Sting Rays

The ocean at Destin is beautiful. This part of Florida is called the Emerald Coast because the sea is a gorgeous green color that makes you think you are in the tropics. I said to Allan yesterday that it seems a little strange to come home from the tropics and visit the beach. It is like living in Switzerland and coming back to the US and visiting Colorado. Allan said it isn't the same thing as being in the tropics at all. Yesterday, when we were swimming out in the ocean, we saw 2 large stingrays. I've never seen a stingray in the wild before. Amy saw it first and just saw the large dark shadow on the sea floor. She was startled and had no idea what it was. Allan was snorkling and took off to have a look. The stingray was wider that his arm span. Emily and I thought it was cool. A little while later we saw another one that was a little smaller. They moved off fast though. I guess they didn't like us checking them out. A few of the kids were a little nervous about being in the water since the Corcodile Hunter died from a stingray. We had to reassure them that it was a freak accident and that stingrays are very gentle. The attached picture has nothing to do with the stingray sighting. It's just my picture of the day.

While the OWNERS away the DOGS will play

While we have been galavanting around the Southern US, our sweet dog Maggie has been back in the PI. After a good meal, we often comment that Mags would be happy to eat those scraps. Will has been worried that Mags is missing us desperately and that may be true, but her life hasn't been without excitment since we've been gone. The Nelsen's dachsund, Bonnie gave birth to 9 puppies at the beginning of July. The pups are finally old enough to play and Maggie is enjoying them. Cindy sent us these pictures of Mags and the Pups. Cindy says Maggie loves to let them crawl all over her and sends them reeling with a playful swipe of her paw. So here is Maggie's back to school essay of how she spent her summer vacation.

Hi Pop!

Yesterday at the beach, Will, Emily, and I introduced Micaela to a Miller family tradition (Miller is my maiden name). One year at the beach when I was a girl, instead of a sand castle, my dad and I built a sand alligator. Over the years, we have carved many alligators out of the sand. He also taught his grandkids this wonderful, easy, sand sculpture. So yesterday, Will and I dug, sculpted, and crafted with Micaela. Emily did more supervising than actual work (if you know her well, you know she's good at that). She was busy finding and examining sea shells. So this picture is for you Pop! Wish you could be here with us. If you look carefully, you can see "Hi POP!" written in the sand down front.

Here's a different angle

At the beach

This blog is beginning to look like a school report entitled ....."What I did on my summer vacation!" I hope you aren't bored yet. If you really want to know what missionaries do on furlough, this is it...a lot of traveling and speaking in churches. We are now in official vacation mode though. Some of our best friends, invited us to stay with them for a week in Destin. They rented a big house with a pool overlooking the ocean. Amy and I met about 7 1/2 years ago when our daughters took preschool gymnastics together. We actually went to the same church, but hadn't met there. Micaela and Emily begame great friends, but as close as they have always been, they are nothing compared to Will and Christopher. The boys are about 6 weeks apart in age and have been best friends since they were about to turn 3. They always hook back up like they have never been apart. Since our first days of becoming friends, our family has stayed the same. The Halls have grown quite a bit. Amy is pregnant with her 6th child. So we are a house full of 7 kids and 4 adults. It has been fun so far getting reaquainted. We had never even met the baby.








Emily and Micaela at dinner on the beach






All the girls on the back porch before we head out to dinner.
Rachel-6 (She'll be 7 in 2 days), Micaela-11(almost 12), Emily 12, Rebekah-8





Will and Christopher in their matching Pirate Destin shirts

Cars

As much as we have been on the road this summer, we begin to look for the little bits of excitement along the journey. Last week somewhere on a 2 lane highway between the big cities of Comer and Elberton near the downtown of Carlton (the whole town consists of a post office and a fountain), we passed the following cars lined up in a field. I caught site of them as we passed by and they just beckoned us to take another look. Allan swung the car around and drove back so we could snap a few picture of Doc Hudson, Toe Mater, and Sarge from the movie "Cars". It was such a riot. Helped us to remember that.... life is a highway, enjoy the trip! Next stop on our summer adventure in the US----the beach!

Where ARE we???

Yesterday we traveled from Elberton, GA through Atlanta back to Pine Mountain. We needed o make a stop in Atlanta to ship some medical supplies and planned to go to the laser show at Stone Mountain. That plan was thwarted by the weather--record breaking temps through out the South. This is the actual temp in Elberton, GA at 2:00 yesterday. This was the same temp on the bank themometer too.

Since we had planned on going to the laser show that evening, we arrived in Atlanta in the late afternoon. Below is the temp while we were traveling on I-85 in the city. (Now you see why we decided not to go sit in a hot field for hours waiting for the show to start).

Rush hour in Atlanta is not the time to drive through the city. With the heat and traffic, I began to wonder..."Are we in Manila?" Allan said it wasn't nearly the same because everyone was in their own lane and no people were walking or crossing the road. It also kept moving and we were back on the open interstate pretty quickly.

Elberton, Georgia

Today we are visiting some of our good friends from med school and residency. They moved to the big metropolis of Elberton, GA to practice medicine. When we met, they had no kids and ours were about the same ages as theirs are now. When we moved to the PI, Steven had just turned 1. He's the big guy on the right. They sure have grown up.

Visiting the Cousins

We have spent the last few days with my brother's family in Simpsonville, SC. Emily and Will have always been very close to these cousins. Chris and I were pregnant together both times and gave birth within a month of each other. The kids spent lots of time together growing up. They have really been so happy to be together once again. This week they decided they all wanted to sleep together in the same room so they have been camping out in sleeping bags on the bonus room floor. Will and Beth are the youngest and the earlybirds. They wake all the kids up at a nice early hour. Emily is not a morning person, so she often drags herself out of bed to fall sleep on the couch. This is then how they spend most mornings before breakfast..... playing playstation2, Mario Kart on Nintendo ds, or on the computer playing the latest American kid phenomenon- Webkinz. Tomorrow we will leave South Carolina for the last time during this trip to the US. Don't worry, we'll be back.

Packing Supplies

During this summer, I've spent some time canvassing various non-profit groups for donations. We received over 100 pounds of donated supplies for the clinic. Most of the supplies came from "Americares" who donate supplies by the case. Some of the supplies came directly from the manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squib. Most of the things we received had to be re-packaged to fit better in our balikbayan boxes which are priced by the volume of the box rather than the weight.

To help prepare for shipment, I recruited some help to break the cases and individually packed supplies into portions that would pack into the most compact form. My young helpers weren't quite as generous as the original donors and wanted some monetary payment for their services.

Many thanks to the Millers who received most of the supplies at their house. I'm sure the Fedex and UPS drivers know your address by heart now.

The Filipino Mart-- a taste of home

This afternoon I was driving around doing a little shopping with my brother and sister-in-law. While waiting for my brother to fill the van with gas, Chris (my sis-in-law) pointed out the Filipino Market across the street. I couldn't help it. I just had to go see what was for sale. I had a great time showing off some of the things we buy in the PI and shocking the lady in the store by speaking Tagalog. Tray and Chris have been fascinated by Corn and Cheese Ice Cream since we went to the PI for 6 weeks 3 years ago. They always ask us if we have tried it. I am not sure they really believed it existed. The first thing Tray asked in the store was..."Do you have Corn and Cheese Ice cream?" She said "we do, but no one here really likes it so it's old." That didn't matter to Tray. He was determined to try it. We bought a tub of ice cream (the same brand we like in the PI), a bag of cracker nuts, and a bottle of Cali which is a sparkling pineapple juice that I think tastes like pineapple beer although it is alcohol free. The cracker nuts were $1.39 for a bag that costs no more than 25 pesos(50 cents) in Manila. I guess it is like us paying to get our favorite American products.
We arrived home with our surprise dessert for the kids. There was no choice, everyone had to try it. Emily was the only one who had eaten it before. She is our adverturous eater, who will try almost anything once. While she doesn't really like corn and cheese ice cream she put on a good face and encouraged Laura to give it a try. Here are the 2 of them just before their first and only bite.
Below are Beth and Will after their first bite. Their faces say it all.

Here are the best pics though. It is Allan before....


and after....


Everyone enjoyed the cracker nuts and Tray liked the Cali pineapple drink.

Biking

Thursday, we spent the afternoon and ate dinner with some good friends from residency who still live in Greenwood. The kids once again had a good times playing with old friends, while the adults had a great time visiting. After dinner, Emily got to do one her favorite things....ride a bike. It has been over 2 years since she was on a bike. She truly lived up to the old expression....Once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget. Will did a little scooterin' (which they do have in the PI) and played a little hoops with the guys.

The Coke Museum

Since we have been criss-crossing our way across the Southern US, we decided we would stop and do a little sight seeing in Atlanta on our way from the lake to Greenwood, SC. In May the new Coke museum opened up, so I thought it would be a little fun piece of history from my hometown. The museum has Coke memorabilia from all over the world. So we were on the lookout for any thing Filipino. We learned that the Philippines was one of the first international places to sell Coke. One of the highlights was watching a film with coke commercials from around the world. There were 2 out of the 10 or so shown that were from the Philippines and in Tagalog.

Will gets a coke from a old time soda shoppe

Tasting Coke products from around the world

Some flavors were just really nasty.

Will enjoyed drinking one of his favs from the PI....Sprite Ice

Here we are getting ready for the 4D show.

We were trying to come across as "too cool"

I think we missed.

We had a great time at the museum, but I think the kids may have enjoyed Centennial Olympic Park even more.

After our morning at the museum we walked across the steet to a park built to celebrate the Centennial Olympic Games held in Atlanta. We strolled through the park to the Olympic fountain. This is a large water fountain in the shape of the 5 Olympic rings. About 4 times each day, there is a water and light show set to music. It was fantastic to watch the water "dance" and move to The Little Mermaid's Under the Sea and a song by Stevie Wonder, but our favorite had to be the William Tell Overture. The big deal with this park is that when the show isn't going on, kids play, run and jump in the fountain. Emily and Will had no qualms about going in their clothes. It was hot and muggy. I would have liked to have joined them myself. They had a great time and the price tag for the park was perfect.....it's free!