Hello blog readers, John here.

The Phifer family just finished a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with friends at our house last weekend. Cambodia doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving so most expats worked on Thursday and then celebrated with dinner that night or over the weekend. We chose the latter as it would give us time to cook a 21lb bird. The story behind the turkey is we ordered from a company that supplies restaurants. When the order was placed, we simply asked for a turkey. We have previously received smaller turkeys, but I guess this year, they decided to go big. The upside is I was able to eat leftovers for a week and we were also able to share with friends.

This will be the first year in quite a while where we don’t have family in town for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. The main reason for this is obviously Covid. In the case of our host country an incoming traveler must present a $2,000 deposit upon arrival, have 3 negative Covid tests over 15 days and then spend 14 days in a quarantine hotel without leaving. I cannot recommend anyone come here based on those restrictions. Therefore this year we will have Christmas via Zoom (or other video platform) with family back in Texas.

I was sitting with a friend just the other night and we were talking about my past work before moving to Cambodia. At the time I joked my office was in a cubicle kept at a wonderful 72degrees. I then moved to Cambodia and worked at the Wake Park with Alf and my office was a hammock between 2 palm trees. My office most days now is my kitchen table with Luke doing daily home school learning. It’s crazy how things have changed over the years.

Ashley and I are very thankful for your prayer and support over the past 6 1/2 years. We couldn’t have done this without you. As we finish 2020, keep us in mind if you plan to make any year end donations. You can find all the information to donate here.