The first night in our new home

When we arrived at our new home, The Pink House, the owner had a surprise for us. She was having awnings put on the front windows; orange awnings. Pretty funny, but That's not all! She has more colorful plans in mind. I don't want to spoil the surprise, so you will just have to wait until the house has its makeover to see it.

We dug and dug in boxes last night and couldn't find the silverware, so ended up eating sandwiches.

Charles landed a part time job as and educational assistant in a Jr. high school in Texas.

Today, January 13th, is the day we go pink. We are thanking God that we have been able to find a house that meets our needs. We are also thankful that our crates were delivered yesterday and that we can start unpacking today. In the picture, Heidi is standing in front of our new home with our landlady.

Transition 2008-2009

Here we are at the end of 2008 with plenty of snow and ice.

Do we look ready for a trip to the tropics?

Our last few days in the US were filled with trips to see family.

My niece Lily is a bright girl.

As you can see, she is learning to read. :-)

Our trip over the Pacific went very well.

They even fed us broccoli and manna

(Manna= what is it?)

Whatever it was I was hungry by the time it arrived

and it tasted good.

After 17 hours of travel we arrived in Manila and then spent 3 hours getting our paperwork processed and waiting for a stray guitar that missed the plane in Taipei. After a good sleep, we headed to the grocery store. As you can see, we don't feel lonely here with plenty of people to rub shoulders with.
After shopping we went out for dinner. The kids were excited to get back to a good rice and fish meal with a shaved ice dessert.
Just a few days ago I had more ice than I wanted and now I am paying for it!! Something is wrong with the supply and demand system. I guess the snow in the US doesn't come with purple ice cream, beans and coconut.

We are all enjoying the heat, blue skies, and sunshine.

Have a Happy New Year!

Serve the Lord with gladness.

Huckleberries

One of the first pictures I took upon arriving in the United States was of a huckleberry. So, it seems fitting that one of my last pictures before leaving for the Philippines should be of a huckleberry. It looks like James is starting to think about green things. The kids missed their last three days of school due to snow, but we finally convinced a janitor to let the kids turn in their school books and get their projects out of the school.

Hibler Hill

Heidi's Uncle Harry and Aunt Kay have built an amazing log house and we were invited to Christmas dinner. We drove to the Kitsap peninsula and then hiked for 20 minuted through the beautiful snowy woods to reach their home.

The Christmas tree is amazing and gets lots of attention from the kids because Aunt Kay has a pickle ornament that she hides on the tree. The lucky finder gets the "pickle gift." After a long search, James was the winner. Thomas was enjoying having a look through the library.
Dinners at Hibler hill often come with a theme. This year the theme was "Northwest" so we enjoyed salmon, clams, mushrooms, and apple cider. Everything was delicious!

This is the famous family around the table shot.

Snow

Someone wrote and asked if we have any snow.

The answer is yes.

And we are enjoying it.

It is a real treat for us.

The kids were hoping that they would have a chance to play in snow

before heading back to the Philippines.

This is a video of my run on the sled.

Thanksgiving, time for another road trip. You can see from the picture that we love getting out on the open road.

This time we headed south to Boise, Idaho. The round trip took 1.200+ miles, but the good time we had with family in Idaho and with our friends in Union, Oregon made it all worth while.

While in Idaho, the kids enjoyed riding the 4-wheeler, playing with Cousin Eva,
and archery lessons from Cousin Daryl,

We are thankful that we have had good health and safe travels.
We are thankful for so many wonderful friends and family members.