Very slow connection here, so no photos today! We are in northern Luzon, enjoying one of NTM's locations. Tomorrow the guys will start work on the paperwork for the airplanes.

We had a great trip up... good roads and not too much traffic. We're glad for this time here with two of our NTMA co-worker couples. It will be good to spend some time together.

We are in the huge city of Manila these days, enjoying some coffee at Starbucks and meeting friends. We are incredibly blessed to be staying in an apartment at our mission guesthome! We have some space to cook here and the hostess has been so helpful with Garry's special food needs.

We were glad to be able to see Paul and Pat, our friends and bosses from McNeal, for a few days. We've had some great meetings with our flight program team and field leadership as well. I really should take some pictures of this city... or get some from a friend!

The boys' coach really encouraged them to play some badminton here so they could get more exposure to other players. We played the other evening for a few hours and are planning on another few games tonight.

The plan is to head north tomorrow. Garry and the other guys will be working from this hangar, getting 2 airplanes flying again. The aircraft have been in northern Luzon for quite some time, but since our location there is closing down we need to move them. The current plan is to fly both aircraft to Palawan for storage until we need them.

Neva texted that she's back in town-- yeah! She says she's ok, but I guess I'll have to wait to hear the rest of the story tomorrow. She'll be staying at our house while we're gone, for which we're very thankful. And I'm extra thankful that she'll be washing up all the dishes that have been piling up while we were packing today!

Last evening we went to a small badminton tournament and Kaleb spent the evening entertaining the kids with paper airplanes. They made a LOT of airplanes and everyone seemed to have fun.

Tomorrow we head for Manila then northern Luzon. We're planning some meetings with our friend who's here from Arizona. We'll be discussing the future of the flight program here and some of the options for equipment here in the Philippines. Then in northern Luzon we'll be finishing up some work and paperwork on the airplane. Hopefully we'll be able to fly back to Palawan in it!

You may have heard about the typhoon that's passing through the Philippines. The damage that's being reported is on another island, but it is bringing cool, rainy weather to us. Ben has a flight scheduled tomorrow, so we pray there's a break in the rain so he can do it!

Yes, it is great exercise:)! We had some good play the other evening as well as good times with friends. Our badminton friends have been on my mind a lot lately... maybe because we've been seeing them quite often. While our friends are very "religious" they seem to have lots of questions. Great questions! And they try so hard to do the right thing, but like all of us, find they simply can't do it on their own. Pray with us that we would have opportunities to share the Hope that is in us and the truth of God's abundant provision!

Neva headed home for a few days yesterday and today I got word that she was in a "minor" motorcycle accident on the way. She is out of cell phone coverage area and I'll really like to check on her... I'm just praying she'll get signal long enough to text and let me know how she's doing! She's planning to stay in our house while we're gone, so I'm glad she is able to take a few days with her family first!

Work on the airplane in Luzon is progressing well. We're so thankful for our team members who are there working hard to get it put back together. We'll be heading that way on Monday, planning to stay there until we can finish the paperwork and fly the airplane back to Palawan for storage until we need it in Mindanao.

Good afternoon! How's your day going... or maybe it's just beginning? It's sunny and warm here in Palawan, rather the norm for this time of year. Garry's been working in the office and is making huge progress on several projects that he needs to finish before we head to Manila next week.

Here are a few more shots of Kaleb's birthday and us enjoying a game of Settlers with Dave.

Kevin is doing a great job of school, despite many interruptions. Kaleb's also getting some studying done, though he needs a bit more help from me! We spent several hours this morning at Suzy's house, enjoying the crackle of her radio.... actually it wasn't so much fun listening to the static. However, her radio wasn't receiving very well and Garry was able to stop by and do something that made it much better!

Suzy and I also worked on flight billing... lots to think about when passing things on! Kaleb and Ty were busy flying paper airplanes and Ellie was busy with the things a 1-year-old gets into. The boys and I enjoyed a great lunch over at her house... fun to eat someone else's food sometimes!

Kevin is hoping to enter a badminton tournament this weekend, so I think we're planning to play for a short while again this evening. The exercise is really so good for all of us!

Wow, days are passing more quickly than I can get to blogging. Actually, I've been somewhat busy trying to set up Facebook, so I've been using more of my computer time doing that. Plus, life has just been interesting lately!

Kaleb turned 9 this weekend! We all enjoyed his birthday, giving him gifts and inviting our friends over for cake. I'll post a couple of pictures of his special day today and a few more tomorrow, I think.

We had a good time with Dave. It was neat to hear what God is doing at NTM of Canada. We also enjoyed breakfast out on Monday and a game of Settlers of Catan. Dave's passion for leadership and encouraging people was evident and we were thankful he took the time to come to Palawan to visit:).

Ben and Suzy are officially in charge of the Palawan flight program now! Ben is doing all the flying this week, and Suzy is manning the radio. Tomorrow I plan to head to her house to spend a little more time with her on the radio and also do the flight billing. They're doing a great job and we feel good about leaving things in their hands when we head to Luzon next week!

Kevin trying to wake up... ever have a day like this? It just isn't fun to try to get moving while your brain is still sleeping!

Garry and I started the day with a long walk around the track in town. We love walking as it's such a great time to talk about what's going on and what God is doing in our lives. This morning we were talking about faith and how often we must choose to believe God's truth or we don't reap the benefit of it. These days we as a flight program are facing some big decisions... and we believe that God wants to communicate with us even more than we want to hear from Him. So we walk confidently ahead, trusting Him to reveal His plans step by step. What a great place to be!

We've had a great day doing some projects around the house and catching up on a few things. Tomorrow we expect a friend from Canada. Dave has been in Manila for a week and is coming to visit us here in Palawan for a few days. It will be good to catch up with him and with what's going on at our New Tribes headquarters in Canada!

The girls have been busy preparing food and getting the house cleaned. It seems the dust is endless some days! There's a big festival in town and they had the day off yesterday, so today has been busy for them. (Neva is on the left, Jhean on the right.)

Good morning! The boys are still sleeping, maybe due to a slightly late night at the badminton court. Garry's talking to Ben, arranging some flights for the coming week. I thought I'd just take a minute to blog here before heading out for coffee... teacher school-plan time, you know!

Here are Kevin and Garry working in the shop together.

Last evening we went to play some badminton. We enjoy interacting with the people there and the exercise is wonderful. What a blessing to have found a great form of exercise that we can all enjoy!

A couple weeks ago I got a new helper. Jhean (pronounced like "Jane") has been great! She's doing most of the cleaning and laundry these days, and Neva is cooking. Guess I need to take a picture and post it so you can "meet" her!

Good afternoon! I've been trying to catch up on some office work during our school break... it hasn't worked out exactly like that, but I've enjoyed the break anyway! Suzy was here again yesterday, getting in some more practice on the radio before she totally takes over from her house. She's doing a great job! The missionaries did end up sending out the other patient-- thank you, Jesus!

Kaleb's been busy making paper airplanes and wanted to show you his current collection. This is after he got rid of about half of them when they didn't test to fly well! What fun to see him exploring, learning, and trying things!

Now he and Kevin are at badminton playing some singles before training. Kevin's garden is doing great also, but I haven't taken any pictures of it for the last while! Both boys are enjoying their last week off school, but I think they're getting ready for a more normal routine again. This morning we did some de-cluttering in their bedroom. Can anybody tell me if stuff multiplies while we're sleeping or how clutter happens?!

Yesterday I was reading in several places about character. I came across an interesting thought, that ego is the enemy of character, so when we are tempted to be impatient or otherwise trade character for something less it's an indication that we're protecting our ego. Takes some processing...

Good morning! I'm sitting by the radio listening to the static. The 3-month-old baby that we brought to town for medical help on Friday passed away last evening. The guys are taking the body and the family home again... not a fun part of this job.

The missionaries also called to let us know that there is another boy that needs more medical attention than they can give him. He's 3 years old and they suspect he has hepatitis. Unfortunately, the family isn't totally decided what they want to do-- take advantage of the flight or wait for someone to do magic on their son.

We've enjoyed having Jamie, a friend from home, living close by for the past couple of months. She's been helping at a local orphanage. She helped me get started on Facebook the other day, though I haven't gotten much put on that site yet. It's been fun to get to know Jamie a bit better and hear her heart for God and His kingdom. She's headed back to Manila then Canada later today.

Kaleb is into paper airplanes lately-- again. This time he's found a number of new, rather complicated patterns on the web. I've tried my hand at folding some of them and have discovered why I don't do more of it-- I'm not so good:)! Kevin is still training hard for badminton as well as working in his garden.

Good afternoon! Garry is doing some more flying with Ben today and Suzy was here learning the ropes of radio flight following. It was fun to catch up a bit:).

Jason and Jonie head back to Manila today-- it's been great having them here! We look forward to meeting up with them in northern Luzon later this month or next. They'll be working on one of our airplanes along with a couple who's coming from Arizona and our co-workers that live in northern Luzon.

Kevin and Kaleb are enjoying having friends over today. Isaac and Kevin have been busy playing games and talking about boy stuff. Kaleb and Abby have done any number of things already-- from raiding the jelly beans to shooting catapults and flying paper airplanes. Having someone their own age around is a rare treat indeed!

The guys are headed this way already, having accomplished the purpose of their flight. However they're still a long way from home, so when they land next time I'll get some lunch on the table for the kids and grab a plate for myself.