Mountain Adventure

A couple weeks ago, we traveled up into the mountains in northern Luzon (from where our tribal partners were sent out).  We went with some good friends (Matt & Erin) who will be partnering with us, focusing on that area/aspect of the work.  While Matt had been up there several times, this was the first trip for Erin and the kids, and I wanted to go with them to introduce her to the ladies up there and share what I've learned with her about making home/family life work in a village in the mountains.  That way she can avoid the mistakes I made and make some of her own, brand-new ones instead. :)  Unfortunately, I got really sick while we were up there (as did a few others), so we weren't able to accomplish all that we had hoped, but she has a good jump on it and feels comfortable tackling it again on her own - she'll do great! 

Erin just completed 3 great posts about our adventure up there (anytime getting to church entails a half hour drive, then an hour+ hike, followed by a river crossing - WITH a toddler and a baby, it definitely classifies as an adventure :) ).  I am just going to link her posts so that you can see our adventure through her eyes.  Make sure you flip through the pics in the two "slideshows" in the 2nd post - lots of great pics in there.  Click HERE to go to their blog, then scroll down to read all 3 posts about our trip.  If she has posted something else by the time you try this link, then just scroll down to the posts starting Dec 27. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

May you have a blessed day celebrating our Savior's birth.

Here are a couple pics from our celebration.
Steve was feeling sick, so Zach read us the Christmas story.

 Ready to open presents!  You like Zach's wrapping job on Ben's present?

 Ben LOVED the pocket knife his brother gave to him - hand-me-down or no, it is still pretty cool.

 Both boys got something to build - Zach's has lots of tiny bolts and screws and complicated instructions, but he did great and had a blast assembling the airplane.  Ben's is a little simpler but the same basic idea, and you can make 6 different solar-powered creations.

 Love this look. :)

 Can't believe she is almost 13!

 The kids also got "bop-it" and love it.

Here the kids are helping Dad open his last present - a game for the family.

We have all been pretty sick here in our house, but we still had a nice day as a family.  Hope you all had a wonderful day too!

Prayers appreciated

My "Nanny's" funeral will be this Friday (see post below for more info); appreciate your prayers as we are far away at this time. Also on Friday, we have an important meeting in Manila; pls pray for wisdom, ability to express our hearts clearly, and unified hearts. In addition, our family will be going north this week to visit the Bugkalot churches, the ones who have sent out the ones who are partnering with us in the work down here. Some friends with little kids will be going with us, and we are in for a 5-day camping, hiking, river-crossing adventure with a baby and a toddler. Prayers appreciated for that as well. :)

I leave you with a pic Steve took at sunrise that I thought you might enjoy.



Playing Catch-up

We have definitely been feeling like we have been playing catch up for the last couple weeks - catching up in school (6 days/wk+), catching up on paper work, and now I am making a small attempt to catch up on the blog.

First, a very special woman went to be with Jesus yesterday.  Jen's dad's mom passed away peacefully and is now rejoicing in the throne room. We are rejoicing with her, but it is still hard to say goodbye.  My dad was here in the Philippines when she passed, so he changed his ticket and will return early to the States to perform the funeral.  As a result, he won't be able to come down here next week like he had planned; we had all been very much looking forward to his visit so that makes it doubly hard.  Appreciate all your prayers during this time.  This pic was taken on our last furlough in 2009. 

In the midst of playing catch-up, we have been pressing ahead with several trainings with our Bugkalot tribal partners.  We have a couple different "venues" for our trainings, and this is one of the most peaceful.

 This is the "new" group that just arrived in May and are still in language and culture study time.  They are progressing well, and they will have their language exams this month as well as their "story exams" to see how well they know the Bible stories they will be teaching.  Pls continue to pray for this group as they prepare to begin teaching as soon as possible (for some it will likely be in January if they pass all their exams!).

 This is a common sight around here - these little "tricycles" (tiny motor scooter with a side car) haul several bamboo sala sets at a time.  It is amazing what they can fit on that little vehicle!  Coincidentally, we have been feeling a little over-loaded our ownselves these past weeks, so my heart goes out to the poor little scooter. :)

 The kids had a ball decorating for Christmas last weekend.  They are getting so big!  Steve and I mostly just sat and watched them do it all.

 Our newest teammate arrived safely!  Thanks for praying!  Little Kadesh (boy) was born 2 weeks ago after a tough labor and delivery so we are super thankful for his safe arrival.

 The kids are still wakeboarding from time to time.  Our schedule is crazier now, so we don't get out there that often, but we enjoy it when we do.  I put together a few recent pics in case anyone is interested.  I think you should be able to click on the photo to enlarge it if you want to see the pics better.  Ben is riding now as well, but he doesn't really do any tricks or hit any obstacles so I didn't take any recent pics of him.

Really would appreciate additional prayers right now as we are feeling a little overwhelmed at all that is going on at once.  Pray that we would place our burdens at His feet and rest in His perfect peace.