The good piece of news was that we received word that the USCIS had finally received the Visa cable 37 sent from Denver. The other good news was that our social worker with the DSDW quickly faxed us a clarification document stating why there was another form in lieu of the original birth certificate. So, we were hoping that once the five day holiday weekend ended that we'd get a chance to submit this document and receive our interview with the USCIS before they'd close for their five-day New Year's break. Penny was getting a bit sad, realizing that she would not spend her first Christmas in America. But, she was also having fun playing with two kids she met at our hotel who were from Holland. We also enjoyed going shopping at two malls nearby our new hotel. In fact, we bought the Thai keyboard I am typing on now for the equivalent of about $8! It's been a great investment, as it has helped Penny be able to type in Thai.
In the evening we ate at KFC and then headed over to our hotel where Santa was visiting everyone in the hotel dining room and lobby. Penny enjoyed watching Santa blow up balloons and create special artwork with them.
Thurs., Dec. 25th, 2008
The good news was that our stomachs felt a little better this morning after having eaten the undercooked eggs at our previous hotel. Penny had really been enjoying playing with her new Dutch friends. It's amazing how they could somehow communicate, even with the lack of a common language, save a LITTLE English. We were loving the food at the Bangna Novetel Hotel. Every meal had an AMAZING buffet, unlike anything we had ever seen.
My missionary friends, the Fujii's, helped us out by getting us a Thai cell phone and explaining how we could get a card at any 7-Eleven to download minutes onto the phone. A very inexpensive, but useful tool to enable us to travel a little farther from home, but still be able to retrieve the important call that should come someday to let us know that we would be granted an interview with the DSDW. These friends also invited us to join them in the afternoon/evening to go to a giant Christmas party in downtown Bangkok at Lumphini Park. They picked us up and next we stopped at the school where they work, BIT (Bangkok Institute of Theology). There we met and picked up some of their students to come along with us to the Christmas celebration in the heart of Bangkok.
There was a huge gathering of Thai Christians there, serving free food and sharing the message of Christ through a huge, walk through nativity set and on stage. They had all kinds of performances, including music, dance and famous people speaking about how Christ had made a difference in their lives. It was a very special way to celebrate Jesus' birthday. Afterwards, we walked over to the Night Market and went into a restaurant where we enjoyed excellent Thai food. Penny was smiling a lot because she loved being able to communicate with the Fujii's. 
It was a very Merry Christmas and certainly kept our minds off of being sad that we couldn't be home. Meanwhile, my parents had driven all the way from eastern South Dakota to Colorado to hopefully spend the holiday with us. They, unfortunately, had to turn around and take the 11 hour trip back without getting to see their new granddaughter, yet. It's so nice having them with us this year and to be able to look back at pictures and smile now.
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