Outdoor Education 2012--Nate Leading the M.S. Students

For the 7th year in a row, Nate had the privilege and joy of leading the middle school students on the annual outdoor education trip. Here they all are at the airport, ready to fly to Manila!

Here are two of the students on the plane; these girls are a special pair to me=) (I wish I could have gone too!)

After traveling by plane on Sunday, then sleeping in the school that night, the students loaded busses and stopped at a Zoobic Park. Tigers came up to the vans, while students fed chickens out the bars to them.

Here is Nate's squad, "Mindanao MooCaw". There were 7 girls and 7 boys, and a co-squad leader. The guys in front were doing a cultural dance during one of the shows on Monday.

On Tuesday they went to the jungle survival training course. They learned all kinds of things about the plants God has made, medicines, soaps, finding water in bamboo, and more.

At night they learned how to cook rice inside bamboo (pictured here), and also had canned meat for dinner.

Mr. Becker sports a banana leaf hat. Very shady and tropical!

The guides were Filipino experts who once trained soldiers during the Vietnam war. Now they are teaching students how to survive by finding water inside bamboo vines. Thirsty? Fresh water available!

There's Mr. Becker and his students getting their feet wet and cooled off after a hike.

Can you spot the guide? He is really camouflaged, don't you think? He is teaching students how to make dishes out of bamboo. That is such a useful thing God made!

Cup, plate, spoon and fork. Complete and ready for a meal!

On Wednesday, back at the base camp, they did a lot of team-building activities and ropes course type things. Nate had a great squad of students, who loved working together. Praise God for the safety and good unity of the team.

Doing the faith fall--can you trust your team to hold you up?

Then they had fun hanging from the swings in the tree-top exploration activity.

There's Mr. Becker in orange, ready for the 60 foot drop! Ahhhhhh!!! Yep, there's my tarzan man!

Thursday was Beach Day. They went to a local school to do some ministry with children there. This was a great time of sharing the love of the Lord and interacting with local kids.

Here the kids performed for our students too.

Lots of smiles and bonding happening. "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world."

That night was the last one, with a beautiful starry sky and peaceful ocean. Nate and the students slept out on the beach in the sand! Thankfully he sprayed his bag with bug spray to keep the creatures and ants off. The Lord really did a lot of work in the hearts of the students, and in Nate as well. Good-bye and see you next year! Thank you, Lord, for bringing them back safely! May the lessons they learned bear much fruit in their lives and for your kingdom.

While Nate Was Gone...

While Nate was gone, we tried to keep busy. We had so much fun enjoying various friends and guests. Every day we had something planned, and Elijah would look at the calendar to find out "what's going to happen today."

Aunt Shannon was loving the boys...tons of fun!

Elijah usually goes on a bike ride with Papa and takes out the trash. This time, he got to ride the motorcycle! Thanks, Shannon, for all the fun!

Tuesday I took Malachi on a date, just me and Malachi. We had fun in the toy section (and also got groceries). Elmo! Big hug!

We got a balloon and rode the train =) Malachi is very aware of what is a "date" since Mama and Papa like to go on them special. But when we got to the mall, he said "Where's the date?" like it was a place. I had to explain more what that meant!

Wednesday was Ate Amor's birthday, so we went to paradise beach! We haven't been there since Elijah's birthday May 8th, so I missed the ocean and Elijah missed the sand. It was also Luke's first time there.

We invited our friend, Sojo, along, and Amor's nephew, Daniel. Here we are with the 5 kids. Fun! Elijah, that is a fake smile!

Sarah, notice the swimming gear! Mom, the shoes. Thanks, fam! What a place, eh? Look at those clouds! Luke is growing, and he loves the ocean!

Me and my boys! We miss you, Nate, but we're doing okay!

Fun on the slides!

The 2 boys with Sojo, she was such a fun little girl to mix things up and give ideas. "How about both boys catch me down the slide?"

Happy Birthday, Ate Amor! (Mom Becker, notice the recycled candles--much use! We saved 4 of them too for Elijah's birthday coming up).

Buried in the sand.

I love this one of Malachi. Chocolate ice cream at the beach, what could be better?

Friday we did a science experiment with Silas and made a volcano!

This was just the kind of thing Elijah loves to do. Sand, recipes, bubbles, mess...

Friday night, Papa came back!! We were so excited, but we got a little wiped out waiting for his delayed plane. This is the next morning, we had family breakfast of whole wheat banana pancakes! We love you, Nate!! (Elijah hides behind his orange...silly boy)

"Luke, you grew so much while I was gone!" Luke is so happy to see Papa.

Finally, they have their Papa to wrestle. Mama kept saying "boys, I'm too weak and tired!" Look at the love and the fun.

Then Nate and I had a lovely 5 hour date together, catching up and also working on the big puzzle of our upcoming home assignment. Using a calendar and the sticky note method, we are trying to work out the best plan for our family. Thanks for continuing to pray for us!

Praise God he is back, and for a great week. I'll post another one about Nate's week from the other side of the camera.

Happy Birthday Nate 32

Feb. 2 we celebrated Nate's life. We love you, Nate (Papa)! Cheri, notice the lovely writing since I got new decorating bags! Watch for Elijah's 4th birthday cake coming soon in May! (P.S. Why do they rotate this picture? Just turn your head to the right!)

We had our friends over for dessert. Mom Becker, notice the lovely candles! I like this pic because Malachi is sorting the plates and cups, the same way I did when I was getting ready for my own 3 year birthday. What a cute guy!

Lighting the candles--notice Nate's hand holding Elijah back. Luke's eyes are wide-eyed!

Thank you, God, for Nate and for our friends! It is amazing how many people we could have in our one little house! Fun times!

The next day we had a little left-over celebration. Elijah got 3 candles and Malachi got 2. We had fun singing again and blowing them out.

Luke is 8 Months...& Ladies' Retreat

Yes, he is growing! Here's Luke Robert, born 8 months ago. What a cutie--a happy boy.

Mama loves you, Little Laddie (as I took the term from you, Mom).

What a happy boy!! I love this guy. We had a ladies' retreat with our visitor on Saturday, so I did the photo shoot there. What a lovely, peaceful place!

There's the Mamas and babies. We can't leave them for a day, so we brought them! Tied up a hammock and they napped. There's Bonnie, our speaker, who encouraged us greatly...and there's my friends! I love you all!

And another great friend, Emi! She came along to help with Luke while I led worship and enjoyed some time alone with God. Salamat! Luke is eating his little squash, called "calabasa."

Luke has 2 teeth now--I got this pic for his baby book! Great one, buddy! He is FINALLY eating other food, after I persevered for two months or more. Now he can eat chicken, potatoes, carrots, oatmeal, applesauce, bananas, calabasa, and rice.

I love being in God's creation--so refreshing. Look at this amazing gift God gave us on the way home--a rainbow as a background for the ocean. I'm totally in awe of our great God!

Here's a family on a boat--fishing for their dinner. They enjoyed the rainbow too!

Me and Emi, Luke, and the rainbow. This place is just beautiful-- I need to get out into Creation more often! So refreshing!

For the Grandmas

Christmas in January--our packages arrived! Thank you to the Grandmas--and Grandpas! Fun boys here!

The orange buddies--very handsome guys!

Mother runs in, puts on orange and sets up the tripod. "Smile!"

Very fun! Thanks fam!

Thanks to my mom for this--hours of fun. What a clever toy--very well-designed. Elijah "plays tracks" while I read my email.

I realized that my old computer *sometimes* will let us type in a Word document, so I am teaching Elijah how to spell and type! He is a good little student. His longest word was "UMBRELLA".

*NOTE: if anyone has a laptop or 2 to donate, I know 2 Filipino pastors who are in need of one.