night and the baby's sleeping. I'm fiiiinally getting to write on my blog. I've been thinking about writing almost everyday. I finally realized what keeps me from writing..... sometimes when there's so much going on, I get overwhelmed and don't know where to start. You'd think that would be easy, right. Start with the first things first. But in my complex brain, it's not that easy. ; )

Anyway, I want to write tonight about two things tonight

1. My wonderful, awesome, precious, loving giving mother-in-law (mother) bought me my dream camera!!!!! Clinton came home with a Nikon D3100 SLR camera!!!!!!! I even got the extra lens that's 55mm to 200mm.

I can't even tell you how excited I am about this new camera!!!!!! I think my blog will really get exciting now. I've been wanting one of these for sooooooooo long. I've dreamed of having on and blogging and putting beautiful pictures to go with my posts. WELL! now that dream can become a reality. You'll have to be patient with me as I'm learning to use it, but it will be fun in the process. ; )
I'm trying to take pics everyday and work with new and different elements on the camera. I'm also reading a fellow bloggers blog about her picture taking tips and tricks. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!

2. My day today

We started off at a jok and noodle shop. We love eating jok for breakfast! Joseph was rejoicing the whole way there reminding us about 100 times how much he loooooooooooved to eat jok. Once we got there he wanted to pick the table where we sat...he was scouting the table that had the morning cake on it. Then it dawned on me why he was sooooooo excited! He remembered that this shop has pound cake(or the equivalent)

This was my breakfast...jok (boiled rice with pork and egg). I know! You're thinking, gross! I wouldn't eat that if it was the last thing on earth to eat. But let me assure you, it's wonderful. It has a creamy consistency with just the right salty flavor to it.

This was Clinton's breakfast, noodles with fish balls and roasted pork and lost of veggies. You can see he spiced his up with dried peppers and the orange you see is peppers that have been soaked in vinegar. His was actually better than mine this morning. I was very tempted to eat his. His drink is a lemony iced tea, however, let me assure you it's VERY different from anything you've ever drank!

This was ONE OF THOSE moments!! and I can't believe I caught it! I don't even need to explain this photo. I think it speaks for itself!

This is a fruit cart that you can find on almost any street corner in our city. One piece of fruit costs $.35. This fruit is so fresh, cold and yummy. They filled the bottom of the glass container to make the fruit cold. Soooo good. If you're ever in my neck of the woods I'll treat you.

We ended our day visiting Thak, our friend and Thai co-worker. She had a nasty accident on her motorcycle that has resulted in surgery. They had to put a metal rod in her arm right under her elbow. She's staying in a government hospital with 30 people to a room. She's handling it like a champ!!

Well, that concludes my pictorial..... threre was much more to the day but unfortunately I didn't capture all of it on camera. I made a yummy stuffed shells with red sauce! It was so yummy my husband at 12 of them!!

Signing off now. I'll write tomorrow about Cayden Truth's birthday and post some pics. If you can believe it he's already a year!!!

Love
Amber~

Sick baby

2011-03-06T13:31:00.000+07:00

Yesterday, I took the boys to the beach. I thought to myself, "This will be good! Get the boys out of the house, get some fresh air, sunshine. Boy was I in for a surprise! I forgot HOW HOT IT IS IN THAILAND!! 12pm sun could fry and egg and dry out meat(something the thais do on a regular basis).
Half way there, I noticed that Cayden had a low grade fever and was rubbing his eyes. After 4 hours at the beach, he was done and so was I. Wrestling two little boys alone where water is present isn't a good idea and I don't recommend it to anyone!

Once we were home Cayden's fever spiked and he began to wheeze. This morning he could hardly breathe. I took him to the Dr. this am and she said he had infection in his chest.

Pray for us as I'm a weary mommy with three boys who are wanting their daddy to come home.

Pray for Clinton too. Pray that every mission would prosper for him. We want to see fruit from this trip. Amen!

Love you
Amber

2011-03-03T21:35:00.002+07:00

Sweet Baby Cayden playing in the yard. This child puts EVERYTHING in his mouth!! He's making us crazy. I chase him around all day and pull the strangest things from his little cheeks, paper, twisty ties, hair, lent, gecko poo poo, pencil lead, protractors, dice, paper clips, yesterdays breakfast. You name it we've pulled it out of his mouth! He's our little sunshine but i sure can't wait til this part is OVER! ; )

VERY soon I'll be posting some video footage of him walking. Oh so sweet.

My flowers

2011-03-03T20:54:00.001+07:00

One of the things I LOVE are flowers! Specifically, Orchids. I adopted the new found love from my husband who's over the top for Orchids. We love them in all shapes and sizes. I thought I'd post of few that are in bloom in my yard as we speak.

Change

2011-03-03T20:35:00.000+07:00

The last year of my life has been one of major change! In just one year, I had a baby, had my first son leave home, my third son (Thai) was offically adopted, and my second son left home, got news that our good friends who we been serving with for the last ten years will be moving very far away, and our other friends who we came out here with went back to America, and was told that our Thai boys wouldn't be granted visas to America, which means we won't be going home for a very long time; possibly 3 more years! Now that's a lot of change. Some people handle change gracefully and some don't. I tend to be on the overly emotional side!! I mean when Colton graduated from high school, i cried for an entire month!!

But! God always gives grace! He's so good. Some of the news I've handled with grace like a woman who knows her God and knows He's in control and some news I've shriveled up like a baby and bawled my eyes out until my husband told me I had to get a hold of myself! ;)

I'm excited to see what's next. I'm not one for change but every now and then I like it when God throws us a curve ball. Shakes things up a bit. As long as I have my one love and my God and my babies I'm ready for anything.

love
amber

Daddy, Mommy and Cayden go on a date

2010-09-03T16:25:00.000+07:00

We went on a date night and Cayden went with us. Because he's still nursing he can't be away from Mommy. We all had on jeans!! Even the baby! This was his first night to wear jeans.....He looked SO cute!

Mommy and Cayden

2010-09-03T16:11:00.002+07:00

These are the first pics that I've taken with Cayden since the hospital pics! Seems I'm always the one with the camera in my hand. SO! Enjoy! Aunt Dee Ann, I know you read this so these are especially for you!! love you!

A Facelift

2010-08-30T07:44:00.004+07:00

Well, as you can see I've updated the look of my blog. I hope you like the new changes. I've been inspired by some blogs I was reading last night. I'm going to continue giving my blog a "facelift" I want this blog to represent who I am and who we are and to also give an accurate account of the goings on of our family. I hope to be more active in writing and journaling all that we're up to both in ministry and in our family life.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chase Tanner's 18th birthday trip to the beach

2010-08-29T23:09:00.012+07:00

The Perfect Day

2010-08-12T15:37:00.002+07:00

Today would be what I would call the "perfect day"!!

Cayden woke up this morning at 5:30am, nursed, and went back to sleep until 8am! He never does that. When i got out of bed this morning, I was actually rested! Something that i don't experience very often. : )

Also, since Cayden's been born our mornings have been crazy! His morning nap is nothing more than small catnaps in 30min intervals which has me constantly juggling him as I try to get things done in the house. He's been taking a long afternoon nap since he was about 2 months old but I could never get him to sleep long in the mornings, making it impossible to homeschool Joseph. Josephs' been such a trooper get "shoved" to the side while I take care of Cayden. Actually Joseph's incredible! He's never gotten frustrated with Cayden once when we've had to stop reading a book, or stop homeschooling because Cayden's up and crying. He loves Cayden so much and is so sweet with him! It blesses me so much!!

BUT! This morning Cayden took a two hour morning nap!!!!! I was able to spend good quality time with Joseph, teach Bank English, clean the house, and do three loads of laundry! I felt like I was on top of the world!! It was wonderful!!

Now both boys are down for their afternoon nap and I just finished making Colton's high school transcript. What a great day. But chances are that tomorrow won't be the same. ; )

Family pics

2010-05-14T15:56:00.002+07:00

Letting go

2010-04-26T21:59:00.002+07:00

Yesterday I did one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life......I put my 19 year old on a plane to begin a new chapter of his life, without us. It's always painful to let your children go but think there's extra pain involved in the lives of missionaries who have to let theirs go across the ocean. My one hope is in the scripture that Jesus promises to, "give you back a hundred fold in this life and in the life to come" to all those who give up fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, "children" for the sake of the Gospel.

My hope is that in letting Colton "go" he will be radically changed and set on fire for our Father and come back to Thailand or wherever God wills, and give his life for the Gospel of Jesus. When I set my sights on this, letting go seems easy.

Father, I give you my first born son. Take him as an offering.....do with him what you will, refine him and make him pure gold in YOUR hand.

I love you, Colton!

I really CAN do it!

2010-04-19T15:04:00.003+07:00

The last months have been filled with nursing, diaper changing, bathing, rocking, and more nursing. However, I haven't been very convinced that I really could nurse a baby successfully. I attempted nursing Colton for a brief 6 weeks, and then Chase for a very rocky 6 months(supplimenting with formula). So my history wasn't that great. However, since I've been saved, I've had this strong desire to nurse a baby! The second day at hospital, my breats because engorged, and for any of you who know me personally know that I have very large breasts! Well engorgement made it look as if I had a watermelon on each side of my chest! That's NOT an exaggeration. But I thought to myself, that's okay this won't last, i can do this! Week two rolls by and I have these four areas on my breast that are red and swollen and have fever if you touch them. I had a friend look at them and she said, "Oh, Amber, that's a clogged duct and you should tend to it immediately!" The next four days were spent applying heat, pressing and pumping. Can I say, many many tears were shed during these long four days. On top of this regime, I had to nurse a growing baby! Four days later, the ducts were no longer clogged. Clinton and I slapped high five as the last duct burst open and milk spewed out into the bottle! A moment of joy. Another week passes and I begin to think, "I can really do this!" Then one morning I wake up with chills, fever, and aching bones! I'm like, "What?!? do i have the flu?" Clinton feels around on my breast for lumps and finds a whole cluster of them. He said, "Honey, I'm afraid you have a bunch of swollen ducts." As he touched them they were extremely sore!! I had felt them days earlier but didn't think anything about it because they weren't red and didn't have fever in them. But to my surprise, a clogged duct or infected duct doesn't have to be red or have fever. These ducts were infected and it had caused flu like symptoms! The next 24 hours were horrible. Finally, after 12 hours of major flu like symptoms, and a crying baby who wanted to nurse, I looked at Clinton in tears and said, "Honey, I don't think I was cut out for this. I can't do it." In the back of my mind I was thinking that I would send him out for formula. His reply, "Honey, you can do it. You're doing just fine. Don't give up now you'll be so disappointed" So the rest of the night I stuck it out and began taking a very strong anti-biotic. I woke the next morning feeling better but not 100%. I continued to nurse the baby through the excruciating pain and before long all the flu symptoms were gone! I had many many friends encouraging me through this or I might not have made it. They all gave me wonderful advice and a sense of fight. Many many women have and do experience this same type of thing, but if you never talk about it you'll never know. Just knowing that others have gone through similar situations helped me to press through. To my utter delight and surprise, I weighed Cayden on his one month birthday and he weighed 10lbs!!!! I WAS SOOOOOO EXCITED!!! This was like a sticker on my worksheet that said, "well done! good job!" Seeing him gain weight solely on breast milk was a huge kiss for me. I looked at Clinton and said, "I can do it!" His reply, "Of course you can!" "Press on so that you might win the prize!"

All the brothers

2010-04-11T10:37:00.002+07:00

Well, it just wouldn't be right if I didn't make a post with a picture of all the brothers with Cayden. Here's Joseph, who is a VERY good big brother, smiling so proud as this is the first time he's gotten to hold the baby! Can you tell he's one proud big brother?!?This picture is worth a thousand words............ two generations here! 19, 17, and one day old!! God's ways are far beyond our imagination!! If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would be having another baby, I would have laughed at you and told you you were crazy! But when got plants a seed in your heart He makes sure that there's enough water, and sun light that it will bring forth fruit. Our Cayden is the fruit of a seed planted by God. Chase Tanner with Cayden The biggest brother and the littlest brother.....Colton said to us, "This could be my baby!" Our precious Bank with Cayden. Bank is the only brother that can't come into a room and not kiss the baby or come stroke his little head. He really loves him! This blesses my heart so much!!

Baby is born

2010-04-10T11:34:00.002+07:00

Our beautiful baby boy was born on March 17th(at 37 weeks). He was born via emergency c-section. I woke up that morning and couldn't feel him moving. His normal routine was to wake up at about 5am and move around until about noon. However, this day he wasn't moving at all. I ate breakfast thinking that would help him get going, then I took a long bath. Still no movement. I told the Lord that if he didn't move by 11am that I would go in and see the doctor. When I arrived at the hospital, they put me on a fetal monitor and his heart rate was dangerously slow. It was only beating at about 98beats per min. The normal heart rate should be about 140 to 160. The nurse was concerned and called to the doctor. She then sent me for an ultrasound. Indeed the baby wasn't moving and the ultrasound confirmed a low heart rate. The doctor strongly recommended that we do a c-section that day. After Clinton and I prayed and talked things over we agreed.

This was an experience to remember! I already suffer from claustrophobia, and when they strapped my arms down, and I couldn't feel anything from my breast down, this made things pretty interesting. To make things worse they put a cloth right in front of my face. The cloth was so close that it was touching my nose. It was like a wall in front of me so that I couldn't see anything going on. Before Clinton entered the room, I was on the verge of panicking and tried to look up at the wall and pray. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do this.. I kept thinking, "OH! why didn't I have them knock me out. I'm going to loose it right here on this table." Thankfully, Clinton walked in the room just in time. For the entire surgery, I looked up at him and made him my center point of focus.

To our delight, at 3:40pm our little baby Cayden was born! When he came out he was having difficulty breathing. The doctor had to suction his lungs for quit some time and she was rubbing on him vigorously. It took him a few mins before he cried. I was so worried yet so helpless. They let me look at him for only a min and then had to begin working on him in order to get him breathing. I kept asking clinton, "Is he okay?" Clinton was trying to hold it together for the both of us but when you're with someone for 23 years you know body language, and I knew Clinton's body language was a sign that all was not well.

However, after 24 hours in NICU the baby was brought up to our room and he was doing much better. I shocked the nurses because after just 6 hours I was in my wheel chair and down on the 3rd floor visiting him. They said that they've never seen anyone recover from a c-section so quickly! But this mamma was determined to see her little chick!!

The moment I saw him all the doubt about having another baby left me!! I had a very difficult pregnancy with many complications, ending in an emergency c-section, however, all of the thoughts of that left me when I saw our little prince!

God is so good and He has fulfilled His promise to us! May we honor him in the raising of this son.

Cayden Truth

2010-04-10T11:26:00.002+07:00

Here's is Cayden at 2 hours old. He's in the incubator. One day oldThree days old.

Six hours old. This is the first time that I was able to hold him. After he was born they had to talk him to the NICU. He was having difficulty breathing.

Nursery

2010-02-24T21:18:00.003+07:00

As you read in my blog back in Jan. We started the joyous task of getting the baby's room ready. Clinton assured me that he could do the painting of the room. Now my husband has been known to the the jack of all trades, but I had NO idea that he could draw and paint. I've been with this man for 22 years and when i walked into the room after he had sketched out a rough draft on the wall, I was amazed! He drew all the animals free hand. I showed him a picture of the bedding and he copied the animals exactly!

This little flower garden will be the spot where the bed will go. Painting the giraffe Finished the wall with the zebra and the monkey, but you can see that the leaves on the tree aren't finished yet. Cheese

Nursery

2010-02-24T21:09:00.003+07:00

This is part of the tree that extends to two walls. This is the left side of the tree if you're looking at the door. Right side of the three. You can't really see Babar(elephants name) because of the shelf, but it's a three food tall blue elephant. This is the tree trunk in the corner of the room just behind the bedroom door. Cute little coconut tree with giraffe. The picture in the back ground is one that our friends children painted for the baby. Joseph standing in front of his favorite elephant.

Baby bump pics (32 weeks)

2010-02-24T14:05:00.002+07:00

Here is am at 32 weeks. My belly appears to have reached the maximum limits....but I'm assured by friends that there's more room...........OH MY! ; )

Preparations for a new baby in the house

2010-01-31T13:45:00.002+07:00

First, I can't even believe that I'm pregnant. Yes, I'm 31 weeks, however, the idea just hasn't quiet sunk in. We are so excited and nervous and a whole bunch of other emotions that's it's hard to pinpoint one feeling accurately.

The other day, it hit me, "Oh my! I'm 30 weeks pregnant and we haven't done a thing to get ready for this baby! I don't have any nursing bras, nursing night gowns for the hospital, bedding for the baby bed or a baby bed!!" I began to obsess to my precious patient loving husband and his response was immediate action. For any of you who know him, this isn't surprising. He began to scour the city looking for the "right" baby bed, going to the paint stores, and cleaning out the baby's room.

Finding a baby bed in our city is quit the feat, if you're like me and really want a nice tall, American standard baby bed. There are many beds in the city but all of them are about 2ft in height and the width and length wouldn't be conducive to bedding from America.

I know that most of these things are very minor, but for me they're major. The first two times that I was pregnant the baby wasn't planned and I didn't have many options. We were poor and we were very very young. Most of the things for the boys were hand me downs. Now don't get me wrong, I was very grateful, but this time it's different. We planned this baby, we're older and are more capable of making purchases and choosing things that we like. SO! the race began three days ago.........

On Friday, I ordered my bedding that my dear friend is sending over for me. I've chosen Jungle Safari! And yesterday, we found a shop in the city that customs makes beds for you. The beds that they have available are from Japan but their factory is here in Thailand so you can order the bed to the length/height/width and color that you prefer!! WE WERE ECSTATIC WITH THIS DISCOVERY! Well, i shouldn't say "we" I was ecstatic and Clinton was relieved........ ; )

Poor guy had to listen to me for the last four days. One of the things that was the trouble was that I knew there were American size baby beds just across the boarder in Malaysia, but Clinton didn't want to go to Malaysia. The expense just to get there would have been about $200(we have to get a re-entry visa, pay for Malaysian car insurance, gas etc..) So i pouted for four days. So our discovery took so much pressure off of him and made me very very happy! They told us the bed would be ready by Feb 21st. Prayerfully the bedding and the bed will arrive at about the same time.

In the midst of all of my obsessing, a friend of mine from America wrote to me and said she wanted me to register and she was going to send out invitations to all my friends in America! I WAS BLOWN AWAY!! I wasn't sure if I was going to have a baby shower or not. I do have friends here in Thailand, but things are always so busy and it hasn't been mentioned so I just dealt with the fact that I might not have one, but my God is so good! When i was pregnant with Colton and Chase they didn't have baby registries. So this was a whole new experience for me. I spent hours online at BabysRUs picking and choosing things for our baby. I had so much fun. Now my friend will have everyone ship the items to her and she'll send them to me!! God is sooo good!!

I mentioned to Clinton that I would love to have a big tree with jungle animals painted on the wall.... and he's already drawn an example on a sheet of paper and has the tree sketched on the wall! He's soooo wonderful! Did I mention that he's SOOOOO WONDERFUL!!! We picked out paint yesterday and he'll start the project next weekend. ; )

As the we progress I'll post pictures! It's gonna be so much fun!! WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BABY IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!

Christmas Eve

2010-01-04T16:05:00.002+07:00

Decorating the Tree

2010-01-04T15:58:00.002+07:00

All of the ornaments on our tree this year were handmade. Clinton's mother came over for a visit and while she was here, we made Christmas ornaments. It was lots of fun and couldn't look at our tree without thinking of her! This is what Chase was doing while everyone was decorating the tree..... are you surprised?Bank Joseph trying to fix the ornament he made Colton and Clinton putting the ornaments on.....

26 weeks!!!!!

2009-12-26T19:47:00.001+07:00

My baby bump is growing into a baby mound. We're so excited to see what this little guy looks like!!

Israel pics

2009-12-22T15:10:00.002+07:00

Colton was baptized in the Jordan River! Clinton had the honor of baptizing him along with our pastor.Chase and Clinton floating in the Dead Sea. They said it was freezing and very very dense! On a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Israeli airport

Baby boy Garsee

2009-12-22T15:07:00.001+07:00

This ultrasound was done at 17 weeks. I'm almost 26 weeks now but the current picture didn't come out that great, so I'm adding this one.

A soul mate

2009-12-05T13:47:00.004+07:00

These last few days I've had lots of time to contemplate how blessed I am to have found true love. This is the thing that the world is searching for.....someone to love and someone to love them. Not only have I found Jesus, who is the ultimate answer that we're looking for, I've found a person on this earth that I can share my life with. Someone who understands me, loves me no matter what, cherishes my thoughts and input, and would lay down his life for me. It's amazing how the enemy tried to steel all of that from us.............. November 23rd marked the 12th year that God restored our marriage and our life. It is not only the day that my beautiful husband was born again, but also the day that he came home to us and we started our life a new! Thank you Jesus!! Over the last years, we've fallen in love more and more. But it's a love that's built on The Rock! A love that goes beyond circumstances. It's true love! We've passed through many different trials and testings over the years and it's only brought us closer together. I just wanted to dedicate this post to the love of my life, although he will never read it, I wanted to express my thoughts today. love, amber

so sorry!!

2009-12-04T15:18:00.002+07:00

Well! I've been so terrible about keeping this thing up I probably don't even have anyone who reads it anymore! But, i thought i would post anyway. I'm really going to try and be more diligent about this blogging, but it's going to take some real effort with a baby on the way! That's right!!! For those of you who don't receive our newsletters, we're going to be having a baby in April! I'm 23 weeks along and it's another BOY!!!! Clinton and I busted out laughing when we had the ultrasound and she told us the sex....... God is so funny! I guess we're just destined to have boys! The pregnancy hasn't been without it's complications, but for the most part all is going well. I was on bed rest twice once for 3 weeks and another time for one week. However, things seem to be moving right along these days. I just had another u/s on Friday and she said the baby already weight 1lb and 2oz!! He's moving all over the place! It's so amazing to feel a baby move inside of you! The first two times i did this I didn't know the Lord, and having a baby and being pregnant under the covenant is just simply amazing! The fact that we tried to get pregnant and now we are is just amazing to us. We're having lots of fun. Clinton and the older two boys are in Israel as I type. They'll be there until Dec 9th. They've gone on a tour of the Holy Land. The times I spoken with Clinton, via computer, he's said it's been an amazing experience! They are having a wonderful time together and the Bible is really coming alive to them!! I'll be posting many pictures soon! OH! one more thing before I go.... our adoption with Bank is now final! He's our son! We will have all the proper documents in April. Once we have those in hand we'll head back up the Bangkok and begin the process with little Joseph! Please pray that this goes smoothly! It's good to be on here again. I'll try my hardest to be more faithful love, amber

Happy 40th Clinton

2009-07-31T11:41:00.002+07:00

On July 28th we celebrated Clinton's 40th birthday. We had a wonderful time with friends at a nice restaurant here in Hat Yai. Happy Birthday, honey! Nick Shores, Clinton, Brian Stubenrauch and Ajarn Sutat(our Thai pastor)

Our Judah is gone

2009-07-24T09:06:00.003+07:00

Many of you who have facebook already know that Judah ran away, but for those of you who don't know, I wanted to write on my blog so that you could be praying. Judah left for school 15 days ago and never came home. Clinton has scoured the city only to come home with no clues as to his where abouts. One missionary family spotted him at a local mall but he ran as soon as they called his name. This is the third time that Judah has run away and we are more shocked this time than we were the first. We found Judah on the streets 14 months ago, begging money. He was very malnurished and filthy. We brough him home and began a search for some family. With a social worker in tow, we went to the city of his birth. It was confirmed that his mother and father died of a heroin overdose and that his grandmother has also passed away. His little sister was sold by his older brother, who is now in prison. So Judah was on his own in this world. We brought him into our family without even a thought. About six months ago Judah gave his heart to Jesus and we were certain that he wouldn't run away again...... but he did. Please pray with us that we could find him and that we would be able to minister to the deep issues that are in his heart. Love, amber

Colton's graduation pictures

2009-07-24T08:57:00.005+07:00

We thought this day would never come..........but now that it has, I've often thought, "Where did the time go??? It all happened so quickly!" Now my baby is a man and prayerfully we've made him ready to face the world. The portrait of childhood is finished and he will continue life on a new canvas.....one of adulthood. We pray that God would be with him as he makes decisions and that he would be a man that loves God and fears God. I love you, Colton! I'm so proud of the man you've become.

A few new family pictures

2009-07-24T08:53:00.000+07:00

Catching boa, cooking boa, eating boa...

2009-05-28T11:57:00.005+07:00

Sorry these pictures came in in the wrong order............. the boys went to Naratiway and spent the weekend with Uncle Todd and Aunt Carrie. While they were there, they caught an 11ft. boa that had been eating Todd's chickens! Then they had the great idea to cook and eat the boa!!! Just call them Tom and Huck!

Our trip

2009-05-05T15:55:00.002+07:00

As many of you know we just returned from a three week, 2700 mile trip to the north Thailand. It was a very fun, hard, eye opening trip. God moved in miraculous ways. We saw many people come to the Lord who had never believed. We also saw those who were back slidden repent.... as well as many healings. Clinton preached 8 times in 5 days. When i watch him preach it brings tears to my eyes because no one can understand just what a miracle this is. To hear him preach in Thai is just amazing! When the anointing is on his life he preaches as if he's preaching in English. It just flows.

The first five nights of the trip, we slept on the floor in a room that's reserved for extra stuff. There was no air and no hot water for bathing. This was a challenge for me, but God have me so much grace.

I hope you enjoy the pictures below.

The breath taking mountains of North Thailand

2009-05-05T15:54:00.000+07:00

the mamma and the daddy

2009-05-05T15:53:00.000+07:00

village life and food

2009-05-05T15:48:00.001+07:00

Community water

Simple lunch

Clinton enjoying some papya salad with some friends

A real Thai village

2009-05-05T15:46:00.000+07:00

Northern Thai grandma

Community eating/sleeping

Heading further up the mountains

2009-05-05T15:40:00.000+07:00

The sights were so beautiful as we were going up the mountain... everyone had to stop to take some pictures. Here's the boys with their band... excluding Judah

The car was quit hot so they opened up the back to get some cool air.

After a very long journey... this was they first thing we saw at our destination...... dinner! I was in shock!

Church meeting in Lee

2009-05-05T15:35:00.000+07:00

Trip to the North

2009-05-05T15:17:00.001+07:00

Bank and Judah with the gorgeous mountains of North Thailand behind them.

Clinton and all the boys... we had a two hour break and the kids opted to go swimming. The heat was overwhelming.

Clinton preaching the Gospel on Easter morning.

Random pics

2009-03-07T10:06:00.002+07:00

This is the local grocery store. But it happened to be Chinese New Year, hence all the red. Lunch with the Volks... bar-b-q pork, sour soup, with sticky rice Our large selection of curry to choose from each day for lunch. My family loves to eat curry and rice for lunch. The average lunch for the family is about $2.50 This is a seafood market. The girls selling are Muslim.

Mother's day out

2009-02-26T10:02:00.002+07:00

Today is the first day our little Joseph will be in "mother's day out." I never realized how precious my time was until I didn't have it anymore...... Candy my doctor friend, who lives two streets over from me, has a nanny that cleans her house and takes care of her two year old while Candy's at work. Candy asked me recently if I would want to bring Joseph over to play with her daughter one day a week and Ba Sien would watch the both of them. I was like, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!? What a wonderful idea." So today is the first day for Joseph to go and play. You should have seen his little face when I told him we were going over there to play! He was so excited. He's my most social child of the 5. He and Colton run a pretty close race. He loves to interact with other people and was sooo happy to go and play today. So now I finally have time to post something on my blog and write some emails! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I'm sure many of you thought that I was throwing in the towel. But never fear.....I'm back! I hope you're getting ready for the spring! I just love spring!! Although we don't have one here in Thailand, I'm acting as if we do. I have pink everywhere and decided to decorate my blog with the spring theme as well. Hope you like the new layout. lots of love, amber Write me an email, or leave me a comment. I would love to chat!

Pictures of my boys

2009-02-25T13:47:00.001+07:00

I had to post these two pictures of Colton and Chase! I LOVE it! These two are a hoot!!!

Bank! Has he grown into a young man or what?!?

Random pictures

2009-02-25T13:28:00.002+07:00

Boys sleeping in the truck after a trip to the waterfall... the other two boys are in the back of the truck.

New hair color

Joseph and daddy

Joseph and Judah! Aren't they cute!

A New Day

2009-02-25T12:47:00.005+07:00

It's been forever since I've posted anything. Life took a turn that none of us expected but God has graciously brought us through! I can honestly say that our family and our marriage is better than it was before the loss. Although we don't have spring in Thailand, I feel like spring is in the air. I feel a freshness... a newness! God has restored to us so much. Our pastors from Fire came to visit us and brought so much healing, wisdom and comfort. It was an amazing 5 days and we are so grateful to them. I think I've written that He gave us a new house right in the midst of our pain. This was a huge blessing and a very needed change! We are still working in the village and very connected there, we are just living 20 min away. All of us love our house! There's so much room to move around and for everyone to have their own space. The older boys thought they would go nuts not having a place to play their guitars and the little boys thought they would go nuts not having any space to play with their toys. Taking on three new children brought on many challenges. It's taken us quite some time to figure out a rhythm, but God has brought so much wisdom. Judah and Bank are in school all day. They leave the house at 8 and arrive home about 4:30. Colton leaves at 8 as well, but he's back home at 1 to do his homeschool. We're on the home stretch with him. We only have a few more months and he'll be finished with his home education. We're praying what God has in store for him after this. Chase and the baby are home with me all day. It's taken a lot of getting used to having a toddler again. But we're doing okay. We're coloring, playing cars, watching movies, helping mommy cook, wiping snotty noses, dirty high chairs, and dirty bottoms! ; ) I forgot how much work one two year old can be. I'm going to be posting some random pictures over the last few months. I hope you enjoy. I'll prayerfully be posting more often with many more pictures. I've posted a few pictures of me with a new hair color. I did it a dark chestnut color....we think we like it. ; ) the last picture is after a day at the waterfall. All three boys are passed out! And the other two boys were in the back of truck passed out too. Thank you for your love and support. Amber

Thank you

2009-01-07T10:34:00.001+07:00

It's January 7th and I'm sitting in an internet cafe. We've just moved and don't have internet yet. However, I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of you who have prayed for us and are lifting us up. I thought we wouldn't make it for a few days, but I know that it's the prayers of our friends and family that have brought us through. On the day that we found out the baby didn't have a heart beat, Judah, our 10 year old ran away. Clinton searched for him for 5 hours while I was at home grieving and very sick with a stomach virus. When he found him he was walking up and down the streets of the city begging money. He had taken off his new shoes that we just bought him and made himself look dity and was begging money!! Clinton was angry and mortified!! The next morning Clinton wakes up with his back completely out. He could barely walk. We were under such horrible attack that I didn't know if we would make it. But thank God for all of you!!! Thank God!!! We are doing much better now. We've moved into a new house which has taken an huge weight off. Many of you know that we were living in a 900sq ft house (or less) for the last year and a half. It was fine when the boys were smaller and we only had three. But now Colton and Chase are men and God has given us two more...........so the pressure of being in that house was intense in the midst of all that we were already going through. God has provided a much bigger house, with a great yard, and plenty of room for everyone to be able to think wihtout feeling someone else's breathe down their back. ; ) God has really been speaking to me when I read my word. I don't have my Bible with me at the cafe but I'll try to give you a little of what he's been showing me. I was reading Is 40:12- where it talks about all the wonders of God and how great He is. That the nations are but a drop in the bucket to Him, how he created all that is made. I've been griped remembering who God is. It almost makes me feel embarrassed when I think of how angry I was at Him when our baby died. He knows what's best for us even though in our small minds we can't even comprehend it. He holds the universe in place, He gives us breathe each day, with one word He can destroy nations! In a devotional that I'm reading, there was one sentence that really struck me....... no matter what comes your way choose to say, "Lord, I trust You1" If we could do this, our lives would be changed. If we could live knowing that God has our best interest in mind. My heart feels full of love. Although, I don't understand why God took Christopher, I trust Him. He is my daddy. The only one I've ever had... and I love Him. My eyes are full of tears just thinking of who He's taken care of me and my family; how He saved us from the pit 11 years ago; how He pulled me from my sin and shame 11 years ago. I say like Peter "Where would we go Lord, you have the words to eternal life!"

Loss

2008-12-26T23:25:00.000+07:00

Dear Friends, It’s with deep sadness that we tell you we’ve lost our baby. Amber was 16 weeks pregnant but the baby was only 13 weeks. He came on Christmas Eve and was a little boy. We named him Christopher David. He looked as if everything were normal on the outside. He had all of his fingers and toes, ears, eyes, little nose. We were able to hold him and morn our loss together. There was no one in the house when he came and Amber’s pain although great was less than she expected. God’s grace is brining us through and we are finding comfort in believing God is who He says He is even if all circumstances look otherwise. If He’s not then we have nothing and that is too much to bare. We’ve found great comfort in the words of friends and knowing that there has been so much prayer covering us. We buried Christopher tonight with our family on top of a mountain. All of our hearts are broken, but we are clinging to Jesus. Thank you for being such faithful friends. Love, The Garsees

2008-12-16T06:07:00.002+07:00

To our dear friends, It is with great sorrow that I write you this email. As you all know, Amber is14 weeks pregnant. A week after arriving in Thailand we made her first prenatal visit. The doctor said even though Amber had had several ultrasounds, she would like to do one for her own records. This took place last Friday. We were shocked and bewildered to find that there was no heart beat and that they baby hadn't grown in 6 days. By looking at the ultrasound, the day that the baby's heart stopped beating was the day that we landed in Thailand. There is no explanation for this other than it was the will of God. Amber's uterus is healthy, her placenta is healthy and the baby looks healthy. She's had no bleeding, spotting, or cramping, and her cervix isn't dilated at all. Medical terminology calls it a "miss miscarriage" in that you never even know that it happens without getting an ultrasound. One of the causes could be chromosomal abnormalities along with a few other things. The doctor couldn't really give us a good answer. We stood in prayer and fasting for the last three days that God would give life back to the child. Upon doing another ultrasound today the baby still has no heartbeat and there has been no growth. We are choosing to let nature take it's course as opposed to doing a DNC. However, the doctor said that this would be quite painful because Amber is so far along. I'm still trusting God for a miracle. Until the last minute I will believe God to do the impossible. But I ask you to pray for my wife. She is hurting and very confused and feels that God has forsaken her. Her faith is very low. We covet your prayers during this time. Clinton and family

Big news!!!

2008-10-26T04:49:00.003+07:00

After 2 years and 7 months of trying...................i have news!

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Judah's house in Ko Lok

2008-09-20T20:52:00.002+07:00

Here is Judah standing in front of the house where he was born and raised. This is also the house the his father and mother died of heroin overdoses. His grandmother also died in this house. He was very scared to get out of the truck and see this place again. But we encouraged him that we would not let anything happen to him. The house has no one living in it now Another view of the house. They paid $18 a month for rent. It's right in the middle of a slum area. This is a shot from the front door of his house..........Thank God that He pulled Judah from the fire!!!! God is so good!

Joseph's home in Ko Lok

2008-09-20T20:48:00.002+07:00

This is were we got Joseph. He lived in the house with his great grandmother who is in the orange skirt. The lady standing next to her is his aunt. Here's Joseph and his brother. We are supposed to be getting the brother when we come back from the states. He's 10months old. The social welfare office keeps calling us every week and asking us when we're going to take the baby out of the home. It's very terrible conditions! Another picture of the baby with his great grandmother. This is the lady that beat Joseph and would treat him very badly. She's a drunk and needs Jesus too.

Family pictures

2008-09-20T20:41:00.002+07:00

We took family pictures today. It was quite a task getting all of our clothes to match. I told Clinton, "When it was only four of us it was so much easier." But we wouldn't change having a full house for anything in the world! We're having fun I love this picture because it'so natural looking. Joseph is sooo cute!! All our boys are handsome. Thank you Lord! For those who don't know whose who yet.... (From lft to rt back row first) Colton, Judah, Chase, Joseph, Bang

Chase Tanner's 16th birthday

2008-09-13T09:47:00.002+07:00

Here's Chase's friends practicing for a song they will sing for him. This is his present from his friends. Clinton and I picked the scripture on the bottom. It says, "The fahter of the righteous will greatly rejoice and he who begets a wise child will delight in him." Proberbs Here he is as he walks in on the surprise Wow! What a handsome We had a great time. There were about 50 people who came and I made a slide show of Chase's life from birth until 16. He loved it! One of the ladies a the church made some food and we all chipped in and made desserts. Everyone there said something nice about Chase or gave him a blessings. He had a great time!

Joseph taking a shower

2008-09-13T09:44:00.002+07:00

Here's Joseph taking a shower with his shower hat. This keeps the water from running in his eyes. He hated taking a shower when he first came. He was so afraid of the water. But he loves it now. When we're washing his hair the water runs off the hat and makes streams of water and he loves to play with the water that comes down.

Joseph with daddy and his friend

2008-09-13T09:37:00.001+07:00

Here's my big smile! Hi everyone..................... Joseph and Micha eating cornbread on the kitchen counter

Joseph eating ice cream

2008-09-13T09:30:00.001+07:00

Joseph and his cute smile!

2008-09-13T09:21:00.002+07:00

Could you just eat this baby or what!?! This is his big smile Judah and Joseph giving their big smiles This baby has absolutely stolen our hearts!!! He's a big ham which makes him fit into this family pretty good!

Boys at a sand pit behind our house

2008-09-13T09:16:00.002+07:00

Judah and Michael Bang... sorry the pictures sideways

More pictures of Joseph

2008-08-17T21:38:00.001+07:00

Mina's newfamily

2008-08-05T11:31:00.002+07:00

Here is a picture of Mina's new family. They've also already taken in a boy named Samuel from this same group.

Let the music move you

2008-08-05T11:26:00.002+07:00

These are my big boys! They love to go up to our church and practice on their guitars. This one is Chase Tanner Wow! Now that's talent

Orphans

2008-08-05T10:44:00.002+07:00

This is Judah. He's a little boy we found on the street of Hat Yai on May 15th. His father and mother are dead and his two half brothers are in jail. He's been living on his own for about a year, although we don't know the exact time because he has no concept of time. He's 10 years old and before coming to our house he has never studied. We have him studying with a tutor right now. When we brought him in we had no intention of keeping him. Our thoughts were to pray and see where the Lord would have us bring him. By day two, he had stolen the entire families heart and we've taken him in as a son. We are trying deserately to get some paper work on him. He was born at home to illegal immigrants....making him an illegal immigrant. But God has broken through and we are working on getting him a birth certificate. He has been severely abused physically, and emotionally. Please keep him in your prayers. This is Mina. She comes from the same people group as Judah. They were raised like brother and sister. Both of these children were used to beg money on the streets. She's only 13, but has lived the life of 2 adults! She's been abused emotionally and physically. She's been sold several time but always escaped. God has been watching over this precious one. She was with our team for about 5 weeks, but God has now put her in a family. She's living with a missionary family here in Hat Yai. This is Michael. He's also from the same group as Judah and Mina. However, we found him in a different city. I had gone to Ko Lok with a social worker looking for some family of Judah's when I found Michael. Judah showed us where one of his relatives lived...... a slum worse than i've ever seen. The housese are built on top of trash! Michael's dad is a relative of Judah. He also used to use Judah to beg money on the streets. When Judah couldn't take it anymore, he ran away. The man showed me a chain in his house where he tied up his childen when they diobeyed. This seemed quit normal to him and he bragged to me, showing me the chain. All of his children(6of them) are addicted to huffing glue, including Michael. But this fahter begged us to take his son so that his son would have a future. When someone hands you their child with tears in their eyes ans asks you to take them so that they will have a better life...... what do you do????? Well, we brought him home. This is Joseph. When we went into the slum to get Michael's clothes, a grandmother ran out of the house and begged us to take her grandson. The baby's mother is only 17 and she's an alcoholic. She also has a 10 month old baby. This family home was worse than you could imagine. We told her that she had to call the mother and get permission from teh mother in order for us to take the baby. The mother came right away and signed papers to give the baby away. My heart was broken for this precious little boy who was living amongst every kind of vice known to man. As we were signing the papers to take the little boy, there were about 5 men sitting in the back of the house gambleing and smoking. It was a disgusting scene. We brought this little one home and he has stolen our hearts!! All of the childrens's names are ones we have chosen. God spoke to us for each one of them. Please pray that God would provide for us financially and emotionally. All of the children we have taken in have major emotional issues, but it's nothing the God of heaven can't heal.

Revival meetings in Pa Yao

2008-04-22T22:25:00.002+07:00

We've been traveling!! We left on the 3rd of April and returned on the 15th. We drove 26 hours North. We were on the boarder of Loas and Burma! We did revival meetings and showed the Jesus film. Our boys helped lead worship and Clinton preached. We had a wonderful time and embarked on a learning curve we hadn't ever experienced before. We've never traveled with Thais.... and let me tell you, learning experience it was. After realizing that we were going to be in this situation for the next two weeks we both just took a deep breathe and enjoyed the ride. You see when we(the Garsees) travel, it's always a race to see if we can get to the destination any faster than we did the last time. Clinton isn't one to mosey along. When we travel he's on a mission.......mission: to get to the place we are going. However, the Thais take their time. They aren't in a hurry. The drive that could have taken 18 hours, took 26 hours!! They stop every hour, get out of the car, buy snacks, walk around, wash their face, stretch, etc. After the first 8 stops in only 6 hours, we realized we might as well just take it easy. ; ) and that we did. The following pictures are of the revival meetings in Pa Yao. God visited us in a mighty way!

Revival in Chiang Kam

2008-04-22T22:05:00.004+07:00

We did revival meetings in Chiang Kam for 5 days. Clinton preached 4 times in 5 days and all in Thai!! The first night was a struggle because they told him 2hours before the service that he wouldn't have a translator, but the next three times he did awesome! The Pastor backed out after hearing Clinton speak..... he said he spoke too fast. However, we are blown away that God has helped Clinton in such a way that he can preach in Thai!! What an answer to prayer. We saw 8 people come to the Lord in these meetings! That might not sound like a lot but for Thailand is wonderful! We were so blessed! Colton and Chase praying over Bang to receive the Holy Spirit
Our friend Oh worshiping God.

More revival pictures

2008-04-22T21:41:00.002+07:00

Colton and Chase play on the worship team with the Thais. My heart is blessed everytime they get up there! Chase plays the electric and sings and Colton plays the bass but sometimes he helps lead. The pictures speak for themself..........

House building in Chiang Kam

2008-04-22T21:27:00.003+07:00

One of the days that we were in Chiang Kam the team spent the day helping to build a house. Colton was in charge of making the cement. All of the girls on the team had never done anything like this in their lives! Thai girls DO NOT go out in the heat of the day.... their one fear in life is to be dark... however, Pastor Sutat had them out in it for several hours. But they did really good and none of them complained.

Brothers Chase helping to build the wall around the house.
This man is whose house they are helping to build. Note the hats ; )
Bang pretending to strain under the weight of the cement bucket
More cement making

More house building pictures

2008-04-22T21:16:00.003+07:00

Colton, who is the man of many hats, takes a break after a long hard day. Chase is attempting to sit like a Thai, however, no matter how hard they try, their big bodies just can't conform..... so he puts a small rock under his bottom. ; )

Colton explaining something to Ajarn (Pastor) Sutat

More swimming pictures

2008-04-22T21:09:00.002+07:00

Clinton telling all the young boys what to do Bang said, "it sure is a long ways down!"
Now Chase and his friend taking a shot at it.
The pastor that we went with and his little girl.

Free day in Chiang Kam, Chiang Rai

2008-04-22T20:56:00.003+07:00

Clinton was teaching all of the teenagers how to do a back flip off the top of this bridge! As you can see he's still a child at heart!! Chase is to the left watching so that he can follow suit. Bang deciding if he's going frontwards or backwards.... in the end he went with the front straight down jump.
My Colton

Chase Tanner

2008-04-22T20:48:00.002+07:00

Okay, is it just me or is this pictures hysterical!!!!!!!!! These boys are too funny!!!!! Chase Tanner has become quit the worshiper. He now leads worship in Thai and English.......and they'be both become photographers. They are constantly taking pictures of each other..

English Camp in Ban Pru

2008-04-22T20:34:00.002+07:00

Our team did an English camp in Ban Pru, our village. We ran the camp for 5 weeks every Saturday. We had 30 students enrolled in the camp. Colton, Chase and Brian did the 12-18year olds, and Mary and I did the 7-11 year olds. It was a lot of fun. Of course the purpose was to tell the children the Gospel. After each lesson, P Thak would explain the story of Jesus to the students and give testimony. We also gave out books and tracts to the students. You can see Chase off to the back of the tables, Colton is to the right helping one of the girls with their work and Brian is at the front helping some students.
I'm doing a cake walk with the kids, minus the cake. ; )
Here's Mary teaching the young kids their colors.
All the young kids doing crafts

Cambodia

2008-04-22T20:31:00.001+07:00

I've finally posted some pictures of the guys trip to Cambodia. There aren't any of Vietnam because the pictures they took weren't that good. Hope you enjoy

Church in the village

2008-04-22T20:23:00.001+07:00

This tent would become church for the next few days. Clinton praying for a sick man
The man Fabian is praying over, had one leg that was shorter than the other.... after intense prayer the man's leg grew out about 2inches and he didn't walk with a limp anymore!!!!
This ladies hand's were completely healed!!!!

The people of Cambodia

2008-04-22T20:13:00.002+07:00

This is a view from the train ride into the village. This is about how all of the houses looked. This was the first time that they boys had been in a third world country. They were very surprised by how primitive it was. Thailand in some of it's villages is primitive, but there are places that you can go in order to escape. Cambodia has no escape places. "They don't even have a 7 Eleven," Colton said.
This picture's worth a thousand words... a fallen coconut leaf has become a chair for four......

Dinner?!?