American thanksgiving

 



Jonah thought it would be great this year if his family had a chance to know what American Thanksgiving is like for us.  So we bought a couple of turkeys and hams and we had thanksgiving with about twenty five people here in the Philippines.  All of the people here had never had turkey before and so it was fun to share this holiday with them.  Both turkeys where gone and most of the ham was gone as well.  We also set up our Christmas tree recently.  Another fun day that was.  The tree was set up and decorated by seven kids.  Jonah and I sat back and took pictures and watched the kids all have fun.  They have had a tree of their own let alone help decorate one before.  They all had a blast.  We are really enjoying this season with all of our kids.

 eight of the "kids" with our tree

 Thanksgiving feast ready to be devoured

 nephew Ken, sister in law Melina and niece Sharon

 Faith enjoying Thanksgiving dinner

A couple of our young people enjoying Thanksgiving

 

We are in full swing for Christmas season here and what a busy time of year it is.  The biggest event we have coming up is our last youth event for this year.  We are expecting about 200 plus young people this month.  The event is planned for December 12 and 13.  They arrive early Saturday and have lectures, worship and games planned for all day Saturday and will attend a Sunday worship service the next day.  Please keep this event in your prays.

 

     We are all doing pretty well.  A cold has made its way through our family and had us all laid out for a day or two but we are all back to health and ready to stay healthy for the rest of this amazing Christmas season to celebrate our saviors birth.  We Pray you and your families will have a very blessed Christmas and a wonderful new year.

A picture is worth a thousand words part I

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I am going to try an experiment with the blog today and you can come along for the ride.  If you get a chance leave me note and let me know what you think.  I will put a small caption under each picture to tell you who and when it was taken.

 

 Juagdan ECCU congregation at the church thanksgiving end of April 2015

 Faith on the steps at our house, Sept. 2015

 James and Inday, about July 2015

 Kuya Ken, Precious, Faith and Kuya Fredo.  In Negros March 2015

 The gang that went to Negros with us March 2015

 Ate Amy, Precious, Faith, Ate Jane, and Jolene Negros March 2015

 Lolo Kuya Ken, Kuya Fredo and Jonah Negros MArch 2015

 Kuya Fredo, Kuya Ken, Precious, Faith and Kuya Chloe, Negros March 2015

Kuya Fredo, Kuya Chloe, Faith, Precious and Kuya Ken, Negros March 2015.

 

 

The pictures from Negros is when we went to the local churches national conference in March.  I am so thankful for the three young men that where with us.  Ken Chloe and Fredo.  My girls love them and they love my girls and where great because they helped to watch after the kids.  Most of the pictures are at a park that we stopped at the last day before we left for home.  The girls wanted to get a lot of pictures with there "boys".  Hope you enjoy a small glimpse into our world here.  There will be a part two coming soon and maybe more when I find the other memory card.  God Bless.

Family day away and other news

 

 



On Friday a couple of weeks ago we took a day away to spend with Jonah's sister and her family.  The 5 of  them and 4 of us went to a resort about an hour or so from home to spend the day relaxing and swimming.  It was a good day to get away from the craziness of life here and to relax before the start of the Bible training here in Juagdan.  The girls and I spent most of the day in the pool.  They had a nice pool for kids that was not more than three feet deep and had a nice slide system set up with five or six different slides.  The girls loved having the chance to spend the day with there cousins and with mom and dad.  Three of the cousins live here with there mom and dad but are gone most of the week at work and school but the girls love them and they love the girls so it was nice for them to have a day to play together and just relax from the hectic life we sometimes lead.  

 

 Precious

 Chloe, Faith, Precious and Klent

 

Faith enjoying the water

 

 

In other news the girls are doing well in school and are learning a lot.  Precious is getting pretty fluent in Cebuano the local language here.  Faith is learning it as well and can speak in short sentences.  Faith has learned to spell and write her name.  She knows the alphabet and can write most of the letters free hand.  She counts to forty in English and to 25 in Cebuano.  We have started renovating a building near our house to start the water refilling business.  We have also started raising baby pigs to sell when they are older.  There is a big market for pigs and pork so we are trying it out.  We know that we can save some on our food budget by buying a baby and raising it to butcher when big enough.  The orphans are growing and learning a lot as well.  Marvin and John have almost mastered the alphabet which is a huge accomplishment from where they were just a few months ago.  I keep some busy on the weekends baking and making snacks for the mens basketball games on Sunday afternoon.  I enjoy baking and the guys love to eat the goodies so it is a win win.  I burn the calories mixing everything by hand and the guys eat all the yummies.  The kids all enjoy helping out in the kitchen when I bake also so sometimes it becomes a family affair.  It takes longer that way but is a lot more fun because there is a lot more laughter. 

 

This note may be a little early but better early.  We would ask that you prayerfully share our ministry with your friends and family.  At the same time we would ask that you prayerfully consider or work and ministry here for your year end giving.  May God bless you and yours.  Blessings

 

Cajigas family

new members

Wow it is has been a long time since I updated and for that we are sorry.  I just want to take this time to introduce you to a couple of new members of our family.  The first is Marvin.  He is a 13 year old boy that was living with his lolo (grandpa).  He is in the 3rd grade.  He is similar to our other three orphans in that he is very behind in school because no one has made him attend.  We are wondering how he even got to the 3rd grade.  He can not read and is not able to recognize all the letters by sight.  If done in order he has memorized the alphabet.  He is also very behind in math.  He can speak well.  He is a hard worker and has a lot of energy.  I am understanding know how a boy of that age can eat a person out of house and home.  He has a sad story.  His mom was raped by her dad and got pregnant.  Marvin is the result of that crime.  His mom ran away soon after he was born and Marvin has been raised by his dad/grandpa till know.  He was here with us for a week or so and then grandpa wanted him to come home.  He cried for a couple of days because he wanted to live here with us.  Grandpa finally let him go and he has officially moved into the orphanage.  We are excited to provide him with the love and support he needs to succeed in life.  We are tutoring him after school and on weekends in the hopes to get him caught up to where he should be in school. 

 

 

Marvin our happy one.

 

The next new member is Lexi.  That is what the girls have named our puppy.  We have had her for about five months know but are just getting pictures up.  She is a German shepherd Chocolate Lab mix.  She is already a tall puppy so we are sure she is going to be a big dog.  She is very well behaved and we are trying to teach her tricks.  The girls love her.  

 

Lexi our puppy

 

 

The last person we would like to introduce you to is DinDin.  I do not have a picture of her yet so will post later.  She is a new ministry partner.  She came to us in June.  She loves kids and has a huge servants heart.  She has taken over most of the care at the orphanage and helps us out around our home as well.  She is also working with the children at the church to start some more children's ministries.  She is also teaching our youngest orphan John and Faith in school.  We pulled John from the local school and decided to teach him at home because he was not learning at school and was to distracting to the other kids.  He has been doing much better here and Faith is enjoying as well.  They are excited to be classmates and cannot wait to share with Jonah and I all that they learned that day.  She has been a huge blessing to have and we are excited to welcome her to our family as well.

       In other news, we have a new ministry starting here soon.  In mid September we are starting a short term bible training program.  We have at least eight students for the first session and are excited for this new opportunity.  It is a three month program with a focus on leadership and evangelism/outreach.  We have six courses that are going to be taught with them working in the field to apply what they are learning at the same time.  I have been given the wonderful opportunity to head up this program with the help of the church board.  As we get started I will update you more about the ministry and let you know how it is going. 

 



Youth camp 2015 and other news

Youth Camp, wow what an experience.  There where a little over 200 young people from around Bohol that attended.  They stayed in tents and cabins on the grounds at a camp not far from our home here.  They started with registration where they got there name tag and where assigned there team color.  They did everything with their team.  The day started early at camp.  They started the morning with team devotions and exercise at 4:30 They then had time to get ready for the day before breakfast at 7:00.  The first session of the day started at 8:30.  They started with praise and worship then a speaker. The topics that where discussed where relevant to young peoples life today.  There where several pastors from the area that did the speaking.  After the lecture they where dismissed for chore duty.  Each team had a certain area of camp they where responsible for cleaning.  Lunch was at noon.  There was another session after lunch.  Then each afternoon there where team activities planned.  Basketball, volleyball, dramas, skits and even an amazing race planned.  Dinner and free time was then enjoyed by all before an evening session.  Lights out by 9:00 pm because morning came early.  We had the joy to be able to stay at camp with everyone as chaperones and just to observe and enjoy watching the young people get to know Christ and grow in him more.

 

 praying for one another

 200 young people from youth camp 2015

 kids from our village at camp

In other news The orphanage just needs to be painted and a couple of doors put on which should happen today and tomorrow.  It took a little over three and a half months to finish with a lot of love and sweat from a lot of very dedicated men.  We had two volunteer weeks and every Saturday was a volunteer day.  Every volunteer day at least three to five guys working. 

 



     We have three orphans currently living in the orphanage you can see there pictures below, but I will tell you a little about all of them.  Jerwin(tata) the oldest is 15 years old and has started the 5th grade this last week.  He is smart, enjoys spending time with his friends and recently became a new believer in Christ.  His sister in Donnabe(Ebec) she is 13 years old and has also just started the 5th grade.  She is fun loving and a great caretaker of the younger kids around.  The youngest is Jonh Allen he is 7 years old and started the 2nd grade.  He is full of energy and can be quite the trouble maker if not watched.  He is learning a lot of things to become more independent.  He was not made to do much for himself before he arrived so does not think he is able to do for himself.  They are all learning and growing well here and we pray they will continue to.  There mom Died several years ago in an accident and there dad passed in mid march from TB.  They have all been tested and two of them are being treated for TB and the youngest is being treated for the exposure.  They have a government program that allows people to be tested for and treated free of charge so we have challenged the church to get tested and treated if needed.  To help with that we will provide transportation to the clinic and help with any expenses if there are any. 



 

 Jonh Allan Dupalco

 Donnabe (Ebec) dupalco

Jerwin (Tata) Dupalco

 

 

In family news, we are all adjusting to life with three new kids around.  As you can maybe imagine we have a very busy house these days but we are enjoying it and taking everyday as it comes.  The girls have started school as well.  Precious is started the 2nd grade and is still homeschooled for know we will see about next year.  She is picking up on the language a little bit and loves spending time with her friends.  She is getting involved with some of the activities here.  She helps to clean the grounds and get the church set up every Saturday.  She also attends a pray meeting with some of the other young people on Friday evening.  She still talks about missing home every once in awhile but we are able to send a message to her friends and even call them and she is usually okay.  Faith is smart, fun and full of energy.  She knows how to count to ten in English and Viasayan.  She knows here colors, shapes and can identify the numbers 0-8 she is also starting to learn to write some of her numbers.  Seven is her favorite number to write.  We are not pushing her to learn but she asks to do school and we are letting her set the pace at what she is learning.  She has a lot of older girls that love to watch out for her so that is nice because she has a lot of energy and would run us in circles every day.  Jonah is enjoying being home.  He has taken up fishing here and has been out a few times with a young man from the church and they have done great at supplying us with fish to eat.  He has also started a livelihood project with the men at the church here.  they are planting oysters to then harvest and sell.  There seems to be a large demand for but no one was harvesting them.  Me, Jessica am enjoying having so many kids around to care for.  I will admit there are times they all try my patience but God seems to be blessing me with a lot more of that than I used to possess so he knows what we need and is a great provider.  I am proud to say also that I have lost pretty close to 35 pounds since we have been here.  I have been eating better and eating  less and have been walking at least  four times a week.  It also helps that we have a flight of steps in our house and I climb them somewhere between 20-30 times a day.  Anyway sorry this one is so long and has been a long time in coming but we where without internet for a week and have had a lot of activities going on here.  For more youth camp pictures see facebook.



 

 

 



Church anniversary Thanksgiving



 

On April 25 the local church we serve with and attend here celebrated there Annual Church Thanksgiving.  The thanksgiving here is very different from a US thanksgiving.  Here anytime there is a big party to celebrate a special occasion it is called a Thanksgiving.  A reason to give thanks to God for all his wonderful blessings.  Great God Fruitful Generation was the theme.  It was a powerful message that told us that we serve a very powerful God and that if we give what we have back to the ministry and back to God who gave it to us then we would be blessed in return. 



 



It was a wonderful day of celebration with lots of fun games and wonderfully delicious food.  The day started with a wonderful service of worship and praise to our almighty powerful God.  After the service we had a wonderful lunch with the congregation.  After lunch the fun began.  They had a basketball competition for the men a variety of games for the women that included a treasure hunt and a game of name bingo.  The kids also had a lot of fun with two versions of a Filipino piñata.  which is really just a clay pot full of candy, hung on a string.  It is full of candy like all other piñatas the kids are blind folded and have to try and hit it with a stick.  The joy on there faces where priceless.  for more pictures of all the fun visit my facebook.  if we are not friends send we a friend request with a message and I will add you. please enjoy these pictures of our new Church family.

 

 

                                                  congregation of Juagdan ECCU

                                                The 45 and older generation of Juagdan ECCU

                                            The 25 to 45 generation of Juagdan ECCU

 

 

After the church Thanksgiving was the Cajigas family reunion, but that will be a different post.

sad/joyful news

We just got word Monday evening that my dad passed away at the age of 91.  It is sad news for those of us here on earth that will miss him so much but what joyful news also because we know that he is in a better place.  We know that he is with his savior in glory and what a wonderful reunion must be happening with him and my mom.  I can see them up there praising there Lord together and talking about all the kids and grandkids and even the great grandkids.  My dad lived a very full wonderful life here on earth.  He was a many of many talents and much love to give.  He was very generous with his time and loved and prayed for his family often.  I thank God that He gave me Jake Lucas for a dad.  I have learned much from him and mom and cannot thank them enough for the life that they gave me.  He was a man of faults as well but we all are.  More important he was a man that loved God and taught his kids to do the same.  Dad we love you and will miss you so much but thank God that you are in a better place and that you get to spend eternity with mom now.

Kids

 

Many of you have asked about how the kids have been doing so I have decided to call and dedicate this blog to the kids.  Faith's picture is first so I will start with her.  This picture is a good representation of what she most often looks like here.  I often say that she was born to live in the Philippines.  She loves the food here and has adjusted well to the people around her.  She has a lot of "friends" that she enjoys playing and coloring with.  Most of her friends are a lot older but that is what makes her happy so we let her spend time with her friends often.  She is adjusting pretty well to the heat.  I have noticed that it seems to make her more irritable in the middle of the day when it is hottest, but if we can keep her occupied and happy then she is fine.  She loves to ride the motorcycle with her daddy if he goes to the shore to buy fish or to bring one of the workers home that lives about 3-4 kilometers from here.  She still will ask about Michigan and some of the people there.  If she misses someone to much she will bring my phone and ask if we can text them or call.  We most often will try and send a message.  Tonight she prayed that we might go visit Michigan soon.  She is also enjoying "school"  she likes to practice shapes and is learning her numbers.  She is counting to 12 and starting to recognize what some of the numbers are when they are written.  We love her joy and laughter and smiling face.

 

 

 

This picture I included to show you all the three smiling beautiful faces of the kids.

 

 Precious is next.  She has adjusted pretty well also.  It has been a bit harder for her as it is an all new way of life.  She has friends from years past that she has gotten reacquainted with first enjoys spending time with.  the food is a little harder for her, but she always has been my picky eater.  There are some things she just will not eat but other things that she really enjoys.  We have had to be a little more careful with her and food though, because she had a few days that she had a really bad stomach ache, took her to the doctor and found out she was having a lot of acid build up.  We have been trying since then to watch what she eats and how we cook the food and that has made a big difference.  The heat does not seem to bother her to much, she is smart to avoid going out to much in the heat of the day and if she has to go out she uses and umbrella for shade.  She is four days away from finishing the first grade.  We have been going a lot faster with school because she wants to try and get on the same schedule as her friends.  We have done well.  we are only about a week and a half behind them which considering we started our school year about two and a half months after them.  She is learning a lot.  She has made great strides in reading and math which where both subjects that we struggled with last year and at the start of this year.  She with talking to us has decided to continue with homeschool for now and so we will do second grade and us the Sonight curriculum again starting the school year in June here.  She is growing up to be such a great young girl and has such a tender heart.

 

Last but certainly not least is James.  He as many of you may know is the young boy here that we would like to adopt.  He is ten years old and has just finished the third grade.  I had the great honor of being at his closing program to watch him receive fourth honors in his class.  the honors are based on grades and he has the fourth highest grade in his class.  Classes hear are about 25 or so students.  He has learned a lot of English since we saw him last and I am trying hard to learn some Cebuano from him.  He is an active ten year old with a lot of energy like most boys his age.  He seems to be settling into our family well and takes great care with the girls.  He has his chores like most kids and has become very responsible to make sure they get done when they should.  It took some talking and discipline because he was not used to a set chore but has learned fast and does a great job now.  We love to hear his laughter and watch him with the girls, to see the love between all three of them is great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

prayers and ponderings

I am going to use this blog to reflect on some things I have seen, learned and been thinking about since I have arrived.  The first is the work ethic of the people here.  I have been amazed to watch the guys that have been working on the orphanage building here.  There scheduled work day is 7:30 to 11:30 break for lunch and then from 1:00 to 5:00.  This is the schedule that was agreed upon at the first meeting with all of the workers.  It has been great to watch these guys though because most of them are here before 7:00 every morning getting there tools ready and talking about who is doing what when and all the planning that goes into such a project.  Most days we have to tell the guys when it is lunch break because they would just work up till they get hungry.  We also have had to tell them when it is 5:00.  Most days they work till  or after and are not leaving till 5:30.  The first week we tried paying them for the overtime that they worked but would not let us and told us in the future to not even worry about it.  I thank God for there dedication and hard work.  I also thank God that most of the guys are willing to volunteer one day a week in exchange for a meal.  I wonder if we all had the same kind of drive for the ministry  and the work ethic of the guys working here what could be accomplished in this world.

The other big thing that I have learned and admired is the dedication and emphasize the
church puts on reaching out to the children and youth of there own church but also the community.  I think this is a great thing and something we should think more about.  If we really think about it the youth are the future.  Not only are they using the church but the government has also asked the church to implement a "Moral recovery program"in the schools.  The topics range from punctuality, to selfless service to respecting women along with a number of other topics.  The pastors in the local churches have been invited to be the ones to teach these topics so they are able to but a spiritual spin on it and has even led to some high school students turning there hearts over to Christ.  The church here just had a youth night that the kids and youth of the church were encouraged to invite non Christians that they know and there was praise and worship and a speaker that shared the importance of having Christ as a light that shines in our hearts.  Please pray for the youth that where there tonight that there hearts would be open and for those that received Christ as there savior that he would work in there hearts.  Pray also for the youth camp that is coming up in May 19-21.  Pray for those leading the event and for those that will attend that there hearts will be open to the gospel message and they would see the need for a savior in there lives.  Pray for sponsors that might be willing to help youth attend that may not be able to for financial reasons.  It cost 270 pesos per person and nine cups of rice and some fire wood per person.  so about 300 pesos per person.  That translates to about $7 per person for a three day youth camp.  We would love to see as many youth be able to attend as possible.  I know $7 does not sound like a lot but for most people here that may be a days salary or more. 

The orphanage is projected to be done by the end of March or the beginning of April for sure so we would ask you to pray with us for the kids that will be living there.  God knows who they are even if we do not.  We are starting the process of figuring out who those kids might be.  We are beginning to set up meetings with the department of social welfare and justice who are the ones that handle all of those details.  We have to figure out what paper work needs to be done if any.  Please also pray that it will not be difficult for me to become certified as a Social worker here.  I have my transcript and papers from school back state side so I am hoping it is just a test or something similar to become certified but I will have to meet with a supervisor in Cebu maybe sometime next week to find out for sure.  Will keep you all posted. 

I think I will sign off and say good night because it is getting late here and morning comes to soon most days.  God bless and keep each one of you and I pray he blesses you richly as you serve him.

Please feel free to share this post with your friends and family as well.

Construction has begun

On Monday January 16th Construction began on The orphanage.  The first day they tore down most of the walls that were in place, leaving the foundation because it was still very secure.  The rest of the week the guys have been working really hard and have the walls almost half up now.  We have three carpenters that are working for seven dollars a day and working a sixth day for food only.  We also have four helpers working for five dollars a day working a sixth day for food.  They are here early to prepare for the day and leave late most days.  I have been very impressed with there dedication to the job.  Please join me in thanking God for such a dedicated group of men to get the job done.  They and we are projecting that the building will be done in two months.  I will try to keep posting pictures of the project.  Please also join me in thanking God for all of the people that have made this whole dream possible for our family and for the kids that will be living in this new building.  Time for bed, will post more later.

 

 

                                           Before the demolition, front view and side view

 

 

 

 

 

                                                 Work has begun

 

 

 

 

                                            Hard at work

Moved in

We have moved in to our new home.  Well sort of.  Our bedroom is finished and we have been sleeping in there for since this past Saturday.  I will have to post some pictures later.  We ate our first meal in our new house this morning after Jonah got the stove hooked up.  The girls room should be most of the way finished by the end of today.  We still have to install the windows and screens but that will be done next week.  There is a temporary screen on our window to prevent mosquitos.  The kitchen walls are up and the floor poured.  Jonah and his dad are going to put in the counters and the it should be finished.  Hopefully in a week or two the house should be done to the point that we can be all moved in and not be living out a suitcases anymore.  I am learning that keeping things cleaned and organized and living out of a suitcase don't always go together very well. 

    On another note we are making plans for the Orphanage and the design for the remodel.  We are going to keep the main floor mostly the same there will be one side that will be the kitchen and dining room.  The other side will be divided into two rooms a play room and a living room.  A second story will be added and have two bedrooms one for girls and one for boys.  We are going to meet a family of seven kids sometime in March.  Other than that we have two kids that live in this area who are without a mom and who's dad is quite ill.  We have not done much in searching for kids yet because we have been focusing on adjusting and getting our house done. 

April and May start a pretty busy season here for us.  We have a Church anniversary party in April and the next day is the start of Jonah's family reunion.  all his Brothers and sisters are coming for a couple of days to celebrate and spend some time together.  We have been and will continue to plan some fun activities and games.  Right after the reunion we travel to Negros for a Church conference for three days.  Later in May we have a wedding for one of my best friends here in the Philippines.  We will share pictures and try to update more with all the goings on as time allows.

We thank  you for all your prayers and support.  Will try to share pictures later this weekend.

arriviing home

 

 

 

After our Ferry ride we had another nephew and friend meet us at the dock with another van to take us home.  We made it to our new home at about 4 and surprised Jonah's sister first.  we then gathered some friends and went to Jonah's parents house to sing Happy birthday and surprise him.  He did not even realize at first that we where there till Melanie pointed me out to him and then he was real surprised.  It was fun to see people for the first time over the next day or two as the surprise continued. 

 

 

 

Since arriving in Juagdan we have spent the time getting settled and adjusting to our new life.  We are staying with Melanie and Family for now as we are waiting for our house to be done.  Should be done in another week or so.  We have done quite a bit of shopping to furnish the house and get some much needed summer clothes.  we have waited to buy some things in the hopes that the stuff we need will be in the boxes we shipped.  We are praying the boxes arrive soon though.

The kids have been having a great time reconnecting and making new friends.  

We Thank you for coming on this Journey with us and will try to keep updated as much as we can.

What a Journey!

Its been a long time since we updated and we are sorry for that.  We had a good reason to be quite though.  We were trying to make sure Jonah's family did not find out when we were coming because we wanted to surprise his family and it worked. 

We spent the last couple of months at home in the US raising funds and packing up our life to move it and us to the Philippines.  We had our apartment emptied minus our suitcases the week before we left.  We spent that last week visiting family and friends and just enjoying the last few days we had with them. A huge thank you to our friends Scott and Kayleen for letting us stay with them for a week.

On January 19th we started the long trek to the Philippines.  It was a long flight but we all faired well.  I even did pretty well even though I was still fighting a bit of a cold but was most of the way healthy by the time we had to fly.  I am thankful to my family and friends that loaded me up on vitamins before I left. 

 

 

 

 After a little more than 28 hours of flying we made it to Manila and we where ready to take a nap.  The time change threw us all for a loop the first couple of days but then we adjusted pretty well.  We all woke up about 3 in the morning the first night we were here and ready for the day.  we took a nap later in the morning before we started our day.  We had planned to get my immigration paper work done in the morning after an hour or so and then go to Manila Ocean Park.  That did not go as planned.  The immigration offices here do not have a set procedure so we were sent to two different offices and had to get another blood test because I did not have the results they wanted.  Anyway.  The hour we wanted to spend there turned into an all day affair. most of it was spent waiting and waiting.  So after all day there we were all tired and ready for bed so we went back to the hotel and had supper and went to bed.  We went to Manila  Ocean Park On Friday before we flew to Cebu.  It was a great time and you will have to check out the pictures on Facebook soon.  It was a short flight when we finally took off.  We were able to catch an "earlier flight"  that finally took off at the same time our original flight was supposed to.  Our nephew met us at the airport with a van to take us to the ferry for the overnight ride to Bohol.