thefikesfive

September Video Update

Chris — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:08:14 +0000

It’s time for another episode of “The Fikes Five in Phayao”! For this episode we have two special guests, co-stars Tonya and Corban Fikes. It’s a little long (about 19 minutes) but there was a lot of stuff we wanted to cover and I think you’ll enjoy it. You can watch it here or click this link if you would rather download it: September Video Update Please write us with any comments, questions, or feedback for the next update.

Just wanted to share

Chris — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:53:14 +0000

The new normal for the Fikes boys:

Went to seven eleven and told the kids to pick out one drink and snack for the road. Corban picks out a package of seaweed.

What do you guys what to eat for supper? answer: noodles

Having races in the field and Teagan calling out Nueng, Song, Sam instead of one, two, three.

Teagan asking me at night, how do you say tiger, giraffe, cage, rabbit… in thai?

Esan loves going to school. He has a great time and loves for the principal to swing him.

Esan asking, “When do we get to go visit Texas?” (so weird that we visit it now)

No more diapers!!!! Yeah Teagan!!!! Yeah Mommy and Dadddy!!!!

A few weeks ago we were blessed to have my sweet mom come and stay and be with us for three weeks. We were all so blessed by her visit. One of the biggest blessings for me was just having her so close. I loved seeing her in our home here, sitting on the floor playing checkers, doing puzzles, reading books, playing baseball, and of course filling cups of juice. It was great! Most of the time when we visit at my mom’s house she is a wonderful hostess and cooks lots of wonderful meals and is always serving us. This visit was great because for once I felt like we got to serve her and allow her the freedom to just sit and be with us and not have to worry with meals and laundry. Esan was pretty much stuck on Oma the entire time and they have an even stronger bond after the three weeks together. Having mom here also opened doors for us relationally with our neighbors. One evening my neighbor came over and asked us to come over. Usually an invitation like that means standing outside and visiting. This time though she wanted us to come inside and sit in her living room. She brought out a photo album of her daughter’s wedding and we went through it together as she told us all about the event. It was the first time that my neighbor just wanted us to come and visit inside her house. I believe it was because my mom was there and that made it more natural for her to share about the wedding with me since my mom was there. So just by being here with us gave us another way to connect with our neighbors. Proof that God uses us even though we can’t speak the same language. We had so much fun making memories with mom and we are so excited to see her again at her house in Texas soon.I am so thankful to have a mom who will come and sacrifice to be with us. I love my mom and the boys love their Oma!!!

We will be making a visit to Texas soon and we are all so excited! We will be there the whole month of October and plan on soaking up lots of family time. The boys miss their cousins and friends from Boerne! We are looking forward to that time.

I am learning so much about God’s love right now. One of the biggest things I have realized is for several years I have been concerned with being obedient to God, God’s faithfulness and provision. I know of God’s goodness and His love for me, but I have not allowed myself to be loved by Him. A few weeks ago I was a participant in a women’s renewal retreat here in Thailand. Over the course of the five days I began to get a glimpse of how different life is when I allow God to love on me and not just know about His love. I have experienced love as a wife from Chris, as a mother from each of the boys, as a daughter, sister, and as a friend. Throughout that time at the renewal though, I began to experience God’s love as a child. I have needed to feel that for a really long time and it felt so good. Since that renewal I have returned home expecting and feeling God’s love as His child. I told Chris the other day that I am different on the inside since that time of receiving God’s love. There is no anxiousness in the morning, and a desire to just get through the day. I don’t want to prove anything to anyone. I just want to be, and enjoy what there is for me in that day from Him. I haven’t had that in a really long time on a consistent basis. It feels so good. I have included a photo taken of Corban. That photo was taken while he was sitting in a waterfall. When I look at that picture I see myself and God’s love pouring onto every part of me. I can’t escape it, it engulfs me. It is my new reality. God is such a good Father! There is so much more to this story. I am so thankful for those of you who are praying for me and my family. I wanted to share this with you to let you know that your prayers matter and make a difference in our lives and in the lives that we are able to be around and love on. Bless the Lord O my soul! -

Corban’s Star Wars Movie

Chris — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:50:12 +0000

Click play to hear this post about Corban Scout’s Star Wars movie

This is Corban’s Star Wars movie and then pictures of the premiere below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

AFC Kids Camp

Chris — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:40:14 +0000

When Tonya and I were at A&M we went on a lot of weekend trips, a lot of mission trips, worked at Camp of the Hills, and did a lot of VBS and church camps. Whenever we did those things, people always told us how thankful they were and how much it meant to them for us to come spend time with them and do things like that for their families and kids. I always knew they meant it but I also always kind of thought they were just overstating their feelings and trying to make us feel good. I now have a different perspective.

Kelly and Sara Davidson brought four aggies to Phayao, Thailand for five days to put on a kids camp for the children of our team. I can’t explain to you how blessed and loved we feel that they would want to do that for us and our children. They put on an amazing three day camp full of games, fun activities, Bible stories, crafts, snacks, field trips, swimming, and lots of love. I kept telling them over and over how thankful we were and how wonderful it was for our kids and for us and what a blessing it was for them to give to our families in such an amazing way. It was an awesome time of fun and learning for our kids and something I think they will remember probably for the rest of their lives.

Thank you again Kelly, Sara, Jenna, Nathan, Michelle, and Haley. You have blessed our families more than you know and I’m sure if you are like me, you probably think I’m exaggerating and maybe even being a little corny. But that’s okay. Please know that you made a mark in the lives of a lot of people here in Northern Thailand. Enjoy the pictures and videos below or click here to see the entire gallery of the whole camp.

From top to bottom, left to right: Haley holding Lane, Teagan, Michelle, Corban, Esan, Jenna, Meg, Brynn, Nathan

Our wonderful aggies and the place they had kids camp everyday. Derran and Ann’s neighbors let us use their yard and this building which is actually a classroom. They had plenty of room, a great yard to play games in, and most importantly, air conditioning. It worked out great!

Kelly and Sara and the aggies also made up a Kids Camp song. I’m not sure who exactly wrote it, but they did a great job. It was written to the tune of “We Are The Aggies” here is a picture of the words to the song and then a video of us singing it on the last day of camp.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Corban loses his first tooth!

Chris — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:39:13 +0000

Last Friday, June 11, Corban lost his very first tooth. It was one of the bottom ones right in the middle. It’s been loose for a couple of weeks now and we just kept waiting for something to happen. Well, it did. He was eating a popsicle and all of a sudden he grabbed his mouth and said, “Oh no!” We I finally got him to open his mouth I could see that it was just barely hanging on. I didn’t have my camera with me, but luckily Kelly Davidson was there and had his. So, Kelly started videoing and I started giving Corban a pep talk. He put it under his pillow and the tooth fairy flew all the way across the ocean, evidently in time to visit the bank and exchange some money, and left 50 baht under his pillow. Here is a video of the actual moment the tooth was pulled.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Esan turns 4!!

Chris — Sun, 23 May 2010 13:59:04 +0000

Esan Ray had his fourth birthday on Friday. He got up and went to school and then Friday evening we had his birthday party. The Reeses and Binkleys were here along with a few of our neighbors. Birthdays are always fun but a little bit sad, too because they make us miss our families a little bit more than usual. But, we did get to see some of them on the computer and that is always good. Here are a few pics of Esan when he woke up. He asked for a Star Wars party so all the Star Wars action figures greeted him when he came downstairs. Here is the link to the Star Wars Birthday invitation Tonya and I made for him in case you didn’t get to see it.

Tonya made Esan birthday pancakes with a number “4″ made out of chocolate chips!!

Here is Esan Ray ready for school on his birthday. He wanted me to take him to school on the motorcycle. This is the uniform he wears on Fridays.

Esan Ray’s Fourth Birthday Party

Click here to view the embedded video.

First Day of School!

Chris — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:44:29 +0000

In Thailand, the summer school holiday goes from the middle of March to the middle of May. Corban’s school started May 10 and Esan was supposed to have his first day of school this past Monday, May 17, but a big storm blew through town on Sunday night and knocked down a couple of big trees at his school, so they didn’t have school on Monday. So, Tuesday was his first day of school and he did great! His teacher’s name is Kru Gai (Kru means teacher). She is very sweet and is so happy to have Esan in her class. He was so happy when Tonya picked him up and he said he had a great day. He said they played on the playground twice and Brynn shared her sandwich with him at lunch time. We were so happy but were still a little unsure how day two would go, that is, today. Well, it wasn’t bad, but he definitely wasn’t as excited and willing as he had been on day one. Corban and I took him this morning and stayed for a few minutes with him but he didn’t want to participate in the game they were playing outside and he just wanted to stay right by my side. He did good when I said I had to leave and he gave me a hug and kiss and let me go, but he and Brynn were still just sitting watching the other kids when I left. When Tonya picked him up today, he said he cried and missed us, but then when I came home and asked him how his day was he said, “It was good, I had fun.” So, please keep praying for him and Corban and them going to school. Here’s a short video from Esan’s first day.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here are some pictures of Corban’s first day of school. Corban went to this same school last year but of course was in a different class with a different teacher. Luckily, a lot of the same kids are in his class again this year and he really has fun with a couple of them. His teacher is very sweet, but is not the same as last year, so it looks like it might take him a little bit to get used to her.

A Star Wars Birthday Invitation

Chris — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:01:10 +0000

Esan Ray’s fourth birthday is in one week, May 21. He said he wants to have a Star Wars party. Tonya had a great idea to make a video invitation in the likes of the Star Wars intro title sequence. So, with a little help from Google, I was able to find a small program to do just that. We just wanted to share it because it was so fun making it and even better letting the boys watch it. It’s nothing magnificent, but it did make me want to watch Star Wars.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Esan Ray Learns to Swim!!!

Chris — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:42:44 +0000

We’ve been going swimming a lot lately for two reasons: first, this is the hottest time of year in Thailand, sometimes over 100 degrees before noon; and second this is the summer break for the schools. So, to beat the heat and take advantage of summer vacation we’ve been going swimming. Corban has been swimming like a fish for a long time and at the beginning of the summer break Esan was using floaties. He was loving the water and having lots of fun swimming with his brothers and jumping in to Tonya and I. And then all of a sudden, one day, he just decided to take off his floaties and started putting his head under and trying to swim. That was about two weeks ago. I kept trying to get him to swim to me in the big pool but he just wanted to stay in the kiddie pool where he could touch. And then, this past weekend at in Chiang Mai, he just started swimming in the deep pool. I think part of it was because he didn’t have a choice, there was no kiddie pool. It was so fun getting to see him swim and seeing him be so excited and proud of himself. So, here is a short video of him swimming and having fun.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Corban Scout’s 6th Birthday!!

Chris — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:06:09 +0000

I can’t believe it, Corban Scout is six years old. He has got to use two hands now to show how old he is. His birthday was on April 15th, but we had his birthday party on Saturday, April 17th. It is so fun to have his birthday in Thailand because his birthday falls on the national holiday of Songkran. It is a wonderful holiday where the entire country has a huge water fight for about three days to celebrate the Thai new year. On the morning of his birthday he got a few presents from his grandparents and from us (spy gear), and then in the afternoon we went and joined in the water fight. There was also another very special gift on the morning of Corban’s birthday. An atlas moth in our kitchen. Some of you may remember a post I wrote about four months ago about the atlas moth caterpillars we had on a tree in our yard. Wikipedia said they would hatch in about four weeks, but I think it should have said four months. Anyway, about three months ago I put one of the cacoons on the wall of our kitchen so we could see it when it came out and I think as a special gift from God, it emerged the morning of Corban Scout’s birthday. You can click here if you want to see pictures of the Atlas Moth. You can also click here if you would like to see a full gallery of photos from Corban’s birthday.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On Saturday we had his birthday party here at our house. It was pirate themed, complete with treasure hunts, pin the “X” on the map, rum (purple kool-aid in plastic flasks), pirate ship pinata, a treasure chest cake and a couple of the pirates even had to walk the plank. It was a lot of fun and we even had some friends drive all the way from Chiang Mai to be here to celebrate with us. I asked Corban what his favorite part was and he said the pirate ship pinata (thanks to my sweet friend Camille for getting it all the way from Singapore!). Here is a slideshow of just a few of the photos from the party or if you want to see more Birthday Party fun, click here.

Click here to view the embedded video.