We have finished our third week of school and the kids grades are doing very well . The kids are getting used to the routine and also the little changes that came along with me. Yesterday we had a fun day at the internet café, after that we walked over to the Huynh’s (whinn’s) house, our friends from the states. We had family game night. They have one boy Bo’s age and three younger girls. We played college monopoly for a little bit. Then the girls and I went down stairs and sang worship music and then we played dress-up complete with makeup. You have never seen anything sweeter than these little girls and how excited they were to sing their favorite worship songs and show me new ones. After that they were glued to my side, which I of course loved. So now I am like a big sister to 3 girls from age 5 to 9 and then of course Marianne and Betsy.
Saturday we had a baby shower for Kai, It was alot of fun. There were about ten ladies. We just played with Kai and talked, it was very fun and relaxing. No weird games that you feel forced to play or anything like that, just fun . I also was able to talk to one of the ladies from church and we are going plan a baking/movie day. I am so excited, she really seems to have a real passion for the Lord , I can't wait to hang out with her. Here are some pictures of Kai during her party.

Saturday night we went to the 3 markets just so I could see the town a little more. We went to the tourist market which has crazy expensive stuff. The semi tourist market, the booths on the edges are pricy and just stuff but the further you go in the more Khmai(Cambodian) it gets. You can tell by the smell cuz they way they have food out on the tables like raw meat and lots of pureed stuff that should be cold. This is also the market that you get soap, makeup lots and lots of things. The rows you walk down in a single file line and then you get squashed into the merchandise to let others pass you. The Night market is very upscale, outdoor with lots of shade and no food. It is kinda funny cuz no matter what market you go to you can get the same thing at every stall. But at each market there is one or two things that the other markets don’t have. It is kinda like on the way to Common Grounds(my favorite coffee shop)you go down one street and it is lined with fruit stalls. Every one has the same fruit setup the same way. I would think that it would be better to be spread out a little more through out town, but I guess it kinda works for them.
The fruit here is really different than what we have at home. I can't even say their names but the kids call the prickly red ones Hairy Eyeballs, the little brown grape looking things are Regular Eyeballs and then of course Bananas. I will not try to explain what they taste like but they are ok, weird texture though. The Bananas are really good. We can also can get coconut, pineapple, watermelon, apples, dragon fruit and red dragon fruit and pummelo and then stuff I don’t recognize.

I will tell you all about VBS tomorrow.

Hello Everyone!

Sorry I haven’t been on, the internet is not always working but I think we have the problems fixed now. So VBS well Marianne and I walked into the meeting and as soon as we were in the door they ask if I would be in charge of games. I had just meet them real fast the Sunday before so I was a little shocked. So now I am planning games and thankfully I have Marianne as my helper. We will have about 18 kids ages 2-12 so it will be interesting for sure. We will be doing this on Sunday nights for the next 5 weeks I will need lots of prayer during all of this. The theme is Jesus makes a world of difference every week the kids will be “traveling” to a different country this week is Mexico so we are teaching the kids to say Jesus loves you in Spanish
Jesus (hay-SOOHS) me (may) ama (AH-mah) you can too!!
They will be learning about loyalty this Sunday. So we are going to play follow the leader and Stick with it which is a kinda like a hide and seek game except everyone is looking for one person and when they find the one person they stick with them till everyone is sticking together instead of tag them. I very thankful for the book that has all these lovely ideas, if not I would have been lost.
I am really tired so I must get some sleep but I will try to give you another update tomorrow. :)

Prayer

Hello Everyone!!!
Sorry I haven’t updated this in a while I was going to update my prayer list and then the Internet stopped working.
So here is the updated list
Continued smooth sailing as far learning to live in a different household with different rules.
I am still praying about what to with my time in the afternoon.
Marianne and I will be starting a bible study soon, so pray that the Lord is glorified and that we would both grow in our walks with the Lord and that whatever comes out of my mouth would be what the Lord wants said.
I am going to be helping with VBS at the church. Pray for fast learning on my part and organized team work.
Wisdom.
Grace.
Patience.
Thank you all for your prayers!!!

Praise Report
I am not sick any more!!! yay!

Bike Riding

So I have been told that I need to tell you all, about my mad bike riding skills. Really, I am terrible. So I have not been on a bike in like ten years but Marianne and I wanted to go into town for a coffee. It was so worth it, the caramel coffee was amazing.
The Bike Ride
So I go out and get on the bike and instantly I started to laugh, which doesn’t help. It has a basket in the front and all I could think of was the scary chick from the Wizard Of Oz riding her bike down the lane as the creepy music played . After I gained my composure we started on our way. I was swerving and wobbling down the dirt/mud road. So finally I started to feel a bit confidant and remembered how much fun bikes could be. Then I saw the road!! I have talked about the roads here before. You can imagine how I felt, still a bit wobbly(from sheer terror) as we joined the multiple motorbikes, trucks and tuk-tuks. If only there had been someone behind me video taping the whole scene. It could be the most watched video on you tube or whatever in 24 hours, it was quite comical. I was the locals entertainment for the month. One of the tuk-tuk drivers said something as he passed by and started to laugh. I am sure that my eyes were huge and my eyebrows raised to the sky. I was gripping the handles so hard that by the time we got to the coffee shop my arms were shaking. hahaha Oh My I still laugh just thinking about it. After dodging potholes and mud holes that are who knows how deep, staying upright and watching other drivers. We arrived at the coffee shop in one piece, we had AC and an icy cool towel with some type of peppermint extract waiting for us. That in its self was worth it. Well I am going to sleep talk to you all later. :]

The Elephant Trail

These are the stairs to the top of an old Wat, near the famous Angkor
We went up and down without shoes cuz it is easier to feel if you have enough ledge underneath you to step on.
It is REALLY steep!!!!

Caleb, Bo, Marianne, Danielle and Betsy on the top of the mountain, at the top of the Wat ( temple)
Silly Faces
Driving by Angkor Wat
There is a moat, to cross on the bridge you pay about 20$ i think
One of the six Elephants that we saw go up and down the mountain
How cute! right? right?
The Thai boarder is right over those mountains




We went to the elephant trail again. This time I took my Camera

From Marianne

Hey everyone! This is Marianne! =D so Lyssa asked me to write her a blog about what we do all day. (actually I asked her! =P) ANYWAY! Living in Cambodia is an amazing experience. For exercise we take hikes around ancient temples, and if that's not cool enough, we take elephant trails (around the temples) and we play dodge. (In this game the objective is to dodge elephants and there poo. My best record is 8 elephants and 3 elephant patties, dodged.) My meals consist of frog legs, crickets, spiders, dog, eel, snake, squid, lobster, and a large assortment of fruits and vegetables. Okay so I might not eat all that stuff on a daily bases, but I have eaten all the the meats listed above. AND last but not least entertainment! I used to make up biographies in my mind about every person I met, but then Lyssa came (By the way her nickname is A-Lee-Lee) and now I tease her and bug her!(Well actually half the time were laughing.) && we play with baby Kai! Today Lara dropped her off and me and A-Lee-Lee enjoyed an afternoon of arguing of who got to hold cute baby Kai. So my life consists of laughing, schooling, eating, emailing, sleeping, shopping,talking, and next week (if we get approval from the gov.) I'll began teaching English! Fun! && this teaching experience will help me as I'm pursuing a missions trip to Tokyo! Even more fun. Oh but I'm getting of the subject of Cambodia! There is one thing that all of you readers must do before you die, come to Cambodia. If you do come to Cambodia I, will personally give you a tour of our lush city of Siem Reap and of the Ancient Angkor Wat Temples (by the way its one of the 7 largest wonders of the ancient world. If you don't believe me look in the Guinness Book of World Records 2007 on page 198-199) It is a must see! Well I guess that wraps it up for my bleep, blog, or whatever you call it about Cambodia! Come visit! Soom Leah! (That's good bye in Khmia!)

Introducing

Poindexter
The kids and i had a hard time decideing between Poindexter and Thor. In the end Poindexter won by one vote. So i have decided that if i see Poindexter's friend again then his name will be Thor. Yes a friend, I guess that i am secretly hoping that if i don't name the second one it will disappear. I will Share with one lizard gecko thing but i am not sure about two!!

Marianne,Me and Kai

First Day Of School

Our first day went very well. I am here to basicly to keep the kids on track, answer questions if they have any, check their work and help them with "on your own" studying skills. We also do P.E which I feel the best way for them to be enthusastic about it, is if I do it along with them WINK WINK. Dance Praise (Christian DDR) is really fun!! and it does give you a good work out if you have the level on anything above beginner. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about. It is a computer game that has a dance pad and you have to step on whatever arrow comes down the screen at the right time. I am not sure how else to explain it, so you could google it. In Dance Praise all the music that you are dancing to is modern Christian music. So you don't have to worry about what music you get stuck in your head or music videos. Fun Fun Fun other than the dripping sweat after every couple of dances of course.

Croc Pics

Here are some pictures FINALLY. tomorrow i will post the pics of the Big ones i couldn't get back to the pin today cuz they were working on them. So these are of the medium size ones, The babies are about 1ft long right now.

Prayer

Today is our first day of school!! yay! I would love prayer for quick learning on my part so we can get into a routine as soon as possible.
That I would stay healthy.
That I would get used to the heat, it isn't terrible but it is an adjustment.
That I would be able to learn a little bit of the language.
Guidance to know what to do with my time in the afternoon.
Prayer for the Naritas, that they would get some much needed rest.

The kids also had a count down up on the white board
Marianne 14, Bo 11 and Betsy 9

The Lollipop Game

Temple With No Doors, behind is a small bit of grass big enough for a volleyball court between the temple and the outer wall where we played some of the games.

Every morning I get to look at my beautiful ceiling

I guess this is what cruise ship bathrooms are like, the door can't open all the way cuz the toilet is right there and everything gets rinsed during every shower, very efficient.

The kids made me some posters which now are my room decor!!

I didn't get a very good pic but if you look hard you might notice that this bus is driving with the back flap open just sticking out, so i got to see the inner workings of the bus while we drove behind!!

Saturday my first full day in Siem Reap

We went to an ancient Wat (temple) the name in English means Temple With No Doors. There we meet up with a family that runs a ministry to one of the Floating villages. They brought about 20-25 kids, out of that maybe 5 kids had been on land before. So they got to play dodge ball and a kinda soccer game, The lollipop game. That was interesting i will have to teach you all when i get home, basically you have to rip lollies out of the hand of the person next to you. The girls were cute and so like the rest of us, they kinda had this litte group and stuck together slowly they loosened up and were not afraid of the ball. The women here are timid and quiet unless driving and then they get a little crazy.
Food
The food has been good so far. The things i have really like have been sugar cane, pummelo?, Fruit N Toot yogurt shop, dragonfruit, coco chex and the amazing Indian food. I have been told to try the spiders but i need to save an adventure for the end of my trip!!