Family Time

Quality family time is very important to us, and we really try to make a priority of it, even in the midst of our crazy lives.  After several months of roughing it up in the mountains (see following posts), we decided that our family needed some down time.  So we headed to the beach (November is a little warmer here than in the States!).

 The snorkeling was AMAZING!

 So was boating around the tropical islands.

 The scene is set for some relaxing family time.

 After a wonderful couple days at the beach, we spent a couple days in Manila trying to catch up on life - meetings, medical, email, and paperwork (amazing how all this can get backed up when you are living without electricity or internet for 2 months!).

While in Manila, we went to our favorite little zoo.  Not much to it, but lots of interaction with the animals.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

(Yes, I know it is January already, but like I already told you, we got a little behind on computer stuff while we were in the mountains!  We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends in Manila right after we came back to "civilization".)

 O, and Merry Christmas while we're at it. :)

How many 11 yr olds do you know who would be this excited to find a kiwi in her stocking?

 I think this one is a riot of Ben.

"If I don't smile big enough, maybe she won't let me open my presents..."

 The kids made this cool collage for us for Christmas!

 All 3 kids have been saving their pennies all year in hopes of eventually saving up enough to buy a kindle (Mikayla) and Ipod Touches (the boys).  So all they wanted for Christmas was $ to keep saving towards these treasures.  Between our money for them, grandparents' gifts, and friends said they would pitch in, and we knew it would be close so we went ahead and ordered their gadgets from the States to have them ready once they had enough money.  This was when Kayla figured out she would have enough for her kindle. 

 I wrapped up the boys' money in containers with decoys like rocks and rice.  Ben got so excited about the rocks - he thought they were somehow special rocks.  Yes, they are special - they have money underneath them.  (Also notice Ben's hat that Mikayla made him.)

 Once they all figured out they would have enough, we set them up in the computer to scour the internet to find their kindles and Ipods.  Meanwhile, Steve snuck upstairs to get the actual items.  He came down and put them right next to the computer, but they were so intent on their internet searches that they didn't even see him do it.  Was fun to watch it dawn on them one at a time.  Zach said, "Wait.  Is that REAL?" We congratulated them on how fast they were at finding them on the internet.  We had some excited kiddos for sure, and they have been loving reading, listening to music, and playing games on their new gadgets.  I am thrilled too because now I won't have to haul so many books with us everywhere we go - they can read on their new readers!

So thankful for some cherished family time.  Meanwhile, things are going full out with our Bugkalot tribal partners - they have started many Bible studies already, and we are excited to see what God is about to do!  Pls pray with us, and I will post about it soon.

Pls also pray as we hit the road again - for safety and endurance as we still don't feel recovered from the last travels.  Exciting stuff going on though, and we are privileged to be in the midst of all HE is doing!  And an added blessing - we will be meeting up with my parents and siblings (who live in SE Asia too) for a Jackson family reunion at the beach!!!  1st reunion in 5 yrs, and we are really looking forward to it!