Garry just called from Palawan. They've been working hard on the engine inspection today and found a cylinder with low compression. He was planning to come home tomorrow, but he may stay another day if they need to change the cylinder. I guess they need to fly it in the morning and test it again... techie talk from a non-techie.

I finally got the photos from the guys time at the hangar last Saturday on my computer. So here are a few of them.

We spent Saturday in the city and enjoyed some great badminton. The badminton community here is quite small and appears to be quite fractured. It was a privilege to get some "warring sides" together for some games and see good camaraderie. A small step of reconciliation, but I think God smiles. Small steps, and we as a family wonder where they will take us.

On the way to the city we stopped at a small gas station and filled the tank and bought some ice-cream (for breakfast-- it was the healthiest option there). When we took it to the check out counter the lady needed to scan it, which is rare in a small store here. Anyway, Kaleb was holding his cone and the lady looked at him and asked, "Can I borrow that, ma'am?" It took us a few moments to figure out what she wanted and who she was talking to!

This evening the boys and I started putting up the Christmas tree. We didn't get it quite done because we have a major problem with the lights... only about a quarter of them worked when we plugged the tree in. Here in the Philippines we feel we're getting a late start as most of town has already been decorated for a few weeks. But since it's before American Thanksgiving it still seems early to us. The dilemmas of living in a second culture...