Friday already! We did get Garry on Monday and got back home Tuesday afternoon. The week has gotten into our chaotic normal and we are happy to all be home and back into life as we know it.

Garry and Brian did some flying yesterday, flying to a nearby city to meet the airport personnel and familiarize themselves with it before Brian's checkride next Monday.

Today they are taking cargo to one of our missionary families and getting Brian some practice on that airstrip. The airstrip is a ways from the missionary's house so it's a mental exercise in scheduling and details to get everything arranged. There isn't a windsock at this location, so the people are building a smokey fire-- we'll see how that works out for them.

I have a rather nasty cold this week, so things have been going slowly here at home. Thankfully the boys are old enough to take care of a lot of things! We've gotten several days of school done this week, though not as much as I'd hoped.... which my family would say is just the norm for me!

Several of our friends are leaving in the next week-- the guesthome managers and a church-planting couple. It's always hard to say goodbye. It's always good to know that if we don't meet here on earth again there will be eternity to catch up on God's amazing work!

Good morning! It's Monday and I'm getting ready to drive back to Cagayan to pick Garry up from the airport. We plan to spend the night up there since it doesn't seem like the best idea to drive home at night.

Garry was up around midnight to catch a bus to Manila, but unfortunately there was a problem-- he waited about 3 hours and finally got a ride with a family who stopped to pick him up. I still haven't gotten the whole story, but I'll be hearing it this evening when he arrives here.

Kaleb has caught a nasty cold and I'm afraid he's sharing it with me.

The rains are here, I think! We are praying it keeps on raining so the electricity is back full time. Yesterday we were scheduled for brown out in the evening, but we had power all day!

I'm posting a few photos of our time at the beach... it was lovely! Hope you have a great day!

When I look at my blog and see it's been more than a week since I posted I nearly panic. You can only imagine how I feel about now... maybe Mom was hinting that I should post again when she mentioned the other day how much she likes seeing pictures on here!

I thought I'd upload a few more shots of Kaamulan. It's incredible-- now there are a few buildings there, but most are already empty. It was incredible to see and experience, and obviously quickly taken down!

I won't even try to catch you up on all that's happened since my last visit here... the flight Garry and Brian did, the fact that the appliance store actually came up with a fridge to lend us, that we spent a couple of nights at the beach, that Dustin left:(, that I drove home from Cagayan (3 hours at my speed) with the boys the other day...

About today... Garry is in northern Luzon to fly the airplane that he couldn't fly last time. In fact, he's hoping to wake up early tomorrow and get 3 hours of flight in so he gets his 180 rating back on his license! Today he spent about 9 hours on the bus and got to have a snack and supper with good friends of ours

from Canada. Yesterday he turned in his paperwork for his flight medical, which should be ready on Monday.

The boys and I decided on somewhat of a slower day in anticipation of getting back to school on Monday. Despite the fact that we've had a couple of weeks off, I hadn't gotten my next

quarter's planning really done yet, so I did that this afternoon. I found a place in town that will actually refill your coffee-- a real treat here in the land of "one cup only, ma'am".

Kaleb is sick with a bit of a cold or ear infection or something, so he spent much of the day in bed. Kevin worked in his garden (thanks for the seeds, Dad & Mom!) and also fixed his bike and worked on Kaleb's bike. We also enjoyed reading together and picking out some new books from the library.

It's Monday afternoon, and I really do need to clean up my kitchen. But, I thought I'd pop in here first and say happy Monday to all of you who are just starting this day of the week!

I was excited this morning to realize we'd have electricity all day-- every other day begin without power for 6-8 hours is not totally fun. I had a long list of things I wanted to do, and I was ready to get into the day. But then.... well, Kevin woke up with horrible allergies and spent the first hours of the day sitting and sneezing and the next several hours drugged up. Kaleb wanted help with something and I was trying to get the kitchen cleaned up. Bailey invited us for coffee cake, (bless her heart!) and we were ready to go.

Then I remembered the car was getting washed. Dustin was going to come with me to pick it up so he could have a motorella ride-- three told us "no" before we finally found one who would take us.

Coffecake and coffee were marvelous.

Then, when we came home the fridge wasn't working. Thankfully Garry was able to go back to the store where we bought it and they said we have warranty. In fact, the repair man could come on Wednesday! Wednesday? Finally they agreed they'd call us when they could come. By now the fridge was very warm-- about as warm as the room, in fact. I took everything out and put it in a cooler with a block of ice (that isn't a great solution, for anyone who may be wondering!)

Lunch was a rather crazy affair trying to eat what was going to spoil from the fridge. The floor in the kitchen was looking like the yard. And I needed a nap. I was hot, and put on a pair of shorts. Soon, the repairman showed up. I let him in then ran to the bedroom to put something more decent on (my shorts are long, but not long enough for this country). He looked at the fridge for a while and told me the compressor is shot. Thankfully, it's under warranty! Unfortunately, it could take 2 weeks to get parts.

Anyway, such was my day so far. Now I need to find something for supper... that happens every day, but some days it's easier than others to come up with a good idea!

Now, a note about the photos today... we celebrated Dustin's birthday on Thursday. Pauline made the cake and we all enjoyed celebrating with Dustin!

On Saturday there was a huge parade and street dancing for Kaamulan. It was pretty amazing, really, to see what the different towns had come up with for a float and dance. There were an incredible number of people involved!

It's Thursday afternoon here... we've been waiting all day for the weather to clear so Garry can go pick up Jason & Shirley. It's 2:30 here now, and Garry just took off. We're so glad he is able to do the flight today-- it is hard if people are all packed up, ready to come out, and the flight is delayed a day or more. Yesterday Garry tried to take Cliff & Pauline to visit one of our remote locations, only to arrive at the destination and not be able to see the strip because of bad weather. So, they turned around and came home... a real experience, though not the one we were hoping they'd have!

The boys have been doing lots of bike riding. They've made a bit of a track in the yard and are enjoying racing on it. They've also been playing badminton and doing lots of other fun stuff. It is so fun for them to have Dustin here!

Yesterday afternoon we went to Kaamulan and spent a couple of hours walking around. It was truly amazing to see all the things they're selling and doing there! I was hoping to post some pictures, but alas, they are lost somewhere on my computer!

In fact, a lot of things seem to be lost on my computer of late. So, if you're waiting for an answer to an e-mail or hoping I'll blog again soon... well, you might need some patience!

Good morning! Pauline and I went to town yesterday with my camera, so thought I'd post a couple of photos:). We went to buy some fruit, mailed some letters, got a book bound, and also went out for coffee... fun!

Last evening Brian and Bailey joined us for supper-- by flashlight. If the electricity is off I think you should at least enjoy a candlelight dinner, but unfortunately I haven't bought candles yet, so it was flashlight.

They are going on a flight with Garry this morning-- in fact, they should be leaving any time! Here's hoping they get some pictures!

I'm trying to catch up on a few office things here. I also got a quick chat with both Garry's parents and mine, which was nice. If you've been wondering why I'm not answering many e-mails or blogging very often, I've switched computers and am having a bit of a time getting my new one going... and then sometimes it does funny things, too! My fault, not the computer's!

The boys went to play badminton after their chores were done (yup, we have Dustin working HARD here!). They were going to play till they were either tired or hungry-- I'm guessing hungry comes first.

Hope you have a blessed day!