I’d say you never can guess how friendships will play out. And sometimes you look back over so, so many years and its just funny to see how it went.

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Stephen & I met Mary & Laj in university, through the campus ministry that I traveled to Thailand with in 2006. Mary & Laj were both on that trip actually, and we came to Mae Sot together. They’ve continued working with that campus ministry in Arkansas, and Laj continues to bring a team most summers. Stephen and I found ourselves unexpectedly living here for nine years.

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Adam & Nu live at a migrant school outside of Mae Sot, where Mary & Laj have come to visit for years. It was five years ago, when Mary & Nu were both pregnant, and that we all sat down and played a game of Ticket to Ride together.

Mary & Laj went back to Arkansas; Adam & Nu became sweet friends of ours here.

And then this year, Mary got to join Laj at the end of the short-term trip he led (flying with two under four by herself!), and we became an unlikely group of six old friends that know each other in so many different capacities. And thanks to a number of miracles, we also brought along four little kiddos that got to play together.

To take some time away and really enjoy the company of these friends, we went to Chiang Mai! It was full of highs and lows and that seems the easiest way to capture it.

High: The Flour & Flowers bouquet from the week before was absolutely stunning, so I popped it in our car to enjoy on the ride.

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High: A husband who will drive through the mountains in the rain, with flowers in his cupholder, while you sit in the back seat with the kiddo.

High: Oak traveled great on the way up, and we even got to see old friends from Mae Sot that just returned to live in Chiang Mai!

Low: I was silly enough not to get a picture with them.

High: Oak’s first trip to the zoo!

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Low: We threw a lot of food into the lake instead of the hippo’s mouth.

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High: The giraffes and penguins, which were both favorites.

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High: Living in a country with fewer safety regulations! Oak got to feed a jaguar raw beef on a stick.

High: Oak’s first elephant visit!

High: A peaceful raft ride through beautiful mountains, including a driver (sailor? captain? rower? gondolier?) who spoke Burmese.

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High: Living in a country with fewer safety regulations, we also got to feed the elephants and take photos with them.

Low: Discovering that the elephants will have none of the one-banana-at-a-time game. They will have them all. Now. And I will take a bottle of hand sanitizer.

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Low: Despite the guide suggesting you sit on the elephant’s leg, it’s a bad idea. Makes for a silly looking photo and makes you a prime target for the trunk of the elephant.

Low: Oak didn’t like being within reach of the elephant’s trunk.

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High: Riding an elephant! Oak loved being out of reach of the trunk on a ride through the river and jungle.

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High: Our boy is smart! He figured out how to open the bar across our laps while riding! And mom managed to close it back before we fell out, so we’ll count that as a high.

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High: Delicious dinners out with friends.

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High: Friends you have known for over a decade!

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High: FRIENDS. Who meet your son and love on him and melt you.

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High: We weren’t really sure how to celebrate the 4th of July on our travel day, so we did our best to wear red and then had a classic American coffee.

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High: Oak learning to ride on Stephen’s shoulders! (And the cardi!)

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High: These eyelashes. And a sleeping babe on a road trip.

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Low: The sleeping was followed by a whole lot of vomit.

Low: We pushed it, staying as long as we could with friends before returning. This meant we got in late Thursday (with a sick child and vomit on many, many things) and then had to start cinnamon rolls at 5am on Friday. Followed by playhouse and English classes and Family Dinner until 9pm that evening.

Low: I got bit by a neighbor’s dog within twelve hours of returning home, so we also spent part of the day getting rabies vaccinations. Again.

(I was bit by a dog once before, in 2016, and annoyingly that was also on a Friday! I know this because you have to get shots every week for a month following, and it’s always so difficult to fit in on every Friday for a whole month. Ridiculous.)

High: Friends & adventures.

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These are a few of Oak’s favorite things.

I Wish You More by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld. This was gifted to us in the years we waited for Oak, and he absolutely loves it. We read it every night before bed, and some days a few more times. He has different motions for the pages and it still melts my heart even when I’ve seen it every day for weeks now.

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Cinnamon rolls. A true Flour & Flowers classic, a Blunier family tradition become a Spurlock tradition! This was his first, and he loved it. This morning we had let dad sleep in a bit, I made eggs for Oak & I, then pulled a pan of cinnamon rolls out of the oven. He immediately ran off, “DAD! DAD!”

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Music. Oak is showing us how much he loves music, asking for it to be playing by bringing us a little bluetooth speaker or asking for drums. He also does the “Wheels on the Bus” motions to tell us he wants music or Stephen to play the guitar. He loves to drum with dad & play cajon by himself. He’ll often ask for Dad to play the guitar for him, and this week Oak sat for about twenty minutes while Kyaw Gee played for him.

The Burmese alphabet poster, laminated. It can be rolled and unrolled, or simply carted around from place to place. What better toy could one ask for?

Fake sleeping. He does this most often in his car seat, when we tell him not to fall asleep on the way home, but he generally thinks its fun any place and any time, to pretend to sleep while smiling broadly.

Mister Rogers. This might be because it’s the only thing we’ve let him watch on a screen, but we’ve just started last week watching an episode on Sunday night as a family. He giggles with glee, answers the questions, and stares in awe. (I think he’s heroic, too, Oak!) It’s become a fun family activity, once with a chocolate at the end and once with hot chocolate after a rainy bike ride. (We’ve only done it twice, so…that’s it so far!)

Being outside. He loves being outside any way he can get there: whether we’re visiting the neighbors’ pigs and chickens, going for a bike ride, swimming, or riding in the jogging stroller while I run. He will ask and ask and ask to go outside, pointing to every thing that will get him there! It’s been a great way to get time with him, get our exercise in, and also just get some introverted time for all of us. He seems very extroverted, but still seems to reach a limit in the community, when he just wants to sit by himself. Each of us on a tandem bike seat works great for this 🙂

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Cleaning. He loves to “help” out, particularly with sweeping, dishes, cooking, and stacking chairs. (We live in a country where most chairs and stools are both light-weight plastic and stackable: at church, at restaurants, and in our house. He likes to ask you to get up so he can stack your chair.)

The scrubber brush. I bought a new dish scrubber for Stephen’s “coffee bar” (that sounds far too Pinterest-y for the coffee|makeup|laundry|tools combo that cupboard is) a few weeks ago, and he loved it right when I pulled it off the shelf. He held it through the store and checkout, on the car ride home, and then went right to the scissors to ask me to cut the tag off. He held onto it for most of the day, prompting me to buy him another the next week on our store trip. He then took it around town with us through the week and it went with us on our road trip to visit friends! I think he’s genuinely using it to “clean.” He had it with him when we walked into a used wood shop in the market–with dirt floors and dirt-covered wood everywhere–at which point he handed it to me and pointed, as if to say, “You help on this one.”

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Ice. It’s one of his favorite snacks.

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These are a few of our favorite things.

Cardigans and long pants. Maybe it’s because we spend every day in shorts and t-shirts, but the cardigans and pants are just too much. The cardi in particular just makes me think we’ll be the best of friends.

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“One!” It started over meals: we do a one-one deal at most meals to make sure he’s getting proteins and vegetables. One piece of chicken, then one piece of fruit; or one bite of vegetables, then one bite of bread. Really I just pick whatever his favorite thing is (sometimes ice or soup broth, even) and make that the reward for whatever I’d like him to eat! We also have a system with naps: since we need him to be able to nap anywhere depending on our days, we give him a snack-size bag of his favorite little chocolate koala snacks. He gets one before going to sleep, then the rest of the little pack when he wakes up. Its been working well, so that he has the one and then tries to sleep, which is enough if he’s tired! And now–my favorite part–he says, “One!” when he sees the bag of snacks or his ready for his reward bite; whenever. It’s adorable.

Kisses. He gives so many kisses, particularly in the morning and evening. Its his primary way to be affectionate, and it’s so very sweet.

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“Bye!” This is his favorite word and so very common. He says bye to most the people we pass in stores, the cars that pass us, and sometimes when we leave the room. He says bye when he goes to sleep, which is adorable.

His first time to watch Mister Rogers. Last Sunday we watched our first episode, and it was just amazing. He wore his cardigan, and he just laughed and laughed. He was so enthralled and responsive.

Belly laughs. When he really, truly thinks something is funny, he just rolls with laughter. The easiest way to do this is jokes about where people sleep. If he lays down in mom’s spot or dad’s spot and closes his eyes, he’s laugh uncontrollably. He had a tent for the first few weeks as we were traveling, and every night he’d tell us to get in it–then roll with laughter when we didn’t fit. Every night. Same routine. Same belly laugh. Same silly parents going along with it because they just can’t get enough!

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This past week we had the honor of visiting Bangkok to represent the Child Adoption Center at a national press conference! The government adoption agency that we went through to adopt Oak invited us to come back and share at a press conference promoting both adoption in Thailand and the return of internationally-adopted Thai children to visit Thailand.

True to form, we knew about this press conference but didn’t have a date until just a few days before. We booked tickets somewhat last minute and pulled together our plans to make it work. Either way, we felt it was a great opportunity to help them and continue to build relationships within the agency. We also loved the opportunity to promote adoption, in Thailand or anywhere!

But first, Oak’s first flight! He did great on the short flight from Mae Sot to Bangkok. He loved the snacks and books and a nap.

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For the observant folks, you’ll be noticing the bandage on Oak’s left hand in this photo and every single one following. So I’ll interrupt my own story to explain that he grabbed a soldering iron last week and has two blisters. They should be healed up soon, and he’s been a complete champ: he cried for about an hour, calmed down with some Pez & went to sleep. Since then he hasn’t even said it hurt; he hasn’t cried again or whined over it. He faithfully holds his hand out to the side and protects it! We’re hoping the bandage will be off later this week.

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He loved that you could see the BTS trains from most any place in our hotel. It’s also helpful that they continue to come every three to six minutes.

On Tuesday, we were all ready with our yellow outfits to honor the newest government leaders. We had shopped over the weekend, since our wardrobes held absolutely no yellow.

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Upon arriving, they had yellow polos for us to wear to match everyone. It was…bright. Brighter than I’ve ever warn. But we also looked more Thai than we ever have! And I’m just not sure how to describe it, except to say it was all yellow. It was ALL YELLOW.

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This is how Oak felt about most of the day. As the only foreigners in the room, holding an adorable Thai toddler who was sometimes screaming, we drew a whole lot of attention! It wasn’t easy for any of us to be on camera all day. 😆

Oak did get to see his two favorite caregivers from the children’s home, both of whom he remembered! They came with a group of children doing a performance at the press conference.

We were interviewed by both a major news station and in the press conference. I’d link them except a) they are 98% in Thai and b) it’s embarrassing. It was hard to know what they were wanting, and how to carefully honor all parties involved. We were nervous; and the results are mixed.

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Either way, we are so thankful for the Child Adoption Center and all they do in Thailand. We are so excited to promote more adoption in Thailand.

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We also love the idea behind program they host every three years: The Nativeland Visit Program, which welcomes back Thai children that have been internationally adopted to visit Thailand with their parents and families. Together, the social workers and families learn about Thai history and culture, participating in many traditional activities. We hope to participate in the future!

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After the press conference, our social worker helped us to submit the paperwork for Oak’s passport. It was easier than we expected, and we picked it up at the end of the week!

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Otherwise, we spent the week enjoying Bangkok. Since we do have a communal home and many, many aunties and sisters and brothers and grandmas and uncles and friends, we are trying to be intentional with some of our family-of-three time. We took this week to enjoy swimming at the hotel, train trips, ice cream trips, and playing together.

He was protesting photos for most of the week, though, often smiling just as we put the camera away. He did smile most of the time, even if we struggled to capture it!

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We also did a bit of shopping for Oak and found a cardigan. I wasn’t sure he’d wear it, but on sale for $5? I had to try.

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He decided to wear it on our way home and loved it. I melted. He looks just like Mister Rogers!

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{Also, shout out to H&M, which puts sweet little inspirations on the buttons of their kids clothes! His shorts buttons say “Be Kind Be Brave” and his cardigan buttons say “I like you a lot.”😍}

We said our goodbyes to the hotel staff, who LOVED Oak’s regular & loud thank yous and byes in the lobby. One of the staff told us, “I will miss my boy!”

And then we hopped in our Grab, which was unique enough to be worth noting. She really loved Hello Kitty. And Pink Panther. And sweets. Oak’s face says what Stephen and I were thinking.

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Oak using his passport for the first time to return to Mae Sot!

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{Confession: I only sort our laundry by color when we get back from a trip and we have enough to make that worth my energy. I think it’s beautiful to see all the color schemes; but just impractical every other day of my life. And while we usually have a red|pink|purple collection and a blue|black|green assortment, this was the first time I’ve ever had to do a yellow load!}

On Thursday, with our papers in hand, we headed home to Mae Sot! Of course the seven hour drive took ten, but we also managed to stop for some running around and Starbucks in the middle.

All things considered, the drive went incredibly: no carsickness (which we’d been told he had issues with before) and minimal crying for the car seat. For having not ridden in one before he arrived to us, he’s adjusted so, so well, and takes it in stride. He does prefer to have me in the back with him and holding his hand, if he’s nervous for any reason.

We arrived to Mae Sot to find our community waiting with open arms. They LOVE him!

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He adjusted to Mae Sot well–despite it being another adjustment!–and is doing really quite well. We’re fighting some battles with communication, and general discipline of course, but we feel so thankful for his apparently healthy attachment, flexibility, and sweet spirit.

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He’s already saying a few words in English, he’s trying a few in Burmese, and seems to understand nearly everything said to him in English, Thai, and Burmese. For now, we’re focusing on English when it’s just us, and Burmese when we’re in the community. We hope to add in Thai once he’s speaking English easily, but it’s seems a bit too much to put on him for now, so we’ve paused his and our Thai lessons.

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And just like that: we’re a family of three, happily making our little home in this community!

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And just like that–three years, many tears, and a million prayers later!– we have a son!

He’s incredible. He’s worth every prayer and every tear, and each long day waited. He’s ours, and he fits our family perfectly.

May was quite a month of chaos, though.

At the end of April, the adoption agency scheduled us to “be approved by the board” on 22 May. We thought this meant the next step in the process was to be approved; leading us to believe that we’d then meet him a month later, and the process would slowly move along. So, we hoped that he might be with us by June or July.

They called us again on 3 May to ask if we could come meet him on the 16th and take him with us on the 17th. We’d then go before the board on the 22nd as they said, but with him. We’d be approved to go back to Mae Sot with him!

So we left just a week after that and caught a few days at a beach near Bangkok, just the two of us.

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We visited a water park–the best I’ve ever been to and my birthday gift from Stephen!–and spent a day on the beach. It was nice to have a few days to prepare, and since we’re getting so good at accentuating those positives, I’ve nearly forgotten that I was throwing up for part of that trip!

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And then we went to Bangkok. We had a day of chaos, trying to get Stephen’s Apple Watch fixed (at the new Flagship Apple Store in Bangkok, which is a “thing” we do: we visit Flagship Apple Stores when we can), go to the dentist, and see our sweet friend Musana who lives an hour or so away from the city.

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On the 16th, we went to meet him! We were told to be at the office at 10am on the 16th to meet him, then 10am on the 17th to just pick him up. We were nervous about Bangkok traffic and unknowns, so we left an hour early and were just nearly pulling into the parking lot at 9:15am, when we got a call. It was our social worker asking where we were. I explained that we were actually nearly there, but we were also very early. Was everything alright? Turns out she thought she told us 9, so we rushed inside, a little bit flustered and nervous to meet this little guy.

We were greeted by her, and she sat down with us in the hallway, showing us photos on her phone of our sweet little boy. At this point we were pretty confused. Wasn’t he in the next room? Why didn’t we just go meet him?

Well, all the things they didn’t say on the phone: He wasn’t at the office, but we’d be going out to the children’s home to meet him and spend the day with him, not just for a few minutes in the office. They also didn’t know we had a car, but were thrilled that we could just drive the social worker out there ourselves! So we got back in the car, and Stephen patiently (and awkwardly) drove us over an hour to the children’s home, with late directions from the staff member, who also mixed up her right and left every time, in Bangkok traffic. All this resulted in us having to back out of a toll lane on a Bangkok highway, and other significant stressors. I’m pretty thankful Stephen is the most relaxed, most patient person I know.

The children’s home was also full of surprises for us. First, it was huge: about 250 children all under age six, cared for by about fifty staff members and five social workers. They are incredibly organized, and incredibly kind. They cared for all the kids so well, and we were just thanking the Lord for them every moment of the day.

They gave us a bag of goodies of his: a bracelet he was wearing when we arrived at the home, his first stuffed animal, his toothbrush because he loves to brush his teeth, and a half-burned candle from his second birthday. They also gave us a photo album that we will treasure forever. I can’t quite capture how incredible it is: pages and pages of photographs from his time in the home, from the day he arrived until the day we did. An incredible gift.

And then we went to meet him. I’ll never forget that.

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He’s incredibly adorable, and did quite well warming up to us. They had been showing him a photo album of us we made, and they had taught him that we were mom and dad in both English and Thai. They also showed him a video we’d sent, with Stephen playing two songs on the guitar and me reading a book to him. (We sing those two songs every night before bed and read that book at least twice a day still. He loves them.)

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We spent the day playing with him, laughing and running around. He did incredible adjusting. We just relished it.

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During his nap time, the social worker sat down with us and told us the names of his primary caregivers and best friends, so we could add names to the photos in the album. She also gave us contact information for many of his friends that were adopted to various countries–Denmark, France, Germany, and Belgium–so we could be in touch with those families if we wanted to in the future.

He was practically famous at the home, mostly for his expressions. He’s incredibly expressive and joyful, and he drew everyone’s attention. And he’s ours!

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That day, we left around 5pm as they went for dinner. Stephen and I rushed off to the store to purchase the things we still needed. It was a frantic night of buying a car seat, bedding for him, a bike seat; all the things that will be more challenging to buy in Mae Sot or that we needed immediately, particularly now that we knew his size.

And then we crashed, thrilled for the next day.