Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Trip to Bohol
Our first international visitors came in last week. After much tribulation, Keith and Beverly Monroe (Sheralie's parents) came in from San Diego. We took the chance to take a trip down to Bohol, home of the Chocolate Hills.
On the tarmac of the smallest airport I have ever been to
The Chocolate Hills, which were still pretty green (apparently they turn brown later in the summer) - they were very cool
The hanging bridge over the Loboc River
A very small monkey - called the Tarsier
Happy boys
Laird and Kevin (the Taiwanese kid in the room next door) having a shoot out with water guns
Happy Lucy
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Spotlight on Jeffrey
Jeffrey recently turned 7. I cannot believe I am old enough to have a 7-year old son running around.
Jeffrey is very excited about taking piano lessons. Sheralie started teaching him over the summer and he loves to perform for any and all guests that come to our house.
Jeffrey hates fruit. I have tried to bribe him to eat it, but he does not budge. I don't think he has tried mangoes yet. He will, if push comes to shove, eat bananas and raisins. But forget citrus fruit. And perish the thought of juice.
He has recently taken to college football. I have tried to take him to sports games in years past, but to little effect. This year we watched BYU's wins over Washington and UCLA and he was following with great attention. We also caught bowl games for LSU and Oregon, and those are now among his favorite teams.
Jeffrey at Halloween 2008
Jeffrey's favorite gift for his birthday was a tire swing that Sheralie made for him using our old tire and some rope she purchased. I was particularly impressed that she hung and tied it by herself.
We recently purchased a set of scriptures for Jeffrey. He has been reading them a lot. I noticed though that he was reading from the book of Psalms. Upon inquiry, he said that he was reading there because it had the shortest chapters.
Jeffrey is very quiet around strangers. Other people often contrast Laird and Jeffrey, since Laird will talk anyone's ear off, while Jeffrey will be kind of quiet until he warms up around you.
Sheralie has been hanging out with Jeffrey in primary and notices that Jeffrey pays very close attention, even though 75% of the instruction is in Tagalog. I've never heard him complain once about it.
At Melanie and Dan's wedding, November 2008
Jeffrey is in a lego phase. He and Laird both love legos, although Jeffrey is much better at actually following the instructions. He will tackle a huge project in less than a day.
His after school activity (once a week) is wall climbing, and I recently went to a "meet" which was pretty dull. Jeff did a good job, but he had more fun bouncing around the rest of the gym after the actual climbing.
Jeffrey has occasionally taken over at night reading to Lucy before bed and loves it. If I didn't enjoy it so much he would probably take it over full time.
Wise man bearing gifts
Jeffrey loves to read. But he primarily focuses on series. When he was younger, he ate up the "Jack and Annie" Magic Tree House books. Now, he is currently working on a series called "Childhood of Famous Americans". Basically these are mini-biographies with emphasis on the childhood of famous Americans. During this last week (which was spring break), he read about 10 of these books. His favorites so far have been Davy Crockett and John Glenn. He only has one left that he hasn't read: Abigail Adams.
For his birthday, Jeffrey took in a volcano that Sheralie and he had made at home and dazzled the class with multiple demonstrations.
Jeffrey has been one of my bigger fans as I play for the Consular basketball team (Embassy league). I am primarily a bench warmer, so Jeffrey has plenty of chances to run over and ask questions "Who is winning?" "Is that the end of the game?" and "When are you going to play?" At the last game he brought a sign he made out of cardboard "Go Generals" (we are the Consular Generals).
Jeffrey and his Uncle Mike - November 2008
Jeffrey's front two teeth are finally coming in. He has been missing them for more than 6 months now.
Jeffrey requested Meat Loaf for his birthday meal. What a great kid.
His new kitchen job is drying the dishes, which he really likes. Asked why, "So I can chat with you Mom"
First day of First Grade, 2008
That's our boy Jeffrey.
Jeffrey is very excited about taking piano lessons. Sheralie started teaching him over the summer and he loves to perform for any and all guests that come to our house.
Jeffrey hates fruit. I have tried to bribe him to eat it, but he does not budge. I don't think he has tried mangoes yet. He will, if push comes to shove, eat bananas and raisins. But forget citrus fruit. And perish the thought of juice.
He has recently taken to college football. I have tried to take him to sports games in years past, but to little effect. This year we watched BYU's wins over Washington and UCLA and he was following with great attention. We also caught bowl games for LSU and Oregon, and those are now among his favorite teams.
Jeffrey's favorite gift for his birthday was a tire swing that Sheralie made for him using our old tire and some rope she purchased. I was particularly impressed that she hung and tied it by herself.
We recently purchased a set of scriptures for Jeffrey. He has been reading them a lot. I noticed though that he was reading from the book of Psalms. Upon inquiry, he said that he was reading there because it had the shortest chapters.
Jeffrey is very quiet around strangers. Other people often contrast Laird and Jeffrey, since Laird will talk anyone's ear off, while Jeffrey will be kind of quiet until he warms up around you.
Sheralie has been hanging out with Jeffrey in primary and notices that Jeffrey pays very close attention, even though 75% of the instruction is in Tagalog. I've never heard him complain once about it.
Jeffrey is in a lego phase. He and Laird both love legos, although Jeffrey is much better at actually following the instructions. He will tackle a huge project in less than a day.
His after school activity (once a week) is wall climbing, and I recently went to a "meet" which was pretty dull. Jeff did a good job, but he had more fun bouncing around the rest of the gym after the actual climbing.
Jeffrey has occasionally taken over at night reading to Lucy before bed and loves it. If I didn't enjoy it so much he would probably take it over full time.
Jeffrey loves to read. But he primarily focuses on series. When he was younger, he ate up the "Jack and Annie" Magic Tree House books. Now, he is currently working on a series called "Childhood of Famous Americans". Basically these are mini-biographies with emphasis on the childhood of famous Americans. During this last week (which was spring break), he read about 10 of these books. His favorites so far have been Davy Crockett and John Glenn. He only has one left that he hasn't read: Abigail Adams.
For his birthday, Jeffrey took in a volcano that Sheralie and he had made at home and dazzled the class with multiple demonstrations.
Jeffrey has been one of my bigger fans as I play for the Consular basketball team (Embassy league). I am primarily a bench warmer, so Jeffrey has plenty of chances to run over and ask questions "Who is winning?" "Is that the end of the game?" and "When are you going to play?" At the last game he brought a sign he made out of cardboard "Go Generals" (we are the Consular Generals).
Jeffrey's front two teeth are finally coming in. He has been missing them for more than 6 months now.
Jeffrey requested Meat Loaf for his birthday meal. What a great kid.
His new kitchen job is drying the dishes, which he really likes. Asked why, "So I can chat with you Mom"
That's our boy Jeffrey.
Steve ties the knot
Congrats to Steve (my brother) for tying the knot. Welcome to the family Kalina.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
38 Pisos
The average Filipino lives on 38 pisos (sounds like "pesos") a day. This is worth about 70 cents currently. While provincial poverty is charming, city life is a different story. The above photo I took on my cell phone. You can see two street people taking a nap there and their belongings. I pass this freeway overhang often. It is always a refuge for street people, but the number of people varies daily."Street people" is the term for homelessness here. It seems that almost everywhere where I drive, I pass squatter's makeshift huts, much like Tijuana or other 3rd world cities. Street mothers nurse their babies on the curb as jeepneys drive inches away from them, with their polluted trail following.
What haunts me the most are the children. I worry about them. They run naked in the rain. I wonder how they can hope for a normal life after living on the street. They beg for money, beg for rice, beg for you to buy a trinket. A bed and a bedroom would be a luxury.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Congrats to Greg
Hats off to Greg, Sheralie's brother, for getting his papers in and getting the call to serve in the Louisville Kentucky mission - Spanish speaking.
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