Second Honeymoon--Palawan!

I love to travel!  Before our baby #4 arrives (just one week before our 8th anniversary), Nate and I decided to take a little get-away trip, just the 2 of us!!!  We haven't had our own little vacation since 2007 BC (before children).  What a blessing we got direct flights to Palawan during a promo sale in January, an island I have always wanted to visit!

We left our 3 boys with some wonderful friends and helpers, and took off for 4, count them FOUR nights!!  It was almost better than our first honeymoon--in many ways!!

We stayed at the perfect place, Cooper's Beach Resort, an hour north of the city of arrival.  The reason I loved it, other than they upgraded us to the honeymoon suite, was that it was totally isolated on a beautiful beach!  So peaceful and private!  I felt like it was just us on an island to ourselves.  So refreshing!

 We got to take a little road-trip tour to the Underground River, which is now one of the top 7 natural wonders in the world!  Trips like this make me love the Philippines even more.  I just love this country!

 This is the longest underground river in the world.  It sits under several limestone crags that jut up from the green terrain.  We were thankful to get a booking, even though it is hard to get in with limited passes.  It's so exciting to see God's artwork and creation hidden for centuries under this cave (locals were afraid of evil spirits so never explored it 'til an American "discovered" it in the 1800s).  It was also soothing to sit in the boats for the tour as it quietly wound its way through the dark cave.

 Nate and I--the lovers by the lagoon!  Behind us you can see the cave where the underground river tour begins.  Our boys would have liked this part, but maybe when they're older.

 This is my favorite picture!!  I will frame this for our home for sure!  It looks almost fake, but no, it is REAL.  It really looks like this!  Please come visit us!  =)  Romantic, perfect weather, beautiful creation, lovely Philippines.

I was walking along the beach at sunset and almost stepped right on this jellyfish!!  It was kind of cool to see the blue pattern on the top when the waves flipped it over, but after this I watched my step really closely and no longer waded in the water.  Nate wasn't too scared to go for many swims in the ocean, but I just stuck to my sandy walks and the hammock.

 A local fisherman was cleaning his nets.  Such a natural place, untouched really by much tourism--yet. It will soon be discovered, I'm sure!

I couldn't help but think of my dad when I saw Nate in this chair.  He would also love this place.  Just walk out of your room and relax by the beach reading a book!

 We loved that first place we stayed--just for 2 nights.  Sad to leave, but we had booked another place for 2 nights, closer to the airport.  It was fine for us to relax and swim, sleep and read, play games and eat...but they had all these strange statues all around.  Like they had a snake strangling a pig, or a huge giraffe, and some nude statues--unpleasant.  The strangest thing to me was in the swimming pool there was a temple underwater (seen in the picture) and a red pagoda statue on the other side of the pool in the water.  Hm!  Interesting!  Definitely an Asian pool.

 Thankfully we had the perfect date on our last night there.  We found this restaurant, "Badjao Riverfront" (thanks to our friends who went before us).  You walk out on this long bamboo bridge to this restaurant on the water.  We arrived just at sunset!  Beautiful and breathtaking views!  Fishing boats just peacefully cut through the calm waters.  We could see the outline of the mountains in the distance as the sun painted pictures in the sky.  The weather was perfect and the air was so quiet and peaceful.

The food was also good--though very Filipino, which we like.  What a fun place to sit for a meal with my man!  Thank you, Lord for the blessing of this trip just the 2 of us (plus one inside!).  Thank you that our boys were okay at home, and that we got to have some special time with you and in your creation!

One of our friends, who helped us with Malachi, put some pics of his time on her blog, if you want to see what he was up to.  Nice to know our kids were having fun too!
Malachi while we were away

Baby Week

 This week my friend Jeralyn's baby girl was born!!  Janae Elyse was 9 pounds 3 oz!  A beautiful home birth by the same midwife (Joy) who helped with Malachi's and Luke's birth at our house (and who will also help with our 4th baby!).

 The ladies in our Bible study gave us a group baby shower on Saturday.  So fun!  In addition to this excitement, my brother Daniel and his wife Erin also just gave birth to a baby girl--Olive Amelia!  Nate wondered when I would stop talking about all the babies!! =)

 Janae was excited to meet her little friend (still in my womb). Just 4 more months!

 Jer, me and Katie (also due in June with a boy!).  Fun to share pregnancies with my friends!

 Me at the shower with Janae.  Precious!!  (Wish I could also meet Olive!  Someday...)

 I almost cried when I started opening baby girl dresses.  My first baby girl clothes ever!  Darling!

Here's the lovely gifts I received for our GIRL!  YES!  It is confirmed!  We are expecting a baby girl!  We are very excited!!!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Outdoor Ed--Corregidor

 The first week of Feb (I'm behind on blogging!)...Nate and the middle school students flew up to Manila for the annual outdoor education trip.  It is always fun to join Faith Manila for this trip.

 All together they loaded several busses and first toured the Bataan peninsula, where much war history occurred.  Students were learning lots and bonding with their squads.

 Here's Mr. Becker ready to take an elevator up the cross.  You can see a view of the South China Sea from the top.  What a fun leader!

 Can you spot Mr. Becker in this photo?  There were some outreaches to the local school kids sharing the love of Jesus through performances, games, and relationship building.

 Here's one student sharing with some of the local kids at school.  So cute!

 Mr. Becker and his squad at sunset.  Lots of pretty beaches (they slept in the sand!).

 Corregidor island was full of WWII history, with different canons and the tour of the Malita tunnel.  Of course they also had spiritual emphasis every night learning about faith on the Rock of Jesus.

 Meanwhile back at home, I was holding the fort down with the 3 boys.  We decided to go swimming at the beach one day.  Fun!  Praise God for giving us a great week together, and everyone was healthy and safe!

 Luke is so cute dancing with the guys at the beach.  He loves rhythm and music.

We had a fun birthday party for our friend, Aiden.  These are our little friends and the birthday crowns we made.  I like how Luke is ripping his off his head.

Nate and the students made it back safely and with many great stories!  I was not the photographer, so we only have a few pics of the trip, but hope this gives you a glimpse into the week of OE!  Thanks for praying for us!!

Davao River Flood

  

 Last Sunday I woke up to texts from my friends saying the river had overflowed and they had to evacuate in the middle of the night.  

When I walked out my back gate and down just one block, this is what I saw...

You can see how close to our house the river reached.

 People were rescuing their pigs from homes that had flooded to the top.  I heard estimates that this flood caused 10,000 families, including 36, 000 dependents to evacuate.  Praise God that I did not hear any reports of lives lost. 

 Emi and Edgar's family had left their house at 3 am.  The whole community was sleeping on this covered court trying to get shelter from the constant rain.  That suitcase there is a bunch of blankets and towels that I brought to share.
Prior to this picture they had come to our house to make breakfast.  With no cooking pots and no dry firewood, no one could even make food.

 Here's the evacuees on the covered court near our house.  We know many of these people from the community and from our local church.

 Here's the street on the way to Emi's house.  Rescue workers from the city were doing a great job searching for people, but they did not find any.  Some men were camping out in the 2nd floor of their houses to protect their things from looters.  Sadly many people did become victims not only of the destruction of the flood but from those who stole from them.

 I found my friends, Weng-Weng, Ruen and Emi....very cold and tired and hungry.  They walked around with me so nothing would happen to me while I was trailing through the flood to take pictures and investigate. 

 Thankfully, our church opened up the 2nd floor of our new community transformation center.  I believe it was about 160 families who took refuge here for most of last week, and more than 250 ate meals provided by the church.  Elijah is in white there, helping me and Emi do an outreach to the kids.

 By God's providence, 2 boxes that had been shipped in November reached us at just the right time.  Inside were tons of kids' clothes!  What a blessing to the kids who had no dry clothes, and who also lost their clothes in the flood.  What a joy to see their delight in getting something "new" that day.

 The river finally did go down this week, and the sun came out a few times.  Whenever I heard that hard rain in the night, I pray that the river will stay down.  Many were without power until just last night, and many people lost their possessions. 

 Here's Luke watching Emi distribute the clothes that arrived at the perfect time.  Thank you, Lord! AND to our supporter and her neighbors who donated these things and shipped them!!

We praise God that despite the disaster, or perhaps because of it, 27 people responded to an invitation to receive Christ on Sunday at church.  The service was full to the back as people turned to find hope in Jesus.  Pray for us, for our church and the ministry to the many people who are in need, and praise God for His many blessings in the midst of the floods.

Becker Fam Christmas Pics

 How many kids can Nate bike around with him?  So far, he's got all 3 boys on a bike ride so I can play the piano at home!  Go Nate!

After researching the trail-a-bike and bringing it with us from America in our luggage, we finally got Nate's bike fixed and ready to attach it and for Elijah to try it.  These Biking Beckers have been all over the city together!  What a spectacle!

 Christmas Date--the lovely couple.  Thanks for continuing to pray for our marriage!  God has given us much love and peace especially since January arrived!

 Luke is excited to go to the beach for the first time (that he can remember!).

 Malachi loves to poke sticks in the sand.  Fun boy!

 Beckers 5 at the beach--too bad our boys missed the snow--but then again, Mama is not sad about that at all.

 Fun Christmas present!  Can you tell we like bikes?  We miss the smooth bike trails and sidewalks in America, but we are making do with the bumps and mud.

 Christmas gifts from family in America arrived!  Very exciting to have them ready to open!  Thanks, Fam!

 This one is for my mom--I think you can see why =)

 This pic is for Nate's mom--so fun!  Thanks guys!

Our Christmas is very simple--we didn't even have a tree this year.  Just a nativity and some candles to tell the story, some songs of worship and Bible stories.  We praise God for sending His Son!