Home, Sweet Home!

Hello Friends and Family,

After a great five weeks staying with friends in Keizer, Oregon we have finally migrated a half a mile away to our own apartment off Orchard court in Keizer, Oregon. Yesterday was our a moving day and we were blessed by great weather and family and friends that were willing to give up their Saturday (and their bodies) to help us move. I thought that we had done a pretty good job of downsizing and getting rid of a bunch of stuff before we left for the Far East, so I was quite shocked when we finally got all of our stuff back in a U-Haul for the eighth move of our marriage and I realized how much STUFF we have accumulated in just three and a half years of marriage. It was great, however, to see stuff that we had missed since before we left and it is really nice to have our own place that we can begin to decorate. We are already having withdrawals and missing the Jamison family (and their cookies) but we are getting settled into our place. Today was a great day at church as we began a building campaign for a new children's center and we spent the rest of the day just hanging out and slowly unpacking. We've made good progress so far and thought we get some pics up of our decorating and arranging. Its a nice big apartment and has a cool view of a pasture through our living room window. But the best part of being here in Keizer is that we are close to some great families and friends that are a blast to hang out with so we'll probably be bugging them more than they would like. Anyways, we'll get some pictures up tomorrow or later this week of the actual moving day. But here's some we snapped tonight after we got all but one room semi-set-up. We hope each of you has a great week as we prepare for Spring Break and Easter Celebration!

In Christ,
Ryan and Kealy

Here's our dining room area


A nice and homey living room


Skinny but stocked kitchen


Our relaxing bedroom


A lot more work to be done!

Re-entry...one month and counting

Hello Friends and Family,

Today was our 37th day back on American soil and I think we are finally begin to feel a bit 'settled down'. It has been so great being home and spending time with friends and with family. Hopefully we have gotten a chance to see each of you at least once, but if not, we want to see you!!! We have been doing pretty good on 're-entry shock' as they call it. We weren't gone for a long time, and I don't think there's really been anything major that has been hard. Sometimes we have a hard time remembering things (i.e. names, places, events) before China, which could just be a our brains on overload more than we think, and sometimes it is hard going to the store or restaurant where there are so many choices! The other hard part about being back is all the incredible food that we have been eating and people have been cooking for us. We are trying to eat healthy and are stomachs have definitely shrunk (a few days ago at lunch I ordered chicken strips and fries and only ate like 2 strips and a few fries) weird! But other than that things are going pretty well and we are having a great time here in Salem. We are looking towards moving into an apartment soon and Kealy is continuing to bounce around all of the middle schools in Salem-Keizer substitutue teaching.


As great and fun as it is to be back, there are some things we definitely miss about China. We decided to list a few:
1. All of the 'family' friends that we made in China
2. All of our Chinese students that are about to start the next term without us.
3. The family who owned a small minimart where we bought icecream and drinks
4. The same lady we always bought our fruit from
5. Cooking dinner for a total cost of $2
6. Having our three choices for dinner each night being; Pizza Hut, McDonalds, KFC
7. Only working 12 hours a week
8. Not paying any bills
9. Traveling to Hong Kong or other places on the weekend
10.Buying movies and video games for less than $1
11.Amazing hair washes and cheap massages
12.Going on lots of walks
13.Shopping at Wal-Mart
14.Hanging out with friends every night
15.All the time Kealy and I got to spend together


The great part about being back in the states is that we are able to do some of these things we some great people here too. The Jamisons have been so gracious and kind for letting us stay with them, and it has been so much fun continuing to serve and be a part of Salem EC. We are loving life and feel like we are right where God wants us. We hope you have a great week. Talk to you soon.

In Christ,
Ryan and Kealy Thorson

BattleShip....Sunk!!!

Hello Friends and Family,

The last couple of days have been a lot of fun. Now that I have some time off with no work, we've just been hanging out together and with the great family we're staying with! Its been a lot of fun, having nothing to do. We are still getting some things done; Kealy is still subbing and I'm looking for some part time stuff, we had a great time with the college students last night and we are spending some time with fellow orient travelers tonight looking at pictures from Thailand. We are so thankful and grateful that we have a place to stay while we look for apartments and we have decided that Salem is the place where God is calling us to be. We are excited to begin to settle down here and continue to serve in ministry at Salem EC. Right now we're playing a crazy game of Battleship with Grace and Shelby Jamison...they've already sunk one of my ships :( Hope you guys have a great day. Here's some pictures of wild and crazy moments at the Jamison house!

Sincerely,
Ryan and Kealy Thorson

Sine Die--Unemployed!--Learning MahJong

Hello Friends and Family,

Friday a surprising thing happened. I had know idea that when I went to work in the morning that it would be my last day at the capital. The legislative session that I have been working for was scheduled to continue until next Friday, and at that point I (Ryan) would be searching for further employment somewhere. But Friday, after a fourteen hour work day, full of running around, with short breaks to run to Subway and get dinner, we officially ended the legislative session a week early. It was a fun, but busy day. But now, my job is finished at the capital a bit earlier than I thought, but no worries, I guess I'll take a bit of a vactaion before seeing what's next. Actually, we've still got lots of stuff going on. Right now we are hanging out enjoying a quiet sunday night with nothing to do. We had a great weekend hanging out her in Keizer and yesterday we had a party celebrating the end of the legislative session at our friend Qin's house who worked at the capital with me. She is also from China, so we were able to share stories about our experiences and we had a great time together. She also taught us how to play the ancient Chinese game of MahJong. It was a complicated game to learn, but once we got the hang of it, it is quite fun. We enjoyed being back at worship in Salem this morning and are looking forward to doing bible study with college students tomorrow night at the church. Kealy is continuing to sub and I am going to begin looking for jobs and figure out where God wants me/us to be while here in Salem. We feel like we are getting settled in here in Salem and it is so much fun seeing everyone and spending time together. We do miss each of you in China that might be reading this blog, too, we think of you and lift you up often! We hope each of you have a great week experiencing God's goodness and faithfulness! Talk to you soon.

In Christ,
Ryan and Kealy Thorson

Watch out for lamp poles this week!

Up and Running!!!

Hello Friends and Family,

Hope you are having a great week. Like the title said, another week is up and running! This week is flying by, things are over halfway done at the capital and we will probably finish sometime next week. Although I don't really mind, every day is one more day making money. We are really thankful that I have been able to work there during the month of February. It hasn't been too stressful, with time to think and read while still working and bringing in the dough. On another exciting piece of job news, Kealy got her first call tonight to sub tomorrow in the Salem-Keizer School District. She is going to sub at Waldo Middle School teaching at an ESL class for 7.5 hours. So we're pretty excited about that.

We're having a great time staying with friends here in Salem and seeing people that are so special to us. I'm also excited to fill in for Randy with the college group the next couple weeks and share about some of our experiences in China and look at Scripture together.

We feel like we're getting settled into America again, although sometimes there are memory gaps or I get stressed out over little stuff but we're getting better. Hope you all have a great week. Talk to you soon.

In Christ,
Ryan and Kealy Thorson

Happy Birthday Oregon!!! (and happy valentines day)

Hello Friends and Family,

That's right, for those of you Oregonians who don't know (and for others who aren't Oregonians that don't care) today Oregon turned the big 149!!! Working at the capital turned Oregon's birthday into quite the event. Cake, lots of people, and a speech by the Governor at the capital all made the day a lot of fun. Not to mention, oh yeah, its Valentine's day. Hopefully you are all enjoying your families or spouses or girlfriends/boyfriends, etc. during this day. Don't forgot the One that loved you the most too. We are enjoying Valentines with of course, each other, but also with one of our adopted families/landlords of our bedroom in Keizer, the Jamisons. We had heartshaped pizza and an incredible heartshaped cake that was delicious. My stomach is the biggest its been since we left for China, but every bite was delicious. Kealy and I are going to see a late movie just the two of us tonight, but it is fun celebrating Valentine's day with a family too. I forgot how crazy Valentine's day is at school and with kids.

Kealy goes to her substitute orientation tomorrow so she can begin teaching next Tuesday in the salem-keizer area and the 'special' legislative session is winding down. We are still praying earnestly for God's direction in our life right now, but we are really enjoying see friends throughout the state and here in Salem and getting back involved with some of the ministries we were a part of before we left as well as some new ministries that are evolving. We are excited to try and apply what we learned in China to our experiences/ministry here, but sometimes it feels like we never left. Still though, we definitely get fuller faster when we eat, which is probably a good thing! Enjoy celebrating Oregon's birthday and this special day of Love! Happy Valentines Day!

In Christ,
Ryan and Kealy Thorson

A Week On Our Feet and Thailand Pictures

Hello Friends and Family,

Just checking in. We have been here in Salem for a week and it has gone by really fast. We have kept pretty busy and we are having a great time here, staying with a great family that has been so willing to let us invade their home so that we have a place to stay. This week was my first week back at the capital, which was exciting and busy. It has been fun being back at the capital, where there are a lot of different things going on.

One of the best parts of this week was the chance we had to tag along this weekend with the junior high group from Salem EC and have a weekend of fun in Sandy, visiting the snow and swimming at the athletic club. I have never seen as much snow at Government Camp as we did this weekend. We climbed on the snow drifts and went down the hill on intertubes. It was a great time of being with a group that we love so much and seeing such great maturity and growth in the group since we've been gone.

We are continuing to try and see everyone and spend as much time with people as possible. It is so great to come home to so many people who are genuinely excited to see us and hear about God's faithfulness to us during our time in China. Sometimes it feels like we were never gone, because we feel so welcomed home. Enjoy our pictures from our time in Thailand. Have a great week, relying on God's faithfulness as you believe and trust in Him!

Sincerely,
Ryan and Kealy Thorson




Kealy rocking the moped!

Some of the beautiful scenery around our resort. We were next to a Nature Reserve so the scenery was beautiful.

One of the highlights of our trip, we got to ride an elephant together one day in Thailand.

Riding through the jungle!

After the ride, we got to reward our elephant with full, unpeeled bananas that he ate whole

My beautiful wife with a beautiful flower

Another exciting outing was when we hired a local fisherman to take us out to an island in the middle of the bay where our resort was. Here's Kealy, ready for the ride!

Ryan loved the water too.

On the island there were monkeys waiting for us, or for the bananas we had brought.

One happy monkey

A mama monkey with her baby.

Ryan's new friend

What a cute couple

Aye, Aye Captain!

On our next adventure, we took a canoe ride at sunset through the largest freshwater marsh in Thailand.

Our 'driver'

A picture full of beauty!

Overlooking the march, the border with the country of Myanmar is across the marsh.

The moon was bright that night

Boat ride number two, the fisherman showed us around the bay and took us to his fishing village.

The fishing village we visited.

More of the fishing village