Thailand pictures

Dr. Pob, our new friend and guide!

Visiting the "Rock Castle"

Nayeli climbing the lava mountain

Phanom Rung Castle (Rock Castle)

Great Buddha on top of lava mountain

Local clinic site

Dr. Jonathan hard at work

Just a few days left. Here are some photos from the past week. 

Love you all
The Lazarini's

Nayeli meets an elephant

Tonight we had a special treat. As we walked to dinner with our new friend, Dr. Apichart, and our good friend, Dr. Seekoaw, we met an elephant coming up the road, trained of course. We got to feed her sugar cane. She knew exactly how to behave. She reached for each of us with her trunk, it almost looked like she had a little finger, pointing at each of us in turn, asking for sugar cane. She even knew to give the empty bag to her trainer. Nayeli was horrified! She shrieked each time the elephant's trunk came near. Yelling over and over "snake, snake." Mommy obviously loved meeting the elephant, but I do not think Nayeli will be so excited the next time she sees elephants at the zoo. She loves the animals, but is very content if they stay behind the fence!    

             


The Lazarini's

Korat zoo

We spent the first full day in Korat touring the hospital where we will be working and joining the medical students on home visits. Nayeli has been surprisingly shy, but finally has warmed up to a few people. Mostly people who offer her food.  

On Saturday we went to the Korat zoo with the medical students. We were told it is the largest zoo in Southeast Asia. It was beautiful with many plants and even some  iguanas and native deer running free through the zoo. We learned so many Thai names for animals. We enjoyed seeing the "Chang" - Elephant.

Nayeli is sleeping a little better, but wakes us up at 4 every morning. Praying this won't last all month. We are having some good conversations. Please pray for more opportunities for us to get to know our new Thai friends.  Tomorrow is our first full day of work. Please pray that we will be useful and a blessing to the staff at the nearby hospital.

The Lazarini's

We made it...

Two flights and 24 hours after leaving Fort Worth, we have made it to Thailand. We learned three things. 1. We have a very good baby compared to other babies. 2. Even a good baby has meltdowns. (Nayeli's happened at 30000 feet after sleeping only 5 hours in 24 hours.) 3. The movie Lady and the Tramp can save exhausted parents with a child having a meltdown. (Nayeli watched it through 4 times.)    It was a very difficult trip, but The Lord provided for in many ways over the past few days. We are now at Suranaree University of Technology waiting for our first day of introductions with the faculty and students.  Please pray for us, that we will be good ambassadors for Christ over the next few days. Pray specifically for sleep. Nayeli is not sleeping at night and is having trouble taking naps during the day. We are all exhausted. Pray that we will treat each other with patience and kindness and draw our strength from The Lord.

The Lazarini's

Nayeli's first trip to the beach

This summer we went on our first vacation without family.  We went to De Gray in Arkansas.  It was wonderful.  We got to stay in a hotel room, which was perfect with a toddler, but still enjoyed hiking, biking and exploring the nearby beach. Nayeli was not a fan of the beach but she still smiled even when caught in the crossfire of mommy and daddy's mud fight. 

Happy First Birthday!

Nayeli,

Today is February 3rd.  Today is your First Birthday ever!  You are still upstairs asleep and I am getting things ready for your day.  Some of your family and friends are coming to celebrate with us. They are coming because they love you, even though you don't understand that yet.  I know you won't remember your first birthday, but I want to make it special none the less.

As I get ready this morning, I am thinking over the past year, trying to remember every detail from the day Daddy and I found out you were coming until today.  You have grown and changed so much and I can hardly believe that you are the same little jelly bean we saw on the ultrasound in Mommy's tummy.  I have almost forgotten how tiny you were when you were born.  Getting up with you in the middle of the night seems like a distant memory.  I would not change any of it!

I do remember the first day you smiled at me. I think you knew that day who I was, your mommy! I remember the first time you ate cereal - you haven't stopped eating since!  I remember the day I came home and Aunt Kimela had taught you to crawl - the end of my clean house.  I love how very sweet you are.  You give Mommy and Daddy hugs and kisses almost every day.  We cherish them so much.  I wish I could put them in a bottle and save them, keeping them forever.  I also remember the day you started walking.  I cried that night with Daddy, knowing that someday you will grow up and walk away from us.  I am amazed at how smart you are.  You learn new things everyday.  This week I taught you the sign for please and you learned it in one afternoon! Daddy and I love everything about you!

This morning, I am also thinking about the years to come.  You will celebrate many birthdays and have many parties.  Next year will you ask for Dora or a princess party?  Each year you will grow and be less dependent on Daddy and I.  What ever comes, know that Daddy and I love you so much.  Daddy and I asked the LORD to bring you to us.  Now we know He made us wait for you! We praise the LORD for you every single day. We know that so many things could have been different, but the LORD chose you to be our daughter and prepared us to be your parents. O, how I love being your Mommy! Even on the days I am exhausted and feel I can't go on, you smile and reach for me and I remind myself you won't be with me forever. I am refreshed and am learning to cherish each hour with you. Someday you will walk away from me to your new life and family. Today, however, you are with me. It is our day. Your First Birthday! Thank you LORD for the opportunity to make memories with Nayeli that we will remember for a long time. We love you. Happy Birthday Nayeli!

Love Mommy & Daddy

Nayeli's First Christmas

          MERRY CHRISTMAS

~ We finally took our tree down yesterday.  Down came the decorations and out came the rubbermaid boxes.  Everything was packed away and stored in the closet.  As I wrapped the ornaments to store I tried to process every memory from the past month and a half.  Christmas has always been my favorite holiday.  I love the family and memories that the season brings.  Each year creates new memories and stories for the next.  This year gave me a completely new and wonderful perspective as I watched my infant daughter experience her First Christmas.


~ Everything was new to her. The tree, the lights, the presents.  You could see so much confusion in her face as she tried to understand why her the home was transformed during her naptime to include twinkling lights, noisy bells and wrapped boxes she wasn't allowed to touch, but were on the floor.  Best of all a tree was INSIDE the house.  She quickly understood that the ornaments belonged on the tree. Her new favorite game was to take all the ones off within her reach and then bring Laz or I into the living room to put them back on.  When she received an ornament from a teacher, she crawled over to the tree reached up with it, so I could place the new ornament on the tree beside the rest.  Every guest to our house had to go with Nayeli to receive an introduction to our Christmas tree.  She also made sure I turned the Christmas lights on every morning after she woke up. 

 ~ On Christmas she was the perfect gift receiver. You would think that someone had trained her. Each present she opened, she played with for at least 10 minutes before allowing herself to be pried away by her parents to open the next gift from her huge pile.  She hugged all the stuffed animals she received and admired each outfit.  She was the center of attention.  All 8 adults in our living room watched, taking video, photographs on numerous cameras and phones, not wanting to miss a moment of her Christmas debut. It was a glorious day!