okay, fast typhoon update . . . 

thankfully, the typhoon was a bust. even for a tropical storm it was a bust.  

all typhoons should be so gentle, although at last count it was reported that 21 people here did lose their lives in flooding.  i thank you all so much for your prayers for me, and please remember those poor folks and the people who love and miss them.

we got a couple of days of rain, no wind, no big deal. sooooo thankful.

isabell took these photos down near manila, showing a little of what the water does here.

i am sooooooo very much missing our beautiful katherine kaiser, who was doing a hunger program internship at the birth home.  she left yesterday to return to her family in south carolina and soon to her classmates at wheaton college in illinois.

i can't tell you how wonderful and dear she is to me.  here she is snuggling with our newest baby, isiah.

katherine loves those babies as much as i do, and we spent lots of hours smuggling a couple over to our apartment for hugs and kisses.

this is a beautiful photo that she took of the floodway in pasig, down in metro manila.

this is going to be a brief post, but i did want to let you know we are all safe and sound after the storm.  you can't probably imagine how much it meant to have so many of you checking in before, during and after.  it makes me appreciate you all and miss you all the more for your caring and good friendship.

in closing, here is the motley crew at the latest adoption celebration.

and y'all know how much i'm missing this cutie pie!

i've been on some fabulous adventures, and i will work hard on getting some of those photos up here for you shortly.  i'm mortified that i only posted once in november, what the what???!

love you all and miss you gobs!!!

xoxo  jo

time for a tour!

i went for a walk.  i've never gone further past the baby home than isabell's house, but beyond there is a creek and a neighborhood called creekside.  they refer to neighborhoods as the community.  so, we went in to the community.   there is a creek, duh, and a couple of small waterfalls.  this was absolutely the coolest thing i had done here so far, and it just entailed walking down the street.

there was a big flood here back with typhoon yolanda, and our ministry helped improve and rebuild the sidewalk and railing, there is a placque there which I will get a photo of next, and will add.  i have been wanting to get back there and take a couple photos, but it is just the kind of thing that keeps blogs from getting posted, eh?  better some photos posted than perfect photos never seen!

isabell's friend, anita, was visiting from germany which was the reason for this excursion.  once we got going, we ran into ate generosa (prn henna-rose-sa) who works with me at the baby home.   she lives on the creek and had never walked back to the falls.

along the way, we picked up a few boys who stopped to help us, pointing out where to walk and literally giving us a hand.  i was walking by the birth home that night, and a couple of them came up to me and said, do you remember me?  i said yes, you are ate generosa's friends who helped us on the river.  the way henne was bossing them i thought they knew her, but turns out they didn't!

as you can see from these photos, this was philippine rural poverty and natural beauty all wrapped up together.   this creek is where people wash clothes, bathe, and live.  i wanted to take photos of the homes and living conditions for you, because they were stunning in their bleakness and poverty, but i just couldn't.  so, i took it in with my eyes and left the camera in my pocket.  that being said, these photos will focus on the natural beauty and you can deduct the rest from the few shots of us where we stopped on the way back, to take a picture on the bridge.

i (per usual) will include more photos than necessary; it was just a beautiful place and i have a hard time choosing what you'd wish to not see.

do watch the video, it's the best of it, also per usual.

i need a film crew here, i really do.  this is a hit reality show begging to be made.

what a crazy life i am living, difficult and sad, beautiful and funny, lucky and blessed every day.

per usual!

okay, to begin, here is ate generosa.

i just love this photo, probably my favorite taken here in the philippines.  so far!

they aren't in this shot, but lots of people swim here.  don't forget that you can click on a photo to see a larger version.  :o)

isabell and anita.

sweaty hot mess!

hene and isabell sat while anita and i walked up to get closer to the falls.  

these kids were jumping around like goats, but it was treacherous walking and those little falls produced an amazing amount of force.

only a complete suspension of vanity allows you to see some of these!!  haha.

you see here that we were literally walking up the river.

there you go!  love you all and miss you lots.  xoxo  jo

i got out of the city and took a trip north, which i have to tell you was fabulous, wonderful and gorgeous.  however, as a result i am very behind on my blog!

i took a video on saturday afternoon, thinking i'd just put it up quickly for you to enjoy while i get my trip photos in shape. and by in shape, i mean i have to go thru hundreds. 

however, with the internet here moving at glacial speed, it took a day and a half for the video to upload. i am not kidding.  

but, the good news is that it did load, so here it is and really i hope you enjoy.

it was just a normal crazy saturday here, with lots of kids around.  it was a nice bright day, so i also filmed a bit of the jungle over our back wall.  

this is mostly the birth home play yard walking past my basement apartment with just a bit of the baby home and the lovely miss editha, who lives there and is 9 years old making an appearance at the end. i tend to not take too many videos in the nursery.  when i watch them back it is pretty much not as sweet as i saw it.  there is usually someone crying in the background, someone just spit up and someone is coughing or sneezing out something gross.  i wish i was kidding!

i'll close with some adorableness that i shot for you while they were all sleeping.

thanks everyone for being in touch!  

xoxo      jo

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OKQ3VEREVPo&feature=em-upload_owner

okay, and you know i have to add this halloween cuteness of miss mackinac.

love her!!

not so fun these days at the little children's home.

all 6 of our little ones in the nursery are ill with fever and really bad coughs. 

4 went to the doctor yesterday, all have chest infections. the other two are sick today, as well.

adding medication dosing and breathing treatments every two hours for 6 little ones is a challenge to the staff.  the staff of one and then me when i am here to help.  

add the vomiting and diarrhea that goes with it, and we are all pretty weary.  they all just want and need to be held.  we've had extra hands come over when they can, but you just can't do enough for the little babes.

little ezra was struggling to breathe last night, it scared me to see and hear him.  i've never seen a baby that sick.  but he was on antibiotics and getting breathing treatments - going to the hospital is a whole additional trauma here,  so we just kept a close eye on him and today he is still sick, but breathing much better.

all are in good hands and all are on the mend, but please say your prayers that we all get thru this quickly!  and that it doesn't go thru the toddlers and big kids upstairs.

***I CHANGED A SETTING HERE SO THAT ANYONE CAN LEAVE A COMMENT.  PLEASE DO SO, but if you don't sign in, please tell me who you are.  thanks!!

also, just for you, dee kuster, i think i got rid of the dumb robot verification step.

i'll throw a few random pics for you all -  here we go in no particular order!!

xoxo     jo

they are adding a story to the house where i live.  they had the supplies delivered and just mixed it in the street.

a street in manila that we randomly turned down, trying to get downtown to take some kids to the doctor.

one of the kids going to see the doctor.   turns out we had some scabies.  sigh.

my lunch.  a fish from the ocean who's name i could not retain.  and okra, who's taste i could not enjoy.

 two packages from the states that arrived on the same day.

this was a place in the mall where we were having some photos printed for the children's lifebooks. these are beautiful scrap books that document the time the kids spend here, which they take with them when they are adopted.  anyway, i took this for you because of the religious statue on the wall, but do check out the crazy photo below. oh, philippines!

this is the office in the baby home.  i just love that there are two keys next to the phone. the real keys were lost long ago and we unlock the office by sticking a fork in the doorjam and jimmying the knob.

isabell and jeri at a bazaar booth where we were promoting the birth home and the baby home.

the very first baby i held this day, did this to me.  niiiiice.

this denotes that yes, we are in the rainy season.

adorable baby ezra.

my adorable granddaughter mackinac, whose mommy sends me pictures and videos every single day.

i know i'm partial, but she is beautiful, right?!

bye for now, and don't forget to leave a word.  :o)

oh man, i took a whole bunch of pictures at the legazpi market down in makati one sunday and i just don't know what to do about posting them.  i'm usually better about editing, but i hate to eliminate any because i think they are all interesting and unique! decided i should just throw them all up here and let you go thru them. 

i'll put a little map first, so you can see where the market is and where i live.  it is a short walk from the union church of manila where we go to church.  it's a long way to travel for church, but this market is one of the reasons it's nice getting down in to the city once a week.  

i've had lunch a couple of times, gotten fruit, buy bread here every sunday, bought a present for mackinac this trip.

so, remember you can select any photo and it will open up full size if you want to zoom in and snoop.

if you see something you want, you have a personal shopper in manila, so just make a list!

this is funny because it says 33 minutes. on sunday morning, it takes us nearly an hour.  on a weekday morning 2 1/2 hours.  or if it's raining or just because, maybe 3 or maybe 6 hours. wish i was kidding.

the market is the red dot, i live straight west of it on the blue dot in taytay.

 this is coffee.

 these are beautiful, hand-knit children's clothes.

these bags are made using bicycle tires

hand woven rugs.

i pretty much love everything at this booth.

 going to have to check this out, those rolls in the front are cocoa. and do read the sign.

want. this is what you need to remember at the market. there is pretty much no need, but there is a good deal of want!

harboring a secret crush on this man, don't you think he's adorable?

also could buy out this vendor. all of these items are made from water buffalo horns.  some are wood with inlaid horn.  just really beautiful work.

would empty my wallet at this booth if beth lived in a subtropical climate!!   beautiful healthy plants. stevia too!

had to include the raw meat on a giant hook photo. note the man in the left foreground who is waving a little stick with straw on it to keep away the flies.  uhhhh.

fresh, beautiful and a stunning variety of seafood.

 i just love the business card holder here.

this fellow, please do zoom in and check him out, must be 70 years old. takes plastic sunglasses and decorates them up with wire and other zany stuff.  love his smile!!

please check out the list of chores on the 'my responsibility chart'.  charming and hilarious.

taste of home?

 something for everyone?

love this.

no need for a doctor, just drink this.  relieves both arthritis and flatulence.

 again, water buffalo, but this time it is milk.  definitely going to get some, word is that it's fabulous.

 this fellow, not sure what he is doing, but i did want to point out his socks.

remember your math, P130 is about $2.98.       

shorts.

here is where i buy bread, from this french baker.  this beautiful young lady hand slices it.  and when you come back in in 10 minutes, or maybe an hour and 10 minutes, they remember which loaf is yours and just hand it over.

 hmmm, one more shot of mr adorable, because i love the colors here.

this day, i finally got the chocolate milkshake that i had been lusting after for weeks. as a super bonus, this young fellow was dishing out ice-cream samples for a very demanding man.  every time he asked for a sample, he had to wait because my new friend gave me one too.

typical. i had a hard time getting candid pics, because if they caught your eye, this was the result.  however, i would be proud too, because his product is beautiful, wouldn't you say?

 no, dee kuster, i have not tried the fried pigeon.

 if you keep reading, you do eventually get to something that sounds familiar!

you see the beautiful stuffed fish in the bottom left.  it was just taken off the grill and was immediately purchased and wrapped in a leaf.  banana leaf, i'm guessing.   you see in the very top of the photo, there is a table where a woman's full time job was cutting the leaves for cooking, displaying and packaging.

this is the beautiful and wonderful ate helen.  you've heard me talk about her because every weekday she makes a yummy filipino traditional lunch for us at the birth home.  many of our midwives earn extra money by knitting scarves which are sold at the market. this day, ate helen was staffing the booth.  and modeling the merchandise!

well, hope you get an idea of how i spend my sunday afternoons.

xoxo jo