Garry flew yesterday, so it was a busy day at home as well. He was thankful to have some time with the missionaries whose cargo he was flying. Then he stopped at our old flight base to refuel and replace some of the fittings on the fueling system there. He arrived home just before a big storm hit, which always makes us doubly thankful to have him home!

Garry needs to go to Manila at the beginning of August as well as make a short trip to another of the islands where we hope to re-open the flight program in the future. We've been trying to arrange his travel, and had finally succeeded so we headed to town to pick up his tickets. Unfortunately, neither the first nor the second ATM that we stopped at was able to dispense cash. We tried paying for the tickets with a credit card, but that was "impossible" due to some paperwork issues at the travel agent. We decided to stop for a few minutes for coffee, then tried another ATM. We finally got some cash and purchased the ticktets, much to our relief. We live on the outskirts of town, but going to the center of town is always a bit of a hassle:).

The boys received their Tagalog language course last week and we are are learning some words and phrases. Learning a language is quite an undertaking, but one make much easier when living in it!

Jason and Jen arrived back from Manila yesterday! We were thrilled to have them home again and had invited them for supper. When we arrived home I went to the kitchen to check on the chicken pot pie the girls had prepared. What greeted me was not the delicious aroma of pot pie, but the distinct smell of sewage. I should be used to it by now, but it always seems to catch me off guard... you see, we have a unique sewer system here that has to be pumped from the tank to somewhere else nearly every day now during rainy season. And the pumping is a very smelly job. When we first moved in we only had to pump every few weeks, which increased to once a week, which is now every day. I'm sure there's some "key" to why and how to solve the bottom line, but we haven't figured it out yet!

The smell did pass, and we had a great time with Jason and Jen over supper. It's so much fun to see thier kids growing up and learning different things. Mirielle is 3 and Kellan is 9 months old, so they are both changing rapidly!

A thought for today: When we try to control our lives we are living by the law, imagining that we can perform well enough to get what we want.

Today is another flight day, so I'd better close for now and make sure everything is in order for the next few hours when I'll be by the radio.