Happy 7th Bday, Zach!

He finally got the remote control helicopter he has been wanting! And his dad got one for his bday too so they can have heli wars. :)Some of Steve and my friends from high school were able to come to the party with their little ones, and it was so much fun to see our kids playing with their kids.

Mikayla hit it off right away with Megan, the daughter of one of my best friends from high school. They invented these "grapes on a pretzel" lollipops and passed them out to everyone. :)

Family Time

Sorry it has been so long since I posted - we have been just too busy having fun here in the States! Our trip back across the ocean went amazingly well, with only 1 delay.

Back in the States after almost 4 years!
I asked Ben to watch our carryons while we got stuff off the luggage belt - and this is what I saw when I turned to check on him. :)
Since we arrived back, we have been having a BLAST catching up with old friends and especially spending time with family. Jen, Zach, and Steve have all had birthdays in the few weeks we have been back (pics of Zach's coming soon), and we have gone on vacation with both sets of grandparents for a few days. We actually had a family reunion with Steve's side of the family, and the kids got to meet their cousins for the 1st time!

Some rousing games of mini golf and shuffleboard...

A trip to Silver Dollar City amusement park with both families...

The kids surprised us by going on all the roller coasters and LOVING it! Even Ben went on the crazy ones. Mikayla was the only one big enough to do the loopty loop one, but she went on it a total of 6 times! That is a total of 30 times flipped upside down! Crazy girl.

Lots of swimming...

We attended the musical "Noah" with Jen's parents, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I actually had more fun watching the kids' eyes than the actors! :)

While it has been fun doing vacation with family, it has also been fun just being able to hang out and work together. Zach has been doing a great job with the weed-eating. (Also, check out our HUGE praise behind him - the vehicle that my parents got for us to use while we are back! We are helping with payments while we are here, then they will probably resell it after we go back. It will be perfect for us as we log a whole lot of miles this summer - it is so comfortable to travel in and even has a built-in DVD player! :) )

We are so thankful for all the special times we have had with family since we have been back!

the move

This move marked the 20th major move for Steve and I as a couple, and it was by far the most difficult one we have done (and it is really only 1/2 over as we still have to UNpack when we get back!). But it is OVER, and we survived it, and we are thankful.

So what made it so terrible? Well, this is prob way more info than you want, but I just have to document this adventure (for those of you who want the condensed version, just skip to the end where the pics are)...

* Because of my recent wrist surgery, I couldn't help much at all with packing, etc, and Steve was ridiculously busy at the end with ministry things.

* Mikayla was running a fever and throwing up for the last few days before the move and Steve and Zach were fighting a nasty cold.

* The night before the truck came, Steve we were sitting around the table making a game plan for the next day when Steve scooped Zach up to tickle him. He turned him upside down and put his head down - just then the plastic chair collapsed! So Steve and Zach came down squarely on Zach's head. As a result of the accident, Steve bruised his tailbone and Zach got 2 lacerations on his tongue, cut his hand, and bruised his fingers and toes - not to mention the massive lump on his head and headache for 4 days afterwards.

* While we were calming Zach down and evaluating his injuries, we heard a massive CRASH from the other room. Our pantry cabinet consists of 2 pieces stacked on top of one another. The top half is about 4ft tall by 3 feet wide with sliding glass doors. Well, Mikayla accidentally pulled on a string, causing the top half to come toppling down. Thankfully, she had the presence of mind to step back so she was not hit. However, when we all ran to the scene, we realized that Ben was missing!!! Thinking he might be UNDER the cabinet, we started frantically looking for him, when he creeped back in from the other room where he had run to hide when it fell (he had been in that room but ran when it started falling). While a lot of stuff was ruined/damaged by the falling cabinet, we were just so thankful that no one was injured. It really shook us all up.

* Once we all calmed down and were able to sleep, morning came very early as we got up at 5am to strip beds, wrap mattresses, etc so we would be ready for the truck when it arrived at 8. Steve was suddenly in a LOT of ear pain and took a bunch of meds to get him through the day.

* Well, the truck never showed up. Found out that the driver's wife had gone into labor. 2 pastor friends when on the hunt for another truck - said they knew a guy, and they would ask him to be to our house by 1pm. By 10:30 we still had not heard a confirmation from them, so we tracked them down and found out they had not been able to find anything and were too embarrased to tell us. Steve started driving around hunting for a truck to rent.

* It POURED rain off and on all morning due to a passing typhoon. Steve kept popping pills so that he can stand the pain enough to supervise the move.

*At 3pm, Steve finally found a truck, and by 4pm, the guys were loading it - in the rain still.

* Despite the fact that I am not supposed to drive for another 2 wks (our car is automatic so I just used my left hand), I left with the kids and 2 American volunteers who had come to help us (a huge praise!!!) to drive up to our new area, and make a few drop-offs along the way of fridge/food stuff etc.

*At the first stop, one of the American girls fell into a sewer ditch and blew out her knee. She was in a lot of pain, but we knew that going to the ER down here was not a good idea if we could help it, so we started making phone calls to try to get her on the next day flight up to Manila. As we made phone calls and arrangements, we continued driving to our various stops.

*We finally arrived at our new house at 8pm and worked together to unload the inside and topload of the car. Since it was just Anna, me with my injured wrist and 3 kids, it was quite an adventure. We finished unloading at 8:30, but poor Ella was in a lot of pain with her knee and soaking wet from the ditch she fell in, we still had not had supper, my arm was KILLING me by this point, and the truck had still not even left Iriga to drive up to where we were.

*We made the decision to head back to the hotel and let Steve supervise the unloading by himself (poor guy, but we needed to get Ella lying down). By the time we got back to the hotel, finished making arrangements to get Anna & Ella on the am flight, got the kids scrubbed up and in bed, it was 10:45pm.

*Steve finally got back to the hotel at 12:30 am. He slept fairly well, but Zach tossed and turned and woke up a lot.

*I had planned to take the girls to the airport in the am, but Steve was awake and insisted on doing it since I shouldn't drive any more than absolutely necessary so they left at 5:30am. Zach woke up in tears from ear pain.

* Turns out they had not quite gotten all the stuff the night before, so once Steve got back from the airport at 7:30am, we headed to our house to finish up the last load. By the time we finished up everything, dropped that load off at our new house, and moved some boxes and furniture around so that they wouldn't get destroyed if the windows leak in a storm, it was 2pm.

*Steve and Zach were still in a lot of ear pain despite lots of pain meds and decongestant so we called the dr and got on the list to see the ENT that afternoon.

*Turns out that Steve's eardrum had ruptured the day before, and was in danger of doing it again. Zach's was about to rupture. We went and got them the meds they needed then headed back for the hotel and an early night.

*Steve had a VERY rough night and was in a LOT of pain. Didn't think he would be able to go to the last day at the Bible Studies today like he had hoped. Prayed long and hard for healing, and he finally got a few hours sleep then woke up feeling a little better. He left for the villages this am, armed with all his meds, and he has texted saying that he is in pain but hanging in there. He should be home in a couple hours - by 7 or 8pm hopefully.

Here are some pics of our adventures the last 2 days.

Anna and Ella were a HUGE blessing to us as they ended up here unexpectedly and worked incredibly hard to help us finish up all that we needed to do. They also took some time to love on the kids and play with them. :)

This is a pic of the cabinet that fell towards Mikayla and Ben the night before we move. The next picture shows what was left of the double glass sliding doors.

Boxes everywhere!
Once we FINALLY found a truck, we had quite the time getting it into our driveway to make loading faster. The truck actually moved the concrete gate post about 1 inch!
Steve lifted the power lines with a piece of wood to let the truck pass under.
The loading finally starts!
The kids enjoyed watching all the activity, and were thrilled when they got to check out the inside of the truck.
We are all absolutely wiped but happy to be done. Tomorrow we head up to a hotel closer to the aiport and finish up a few things at our new house (changing out locks, etc) before we fly to Manila the next am. Steve will have a root canal that afternoon (pray for him, it has been a tough couple days for him) then we fly to the States on Thursday morning!

last few days

First, I thought you guys might like to see the finished product of the oral story sets that we have been working on in 3 different languages. Megan did a lot of the leg work while she was here, and then Steve and I have been scrambling the last couple weeks to finish them up. Each of the 8 audio kits contains a small mp3 player, a portable, re-chargeable speaker, and the necessay plugs and cords. Each mp3 is loaded with whichever languages(s) that village needs to be able to learn the stories and teach them to others. These are designed to work as a tool to aid them in learning the stories better to teach them to new groups. In addition to the audio kit, each church will get the written version of the stories in their language. Please pray with us that these tools make them more effective in spreading the Good News throughout their people group!

Second, please continue to pray for our family as we finish up our last few days here in the Philippines before heading to the States for our first stateside assignment. Here are some specific requests for you to lift up:

1. On Friday and Saturday we will be moving about 1 hr away to our new house. Pray that the logistics for renting a truck come together. Pray that the current tenants can get out by Friday so that we can move our stuff straight in rathen than having to move it into the next-door house for storage, then re-move it later. Pray for GOOD WEATHER - there is a typhoon enroute to the western Philippines. Pray for dry days as we move!

2. Tomorrow and Sunday mark our last days in the village with the Agta churches until 2010. Pray for precious times of worship together as we say some difficult goodbyes.

3. On Tuesday we will fly to Manila. Pray for Steve as he will get a root canal that afternoon. Pray that he is able to recover quickly with no infection and minimal pain as we travel.

4. On Thursday the 14th, we fly to the US by way of Japan! Pray for smooth travel - no baggage weight issues, on-time flights and that immigration and customs would go well in DFW as we have only a short layover there. This may seem trivial, but please pray that our LOOONG flight over the water (18 hrs I think) has individual screens on each seat so that the kids can watch movies/cartoons to keep them occupied. It may seem silly, but that makes a BIG difference in how well the flight goes!

Thanks for your prayers in the days ahead!

More House Pics

Ok, so it is not actually official yet, but many of you are asking for some more pics of the house we found, so here they are. :) Thanks for praying for the meeting on Friday, it went really well, and they now have a verbal agreement to rent the house. However, they were having fax issues on Friday so the contract has not yet been signed. So there is still a chance it will fall through if there are things in the contract that we can't live with, but hopefully all will look good. We should know by early next week - which is good since we move a week from Friday!

The house is actually located in a gated subdivision about 10 mins from the airport in Naga (and the wakeboarding place too!). The neighborhood is quiet with not much traffic, so it should be safe for the kids to ride their bikes and play with friends!In addition to being in a gated subdivision that has a security guard at night, it is in a compound with 2 other houses. One of the houses is the other half of the duplex from ours. We have not yet met the family who lives there, but we have mutual friends. The other house is not yet rented so we are praying it will either stay empty or we will get good neighbors on that side.

Here is a pic of the front gate to our compound - you can see our neighbor's side of the duplex in front.

Here is a pic of the empty house (taken from the front corner of our house) behind our half of the duplex.

The apartment itself is much smaller than we have right now (about 1000 - 1200 sq ft), but it is in great shape. This pic is taken from the front door, looking at the dining room then through to the living room. The door to the tiny kitchen is to the right, and the stairs going up to the bedrooms are behind that wall on the left.
There are actually only 2 bedrooms, which poses a little problem. First, Mikayla is getting old enough to need a separate room from her brothers. Second, we need a place to do school. This is the largest of the bedrooms upstairs, and we are planning to put up a divider to create a room for Mikayla in the back of it. Then we are hoping to buy/build loft beds so that their school desks can fit UNDER their beds. That is really the only way we can fit it all in.
While the inside is nice (in a cozy way), it is the yard and neighborhood that we are excited about. The compound feels like a private little subdivision within a subdivision, so it will be very safe (that was one of our main concerns as Steve will be traveling a lot next term). Here is a pic from our back door of the little house that is separate from the duplex.Check out this big back yard that is shared by the 3 houses!
We are hoping to get a trampoline for the kids while we are back, and they are SO excited to have one in their back yard. They are also excited to finally have other kids in the neighborhood to play with as we have been isolated from others these last few years.

Thanks for praying for the perfect place for our family - God answered your prayers! Please continue to pray that if this is the place that God has for us, that all the details will go through smoothly.