Happy 9th Birthday, Caleb!!

Today my baby boy turned 9 years old!! The last single-digit birthday. No big plans this year. Just a quiet day together as a family, celebrating the life of our special boy.

We had Caleb's favorite for breakfast - corned beef, garlic rice and eggs. After breakfast, he opened his gifts and a REALLY BIG card!

The card says, "Know what's between the top of your head and the bottom of your feet?..........Everything I love!!"

Inside the card was a little surprise!

(The kind of surprise you can spend however you want!)

New Hot Wheels

One thing VERY UNUSUAL happened on this day. As we were opening gifts, the mailman delivered a birthday card from our former church in Texas. How cool that it arrived right on his birthday??!! That never happens with airmail!

After lunch, Caleb had the choice of going to see a movie or bowling. Bowling it was!!

My sweet boy that's growing way too fast!!

That "little surprise" that was in his birthday card happened to be burning a hole in his pocket! So while we were eating at the mall, Caleb went over to the store - by himself - to buy a new Gameboy game.

Later that night, we decorated (Hot Wheels) and had cake!!

Number Nine!!

Happy birthday, bud. You're growing up so fast. We are so proud of the young man you are becoming. We can't imagine our lives without you! Thank you for always making us laugh and always being ready for a hug or a snuggle. We pray this year of being 9 is very special for you and that God will work in your life in an amazing way.

We love you very much,

Dad, Mom & Carly

A Party in Heaven Today!

I got a text from my mom early this morning that her Aunt Lurlyne had passed away. She was my Grannie's oldest sister and one incredible lady!

I am so thankful that we were able to see Aunt Lurlyne last July. In fact, we were able to visit with her on her 100th birthday!! Yes, she was 100 years old!!

These are a few pictures of our visit with her on her birthday, and as you can see, she DID NOT look like she was 100 years old!! She was a beautiful lady - both inside and out.

Mom was showing her Carly's card that she made

Aunt Lurlyne, congratulations on your home going. All day I have been trying to imagine how you have spent your first day in heaven! Please hug Grannie for me and tell her I miss her. We will see you both soon!!

Status Report

Well, we've been back home in Bacolod City now for almost a month. And wow, what a month it has been! We had about a week at home full of unpacking, settling back in, getting the car in running order again, seeing all the folks we'd missed, etc. Then on February 6th, the four of us flew back to Manila to meet a team of ladies from the States. These ladies were coming here for the Asia-Pacific Women's Conference. After a couple of days in Manila, we headed south for about 3 hours to the retreat center. We had an INCREDIBLE week together. I will post more info and pictures soon!

After the conference, we traveled back to Manila and then several of the team members were able to fly to Bacolod with us for several days. What a fun time we had showing them around our island, our city, our home and our church! Then I flew back to Manila with the team and they headed home early the next morning. I stayed an extra day in Manila in order to meet up with an old friend for lunch and a movie. A very special blessing to visit with her again after several years.

Meanwhile, I've been fighting some sort of infection/virus with a nasty cough! Once I got back from Manila, I spent a couple of days flat on my back in bed. Mostly I just needed some rest. It was the first real break I'd had since Christmas!!

I'm feeling better now, but still coughing some. Our big event this week was starting back to school. We haven't done any school since right before Christmas, so getting back into the swing of things has been quite a challenge! However, it feels so nice to almost be in a regular routine again!

In the midst of all this chaos, I got a new car! It's a huge blessing to be a two-car family again!! I'll post pics soon.

Now that we're home and getting back into a normal routine, I'm hoping to little by little post all the pictures from our furlough. We were in the States almost 8 months, so there are tons of pictures!!

I just posted all our pictures from last June. Just go to the archive link on the right and click on June 2009. I would love to hear your comments!