Gota Village

Steve and I just returned from our best anniversary celebration ever. This year marked our 10th wedding anniversary, and we had an absolutely amazing weekend at a beach resort - while the kids enjoyed some bonding time with Uncle Terry and Aunt Michaelle. :) The drive there ended up being much longer than we had anticipated over some incredibly rough roads, but the views along the way were spectacular. We rounded the corner at one point to see Mt. Mayon across the bay.

We were glad for our 4-wheel drive vehicle several times along the way. The drive got long (6 hours each way over bouncy roads!), but we so enjoyed the scenery together.
When we finally arrived, we were awe-struck by the beauty of the little resort village nestled at the base of some cliffs on the beach. Phenomenal.
This one is taken from the adjacent cove - you can see just a sliver of Gota beach.
A perfect place to grab a book and relax to the sound of the waves.
Here is the walkway between the two coves.
Steve had fun trying some impromptu rock climbing.

There were some HUGE hermit crabs scurrying around the beach at night. We wanted to try to bring one back to the kids, but it wasn't doing so well so we let it go before we left.
It was so cool how the cove was surrounded by tiny deserted islands. Gorgeous.
We actually swam out to the one straight out from Gota beach 2 different times - Steve figures it was about a mile away. We enjoyed the swim together, and found some great snorkeling over there besides.

We actually found several amazing snorkeling spots that had both great coral and sea life. Some of the creatures we saw were lots of star fish and brightly-colored fish, a sea horse, a sting ray, several jelly fish (1 large one), and an octopus!
We stayed for 2 nights, and God provided some beautiful sunsets both nights (guessing the sunrises were pretty too, but I can't speak from experience on those!).
The service was excellent, and they even set up a romantic dinner on the beach for us both nights - without being asked! There was hardly anyone else at the resort while we were there, and we so enjoyed the peace and quiet.
We are so thankful that we were able to enjoy this past weekend together, celebrating the fact that God has blessed us with the joy of being married for 10 years now. We made some great memories and came home truly refreshed.

Last Fling of Summer & 1st Day of School

Well, we spent a couple days as a family at the wakeboarding place to celebrate Zach's successful completion of his "Summer Reading Program". Zach read 123 books this summer!!! Small books, but still... The reward he chose was this last fling of summer up at CWC. We had a great time, and Zach was a little machine out there on his wakeboard - he rode for nearly TWO HOURS without stopping!!!

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The boys discussing a trick out on the water. I love how Steve is able to bond with the kids through this new hobby. Makes for great family time.

Ben knee boarded for the 1st time yesterday!!! He has been nervous to try it, but has really wanted to at the same time. He conquered his fear and went for it - and had a blast!
Unfortunately, he is so light that he bounced all over. We told him he will have to try wakeboarding instead since it doesn't bounce so badly. He's not so sure about that... :)
Zach with his new board and helmet.
Zach and his friend, Takiah-Lani. He and Takiah love to ride together. She is only 5, and her parents manage the wakeboard place near us. They have become good friends, and we are so thankful that God brought them into our lives.
There was a guy there yesterday with a black lab puppy, and he asked Mikayla if she wanted to take the dog out for a ride! Kayla was all for it, and they had a lot of fun trying it out.
Well, that was our last fling of the summer - we started school today. Here are some pics from the 1st day of school this year.
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The Pledge of Allegiance

Praying for a good year that glorifies God
Ben in his desk. Ben is still in Pre-K; his "school" is the 1 hour of speech therapy every day.
Zach is in 1st grade this year! Unfortunately, he has a large sty on his eye today. :( He is being very good about it though and working hard anyway.
Mikayla is in 3rd grade now! Our little girl is growing up. She is VERY excited about the new school year and all her new books.
Thanks for your prayers as we start our new school year. Homeschooling can be a lot of fun but quite the challenge at times as well. They are great kids though and excellent students so I know that we are blessed. We praise Him for the way that He is at work in our family!

Just for Fun

On our day off this week, Steve took Zach up to the wakeboarding place for some daddy/son time before the rest of the family joined them to head for the hot springs. Someone they met there took these pics of them...

Zach has gotten very good at riding on his own now, but he still has fun catching a ride on his dad's board - evidenced by the massive grin on his face. :)

A Little of Everything

While Jennifer, the volunteer speech therapist, was visiting here from the States, she took some pictures that I want to share with you. The unusual experiences and sights we see here on a daily basis often become so common-place for us that we don't think to take pictures of them (except the snakes in the house one - hopefully that NEVER becomes so common-place that it is not picture/story worthy!!!). Anyway, it is fun to see our world through a visitor's eyes - and I thought you may enjoy it as well.
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Tricycles (or "trikes" as we often call them) are one of the most common modes of public transportation here in Bicol. While in many areas of the Philippines, these little motor scooters with a side car only haul 2-3 passengers, they like to push the envelope just a little down here in our region. Our helper likes to say that they just keep loading people on until it looks like a flower with lots of petals. The motto here is that there is "always room for one more", and they definitely put that into practice with their trike capacities! This is what they look like going by our house everyday...

The most we have ever counted on 1 trike was 24 adults. What is unbelievable to us is that the tiny engines manages it - they are only 125ccs (the size of a lawnmower in the US)!
Ok, I'm the one who took this one a few nights ago - I almost stepped on this little monitor lizard when we came home. The dogs had caught it and left it as a gift on our doorstep in the dark. :) The foot was missing, but have no fear, I "discovered" it the next morning. Zach loves hanging out with his friends in the village.

Mikayla helping with the laundry.
A lady and her neice at one of the Bible Studies. Isn't the baby adorable?
Her mom's smile is contagious.
The Bible study group in the village of Santa Justina.
I love how the Filipino men help with the babies and love on them so much.

Here was Jennifer and Ben trying to get in a therapy session in the village between Bible Studies - with an audience. :)
Heartwarming smiles
In this culture, older siblings have a huge responsibility to help with the younger ones. It is very common to see a little kid like this one caring for a baby.
The big sister / big brother mentality carries over into other relationships as well, and our kids love hanging out with their big brothers and sisters in the village.
Here is the market by the railroad tracks where we buy our fruit several times a week.

The daughter of our fruit lady.
Our helper peeling a pineapple using a special tool. It is amazing how fast they are at peeling a pineapple - and the fact that they don't waste an ounce!
Zach playing with Jennifer's sun hat. His eyes are so blue in this picture!
Some little ones helping their mom sell last nights' catch in the market.

Snake Update

O - I forgot to mention - our helper killed 3 more snakes in the house while we were gone on vacation!!! So we are still a little on edge - particularly as we get up to use the bathroom at night. :) Thankfully we haven't seen any in the week we have been back. Hopefully they are gone now???