Our time in Cebu

We had a wonderful week in Cebu and just got back yesterday. For pics of the wonderful packages that were waiting for us and the story of our visit to the ER, be sure to check the post below this one. Mikayla had the distinct honor of being crowned "queen of the week" for her exceptional behavior and kindness to others throughout our time there. There was only once king and one queen, and we are so proud of her! The kids put on a program at the end of the week, and these were the shirts and hats they made for the occasion.

We found some amazing starfish in the ocean while we were there. They were huge! The kids had fun learning about these cool creatures.

Zach got himself a "girl friend" while we were there. Beth Ann is a sweet girl, and the 2 of them did everything together. This morning when he woke up, Zach said, "I miss my girl friend". I think he calls her his girlfriend because he can't remember her name. :)
Here were some interesting questions we got asked by the nurses during our visit to the ER. 1) Did you bring some towels so we can give him a sponge bath? 2) Did you bring his tylenol so we can give him some more? 3) Will you admit him tonight? With the first two, we kind of thought they may have those things at the ER and with the last one, we kind of thought the Dr should decide whether or not to admit him, not us.

Christmas in July!

We arrived safely home from Cebu yesterday. While we stayed fairly healthy down there, yesterday was a different story (more about that later - you can see Zach in the next few pics with his high fever before we took him to the ER). But we did have some WONDERFUL packages waiting for us at home. We got a couple care packages from Steve's Aunt Nancy that the kids loved - here Kayla is reading the note from Nancy.

Our visitors (Randy and Rhonda Nelson and Janice Hansen from our churches in the States) were able to bring a HUGE suitcase from home filled with goodies. Many of our dear friends pitched in to send us some amazing stuff. Talk about Christmas in July! Grandma and Papa also included some special surprises for the kids.
Here is the massive pile of stuff! God is so good - what an encouragement and blessing. We don't even know how to begin to say thank you to all of you! Taco and Spaghetti seasonings, hair stuff for me, treats for the kids and us, Ziplock bags, the list goes on and on... Thank you!!!

Now about the health issues I mentioned - Ben woke up yesterday morning with explosive diarrhea. Lots of fun on the trip home - especially when the bathrooms along the way are not well equipped (no changing tables!). No fun. Then Zach started running a temp with no other symptoms in late afternoon. The fever kept climbing until it hit 104.7!!! We gave him ibuprofen and tylenol simultaneously to try to bring it down. The fever was high enough to scare us, but then he started complaining about his neck being stiff and sore. High fever + stiff neck is a bad combo - can indicate meningitis and has to be acted on immediately! So we left Ben (still with BM issues) and Mikayla (who was also running a temp of 102) with our visitors and ran to the ER. Thankfully the meds brought the temp down and once the temp was down, he was able to move his neck around again. We think the stiff/sore neck was probably because of a headache that was a result of the extremely high fever. The Dr diagnosed the cause of the fever as an upper resp infection and said he has some "ulcers" on the back of his throat (similar to Strep). We were just thrilled to rule out meningitis. He still has a high temp today, but we did start him on antibiotics last night so hopefully it will come down later. Ben no longer has diarrhea but has a temp today, and Mikayla still has a low grade too. Oh - and I finally got antibiotics for this sore throat, sinus infection, and swollen lymph nodes that I have had for 3 weeks now. So please keep praying for all of us for our many health issues.

Meanwhile, we are so enjoying having our first visitors here and look forward to being able to bring them around to a few places tomorrow or the next day, as we are feeling up to it. Thanks again for all the fun stuff you sent and thanks for praying!

Leaving again

I can't believe I didn't get more comments on our last post about the motocross track! Thought for sure some of you would have something to say about that... There are people out there still reading this, right? :)

Just wanted to let you know that we take off tomorrow morning to fly from Manila to a nearby island for a conference. Please pray for safety, health, and a refreshing time. While we will be at a beach resort (it's a rough life...), we will not have internet access. So we will be out of touch for a week or so. When we check mail when we get back though, it would be wonderful to have some personal notes from some of you waiting... no pressure though. :)

When we come back from the conference on the 4th of July, we will welcome our very 1st visitors into our home here! They are friends from the States and are part of a volunteer team helping out at the conference. We are so excited to have them here.

Also, please be in prayer for my (Jen's) sister and their family. Her 2nd baby is due any day now!

Just to scare you

Well, this post is made special for all those grandmas and grandpas out there. Thought you may enjoy (in the "I can't look, but I can't look away" kind of way) a few pics of the kids' favorite thing to do here in Lipa. Steve got a motorcycle soon after arriving here, and it has been great for getting around town and avoiding the traffic. Steve has also discovered though that it really relaxes him to ride around the motorcross track near our house. That is one thing, but he took the kids slowly around the track and they decided they love it - all 3 of them! Don't worry - they always wear protective gear - you can see Steve testing out Zach's here.

Their favorite part of the course is this jump in the front. As you can see, they are not exactly flying through the air, but it is still a blast for the kids. Ben doesn't look like he can see very well though out of the new helmet...
Headed off into the wilderness with Dad on the motorbike. Great Daddy bonding time.
All geared up and ready to go. The safety strap keeps the kid close to Steve so they can't bounce off or something.Here's Steve jumping without the kids. He goes a little higher when he's alone. This was the 1st time I took a pic though, and it was ironic cuz the bike died mid-air just after he went airborn. So Steve wiped it at the foot of the hill - right at my feet! Because of all his protective gear, he was just fine though - and so was the bike!
This is not my personal favorite sport for my husband - and kids! - to participate in, but they all absolutely love it, and Steve really is careful and goes slowly - especially with the kids. And while he has had one muffler burn from wearing shorts while riding, he assures me that he won't try anything crazy (and now he always wears jeans...). And I am glad that he has found something that can relax him on a tough day of language, and it is great too for he and the kids to have this special activity to share.

School Daze Again

The Filipino school schedule is different than the one in the States so the kids just finished Filipino summer break, and they just started at their new school. We transfered them to one where their school day will be a little shorter and where we hope more Tagalog will be spoken so the kids can learn it faster (we didn't realize that speaking Tagalog on school property was "bawal" - not allowed - at their old school; there is an push at some schools here to improve the students' English skills by forbidding Tagalog in school; however our kids already speak English - we want them to learn Tagalog so it was not the best option for us). The kids have only attended a few days so far, but they are enjoying their new teachers and classmates. Please pray with us that they make some friends, learn Tagalog, and are a light in their school. Pray that their 2 weeks of absences for our conference last week and the one next week will not negatively affect their adjustment. If you want to drop them a note, we will be sure to pass it on!

Indonesia

Hello again! Well, we arrived home from Indonesia last night. We had a good time there; it was the change of pace we really needed and we had a great time visiting with old friends and meeting some new ones too. The hotel was great, and it was wonderful to be in air conditioning again. Unfortunately, Mikayla got really sick with a high fever, throwing up, and diarrhea. She was so miserable. She did recover before we had to fly home, but it changed the week for all of us. She was so disappointed to miss much of her class, but she did get to participate in some of it and loved what she was able to attend. We were also thankful that - at least so far - everyone else in the family has stayed healthy. Please pray with us that it stays that way!

I can't believe that we went to another country and didn't take any pics all week! But we were not allowed to leave the hotel grounds for security reasons, so it didn't feel much like another country. Besides that, virtually all our friends/colleagues there work in very secure locations so they cannot have their picture taken anyway. So I have no pics to share with you from our time there, but here are 3 cute ones of the kids I took just before we left.

The Coolest Airport

Hey, everyone! I am posting this from one of the 200 free internet stations in the Singapore airport. It is an amazing airport including several botanical gardens, a swimming pool, several spas, and of course - the kids' favorite - lots of people movers. :) I think what has surprised us the most is how CLEAN everything is, and there is even toilet paper and soap in the bathrooms! We are here on our layover on our way to Indonesia for a week of meetings. While we will be busy, we are so looking forward to the break and change of pace.

Scary Electricity

This is a pic of one of the electric poles in town. They all look equally frightening with the maze of wires. And there are dangling ends hanging down into the road all over the place - very exciting when you inadvertently drive into one on the motorcycle in the dark. You just have to hope the dangling ones are not live...

Actually, this mess of wires going everywhere reminds me of my brain this week. It is a bit of a mess too as I try to think of (and then remember!) the many necessary details to get us and the house ready for us to be gone next week. We leave for Indonesia on Friday for a conference. Please remember to keep us in your prayers. Thanks!

Zach's Birthday Party #2

Happy Birthday, Zach! We had another party tonight for Zach's birthday with the other families on our team here in Lipa. Mom got off the cake-decorating hook by ordering a cool Peter Pan cake from the local bakeshop - which only set us back about $17! Well worth the time saved, and Zach LOVED it.Our kids with Steven and Kimberly, the 2 other kids on our team here.
Zach was so cute when he opened the card from Papa and Gramma Jackson - he jumped right down and ran over to Dad to ask him to read it to him - and that was before he even opened the present!
And he was VERY excited about the present they got him (by the way, Mom and Dad, you got him a remote control car for his birthday - don't think we ever told you :) ). His smile here is priceless.Learning how to control this little car will be great for his coordination. He is doing well with it already and LOVES it.

Going to Market

Well, this was a difficult post for us to do cuz we both hate doing things that make us stand out any more than we already do in our little town and - oddly enough - walking around snapping pictures of everything makes you even more conspicuous. But we swallowed it so we could give you a glimpse of our market.

While there is a grocery store in town, we do a lot of our shopping at the local market. You can get nearly anything you want there at a good price (if you are willing to bargain for it) and it is excellent language practice. The market is only about 1 1/2 miles away, so we often just walk there (traffic is usually pretty conjested) or sometimes take a trike (motorcycle with sidecar).

Walking however has its own perils. As you can see, there are no sidewalks so you often end up walking through the middle of the traffic. Then there is open sewer flowing next to the road so you have to really watch your step (I will spare you the story of how Zach learned this lesson). Below you can see of a pic of Steve, Mikayla, and Ben all focussed on stepping OVER the sewer. Thankfully, this particular part has a grate over part of it.

You can get just about anything in this very confusing place. I am only just now getting to the place where I can find my way around the maze of tunnels.

Shoes of every shape (but not size - big-footed Americans have a tough time finding their size) are available here. They are dirt cheap, but don't count on them lasting all that long.

Dry goods... Clothes...
And knives... The boys stand in awe of all that chopping power.
The Filipinos love our kids with their white skin and blonde hair. Everyone greets them and just has to touch them. The kids don't seem to notice anymore. It is funny to watch them be poked and prodded as they walk along, but they don't even acknowledge they have been touched. In this pic, the ladies asked them if they wanted to help so they all sat down to watch them embroider lace. Have a "suki" here is very important. Your fruit suki is the one you buy all your fruit from. This is our fruit suki. The advantage is that she will give you the best of her fruit for the very lowest price - you don't have to bargain with her or worry that she is gauging you cuz you are white. But the disadvantage is that - even if her fruit doesn't look the best - you had better not get caught buying from someone else!!!
And this is our vegie suki. Mikayla is standing with our house helper and one of my language coaches.
You can even get meat in the open-air meat market. Check out the pig's head hanging above Zach. But just because you can get meat from this non-refrigerated-in-the-tropical-heat, buzzing-with-flies, disease-ridden, blood-all-over-the-ground, horribly-smelling-place, that doesn't mean it is a good idea (I guess my personal feelings about the meat market came through a little...looks from Zach's expression that he may agree with Mom on this one...)

And then there is the fish market. It is not quite so bad as the meat market - as long as you can get your fish first thing in the morning before they have been exposed to the flies and heat all day. But it is not a very nice place to wander through cuz of the fish juices all over the ground. When I go to market, I normally steer clear of both the meat and the fish and just stick with the fruits, vegies, and dry goods.

The public market is a great cultural experience though, and we will look forward to bringing you there for a visit when you come visit us here in the Philippines!

Now, if you are still reading, please post a comment (just click on "comments" at the bottom of this post) or send us an email to tell us what you think. We love to hear from you - it makes our day! And it will let us know that our going through the ordeal of taking all these photos and looking like a tourist was worth it!

Zach's Birthday Party #1

Zach's 4th birthday is on Monday, and today some friends came down from Manila to spend the day with us. They have 2 boys - their oldest, Kenny, is exactly the same age as Zach. The 2 boys hit it off GREAT and are best buddies. We had a great time with their family, and we are so thankful that they took the time to come help make Zach's birthday special.

The birthday boy and his best bud, Kenny.

We gave Zach 2 sets of kid boxing gloves. He and Kenny had been boxing together everytime we have seen them; we figured the gloves may make it a little safer. They had an absolute blast! It was a hit!All that smacking each other around sure doesn't ruin their friendship!

Barefoot Bowling

Have you ever wondered why they have you wear those ridiculous bowling shoes? Well, Zach discovered first-hand this weekend when he tried bowling barefoot. Apparently, hard-wood floors, bare feet, and bowling balls don't mix well. His poor toe turned a reddish-purple within a few hours of dropping the ball on his little toe. Needless to say, it is still quite sore.

We did have a good weekend though. Last weekend started the special day marathon for us. Mothers day, then my brother-in-law's bday on the 20th, then my (Jen's) bday was yesterday, then my moms is on the 28th, then Zach's is on the 29th (we'll be sure to put pics here after the party), then Steve's is the 5th of June (the same day as my folks anniversary), then my sister in law is the 10th, followed by Fathers day and my brother's bday on the 24th!

My birthday weekend went great though - we visited Rizal campground overnight on Friday (so peaceful, it was wonderful) then Steve surprised me with a trip to Manila on Sunday to visit my favorite church, have lunch with some old friends, then go out on a date while someone watched the kids. Funny thing happened too - they ended up taking our kids out to dinner, and we all ended up at the same place! We had a good laugh, then asked to be seated on the OTHER side of the restaurant. :)

Back Online!

We are thrilled to announce that we have electricity again! It is wonderful. You don't realize just how much you use it until you have to go without for a week. It is one thing if you are off camping or something - but to try to carry on "normal" life without... It can be tricky - and frustrating. Sleeping in the heat without a fan was particularly difficult - I am tired to the bone today. Thanks for your prayers. And for your encouraging notes - what a blessing. I better get back to work - LOTS to get caught up on now, not to mention all the normal responsibilities. Thanks again!

Typhoon pics

Sorry that I wasn't able to put a title or explanation with this blog - I was working off the power in our UPS (whatever that is) and only had 20 mins. So I got the pics on but nothing else. :)

I think most of you that check our blog also get our updates. If not, email us and we will make sure you get on the list. So you should already know the details about the storm and the tree that fell on our house. No serious damage done; it was just noisy. Not much sleep that night, that is for sure!

This picture up above is amazing to me because the 4 banana trees behind Mikayla have all fallen different directions. That's some wind!

Our neighborhood and our city looked a bit like a warzone after it was all over. Things are getting cleaned up now. We are still without power (I am at a friends' doing some email stuff now) at our house, but at least we have a little water now. The tree on the house is still there. Things like that can take a while to get taken care of here. Meanwhile, all the neighborhood kids are having a grand time on their new jungle gym. Unfortunately, that is right outside the window to our bathroom, and we can't shut the shades or we can't see...

We are making do though and are happy to say that we were able to save our meat. One of our co-workers here ended up with power already, so we put it in their freezer. Thank you all for your prayers and for your encouraging emails. We appreciate it more than you know!

Typhoon!

Our first typhoon since we have been here is headed our way! Check out the website below (just click on the link) if you want to see details on it or follow it as it goes. You can zoom in on the diagram on the right on the website to track its path, or you can click on "PAGASA" to see some more details on it. It looks like it will go right over us Saturday night (we are due south of Manila, about 1/2 way between there and the coast), but it will lose intensity when it hits land so it probably won't be that strong. We don't have anything to worry about since we live in a concrete house - being in a grass hut as the eye of one goes over is a different story! I also remember climbing up in mango trees as a typhoon was rolling in and clinging to the branches as the wind flung the tree around. Who needs rollercoasters or theme parks anyway? Don't worry, we have no such crazy plans as a family today. :)

http://www.typhoon2000.ph/

A Lizard Pooped on Me!!!

We took a trip down to a nearby island by ferry this past weekend to visit some people who work in Bicol but were vacationing at a missionary guest house. We had a wonderfully relaxing time there - we even got to do some reading! Our kids played nicely with their 4 kids (there were 7 kids, ages 2 - 9, running around with relatively few disagreements!), and Steve and I enjoyed sitting on the balcony enjoying the beautiful view and amazing sunsets. We also took 2 trips to the beach and went snorkeling one time. It was a good visit with new friends, and we got to relax besides.
On one such relaxing moment while Steve and I were sitting talking, a felt something hit my arm in the darkness. I looked down, and it looked a little bit suspicious. My suspicions were confirmed when I looked up and saw a butiki on the ceiling above (BOO-ti-kee : a small lizard that eats insects so is welcome inside any home - we have dozens of them who make their home inside ours). A lizard pooped on me! That was a first.

Steve talking to Mariano while some of the kids dig in the sand. He was Romanian, raised by deaf parents so his first language is sign. She was Austrian. They had 2 friends with - one also Austrian, another Filipina deaf. There were so many languages flying around this weekend! It was nice to hear an unfamiliar language though and know that we don't have to learn it.

The gorgeous view from the balcony. Just feel your stress melt away...

The sunsets were an awesome reminder of our Creator.