The Grand Kids Arrived . . . . . Day 1

Sunday November 20, 2011

We got up early and headed to Manila to pick up the Murri family from the airport. We left early to avoid traffic and to catch a Sacrament meeting before their plane arrived. We were surprised to find that it was Stake Conference. We attended the Manila Stake Conference in Makati. We met Elder Nelson of the area Presidency as well as Brother McAllister, attorney and Brad Anderson, the controller for the Philippines.

This is the oldest LDS church building in the Philippines.
It is situated between high rise office buildings. The grounds were beautiful. And the chapel is much more like the buildings at home.~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We drove to the airport and arrived just as our guest were coming out of the airport.
After about 14 hours of flying, our weary travelers arrived . . . It was so fun to see each of the kids!
The first thing Brooklyn said was "It is so hot here!" And this is the cold season here . . . .

We then headed to the Walled City in Manila. This is where Fort Santiago is located - one of the oldest fortifications in Manila. It was built in 1571 on the site of a native settlement, Raja Soliman. Over the years it had been destroyed and rebuilt several times. It was occupied by the British Army in 1762. It was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 where hundreds of civilians and guerrillas were imprisoned, tortured and executed. It was destroyed in the battle of Manila in 1945. It was used by the US Transportation Corps and turned over to the Philippine Government in 1946. (A little history lesson for you . . )

Ready for some sight-seeing . . .

The gate leading into Fort Santiago

The moat around the fort with water lilies growing in it . . .
notice the tall city buildings in the background
this is in the heart of the city.
Austin is walking on the path of foot steps that represent the last walk that

Dr. Jose Rizal (a national hero) took to his martyrdom Dec. 30, 1896.

The dungeon . . . Murri family sitting on the wall looking over the river . . .

Ryan and Britain trying to cool off some in the shade . . .
Grandpa enjoying taking pictures of the kids

Everyone was starving, so it was off to McDonald's . . . in the Philippines!!!

Grandma and 'Little Man'

Happy to here . . .

Austin and grandpa having a serious discussion while driving through Manila.

Britain was so tired that she just could not stay awake any longer . . .

she hardly woke up the rest of the evening . . . we did get her to
take a few bites of dinner when we got home then it was right back to sleep!

**To be continued . . . .

The Lord Listens to our Prayers . . .

The following story was told at one of our meetings . . .

A returned missionary married and moved to an area in the outskirts of the branch. It was such a long way to church and so expensive, that they were only able to attend church about 3 times a year. they prayed to have the church come closer to them. After several years of praying, there was finally a branch closer to them and they were able to attend weekly. He does listen . . .

Early Thanksgiving with Great Company!

November 11, 2011

We celebrated Thanksgiving at our November Couples meeting complete with an American Turkey dinner. Everyone was assigned to bring a couple of dishes to share with everyone. It turned our really nice!

The table was set so nicely for 12 of us . . .

All the yummy food!Elder & Sister ChaseElder & Sister Bowcutt The MartinosThe Roberts The McCarys

All of the Senior couples . . .
Great food; and great friends; and a great day!

Jose's Puppy . . . .

A couple of weeks ago, Jose came home with a furry little friend.
Maco is his name. He is a cute little puppy. Jose said he was going to guard the mission office. He now takes naps on the door step to the office.

We are not sure how long he will be with us though. It is against mission rules to have a pet. Although Jose is not one of our missionaries, he has the dog on mission property. But for now, we all enjoy watching the little guy grow!

Black Beans . . . . Growing??

When Patti came to visit, she brought me a Ziploc bag of dried black beans. I haven't been able to find the dried ones here. The bag came open in her travels and had spilled in her suitcase. We got as many out as we could and then we took the bag out and dumped it by our door.

Then we had more rain . . . after all that is what it does here in the Philippines this time of year.

On Monday, I noticed something new growing. Upon a closer look, I could see that i now have black beans growing! Jose, (security guard) moved a couple of the seedlings to some other areas around the yard.I doubt that they will grow into a giant bean stock, but all the same, we now have black beans to add to the pineapple, papaya and bananas that grow in our yard!!

Patti Arrived!!!

We drove to Manila on the night of November 3rd to pick Patti up. It was pouring!!! But she arrived with all of her bags safely! It was so fun to have her visit . . . maybe it was because she brought two suitcases with all kinds of treats and things that I didn't think we could bring with us (things to make cards). She brought me some of my dried black beans ( can't get those here) and the different nuts I had at home (they would have been rancid when we got home). She also brought me some cranberries. I had asked her to bring fresh cranberries since we were having a special dinner with the couples. She froze them thinking they would travel better. They started to thaw and some of the juice got on her new jeans . . . luckily, it came out with the help of a Spray & Wash stick that she also brought! Here are some of the pictures we took while she was here . . .

Patti standing by the world globe at the mall . . . See the Philippines??

At church with all of the umbrellasSome of the kids on our trip over the river to visit

the people Wade & I met a few months ago

This is one of the carts the Filipinos use to carry the dried rice back to town. They dry the rice on the road. (I will never cook rice without washing it again!) Notice the yoke on the cart - in the scriptures it talks about a double yoke . . .

Patti feeding grass to the caribou - it was missing a horn . . .

One of Patti's favorite pictures . . .
McDonald's delivers in the Philippines

We passed this cute little old lady and had
Wade stop so we could take her picture.
Patti with two guys we passed leading their caribous

with their carts full of rice straw.

Patti's picture of the caribou swimming . . . she had to
walk through the tall grass to get this shot, but it is a great one!

Patti in one of the small towns we passed through
when we took her on a tour of part of our mission.

The night she left the security guard, Jose,
turned the Christmas lights on for Patti

Me and Patti in front of the mission home

At the Manila Airport . . . And she is off to fly the friendly skies again . . .
with much lighter luggage!

(Sorry for the blurry picture and no I was not crying!!)
We had such a good time with Patti and hope that she can
come back and visit again before we go home . . . . . .