More from Thailand

I finally found an internet cafe with free internet service! Now I just have to type like mad before my battery dies.

I have so much to share, that I'm not even sure where to begin at this point. So, I'll share some highlights and photos...maybe I'll play "catch-up" later.

As of today, Tues. morning, all is well. Better than well....it's great! Amarin continues to transition well, has a great time playing with Jacob, and is a real trooper here in the big city...quite a contrast to the smaller, quieter ocean-side city where he grew up. Bangkok is HUGE...constant traffic and noise, but very, very clean. Yes, there are some apartment/living areas that are pretty poor, but it is the cleanest Asian city we have visited. The people are very friendly, polite, and smile all the time. We are near a ton of embassies, so it is also very international. The hospital we have been using for Amarin's physicals and for the gash on his leg is more like a shopping mall...sparkling clean, little shops, and virtually no wait time for the emergency room...not that his gash was an emergency, but that's just where they sent us. BTW, his leg is no longer oozing, and seems to be healing very well. He will probably have a dandy scar, though.

Big news...he lost his first tooth with us yesterday! He wouldn't wiggle that thing until our guide translated the whole tooth fairy thing. Then he wiggled it non-stop until it came out. He came into our bedroom this morning all excited because the tooth fairy left him 40 baht (about 70 cents) under his pillow. Poor kid...he has 4 missing teeth on top, and two more still waiting to come in on the bottom.

We have visited some absolutely gorgeous temples. The intricate designs, all done by hand, is amazing! We've traveled by boat, sky-train, taxi, tuk-tuk...all cool experiences. We also visited a rose garden last Sunday. Jacob rode an elephant, we saw a banana grove, saw a cultural show, fed the elephants bananas and sugar cane, and saw a HUGE lizard...about 4 or 5 feet long. Thankfully, we were still in the car!

All paperwork is complete up to this point. Tomorrow we have our meeting with the Thai adoption board and a trip to the US Embassy. Thurs. again to the US Embassy, and hopefully, Amarin's visa will be issued either Thurs. or Friday. We're ready to go home, and really miss Charlie and Laura. It will be so nice to have our whole family together again.

Now for some photos...

OK...a sneak peak at Amarin from the back! The boys were in the Gulf of Thailand down in Songkhla. The water was so warm...and for me to say that, you know it had to be like bath water!

One of thousands of temples in Bangkok. This is Cambodian style.

It's hard to photograph the intricate details of these beautiful temples. But here's a try...

Walking through a street market on our way to visit some temples. Thailand has delicious fruit!

We all got a 15 minute Thai massage one night. The boys giggled as they are both ticklish, I loved mine, and Jamie was tortured. Apparently in a Thai massage, if they think you have some tense muscles, that WILL fix it for you. Jamie was sore, seriously enough to take pain meds, for two days! See the name of their spa on the guy's shirt? It says "Relax." Yeah, right!

There is so much more to share, but I can't even begin to put it in this blog. I'll keep posting as we go, but just know that it has simply been a wonderful trip. Keep praying for the last few days that we stay healthy, our paperwork is completed by Friday, and for safe travels home.