Oh My! It seems the blog always gets pushed to the bottom of the "To Do List". As a child, I recall summer breaks being so long and my mother reminding me that when I got older, time would go more quickly. There's still 24 hours in a day, but the busyness of life certainly makes it seem to be flying. Guess Mom was right again!

Here's a glimpse into a few highlights from our life!

In September, we celebrated Dusty's 11 birthday with peanut butter cake. Dusty has been such delight to have as part of the family. You would think this dog was a baby, the way we ALL treat her.

As many of you know, Adriann has wanted to take piano lessons for quite some time. She saved her money to help purchase a piano and started lessons this past summer. She and a friend had a mini recital and showcased their pieces. Khruu Apple their teacher has done a wonderful job teaching them!

Jerry and Kelly at a resort near Chiang Mai!



Loy Kratong Festival is a Buddhist celebration observed in October/November each year throughout Thailand. One aspect of this celebration is the floating of lanterns as scene below. This picture was taken when over 1000 lanterns were being released.

Prior to the release of the lanterns, a ceremony and meditation time was held to pay homage to lord Buddha.

Jerry and Austin amidst the smoke as the lanterns were released.

July 2009 in review!

The 4th of July this year we went with friends to the Flight of the Gibbon, a zip-line tour through the rainforest outside of Chiang Mai. It was amazing and absolutely beautiful! We'd highly recommend it. That evening we celebrated with other US citizens at the American Consulate Independence Day celebration. Later in the month we rang in Jerry's 42nd birthday. Busy month, but great memories! We'll let the pictures speak now...

The Consulate celebration is always a lot of fun with games, great door prizes, entertainment, fireworks, Ballpark Frank hot dogs and American sodas that we're unable to get here. A big hit is Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper. Austin and Adriann have actually started liking Dr. Pepper with all the hype! Couldn't pass up a photo of Uncle Sam and Ronald McDonald - how much more American can you get!!

The Stars and Stripes waving proudly!

Jerry's birthday - all the kids - Austin, Adriann and our newly adopted dog Dusty!

Buffalo Market

Yesterday, I went with a friend to the Buffalo market about 30 minutes south of our city. At first when hearing "...market", I thought it would just be another market, but after seeing this one, it was quite different than all the ones we shop at around our house! The buffalo market was huge, with all the normal items, fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, cloths, cleaning supplies, outdoor supplies, toys and much more. However, this market also sold used motorcycles and livestock as well; water buffalo, cattle and chickens. I happen to have my camera and thought you might enjoy a little Thai culture! The funny thing was that most of the vendors thought I was a tourist and were all so excited to have their picture taken back to another country! Here's to them.

This man was selling honey combs, which were quite expensive by Thai standards!

As you all know, snakes are not one of my favorite things...not even cut up and ready to eat!

Cow fat and intestinal fluids, yummy to eat (so they say) and adds a bitter flavor to meats!

Dried fish is sold at all the markets.

Peppers anyone!

Pickled fish. No, it's not like pickled cucumbers. Basically, salt is added to fish and it sits for 3 to 6 months before being sold as a tasty side dish. Yes, it smells just like you might think! My friend said that she heats hers up to cook the worms or other things that might be growing in it. As I was turning my nose up, she said 'oh, it's good and that's just adding protein'. I'll take her word for it and stick to baked, broiled or fried fish!

The lady dipping my friend's portion.

While waiting on the picked fish, this lady was trying to give me samples of her tobacco products. The pod at the bottom of the picture is chewed by the older Thai population.

Roosters and chickens

Cattle

water buffalo

Farmers are the same, regardless of the culture! As we approached the livestock sales, men were gathered around in groups talking about the animals and which were the prize picks.

Lastly, this is picture that puts it all in perspective. The fruit for sell is called "Lucky Fruit" and is suppose to bring you good luck. Crowds were lined up to buy a piece. My heart broke as we watched people trying to buy luck for a hopeless future. May they one day all know it has nothing to do with luck but all to do with God's grace.

The Story of a Man!

There once was a man, a very hard working man This man's family was poor and he thus dropped out of high school in order to work full time to help support his family. The man met a girl and they fell in love. When she was 16 years old and he was 18, he went to her parents and asked if they could be married. Her parents agreed with one condition that she continue school. They married on October 31 and began a life together. Although the man was not formally educated, he was very smart and set out to make a better life for himself. He did what he knew best which was farming, producing crops such as soybeans, watermelons and wheat. His business knowledge flowed out positively through the way he ran the business.

He and his wife began a family after about four years of marriage, first with a daughter, then a son three years later. Would two children be all? As it is told, the man wanted one more, so the wife made a deal that if she could quit work then why not have another baby, so five years later they had their third child a daughter. This was your typical family who loved and laughed and worshipped together. But don't think it was a perfect family, because it certainly wasn't! The man can be remembered sitting in his chair looking out the window "thinking". He was a worrier, who was always concerned about the crops in the field or the weather outside that could hamper the crops. You see, this man had set a goal early in his life to save money for his family's future and sometimes that's a difficult thing to do with farming. Slowly but surely he was meeting that goal. He never wanted to forget where he came from but he often said he never wanted his family to have to make some of the sacrifices he had had to make.

One hot summer day, the man and his friend were going to look at one of his fields planted with soybeans The man was driving and did not notice the oncoming train before crossing the track. Their truck was struck and his friend died instantly. The man lived 12 hours. At 11:30 p.m. on July 16, 1982, the world lost the man who can be remembered as hardworking, loyal, honest, devoted, a friend, husband and father. This was not just any man, this man was my Daddy, Mayo Ponder. I am honored to have had him as my father and still miss him today. However, I am forever impacted by and thankful for the lessons he taught me in those precious years. One day we will meet again, but until then...

Happy Father's Day, Daddy and I love you!

Kelly

Dusty

For several years now, Austin and Adriann have asked for a pet, preferable a dog. Because of our travel schedules we did not opt to have one. Recently, Jerry and I have been reconsidering, thinking why not. The kids made a great power point presentation to sell us on why they needed a pet and how they would take care of it, even breaking down the different duties of having one. While picking up a piano that we had purchased from a family moving back to the states, we saw Dusty and were told that they would need to find a home for her before moving. She's a 10 year old inside/outside dog that's part Cyprus poodle and part Australian terrier. We have agreed to watch the dog for one week as a trial before making our final decision. She is a real cutie and the sweetest dog. That's huge coming from me, the anti-pet person! We'll let you know later what the final decision is but after one day, it looks like she may have a new home!

Adriann's 10th Birthday

Adriann has arrived in double digits - she's 10 years old! We celebrated with a flower arranging party. Living in the tropics makes this very easy, fresh cut flowers can be found in abundance for very cheap. The girls all had fun designing some beautiful creations while learning about the basics of flower arranging. We got so carried away with the festivities that we didn't get many pictures - oops sorry family but here's what we did get!

Adriann showing off the back side of her arrangement!

This year Adriann ask for chocolate pie instead of traditional birthday cake! Here she's checking it out after blowing out the candles.

What a fun t-shirt! Needless to say, our "southern" accents get frequently mocked here which we are quite accustomed to and don't really mind. So Adriann thought this shirt was fabulous! The back says "Bye Y'all from Mississippi". Great gift - thanks Aunt Sherry, Uncle Tim, Thomas and Marlee.

Need gas anyone?

Is it gas you need? Well take your pick!! Recently while traveling we rented a fun little jeep to travel around the island. Running low on fuel, we stopped to get gas at a roadside Shell station. The great thing was that when the attendant finished he made certain that we got every ounce from the hose!

The next day we passed this stand selling gasoline by the bottle! Might have taken a few too many bottles to fill up.

After much time away from blogging, we thought an update on some recent happenings in our lives would be in order. During spring break, we traveled to the beach, which is always fun and very relaxing. It was really nice to have some down time with friends and family all while enjoying the beautiful beaches of Southern Thailand. This was a vacation with no agenda, therefore we went from the pool, to the beach, to the room for a movie and played lots of games!

Here's a few of our favorite pictures.

Jerry jumping in for a swim on the snorkeling trip!

Adriann, Jerry and Austin at low tide on Kamala Beach

Austin and Adriann playing in the water at sunset.

Packed up and ready to leave. It was fun while it lasted!!

Wii Fit Time!

Last year while in America, Austin used the money he had been saving to buy a Wii. We've had lots of family fun competing and playing together. Currently, the competition is most intense on Wii Fit! We each have our specialities. Austin does awesome in the strength training, especially push ups and side planks (thanks to Mr. Tommy). Adriann can hula hoop and soccer head with the best of them. Kelly has banked the most total hours and Yoga is her top area. Jerry, the competitive one dominates most of the balance games. Guess all together that would make us a well balanced family!! Here's a shot of Austin in mid workout.

Our Drama Queen!

Lady Jennifer (AKA Adriann) preformed in a class play on Friday morning and did a fabulous job! All the drama for the past 9 years proved to be great practice for the performance. The class was studying medieval times and preformed 3 plays in addition to building castles. Busy times in 4th grade!

Happy Valentine's Day!

What is Love?

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

That's love, God's love!

The Ponder Cousins!

Austin, Breanne, Shelly, Forrest and Adriann

All very different, yet they share so many of the same traits! It was really fun to be able to spend a few months together and even bribe a few pictures out of them. Handsome and beautiful family they are - wouldn't you say?

Austin's Birthday

For Austin's birthday this year, he selected a local restaurant, The Duke's then a movie. We had a great time as a family celebrating with him.

Austin and Adriann at the restaurant.

Cake and presents, what more could you ask for in a birthday!!