elephant rides, ox cart rides, and bamboo rafting in thailand

while we were in thailand for our family's christmas this past year, we spent a morning being tourists. growing up, we rode elephants countless times since we had mission trips frequently visiting that wanted to see the elephants. it was so special to be able to include ben and ruby kay on this part of my life.

ruby kay and aunt marisa. it was so sweet to my thailand sister love on my girl. especially after years of me being the aunt, it was fun to let her take a turn being ruby kay's auntie.

little girl was a little timid around the big elephants. i couldn't blame her though, when i was little they used to terrify me!

sugar cane and bananas to feed the hungry elephants, or in some cases the elephant trainers. i'm pretty sure lori and hayley's elephant trainer ate their sugar cane instead of giving it to their elephant.

 ruby kay with her papa and daddy. one lucky girl.

 i already miss this tropical paradise!

 ox cart rides!

after sitting still during the elephant show, rk wanted me to take her on a walk.

ellanora and her nina. 

one of my favorite pictures of ruby kay and i together in my favorite country.

our baseball weekend

a few weekends ago, ben & I went to a few baseball games together. ben loves baseball, and since I love him- I enjoy doing what he loves. even though I didn't grow up watching baseball, it's still fun to watch and be a part of. we luckily caught great weather for the games that we went to.

on sunday, we went to the game with one of ben's best friend, and his parents who had come from out of town. we went straight from church to the stadium which was already packed. baseball games are quite popular in Fayetteville-especially since it was such a warm day. 

ben and I are similar and different, all at the same time. ben is my "all-american" boy, and i'm his international traveler. I have been away from thailand so long, that sometimes I feel more american than thai. this summer will mark 7 years since I left thailand for college. it was such a treat travelling to thailand while we were engaged, and I would love to bring our baby back too someday. we both love celebrating our roots, and i think baseball is a great way to enjoy ben.

Elephant Art

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these elephant paintings from my hometown in Thailand! "Things called Art" is one of my favorite stores in Chiang Mai & I always step out of the store with tons of their art displayed on cards & postcards.
Right now I wish that my sisters and I could be in Thailand right now all shopping together like the good ol' days :)
I hope you enjoy these beautiful works of art! :)
http://www.tca-artstudio.com/product.php?type=painting