Happy New Year 2025!

Thanks for walking with us this year.

Your steps brought us joy and cheer.

Much love and blessings from our family to yours, Cartoon (10), Auto (12), Morgan and Tor.

Cartoon

This year we brought Cartoon to live with us fulltime on the mainland. Since birth, she's lived with her maternal grandparents on Koh Kood island where the ocean is just outside the door. Transitioning to a new home, new school, and with new caregivers was challenging, but I'm proud to say that she is now thriving! Her teacher says that she is a hard worker with a good attitude who has improved immensely since starting the school year in May. Cartoon diligently studies her spelling words every night, loves dancing and singing in TikTok videos, and enjoys being creative. To Cartoon a pancake is not just a pancake. It's an animal, a letter, a piece of art.

Auto

Auto has grown so much in the last year! In May he started Mattayome 1, the Thai equivalent of starting middle school, except middle school includes grades 7-9. He still loves fishing, which has expanded to raising betta fish. There are too many to count! Often quite shy, Auto stepped out of his comfort zone and joined a football (soccer) club where he plays with kids across the district and has grown in athleticism, teamwork, and confidence. 

Morgan

This year I've expanded my teaching skills considerably; I took some continuing learning courses, fine-tuned my phonics and reading pedagogy, adopted new classroom management techniques, and expanded my tutoring offerings to include the SAT. I think the classroom is always going to be a bit of a roller coaster, but I find this year I am a calmer, more confident teacher.

Highlights of my year include every book club meeting, a movie date to see Wicked with P' Tor, and of course my 3 week visit to the USA in October! It was such a blessing to experience another Wisconsin fall season with family and friends I miss so dearly. I spent a week hiking Acadia National Park with high school friends Madi and Dana. I returned home to celebrate my sister Kaylyn's engagement. I road-tripped across Wisconsin to see five friends and their new babies. I threw a family reunion and cherished seeing so many relatives, many I haven't seen in 6 years. And somehow in all that busyness, were slow, tender moments of reconnection and love. The trip was a hot chai latte, an oversized sweater, an old family quilt, a warm hug. I am so blessed. Thank you to everyone who was a part of it.

 

Tor

P' Tor continues to impress, amaze, and support me. This year he managed the completion of our home, and expanded his oyster enterprise to include catching wild shrimp, crabs, and catfish, and selling chicken feed. He loves a quiet afternoon feeding the chickens, and then a loud evening singing and dancing to the lastest Thai hit blasting at full volume.

Home Hopes Realized

P' Tor and I have been dreaming, designing, and building our home for nearly three years on P' Tor's family property. In July this year we finally moved in! Coming home to this home, our home, everyday, feels so good! I love creating and experimenting in our expansive kitchen. I love drawing the curtains and opening the windows for the morning sea breeze. I love admiring the tiles we chose and the care and craftsmanship P' Tor put into each installation. We are thrilled to be in our home and creating family memories, and looking forward to future house projects (kitchen bar, office installation, home garden...). We're also looking forward to hosting you. P' Tor made sure there was a guest room in our home for whenever you're ready to visit Thailand. 

Parenthood

P' Tor and I continued to grow in our parenting skills as we assumed more responsibility in taking care of Auto and Cartoon. It's been a bit of a roller coaster as we establish house rules, chores, and routines for the very first time while trying to build a positive, supporting, and loving family dynamic. Learning to navigate and manage the multitude of emotions that erupt after a long school day or in cleaning up after dinner has been challenging to say the least. There have been bright spots! I love Cartoon's enthusiasm to play and experiment with me in the kitchen. Evening visits to the neighborhood temple school where P' Tor and the kids play football (soccer) are absolutely magical. We had a blast working together to decorate the house for Christmas for the very first time - Cartoon commented "We're finally all getting along for once!" 

I appreciate everyone I've called or texted this year, in tears, asking for support or advice. Thank you for answering the call. Recent parenting advice I received was "They are just people, learning to make their way in the world. Remember what you wanted and needed at that time." I welcome you sharing in the comments, the best parenting advice you've received.

Closing

As we say goodbye to 2024, we’re feeling so grateful for the big moments, the little joys, and the people who make it all worthwhile. Thank you for being part of our story—near or far, you’ve made this year brighter. We hope you’ll stroll with us into 2025, ready for whatever adventures and surprises it has in store. Wishing you a season filled with love, laughter, and all your favorite things.