2019 Team

On our way back from New Zealand, Zach parted ways with us to go to a transition retreat for rising seniors in Cambodia; then Mikayla was only home one night before flying back to the States. That left the rest of us to finish final prep for a team arriving from the States from our churches in Missouri and Kansas. Steve and Ben drove down to Bicol to get things ready there, and I finished last details and picked up Zach at the airport and met the team. Crazy but fun times!

We flew to Bicol first where we again divided into 3 smaller teams for ministry days. Each team went out for two days at a time (overnight in the village), then back to a hotel in town before switching to a new area. Teammates shared testimonies of how God has worked in their lives, and our Bugkalot partners were their guides and arranged for follow up in that area after the team left. 

After our time in Bicol, we did a quick trip up to Bugkalot to see what God has done up there, including the house in the clouds and the coffee plantation. 

 

Once again, we had a great group of young people on the team. It is always so exciting to see God use people of every age on these teams. We missed having Mikayla here this time, but my niece, Gabby, joined us for the trip.

We are so thankful for partners in the States who make so many sacrifices to come and join us in the work here!

New Zealand

While our family has been blessed with many amazing vacations through the years, we have always just "tacked a few days on" to another trip we needed to take anyway. In summer 2019, we finally took the big family vacation that we had been saving for, as a combined senior trip for all 3 kids. Mikayla was back on our side of the world for about a month, and we spent 10 days of it in New Zealand. We landed in Auckland in the north, rented a campervan, and drove all the way to Queenstown in the south. It was a phenomenal experience, and we had a BLAST as a family. The campervan was tiny (the kids all slept in the double bed above the driver compartment!), but we made some great memories for sure.

Lake Pukaki

Kaikoura

Fish n Chips Kaikoura

Putangirua Pinnacles

 Biking in Taupo

  Redwoods in Rotorua

 Hot springs in Waiotapu

 Near "Mt Doom"

 The ferry across the channel to South Island

 Sunrise at Crown Range Lookout 

 Otago bay 

 Snowboarding at Coronet Peak

Overlooking Queenstown

So thankful to our Father for this amazing experience as a family!

Summer Camp

A highlight of our kids' summers has been camp with other expats in our situation. This year it was held in Thailand. I want to protect their privacy, so only putting up a few pics (and ones that don't show faces clearly). But this camp has been such a blessing to our kids through the years, and it has been a spiritual milestone each year in their growth. So thankful for it.

In 2019, the boys were both campers, and Steve and I and Mikayla were counselors. Mikayla actually took on much more responsibility than college students normally do as she was in charge of the "team time" activities each day. She did a great job!

SURPRISE

At the end of May 2019 (just in time for my birthday), Mikayla surprised us by showing up a couple weeks earlier than planned. Such a fun surprise!

Her brothers were thrilled to have her home, and they were more than willing to ferry her around on their e-bikes. :)

 Zach's 17th birthday came a few days later, and we took a break in the busy-ness of final exams to play touch rugby for the afternoon and enjoy brownies together. 

Quick Tribe Trip

In May 2019, we took a quick overnight trip up to the house in the clouds with some high school friends of mine (Jen). It was fun to get to show them all that God is doing up there, and hopefully this trip was refreshing and meaningful to them as well. God is using them mightily in a ministry in a large Filipino church, and I know that they shared some of the Bugkalot story with that congregation after this trip. Praying God uses this time to bring glory to His name.

Serious Catch Up

Since the start of this blog, I have never gotten so far behind on posting...or on other administrative responsibilities. This past year has proven a challenge to keep up with life's responsibilities while dealing with not being able to use my right arm for much of it. I made a conscious decision to release the blog for this time period, but I am hoping to get caught up now. I realize that most of these posts will probably never be read (so outdated and so many posted at once), but this blog has become a bit of a family & ministry journal, so I want to get caught up anyway.

Without further ado, here are some pics from last year at this time. Zach's junior senior banquet and pictures with school friends. We have been so incredibly thankful for Faith Academy and the friendships our kids have developed through their time there.

(The "GoT" one - Zach was asked to be an "escort" to an 18th bday party - which is a big deal - and costumes were a part of the event.)