Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Annalise and Alayna!

Three weeks ago Annalise celebrated her 12th birthday.  Today Alayna celebrates her 15th.

So here is a little walking and skipping through the last year.

Back:  Alayna, Josiah, Alexie
Front:  Jordan, Annalise, Adriana

Getting ready to send Adriana off to college

The first of many summer catches

Alayna celebrating last year

The Sisterhood of MudLove

A lunch date with Adriana near her college

Enjoying fall and playing in the leaves

Fierce competition

Back to the Philippines

Dinner on the roof

It's more fun in the Philippines - even when your companion is Vietnamese

Ready for Camiguin Island

Annalise working on her sand castle - before the tide came in

Taking a break between villages

Camiguin friends

Annalise being a "victim" during PHILEO Response Team training

We need to lift the backboard all the way up there!

Alayna performing during the YWAM Northern Luzon regional conference

I can praise Him! You can praise Him! Everyone praise Jesus!

Alayna doing what Alayna does so well

14 hours on the bus, 5 hours on the boat

Friends on Camiguin Island

Best friends

New friends

I started to do this as separate posts, but too many things conspired against that plan.  First, I have not been so good about making any posts on this blog recently (although I am trying to improve).  Second, they celebrate their birthdays only 3 weeks apart, further aggravating my blog lethargy.  While the first 2 are shaky reasons indeed, I am happy about the last reason:  our daughters, all 4 of them, are close to each other so it is difficult to separate each of them from each other.

Grace,

Tom

Adriana's New Adventure

The past several months have all been leading up to a major transition for our family: Adriana leaving for college. There have been many forms filled out, still more emails sent and responded to, appointments scheduled, and even a couple of flights between the US and the Philippines.

Saturday morning a new journey began. Adriana said "See you later" to her sisters and grandparents.

One last shot

Then we were off to Grace College.

The Welcome Weekend was a busy time for all of the incoming freshmen. There were activities for students with their parents, students only, and parents only.

Of course, getting settled into the dorm room is very important also.  Adriana will be staying at one of the most beautiful buildings on campus.

But a dorm room is still a dorm room. With a few modifications, the beds were lofted and there was a lot of space available. Adriana had just fallen asleep when her room mate arrived at midnight on Saturday. (She and a few other students had just arrived from South Korea.)

"Home" in "Westy"

Lisa and I did not get to meet Adriana's room mate, Yelee, until Sunday afternoon during a last minute Walmart trip.

Yelee and Adriana

During Chapel service Sunday morning the three of us did have a time of tears as we held each other and prayed remembering God's faithfulness, reflecting on His promises, and looking forward to what was ahead of us. 

Sunday afternoon we were doing some final touches on her dorm when her floor mates came and pulled her away so they could all have dinner together. So our "See you later" was without tears - no prolonged goodbyes, just one more hug and a quick prayer of blessing and she was out the door.  But as Lisa and I were driving home, we were comforted by the many assurances God gave us that Adriana is where she is supposed to be.  We look forward to what God will do in her life in this new adventure of college.

Celebrating Adriana's High School Graduation

Just days after our arrival in the United States, we gathered with family and friends to honor the high school graduation of our oldest daughter, Adriana.  Through the efforts of many loved ones, we were treated to a wonderful time of celebration with plenty of food, conversation, and hugs.  This opportunity to gather together was such an encouragement to Adriana.

The coconut, raspberry, and lemon flavored cakes tasted as good as they looked.

By Boat or Plane?

Before we left the Philippines, we were blessed to share some time together with friends.

Dinner with Patrick and Rufina's family

Our journey began with a long drive to Manila. We stayed at the UCCP Shalom Center like we usually do when traveling to the US. They only have a few rooms in which we can all fit. This was our first time in this particular room though. When we noticed the painting on the wall, we began to wonder whether we would still be flying or whether our voyage might be on the Dawn Treader.  (If that sentence made no sense to you, may we recommend The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis or the recent movie of the same title.)

Dawn Treader?

Well, the room did not flood, but the alarm went off at 1:45 am so we could all get a shower before heading to the airport for our journey across the Pacific and North America.

Did you ever notice that people look happy at the beginning of  a flight?

Actually, all of our travel went very well; everything departed and arrived on-time. Although we would have welcomed a voyage on the Dawn Treader we were thankful for the much quicker travel available on modern jetliners.  We also appreciated the individual touch screen entertainment monitors installed in each seat back.  They helped to distract us during the long flights.

Friendly faces at the airport-the best part of our trip!

The Family that Plays Together

This week our entire family worked together to facilitate team building for YWAM Baguio's Family Discipleship Training School (FDTS). It was a great opportunity for us to demonstrate the very principles we were sharing.

Helium Hoop Central

Preparing for Landing

Marble Pipeline - the calm before the storm

Together we led activities, debriefed activities, and presented teachings to the group of 30 or so members of the FDTS. For Alayna and Annalise, this was their teaching debut. Alayna surprised herself with how well she could do and Annalise, perhaps, surprised everyone else.

Four lovely instructors

Not only did we get to work together as a family, we also had the privilege of making new friends. Students came from different places in the Philippines, Canada, Spain, and the US.  The girls really enjoyed having others their own age at the Training Center.

A Blind Hexagon taking shape

Saving the world from nuclear waste, one soda bottle at a time