For those of you who have been watching CNN....

...yes, we've just weathered another typhoon. We knew it was coming last week, but it was headed to the Bicol Region (where we used to live - the place that ALWAYS gets hit by typhoons.) We were busy praying for them and constantly checking with our friends there by text message, and then the crazy storm decided to come to us!! Apparently it was the worst storm that's been through here in quite a while.
We've come to the conclusion that the problem must be us! We've been told by some that we are typhoon magnets. At church yesterday, people were telling us that the only reason the storm came here "was because the Allens are here now!" We've decided that if the quiet volcano here on Negros begins getting active again, we may be voted off the island! LOL
So for those of you who have been watching CNN and are worried about us (Christie) we're fine but we do greatly appreciate your prayers. We had lots of wind and rain, although you would've thought it was a normal day around here. The kids never missed a beat. They played Lego's all day at the dining room table while the storm raged on outside. Guess we've been through much worse, so this didn't seem so bad.
A HUGE PRAISE is that our house stayed dry!!! (Some of you will understand just how huge that is!) Areas all around us were flooded, but we were fine. Praise the Lord! The worst part is that we were without power for almost 3 days, which just made life a little inconvenient and uncomfortable. Thankfully, it came on at 3:30 am this morning. Now we've just got to deal with a stinky refrigerator! But 3 days definitely beats 3 months!
Thank you to all of you who were praying. Like I said, we weren't expecting this storm to come our way. We were worried about Legazpi! (If this pattern continues, and we DO get voted off the island, maybe we'll see you soon!!! Ha ha ha. But don't get your hopes up Mom!)

Money Matters

We recently had a very monumental day at the Allen house. Caleb opened his first bank account. He's been saving his allowance for quite some time, and finally had enough to open a savings account at our local bank.

Counting the coins before going to the bank

All ready. I've got my passport and my money!!

Waiting patiently

So many coins!!

And even a few bills.

Yeah, I'm cool!!

Awesome! I even get my own passbook!

Carly & Mikayla

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Meet Andrew

Caleb has made a new friend. Meet Andrew. He's the son of some our our missionary friends here in Bacolod and just a little bit older than Caleb. Andrew's mom was sick in the hospital recently, and so Andrew came over one day to play.

Carly decided to set up a "restaurant" for the boys.

She even "cooked" some special peanut butter sandwiches....

...and served them...

...complete with side dishes!!

Andrew, we are so glad that you got to come over for the day. We hope that we can do this again really soon!!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Dad!!

Reading cards before going to church

After church, we went to a new hotel in town that had been advertising a Father's Day Buffet. Wow!! Did we enjoy!! The food was incredible and we had a wonderful dinner together as a family.




Did I mention there was a chocolate fountain??!! With fresh mangoes and pineapple?!

Round 2 at the chocolate fountain

Happy Father's Day, Daddy. We love you!!

Archive Alert #1

For anyone who's interested, I've finished posting our pictures from January of this year. Yes, sad, I know. Remember that top ten list???? Anyway our January adventures included a New Year's celebration, a vacation to Subic Bay (the kids' Christmas gift) and a few other miscellaneous things. Hint....beware of the mummies! Hope you enjoy. Now.....on to February!!!

Best Buds!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Proof of Life!

TOP TEN REASONS WHY JOANNA HASN'T POSTED ON HER BLOG SINCE FEBRUARY......

#10 - She was abducted by communist guerillas and held captive for 4 months.

#9 - She came down with a serious tropical disease.

#8 - She was swept away by the lava flow off Mt. Mayon.

#7 - She drowned in the last flood.

#6 - On her last trip to Hong Kong, she just decided to stay!

#5 - She's too busy homeschooling Carly and Caleb 24/7.

#4 - Everytime she gets on her computer, the internet goes down.

#3 - Caleb won't stop talking long enough for her to have quiet time to work on the computer.

#2 - She's joined Facebook and spends more time there than on Blogger.com.

....and the (real) #1 reason (excuse) Joanna hasn't posted on her blog since February.....

#1 - She's moved to another island!!!

Ok, so there you have it. All my excuses. (And then some.) Yes. We have moved from Legazpi City, Albay to Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. It has been a long, complicated process but we are here. All of our stuff made it over safely- even the dog, the cat and 3 kittens! (Don't ask!) Most everything is unpacked at this point, but my walls are terribly bare and need some pictures. Also, the windows in this house are ginormous and I don't even know where to begin with curtains! (Any advice is appreciated.)

We are really enjoying our new house. It is somewhat smaller than what we had before - which is ok - but still very spacious. The best thing is that it has 14 ft. ceilings, which really help keep it cooler and breezy. We have 4 bedrooms, all with their own bathroom. Carly is so excited that she has her own bathroom! One of the bedrooms we are using as our schoolroom/music room/office space. We also have a large side porch that is screaming for a ping-pong table! The yard area isn't great, but we're in a very nice subdivision where the kids can get out and ride bikes, etc.

For those of you wondering WHY we moved from Legazpi, it's not just because we were tired of typhoons, floods, volcanoes, etc. Our office asked Wade to move here and help with our publications ministry here. Basically he will help in creating and developing materials and resources to be used not only here in the Philippines, but also throughout Asia Pacific. We are excited about the new ministry opportunities. I think this job will really utilize Wade's areas of giftedness. He will still continue to be involved with the Tagalog areas of ministry, which will mean more travel! Yipee.

All in all we are excited to be here in Bacolod, but with any change comes lots of emotions. As excited as we were to come here, we were also very sad to leave Legazpi. We've been there 5 1/2 years and have made many dear friends. It was very difficult to say goodbye. The kids have done pretty good with the transition, but it's been hardest on Caleb. He did NOT want to move! We've had lots of extra TLC and I think he'll be fine. It just may take a while for Bacolod to feel like home.

My goals at this point are to finish setting up the schoolroom and get school up and running again, to get some pictures on the walls, to prepare for our guests coming next month, and to try to fill in the gaps on this blog! A lot has happened in the last few months and I've got a lot of pictures. I'll let you know as I post stuff.

A special thanks for all of you who have prayed for us during this crazy time. We have felt your prayers! Please continue to lift up Wade as he begins a new area of ministry and for me and the kids as we continue to adjust and work on our schoolwork.

A Special Birthday Gift

On the afternoon of Carly's birthday, we flew from Manila to Bacolod. As we were approaching Bacolod, the sun was setting and we observed what may be the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. Of course, we had such a unique perspective seeing as how we were in the air. Carly was sitting near the window and kept saying, "Mom. Look at this!! It's beautiful!!" I gave her the camera and told her to shoot away! I also told her that this was her birthday gift from God!

After a delayed flight, we arrived home in time for supper. We quickly made a call to Pizza Hut and invited some friends over to help us celebrate the last few hours of the 11th birthday.

Carly's 11th Birthday

Today, Carly turned 11!! I can't believe my baby girl is growing so fast!! Since we were in Manila, Carly chose to eat at TGI Fridays, one of her favs! (Not that we were complaining :)

Carly was really surprised to open a new set of colored pencils from Mrs. Jenny....especially since Mrs. Jenny had told her that those were for her daughter! As my Granny always said, "It's ok to lie on birthdays and Christmas." LOL

Caleb gave his sister a little stuffed pug...


....and a big smoochie!!



Our big gift to Carly was a drafting table. But it had to be ordered and we're not sure when it will come in. We also gave her this Nikki Gil cd. She is a Filipina recording artist who has done some work with Disney Asia.

Since half of her birthday was spent in Manila and half in Bacolod, Carly didn't get a birthday cake this year. But she did get a bowl of ice cream with a candle....

....and a loud, obnoxious rendition of the Birthday Song by the wait staff!!

Caleb wasn't impressed!

A note to my daughter.....Happy Birthday, sweet girl. It blows my mind that we've had you for 11 years now. What a joy you have been to me and your dad. You are growing into a beautiful young lady, inside and out, and we love you very much. We are praying this will be a wonderful year for you filled with many blessings!

Manila with the Bells

After a couple of days in Legazpi, we flew back to Manila with Jenny and Jerry. Since the next day was Carly's birthday, and she wanted to spend a little time in Manila, we stayed overnight. The next afternoon we told the Bells goodbye and we headed back to Bacolod while they headed to the International Airport to catch their flight back to the States.

Here are a few pictures from our afternoon at the Mall of Asia.

Our favorite spot!

Sunset on Manila Bay

We went to see KUNG FU PANDA at the Imax and introduced Jenny and Jerry to the COCA-COLA LOUNGE.

This is the Coke slogan in Tagalog. A basic translation says "Coke is the life! Open it!"

Caleb's impression of Po (the kung fu panda)

Have you hugged your Coke today??

Prince Caspian was also playing and so Caleb wanted to pose on the throne

Not sure what this face was about?