Encouraging Words

People in just the past year have given me encouraging words. This month someone said that I had good accent. He had asked me what I knew in Ilokano and said that. What he said really encouraged me to keep on learning Ilokano and plus it is fun to learn a new language.

Also last year, Peter Helms did this: He was going to speak that night, but before he began he asked me to stand. He asked my name as he had not met me before. He continued to tell me, “I saw you at lunch today looking at a baby. I could only see your face, I saw light all around you, it was Jesus and His angels ministering to this little one through you. This is what He will do continually. You will lift up the downtrodden. You will look into their faces and see the Lord Jesus and as you see the Lord on them, the people will see the Lord. You will minister life, hope and faith to them.

The gift of creativity is big on you. Areas of dance and music are part of God's expression in your life. Flow with that because people around you will meet Jesus and His healing through your expression. The Spirit of the Lord is upon you. I see a great joy and light of God upon you."

I thank God for the blessing He has given me of encouraging words.

Alexie

We were tagged!

We have been tagged. So here it is:

Here are the rules:1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you. 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. Write eight random things about yourself. 4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. 5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.
I was tagged by apulseandapurpose.blogspot.com/ .

Annalise

1. I got shot in the head with an arrow.

2. Carrots are my favorite veggie.

3. I have flown half way around the world 3 times before I turned 6.

4. My favorite subject in school is handwriting.

5. I like to sweep the floors.

6. My favorite number is six.

7. When I grow up, I want to own a cat and a chick.

8. My favorite books are fairy tale books.

Alayna

1. I fell off a bridge headfirst fully dressed into a creek.
2. I have the same middle name as my mom.
   
3. My favorite book is ''Clementine''.
4. I wish I could have more freckles.
5. My favorite puncuation is !!!
   
6. I read the whole Bible before I was 9!!!!!!!!!!!!
7. I was in a parade before I could walk.
8. I have a doll that I always sleep with named Sugarplum.

Alexie

1. I really like books about Egypt.
2. I want to take a DTS with Jordan, my cousin and best friend, before I begin college.
3. I love to be with young children.
4. I always wanted to have brown skin and black hair.
5. I want to be a nurse.
6. Some day I want to write a song album.
7. Some day I want to be fluent in a different language.

8. I love cheese.

Adriana

1. I hate morning doves because they make me think of proud old ladies.
2. I want to become an author.
3. My favorite book is The Horse and His Boy.
4. I collect almost everything: rocks, coins, Indian beads, etc.
5. I love trying new foods.
6. I used to have an imaginary friend called Sashi Dotie
   
7. I want to go to Kenya, South Korea, and the Amazon Rainforest.
8. I have been on TV and in the newspaper.

Now we want to tag

• Glenice, finggayan.blogspot.com
  
• Dad and Mom, garden-of-grace.blogspot.com
  
• Emily,Lauren, Amy, lifefor5kids.blogspot.com
  
• Miss Valerie, valerieterpstra.blogspot.com
• Mikayla , sjhagen.blogspot.com
  

My 2 Little Special Friends in the Philippines

One of my friends is Jenny. She is 4 going on 5. I first meet her when she was 3. She lives in Naic at the Valley Cathedral. I had a lot of fun tutoring her and carrying her and carrying her. I was kind of surprised that people would tutor a 3 year old. She was good at shapes. Even though I was only with her 3 weeks and 2 days, we are friends. I love her.
The other one is Teah. Teah is 2 going on 3. She lives in Baguio, but since her grandparents are Ate Rufina and Cuya Patrick, she comes to Bontoc to visit. I have enjoyed holding her. Even though she has only visited twice, we are good friends. I love her.

On Top of the Jeepney, On Top of the World

Yesterday we got to go to the Mainit hot springs again. It was fun and we didn't get sunburned as much as last time. The big pool was full. The highlight of the trip for me, however, was on the way back. I got to ride on top of the jeepney with Daddy! I had always wanted to but last year Dad said no. I didn't actually think I could do it because of my fear of heights but I did it!

It has the best view and is the most uncomfortable place to sit. Daddy told me I was to sit in the "cage". But the bars dug into my bottom. I learned that if you take off one flip-flop and put it under your bottom it makes a more comfortable seat.

There was nothing but sky and trees overhead. I could feel the wind in my hair. It was a little chilly, but who cares? It felt like I was on the top of the world.

We passed a few caribous and cows. We saw a mountain that looked like a perfectly symmetrical volcano. Later in our trip, we saw the swimming pool in Bontoc (from above) that we had heard of. The best part was when I was able to see our house from high up on the mountain. It's so nice to be able to point from somewhere and say "That's my home."

We had two encounters with other people: one good and one bad. The first one was bad. As we were going past, an unseen somebody threw mud at us . The second one was good. As we passed another jeepney, they seemed to be talking about us. When we asked one of our fellow passengers what they said, he said they were calling me a doll. We get so many compliments here.

Love,

Adriana

Ube, Snails, and Puppies

In Baguio, I got to try ube. Ube is basically a big purple sweet potato. I liked it. I peeled the skin off and put peanut butter on some of it. It was very good. There is even ube ice cream.

Ging-Ging, Lyka, and I went on a snail hunt. We caught about 30 snails. Some of them were very small. We made a Special Snail Playground for them. We used moss, rocks, mud, sticks and leaves to line a cardboard box. The snails looked as happy as snails can get.

Ging-Ging has a puppy. It is a brown male. It is a Labrador - Dalmatian mix, it was going to be Lab-Lab but the neighbor’s Dalmatian got out. She asked me “What would you name my puppy?” I said “Mud Puddle or Puddles for short.” She named her puppy like I suggested!!!! I am so happy. We got to play with Puddles and his unnamed siblings. Puddles is a very good puppy. He has blue eyes.

Annalise got her picture in the newspaper! Our landlady gave us a copy. In the picture, Annalise is playing with a young Filipino girl at the Am-Among festival.

Love,
Adriana

Food

Everything in this post has something to do with food. So pay very close attention!

After having church with a pastor friend of ours (Daddy preached about salvation), we went to Jollibee’s for lunch. I began comparing Jollibee’s to McDonalds. Of course, I was slightly biased since my grandma, who I love so much, works at McDonalds. Jollibee’s has better fries, more meal choices, and it delivers. However, its hamburger tastes like meatloaf. (I caught a bit of a carrot in mine.) It uses a different sauce, which tastes like salad dressing, and cheese than I am used to. I predict though, Jollibee’s will give McDonalds a run for our money. I hope, though, that McDonalds will win.

Later we each got a doughnut from Mister Doughnut which is really popular in the Philippines. Yummy! Thank you, Mom and Dad!

Then for dinner I even got to have pizza! We had Hawaiian and four cheese pizza.

I suppose I had better start exercising...

Good bye, pumpkin pie,
Adriana

Jenny

I love Valley Cathedral. The facilities are nice and the people are great. I had fun with everyone but Jenny was my special friend. I loved being with Jenny. Jenny was the 3 year old that I held, last year. She will turn 5 this year. I read to her as I did to some others there. I held her. She and I were almost always together. She called me, “Mama” before I left and she did not want to be put down. I really want to go again. I love the children there.

Alexie

Manila and Naic

Ok, I know you haven’t heard from us for awhile, but no worries! We’ve been too busy having fun to write. Well, ok, having to wait for our documents that we needed for our visas to be shipped back from the United States AGAIN just because FedEx didn’t tell us they would only hold them for three days was not fun. And having to wait one and a half hours because the bus broke down on the way to Baguio was not fun either, but the rest of it was basically fun.
In Baguio, we got to try clams. At first, I had a silly thought that they might have been served just to see those white Americans have to try it. I did try them and liked them. They had a rubbery texture and a salty-shrimp taste. My sisters, well, lets just say they didn’t like them very much.

Then we went to Manila. We also visited Valley Cathedral Children’s Home where we had spent three weeks last year. We were so glad to see the old faces and some new ones too. Some weren’t there anymore. Natalie and Leon you were asked about. Traptows, almost everyone was asking about you guys. Jenny is no longer the baby, three year-old Annie is the new cutie. Annie also has two brothers, nine year old Alex and one year old Alan. Novie has glasses. Emun has returned to his parents. There is a new boy Tom-Tom who suffered child abuse. They have a new playground with two slides and lots of swings. I loved almost every minute of it. The almost is that I didn’t know that the water in the blue purified water tank was only tap water. I drank three glasses of it. I found out that Filipino tap water does not always agree with American stomachs.

We also went to Kakabay because Dad wanted to see Robuan the man he had baptized last year. We had to walk through the garbage dump, but I could tell Dad really enjoyed the time with his friend.

When we returned from Naic to Manila, I had an accident. I didn’t notice Miss Penny’s really hot iron until I touched it and so I got a second degree burn on my wrist. Miss Penny was really sorry but it really was my fault. After Daddy prayed for it, it stopped hurting.

We went to the Mall of Asia, the BIGGEST mall in the WORLD. I was surprised. It was big, but it wasn’t crowded. I spread my arms apart and spun in a circle and I didn’t touch anyone. We got to see the skating rink. It was very expensive there.

See you later, alligator,
Adriana

Matalec's Fruit Store

If you go into the market where the vegetables are then go out the other side, then you will be at Matalec’s Fruit Store. This small store is owned by Mrs Meriam K. Buane.

At Matalec’s Fruit Store there are many different kinds of fruit including oranges, apples, pomelo, coconut, pineapple, and santol. There are also bananas including dippig [cooking bananas], latondan , amorosa, and native lacatan bananas.

Their fruit comes from the Quirino province, Philippines which is an eight hour drive away from Bontoc.

From,
Alayna

The Pest

The Pest

She’s the pest,
We all detest.
Flying in at night,
She finds us to her delight.
She pierces the skin,
And soon digs in.
But she doesn’t just take, for that isn’t her way,
She leaves a little gift; you’ll find it the next day
A reddish bump,
An itchy lump
She dances away when you spy her
That mischievous little vampire
At night she’ll come near
And whine in your ear
Oh, how we hate you!
You, naughty mosquito!

By Adriana

Anyone Else Want an Interview?

Ok, more people knew us than we thought. Word about the family of six white people gets around when teenagers have to interview a foreigner for school. It was pretty amazing. We met several people because of their school assignment. It was great opportunity to witness. Here are some of the questions and my answers: Why did you come to the Philippines? God called us to serve the people of the Philippines. What are some natural beauty spots around your place? Lake Michigan and other lakes as well as the forests. What are your favorite Filipino foods? Fried chicken and sticky rice. What are some differences between the Philippines and your place? There are no mountains in our place. We have four seasons, the Philippines only has two. We have more extreme temperatures in our place, -10F to 99F. We have corn fields, not rice terraces. There are no caribou, geckos, palm trees, papaya trees, jeepneys or trikes in our place.

Happy Fairy Birthday!

Fairy Annalise
Today, Annalise turned 6. She finally got her fairy wings. She’s been waiting 6 years for. Annalise has a new name Flower Fairy.

Love,
Alexie

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

In the afternoon, dark clouds gather over the little mountain city of Bontoc. People carry umbrellas and walk with hurried steps, eager to reach their desinations before the rain begins. At first, there is just a sprinkle which serves as a warning to the remaining stragglers to either open their umbrellas or seek shelter. Then it pours, giving new meaning to the word rain. The wind howls around the houses. The sun may shine during this downpour, giving false hope to those who have not yet experienced the mysterious ways of the rainy season. Finally the rain lets up and children rush outside to inspect the puddles the rain left.

Love,
Adriana

Five Thousand and Some Words

Hey they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I know you want us to say something after our long absence. Well, I don't have a thousand words so I thought I'd show you some photos.

Thought you would like to see how blue the sky is. The landscape isn't gray, that's just one cool effect from my camera.
After the rain, there's always a rainbow.
No, we didn't put the gecko in the jar. He got in by himself. He's in a strawberry preserves jar, but we didn't have gecko preserves. We put him on the floor after he got in, so he got out safely.
Isn't this cool? I'm still trying to figure out what I did to make that flower look like that.
This is Auntie Flor, our kind landlady, making fried chicken. Annalise is watching, maybe one day Annalise will be making fried chicken herself.

Funny Tales

I was doing my school and Mommy found this cool thing when we were finding how salt was in the ocean. We found this funny Philippine tale and wanted to share it with you.


Why The Sea Is Salty

Many years ago, the sea tasted like ordinary rainwater. It was bland and tasteless. Fortunately, the people living in the islands knew about a friendly giant who kept mounds of salt in his cave.

The people would cross the ocean on their boats to reach the gentle giant's island, and that is how they were able to bring salt back to their villages, in order to prepare tastier meals.

One time, however, the ocean was quite rough and they could not sail out to gather salt. They eventually ran out of salt and the villagers no longer enjoyed their tasteless meals. They wondered how they could get salt again, when a child suggested they ask the giant to stretch out his legs over the ocean so that they could walk to his island instead.

The kind giant agreed, and villagers with empty salt sacks walked along the giant's leg. Unfortunately, the giant's foot landed on an anthill, and the ferocious red ants started biting the enormous leg.

"Hurry!" pleaded the giant, who strained to keep his itchy legs still.

As soon as the people reached the giant's island, he immediately withdrew his foot and scratched the itchy bites. The villages just smiled at how a giant could be bothered by tiny ants.

Anyway, the people got their salt and the giant again stretched his leg over the ocean. Immediately, the ants began biting his swollen foot. Once again, the giant asked the people to hurry up, but the heavy salt sacks slowed them down.

Besides, the people didn't believe that the tiny ants could really affect the giant, so they idly chatted away, and walked rather slowly.

Before the villagers could cross the ocean, the giant cried out and thrust his ant-bitten foot into the ocean. All the packed salt fell into the plain-water sea and melted.

The giant saved the people from drowning, but no one was able to recover the spilled salt. From that day onwards, the sea became salty.


Retold Stories Copyright © 2001-2005 by http://folktales.webmanila.com Photographs Copyright © 1998-2005 by Manuel Viloria. All Rights Reserved. Homepage globe is derived from the cover of The Mythology Class, Copyright © 1999-2005 by Arnold Arre. All Rights Reserved.

Where, Oh Where?

So you’ve probably been wondering “where have those beautiful girls been?” We’ll give you three guesses. Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch? Nope. In Never-never land? Nope. Give up? We’ve been without internet. We’ll try to bring you up to date so please be patient.

Goodbye Traptows!

Goodbye Traptows! (4 of whom are crazy Canadians the rest of which are not so crazy Canadians)

We had spent a few days with our friends from Canada in Baguio. They gave all us girls umbrellas. We needed them because it rained every afternoon there. They share the house with some of our Filipino friends who own a sari-sari store which is like a small snack store. They also live by a pool with freezing cold water. (We swam in it anyway.) They also had HOT showers. (Thank you, thank you, and thank you!) The crazy Canadian part is that Jesse and Ben are also trying to make us wrestle them and we always win! And Xander and Josh have always been crazy! We’re just teasing them you know! They were excellent hosts! They took us swimming; they showed Mom and Dad the best places to shop and Mrs. Traptow gave us books! CLAP! CLAP! HOORAY!

Home, sweet, Bontoc
We are now home. The bakery underneath us only bakes cakes not bread and meals. Our house is wonderful. We have two bathrooms; EACH one has a western style toilet. I have my own room. It has yellow walls and a horse picture on the wall. Sounds like I got lucky! We have two geckos (always a necessity in my opinion). We have a living room, a kitchen and a laundry room.
Our landlady Ata Flor is very nice. Yesterday she invited us to lunch at her bakery. She has come every day to see if we need anything. She has chickens. There is a papaya tree in the courtyard. Papaya is a year- round and very delicious fruit. Her husband teaches algebra, calculus, physics and geometry. I have a scary feeling about how this might affect my math classes.

This little family went to market….
Yesterday I saw a monkey on the top of a jeepney. No, he was not in a cage.
We went to market to get food and pots. We had two Filipino guides. Everything is sold by the kilo here. Besides food, we bought 2 buckets, several pots, and two laundry baskets. You should have seen us coming home. Two Filipino strangers asked to help though.
The rice didn’t turn out so well. We’ll have to keep trying.

Fun Facts
Yesterday I tried some food cooked in pig’s blood. It was good.

There was a lady selling snails in the market.

Monkey is an insult here.

Bike Trikes and Rice

I miss my family and friends. I want to come back, but I am making new friends here. I want to say I love you.

Butterflies are my second favorite, favorite thing. It is my nickname, too.

There is lots of rice. That is my favorite food (it is) in the Phil – i – ppines .

My favorite book is Fancy Nancy. The Fancy Nancy book I brought with me is Fancy Nancy and the Boy from Paris. I haven’t read it yet.

We were going to the YWAM office. We went in a bike trike (that rhymed). There were 4 of us in each one. We had 2 friends with us.

Grandma, I am doing great.

My cousins, I miss you. (I do!)

I wish I was with my team from last year. Then I could be with Abby. Abby is 5. I am going to see Abby in a couple days.

Love,
Annalise

The WET WORLD

We have landed in Manila, Philippines. It is hot!!!!

We went to Manila Ocean Park. We brought a Filipino friend with us, Penny. She had never been to the aquarium and it was a treat for all of us. We even got to touch a starfish. There were stingrays, sharks and eels. They also had these glowing cubes that you can sit on that change color. I want one of them. They had a fish spa for 120 pesos. People had their feet groomed by fish. It sounded cool but we didn’t do it.

Love,
Adriana

KEEPSAKES KICK!!!!

Congratulations to the Keepsakes team! They did wonderful and finished the season undefeated with only one tie. Daddy has been coaching the team for five seasons now but this is a new record. Alayna and Alexie were on the team this year. They both managed to score some goals. Grandpa, Mommy, and Mrs. Criselda were the assistant coaches. We will miss the girls. (For those not familiar with this splendid team, it is a 3-5th grade girls’ soccer team. The soccer games are organized by Optimist Soccer. My Dad sponsored the team through this side, just-for-fun business where he draws black and white pencil portraits.)

Annalise’s team, the red team also did well. Mommy coached them and Alexie was the assistant coach.

Love,

Adriana

Moving

I’ve never moved before. I will miss my family and friends. Two years is a long time. In two years, I will be 13 and most of all, I will be different. I am glad that we have a place to live in, in the Philippines. We are blessed to be able to live above a bakery. We think the smell will be great.

Love,
Alexie

Last, but not Least, Alayna

My name is Alayna. I am 8. I played soccer. We had our last game Tuesday.

I like to ride my bike. I like to play outside. I like to color. I like to go to friends' houses.

My favorite foods are ice cream, cookies, cake, and sugar.

I just finished 3rd grade in April.

My favorite color is teal. My favorite animals are monkeys, ducks, dogs, and horses.

I look forward to going to the Philippines because I can be with the friends I made there and I can bathe at the waterfall.

Sincerely,
Alayna

INTRODUCING THE GREAT AND WONDERFUL ADRIANA!!!!!

Hello, my name is Adriana. Some people just call me Nana. I am thirteen years old. My favorite color is yellow. I like reading, making crafts, drawing, and playing outside. I love being with animals, especially horses. Horses are my favorite animals.
I want to be an author, artist and zoologist when I grow up. (A zoologist is a scientist who studies animals.)
Love,
Adriana
KEEP VISITING FOR MORE NEWS OF THE SUPER, FANTASTIC, AND WONDERFUL "A" SISTERS!!!!

Alexie

My name is Alexie. I am 11. I am in 5th grade. I play soccer and help coach Annalise's team. I play all positions except fullback. My favorite position is forward. I also play basketball. I am very tall. I love to be with little kids. I want to be a nurse when I grow up. I love to sing. Here is a song I wrote:

Remember

Remember, your love, it is in your heart
Bring it, bring it out
Show it to the world
They need Jesus's love
Show it,show it
The world's counting on you and I
Show His love to them
So they might believe----
Let them believe.

Love to you all,
Alexie

Introducing Annalise

I am Annalise. I am 5. I love that I am making a blog and introducing myself to you. I am in kindergarten. I like kindergarten. It is easy and I get done fast. My mommy reads to me and I read to her. I write about the things we read about. I do math...counting, calendar, money, learning my numbers. My favorite animal is a cat. My favorite fruit is strawberries. I play soccer. This is my first year to be in soccer. I like to be in the middle and kick off. My team is red and the number on my shirt is 5.

We're going to the Philippines again. I like the Philippines. I like to be with the people. The kids most of all. I am a missionary. A missionary is one that teaches about Jesus. We are getting ready to pack. My birthday is going to be in the Philippines.

I love you.
Good-bye,
Annalise

Set the World on Fire

Welcome to our very own blog. After much discussion we are finally ready to make our debut. Our blog is finally up and running...Woo Hoo!!! We hope you visit us often as you might guess four girls have plenty to talk about...

This is one of our favorite songs. We like it because it expresses what we want to do.

I wanna set the world on fire
Until it`s burning bright for You
It`s everything that I desire
Can I be the one You use?

I, I am small but
You, You are big enough
I, I am weak but
You, You are strong enough
to
Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There`s nothing I can not do
Nothing I cannot do

I wanna feed the hungry children
And reach across the farthest land
And tell the broken there is healing
And mercy in the Father`s hands

My hands my feet
My everything
My life, my love
Lord, use me

I wanna set the world on fire
I wanna set the world on fire, yeah

I`m gonna set the world on fire
Set the world on fire

by Britt Nicole