Newjerseygrandma's Weblog

Home in the Philippines

newjerseygrandma — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:36:04 +0000

I just went on my blog to find that this blog never did post! I wrote it but ran out of time to figure out just how to do the pictures. Rather than wait, I thought I had posted it. I guess I really don’t have this thing quite figured out yet!!!! Anyways, had a great last couple of days in the Philippines and amidst many tears left Faith Academy. We drove to the airport, picking up our office driver along the way, flew to Hong Kong. For some reason there were no regular, standard rooms for rent this week and so we had to get a nice room. It is lovely and we have had a wonderful day. We just checked in on line for our flight tomorrow. I promise that in a few days, Sarah and I will have lots of pictures for you to see. ….back to the post that never posted

This has been an incredible week here in the Philippines. So much so that I have had little time to think about blogging. However this morning I have an hour to create! It will probably take longer than that With instructions in hand from Sarah as to how to insert pictures here I go!

We arrived in Manila from Thailand last Saturday evening and after the shortest arrival processing on record (less than 10 minutes) we were at the curb waiting for Dave and Ruth Harvey. We have been staying in their home for the week not too far from Faith Academy. Sunday Phil preached at Cainta Christian Church. In the afternoon we attended a church anniversary where we knew quite a few people. Later we decided to drop by the condo to visit a few friends in the building where we used to live. We saw the Foutz’ heading to the mall so jumped in the car with them. There are several huge malls that have been built since we left and I won’t even begin to try and describe them. Suffice it to say, that was fun! Amazingly enough we saw a Filipino family that had been good friends for many years. A quick trip to Dairy Queen completed our first day.

Monday morning we drove north to a beach that the Harvey’s had often visited. Being rainy season (it was beautiful and sunny that day) there were very few people at the beach. We had the beach and the resort to ourselves. We swam, took a banca out to a few islands and swam some more. There were small open nipa huts along the shore where we sat to eat all our meals. The food was great and we really enjoyed the time to totally relax. The sunset was awesome.

Wednesday morning was the highlight of the week. This was the dedication day of the new Fine Arts Auditorium. While the building itself is not completely finished, the auditorium is about 90%. The Dedication ceremony was amazing. A time of worship began the service followed by choral numbers from elementary and high school. Special numbers by several alumni were awesome. The building is dedicated to a couple who put music on the map at Faith during the sixties and seventies. They did an amazing job for many years. Since then after a long life of service in missions, Dick Cadd has passed away. However his wife and son were there to receive the honour of having the Fine Arts Center named after them. This was followed by a wonderful Filipino meal. Both of us have worked on many committees over the years so it was awesome to see the final result. Wednesday night we drove to Greenhills to view our new buildings on our mission compound. After the grand tour, we met with several CMML missionaries for dinner at Chili’s.

Thursday morning (are you getting bored?) I had a couple of hours to shop for quilt material in a market area close by. For whatever reason material, and other overstocks of the textile industry started appearing in Taytay several years ago. There is lots to choose from for decorating, costumes for plays, and other such things. The highlight however for those who like to quilt are tons (no exaggeration) of many of the big names in quilting fabric for a fraction of the cost. Sometimes it is slightly damaged but that is easily worked around. I tried to be careful considering my well stocked quilting cupboard at home. Should you wish to come quilting with me, I will supply all the materials! That day finished out with lots of visits with Faith friends and a dinner/theater production by the drama department at school.

Friday was my shopping day! Greenhills here we come! We ventured out in the pouring rain to our favourite more touristy market area. Breakfast at McDonald’s, lunch at Italiani’s with a dear Filipina friend, afternoon coffee at Krispy Kreme’s complete with a free doughnut, and back home to meet with two couples who were some of our closest friends for all of our years in the Philippines. Three of us turn 60 in the next several months so this was a celebration of sorts (not that we needed an excuse!). Oh and I shopped ’til I dropped in between.

Today we have been invited to watch our beloved Red Sox at the home of some more dear friends. We are twelve hours ahead so breakfast with the game is the order of the morning. Brian replaced Phil as High School Principal so we have had lots in common over the years. Visits with a couple of Filipino friends and a game night are planned for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we will be at our home church where Phil will preach and a Filipino lunch held in our honour. A quick trip back to Faith for a worship service in the new auditorium and then off to the airport. We will have one day in Hong Kong before boarding our 777 to return home. It has been a wonderful time both in Thailand and in Manila. We are so thankful to have had this opportunity. Thank you Lord.

Pictures!

newjerseygrandma — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:40:16 +0000

This is our last day in Thailand. This afternoon we visited a little pottery place that of course doesn’t look like much on the surface. It was fascinating to walk from shed to shed and see the people working at each stage of production. The last place on the tour was a little shop where everything seemed inexpensive. You can imagine my delight when the lady said, “Madame, everything is 50% off!” MY KIND OF SHOPPING! Well my idea was to add pictures to this blog but I am running out of internet time and I am still a little slow on this kind of thing. Wait patiently and soon I will have pictures.

THAILAND

newjerseygrandma — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:36:09 +0000

Good Morning!

This week in Thailand has gone by quickly. The main reason for our trip was to meet with missionaries from this region and that we have enjoyed immensely. It has been a great time of fun, fellowship and great ministry from the Word. We have had a couple of trips around Chang Mai. The first was to a Mall…not my idea of shopping…it was just like any Asian mall however we did find a few interesting item. Of greater interest will be our trip tonight to the Night Market. Yesterday we had a great visit to Grace International School. Phil had been there before but I enjoyed the tour…it was fun to compare all the similarities and differences with Faith Academy. Within minutes of arriving, a former Faith teacher and volleyball coach discovered we were there and we were delighted to have a short visit together. Today is the last day of the conference (ugh..I have to pack again). We hope to get to a little outlet for a special pottery made in this part of Thailand and then as I mentioned the Night Market this evening. We head to Manila tomorrow morning. Pictures to come. The trip to the Elephant Farm did not happen so that was a bit of a disappointment…not really, it means we will just have to return to Thailand some day.

Hong Kong

newjerseygrandma — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:57:07 +0000

Hi there! Oh dear … another three months have gone by since my last post but this week could be the beginning of good things to come. Phil and I are on our way to Thailand for a conference. As I write we are sitting in the Hong Kong airport waiting to board our flight. Thanks to free wifi I can get this post written. Then all my many readers will know that I am back on line. We had a great 15 hour and 10 minute flight non-stop from Newark to Hong Kong yesterday. All went well and we decided that we haven’t lost our travel bug. We were graciously hosted by missionaries here in Hong Kong and were able to see the amazing work of a book store that has been in existence for 100 years. Two flights today. Must run … haven’t had my morning coffee and we have just discovered Starbucks close by. Please stay posted and hopefully within hours there will be pictures and posts updating you on our travels.

New Jersey Grandma is Back!

newjerseygrandma — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:35:50 +0000

Well I started in on this project with great gusto but before long the days were flying by with no new news! Actually I had lots of new news but somehow didn’t get around to doing anything about it. Then one day I decided to get organized and get back to blogging. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember how to do it! So finally this morning I admitted to my short term memory loss and asked for Sarah’s help. Thank you Sarah!

You see, my blogging name is New Jersey Grandma and this week this grandma is getting to see two of her granddaughters. That’s right, Val, Mackenzie and Bella arrive on Friday from the Philippines. We are SO excited. They will be with us for the first month of their furlough and then at various times throughout the 10 months that they are home here in the U.S. So for this Grandma who loves family reunions, the months ahead look to be really exciting. Hopefully we will get some really great visits together not only with Josh, Val and the girls but with David, Sarah and Jackson and Heather and Bryan!

OK so I am back on line and will try to keep my vast audience of readers up to date with lots of pictures of the children and grandchildren that will be coming to visit New Jersey Grandma (and Grandpa) in the months ahead.

Piano Lessons

newjerseygrandma — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:45:33 +0000

When I left the Philippines, one of the great traumas was what to do with the “stuff” we had accumulated over 20 years. Some of it was easy…hand me down furniture etc. that had all seen better days was sold cheap or given away. Val ran a garage sale selling off all the odds and ends to the Filipino community for pennies (pesos actually). Those pennies added up to a new crib for Bella! Boxes of “I still have to have” things were prepared for shipping. But one of my most precious possessions was my piano. It wasn’t anything great but as I had a piano (my mother’s) here in the U.S. there was no need to bring it home. So I told Val, if she promised to give Mackenzie (and the children to follow) piano lessons, the piano was hers to keep. True to her promise, here is Mackenzie having her first piano lesson. I am off to Iowa on Saturday!.

Equal Time

newjerseygrandma — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:28:12 +0000

This Grandma has to give equal time to the grandchildren so I went on Val’s blog and retrieved the most recent, posed pictures. There are lots of cute ones, doing cute things but these are some of the best. Mackenzie Rose is 3 1/2, tall and very articulate. Bella is 15 months and she adores her big sister. We are more than a little excited to see them when they come on home assignment this summer. Grandma has big plans! I have already shopped the winter clearance sales for coats, boots and jammies! This family from the tropics doesn’t have much in the way of winter clothes so I have started a stash that should see them through the coldest months. This blog was to be about Val and her family but the picture of David and Jackson just came in and is way too cute so I have included that also. Just in case you are reading this Heather, your spot on Mom’s blog with be posted after my visit to you this coming weekend. Yes I am off to Iowa for a few days of mother-daughter time. Phil will hold down the fort with Grammie.

Welcome to my blog!

newjerseygrandma — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:21:44 +0000

Creating a weblog has been on my list of things to do for quite some time. Keeping up with the grandkids will be my main focus as noted by my name but from time to time, I might throw in some fun stuff about our family, jobs and travels. So if you want to keep in touch with the us…this would be a great way to do it. I am excited to get started even though my computer skills are a little basic. It might take awhile! Thanks to Sarah, I got set up this weekend while they were here for a visit. The picture of the happy little boy of course is me with Jackson … 3 1/2 months old. We had a great weekend together with two of David’s friends and their wives. I was only two happy to babysit while David and Sarah enjoyed a trip into New York. I commented to Phil at the end of the day, “How did we raise three children and carry on a whole life without being exhausted after just a few hours!” Maybe I was and have just forgotten. Anyways stayed tuned and I will have pictures of Mackenzie and Bella up in a few days. They need equal time with Grandma.

Visit from Jackson

newjerseygrandma — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:54:29 +0000

Hello world!

newjerseygrandma — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:29:48 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!