Pancit, anyone?

When I flew up to Indiana, airports were having weather problems, and I thought I could easily miss my next flights, because of the slowness of the de-icing of the planes. But no flights were missed the whole trip, thank the Lord.

But it was warm enough within the gate.

Sure looks cold down there.

Lyn waiting with the luggage in Chicago.

Finally in the Philippines--Cebu

We begin our sightseeing/history lessons.

That's the unfortunate Magellan in the bottom painting.

Now would be a good time for a nice, cool dip. But how to get over the fence?

Joseph asked the cab driver to take us to Heritage of Cebu--right in the middle of the street; but the cabbie was unfamiliar with it, huge though it was.

A Taoist temple

The temple overlooks a wealthy community named Hollywood. Lyn is in the foreground.

A woman can never have too many shoes, right? But kudos to us--we didn't buy any.

Is that a Hindu with his turban? Oh, no, it's a basketball.

Jeepneys, jeepneys everywhere.

Skyscrapers do exist on the islands.

Umbrellas protect from the fierce heat.

Dinner on a banana leaf.

Divine Mercy

Lovely countryside, the sea in the background

And beautiful blooms

Coming back home to the barangay

The family car

Students reading Living Waters tracts in the mall

I was glad I wasn't a telephone lineman over there!

Feast time.

Looking toward a neighborhood from our hotel.

Another family car

Scoping out the tourists

Our cheerful hostess, Effie, finds a way to even out the heights.

Can you see him in the tree? He tossed down several coconuts for us.

At the free family resort

Is that tree gorgeous, or what?

The pool was great for cooling off, except it was beginning to rain, and I didn't want to get wet. :-)

Hope the truck misses the potholes. I see no seatbelts.

Leaving Camiguin Island on an outrigger for the tiny White Island

A blue starfish in the water. They can reproduce asexually, as well as virtually any part of their body, if broken off, can become another starfish.

Wendy and Allen demonstrate their ability to frame.

A waterfall near a rockslide

Ah, the perfect bloom.

Three boys diving for coins. Yep, I succumbed and tossed a few coins. They were very good at it.

You can walk the perimeter of White Island in around fifteen minutes. It has no plants on it whatsoever.

Pilgrim Christian, much prettier than most schools over here. True of other schools I saw there, too.

Guess the specialty of this restaurant?

Get a load of this! Our cabbie was very amused by my taking this pic.

Ah, finally vegetables! Eggplant, okra, butternut squash, onions, and green beans. Oh, and some shrimp.

The popular halo halo. Yes, those are beans in with the sherbet.

Faith Baptist Church. The kindergartners were graduating, as I recall.

Typical jeepney--colorful and cheerful-looking

Saying goodbye at the airport to Lyn's family.

Beginning the journey home

I loved the uniforms of the airport employees, the girls, anyway.

This is where we spent the night in the Hong Kong airport. Since the security area was closed, we were stuck on this floor, as the United desk was closed for the night. So we tried to get warm enough to sleep.

This was our best glimpse of China.

14+ hours later, Chicago comes into view for final descent.

Rice paddies. "The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few." Time is running out. Storms are coming.

Aunt Katherine's 90th birthday celebration, January 3

In the atrium of Faith Baptist Church of Taylors; Tom is emceeing.

Joanna and Steve, now living with her mom, to take care of her

Uncle Jim and Aunt Dee lead off the yummy hors d'oeuvres line.

                                                    Yummy refers to the food, not the people.

The foncy cupcakes

Joanna, Linda, and Becky with Aunt Katherine

A wedding portrait among others decorating the balloons

Phebe pauses for the pushy photographer.

I think I heard there were 1,000 photos on the two monitors

My cousins--Sarah, Rachel, Becky, (Uncle Tim's) Linda, and Debby with me

Ohh, do you think the caterer would share the recipe for the spinach dip? Best I ever had, so probably not!

Julie speaking to Grace

The kids with their mom.

 Priscilla, David, Phillip, Rachel, Becky, Joanna, Lois, Phebe, Lydia, Stephen, Sarah, Debby, and Tom

Uncle Jim with his wife, two children--Jim and Julie--and daughter-in-law, from FL, NC, and SC

Our Christmas lights.

They light up our house.

These light up the yard. Or would if Sapphire's weren't on low beam.

Caroling with Bush River Baptist at Springfield Place.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME  SMILE--THANKSGIVING 2014

The trampoline, which not only exercises, but does a great job with lay-flat laundry
The nice clerk at the post office leaning across and giving my clerk the pretty stamps I wanted
Being able to find natural healing methods for an injury immediately, off the Internet
A friendly neighbor that takes me out to lunch
A thrift store find of a cooler, just the size I wanted
Good pans for a small price at a retirement yard sale
A Florida alligator who had the prudence not to come up on the bank near me
Thoughtful gifts from my Secret Sister
Photos that bring back delightful memories
Free anti-virus protection
Finally meeting family friends from way, way back (before I was even born)
A lovable mama pit-bull named Sweet Pea curling up in my lap and going to sleep
Delightful sisters-in-law
Non-ethanol gas that makes my lawn mower work better and last longer
The majestic beauty of Black Rock Mountain
The warmth of sunlight on a cool fall day
My solid black Lab when she’s not running a con to get more food
Digital photo books
The godly, hardworking Duggar Family, with their nineteen kids
The computers in Heathrow Airport, London--“dinosaur” though they were--they worked, sort of
The ticket agent that rerouted me without charging me for the new ticket
That my purse wasn’t stolen when I left it in the horse carriage in downtown Cape Town
Hiking with Vicki and watching the sail-kayaks scoot along the vlei
Pretty, colorful scarves
Bufflesfonteine Safari and gawking at the huge South African rhino
Gorgeous fall foliage, while walking the Three Rivers Greenway, Spanish moss draped over branches of oak
Numerous turtles covering logs and rocks in the river which reflects the vivid blueness of the October sky
 Kleenexes that have decent thickness to them
Gas station attendant’s response to tract I gave her: “I like ‘funny but good Christian!‘”
A friend’s husband who will come do jobs for us that we can’t do
Useful tips on dog training
My kind and clever cousins coming down to repair our three stoves that all stopped working at once
A neighbor’s dog who watches for me as they walk past my house, and sits down to wait
Best of all, God’s amazing love for me!   

 Posing in front of the Christmas lights on the square. Which are now out due to a power outage.

 David and Philip with their mom

 The accommodating brothers when Missy tries to take their picture

 Stephen, Lydia, and their mom share a joke.

 

Satiated with a sumptuous dinner!