Quarantined

When the Philippines opened back up to allow some foreigners with visas back in, they instituted a 1-week hotel quarantine upon arrival with a test on the 6th day. If negative, then you can do the 2nd week quarantine at home. You have to choose from a list of bureau of quarantine approved hotel facilities. We were on the 27th floor, and it was a 1 bedroom suite with a living area (where Ben slept) and small kitchenette. Meals were delivered to us (rice with meat and veggie for every meal), and we were not allowed to get deliveries. It wasn't a great week, but it could have been whole lot worse, and we were thankful to have little more space than a typical hotel room. And the sunsets were amazing! We tested negative and completed our 2nd week of quarantine at home. We were released from quarantine on a Thursday morning...and Steve left Thursday afternoon for a trip into the mountains. :) He's back already, planning his next trip to Bicol.

The Work Continues

 Something that is pretty cool is that even when we are stuck in another country, the work with the Agta in Bicol continues. Our tribal partners there were continuing with Bible studies, relief and new outreach groups. Even some new baptisms! Even though we aren't there in person, we get to touch base by phone, and we enjoy seeing pics posted on FB. Thought you might enjoy seeing some of them too. :)

Thankful for faithful teammates who carry on the work!

Delayed

We were supposed to be in the States for just 1 month, but while we were there, the new variant covid cases started to emerge. The Philippine government became concerned about the variant, so even though we had special exemption paperwork to re-enter the country, that exemption was pre-empted by the new travel ban. We found ourselves stuck, but we were so thankful for a place to stay (friends allowed us to use their beautiful lake home!) and that we could continue working online while we waited. The delay also allowed us to be with Mikayla to celebrate her 21st birthday! We were eventually able to book new flights and actually left the night of her birthday to travel to the airport - the first round of snow cancelled our flights through Dallas, so we had to reschedule through Chicago, then we had to leave early to beat the 2nd round of snow and slept in the airport the night before we traveled. Quite the way to start that looong journey.

 It was so incredibly difficult to say goodbye to these 2 once again, but we were so very thankful for the time we had together, and also thankful that we were allowed to travel back to the Philippines after 2 months in the States.

Snow

 While our kids have been blessed with many adventures through the years, they haven't had much experience with snow - both Ben and Zach hadn't even seen it in 9 years - so they were thrilled when Missouri got some snow while we were back. That doesn't happen every year, so it was a special blessing. The snow actually ended up disrupting our travel plans (more on that to come), but we definitely took advantage of it and had some fun while we had the opportunity. 

Florida Vacation

 While we were in the States, we joined my parents for a vacation down in Florida with the kids. We also got to visit with Steve's parents while we were down there, and we saw Zach's school on the way back - where Ben will likely be after he graduates as well. We had a wonderful time relaxing as a family and catching up with both sets of parents. We spent a lot of time on the beach, with crazy stunts, spikeball and picnics. We also got to see the manatees and a crocodile farm as well as canoe down a river with crocodiles. In no particular order...

Thankful for many new memories with the family!

SURPRISE!!!

 In late November, we heard about the possibility of getting an exemption to be able to come back to the Philippines if we went home for Christmas to see our older two kids. We pursued it, but it seemed like a long shot so we didn't say anything for fear of getting hopes up. At the last minute, an exemption came through, we found crazy cheap tickets (1/3 the price we expected), so we went and SUPRISED everyone. It was wonderful to get to see our older two kids after such a difficult year and to spend Christmas with our family - first time in 9 years!

Right after we arrived, Ben tested for his driving permit, and he completed all his driving training hours while we were back. Unfortunately, he is not allowed to test for his license until he holds a permit for 6 months, so he couldn't get his license, but he did a great job learning to drive - even Zach's stick shift car!

Man, it did our heart good to see these 3 together again!!!

My brother was also visiting, so we got to spend time with them and the kids got to spend time with their cousin who they haven't seen in a 3 1/2 years.

Steve's brother also came for a visit, so the kids had fun with all their little cousins.

We got to travel to see where Mikayla will be working after graduation, and it snowed while we were there. :)

Ben and Mikayla hadn't been together for almost 2 years, so they definitely cherished the time.

So incredibly thankful for the time we had with our kids!