Faith Academy

This fall, the kids made a huge transition; we stopped home-schooling, and they started attending "real" school in Manila.  It has been so much fun to watch them settle in to life at Faith Academy, especially since it is the school where I (Jen) graduated.

 All 3 of the kids have transitioned amazingly well into this new world, and we are so proud of them.  They have adjusted very well, are doing great in academics, and are loving the opportunity to get involved in many activities on this sprawling campus in the hills outside of Manila.

 Mikayla made the varsity soccer team (as a freshman!), and it was great to watch her grow in her skills and enjoy connecting with some wonderful young ladies.

 Their team had the opportunity to travel to Thailand to compete in a tournament with other Christian schools, and they won first place!  Mikayla scored a key goal in the championship game.

 This has been a semester of firsts for Mikayla as she also attended her first banquet.  The young man (also a soccer player) who asked her to go with him was a perfect gentleman, and she had a great time with a group of friends bowling after the banquet.

 A highlight of the last couple months has been a visit from Grandpa Hagen!  He was here for almost 4 weeks, and while he traveled with Steve for a lot of that time, he was able to see the kids compete in their sports and spend some good time together over the weekends.

 Zach has jumped right in to life at Faith, and he has been involved in swim club, robotics, youth group, a basketball team, and a soccer league.  His soccer team has done very well, and he is anchoring their defense.  I love this shot of him that a friend took during the game last week.

 Ben has also been enjoying the many opportunities at a school this size.  A few of his favorite activities so far have been puppets club, swim club, soccer team, and playing percussion in the band.

 After soccer season ended, Mikayla decided to try out for touch rugby.  She had absolutely no idea how to play on the 1st day of tryouts (had never even watch the sport!), but she went for it anyway; and she ended up making the varsity team! (I think the fact that she was in excellent shape from soccer was a big factor in this.)

 She has had a great time learning this new sport, and she has even been a starter for several of the games.

 It's a fun group of young ladies, and they have a blast at practice.  This pic was from practice on "Neon Friday".

 We are so thankful for how well this transition has gone for the kids (thanks for praying!).

As we head into this Christmas season, I hope that each of you will cherish the moments with family - even the crazy ones. :)