A Thing 1 & Thing 2 Birthday Party

Well, on October 27th...We celebrated Leif and Slater's 1st Birthday. It was just a small party. Our helper, a guy who was building some stuff for us at the time and us...but we had a good time. I had brought some stuff from the USA to do a Dr. Suess themed party...cuz I didn't think I would have time to get stuff together once I got here...and I was right.
Asia all ready to party!!!

Me with the kiddos.

Our precious birthday boys!

Leif dug into the cake with his hands...but Slater...didn't want to get his hands dirty...He just picked up his plate. Silly boys.

Slater

Leif

Asia chowing down.

I finally took the plates away...and Slater got messy. They loved it.

Our Little Princess

Asia at the Bucks...with her Starbucks Milk

Cheers!

Going on a Date with Daddy!

The Two Cheeseballs

Asia dressed up for Halloween!

65% Chance of Rain

The forecast said 65% chance of rain. That 65% turned into the worst flooding in Manila in four decades.For the last two days we have been evacuating missionaries and NTM workers stranded by the flooding, and trying to clean up what's left of their homes.

Two of the women who work for NTM were trappeed on top of their houses, and watched as their neighborhoods were devastated by the two-story deep water. One of the ladies had about 100 of her neighbors with her on the roof.

A group of NTM missionaries tried all night with a 4-wheel drive and inflatable boat to rescue one of the women stuck with her children. They finally got to her and she and the children are ok.
This was right in front of where we are staying. The water was only up to the nozzles, so we had a lot less flooding than other areas. Thankfully the NTM Guest House is on high ground and was mostly undamaged.

That's our bank. It gives a new meaning to liquidity of assets.

Displaced people from one of the hardest-hit areas. Right next to them is an elementary school that has been turned into a refugee camp. Over 246 people have died and about 320,000 are in shelters. About 2 million people had their homes flooded.

Trash everywhere.

The trash is all through the electric wires, showing just how high the water was.

Some of the Faith Academy dorm kids who volunteered to help.

Many cars were entirely submerged. In one of the houses we helped clean today, the walls were covered with oil eight feet high, and there was several inches of mud on the floor.

Please pray for the many missionaries who have been affected by this flood. Pray also for the millions of Filipinos who have lost so much. It will take a long time to rebuild.

Jollibee

I have not blogged in a really, really long time. So, if you want to catch up with what we've been doing...keep scrolling down because there are a whole bunch of new posts.
We had a fantastic cultural excursion last night... We were invited to a little girl's birthday party. It was held at the Filipino version of McDonald's called Jollibee. Asia had an amazing time. She was sooo excited when she got home...she had a really, really hard time falling asleep. She was talking about it first thing this morning too. I hope she realizes that most birthday parties are NOT like that.
Eating her Jollibee meal...spaghetti, rice, gravy, corn, fried chicken, brownies, ice cream sundae...coke to drink...just kidding...she did NOT drink it.

Some of the kids with the Jollibee.

Asia really loved him.

The boys even got in this shot.

She just couldn't get enough of him.

Asia with Sheila(pronounced Shayla)...the birthday girl.

A Couple of Fun Ones

I didn't exactly know where to fit these in...so here they are.
Asia listening to Grammy's ipod.

The boys learning how to climb up the slide.

More Excursions

As you can see we've been busy since arriving in Manila. We've had a lot of fun. Asia was able to come on several of our excursions for school. She really enjoyed that.
Delicious Lechon.

Taste testing the Lechon.

@ the University of the Philippines...they have grass.

@ the Post Office. Learning how to mail letters here in the Philippines.

Cultural Excursions

Before we begin language study, we get to do some cultural excursions around Manila to see various things.
Me with Leilani and Wendel waiting for the Ferry ride on the Pasig.

Leilani and I @ Fort Santiago.

Cheers...getting some water cuz it was really, really, hot and humid.

Us at the National Museum.

One of my favorite things I've seen so far. Pinoy Egg Burger.

Things you can get to eat at Pinoy Egg Burger. Deep Fried One Day Old Chicks. And Battered and Deep Fried Boiled Eggs.

Asia and Daddy at the meat market.

Yummy. This is where we got our meat to make adobo.

Asia enjoying some local fruit.

Getting ready to eat our adobo.

Yummy!