Party Time!

We have been doing some serious partying here over the last couple weeks; Mikayla turned 14 (!!), and Ben turned 10.  Because Ben10 is one of Ben's favorite cartoon characters, he has been planning this particular birthday party for years.  Literally.

We were thrilled that our good friends were able to come down for a couple days to celebrate with us, and they brought some of the boys' best friends with them to surprise Ben.  

 We made a birthday banner and put Ben's face on the Ben10 character. 

And I made a Ben10 cake.  Now, before you get too impressed, normally I take the lazy route and just buy a decorated cake (dirt cheap here in the Philippines), but since none of the cake companies had a Ben10 cake, I had to step up. 

 One of the things Ben asked for was a "thing with lots of drawers so I can keep spiders".  Yes, you read that correctly.  So Mikayla and Zach bought a bunch of matches, glued the empty boxes together, and attached beads to the front of each box to make them easy to open.  Voila - an elaborate, high-tech spider caging system.  And I promptly designated it as a great OUTSIDE toy.

 We also got to enjoy some wakeboarding with them before they went home... 

 ...as well as a hike to the waterfall for a picnic.

 The beauty of His creation often takes our breath away.

 And no need to just observe His creation - slide right in and enjoy it! 

 We are so thankful that our friends were able to come help us celebrate Ben's birthday, and we are so thankful for Ben and the young man that he is becoming. 

But the party didn't stop there! After our friends left, we drove a couple hours down to a port town on the coast.  We enjoyed spectacular views of Mt. Mayon while we drove.

 Then we boarded a ferry to bring us over to the island of Catanduanes for a couple days vacation and to celebrate Mikayla's birthday with her friend.

 The seas were pretty rough, and we were all feeling a little worse for wear when we arrived, but we were still able to drive the last couple hours to meet up with some new friends.  We spent the first night at their house, then the next morning we drove a couple hours to this rustic little surfing resort.  

 While Mikayla and their eldest daughter knew each other from their recent adventures at Outdoor Ed, our families didn't know each other before this trip.  The adults enjoyed getting acquainted...

 ...while the kids explored the rocks off shore.

 The waves weren't great this particular day, but the kids still had fun doing a little surfing.

 After one night at that resort, we drove to another beach resort.

 This one didn't have any surfing, but they had a fun pool...

 ...beautiful views...

 ...a zipline...

 ...kayaking...

 ...rock climbing and snorkeling...

 ...and this pretty cool diving board into the ocean.

 Their little guy didn't have any fear.  After watching the big kids dive a couple times, he tried it for himself without any warning!  And did pretty well too.

 So thankful for a few days to relax with new friends, and for the opportunity to celebrate the life of our precious Mikayla.

 After 3 wonderful days, we boarded the ferry to head back to the mainland.  See Mt. Mayon peeking out of the clouds to welcome us back?

Wordless Wednesday

Ok, for any of you who know me, you know that a "wordless" blog post is a challenge! So I did pretty well, but gotta add a not here.  This is the ultimate "one stop shop".  You can get your banana heart (vegetable that comes out of the banana tree), coconut, dried leaves and charcoal to cook lunch.  But don't grab a coke bottle for your beverage; those bottles have been refilled with kerosene, gasoline, & diesel!  It is a rural gas station, and you can find these all along the mountain roads.  

Outdoor Education

For many years now (not sure how many, but suffice to say that I participated when I was in middle school!), Faith Academy in Manila has been doing "Outdoor Ed" every year.  It is a week-long camp focused on some specific educational topics.  We are so thankful that they allow homeschoolers to join in the fun!  Mikayla just got back, and she had a blast.  This year, they learned about volcanoes, survival skills, and sea life (including a discovery SCUBA dive and dissecting a squid!).

Here is their "squad" of fellow homeschoolers from all over the Philippines.

 They met up at Faith Academy and then took buses a couple hours away to the volcano where OE was held this year.

 Apparently, they also tried out some other local transportation.

 It is not exactly a luxury camp; they were definitely roughing it for the week!

 As much as I KNOW that Mikayla enjoys the educational aspects of OE (she actually does though!), one of the highlights for our social butterfly is being able to hang out with friends - both old and new - for a whole week straight!

 Mikayla was so thankful that her good friend, Daisy, was able to come on OE again this year.  These two have known each other since they were only 3 years old; in fact, I think Mikayla's very first sleepover at a friend's house was with Daisy!  Their family lives on a different island, so OE is really the only time the girls have gotten to hang out now that they are all grown up. :)

 Mikayla also enjoyed meeting some new friends.  And apparently being goofy together is not limited to old friends.

 This rock is painted "It is forbidden to throw trash".

So of course they are all pretending to throw trash on the rock.

 Their destination was Taal Volcano.  It is an amazing place where an island (the Philippines) has this lake (Taal Lake) that has a volcano in the middle (Taal Volcano) that has a lake in the crater (Crater lake) that has an island in the middle.  An island with a lake with a volcano with a lake with an island.  They took a boat across Taal Lake to the volcano then hiked 1.5 hours up into the crater to swim in Crater Lake (be careful though; some parts are too hot to swim in!).

This is the view as they crested the rim of Taal Volcano, looking down into Crater Lake and its island.

Side Note: Hearing about Kayla's adventure reminded me of another adventure we had on Taal...remember, J&K? Or are you still repressing it? :)  It was one of the craziest adventures our family has ever had; and, for those faithful followers out there, you know that's saying something! Click to read about it!

Ok, now moving on...

One of the things that the kids learned at OE this year was some survival skills, including how to kill, prepare, and cook a chicken over an open fire.  Mikayla got the honor of gutting the chickens (as in she was the only one willing to do so; their chaperon texted me to say, "Mikayla is good with both people and chickens.").

 They also participated in a day of ministry at a local school.  Mikayla always enjoys being able to love on some sweet Filipino kiddos.

 We are so thankful that Mikayla had the opportunity to go on this adventure with her friends - and just maybe learn a few things while she was there!

(photo credit for this post goes to Ally Moffit.  Great job, Ally!)

Taking Care of Business

So today I went with Steve to take care of a few things in a nearby town.  We don't spend every day training our partners to be more strategic or hiking through mountainous villages; a lot of our time is spent taking care of the many details that are necessary in our work over here.  I didn't include a picture of what I personally spend a LOT of my time doing - working on the computer. :)  But today I got to leave the computer behind...

 We stopped by a couple hotels to figure out some options for July; we have a volunteer team coming from Missouri in July to help us with a project.  If you come on that trip, it is likely that you will spend part of the time in this hotel right here!

  

 We also spent some time visiting with some local pastors who are helping us look for some land for a possible training center.  We have been doing our training seminars at our co-workers' home for the last couple years; but they are moving back to the States, so we need a training center.  After a lot of driving around and waiting to talk to various contacts, today we found a good option (above).  It is in exactly the right area and meets all our specifications.  Please pray with us that if this is what God has for us that He will pave the way.  Steve will meet with the owner of the property again on Thursday to discuss the possibility.

 After that, we headed up into the mountains to the village where one of our teams is stationed.  Last year, the teams decided to go together to do a little corn farming in hopes that it will supplement their meager income.  While they are able to handle their day-to-day expenses, many of them are in debt because of medical emergencies or schooling expenses.  Now it is harvest time, so the guys have gathered to work together like they did at planting time.  Please pray with us for a good harvest!

 Steve is helping them figure out the logistics for how to dry the corn and sell it at a good price.

 While Steve was talking with the guys, I got to hang out with this precious little one...

 ...and I even coaxed a couple smiles from her!

Flash from the Past

We have to renew the kids' passports, and one of the requirements is "sequential or 'growing up' photos from the applicant" that show how they have changed since the last passport.  I did a quick search and chose one per year since their last passport.  Thought you may enjoy seeing how they have changed.

And, now, enough procrastinating and back to gathering the documents we need to renew their passports...