Last Hurrah of Summer

My sis and her family came to visit us for their vacay in July, and we had a blast together just hanging out.

As if that wasn't enough, God blessed our socks off by making it possible for our dad to join us for a couple days during that time! Neither the kids nor my sis knew he was coming, so it was super fun to surprise them. Here is a pic of my dad with all 6 of his grands.
On one of the days, we went for a picnic hotdog roast to celebrate cousin Eli's birthday. However, we discovered that the heat of the day in the tropics is NOT the best time for a hotdog roast. Who knew? I don't think we actually even needed the fire to cook the food - could have just held it to the sun for a few mins. We also did s'mores and made a great discovery when our hershey bars melted to liquid in the package: it actually works better that way! Just snip the corner of the wrapper and squeeze out the chocolatey goodness onto your marshmallow.

the guy cousins - ages 4, 6, and 8

One of my fav quotes from the time was when they were headed outside, arms around each others shoulders,

"We mans are gonna go talk cuz that's what mans do"

and the girl cousins had some girly time too

playing with makeup

and painting nails

Baby Zoe was still a little too small for this girly time, but it won't be long!

Ben got to feed Zoe her bottle - a first for him!

The kids all crammed into the back fold-out bench seat

just goofing off

We spent a lot of our time at the cable wakeboarding park nearby.

Steve and Zach do this fist bump every time they go out doubles together. I love it.

Cousins Gabby and Eli got in on the action too!

They either rode with Steve or one of the kids on their boards. They tried both wakeboarding and kneeboarding and had a ball.

Love this pic of Steve with baby Zoe.

One of the days, we drove down to Legaspi to play at a playplace and ride the zipline at the base of Mt. Mayon, the most perfect cone volcano in the world.

Here is a shot of Ben on the zipline - it's a beautiful place!

Can you see Mikayla way down there?

The mountain was gorgeous that day and very cooperative (often it is covered by clouds) so we got lots of great photo opps.

All the cousins together - ages 10, 8, 6, 6, 4, and 6 months. We don't get to see each as much as we would like since we live in different countries, but so thankful that we all live in SE Asia so at least our paths cross from time to time!

Our family

Mikayla and Zoe

Ben kept posing for me. "Here, Mom, how about like this?"

Growing up way too fast!

love this shot of the cousins playing on the rock walls of the monestary ruins with the volcano in the background.

and one more shot of all the cousins together

Thank you, Father, for blessing us with this time together!

Three Cheers for Ben!

During the summer between kindergarten and 1st grade, our kids do a "summer reading program" which consists of a bunch of little books. When they finish checking off all the books, they get a prize. Now we are talking a LOT of books so it's a big prize. We have been doing a ton of reading around here, and Ben just read the last book today - book #185 on the list: The Cat in the Hat. Ben is now the very proud owner of a little camera - and an increased reading level too!

We are gearing up for the start of our next school year; our 1st day will be August 3. Pls pray as we prepare to start up 5th, 3rd and 1st grades this year!

Jesus Loves the Little Children

We had some visitors come through this past week - a young couple who is hoping to come out with our company and serve overseas so they wanted to get a glimpse of the work up close. They are a neat couple, and we are excited to see what God will do in and through them in the years to come. While they were here, we spent 2 days in a couple different villages, and they took some good pics. There are kids everywhere you look in the village, and they captured some great moments. As I was looking through these, I was reminded of the song about how much Jesus loves the little children of the world - regardless of what color they are. I am not going to re-arrange these pics - I think you can tell which ones are village kids and which ones are our kids in the village. :)

Ben kept "stealing" their little camera and taking pics - he took this one of this little girl who was following us down the trail.

He also took this one of his daddy visiting with this older man who was making a roof out of abaca bark.
He also took this one of this cute little boy. I cropped it otherwise it would be obvious to the world that he is definitely a boy.

LOVE this precious little one

Ok, so she's not a cute kid, but it was a great pic so I had to include it.

The local version of Wal-mart - everything from soap to sardines available here. Well, maybe not everything. But the cashier is sure cute!

Love the curly hair and those beautiful eyes

Just hanging out on the piles of coconuts. They were busy making copra - drying out the coconut meat and separating it from the shells.

Steve helping Ben get a drink from one of the coconuts. Everyone got a good laugh out of him trying it on his own first - and getting drenched in coconut juice.

precious

Another little tribal boy?

He has the squat down, holding his walking stick and eating a piece of coconut.

those eyes...

This girl is 10 yrs old just like Mikayla. But instead of going to school, she spends her days babysitting her 4 younger siblings so her parents can gather food in the mountains.

coconuts are everywhere here in our area so it is a common food and drink for the kids in the village

his eyes capture my heart too :)

the view never fails to take our breath away - granted by the time you get up to this height, you are already pretty breathless :)

the local bath tub and laundromat

This volcano blew its top about 400 yrs ago and left a massive crater. Unfortunately, the top of the mountain blocked off a stream and flooded the town so the old town center is under that lake. Actually, several of the locals have told us that the water actually "came out of the volcano - that is how you know the volcano is dead now - the water came out." Hmm. Any volcanologists want to weigh in?

Cresting the mountain. What a view.

Pls be in prayer for all these little children whom Jesus loves dearly. Pray that their parents would have ears to hear and soft hearts to accept the Good News that will transform their lives - and the lives of their little children for generations to come.

Precious Moments

When you live the life that we do, moments with family become incredibly precious. We are blessed to have my sister and her family as well as my brother and his wife living here in SE Asia so our paths sometimes intersect. On our way to our meetings in Bali, we ended up with a layover in their city so we extended for a few days.

This shot was taken as we boarded the plane in our little provincial town. I love the 2 volcanoes in the background.

One of the best things about this trip was FINALLY getting to meet our new niece/cousin. This is little miss Zoe, and she is absolutely adorable - and such a happy baby.
Ben and Gabby are actually only 3 wks apart in age, but we have always gotten a kick out of the difference in their sizes.

Zach is great with babies, and he had a blast getting to know Zoe. Mikayla got lots of baby practice too and loved every minute of it.

Precious

Was so good to watch the cousins together again.

Love this smile

Mikayla and Eli enjoying the playground.

The kids worked together to put on a little show for all the adults. This shot is of Ben peeping around the corner to the "stage" (driveway).

Taking a bow after the elaborate show, complete with costumes. We decided Mikayla was going for a 20's era theme.

Precious Memories