The Vernon Journal

Abi has been sick for a couple of weeks, going from a head cold to severe vomiting to a mild fever. Those of you who follow us on Facebook (see the links on the right of this page) have heard these updates, but I know many of you only follow us on this blog and wanted to fill you in here as well. She’s on the mend today and we are planning on going up to the village this afternoon if she’s doing well after her nap.

The silver lining in the last few weeks has been a really nice time as a family. A two-year old can sometimes be a handful, but it’s so fun to watch her personality, vocabulary and comprehension of the world around her as it expands daily.

Abi is very active, but very sweet. Right now, she really loves to be doing whatever her mom is doing. Last night, Abi was beginning to feel better and decided she wanted to help Lori make a dinner - a very American “Breakfast for Dinner” actually.

Here are some images from their time together:

Later that evening (when mom decided she needed the whole kitchen to herself if she was actually going to get dinner made) Abi and I went out to look at the sunset… and to take more pictures of Abi.

Those of you who are looking for even more Abigail than you can find here on the Vernon Journal, take a look at our scrapbook postings of pictures, unedited videos, and other tidbits at Abi’s Tumblr: Our Abi Hope.
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Proverbs 31:10 (NASB)

Description of a Worthy Woman
¹⁰An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.

Maybe it’s the weddings I’ve been going to. Maybe spring comes early in Thailand. But I have found today, that even after 9.5 years of marriage, I am head-over-heels *in love* with Lori.

She’s seen her life get more and more difficult as pregnancy turned into an infant and now a two-year-old, and yet she continues to shine in ministry, as a mother and as a wife.

Right now she’s in the bathtub with our energetic daughter, after working most of the afternoon on her computer with Abigail nestled in-between her body and her mouse-operating right hand. We’re working on getting Abi to go to sleep with me and she’s becoming more and more independent as she grows up, but there’s no substitute for mom when things are hectic - which is more often than not in our world.

Sometimes as a father, I feel pretty helpless - I just can’t comfort Abi like Lori can - and, therefore, more often than ever I am being called off in one direction to work and to serve while Lori continues our services of ministry locally, while continuing her role as a mom.

Through it all, she’s been incredible, and is a priceless addition to my life.

Last month, when the Ruggles’ were with us, they captured some of the many roles that Lori plays in our life - and I wanted to share them with you.  (make sure you hover over the pictures for the insider descriptions of each role)

…and all of this doesn’t even cover the professor / nurse / teacher roles that fall in her actual job description.

I love you, Lori. You are simply incredible.

Since I spent the last week of 2009 in America, we ended up celebrating our family Christmas on January 2nd this year. Abigail is still young enough that the actual date doesn’t really matter to her - but she is now old enough that Christmas is really fun.

Living in Thailand we try to do a couple of holidays with more of an American flair, for ourselves and for Abi so she can have some connection with her American roots. Our biggest “tradition” holiday - by far - is Christmas. We start the day with an American breakfast cooked by Lori. This year she made an “Apple French Toast Casserole” which was so good that Esther actually ate it (she is generally a very picky eater, and especially adverse to western food). While we eat breakfast, we listen to the Christmas story - first in Akha, then in English - while discussing the characters in the story through our nativity scene.

Then we celebrate a new tradition, initiated by Abi. Since there are presents under the tree, Abi knew that there must be a birthday. For about a month, she kept thinking it was going to be her birthday again, but now if you ask her whose birthday is on Christmas, she will answer “Baby Jesus” or “God” depending on what she remembers of the story at the time. So, we all sing a rousing version of Happy Birthday to Jesus, led by Abi.

Then we open our presents and stockings. Lori and I love this time because we get to really spoil Esther. This year, in addition to clothes & food, the popular gifts were…

For me: a new netbook to replace my dying & incredibly slow laptop. Thanks Mom, Dad, Grandma & Grandpa!

For Lori: a beautiful, original oil-on-canvas (50″ x 36″) of five Ulo Akha women carrying bundles of roofing grass and corn in from the fields. This original composition was painted by Burmese artist Soe Win, who we were able to meet in Maesot where we purchased the piece.

For Abi: a custom-made traditional Burmese outfit that Esther bought from a seamstress in Myanmar (Burma) & a miniature blender so that Abi can make smoothies just like her mom!

For Esther: a huge bag of her favorite dried cherries, photos and a photo album, clothes from America and fabric, thread & sewing needles so she can learn how to sew Akha stitches (everyone has always given her a hard time because she didn’t learn how to sew as a girl, now she can practice in the city. she’s really excited to show her mom that she’s learning to sew!).

After all the presents and playing, we enjoy a wonderful smorgasbord lunch of breads, vegetables, fruits, cheeses, crackers and summer sausage to round out a wonderful - if belated - family Christmas. Hope you all had wonderful times with your families as well!

I’m generally not a fan of facebook applications, games and add-ons - but I have really enjoyed this one which sums up our 2009 facebook updates in a tidy little image. It was a wonderful 2009 & we’re looking forward to even more adventures in 2010.

Paul Vernon 2009 Year-in-Status

Lori Vernon 2009 Year-in-Status

Some of you have seen my fb updates over the last month and have therefore heard most of this story, but if you hadn’t heard:  I was in Southern California for the last week of 2009. A good friend of mine and his new bride flew me in and out of America to celebrate their wedding with them.

It was a whirlwind of a trip filled with airplanes, car rides and jetlag. I spent as much time traveling to, from and around Southern California as I was actually at the wedding - but it was a wonderful time.

It was really special for me because I got to spend a lot of time with some of my closest friends. Including the groom, eight of the guys from our college days came. Unfortunately, none of the wives or kids were able to make it - but that actually made for a great time. And probably the last time that all of us guys would be together just as all of us guys.

After the wedding we headed out into San Diego to see the aircraft carrier, mess around with photography, pay for parking without actually doing anything where we parked, and close down a microbrewery that had completely run out of it’s house-brewed root beer.

It was a great time with great friends, and although I probably would never choose to make another quick round-trip like that again, I wouldn’t trade the memories of those few days for anything in the world.

Thanks guys, it was a blast.