Random Pics

One morning, shortly after arriving home, we had an early morning rain. A few minutes later I happened to look outside and this is what I saw in the sky! I guess when God sends a flood, He always sends a rainbow!

Got milk?

Living in the Philippines, you never know what to expect next. One afternoon, we had a living science project! We found this bug, a coconut beetle, on our front porch. The kids proceeded to bring it in and observe it very closely for a while. We discovered that if you mess with it, the beetle hisses at you! We also found out that the huge pinchers on the front of it's head must just be to scare away the enemy because they didn't really pinch very hard. What a cool day of science!

Our Departure

Even though we've had several departures from the Little Rock Airport by this point in our lives, the one on January 20th, 2007 had quite the unique twist!

My cousin, Karol Guthrie, and her family were leaving the same day to fly to Italy where they would be living for 3 years. Karol's husband, Kevin, is a chaplain in the US Army and they will be living just outside of Venice.

How odd that we ended up flying out of the same airport on the same day? With all our family combined, it was the largest send-off we've ever had!

I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but we were on the 1:00 flight to Dallas and they were on the 2:35 flight to Baltimore.

Allens + Guthries + lots of Reddins!

The girl cousins

The boy cousins

Not sure what the kids were doing here. I'd like to think they were praying, but my motherly instinct tells me otherwise!

Kaylee and Carly get one last chance for some girl talk! Maybe they were talking about Italy and the Philippines?!

Getting in one last hug with Mamaw

And one last hug from Minnie

And who can forget our crazy Uncle Sam?!

Caleb takes one long, last drink at the water fountain!

All those good-byes are tiring!

After 30 plus hours in airplanes or airports, we FINALLY arrived back in Manila. We enjoyed a couple of nights in a hotel before getting back to all we needed to do in Legazpi. We so enjoyed the few weeks we had in the States. It really helped us to be prepared to come back to the Philippines and minister to so many here.

A Few Last Minute Pictures

Here are a few last minute pictures we took before heading back to the Philippines.

On our last Sunday at Antioch, we stopped in to give a big thanks to the GMA girls for donating their Christmas money to our ministry!

Carly was able to have a sleepover with her friends Addie & Emily. Even Tita Dar was able to attend!

Caleb had been given some special Christmas cokes from Mrs. Suzanne, "the Coke lady." We decided just before we left that we'd better drink them!

Our friend Michelle dropped by just before we left.

Carly and Caleb LOVE to shop at the Dollar Tree - where everything is a dollar! On the day before we left, Papaw Burch gave each of the kids $5 to buy 5 things at the Dollar Tree. The kids had a blast picking out whatever they wanted, although Mom kept reminding them our suitcases were already full so please pick out SMALL things! LOL.

A Day at the Cabin

Thankfully, we were able to squeeze in one more trip to Minnie and Papaw's cabin before heading back to the Philippines. After a lunch of old-fashioned hamburgers at Snappy Mart, we spent the afternoon doing a "whole lot of nothing!"

We watched a movie together

Caleb "landed" in one of his favorite spots....the top bunk!

And Carly spent time playing with her Polly's in "her" room.

Now, I must put a disclaimer on the remainder of these pictures. My mom took both kids and the camera upstairs and had their own private photo shoot! At this point, this post becomes a "Carly and Caleb Gallery." (These are mom's pics...I'm not responsible! But I must admit, they are really cute!)

A little Allen family info...this guitar belonged to Caleb's great-grandfather, Harvey Elijah Allen, whom he was named after.

Missions Symposium

One of the "perks" of our trip home was that we were blessed to be able to attend the 2007 Missions Symposium. It was such an encouragement to hear reports from other fields and to fellowship with so many of our friends and co-workers.

Carly was able to get acquainted with a fellow MK - Amanda Johnson. Amanda and her family lives and ministers in Mexico. She and Carly really had a great time together!

Carly and Amanda pose with our director, Bro. Jerry Kidd.

Carly and Amanda check out the globe to see exactly how far it is between Mexico and the Philippines.

It blows my mind how fast MKs can bond. There's just a special connection there that is different than any other relationship. Who knows when Carly and Amanda will see each other again, but I'm sure when they do they will pick up right where they left off!

A Very Special Treat

While we were in the States, I had a very special treat. Two of my cousins came to visit me one afternoon. We only had a few hours together, but it was so nice to be able to do some much needed "catch-up." The last time we were together was a few weeks after Caleb was born. It was also good so see our kids be able to re-connect.

The 3 "Reddin" girls...Joanna, Karol & Michele

Our 3 "babies" - Caleb, Noah & Kimberlee

All the kids together

(l to r) Johnna, Carly, Kaylee, Hannah, Kimberlee, Noah & Caleb

Michele with her three - Johnna, Hanna & Noah

While we were all together, we decided to go visit the cemetery where our grandparents were buried.

The great-grand kids pose near the grave of Mamaw and Papaw Reddin

One last picture of the girls together

(Sorry it's a little crooked - one of the kids took it!)