It's a... BOY! :)

Only a couple days after we got back from our not-so-fun (okay, kind of fun) adventure in Vietnam, we found ourselves at our 20 week ultrasound appointment eager to find out whether our lil babe was a boy or a girl!  As I have told many of you, my dear husband had been praying every day (seriously... e.v.e.r.y. day) that our first born would be a baby boy.  He was not ashamed to admit that he wanted a boy, though he had to reassure me many times that he would still love our child even if she was a girl :)

In all fairness, I have to admit that I, too, was secretly praying for a boy.  I saw how excited Steven would get daydreaming about all the fun things he would do with his son... all the things he wanted to teach him and all the big plans he had for him and the lil guy.  (Like working on the Jeep together, teaching him how to build and fix things, taking him to the farm, coaching him in sports, going 4-wheeling together in the mountains of Thailand, etc...)  It was so endearing to watch and made me think multiple times, "Man, Steven's gonna be the greatest dad ever."

Not to mention, ever since my grandpa died and we found out 2 weeks later that we were pregnant, I had this little feeling that maybe God would give us a boy.  It's no secret that I have always wanted to name one of my children after my grandpa, William Takashi Hiyama.  (So much so that I basically made my brother and sister-in-law name their boy something other than their first choice name William!  I'm so demanding...)  Anyway, I didn't want to assume that God would work in this way, but I would also find myself daydreaming about how cool it would be to have my own little William Takashi to hold just 9 months after my dear Gpa passed on.

And so... right before we went in for our ultrasound I told Steven that this was his last opportunity to pray for a boy.  (There would be no turning back after we found out!)  And so he prayed.  And it was just so cute and so "Steven".  It went something like this:
"God, we pray that ultimately this baby is healthy and growing strong in Lauren's tummy.  But um... if there's not a little pee-pee growing yet, we pray that You would make one sprout real quick.  Right now.  You can do that God!  Amen." (I love my husband.)

And with that, God answered Steven's prayer (and his many previous prayers...)!

We are having a boy!!!!

And we couldn't be more excited!!!

We wanted to do a little gender-reveal shoot for our family and friends back at home, so Darin & Staci (our partners in crime in Vietnam) were nice enough to take some pretty pictures for us!  Enjoy :)

 Look!  Stevo's got something growin in his belly too :)

 Sometimes I get a little sad wishing that my Gpa could still be here to meet baby William, but Steven reassures me that he's watching it all from heaven and is singing praises to Jesus for this blessing.  Just because he's not here doesn't mean he's not a part of it.  This picture reminds me of just that. God's ultimate sovereignty and goodness towards us.  

We can't wait for you to get here, lil William Takashi!  You're loved so much already.

Oh Vietnam...

About a year ago, Air Asia (a budget airline on this side of the world) was doing a ton of promotions for the upcoming low season.  Since this area doesn't get a lot of tourists this time of year (it's soooo hot!), they were offering some really cheap tickets to lots of cool places.  We had friends book trips to New Zealand, Phuket, India, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.  I mean, how can you pass up a round trip ticket to Phuket for $25 bucks?  So...

Cheap tickets + Steven's desire to travel before we had kids = Sauders booking a trip to Vietnam!

We also managed to convince our good friends, Darin & Staci, to join in on the fun... and before we knew it, our trip was upon us and off we went to Hanoi & Halong Bay, Vietnam!

Got our visas upon arriving!

We had heard that Halong Bay was absolutely beautiful and a must-see if we were going to be in Hanoi (North Vietnam).  So, Steven booked us a 3 day boat trip around the beautiful islands surrounding the bay.  I have been known to get pretty seasick, so I was pretty unsure about the whole deal.  However, Steven assured me that our boat would be nice and that everything would be fine.  (His usual response to me when I freak out about things...)

After a 4 hour bus ride from the airport to Halong Bay, we got on this shuttle boat to take us to our "nice boat" :)

This is the picture of the boat on the website we booked through.  So naturally, that's what we were expecting!

But then we pulled up to this and my thought was:  "Oh.. surely this isn't the "nice boat" Steven promised me!"

But then we kept getting closer and closer...

And sure enough... it was our boat and we found ourselves aboard the Halong Party Cruiser

(We were booked for a boat called the Black Pearl, but the crew told us it was in for "maintenance"?  Hmmm... I smell an Asian Scam!!!!)

 Our room was rather small, the bed was on a 10 degree slope and the sheets were stained... eek!

This was the picture of the bathroom on the internet...

This was our bathroom in real life...

These bathrooms are called "wet" bathrooms and are pretty typical in Asia.  You can shower, brush your teeth and poop all at the same time!  Too bad our drain wasn't working very well and the shower water would get plugged up for a couple of hours... Oh Halong Party Cruiser, don't you know I'm not a rough-it-and-tough-it kind of girl?

But despite the boat disaster (and the fact that we had to eat fried fish, tofu and squid for every meal--not the best for a pregnant woman who can't stand the smell of fish), we did get to see some pretty beautiful scenery!

Pretty awesome, huh?

 At sunset

We kayaked one day around the different islands

 Fishing!

First time seeing the beach since moving to Thailand!

After our 3 days on the boat, we made our way back to the city of Hanoi.  (Side note: Once we had internet again, Steven decided he wanted to do a little research on the boat we actually got.  While reading a bunch of (bad) reviews about our beloved Halong Party Cruiser, he came across one that said "I was supposed to be on the Black Pearl but got put on the Halong Party Cruiser instead.  Not only was it extremely poor quality, but the boat sank and 4 of the crew members died.  Um... what?!?!?!  Now I tease Steven that we barely escaped death.  And I'm only half kidding!)

Anyway, glad to be back on land and in a hotel... we had a great time exploring Hanoi!

 Women wear these everywhere in Vietnam!  It's not just a touristy thing...

See? :)

 One day the boys decided to do a ride up the river and a hike while the girls relaxed at a nearby pool

 Longest earth worm ever!

 At the top!

Walking around

Family of 5! Who needs a mini van when you have a moped?

One of our friends here in Chiang Mai opened this cafe in Laos and Vietnam.  We were eager to check it out... especially after all that fish and tofu!

Not only did we "check it out", we ended up eating lunch here 3 times!!!  It reminded us of Panera and we were soooo excited!!

 Visiting the "Hanoi Hilton, the POW prison during the Vietnam War

 Picture of John McCain in the prison

 More Vietnam War museums

 Stevo took these pics :)

 At Ho Chi Min's "gravesite".  His body is actually preserved in there and you can see him!  Unfortunately, it was closed when we went.

 The boys wanted to try the famous "Pho" while in Hanoi.  Our travel book said this was the best place for it!

They both said it was better than the Thai noodle soup

Ready to go out for the night

Well, Vietnam... Thanks for an eventful and unforgettable trip!  

Steven says he wants to go back again, but maybe next time me and baby Sauder will sit that one out :)

Thai Cultural Show

I always tell Steven how I wish he'd take me out dancing every once in awhile!  And while that has yet to happen (I'm not holding my breath...), he did surprise me one night by taking me to see a Thai dancing show!  Close enough, right?

We enjoyed a traditional Thai dinner and then watched a traditional Thai dancing show.  I have to admit that at some points it was a bit boring, but it was interesting to see the different cultural dances that have developed over the years in Thailand.  One of our Thai language teachers majored in Thai dance, so it was neat to get a glimpse into her world!

Enjoy the pics :)

 Waiting for dinner

 Traditional Thai feast

 Thai traditional dance... look at those finger nails!!!

 This dance was a little weird...

 They're dressed as roosters?! :)

 Cool knife dancing dude!

Thai women are so pretty!!! 

The show moved from traditional Thai dances to tribal dances 

The kiddos were super cute! 

 Reminds me of Vanna White :)

 Tribal rice dance