Bangkok Quarantine Complete!

(Above: Family Thanksgiving photo the day before we flew to Thailand, )

After months of waiting, we were finally accepted to return to Thailand and granted new visas (since ours expired while waiting for Quinn's passport and permission to enter). We are finally on our last day of mandatory hotel quarantine in Bangkok and received two negative COVID tests for the whole family! We are heading home to Chiang Mai tomorrow and we couldn't be more excited.

I worried a lot about doing this quarantine with two small kids, but it was so much less painful than I expected. So many people were praying for us and we were praying a lot too! I really believe it was through the power of prayer that we came out on the other side still sane and loving each other (maybe more!).

(Above: the girls in matching PJS)

The positives:

Through a friend's recommendation and lots of research, I found a hotel that was much larger and cheaper than most of the other options out there for a family our size. We had to have at least two bedrooms for 4 people (the rules) and I was really wanting a suite instead of two connecting bedrooms so we didn't feel like we were at a hotel, but more like in an apartment. The place we ended up at had a two bedroom suite for cheaper than most other places I found with one bedroom suites! Adam was awesome and last minute went out and bought tons of Christmas decorations for the room. We were also able to order a couple things online once we arrived and we made our "Christmas Castle." We continued making decorations and really started to enjoy our space :) We went full Christmas: matching pj's, Christmas movies, Christmas candles, Christmas music (all the time!), Christmassy mugs from Germany, and a small fun gift for Eden to open every morning.

Instead of feeling like this was wasted time, we really tried to stay positive and make things fun. We had dance parties every day, had a family pizza party, made up lots of crazy games to entertain Eden, and created crafts out of trash and recyclables. It turned into really sweet time to spend together as a family. It was a cool time for Adam and I to get even more on the same page with parenting, discipline, education, infant care, etc. Some days were long and we didn't always have tons of energy to keep up with Eden's need to be engaged and played with, but we had an awesome schedule to get through the day and stay motivated. We also got really creative at engaging Eden with activities. I think it will really help us be more interesting parents in the future when there's a lull in the day and we are racking our brains for ideas :)

(Above: Princess dresses every day in the castle, and celebrating 4 months of Quinn in quarantine!)

Every day Adam and I were able to do a devotion together, yoga in the mornings, and then workout (check out Fitnessblender.com videos!) at some point during kid naps. That's not too bad! We loved zoom family calls playing online boardgames together, and chats with friends. We also joined staff meetings virtually and house church or prayer meetings.

The challenges:

The close proximity for two weeks straight could be a little challenging- getting alone time and creating boundaries with Eden. It seemed loud almost all the time though there were pockets of quiet that we treasured. It was also weird to know that we couldn't leave if we wanted to.

I was surprised that the kids did as well as they did with jet lag, but Quinn also went through a sleep regression, so these two weeks I've been up every 1-2 hours every night which feels like some form of torture.

Overall though I think we will look back at this time with more fond memories than bad. Not to say that I want to do this any time soon again... but God really blessed us during this time and we are just so grateful to finally get to go home tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and for your friendship. We don't know when we will be able to return to the States again, but you are in our hearts and we love you.