I love spending time with my family

This past week hasn't been too eventful, which I am actually really thankful for. Last week was spring break for Faith Academy, which means two things. One, I haven't had soccer for 13 days and two, with so many people in our condo building connected to Faith it has been fairly quiet around the condos. That has left Daniel and I plenty of time to hang out with JoAnn and to watch basketball. (Okay, Daniel really is the one watching most of the basketball, but I have been paying attention to the scores since I filled out a couple brackets this year.) It also has left me plenty of time to go to Starbucks. I am not really a big coffee drinker, but I love to go, sit and talk. Plus when my favorite drink only costs about $3 for the largest size, it makes for a pretty cheap time out. I think I ended up going 4 times in 5 days. Anyway, this is my couch potatoe Daniel watching some basketball. Apparently waking up early to watch the NCAA tournament every morning wasn't enough basketball for him this weekend, so he caught quite a few NBA and PBA games on TV too.

This picture is from lunch today. She was eating and all of the sudden looked at me and put her arms in the air like this. I couldn't figure out what she was doing or why until all of the sudden it hit me that I had music playing and the song "Your Love is Strong" came on. I think Daniel must flex when he dances to this song with her. I'm not really sure, but she kept doing it whenever the song said "strong". It was pretty cute.


Okay, this story is a little longer. I just think this is a funny picture to have taken in the Philippines, as if it ever gets cold enough here to wrap up in a blanket. Really, I decided to take my almost two weeks off from soccer and try to potty train Jo. I know it seems really early, but she goes crazy every time I try to change her diaper and I got tired of her screaming no matter what I did. (And tired of paying for the diapers that I was forcing her to wear). So, I let her run around the house without a diaper and encouraged her to use the potty instead. Really, I didn't expect her to catch on too quick since she is still pretty young, but she actually does pretty well now. I definitely would not say that she is potty trained by any means, but she knows what to do. It's more of a question of wether she is willing to do it. Anyway, back to the picture. Since she figured out that she can run around without a diaper if she goes to the potty, she loves to not just go around without a diaper, but without any clothes. I really wouldn't care except our entire back wall in our appartment is made completely of windows and at night anyone can look in and that just sort of seems creepy to me to have anyone be able to see my daughter running around naked. So the other night she absolutely refused to put any clothes on, but would watch her cartoon with the blanket wrapped around her. Go figure.

Dancing Queen

Sometimes it's funny what kids pick up on. When we moved into our apartment it came furnished and the couch that we got with this place was probably the most uncomfortable couch I have ever sat on. So at some point we ended up starting this thing where at night when we wanted to watch TV we would bring a spare mattress in and lay it on the floor. We recently bought a new couch, but have continued to lay on the mattress at night. Probably more out of habit than anything else. Now the first thing JoAnn does when she sees one of us grab the mattress is run to our bedroom and bring a pillow off our bed to the mattress. Then she usually lays down on the pillow before anyone else has a chance to. It is so cute to see her coming around the corner with a pillow that is larger than she is in one hand and her bottle in the other. This picture is from a couple nights ago after she got the pillow for us.


Notice the crutches is the background of the picture? What happened? I tried to run. Evidently that wasn't such a good idea. With soccer season in full swing, I have been trying to get out on the field and do some of the stuff with the girls and it usually takes about one long sprint before I feel like I am about to fall over. So I decided to try to run before practices in order to try to get in better shape. Like maybe I could do two sprints instead of one. Anyway, I got to the end of the first mile I was trying to run and I realized two things. One, my lungs felt really good as if I could run forever. Then the second thing hit me...I could barely move my leg without extreme pain. Somewhere along the way I had pulled a ligament in my hip. So now I have been stuck with those crutches for the last week. The crutches themselves aren't really that bad. A week or two doesn't seem so awful after the 6 weeks I spent on them in college after I broke my leg. It's the part where I can't pick JoAnn up and walk with her that makes things a little difficult. Luckily, I have a great husband that has been so wonderful in helping me do so much. Seriously, sometimes I think he has more patience than any person I have ever met.

On a different note this video is one of my favorite videos of JoAnn. She has been really into dancing lately and has come up with a new move that Daniel has referred to as the "rooster dance." I think it is pretty cute.

Talking up a storm

Lately JoAnn has been talking a ton and picking up new words just about everyday. Since we live so far away from family, every few days I try to go through pictures of everyone and have her point out different people. So far the only ones she has consistently been able to point out every time are my parents and Daniel's parents and recently she has been repeating me when I say "Grandma" and "Grandpa" and "Lola" (tagalog for grandma). I have been meaning to get a video of it for a while now, but soccer started and I have been coaching for the last couple weeks so my to do list is getting a little long. Anyway, I finally got it on video this morning so here it is...




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In addition here are a few pictures from the last couple weeks...

I am not sure why she did this, but she was playing in her room the other day and came out with this on her head. It is a piece of the giant puzzle floor mat we have in her room.


This is from last week when we went out to eat with Mylene, her daughter Yannah, and her mother Tita. Mylene was one of the first Filipina women I met. She worked for us for a couple years and unfortunately now that she doesn't work for us, I don't see her as much as I would like. So in an attempt to spend some more time together we took them out to eat the other night. We went to a Chinese restaurant and when we asked them if they like Chinese food, they all said they had never tried it before. I don't know why, but that seemed really strange to me. Maybe it is because there are so many "Filipino" foods that I would actually consider Chinese. Anyway, they loved it and we had a good time catching up with them.

Cartoons and Dancing

While we were in the US, Daniel's nieces introduced JoAnn and me to their favorite cartoon..."The Backyardigans." For those of you without children or who have never seen it, it has quickly become one of my all time favorite cartoons. It has five characters that play in their backyards and have all kinds of "adventures" and JoAnn's favorite part is they sing all the time. It is just a really cute cartoon that is well done. So, when we got back to the Philippines and I found out that it isn't on Nick Jr. here (or maybe I just can't figure out when it is on), I went to a store and grabbed a couple VCD's with a few episodes. They have quickly become a favorite in our house. A favorite for JoAnn because she loves all the bright colors and catchy songs they sing. A favorite for Daniel and I because they actually hold her attention for a short while. They have helped me get her to settle down enough to be able to change her diaper (which had been becoming a huge battle lately) and drink her milk in the mornings and at night when before all she wanted to do was play. So, last night I popped a VCD in while I was trying to get her ready for bed since Daniel was at bible study and I got a short video of her dancing to the song. I thought I would share it with you because at one point she did a move that just made me laugh so hard. While we were in the US JoAnn would sit and watch her Aunt Katy do "Turbo Jam" and she must have picked up a few of the moves from it. If you don't know what I am talking about sorry, but it is still a cute video of her dancing.

2nd Anniversary and Swimming

So I can't believe it but today we celebrated the 2nd anniversary at the Arthur Center. Our church finally has an official name and is registered as Christ Believer's Fellowship. To celebrate we had church outside in order to hold the larger crowd and had lunch and games following the service. It was wonderful to see not just some people who had come for the first time but to see how the core people in the church had stepped up to help with crowd control, making food and serving the food. I would be lying if I didn't say it still seemed like a huge chaotic crowd to me, but I am starting to get used to larger crowds being fairly unorganized by now. It seems like anytime we have a large gathering there are always kids and people all over the place and at first you would think no one is listening to the message until you see most of the crowd turning to read whatever passage the pastor is reading. I guess the chaos is just normal to them and not quite distracting like it is to me.

In other news, I have taken JoAnn swimming a few times this past week since the sun was shining and making the temperatures start to rise. I was a little shocked to see that she had gotten so much taller since we left that she could touch in the shallow end of the kiddie pool. Officially she has grown to 34 inches and 21 pounds since we last saw the doctor in November. I guess she is slowing down...growing only 1 inch in 3 months compared to 3 inches in about 4 months. Here is a picture of her standing in the pool. She was a little scared that she was away from the handrail, so she would not let go of my hand, but I promise she is standing all on her own.

I have to say sometimes I feel a little spoiled when I think about the fact that I live in a place where I can any day of the year walk out my back door and have two swimming pools lined with beautiful palm trees and other tropical plants. This isn't the best picture of the trees and plants but I think JoAnn looks so cute in her swimsuit and hat and you can definitely tell the sun is shining.

Our time in the US Part 2...finally

So I have actually been putting this off since I would have so much time to recount, but I just can't get myself to do another post without going over the rest of our time in the US. So, here it goes...

December 26-January 5
We left bright and early the day after Christmas and flew down to Florida. JoAnn and I were going to spend a few days with my parents and my sister and then meet up with Daniel and some of his family at the condo in Boca Grande (which has quickly become one of my favorite places in the States). We were all looking forward to the warmer weather and I was looking forward to seeing my sister and her son, Tyus, for the first time in a year. I wasn't sure how Ty would handle "Baby Joie" since she has gotten big enough to be able to steal his toys, but he did great and we had a great couple days in Tampa with them. Then it was off to the condos, where Daniel enjoyed playing golf with his dad and JoAnn and I took advantage of the pool/beach with Daniel's mom, sisters and soon to be brother-in-law. It was amazing how as soon as we hit the warmer weather all three of us seemed to instantly feel more relaxed. I guess the warmer weather really does make us feel a little more at home now. One more little side note...the new Indianapolis airport has a section when you are going through security that I have decided should be mandatory in every airport in the world. As you get up to the entrance to the line if you have kids, they motion you over to the side where a couple tables, a security guy and a cart are waiting for you. You then have all the time you need to take off shoes, take out bottles, laptops and fold up the stroller. They put it on a cart and go to the nearest metal detector and motion you to go through as they are the ones to put everything through the machine for you. It really was absolutely wonderful and to top it all off, we were traveling with Kristen's fiance and we got through security at least 20 minutes before he did. Okay, so I guess you can't really appreciate it until you have to travel with children, but seriously it was a huge help. So here are a few pictures from our time in FL...

JoAnn and Tyus. Trying to get both of them to look at the camera at the same time was pretty much impossible.

My parents with both of their grandkids.

JoAnn loved going out on the boat in Boca Grande.


JoAnn loved the pool, but the mid to high 70's temperature wasn't quite as warm as the 80+ weather we are used to in the Philippines, so she got a little cold. Actually, really cold. She couldn't stop shaking for about 15 minutes even wrapped up like a burrito and sitting in the sun.


It got a little cold at night too when we would take the golf cart to dinner. So, Daniel was kind enough to share his sweatshirt with JoAnn.




January 5-23
After our time in Florida and the warm weather seemed like it went by way too fast, we flew back to Indiana and experienced some of the coldest weather we have ever experienced. Alright, maybe not ever, but it sure has been many years at least. I can remember a few days where it got well below zero and the windchill was hovering around -30. Those were the days that you had to force me out of the house and it made me all the more anxious to get back to Manila. Despite the weather, this was a fun part of the trip home. Since the holidays were over, it wasn't quite as busy but we were still able to spend some quality time with both of Daniel's sisters, his brothers that live in Indy and his mom was back from Florida for a few days also. I can't remember when, but sometime after we got back to Indiana Daniel was offered a consulting job for a couple weeks. So for about three weeks, we got to see what it was like having Daniel have a 9 to 5 type job. At one point, I remember asking Daniel if it made him miss working in the US or anxious to get back to the Philippines and we both agreed, it made us even more thankful for the job God has given us in the Philippines. One of my favorite things about being a missionary is the fact that family is expected to come first and our schedules are much more flexible. We were also able to see our friends Matt and Britt and their new baby Addison. We had seen them right before Christmas when Britt was pregnant and I was seriously bummed that we were not able to actually see the baby, so when we found out they were going to be back in Indiana for a few days while we were home I was extremely excited.

January 23-26
We had originally planned on returning to Manila in the beginning of January, so I had thought I wouldn't get another chance to go back to Ohio. As it turned out we hadn't really gotten any answers to what was going on with the crazy rash I had and definitely had no answers on how to treat it long term, so we stayed for an extra month, which gave me the chance to go back to Ohio for another weekend at my parents. Daniel stayed in Indiana since he was still working at the time, but it was a great trip for JoAnn and I. We were able to spend a few extra days with my parents and I was able to see a few people I had missed before Christmas. I even was able to stop and see one of our college friends on the drive from Indianapolis to Columbus. They have a cute daughter that had just turned two, so JoAnn had fun playing with her while I was able to catch up with Tanya. On Saturday I was also able to go to a birthday party for the son of a girl I grew up with. Actually, I sort of grew up with her husband too, but only in the sense that I bought all of my soccer gear from him growing up. Anyway here are a couple pictures of the kids...(of course they aren't really my pictures, but ones I stole off of facebook since I forgot to take pictures myself.)

This is JoAnn and Izzy.

And JoAnn playing with Tanner's new toys at his birthday party.


January 26-February 5
Now for the last couple weeks in the US. There really wasn't much happening other than running around getting last minute things that I wanted to bring back and packing. I used to wait until the day before we left to pack anything. I hated packing in parts and forgetting where I put stuff. Plus, I have to admitt that I can pack a suitcase completely to the brim and still manage to get it under weight almost ever time, so it never really stresses me out. Well, as JoAnn gets older, there is way more to pack and this year they cut our weight limit on the bags, so it was going to be a much harder job than before. By the time February 4 (the day before we left) came around I had three and a half bags packed...I was so proud of myself. Anyway this was a chance to spend some more time with family and friends and say goodbye until June, which is the next time we will be coming back since Daniel's sister is getting married. The goodbyes were as hard as ever even though we will be seeing them much sooner than normal. The best part of the goodbyes though, was Daniel's dad who we hadn't seen since we left Florida surprised us by flying in the day before we left so we could say goodbye in person. Then we flew out on the 5th and was given the chance to take advantage of that wonderful special place for families as we went through the security in Indianapolis.

Finding our Routine Again

So today marks 1 week and 2 days after we landed back here in Manila. I would say it has taken me about 1 week and 1 day to finally feel like I am back to normal. This is the first time that jet lag has taken a pretty good toll on me. I am usually over it in at least three days, but this time I didn't have the luxury of doing things my way and had to go along with JoAnn's schedule. That meant a few more days of 8 PM bed times and waking up the next morning around 4:30 or 5 AM. This whole 13 hour difference makes things a little interesting for a while. Once that was not as much of an issue, the next thing was trying to get our house back to normal after being gone for over 2 months. I have to say though, it's good to be back. I love being with friends and family in the US, but it is times when I come across passages like 1 John 3:16-18, that I am reminded of why I love what we do. It says,

"We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."

Not that it couldn't be done in the US, but there is a definite need that God has put before us here. Which brings me to the whole point of this post...Thank you for all of you who help us provide for the needs of those around us. I know Valentines Day was yesterday, but the day that celebrates love reminded me of all those who help us show God's love to those in need in the Philippines and I just had to say thank you.