Typhoon Frank

This weekend the Typhoon Frank blew through the western visayas leaving us in Bacolod without power. It was the biggest storm that we've encountered since moving to the Philippines and although it was only a signal one storm there seemed to be quite a bit of damage around town. There was a lot of flooding leaving some of our favorite families and their homes completely under water. The Regodos family had their father in Manila and with all flights and boats suspended there is no way for him to get home to his family to help with the flooding!Thankfully some families were able to find refuge at the church! Some houses were left without roofs after they blew off in the wind while the city totally shut down. There was no transportation and with so many people without vehicles of their own it left most of the city without any way of getting food and supplies which is a problem when the majority of people only buy food enough their next meal. Many people were left without power, water and food. Billboards, signs and uprooted trees had fallen on the roads, parking lots and yards. Thankfully here at our house we suffered minimally; the garden looks pretty beat up (the poor Orchids) and we had a window blow out due to the pressure build up. Other then that and a night of little sleep we are all fine and happy the storm is out of our area.
Unfortunately Typhoon Frank has gone straight through the Philippines towards Manila picking up force and strengthening to a signal three storm. Parts of the city are completely under water. The last I heard there were more then 100 dead and 700 missing after the Typhoon caused a ferry to capsize after going dead at sea from engine failure. As of 3pm this afternoon there were only 2 survivors found alive while they were searching the coast line. They are now attempting to enter the boat to see if anyone is trapped alive in an air pocket. It makes me feel sick to my stomach to read the articles about it. There are hundreds of relatives anxiosly awaiting news of their elderly, children and families but all they can give them are descriptions of the dead they find along the coast line, I'll spare the details. Elsewhere 74 deaths have been comfirmed of flooding while others are still missing.
A 45 minute ferry ride north of Bacolod leaves you in a city named Iloilo which is now under a state of destruction after a manmade damn burst leaving at least 30,000 stranded on their roofs while at least 200,000 families in Typhoon Franks path have had to flee their homes throughout these areas.
The Typhoon is scheduled to leave the Philippines sometime this evening...
If anyone is interested in reading more i've included a couple links to some of the newer reports:
700 missing after Philippines Typhoon
Philippine Ferry Sinks... "Worst Disaster"
Hundreds Trapped And Feared Dead In Capsized Ferry; Heavy Rains, Landslides Submerge Entire Communities
Here is a picture I swiped off CBS News:

The Jeepney Ladies

So around Bacolod there are many many different displays of jeepney artwork; different colours, designs and themes. We thought that it would be interesting to show you some or the different styles of jeepneys so you can all experience the greatness of them from wherever you are in the world. Since there are so many great jeeps we'd love to share I'll have to break it up into a couple of different posts according to theme. I thought I'd start by sharing some of my favorites... the ladies!! Although I have most of them my collection is missing a few... Catherine Zeta Jones, Angelina, Julia Roberts and Shakira. My goal is to acquire a picture of each of the ladies!
P.S. For those of you who don't know what a jeepney is the best explanation I can give is the Filipino equivalent to the bus system but much more chaotic! There are literally hundreds of these aggressive drivers with no designated stops so it congests traffic with a whip lash feel. I have to admit the kids just love riding in the jeepneys!!

Kait's Pic's

I've been meaning to do this ever since Kait left at the end of April but haven't ever gotten around to it and now since the kids are back at school I have a little extra time on my hands to play around so here they are...
My favorite pictures of Kaits!!

First Day of SY 2008-2009

Well June 10th marks the day of the new school year! The kids were all ready to head to school this morning in their uniforms and backpacks. Brayden is in the Panda Bear class which is equivalent to pre-kinder level (preschool) and Sydney is in Gummi Bears which is a pre-nursery level. Brayden was a little hesitant at first to go in but once his backpack was in his cubby hole he was fine! Sydney strolled right into the classroom and started playing with the toys.
Of course we had to take the "first day of school" pictures with the kids:

Here is the token picture ready for school at the front door shot with a super cute picture that Brayden our master photographer son took!

Philippine Movie Experience

Last night Ryan and I went to "Prince Caspian" the next Disney installment to the Chronicles of Narnia. It's been a long time since I've been to a movie in North America and i'm not too sure if you can bring in outside food but here in the Philippines you can bring in anything you like to eat... from anywhere. Well ... there are a few exceptions such as rice, fried chicken and ice cream. But other then that you can pack a huge bag of good food and they'll let you in.
After collecting your goodies for the movie you go and purchase your movie ticket and head into the theatre. There is a catch however: they just play the whole reel and then rewind and play again. They don't really have a set time to enter or leave the theatre and you could probably sit there all day watching the movie over and over and no one would mind. The first movie Ryan and I went to we were a little early and headed into the theatre only to realize it was the end of the movie so we quickly had to turn around and leave and wait around for the movie to finish so we wouldn't ruin the experience.
Once you know the previous show is over and people are exiting you enter and find your seat while they rewind the reel and start it up again. You're in your chair munching on all the food that you've brought into the theatre watching the previews for "coming soon" movies and everyone around you stands up with their hands over their hearts and you're left wondering "what in the world...!?" It looks like a music video on the big screen before the movie but then we slowly start to recognize the music as the Philippine National Anthem (Lupang Hinirang) and jump up.
They've made this great video with the staff and executives from one of the News stations here in the Philippines along with many TV/Movie personalities famous here in the Philippines. It's filmed on various historical sights in the Philippines although from what i've noticed I think it's mostly generalized around Manila and doesn't include sights from Central and Southern Philippines.
Here it is:

A Night Without Kids

Ryan and I decided that it was time to get ourselves to Manila and go to the LDS temple. It's the closest one to us and is found an hour north by plane or a 20 hour boat ride. We were able to get a couple of kids from our ward to stay the night at our house with Brayden and Sydney and Ryan and I took off Thursday morning. Since we've done all our journeys with our kids I hadn't realized how wonderful and stress free everything was with out them.
Our hotel was across the street from the Manila Bay and the U.S. Embassy. We tried to take a picture but apparently that's not aloud and we got in trouble by the security guards. We were also a block away from a place named "Rizal Park" where the Philippine Hero Dr. Jose Rizal was executed in 1896 by the Filipino native infantry backed by the Spanish troops. He was charged with implication to the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish rulers and was sentenced to death which ironically the catalyst that precipitated the Revolution. Also at Rizal Park is a HUGE statue of Lapu-Lapu, a Muslim chieftain who was first national hero that resisted Spanish Colonization. We were able to take some great pictures but unfortunately most of our pictures didn't turn out! :(

The left is a picture of Dr. Jose Rizal guarded by 2 soldiers 24/7 and the right has a statue of Rizal being led to his execution but you might have a hard time seeing it through Ryan...

After our walk through Rizal Park we explored a bit until we found ourselves at the Manila Bay where we walked along the coast line. It was so disgusting! Where we started they were filling up this garbage truck with trash from the ocean and then only a little bit away were these kids swimming and washing themselves. Other then the trashy ocean it was a really beautiful walk with a breeze to help cool us down from the hot hot sun.

Ward Party

Today was the one day during the year when our ward from church all gets together and leaves their worries behind, eats good food and plays together. We drove an hour south of Bacolod to a black sand beach named Soleo Beach and rented a couple huts where some of the ladies grilled some fish and pork and fed me raw fish salad in a vinegar dressing. The kids had a blast playing with all the youth, swimming in their clothes and getting all sandy. It was the perfect day; hot, sunny, no wind and when we arrived the tide was out and the beach was waiting!!The kids were pretty tired by the ride home where they Brayden actually laid still for the hour and Sydney fell asleep on one of their favorite babysitters lap (Edgar (Nonoy) Regodos).

The Versatility of the Filipino Motorbike

We had been in Bacolod maybe an hour and everything was new, different and the sun was setting, it quickly getting dark. I was a wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. No familiar stores or restaurants to give us a little comfort and after the attack at the "then" Bacolod airport of porters, taxi drivers, and strangers stares I was starting to get a little freaked out. I was happy to be on the way to the hotel with the promise of dinner and I sat anxiously in the back of the van tightly holding onto my children. It was then Ryan saw one of the most shocking things up to that point in our lives. There driving in front of us was a motorcycle with a welded on side cart carrying a huge pig and what looked like a donkey. At that time we had no idea that 1 1/2 years later that would be nothing! Since that time we've seen pigs the size of cows, chickens, huge bamboo, furniture, 12 people at once, people driving while holding tightly to their open umbrella, and goats (just wait for the jeepney post to hear all the tasty sights when there is more space!). There is nothing that these people can't carry on a motorcycle!
We've been able to collect some pictures of a few of our favorite motorcycle passengers so far:

You can never have enough chicken!!!

Pork + Rice = Dinner

This is how we got around while Kait was here... always good for some stares!

3rd Time in Boracay

The most famous beach in the Philippines in on an island named Boracay. We've been fortunate to have already been with family on 2 occasions and really enjoyed it. Ryans aunt and uncle made the trip out to the Philippines for a week to visit us and check up on what Ryan has been doing at Focus.

After their arrival on Sunday we left Monday morning for the journey to Boracay arriving in the afternoon and easily finding a beautiful beach front cottage with 2 bedrooms, a hot shower bathroom, sitting room and great porch. It was one of the nicest accommodations i've ever stayed in and everyone had enough room.

We stayed for a couple of nights and although there have been some typhoons blowing through the Philippine area we were able to enjoy the on and off again showers by playing on the beach and in the huge waves. We spent one day on a boat snorkeling and going around the island. We enjoyed the great food the tourist savvy island had to offer while Ryan and I experienced our first Lobster as a late night snack. The first night we were able to get to a place and sit down while they brought the Lobster out of the tank, trying to wriggle out of the guys hands. It had beautiful green and blues to it, it was almost too bad they had to take it away and cook it. The second night Ryan's uncle went to the wet market and bought the Lobster himself taking us back later to show us the market. Prawns the size of your hand, tons of fresh Lobster and Crab, we even saw an Octopus. It was great.

Unfortunately we had to make our way back to Bacolod so that the boys could spend at least one night in the office working so we left early Wednesday morning starting out by taking a pumpboat and arriving back in Bacolod that afternoon.

The New House

The last week in April we moved into a new house, new subdivision and new ward. Thankfully when we moved my sister was still here and so had an extra set of hands to help us out. We also had the young men from church load and unload the truck and the young women cleaned the house so all I had to worry about was filling boxes and then finding homes for all the junk we've collected over the last 1 1/2 years. Wow, I can't believe we've been over here for 1 1/2 years already!We were able to get everything loaded and moved with only 2 trips before treating the youth to some pizza and taking them home.

With every new house we've moved to here comes fumigation! For the first couple of weeks before I would go to bed I would spray the kitchen, bathrooms and other sneaky places with death spray and wake up to find cockroaches on their backs. I was able to catch a mouse in a sticky pad while it looked up squeeking at my sister and I and fumigated dead it's babies out of the kitchen. I found a couple of ant houses and since getting rid of those have gotten rid of our ant problem. I can now happily say that our house is pest free... except for the lizards of course.
I was going to make a cake and started dumping the cake mix into a bowl to mix up. While I was pouring moving things jumped out! I freaked, screamed and dropped the bowl not knowing what to expect. There were 3 lizards in my cake mix! We assume the mice ate a hole in the box before we killed them and the lizards were using it to their advantage. Too freaky.

We now have everything unpacked, with a home and are all feeling very happy and comfortable in our new place. The house is in a very private subdivision (no one but home owners can get in) and since it's new their are a ton of empty lots with nice mowed grass. Our house is in the back corner of the subdivision with only one other house close by so we get no cars and have a lot of grass to play soccer and play frisbee in. We can let Kula out of the yard and play with us while he runs around after the ball. Brayden loves to ride his bike up and down the street trying to go faster each time. The pool is only a couple lots away although we have to pay each time we swim which really sucks!

I have some really beautiful orchids in the garden and some pineapple bushes just on the other side of the fence with banana trees. I think our only disappointment is that the subdivision is so new their aren't big lush trees like our last place. Also no coconut trees for Ryan to climb up for our Sunday evening snack.

We start attending our new ward at the end of May which we really are hesitant about. We love our ward now and we love being the youth leaders so we'll really be sad to go although our new ward is very excited to have us. We do have friends already in the ward and quite a few people from Focus also attend their so that's a bonus.
The house is also a lot closer to the kids school which will mean a lot less time in the car for me especially with them both starting up in regular class again in June!!

Mambukal Youth Camp

The interior of our island is beautiful! Filled with lush green jungle, bright green rice fields and sugar cane crops. Halfway between the East and West coast of the north tip of Negros is a great place called Mambukal. It's known as the mountain resort with great cottages, hot springs warm from the volcano, huge fruit bats and waterfalls. Every year the youth from church go up to Mambukal for a 3 day Multistake Youth Conference. We were able to bring the kids up for a couple of the days so that Ryan and I could enjoy some of the activities.

While I learned how to make a belt tying knots together Ryan hiked up to some waterfalls with our day pack and Brayden on his back and was able to take a couple pictures of the kids playing in the falls during their hike!

Bantayan

We decided that we had to do one last beach trip before my sister, Kaitlyn, left back to Canada. A close, inexpensive place was an island we've been to once before just north of Cebu Island. The trip is a little longer but no shorter then any other decent place. We started by driving an hour north along the coast line to a town named Cadiz. From there we took a boat for a 4 hour ride to Bantayan town were we headed to look for a place to spend the next couple of nights.
It's a small island lined with a white beach and resorts. We stayed 2 nights in a decent bungalow just off the beach and finished our last night in a big hut on the beach.

The weather was great, rained all night but the sun was out and shinning all day long. We toured a bit of the island on the two motorbikes that we rented for the weekend. Ryan drove one with Kait and the kids and I drove the other.
We were met on the north part of the island by a group of kids who followed us, taking the kids hands and leading them along the beach and helping them along a pier. We also met a young Canadian couple were just finishing up a 6 month tour of Southeast Asia and shared the extra company for dinner one night.

You're Gonna Miss This

Have you ever listened to a song and have it touch you!? Last night while Kait was babysitting for us Ryan and I went out for a date. After sharing a dessert after Sydney’s birthday cake we went for a quick ride around town on the motorbike. I had my earphones in listening to some music and I was touched by the words of a Trace Adkins song “You’re Gonna Miss This.”
Some days here in the Philippines I just can’t wait to get out of here, finish what we set out to do and come home… then other days I think I could stay here forever. As we were driving around last night I was watching some kids running after some bike tires chasing them down the street and laughing, watching the daddies dance with their babies to keep them from crying and watching people gather on the side of the roads to chat with their friends. Every now and then you drive through a cloud of smoke that smells of mouth watering Chicken BBQ and then the smell from the bakeries that line the street. I was looking at how green and beautiful the city can be with the tropical palm trees, mango trees and beautiful dark faces smiling up at us with shock from seeing us white folks speeding by. As I’m listening to this song and seeing these things it hit me how much this is apart of who we are now and who are kids will become and how much whenever it is that we come home, we’re really going to miss this and wish it didn’t go by so fast and some days want it back. Realizing how quickly our kids are growing, one becoming quite the handsome little man and the other a delightful handful who believes she runs the show. Thinking of all our family who is missing this and hoping that they understand why this is the right thing for us right now. The song helped me to stop and think for moment of how wonderful things are, even on those days that are especially difficult and how I need to slow down and take in those beautiful kids of mine. How quickly the beauty of the lush green tropics becomes ordinary…
I’m extremely thankful for the time that we have over here. I know that it’s an opportunity few get and I can see the great changes it has had in our lives and how much we’ve grown since we’ve been out here. Our kids are learning how unimportant it is to be different; sometimes I actually think they believe they too have brown skin and black hair. I know they are young and won’t remember a lot of it but I know that the influence of these young years is so important and I know that they are learning that will prepare them to great leaders and friends. Unjudmental of peoples differences and filled with empathy and a desire to serve. They will be able to relate to minorities in a way that many people cannot and I hope that things will benefit them in the future.

I’ve added this song “You’re Gonna Miss This” to the MP3 player on the sidebar and I invite you all to have a listen!.

How Quickly 2 Years Can Go

Sydney is now officially 2 years old, no matter where in the world you are! I can’t believe it. She is now the same age Brayden was when we first moved out here to the Philippines and she was just a chubby baby girl. Now she’s a little girl (or “Inday” as we say here) filled with attitude and personality, walking with a bounce in her step as her little ringlets bob up and down and you can see the giggle in her rich dark eyes.
We didn’t do too much for her birthday. We had mango crepes and whip cream for breakfast and cake after dinner but other then that it was an ordinary day other then the fact that Brayden kept saying “happy birthday Sydney!” Such a good big brother!! Helping her open her presents but only until it was open enough for her to finish the job, haha.
Well happy birthday Sydney!!!