New Year's Beach Party

Here is the last bike the boys made--completely finished..definitely an odds and ends bike!! :)

On New Years' Day, we had the last official outing before I went home (more on that later), and Jim Harris and Sylvette went back up North to their home.

We left after lunch, for a 3+ hr. drive to the coast...utterly beautiful!! After being turned down at a bunch of private beaches, we found one that wasn't full, however to enter, we'd have to spend the night (which not everyone had prepared for!!) That was a LOT of fun!!!! We returned home the following day.

One very full car!!! 3 in the front and 6 in the trunk!! (Plus all the food, etc. etc.)

3 of us in the back (Estoy, Ezra and I)...the other 3 haven't gotten in yet. XD

Making the fire to cook the fish.

The other side---preparing the fish.

Lunch t

3 silly fishermen... ;p

5 beautiful siblings

Starfish!!!

That night, we had a lot of fun making sand vehicles..there was quite the conglomeration of different types of vehicles!!

Boys will be boys! (And men will be men!)...where ever they are, it is quite fascinating to see the inborn desire and fascination with manly things (including vehicular type objects ;p)

This picture tickles me...Not only did we bury Nanay, but Tatay's 'serious' expression so completely fits this picture, even though that was quite the opposite expression he had a moment before. ;)

Part of our sleeping arrangements (between the motorcar, my hammock, and the little open air shack we rented.)

My dear Nanay and I...

 I love their garbage list....quite extensive!!

Tatay took me on a picture excursion, and these were a few of the shots...

Bringing out the kid in me??

A similar shack to what we slept in, except this was an information booth.

The precious newlyweds: Jim Harris and Sylvette

We really had a marvelous, relaxing time of fellowship there at the beach. We made lots of memories, and I very much enjoyed our moonlight swim...the water was perfect!!!! Even way out!!

Definitely a perfect ending to a wonderful, adventurous year, and a perfect start for the next!!

Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple. By terrible things in righteousness wilt Thou answer us, O God of our salvation; Who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:....

Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: Thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: Thou preparest them corn, when Thou hast so provided it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: Thou settlest the furrows thereof: Thou makest it soft with showers: Thou blessest the springing thereof.

Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness; and Thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.

~Psalms 65:4-5, 9-13 ~

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was held at the Cousin's place, and that was a lot of fun...Unfortunately, I can't seem to locate our group picture, but here are some pictures of the food, etc.

A yummy pudding, with Sago (tapioca), and lots of other oddities. ;p

Meat, veggie, and Asian pasta dish

A lot of people in the area were letting out the Wish Lanterns, and the sky was quite pretty!! Between that and the fireworks!!

Washing dishes afterwards at the pump

New Year's Eve is Yen-Yen's birthday, and so we celebrated her birthday too.. (though she was camera shy) :)

One thing that was neat to see, is how close families are...so reminded me of mine back home, where though my older brother-Daniel is working abroad with IBLP ministries, when he comes home, we are all still super close...and he is a II as well (another like father, like son).

Tatay (Cecil Sr.) and JR (Cecil Jr.)--like father, like son.

Fireworks are a huge thing here....like the States, but more so, and without all the legal restrictions...which can be dangerous at times... We sure had a lot of fun with them though!!!

After the party at the cousin's place, we went home, and had our own little party, and then went to bed. =)

Holiday Week

The week between Christmas and New Years, we did a lot of fun cooking, ate a LOT of leftovers, the boys put together yet another motor bike, and we went out as an entire 'family', for one of the last family outings before I left, (with Yen-Yen there too) to dinner at a really nice restaurant...

The 2nd batch of Christmas Wreath Cookies 

For Christmas, I made some of my favorite cookies, including Christmas Wreath Cookies. The first batch I made (shown in a previous post), turned out superb--comparatively to my Gramma's!! Unfortunately, they don't carry Red Hots in Asia, and so I tried Raspberry candy instead..an utter failure!

This time, I decided to try red food coloring instead....BAD idea!! It made it look like drops of blood... =P One good way to sanctify your food, so no one wants it!! Unfortunately, the green wasn't enough either (I guess I didn't have enough marshmallows that time), and so though they were yummy, they definitely were a flop as Christmas Wreath Cookies are concerned!! =D

The boys sanding out the rust on these Motorcycle parts..

The boys decided to have some fun, and spray painted their names on the washer and dryer machine.. That turned into coating the whole thing with Bright Neon Yellow Green!! (Until the bottle went dry). ;p

Dinner at the Asian Place

My precious Filipino family and I. Praise God for them!!

The Basket-style lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

An intricate weaving...quite intriguing!

One of our motorcycles went flat, and so we had to find some place to fix the tubing...a little difficult at past 8 at night!!

Their apparatus for filling the hole...pretty creative!!

This truck tickled me a little bit, because it is SO little!! Ezra stood in front of it to give some  comparison (He's about 5'8")

Always jolly, and having fun.....Love these people!!

Standing behind the "P" for "Pinkerton" of Happy New Years with Yen-Yen. :)

A beautiful panoramic of the City Hall's decorations!!

Christmas Day 2012!!

One of the biggest differences in celebrating Christmas here versus home in the US, is that as a family,  on Christmas Day, we really focus on why we celebrate Christmas--Christ's birth.

Breakfast (leftovers from New Years' Eve, with rice)

Here, it was a little different--with no snow on the ground, Christmas is not limited to the Winter season, but is truly celebrated for most of the year, starting with decorations coming out in September. It is celebrated so many times--especially at church, with the main focus being the Real Reason, that by the time Christmas Day rolls around, it is more a day for celebration that everyone is here, and not somewhere else working. Filipinos LOVE to give, and focus a lot on giving to others, especially charity-wise, and maybe since we were all adults at the Serisola home, and truly knew the Reason for Christmas, and talked about it a lot, it didn't need such emphasizing as we normally do at home??

Another difference is that most Filipinos still have to work on Christmas Day, and so they celebrate it at night, similar to what we in America do for New Years. However, they also celebrate New Years the same way, (though by the time New Years came around, it almost seemed like people were getting tired--a lot of late nights!!--and so it wasn't as big for us. =)

Christmas Day, we had a yummy breakfast (mostly leftovers from last night) , and then packed up more leftovers to bring to the Farm. A little before lunch, we all headed out to the Farm, to check on how harvesting the rice fields were going. We visited the landowners there (as the Serisolas leased the land), gave them some food, and went on to visit other folks, while a few of the men went to find buyers for the Rice.

Jim Harris and Sylvette's Rice Farm

Sylvette and I with the landowner's grand daughter

I can kill spiders no problema, but with having mostly poisonous spiders at home, let's just say that holding one was a huge (if not slightly petrifying) triumph. And teasing me that it was actually poisonous did NOT help matters... Not sure why they enjoyed my reaction so much!! ;P

Rice drying in the field

Dried rice sheaves being gathered in piles

One of their workers carrying a bundle (reminded me of Joseph's dream!)

All-in-all, when we came home that evening, we had done quite some visiting, and gotten all the rice sold.

Christmas night, I gave everyone my presents (as they gave all their's a few days previous--so they could enjoy them on the day =p). Then, we had a splendid Seafood Dinner of Clams, Oysters Seaweed, etc. Delish!! (My first time too!!)

Sago (Tapioca) salad I made, with condensed milk. The colored things are extracts of  the Coconut and Palm Fruit...delicious! (Email me for the recipe! You can get everything to make this, at a True Asian store!!)

Delicious seaweed and veggies! One of my favorites.

Clams

Oysters

We made a Coconut dessert, and this is how the boys shredded the coconut...it was actually a welded apparatus for it...kinda cool!!

 It was really, truly a wonderful Christmas. Most unique, but very memorable, and I am so grateful that I was able to participate in it.