It's Wednesday already and I'm still trying to catch my breath! It's been a crazy beginning to the week in several ways, but let me back up a bit.

Last weekend we all enjoyed a local badminton tournament. It was fun to be part of the group, cheering and playing. We were also able to catch up with some friends we haven't seen since we returned to Palawan. While our badminton friends are very religious we don't believe many of them understand the true Gospel. We continue to seek to be a light and have been encouraged lately by some of the comments and questions that have been coming our way.

Kaleb and his friend partnered in the men's level and it was fun to see these short little guys do a great job on the court. They actually placed second! Garry and Kevin partnered in a higer men's level and took third place. Kevin and I played in the mixed category and were able to take first place.

Monday passed by in a flash of getting back into our school routine after our week break and getting the house cleaned up after running around over the weekend. Tuesday morning we were just finishing up school when the doorbell and my phone both rang. My helper went to the gate and stepped outside when motioned to do so by a man I barely saw. I answered the phone call and was watching the gate from inside when I saw the man begin to walk away, but Jhean (my helper) didn't come back in the gate. I had an uneasy feeling and went outside to investigage. The men were actually policemen and they had a warrant to arrest my helper!

Apparently her family is in the middle of a bit of a fued and a girl had issued a complaint against her. The more I find out about the situation the clearer it becomes that there's really nothing we can do. It is so hard to see her in this situation and not be able to do anything. Please pray with us that her family will get her a good lawyer, which is what she really needs. Pray also that this would be a turning point in Jhean's life, that she would seek God and find the One True Source of everything.

Good afternoon! It's been a busy day here at our house. Kevin made us some great granola bars this morning, though they are a bit hard to cut. Oh, well, they taste good! Since then he's done some reading and then gone to his garden. The other day I tried to cook some dried black beans only to find out they had been over half eaten by bugs-- yuk! I told him to throw them somewhere for compost, and they sprouted! Now hopefully we'll get some more black beans from them!

Kaleb has been busy painting today. He's been working with watercolor pencils as well as oil-based paint. I think he's gaining some skill with paint lately!

Last Friday Garry burnt his leg on his motorcycle so we've been doctoring that for the past few days. The climate here really encourages infection, but we're praying that we can avoid that. It looks pretty good so far, but there is still a lot of healing that needs to happen.

This morning I asked a friend to help me talk to Jhean, my helper, since she doesn't speak much English. I explained a new routine to her through the interpreter then she asked a few questions. Soon she was in tears, but I still don't have any idea why, nor did the other lady. Maybe she was just afraid she was in trouble? In a culture that hides everything that could be considered negative it is sometimes hard to figure out what's going and what the truth is!

Good afternoon! Yesterday turned out sunny in the morning and rainy in the afternoon, so I didn't even have to wish for an overcast afternoon! It actually poured until the yard was under nearly a foot of water in some places. Kaleb loves running around outside in the rain and yesterday was no exception.

It's been amazing to be here in Puerto and not be responsible for the flight program. Ben and Suzy are doing and amazing job! It's been fun to spend a bit more time with them since we came home and catch up on what's been going on while we've been gone. It's also been fun to see how much their kids have grown and hear their thoughts about the program here after working here for several months.

This week Garry is spending some time at the hangar and some in the office at home. He's beginning to catch up with some of the backlog of stuff that has been waiting for his attention for a LONG time! I'm enjoying having a bit more time to cook, read to the boys, and spend a little time with friends... today anyway. Soon I hope to attack some of my projects that have been waiting a long time-- and maybe one of them is YOUR e-mail that I hope to answer soon!

It's a beautiful Monday morning here in Puerto Princesa! It's sunny, a nice change from the rain we've been seeing lots of! Of course, soon it will be warm and I'll be temped to wish for an overcast day, but then I'll try to remind myself to be thankful, becuase I do love the sunshine!

We had a great, although busy, week with Steve and Ja. We enjoyed profitable times together, going over our job descriptions and setting some priorities and plans for the future. We also had a few meals together and just enjoyed being with them as friends!

This is our last week of school for this quarter then we plan to take a week of break! The boys have done amazingly well at keeping up with their studies while we've been traveling and are finding it even easier to do their deskwork now that we're home.

I'm thankful that Jhean is working with me again, but it is an adjustment for both of us as she learns what her job entails and how to do several things she hasn't done before. I miss Neva, but am thankful that she is home with her family. Jhean is game to do anything, which is a huge blessing! She does do some funny thingsn at times... she loves to put things away, which doesn't necesarily mean where they belong, just out of sight. So we've had a few treasure hunts lately! She loves cleaning and the floors are cleaner than they've been since we moved here, which is nice for the feet! Jhean finds washing dishes in a dishpan (as opposed to under running cold water) an adjustment so washing dishes is a rather slow process just now.

Now I'm off to school with the boys and wishing you a wonderful end to your weekend and a good beginning to a new week!

Saturday. It's been rainy and pleasant and we've been enjoying doing a few things around the house. This morning I made some chocolate chip cookies with coconut flour- my most successful try at GF chocolate chip cookies to date! We also did some sorting in preparation for furlough...we figure we might as well get started!

The guys made a big fire out of old cardboard boxes and paper that needed burned. Garry also fixed the power steering on the truck and killed the mouse we caught last night-- yuk!

Now the boys are training some younger kids for badminton and Garry and I are headed to town to do some errands. A weekend really is a blessing!

It's Friday evening here and we've successfully finished school for the week! It's a great feeling to be starting a weekend. We'd like to get a few things done around the house, but we'll see what actually happens. Garry got a rather nasty cold on our trip and he's still busy fighting it. Hopefully he'll soon be over it and back to his normal self.

Kevin has been spending a bit of time in his garden before school in the morning and has really enjoyed that. His cherry tomatoes are wonderful and he's also planted some new herbs since we got home. He's been training very hard for badminton-- enjoying time with his friends and getting great exercise!

Kaleb got some balsa wood in Manila and he's been busy building models. He's been researching options for making them fly and is currently wishing that the Jet-X engine was still available. He did try something the other day, but it didn't work... maybe that's why he made a hover craft this afternoon!

I've been so thankful for Jhean (pronounced "Jane") this week... she's doing an amazing job in the house and is such a blessing. Next time I'll have to share Neva's story. But for now I think it's time for bed!

The chaos continues, though it is diminishing somewhat slowly. Life in general is getting more settled as I continue to train a relatively new helper and we try to settle into a new routine. It's incredible to be in Palawan and not running the flight program!

This is the boys on the porch of the guesthouse in Mindanao. The property there is lovely, and I thought I'd share a few photos of our time there today.

We are so thankful that Garry's meetings in Manila got canceled so he is still home with us! We enjoyed a great afternoon with Ben and Suzy yesterday, hearing how things have been here in Palawan and just catching up as friends and co-workers. It's really fun to see thier kids and how much they've changed in the weeks we've been gone! Garry's been spending some time at the hangar with Ben this week talking through some plans for the hangar itself and the engine change that's due in November.