The House Collective

three!

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Just days after Christmas, we celebrated Oak’s third birthday! He’s three! And he’s ours. I’m still relishing in each thing we get to do with him: the meals we get to have, the books we get to read, the birthdays we get to celebrate…and the dinosaur pancakes we get to make!

A few weeks before his birthday, his social worker at the children’s home asked for our address to send him a birthday package. A group of those that loved him so much and took such good care of him then–still are! They put together the sweetest box of balloons, locally made items, and a remote-control car!

We had a birthday party planned for the afternoon, but we asked Oak what he’d like to do for the day. His request was to see Yaminoo. {I know, buddy–we love her, too!} He also asked for chicken and ice cream, so we went off to Tesco for KFC and Dairy Queen with Yaminoo!

And, y’know those rides that kids ask for every time at the store, and you just keep saying “not today”? Well, birthdays = YES TODAY.

So we rode a few rides. And Yaminoo and I played air hockey, a personal favorite.

Then we headed home to prepare for a birthday party!

We invited a combination of kids from our neighborhood and the expat community that Oak knows, but we tried to stick to his age group and a smallish group of friends (a difficult task in our community, where everyone brings along a sibling or tells their friends to come get free cake). I did love making a little invitation for him to give out to his friends, and particularly seeing his multilingual little life already happening right before our eyes.

It was every bit as chaotic as we thought it might be, attempting to host fifteen or so kids in multiple languages.

It was also every bit as great as we could have imagined.
We bought the dinosaur shaped cake, we hosted the party.
We got to do all the things we’ve been waiting for.
We got to hold the toddler we’ve been waiting for!

May there be many, many more!

2019: in review.

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I don’t want to attempt to quantify a year, but sometimes I look back on these numbers in awe. It’s incredible to see what God has done.

Long-awaited and quite miraculously, we adopted one little boy.

We spent 230 days as a family in 2019.
It was a good year. 🥰

We celebrated ten years of marriage!

Throughout different projects, eleven friends were able to have regular employment opportunities in our home.

2,900 Tranquility necklaces were made in our little border town and shipped around the world to be sold through Noonday Collection. Over half of these were made by three friends in our home.

202 bouquets of flowers were sold.
1,026 loaves of bread were baked.

And thanks to a local restaurant deciding to source their tortillas through us, a whopping 7,160 tortillas were rolled out!

This year, The Reinforcers project brought in 37,600 baht, or $1,245, which was then poured back into training and weekly work opportunities for a few teenagers.

Kelli took a regular self-defense class with a small group of young women. They completed a twelve-week program, followed by six months of regular review.

Throughout the year, we managed to renew three drivers licenses in two countries, renew a passport, renew a work permit, extend a visa, and acquire a new visa. And while I think I could count the number, I’d rather not know how many days I spent in government offices to accomplish this. 

I had set some personal goals for the year, but I didn’t do incredible at reaching them or even knowing if I did. 
I read 43 books this year, not meeting my goal of 52.
I memorized 51 Bible verses, and I’m working on the last one.
I kept running.
I kept swimming.
I kept biking.
But I have no idea how far I went.
I know I took this little guy along for quite a bit of it.

It was a good year. 🥰

the collective christmas 2019: still coming.

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Sometimes it just keeps coming!

Every year [recently], the hotel where we having a swimming membership has a gingerbread house in the lobby. Not just any gingerbread house–a GIANT gingerbread house.

I love it.

I had been to swim once or twice on my own and had seen it, but it had been really cold, so Stephen nor Oak had been by in the week before Christmas. So I put it on the list to stop by. [It was particularly epic this year with a bridge crossing two tables!]

We didn’t make it before Christmas, but since Christmas Day is very relative here, I didn’t think anything of it. We piled into the car after Oak was in pajamas on the 26th and headed over to see it.

WE MISSED IT.

I was sad. Stephen really couldn’t have cared less–he thinks it isn’t as cool as IT IS– and Oak didn’t even know what he was missing. But they made sad faces with me for camaraderie.

And then we went across the street to the mall, where the tree was still standing and still lit. 🤷🏼‍♀️

A few days following Christmas, our church held their annual Christmas party as well!

The Reinforcers ran sound, and Yaminoo danced; Stephen & I were called on stage to call raffle numbers…some things are just traditional 😁

the collective christmas 2019: christmas day.

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Christmas morning with a kid is everything I’d always hoped for. We had so much fun.

He loved it all, from the pumpkin bread for breakfast, to the crazy idea of sticking your hand in a stocking and pulling out treasures, to ripping off paper and finding gifts inside “for Oak!”

After a morning of fun, we headed out to deliver Christmas gifts to the community. After nine years, we found the BEST way to deliver gifts: plastic tubs. The neighbors were thrilled to have them, and it made it easier to sort by family. Each family had a bin with parents gifts unwrapped and a package for each child individually wrapped on the inside. This was SO MUCH EASIER to load, unload, and keep sorted.

And again, he did so well delivering gifts and watching friends open their treasures–for almost four hours!

We wrapped up our evening with a family meal and Christmas movie bundled up in bed, and I know we couldn’t have asked for anything more this Christmas.

the collective christmas 2019: christmas eve.

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Christmas Eve was really beautiful. We had a worship service outside, where two of the girls from our church came to help Stephen lead a few carols in Burmese. This is particularly special for a few reasons–one of the girls is Yaminoo, who we’ve known and loved for nearly ten years now, and is a young woman learning more and more about her walk with Christ every day. Also, Stephen sang and led entirely in Burmese, which is beautiful in its own way.

The Reinforcers ran sound, our church came to support and participate; I ran Powerpoint with Oak on my lap.

Really beautiful in more ways than one: so many of our favorite things; so much of our heart, sweating around candles on a balmy Christmas Eve on this street.


Then Stephen shared why Christmas is important to our faith, and invited everyone to a Bible class we’re going to offer in a few months. As you read this, take a moment to pray for this class that we’ll be hosting in March.

Following our Christmas Eve carols, we opened our Christmas pajamas as a family. This is also when Oak discovered all those packages under the tree had good things inside for him!

And while we had all the community gifts and Oak’s wrapped by Christmas Eve, we hadn’t finished wrapping for one another. So Stephen and I sat on either side of this door, wrapping presents while we watched a Christmas movie!

the collective christmas 2019: community meal

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Each Christmas, we do a community meal. And it’s always just that epic.

In many ways, this year was very much the same…

…we still had fish blood running down our car on the way home.

We still bought and chopped incredible amounts of vegetables and fish and spices and noodles.

And Thida still did most all of the work!
We still served a few hundred people.
And we still had so much fun!

And even when it’s so much the same, I’m amazed each year to see how much relationships have changed, and how the community has evolved and developed.
That’s just as epic as the meal!

the collective christmas 2019: family dinner.

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Our first big event was our last Family Dinner of the year: our Christmas party!

We had a lovely meal together, and then I shared a bit of our hearts for them. This was one of the times I really felt God was asking me to be direct with our closest friends about how much we love them, as well as how much we are praying that they will see the truth of Christ.

Sometimes just saying what you really feel & hope for is very freeing, and I feel that even looking at this photo.

We then followed it with gifts, which was easily one of the highlights of the year. This group of friends are our closest friends in the community, and we know them well. I felt like I knew exactly what they’d want, and we picked out individual gifts for each person. Watching them open, exclaiming in joy; shouts of, “Thats just what I wanted!” We found affordable, locally-made cajons for the two students learning cajon with Stephen, and they were both so excited and surprised. We bought a suki set for Thida that she had been eyeing at the store each week we went together; the week before I’d actually talked her out of buying it because I already had it wrapped for her! It was just so, so much fun.

And then we played games!

We played Pin the Star on the Tree, a Jingle Bell Toss, and a jar guessing game. Really, it was just so very much fun!

the collective christmas 2019: bits & bobs.

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I had the hopes of fitting this into one post this year, but who am I kidding? It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And this, partnered with a three-year-old experiencing Christmas-in-community for the first time? There’s just too much goodness.

I’m starting with the bits and bobs of Christmas that happened throughout December, following our lovely #မိသားစုmonday of setting up our Christmas tree.

Our tree soon became a photo opp for the community, so much that one friend said in English, “It’s the most fantastical tree I have ever seen!” I also overheard another friend telling someone else, “You can come take pictures in front of Kelli & Stephen’s tree. They’ll even take the picture and send it to your phone. And it’s free!”

We did quite a lot of cookie decorating, including a gingerbread cookie evening with our friend Jason’s English class. After teaching a group in our community for nearly a year, they are heading back to the States in a few months, and I’ll be picking up teaching this class. A cookie decorating party & English lesson was their farewell.

We also took advantage of a local coffee shop offering pre-made cookie dough and icing! This was our celebration of the end of a year of self-defense, consisting of a twelve-week course and six months of regular review.

The “mall” in town also had a huge Christmas tree this year, so I took the ladies by to see it. And mostly to take photos (for free!).

This is Asia, and we’re here for it 👊

I also went back that evening to the same coffee shop offering the same pre-made dough & icing (and their own clean up!) to do this with Oak & Stephen–for very, very obvious reasons.

We had a lovely time as a family, too! 🥰

Earlier in December, we did a 5k walk/run with Sojourn Studios to benefit local migrant education. This means we woke up extremely early with two of the jewelry artisans on one of the coldest Sundays of the year and walked–with a very little bit of running–a 5k!

We also had a Sojourn Studios Christmas party at a really lovely restaurant in town, and the ladies & their kids all loved it!

Oak was excited to have two of his best friends along.

Closer to Christmas, we did two Sunday night movie nights to watch The Star & Home Alone with the community. We pulled out all the stops: we bought dozens and dozens of hotdogs for snacks!

We did a craft with the kids just before and had red & green beans for the kids (and adults) to string.

In the midst of all the Christmas excitement, we also had a new baby born into the community! Pyo Pyo, one of our bread ladies, had her third child– a healthy little girl!

And still amidst the chaos, we saw Phway Phway off to university! The university system in Myanmar is a force to be reckoned with: they decide the university you’ll attend, what you’ll study, and when you’ll go. But they don’t tell you until just days before! It was a whirlwind for us walking through this with her through November and December, trying to maneuver the logistics while she also maneuvered health issues and a surgery the first week of school. She’s now healthy and attending class!

And, drum roll, please:
She’s the first in her family to graduate high school.
She’s the first in her family pass Myanmar’s infamously difficult matriculation.
She’s the first in her family to attend university.
She’s the first in our community attend university!
She’s the first recipient of The House Scholarship Fund!

More on that to come.
For now, we couldn’t be prouder. Really, I feel oddly parental-proud and we both nearly cried sending her off!

Stephen and I went to see the new Star Wars, because somehow they’ve managed to become a Christmas tradition?! Not sure how I feel about that, but an oversized Star Wars sweatshirt? I’m here for that.

And last, of course we started shopping for the community! Oak did surprisingly well at purchasing hundreds of toys that weren’t for him!

And then we started wrapping.

That was quite a few bits and bobs to fill the holiday season, but the main events are still to come! 😊

we’re gonna go back in time.

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I have gotten a bit off the blogging train in the past few months, and I initially thought I’d just let it go by.

Then I started looking through pictures, and I just couldn’t pass it by. It’s been a year full of such joy with Oak at our sides; and then to have family visit! So we’re gonna go back in time.

My parents came to visit Oak!

This photo brings me such a deep joy. I love that you can see both of my parents hands: their wedding bands, the wrinkles; all the hugs they’ve given over the years. Three generations in one embrace. I love their utter happiness as they meet Oak for the first time. I love my dad’s all-encompassing hugs.

We also took Oak’s first trip to the beach!
This was priceless; he absolutely loved it.

I love this one of Oak telling the waves to “Stop!”

My brother-in-law came to visit too! He met us at the beach and then spent a few days with us in Mae Sot.

I’m actually now in Bangkok, where I’ll pick up two sisters arriving tonight for a visit! We are so thankful for the family that has been able to visit (and for those trying to pull it off somehow this year!); it’s not an easy feat. But it’s such an incredible gift!

home.

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We set up our tree this week on #မိသားစုmonday.
[Read: Me-tha-zu Monday; or Family Monday.]

It was of course fun to pull out the tree, add the lights and find ornaments saved over the years from so many adventures. But the day also meant so much more to me, and gave me much to think about Oak’s adoption into our family.

It’s pretty incredible to have a child’s first {Western-style} Christmas be at age three. I’m not sure it gets much better than that. He was so truly able to enjoy it, to pull out ornaments. He asks to open the Advent each day with joy and anticipation! He’s repeating words, singing Little Drummer Boy every day, and capturing just enough of the idea to inspire wonder.

And more than that, it reminds me that I have a choice: I can see the things we missed with him, or I can see the unique experiences we get! Most people don’t get their first Christmas with a three year old, and that’s a unique opportunity of wonder that we get to cherish.

We were puling out ornament after ornament of our adventures: ornaments for each ten years married; nine years of ornaments from Thailand. Piles of handmade ornaments from our refugee friends in Oklahoma, then more from the little jewelry studio currently in our home. Collections from our adventures: our fifth anniversary in Phuket, the trip to visit my sister in England, our unexpected visit to France last year. Or even the tent ornament to commemorate our first anniversary spent camping in Arkansas, which now feels like an adventure so out of our reach. Ornaments from all the bits of America we know and love: Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma.

We even have a watering can ornament from our first year in the community, when we started our community garden. We laugh at it every year, as it shows us how far we’ve come. We now have enough experience to say “community garden” in Burmese and follow it with “Heck no!” 😂 Instead, the kids are currently playing in our green-ish space, and the neighbors are chopping down things off the trees that, while not considered a garden, is edible!

The ways God has brought respite in the midst of challenges through trips and people; the ways He’s brought incredible people into our lives and brought us places we never thought we’d go: it’s documented all over a tree.

And in many ways, that is Advent to me: a testimony of all we’ve waited for and all we are waiting for. A testimony of the things God has been faithful in and the things He will be faithful in.

_______________

Then there are the ornaments waiting for Oak, affectionately called Baby Bunny. We faithfully purchased all the bunnies we found while we waited, so we have quite a few. And now we have him. And this:

He’s ours. {Relatively} Officially.

Our friends recently sent us this shirt as a gift for Oak.
Wanted | Chosen | Loved | Adopted
It was the perfect thing for him to wear this day, as I watched his dad lift him toward the tree. It was perfect as we took photos. It was perfect in light of Christmas, in light of our adoption as sons.

I need a shirt of my own: Wanted | Chosen | Loved | Adopted.

Gosh, I was just lost in this all day, and I still am. I’m not even sure I can have him wear the shirt too often, because it just breaks me and shakes me: for how indescribably much he is wanted. For how we both chose to adopt and how he was chosen for us. For the extravagant, crazy love we have for him. For the miracle that he is in our family!

Waiting leaves a mark on your heart.

And so I was struck repeatedly through the day, that this is home.

As my friend so wisely once wrote: “Home is an illusion we all chase.” It’s true, we’re chasing it–to provide it for Oak, to find it in Christ, to create it amongst a myriad of cultures. But right now, it feels closer than it has in a long, long while.