Saying Good-Bye to Paradise

Leaving is always hard.  Even excitement for new places and new adventures can't completely temper the sadness of leaving friends, favorite restaurants, familiar routines.  Even with promises of keeping in touch and visiting, the truth is, we know we may never be back.

To help take away the sting, as our departure from Chiang Mai approached we planned lots of good-byes--the fun kind!

First, we invited all our friends to one of the coolest places on Earth:  Chiang Mai Grand Canyon Water Park.

We got there soon after it opened and left when they kicked us out at closing.

We had a blast, slipping and sliding on obstacles, jumping from the tall inflatables, swimming, and laughing.

Darling Daughter with her friends

It seemed like half of CMIS 9th grade showed up to say good-bye to Young Man!

Funny Guy and friends

I can't think of a better way to say good-bye than by making memories like these together.

We also filled our last weeks with lunches, dinners, camping (will get its own post), and parties--as much fun as we could cram into a month and still pack out on time.  It almost made moving worth it.  We are going to miss this place and these people!  Here are a few highlights from our last month in Chiang Mai:

The locally employed staff at the Consulate General Chiang Mai took me out to eat for lunch at a Mexican restaurant.  These are the people who made working in Chiang Mai so wonderful.  I will miss them!

Dinner and dessert with great friends!

A good-bye lunch at Dash with some of the fantastic Consulate ladies I had the privilege of getting to know.

Christmas party with the missionary community we had the pleasure of mingling with.

Last dinner at one of our favorite Chiang Mai restaurants: Salsa Kitchen!

Young Man got his braces off (after more than five years!!!).

Caught Moana with friends--great movie!

Last trip to the Chiang Mai night market.  The kids and I had fun browsing the wares; My Man enjoyed a long foot massage.

Darling Daughter talked us into numerous good-byes with friends.  We're going to miss these awesome girls!

Funny Guy has been begging to go to the Chiang Mai Night Safari practically since we moved here.  We finally squeezed it in our last week with one of his besties.

Darling Daughter had a great dance performance; Funny Guy also had a Christmas concert.

The Consulate threw a great Christmas party/Farewell, showing a slideshow for My Man and showering us with gifts.  Santa even made an appearance, riding in on a tuk-tuk.