The last 4 months have been a whirlwind for us. Four months ago we were packing up our house and moving in with Chuck’s parents as we did last minute preparations to head back to the Philippines. We arrived here at the end of February and then the fun really began. I, Shannon, started back into full time language study. Chuck made a quick trip to the tribe and then he started teaching the kids. After just 6 weeks and another trip to the tribe, I, Shannon passed my Tagalog evaluation!!! Praise the Lord!!!
Two days later we headed north to attempt to spend a few days in the village. The Lord did not allow this to happen but he gave us the opportunity to find a house to live in, in a town closer to the village. That trip was full of much fun as Sophia started it off with her 3rd round of Nursemaids elbow in 3 months time. She also managed to fall off the bed numerous times. We had ants on the walls, in the bed and in my shirt (while it was on me!) We had vomiting from a flu bug and from twisty roads that we hadn’t even made it to yet. We had lbm in 2 people, thankfully one was in diapers!!! (No it wasn’t Chuck in diapers!!!) We had rain that socked us to our chins. We had great food and some not so great food. But after 10 days we made it back to Manila with house to move to. Praise the Lord!
Then began the whirlwind of trips to pay a deposit for rent and lots of packing. The emails began to negotiate a price on moving our belongings that had been in storage for over a year. Finally it all ended with our move to North on May 24th. Since then it has been a challenge to get settled in. Sorting through things we forgot we had, looking for things we thought we had and not finding things we knew we had!!! But today almost 3 weeks later we are getting settled in. 
I still can’t find everything but it is coming. We have enjoyed the company of the Filipino man that we have hired to supervise the building of our houses with the Ga’dang people. We are now just 3-4 hrs from the village, so Peter and his companion have been coming out to our place on Sundays for the night. This means we can visit with them, feed them good food and answer any questions they might have. 
This week has had Chuck off to the tribe again. We are trying to sort out where all the wood is that we are told is already cut for our house. It seems that some is still in the jungle, but rotting. Some is in the village and some is missing. Pray that Chuck will be able to sort all this out over the next few days. We are afraid we might have to pay again for some of it as it is a he said, she said situation. Pray that this will not be so and that we can move ahead soon with building our house.
Christina’s house is coming along well. We hope to have it completed by the end of June. 
This means in July we can start to build our house. Chuck’s dad, Paul Talbot, will be coming for 3 weeks in August to visit and help build our house. We are very excited to have him come. We are also very excited to be having another young lady come to home school the kids. She will come with Chuck’s dad and will stay with us for at least one year. Her name is Jessica Wease. 
I think that is all for now.
Until next time, Shannon.
