Merry Christmas! And a Super Typhoon...

 We got back from the mountains just in time for a quiet family Christmas at home.

 Mikayla's favorite present was a camping hammock all her own, Zach's was a new amp for his electric guitar (I love his smile below - he was really surprised!), and Ben's was the fact that he gets to open his own FB account now. :)

 On Christmas day, Super Typhoon Nina made landfall in Bicol where our Agta friends and Bugkalot partners live.  Two days later, and we still haven't heard from them (though we are assuming it is because cell towers are damaged and/or circuits are busy - we can't get through). We have someone traveling there today to check on them and send word.  The typhoon went directly over them, and it was a strong one.   

 The pic above is of the wakeboarding park where we have spent so much time as a family. We've stayed in those cabins - now leveled - many times. Crazy devastation.  We think they will have fared better at the training center because it is more protected by mountains, but please pray with us for them! Our family will leave on Friday to travel down to Bicol.  Prayers appreciated as well for us as we are not sure what we will find there.

Annual Christmas Adventure

We just returned from our annual trek into the mountains with the Maxwell family.  This was our 3rd year of doing this with them, and we once again had a blast.

We spent some time visiting in the village with the people.

 We also had a "work day" at our tribe house.  Mikayla and Z worked together to make this window a little more usable.  

 The other kids worked to haul gravel and spread it on the mud steps going up to the house - SO much nicer now!

 It is great to work alongside another family who values the act of working hard together.

 It wasn't ALL work though! We also had our annual Christmas hot dog roast down at the river.

 Ben and Chloe found this contraption (usually used for cooking rice over the fire), and Ben used it to roast his hot dog by skewering it on the hook.

 We also went on another Christmas hike.  We had to drive about an hour first - on some exciting mountain roads.

 And they're off!

 We are all used to hiking through the jungle, but this trail was pretty scary. I didn't take the camera out at the treacherous places, so you'll have to take my word for it, but it was one of those trails carved into the side of the mountain.  I call it a "fall away" trail because half your steps feel like the trail is going to give way and send you sliding down the mountain.  Not to mention it was so narrow that one little misstep could send you tumbling waaaay down the mountain. NOT my favorite.

 Once we crossed this river, we started up an even scarier trail...and then we called it.  Decided if it rained while we were up there, we would be really stuck, and we had no desire to sleep on the jungle floor. Or slide off the mountain for that matter.

So we decided to have our picnic at the river instead of continuing on up to the waterfall. It was a GORGEOUS spot, so not a huge sacrifice.

When we waded out to get this picture, Mikayla spotted a snake swimming along the edge, and it chose that moment to cross over to the other side! Lots of clamoring up out of the river suddenly ensued; swimming with snakes is not our idea of fun either. 

 Turns out it was a poisonous snake, so the guys worked together to kill it...then they lost it.  But we think it was dead.

So we went swimming. :) 

 It was once again quite the adventure, and we thoroughly enjoyed the amazing views in His creation.

I took this pic at the end of the hike. 

The kids also did their annual Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.  This time it was complete with an "unveiling" program. Love their creativity and the way they have fun together!

Playing in the river is always a highlight of our time in the mountains.  We actually saw ANOTHER snake in the water on this day!  All told, we saw like 6 snakes while we were up there this time!

 A couple of the crazier ones actually jumped off this bridge this time too.  That's Ben you can see in this pic.

 The kids also slept in hammocks again.  It wasn't as cold this time as it has been some years, but it still gets pretty chilly up in the mountains this time of year.

So thankful for another year of memories with the Maxwells in the mountains at Christmas.  We will miss them next year when they are on furlough!  And then Z graduates this year, and Mikayla next year... Not sure if/when we will get to do this again, but we've made a lot of memories to cherish!

Blog Blitz

Ok, I'm a little behind on updating the blog so I'll be on a posting blitz today to get all caught up by the end of the year. :)

The end of November found Steve in the city of Bacolod on the island of Negros in the southern part of the Philippines.  He was asked to be the speaker at a large conference there, and he joined several of the Bugkalot leaders for several days.

Not too often do you see a man in tribal costume behind a fancy pulpit!  Steve decided to go with our traditional dress clothes rather than theirs...

While Steve was in Bacolod, we celebrated Thanksgiving with some friends, and the kids had their Christmas banquet that weekend as well.

You'd never guess all 4 of these "kids" were on the rugby field just hours before this picture! Both Mikayla and Zach went with friends from their class.

(Notice how Mikayla is standing without any weight on her right foot? She turned her ankle playing rugby earlier that day, but she still insisted on wearing her new high heels...at least for part of the evening!)

 Zach has been enjoying learning how to play rugby.  He is the "scrum half" for the JV team, and he has been doing a great job.

He actually had a breakaway and ran more than half the field to score his team's very first "try" of the season.  A friend of mine caught the moment when he got by the opponent on her camera - great shot!

 Mikayla is in her 3rd year of touch rugby, and she is loving it.  She is one of the starting "centers" on the Varsity team, and she actually scored 2 diving tries in this game!

 While his older siblings have been out on the rugby field, Ben has been enjoying both kinds of football - American and soccer.  He participated in the annual Middle School super bowl and had a blast.

 His intramural soccer team was called "Fuzzy".

(I don't know why, and it made cheering for them interesting: "Go Fuzzy!" Even funnier was when they played the "Bananas"...so it was the Fuzzy Bananas game.)

 We are so thankful for the many opportunities that our kids have for fun activities at Faith Academy.  They are all learning so much, both in and out of the classroom.