I noticed I haven't posted for nearly a week... life has just been rather crazy:). I know most of you could say the same thing, so thought I'd at least check in and say we're still here and doing fine. Garry leaves for Papua New Guinea day after tomorrow, so we are trying to finish up last-minute things before he goes.

We had a great, relaxing weekend, doing errands in town and just enjoying being together as a family. One of the huge blessings of this time in our lives is the opportunity to work together, and we want to take every advantage of that these days!

Today Garry went flying then we did a few more errands this afternoon. First, though, we had to have a badminton game with the boys... or several:). We found a badminton court close to our house here, which has been a huge blessing in terms of getting exercise on rainy days!

Blessings to you as you begin your day from us as we finish ours:)

The plans of mice and men are somewhat similar. We've killed a couple og mice lately as well as experiencing some major changes ourselves. One thing that is not changing is that the boys continue to learn and grow. These are school projects they're working on. It's so much fun to to watch their progress!

In the past week we've realized that our partners, the Schwabs, need to go back to the US for a few months. This means that we will be staying here in Palawan and running the flight program. We are hoping to have time to move ahead with some of the administrative-type things that need done, but there isn't as much urgency to them since we will not be moving very soon. We are thankful for this opportunity to stay in the same place for a while longer and will enjoy this job. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to adjust our expectations and plans!

Garry's off flying today. He was on the ground a long time in one location, and I wondered what was delaying him. When he called me he told me he'd had breakfast with the vice-mayor or Palawan! It will be interesting to hear the rest of the story when he gets back.

IMPROVED TACTICS for taking care of small animals that would like to share our house with us. In Lada we had a number of large lizard-like animals that enjoyed life in the pilot house. We didn't mind sharing the space, except that they didn't know when it was time to sleep and had a habit of waking us up with their loud noises. Eventually we took care of many of them over a period of months. We'd let them get brave enough to come into the open then chase them! I've got a great picture of Kevin "hunting" in the house, but I can't seem to add a photo today:(. Anyway, back to the topic.... we've tried a number of things on the mice in our house here and have finally been somewhat successful in taking care of them with poison. The down side is that they die somewhere and your nose leads you to them!

Today Garry is back in the air, bringing some missionaries to town and taking a couple of loads of cargo in to their location. The cargo he's taking in is pieces for kitchen cupboards for a missionary family who is just moving in to the location. Tim had worked in this location as a single man and is now back with his wife and 2 young children. Tim already knows the language and hopes to help the tribal believers in different outreaches they're involved in.

Some days go as expected, but most don't. Like my request for my housegirl to buy 3-4 sweet potatoes. She explained the size of the bag she brought home as even LESS than the 34 I'd ordered! In July friends sent us a large box, and we've been tracking it online. It's been sitting in Manila since the end of August, and we had despaired of getting it any time soon when it showed up yesterday! It was like an early Christmas finding the things we'd ordered and many special things we hadn't! I'm trying to make yogurt, and I keep failing... I have "milk" in my cooler this evening that hasn't even begun to process (or whatever you call what happens between the mix and the yogurt!)

Garry has been able to get two men to help him on some projects in the hangar. They're putting up a wall, building shelves, and otherwise finishing things that need done. They seem to enjoy their work and are doing an excellent job.

Much to our chagrin, Kevin's allergies have returned with a bit of athsma. So far we've been able to keep it more or less under control with meds. Kaleb is also having a bit of an allergic reaction to something... I suppose it's the time of year!

All that to say, not only had I thought I'd get back to blogging sooner, but other things have come up unexpectedly as well!

The past week I've been so busy working with numbers that I've gotten far behind in words. It seems that time has flown by as Garry and I have worked through some financial issues here and I've tried to keep up with school with the boys. We are close to finishing that project now, and I think Garry will be doing most of the work that's left on it:).

Our trip to Lada, planned for this week, has been postponed. There were a lot of things involved, making the timing poor. We are thankful for this unexpected time at home and will go to Lada sometime in November, I believe.

Kody's mange, a gift of a neighborhood dog, seems to be improving. She is nearly a year old now and is a great watchdog and good company. She often sits by the badminton court in our yard when we play and we wonder what the game looks like from a canine perspective!

In the past week not only have I taken a break from blogging, but also from writing letters. If you've emailed in the past week (or several weeks!), I will be getting back to you. It's been wonderful to hear from some of you who have shared the story of God in your lives. Thanks for blessing and encouraging us!

The sun has returned to Palawan! After nearly two weeks of rain (only once did we see the sun for a couple of hours!) we are thrilled to have some sunny days. Jason is flying again this week, so he's glad for the sunshine also.

The boys have been busy working on the yard lately. It seems the jungle is forever wanting to reclaim it! In the process we cleaned up some banana plants. That inspired both boys to build a fort. They each made one, but they've decided to share both of them! It's interesting to see their personalities and ages show through their handiwork.

Garry and I are busy with paperwork this week.... seems that is very common these days as we try to take care of different administrative aspects of the flight program. I am particularly busy these days with some financial issues. We're all looking forward to our trip to Lada when Garry is going to be working on the airplane and I'll have some time to catch up a bit.

While Paul was here Kevin had the opportunity to go along on one of the flights. He really enjoyed the opportunity to go flying again and also to spend the day at one of our locations! Paul and Garry had a profitable time with the team, being mutually encouraged in what God is doing and discussing their airstrip and other flight program business.

We are so thankful for Paul's visit and the blessing and help he was to us. Paul has a real gift for communicating Biblical truths through personal stories and we enjoyed hearing many of these stories. Kevin was particularly impressed with stories of Paul's early days as a missionary using river travel and living in villages with the people he was seeking to reach.

Garry was also able to discuss a lot of technical things with Paul-- maintenance issues, hangar set-up, program finances, and flight-related things. What a blessing to glean from Paul's years of experience! Paul's visit also reminded us what a blessing it is to have relationships that span long times-- Paul has visited us on every field where we've served and we worked together in Arizona. Memories are so much fun!

Since Paul left last Wednesday we've been busy tying up loose ends and making plans for the next few weeks. We are hoping to make a trip back to Lada (our "old" flight base) to do an inspection on an airplane that is stored there. The timing of this is dependent on paperwork from Manila and a trip Garry needs to make to Papua New Guinea at the beginning of November.

It's another rainy day here in the Philippines. Though it has been drizzling most of the morning, Garry was able to make a flight to one of our locations and pick up two missionary ladies who needed to come to town. One lady has a daughter at boarding school whom she is planning to meet here in town at the end of the week.

There are 3 families that currently serve at this location. (One couple is on furlough for another month or two.) The entire team is involved in language and culture study, trying to understand how the local people think in order to communicate the Gospel clearly. Language study is not most people's favorite thing, but rather a necessary part of doing cross-cultural ministry. We admire these folks who day after day, week after week, keep studying and learning while building relationships with the people. We pray that the day soon comes when they can clearly communicate the Word of God. The team there is also busy ministering to the physical needs of the people-- providing medical help, teaching literacy, and helping them improve their gardens and food supply.