New Year! New dog!

2025 was a year of some FIRSTS for us: a car, motorcycles, one kid graduating from high school! And it ended on another first – a new puppy! We've named her Mishi, which is short for an Ojibway word for "underwater panther", or just any large cat, describing it's stripes or markings. She is part English Bulldog, and part Soi dog. What is a soi dog? Well, most travelers to Thailand notice fairly quickly that there are dogs everywhere. And in the big cities, smaller roads or lanes, known as soi, tend to be a place where these dogs congregate and live. Does anyone own them? Not really, but if you live on a soi with a pack of dogs napping at the entrance, you are safe. If you are going to a soi looking for some place, those soi dogs will know you are new and bark up a storm! So, Mishi's dad seems to have been a soi dog with lots of Terrier in him. She doesn't have the flattened snout of a bulldog, but a nice short one like a terrier. And when she plays with her toys she does that "shake it to break it's neck", like a terrier would do with a mouse or rat.

She's quite smart and has learned to sit on command already, and sit and wait while we pour her food, sit to come into the house, and do her thing outside (most of the time). We are still working on training her to go outside and not inside, and she seems to be catching on. She was born Oct 18, so she is still young & learning.

Not much looks different in this picture - mom, dad, daughter and son. Four of us, just like in all the other pics we share. But it is different. In 6 days Liberty returns to Canada to continue her studies, and the next photo will just have three of us.

She is doing very well living on her own. She is in campus housing, has a roommate, and she has the first year meal plan, so in many ways much has been taken care of for her. But she is learning the ropes, figuring out how she wants to live, and all that is required to live. We are so proud of her! But do keep praying for her please. She meets so many people who are searching, who've been hurt, who are empty, and just as many who are going through the motions so that everything looks good on the outside, but on the inside is doubt and confusion.

So, a new year. Where will we head to? What destinations awaits us? For now, we have a decent sense that we will finish the next 1.5 years at GIS in Chiang Mai, mostly for Van to finish high school. Michelle enjoys teaching and thrives with the social interaction. I am considering some kind of weight loss attempt... Liberty and Van have started telling me I need to be around for then they get married! Project-wise, I just have too many ideas. The Kazak bible project needs to be finished, so that is a biggie. But I'm also always on the lookout for other needs, perhaps in missiology, in training, in digital skills, in research and writing. Hard to do it all!

But, if Mishi can adapt as well as she has been, then so can we. So we pray for you and your own walk into 2026. Follow God!