Is it Really October?!

 Well, almost anyway!  As it usually does when things get busy, time has flown by since I last posted in May. It's gone so fast that when I checked the date of my last post, I felt a bit shocked. Wowsa.
   We have had so much happen since then. The kids finished their school year in Manila a week early as we went through the usual routine of purging and packing up the house. I am so glad the State Department moves us to help with some of the stress. I'm pretty laid back with the whole process now. I will say, that the moving company in Manila was as careful with our possessions as I knew they would be. In true Filipino style, they took time to wrap every item carefully before placing them in the box. I'm a little excited/anxious to see the mountain of packing paper we'll have when we finally unpack everything in Belgium. They were also amazing with an exact-o-knife and cardboard. They crafted a cardboard desk and chairs to work from as soon as they arrived in our apartment and many of our items were packaged in custom fit boxes. Dan and I were cracking up.
     Our home leave this year lasted about four weeks. As usual, we didn't get to spend as much time with everyone as we'd like, but we still felt blessed to be back in the states with family. We were all freezing to death for the first couple of weeks, especially at night. Manila's temperature never dropped below eighty (like, ever) so the chilly desert nights in Utah felt cold.
     Our favorite events in Utah were our visits with family and cousins, Logan's first EFY, Walmart (Seriously, when you haven't had one for two years, it's heaven!), driving though canyons with cousins and finding snow in June, riding in the back of Grandpa's truck, my beautiful niece's wedding, a fun trip with friends, an emergency room visit for Logan (maybe not a favorite, but definitely memorable), Fourth of July with family, and the simple feeling of being home. Dan and I have been blessed to have so much family and we love spending time with them.
   In Utah, we purchased a new van (our old one was sold in Manila) so we were able to drive it across the southern part of the United States to Washington DC. We drove through Colorado, New Mexico (past Albuquerque and Billy the Kid's grave), Texas (with a quick stop at my brother's house and the Alamo), New Orleans, Alabama (Finally!), and Savannah, Georgia before arriving in DC. I wish I had more time to talk about our visits with everyone, but we crammed so much into the trip it would take a while. I'll just say that we loved every second we were able to spend with family and friends! One of the hardest/best parts of living a "Nomad" life is number of friends we've accumulated in so many different places. It's wonderful to know so many fantastic people, but I always feel sad about not being able to give more time to everyone. I guess in a way, that's just how life and time are. Whenever we move away from friends, they still hold a place in our hearts. I think it was Maya Angelou who said something like, "You may not always remember a person's name, or what they did, but you will never forget the way they made you feel." (I may be way off on that quote, btw). From my experience, I believe that's true.

   Anyway, moving on. We arrived in DC mid-July and stayed our first night with our good friends from Manila. They left just after us and came straight to DC, so it was really fun to see them so soon. The next morning we moved into our new place in Falls Church. Our kids love our apartment complex because there are so many other foreign service kids here. They've all adjusted pretty well. I think Logan had the hardest time saying good-bye. He had some great friends in Manila. That's the hardest part of this life-style. We spent the rest of our summer visiting museums, zoos, libraries, our pool, and escaping the mid-day heat of Virginia while Dan went through various trainings. Most of the kids ran into friends they met at past posts. Finally, on September fifth, everyone started school (9th, 7th, 5th and 3rd) and I started French language training full-time with Dan.
    I wasn't really sure what to expect from language training, but I can say that I seriously underestimated how hard it would be. We have class from 8 to 3 everyday with hours of homework each night. If you can imagine trying to cram strange new words into your brain continuously while at the same time attempting to form rudimentary sentences with those same words without saying something ridiculous or even obscene (by accident of course ... hee hee) for hours on end and then waking up the next morning to do it all over again all week, that's pretty much what we do. We finished our first month (which covered enough words to fill an inch-thick book) and are starting our new section on Monday. I am planning a major review this weekend!
   The hardest adjustment has been having Dan and I both gone all day. It's new for us. It's been a month now though and things have really started to even out. The kids have stepped up. Logan gets up every morning for seminary (a religion class our church has for high school students) at six and is out the door at six-fifteen. He hasn't complained even once. I've been so proud of him. The other kids too have just been so supportive. I feel blessed.  Dan and I have the unique situation of going to and from work together (although our classes are different). We've had to divide our past duties differently. I miss being home and feeling like I have everything in complete control, but I love how letting go of some things I used to hold on tightly to has helped myself and everyone in my family grow.

I guess that's all for today! I'll be in touch again so soon. We are planning some fun autumn activities. It's our first autumn in four years, so it must be celebrated! :) Here are a few pics from our trip:

Saying good-bye to this view was not easy. Forty-six floors up!

Logan's thoughtful spot.

Our "Manila" family picture!

 While in Utah we were able to get most of my large family together one place! I love this shot. 

My shot of the eclipse here in Falls Church.

Linc looking up.

We were lucky to have visitors during the eclipse. Logan and Adam got to hang out together.

 A shot from Billy the Kid's grave

 Ellie turned nine!

Lola's happy in her new dog park. BTW, just so you know, dogs get jet-lag too, 

and it's pretty dang funny!

At the Alamo!

Man was it h-o-o-o-t-t-t-t.

Love these crazies!

 Old Town in Albuquerque.

I thought this old church was so beautiful.

My dad, enjoying watching all his kids and grandkids together.

Sisters!

We love our cousins.

 Love!

Trash Mountain

I once watched a movie called, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. It is about an English mapmaker in Whales in the 1940's who had the job of deciding whether or not a certain hill near a village was tall enough to be deemed a mountain. After taking all the proper measurments it was determined that, in fact, the hill was twenty feet shy of being a mountain. The townspeople were furious about it and in a comical turn of events they prevented the surveyor from leaving until they had piled up enough earth to make the hill a mountain. It's a really funny show, I highly recommend it if you are the type of person who can handle watching Hugh Grant for two hours! Anyway, the point of the movie was how the Englishman's perspective of the mountain and the town changed after seeing their passion and determination. He went up the hill as one man, and came down a mountain as someone else.

I climbed a mountain of my own this week (by Hughe's terms I suppose it would also have been considered only a hill) that has certainly changed how I see myself and community around me. The locals here call it Trash Mountain, a deserted dump site in the ironically named slum area Happy Land in Metro Manila. I went up with two other women and a driver, hauling jugs of water, bags of peanuts and boxes of apples and bananas up a wet, muddy mountain of trash. One of the women I was with remarked on how incredible Mother Earth is. The mountain was essentially an enormous compost pile. As I worked my way to the top I used old tires, smashed shoes and all sorts of plastic containers mixed in with the mulch to find my footing. It was as if the earth were fighting hard to take all that garbage and make the best out of it. The smell was as you might imagine it would be, and all around us were stray dogs, chickens and roosters in upside-down cages. Little children who had caught wind of our arrival approached us, some naked, to see what we were bringing and shouted, "Good Morning!" to us in English. An older woman with only a few teeth left in her mouth saw my struggle with the water jug I was carrying and took it from me, hoisting it onto her shoulder with ease as we made our way to community center (a small, crudely built hut no larger than my master bathroom).
The entire experience lasted no more than an hour. It wasn't some big thing. It was simply a few caring women bringing fruits, vitamins and water to children and mothers who wouldn't be able to afford them on there own, but it was humbling beyond belief. I was able to walk around a bit after the food had been devoured. Every house was practically a lean-to built from materials about as thick as a notebook and housing five to ten children a piece. On the top of the hill a garden was planted. The mulch made for very fertile soil, though I'm not sure how sanitary it would be.

I share this story for two reasons. First, because it changed me. I see these people and I feel an immense amount of humility for my blessing and my obligation to help, even if it is just a little. I feel an over-whelming sense that even though life does not seem fair when you compare my situation with theirs, they are still just as important in the eyes of God as I am.

I love the movie Ever After -- ask my husband, I watch it a lot -- and there is one line in that show that has come back to me this week. "With great privilege comes great responsibility." I forget sometimes when life seems hard that I am privileged. Counting blessings isn't just a nice thing to do, it is so important because it reminds us of all the things that are going right in our lives. I AM so privileged. Humbly, gratefully, sincerely, I have been very blessed in my life and because of those blessings, I want to give back.

That brings me to the second reason I am sharing this post, to share with you a link to the organization called Thrive that is working hard to establish this program here in Manila as it already has in other poverty-stricken countries in Asia. You can find easy information to donate money that will go directly into the mouths of young people who can not help themselves. I am also sharing the information for another organization near me in Alabong that has a similar program. In addition, they have an education program for older children. You can donate and sponsor a deserving child for an entire year of school for around one-hundred-and-twenty U.S. dollars.  It's amazing how far our money can go in this country to help people in need. Here are the links:

http://www.thrive-global.org

https://aligmanila.com


I don't have any pictures to share today. I didn't feel right whipping my camera out in the situation, although maybe after I've been a few times I'll grab some pictures with my phone to share.

One thing I know for sure is that I will be climbing the mountain again.

Wrapping Up Another School Year

It's been a few months and life just keeps on moving forward. I see myself staring at the back-end of another school year for my kids and wonder how time manages to fly and crawl at the same time. Dan and I have been busy attending all of the end-of-year events: strings concerts, choirs, soccer games, martial arts advancements and class parties, ect. The kids have turned in their final assignments and are excited now for the final (much more relaxed) few days of school.

I have to say, even though living so far from my home country is hard, I am so grateful to be here in Manila with the international school. My kids really love it there. It is very diverse they have friends from all over the world and from many different religions and cultures. I love how accepting everyone is of differences. I wish more of the world was that way.

At home our little puppy Lola is now seven months old. We had her spayed last week (sorry girly!) and she quickly recovered and is chewing everything she can get her paws on. She especially likes hairbrushes, head-phones and remote controls. She's pretty much potty trained now, but if she does happen to have an accident it's pretty obvious because she skulks away and avoids eye contact. Not hard to see she did something wrong. She loves the kids and treats Ellie and Owen like puppies, chewing on their shirts and wrestling with them. Whenever we get up and do something active (dance parties are a common occurrence in our house) Lola jumps in and looks her very happiest!

Rainy season is starting up now in Manila, and you would think it would cool things down, but actually it doesn't really. Instead, you can walk outside and feel like you are in a steamy sauna. Helps keep your clothes wrinkle-free, I have to give it that!

Logan's wrapping up seventh grade and his soccer and strings classes. He's grown a lot this year, which is great because he plays the double base in his strings class and that thing is huge! I was so proud of him at his last concert. It's funny how kids will be drawn to certain things. Sometimes they are all interested in what their parents interests are, but other times they want something completely different. I would never have picked the base for Logan myself, but it really suits him. He seems to love it too.

Line had some different after school activities. Soccer, art, Aikido. He's happy too, and is always sketching little creations for video games he wants to invent. He's really into coding and computers and is already begging for his own laptop. :)

Owen just went from a white belt to a yellow one in Tae Kwon Doe, and he had his own strings concert where he got to play the fast part of 'Cannon in D minor'. He practiced like crazy and was nervous to preform (with a few other kids too), but did an amazing job.

Ellie loved wall climbing, soccer and art. She came home every day looking like a hot mess (if y'all will pardon the southern phrase). I swear, I put her on the bus clean and organized, but it didn't take long for the humid air and her messiness to take over and make the transformation. I should take a picture sometime. We've made progress though. She is now coming off the bus with at least one ponytail holder still in and her shoes ON her feet. Socks are hit and miss. We're still working on that.

Dan's still plugging away at the embassy. He works so hard and is always the first one up and out the door each morning. I spend my days cleaning, taking care of Lola, cleaning, looking into master's programs, checking up on the kids work, editing pictures, and all that stuff. I'm afraid that's about it for this update. I guess I am just happy to report that we are all happy and settled and have had very little drama.
I'll take it!
We have some fun things coming up this summer, so I will be sure to post more soon. Until then, here is the barrage of pictures I am certain you all are used to by now!

Logan and some of his church friends on an over-night snake hunt. Eeek!

Some Easter Pics. I guess I really haven't posted in a  while!

 Nothing like a chocolate face!

The kids pooled all their goodies together into one "Easter Nest". 

Pretty Easter girl!

Two peas in a pod.

Our curtains make excellent forts.

The WWII American Cemetery in Manila.

I found a "Braithwaite" from Utah on this list of fallen soldiers. 

Lincoln was very sad there. He didn't like to think about that many people dying.

So grateful for these beautiful kids.

 Ellie and her new BFF.

 That's right, keep your eye on the camera!

 Lola, six months.

"Sports Day" at school!

 Spider Monkey.

Owen's Tae Kwon Doe Advancement

 No more white belt!

"All about that bass!"

Owie's violin

Kinda love this kid.

Two more peas in a pod!

Ahh, Owen.

Finally, our gorgeous view!