Beauty from the Ashes...: Little Women in Bangkok

To wrap up my time in Thailand I was able to spend 4 days with my dear friend Mandy and her family. The Smiths were missionaries in Kiev in my early days here and we were in a Bible study together that joined a sweet group of friends--several of us still friends today! Mandy is one amazing mom to 6 of the sweetest kids I know and is tackling life as mama in the big city of Bangkok! She is also a talented blogger and photographer who you can follow along at Seventh Smith as she documents their daily Thai adventures.

Their family has only been in Thailand for 10 months, so they are still playing tourist a bit when they get the chance. Mandy is my inspiration! I’ve always said I want a big family so I loved seeing my friend traipse through the crazy transport system of Bangkok with all her little ducks in a row. My tall, beautiful friend, with 5 darling girls trailing behind her and me trying to lend a helping hand where I could—I think we made for quite a scene on the Bangkok Train system. Little Women or the Bennett sisters...I'm not sure which!

On this fun outing we left Mandy's only boy with a friend and had a girls day in the city, using 3 modes of transportation and making it to one of the many temple locations. A culture education to say the very least. My lens sure enjoyed all the vibrant colors.

Mandy too is a photographer, so we had fun exchanging lighting and setting tips and taking pictures of each other in action! And as you can see she has five beautiful little models who are not camera shy!

I am so grateful for friendship that endures time and miles—there is something about having shared your life in a place far from home that unites internationals for life. We had not seen each other in 5 years and yet we picked up where we left off—enjoying lots of late night chats and ice cream to catch up on the years we had missed! Such a sweet time.