Hello from Palawan! We are incredibly thankful that the annual inspection is finished and the paperwork was delivered to the appropriate office in Manila this morning! It's a huge answer to prayer to have that finished... not that an annual inspection is usually a big deal, but just now it has been a lot to think about:).

This week we baked many dozens of cookies, and this morning Garry and Kevin took them to our friends around town-- the security guys that watch out for our hangar, the airport manager, the hardware store that we a lot of our business with, the man who delivers our bottled water, and so on. It is fun to be part of this tradition of blessing those who bless us all year long!

The boys enjoy being home again and able to work in their shop. Kevin has been secretly making Garry a Christmas gift and Kaleb is trying to perfect a rocket he drew "blueprints" for at the beginning of the week. In between the important things of their lives we've also been doing reading, writing, and math!

Garry is still on a gluten-free diet and seems to feel better for it. In fact, we recently learned (thanks, Anita!) that children with allergy-induced asthma often have problems with wheat or gluten, so Kevin is joining Garry on his diet. I'm scratching my head about what to cook, but overall it's gone quite well. I was thankful to talk to a friend in Manila whose husband is also a celiac and she gave me some good pointers about cooking and local food. I'll be calling her again soon!