gratitude [pencils]

thanks christo & erica for my sophisticated & bright pencil shirt.  i feel smarter & a bit classier just wearing it.

benjamin & lindsay in cambodia

after our mini-family reunion in thailand, ben & lindsay came back with us for a week of fun in cambodia.  they had just finished a trip to wild india & crazy phuket, so we did lots of relaxing on the porch, but also some fun cambodian sight-seeing too.

[ben & lindsay exploring angkor wat]

[they fit right in]

[touristing in siem reap complete with fish feet massage, coconuts & cambodian mojitos]

[apsara dancers]

[learning how silk is made] 

[besides all the touring baby cedar spent a lot of time enjoying his aunt & uncle & smiling ]

it was a quick & full visit & we're already looking forward to our next visit!

snapshots [january]

[twelve months = one year]

[thanks jamie sue for the photo, amanda joan for the sweater, & kimmy for the bowtie]

hard to believe, but our little boy is one this month.  

in the early months of being pregnant with cedar, i spent a month studying in uganda.  while i was there i was feeling pretty sick, strangely exhausted, and overwhelmed as i looked ahead to see life in cambodia + grad school + full time work + a new baby in my future.  during our chapel one morning, the spirit of God reassured me, saying that this baby i was carrying was a gift to us & not a burden.  & those simple words were a huge encouragement to me at that time.

& as we look back on one year with this little guy, they still encourage us.  true, he's not perfect, he doesn't sleep well & we end most days exhausted since he arrived, but still, this year has not been a burden, our little son has already lived up to his name, & has been a gift.

& we could not be more grateful for our sweet cedar james.

[oh yes, & now he walks!]

cozy christmas memories [2011]

two weeks of winter wonder in ny + all hastings siblings + significant others + cedar's first christmas = a cozy christmas for the memory books!

porch party

this is what injustice looks like [borei keila]

 

[mok phaith, 65, cries as she searches through the remains of her home which was demolished by authorities in borei keila.  photo by:heng chivoan, phnom penh post]

 on january 3rd, policemen, guards, and employees of the development company phan imex destroyed the homes of over 300 people in the heart of phnom penh. 

[bricks & debris are all that remain. photo by: mai vireak-phnom penh post]

the company plans to use the area for commercial deveoplement.

[former residents. photo by: Samrang Pring/Reuters]

read more about the eviction and the response of civil society groups here & here.