JONES JOTTINGS

Woodcarvers in the Philippines

2010-09-08T06:00:00.001-07:00

On a recent quiet Saturday (when we had no patients) we were able to go out to Laguna (about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Manila) to visit some of the woodcarvers in their small homes and studios.

These first photos are of Frank and his family. He works in a little area next to his house. Here he is showing us a liahona he has in process. This is a carving of a handcart family he is working on. The large block on the right will become the father figure on the left (pulling the handcart).

Here is a completed handcart family. (On display in one of the offices in the Area Office)

This is a statue Frank did of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

From Frank's house we walked down a treelined lane to some of the other woodcarvers' homes. We had a parade of children following us everywhere we went!

On our walk we passed a group of children under a tree with a vendor selling "colored chicks".

Our next stop was in the little village of Paete in Laguna. The village has little alleyways lined with homes and shops.

We visited Armand and his family in their home. He carves in a little area of their living room. Armand started carving when he was 12. He now works with his father and uncle.

This is Armand and his young family. His wife is due with their third daughter in about 2 weeks (mid-Sept.)

Here are some of Armand's carvings. He does beautiful nativity sets and
reliefs of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.

This is the nativity he did for us. We have kept it out since he finished it in February. There are 18 pieces in the set.

Note - the wise men have mangoes, bananas and rice!

We just got this carving. It was done by a cousin of Armand's - showing Filipino children playing a game called "jumping the cow". It reminds us of some of the children we saw on our visit to Laguna.

In the village we visited some of the carvers who do large statues. The larger statues are generally for local Catholic Churches or shrines.

Here a woman is getting ready to stain a large statue.

This is one of the stalls (selling pots and pans) at the Saturday market we passed by on our "walk about" the village of Paete.

We had a fun day and loved being able to see the carvers work. They are truly craftmen!!

Trip to Cebu (end of May)

2010-06-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

The end of May - We were able to go down to Cebu in the Southern Philippines for the open house of the Cebu City Temple. The dedication date is June 13th. It is a beautiful temple right on a main street of Cebu. We spent three days there and did a little touring. Cebu is the oldest "city" in the Philippines - established as a Spanish settlement by Magellan in 1571. {Note: I had too many pictures for one posting so there are three postings of pictures}

Marlon was able to go to Cebu with us.

Adjacent to the temple is a stake center, a three story building (below right) with temple patron housing, temple missionaries' apartments, Cebu Mission Office, distribution center and waiting area. The homes of the mission president and the temple president are also located on site. (to center back of the photo)

Cebu is a much smaller city than Manila but has a lot of tourism because you have to go through Cebu to go to Bohol and Boracay. Our hotel was up on a hill to the north so we had a great view of the city.

On one of our walks through the market place.

Notice the destination of the jeepney - I don't know where or what JONES was.

Trip to Cebu #2

2010-06-10T06:41:00.000-07:00

Here are more pictures from our trip to Cebu City.

This is Fort San Pedro - built by Legaspi when he returned with Spanish reinforcements 40 years after Magellan. The original fort was wood but was replaced quickly with a stone fort.

The original well still has water in the bottom!

A group of students playing guitars, banduras and a "cello" like a bass guitar.
Dancer in native costume outside the fort.
I love the shell lights!!

This is the Basicilia of the Santa Nino (baby Jesus). The story is that Magellan brought a statue of Jesus as a child. It was left behind when the Spanish left after Magellans death. When Legaspi returned 40 years later, a tribe had found it and made a special shrine. The tribe was convereted to the Catholic Church and the statue is housed in the Basilica. (built in the 1600's)

Magellan's Cross is kept in a small rotunda next to the Basilica. Over the years so many people kept taking pieces off the cross that it is now encapsulated inside another cross.

The Cebu Cathedral dates to the mid/late 1700's.

The organ is one of the oldest organs in the Philippines still in existance. (many were destroyed during the bombing of WWII)

Trip to Cebu City #3

2010-06-09T04:49:00.001-07:00

Here are more pictures from our trip to Cebu

We visited some of the remaining Spanish era houses. This one is from the late 1700's - Made of all wood with very open rooms and open beam ceiling. Notice the harps. There were 3 old European harps in the house.

This is Casa Gorordo - a well preserved home from the mid 1800's. The house is built with sliding panels so the rooms can be opened up and air can move through to cool the house. There are beautiful carved wood borders at the top of the panels.

The second floor had an open balcony running the entire length of the house.
This is an open courtyard with an old well and a carriage house.

This is the LapuLapu Monument in honor of King LapuLapu who killed Magellan when he tried to force the King's tribe to convert to the Catholic Church.

The monument is on the bay were Magellan first landed. This is one of the bancas (boats) up in "dry dock". The boys swimming in the bay are bold (Tagalog for "bare naked")

The Taoist Temple was built for the Chinese-Filipino population. It is located up on a hillside in northern Cebu City. The surrounding neighborhood has large homes and is called "Beverly Hills".

The dragons everywhere reminded me of the Eddy Murphy character in the Disney cartoon "Mulan".

Philippines National Elections

2010-05-12T05:50:00.001-07:00

The Philippine National Elections are (finally) over. It has been an experience being here during the campaigns. The national elections included the Pres & VP, all provincial governors and vice-governors, all mayors and vice-mayors, the entire Senate and House and local government councils. There were over 16,000 open offices with over 63,000 candidates. For weeks we have had banners everywhere with trucks and loadspeakers blaring campaign slogans and jingles. This was the first automated elections in the country with a scantron-type of system. All previous elections were purely paper where you had to write out on the ballot the name of the candidate you wanted in each office.

The new president is NoyNoy Aquino. If you've ever read or heard anything about Philippine politics - NoyNoy's father was in exile in the US during the Marcos dictatorship and was assassinated as he stepped off the plane in Manila returning to challenge Marcos. Cory Aquino (his wife) took office when Marcos was exiled to Hawaii. Cory died last Aug and the son decided to run for office. He won by a landslide.

The Vice President is Binay, the mayor of Makati, one of the richest cities in the Metro Manila area. The Pres & VP are elected seperately and these two are from different parties.

This is another one of the candidates campaigning from a jeepney (kind of a whistle stop campaign...)

There were 9 candidates for Pres. They do not have primary elections, just the National elections.

World's largest Philippine flag at one of the campaign rallies.
There were many "colorful" candidates - including - a former president (Estrada) who had been charged with plunder and impeached. He was sentenced to 9 years in jail but was pardoned by the current president so he ran for office again because of a loophole in the constitution -

He looks like an old Elvis to me...

The current President - Gloria Arroyo ran for and won a seat in the House.

World light-weight boxing champion "Pac-Man" won a seat in the House also.

Imelda Marcos, 80 year old wife of Dictator Marcos and her daughter won seats in the House and her son won a Senate seat.There were banners everywhere - even though there are city ordinances against it...

Bamboo Organ

2010-05-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

We went to a concert of the only Bamboo Organ in the world. It is in a little Catholic Parish Church in Las Pinas City in Southern Metro Manila. The organ was built by a Spanish Priest who was sent to the Philippines in the mid 1800's to build large organs for the many cathedrals. He build this organ in 1871 when he was assigned as the parish priest in Las Pinas. The organ was restored in 1972 and there is an annual Bamboo Organ Festival. The night we attended the guest organist was from the Czech Republic.

This group performed on Indonesian Bamboo Angklus before the concert. They are like a bamboo version of a handbell choir in that the various sizes are pitched. The bamboo pipes hang on a frame and are shaken to get the sound. I have uploaded a video at the bottom so you can hear the sound of the "choir". This group was from a local high school. There is a museum in the church annex that we toured before the concert. They have some of the old pipes and bellows from the restoration.

One of the old keyboards that was replaced in the restoration.

Inside the church looking up to the organ balcony.

The organ is located on the side to the back of the interior of the church.

The back of the organ showing some of the pipes.

This is a postcard I found showing a top view. The only non-bamboo pipes are the metals one you see which are the "trumpets". It takes three people to operate - one playing the keyboard and two on the sides operating the stops. It used to take more before electric bellows were added with the restoration.

One of the lovely ushers in a traditional "Spanish" costume.

Corregidor Island, Philippines

2010-03-27T19:37:00.001-07:00

In a rare quiet weekend in January, Alan and I joined a group going out to Corregidor Island at the mouth of Manila Bay. This island was the last stand for the American and Philipino military after the Japanese attacked the Philippines during WWII. Then Pres. Quezon left from here to go in exile in America and Gen McArthur uttered his famous "I shall return" from here before leaving for Australia. (he did return and win back the Philippines). From Manila we took a ferry out to the island - about 26 nautical miles out. This is a large flooding Chinese restaurant docked next to the ferry boat.

On the ferry were a group of Filipino reinactors going out to camp for the weekend. The island is now a national park and monument.

This relief map is in one of the small museums. The island is very small - 5mls x 1 1/2 mls. It has a volcanic mountain in the center. The Spanish used it for a prion camp.

Our tour guide was an American living on the island doing research. His father was a WWII POW who was stationed on the island. This was the gun his father manned.

The mountain in the center has a very intricate tunnel system that had housing, a hospital and offices. From here MacArthur lead the war until his forced exit to Australia.

In side the main tunnel. There are tracks on the floor from the "train" used to move materials.

One of the many side tunnels. Inside the tunnel there is a light and sound show giving the history of the tunnel.

One of the many guns still standing on the island.

Ruins of the hospital. The island was completely destroyed by the Japanese bombing. Even the plant life was destroyed. When the island became a national park, the trees and plants were replanted. It has taken years to restore the island.

One of the barracks. There were three large long barracks on the island. When the bombing started they were abandoned and everyone had to move into the tunnel.

The Eternal Flame of Peace in the memorial park.

That's me - Looking out at the South China Sea.

There are several beaches long the island that are now parks.

Alan and I at the memorial park.

One of the gun batteries. Before the island became a park, many of the guns were stripped for scrap metal.

Carrabao Island near by. There are several small islands around Corregidor.

Hole left from a Japanese bomb.

Our tour group for the day! It was a nice day trip. There is alot of history there. Since coming to the Philippines I am just now learning alot about the war. My father was a WWII veteran.

Sister Salvacion Meniano

2010-02-15T18:33:00.001-08:00

Sister Salvacion Meniano passed away on February 14th at St Lukes Hospital, Quezon City of complications of leukemia and chemotherapy. She was 22 years old. These are the only pictures we have of her.

The first is in the hospital with her mother about a week before she died and the second is with her older sister and nephew and her older brother. Sis Meniano has on the brown and blue dress.

She was a sweet young woman and a hard working missionary - having served in the Butuan Philippines Mission. Her family lives in the Leyte Tocloban area. Please keep her family in your prayers.

Christmas in the Philippines

2010-02-10T05:51:00.001-08:00

Sorry it has taken so long to get Christmas pictures up - too many other things happening. These are pictures of the lights at the Manila Temple. They were amazing.

These are pictures from some the houses around our neighborhood. There were lights on the walls, fences, hanging from all the trees!

We bought a lantern (called a Parsol) made of capiz shells. They come in many sizes and colors. (Hope we can get it back to the US in one piece...)

The pagent at the ward Christmas party.

The MRC Christmas tree.

My collection of Santas from various bazaars. Including my Pilippino Santa complete with barong (shirt) and rice hat.

Marlon Corpin

2009-12-30T23:29:00.001-08:00

Many of you have asked for pictures of Marlon - our leaukaemia patient. Here he is before his release and before he started his first month of medication. Since starting his medicine, his face and hands are swollen.

With his trainer from his mission who stopped by to see him on his way home from his mission.

Christmas day with his family. We had his parents, two sisters, three cousins and two nieces over for breakfast and lunch. Look at the excited look on his mother's face as she opens a gift of kitchen wares - measuring cups, spoons etc.

This is Marlon's father. Even under the mask you can see the smile as he opens a gift of a framed picture of Marlon. We then took the picture at the bottom and printed it out to add to the frame - their first family picture ever.

Family members together for Christmas. Back row - Marlon with his two younger sisters, Merly, 20 and MaryAnn, 17, and three cousins. His parents sitting and two nieces in front.

Mayon Volcano Erupting

2009-12-25T05:34:00.000-08:00

The Mayon Volcano southeast of Manila has been bellowing smoke and ash for a couple of weeks now. There is lava flowing on the east side. This volcano is only 15 km from Divine's provincial home where she is spending the holidays. She called today to say she was OK. There is alot of ash and breathing is difficult. They don't go out much.
We have had some hazy days here in Manila with ash blowing to the west. Here are some pictures from local papers. An article in the paper said there have been over 1,000 small earthquakes a day for the last week. They are predicting a major eruption any day now.

MRC "Pox Batch"

2009-11-26T07:23:00.000-08:00

For the last 21 days we have had 10 missionaries with us at the MRC on "chicken pox watch". This elder was the original "culprit" who caught the chicken pox from his cousins and brought it to the MTC. He broke out right before the group was to leave for their mission areas. We did blood tests for antibodies and 8 elders, 1 sister and 1 teacher/translator had none - so they got a 21 day (all expenses paid) visit to the MRC. We had two more cases - one mild and one severe.
(Above - arriving at the MRC)

Here is the whole chicken pox gang and two more. The elder with white head dressing has a growth removed and the sister in white shirt had gall bladder surgery - so our group was 12 the first week.

Playing basketball at the Area Office - we went in the late afternoons so they weren't in contact with anyone.

An outing to the World War II American Cemetery in Pasig City (Metro Manila)

Quezon City Park - I taught them American Football (with adapted "Calvin rules")

Time for study - we had study time in the morning, classes in the afternoon and activities in the evening. One of those on "watch" was the Vietnamese translator/teacher, so he set up a great schedule. Of the group - we had 2 Vietnamese and 8 Filipinos.

A Chocolate night and helping in the kitchen. Everyone was assigned a city - Palmyra, Zarahemla and Bountiful - and helped in the kitchen and with cleaning.

Learning to eat burritos for the first time!!

Our last outing was to Fort Santiago - Intramuros - the old Spanish city.

Sleeping on the way home from Fort Santiago

Our Christmas party - Family Home Evening.

At the temple when everyone was off "watch"

Saying goodbye and leaving for the mission field!

Filipino Tractor

2009-10-27T05:48:00.001-07:00

These are pictures of Carabao - the "Filipino Tractor". They are used for plowing, hauling, carts and more. (I got these pictures from some of the missionaries). They are strong enough to be used singley rather than in teams. We saw them at a distance out in the rice paddies when we had a road trip north to Angeles. They are even seen in Manila occasionally pulling a cart to market/bazaar. Alan bought a great painting by a local artist of a little boy with a carabao.

Carabao are in the water buffolo family and love pools of water and mudpuddles. They like to cool off after a day of work.

The horns are polished and used to make belts and jewelry. Alan has a carabo belt.

They are so gentle, they can be ridden by children (and missionaries)

This is a rare albino carabao. They get alot of attention.

More Philippines Floods

2009-10-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from the local news service. They only tell part of the story of the devastation on the northern end of Luzon (our island). This is the satelite photo of PePeng as it hit the island, stalled then hit it again twice.

These rice paddies are completely flooded. The loss to agriculture is over $1 billion.

Funerals have started already even though the area is still flooded. Coffins are carried on bancas (boats) to the church.

The mud in many areas is 3"-12" thick. Leptospirosis (a parasite in mud and dirty water) is a problem in al the flooded areas (including Manila).

The Baguio campus of the Univ of Philippines was completed flooded.

One of the many landslides in the region. Houses just slide down on top of one another.

The raging waters washed many villagers down stream. Here is a valiant rescue!!

Even the rescue equipment was under mud and water.

This hut in the rice field shows the water level.

The villagers in the mountains came down to the area below.

The main road completely washed out. An alternate road had to be cleared.

Broken shacks and vendor stalls are cleared to the side so a path could be made through one of the villages.

The villagers in Rosales had to walk down the mountain to get to safety - the mountain continues to have landslides.

In some areas they have given up looking for bodies and have declared mass graves

MRC laundry - helping with flood relief

2009-09-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

This is one of the areas along the river hardest hit by the flooding.

Rinsing muddy clothes before we put in the washer.

One of the families we helped.

Tons of laundry to fold - Elder Boggan and Elder Salvadore help out.

Filling bags with relief supples at the Area Office building. They set up an are in the garage to receive donations.

MRC nex pix

2009-09-29T19:16:00.000-07:00

Alan told me I didn't show our room very well - here is one with our windows open showing the trees - mostly palms.

The MRC

2009-09-21T06:18:00.001-07:00

Here it is the MRC (Missionary Recovery Center) Our home for the next 2 years. It is literally a home in the White Plains subdivision that the church leases. Here is a "virtual" tour.

Welcome signs from the missionaries!

The house is behind another home so we drive down this alleyway. I haven't mastered backing down it...yet...

It is a two story home with four bedrooms. The front is all concrete with parking for the two vans we use. (Note the generator in case of typhoons)

This is the living room/dining room looking towards the front door.

This kitchen was added to an existing back patio/porch area. The old kitchen is used for storage and prep.

This is our room. It is the master suite of the house. We are on call 24/7 so we live right at the MRC.

These are shoots looking down our street. Every house seems to have 3-4 cars so the street is crowded.

The houses are vey close together. This view from our bedroom shows three neighbor houses.

There are many large homes in our neighborhood but there are other neighborhoods close by with even larger homes.

This is a small private school up the street from us. I believe it is K-4.

Some of the houses have their own water towers.

Look at all the wiring. My father was an electrician - I'm not sure he would appreciate the tangle of wires surrounded by trees.

First Impressions of Manila, Philippines

2009-09-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

This is an area of great contrasts. Here are my first impressions from our first two weeks here.

Many highrise apartment buildings and huge houses in gated communities next to shanties of abandoned buildings with pieces of metal for roofing and famlies living under trees and bridges

Mega-mall shopping next to street vendors and tiny shops

Beggars at all the stop lights

American stores and restaurants - McDonalds, KFC, Wendys, Outback, Chilis, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Subway

Crowded streets of cars, vans, buses, jeepneys, trikes, pedicabs, scooters, bikes, people and an occasional ox cart

Torrential rain or beautiful bright skies or smog and hazy skies

Security guards with guns and rifles at all the stores and banks and on the streets

Trees, flowers and plants in abundance

No trash and very little graffitti

Smiling faces everywhere!!

4 Airports, 3 Countries, 24 Hours

2009-09-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

OK so here's an update - Packing to leave for the Philippines was a trip!! We had to have every suitcase at 50#s or less or pay alot in overweight fees. We finally did it - with one box being mailed to us. We kept checking the weight every time we put something in.

It was a chore - but did it!

Here's Alan waiting at the first airport - Salt Lake City - going to San Francisco. (9:30PM on Monday Aug 31)

Then we had four hours to wait in SF for our flight to Taipe Taiwan on EVA air - a Taiwan based airlines. We left SF at 1:30AM on Sept 1. EVA Air is wonderful. We were in middle class seating. Every seat had a quilted blanket, pillow, slippers, personal pack with toothbrush and paste, lotion and a headset. The personal TVs had touch screen with on-demand movies and games. The flight attendants were very attentive. Each of the 5 sections of the plane had 4 flight attendants each. They were dressed in identical suits, shoes, bags and suitcases. They came on to the plane in lines two-by-two following the pilot, co-pilot and navigator.

Here I am in Taipe Taiwan after a 13 hour flight. The airport has artwork and many displays about Taiwan. They will host the 2009 Deaf Olympics so there were displays everywhere. We arrived at 5:30AM local time on Wed Sept 3 - we lost a day crossing the international date line.

The airport was like a mall with all kinds of stores. Even the gate terminals had a theme.

The last airport was Manila. We arrived at 11:30am on Wed. Sept 2. It was a 2 hour flight from Taipe.

On our way to the MRC (our new home for the next 2 years) we stopped by the American Memorial and Cemetery. You could see it from the air as we flew in.

Final days at the MTC

2009-08-28T21:36:00.001-07:00

Provo MTC

Well - we've finished all our training!!! Wow it has been a very busy two weeks with all kinds of training - spiritual, missionary, medical, computer, language. But we are ready to go!! We fly out on Monday night (9:30PM).

Here are the last of our MTC pictures.

{It may be a while before we get our internet up and running when we get to Manila -

so keep checking back - we'll post new pictures as soon as we can}

Our Tagalog language tutor - Sister Svedi. She was great!!

In front of a picture of Brigham Young

and Heber C. Kimball as they leave

for their mission to England. The

MTC has beautiful artwork everywhere.

Feeding 2600 hungry missionaries

The MTC cafeteria - a sea of

white shirts!!

Relaxing in the MTC lobby between classes and here come more missioanries!!

By the church office building and the Salt Lake Temple at our training in Salt Lake City

The Utah State Capital and the Conference Center - views from the

top of the Church Office Building - 26th Floor.

The Salt Lake Temple and Tabernacle and one of the beautiful

old homes in the "avenues".

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

2009-08-28T21:25:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we were able to go to the one of the broadcasted sessions of the dedication for the Oquirrh Mt Temple in west Salt Lake Valley. We had gone to the open hosue when we were here in July - so it was special to go to the dedication. It is a beautiful temple set up on a hill not far off the highway. From this temple you can see the Jordon River Temple and the Draper Temple. You can see downtown Salt Lake but the temple there is blocked by the highrise buildings.

Pres. Monson presided at the session and Pres. Eyring read the dedicatory prayer. We attend with Alan's sister, Barbara Jean, her husband Jerry and their daughter, Charleen and her family. Charleen lives in that temple district. Her three kids also attended and did a great job sitting so long in the session. It was a great session!!

BUGS! (and language)

2009-08-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

OK - Now I'm getting alittle worried...

We had an 8-hour class yesterday on parasites and bugs. Can I just say that if most parents had taken this class there would be no missionaries out in the field! But as we learned about all these gross things - we also learned out to prevent problems and treat them when we do encounter them. This was not my favorite class! Alan's seen it all before but I hadn't.

On a lighter note - our language classes are going well. We have our last two sessions on Friday and then we're on our own in the field. Tagalog is a very interesting language. I told the tutor that Yoda (of Star Wars fame) must have written it because the sentence structure is about the same - Store go I to, Sad today I am. And verbs are conjugated at the beginning, in the middle or at the end (or any combination of these) of the root. There are Spanish words pronounced the same but not spelled the same - school: in spanish esquela (I think that's right), tagalog eskewla. I can read it pretty well because the basic vowel and consonant sounds are like spanish but the accent is always on the second to the last syllable and there are words with 10-15 syllables. It's a challenge!!

Beautiful MTC

2009-08-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

The MTC is just beautiful!! The grounds, the buildings, the classrooms - it's a wonderful facility! Here we are in front of one of the beautiful flower beds.

We made it through our first class in Tagalog. It was fun but very overwhelming. Lesson one: Ako po si Sister Jones. (can you translate?)

Here we are at the MTC!

2009-08-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

We're here at the MTC and have made it throught the first two days!! It's been great!! Tonight we had a devotional with Elder Spencer Jones of the Second Quorum of Seventy. It was fantastic to be with over 2600 missionaries!!

We're officially Elder and Sister Jones! Tomorrow night we start our language classes - we get a crash course in Tagalog (6 hours). We'll share our first lessons with you.

BARRETT

2009-08-12T14:34:00.003-07:00

I love this picture we took of Barrett at the plaza in Santa Fe in July.

He has such a sweet smile - his whole face smiles!

Kat and Bar

2009-08-12T14:16:00.000-07:00

I realized I didn't post the pictures I wanted from Katalina's and Barrett's visit in July (so here they are). It was fun to have them here. Barrett insisted we go back to the Unser Racing Museum -we went there last year but this time HE was our tour guide. Then Alan, Barret and I rode the train to Santa Fe to go to the NM History Museum. We had a great day !!

We also went to Peter Piper Pizza one day with his maternal great grandmother - who he challenged to several games of air hockey (she won 2 out of 3).

Crazy Family...

2009-08-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Two of my three brothers recently visited me - Billy (turned 50 while he was here!) from Las Vegsa, NV and David (oldest sibling) from Madison, Wisconsin. David was here for a photo conference (in Santa Fe). It was good to visit with them both. I did some sewing for Billy while he was here - he is an entertainer with many talents. I've made costumes and props for him since high school. This time I made pants for his stilt walking. He wanted a pair of "jeans" with 65" inseam. Here he is towering over us.

We also did some "sight seeing" - went up on the Sandia Tram to the top of the mountain (10,000+ ft). Billy always has his juggling balls so he can get a picture (he has pix of him juggling all over the US and world).

No More Grass!! (or as the stone turns...)

2009-08-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well, Alan decided after babying our front lawn for 13 years - it was time to go! We've worked harder in our yard here (with a smaller lot) than any other palce we have lived so he dug out the grass and gave in to the ROCK. Barrett would have loved being here when the dump truck came to deliver the rocks. Here's some before and in process pictures.

Simple Randomness

2009-07-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Besides all our mission preparations - we have had a lot going on - 3 week trip to Utah and Denver, visit with family, family now in town visiting, work on the house, etc (etc and so forth...)

So here's some Random pix and updates on everything lately...

Summer was official when I had my first watermelon from Texas from this roadside vendor. I always have to look for him because the cops run him off from the side of the road. His watermelons are the best and summer doesn't officially start until I've had my watermelon (blessed by Jesus as his sign notes...)

I've been making these cool baskets lately. I use vintage potato mashers and pastry blenders. I thought I could find them at thrift stores but I have to go to antique shops to find them.

We had a great trip to Utah to visit family before we leave. We were going constantly - went to a couple of parades (here's pix for the BYU fans from the Provo July 4th parade), spent a few days at Alan's brother's cabin where a robin had just hatched some eggs, went to the Stadium of Fire and saw the Jonas Bros., and spent some time on Temple Square.

More mission assignments

2009-07-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

We are getting more information as time goes on. I received a packet and letter from the General Music Committee asking me to find places in our mission area where I can teach conducting and keyboard. They sent me the conducting and keyboard course material to take with me. They also said there is a grant program to get keyboards for students. It will be great to be able to teach music while we are in the Philippines.

We also found out that we will receive some special medical training at church headquarters so our departure date to the Philippines has been pushed back about 5 days. We still go to Provo on Aug 17th but won't leave from there until the end of Aug.

We hadn't heard from our Mission Pres. yet so I was getting a little worried. I found an email address for the Pres.'s wife on the mission alumni page and have been communicating with her. She said they hadn't gotten our names from Salt Lake yet. Our information may have gone to the MTC Pres. At least now we have a contact so we can ask our questions...

Filipino language

2009-07-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

Well we've learned our first Filipino phrase: "Bahala-na - which means what will be will be - their version of acuna matata (from Lion King - don't know how to spell it). That will probablly be our mandra - bahala-na!!!

Manilla Temple

2009-06-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is the Manilla Philippines Temple. It is located in Quezon City and is right across from the Philippines MTC where we will be. Hopefully, we'll be able to go often while we are on our mission.

Finally - We Have Our Mission Call!!

2009-06-11T22:39:00.001-07:00

We received our mission call today (Thursday, June 11th). We will be serving in the Philippines, Quezon City Mission at the Philippines Missionary Training Center. Not sure exactly what that means but we will receive more information in the next few days. We report to the Provo MTC on Aug 17th.

Quezon City is the "old" capital of the Philippines. Manilla (or as Katalina says "Vanilla?!?")became the capital in 1976. Quezon City is part of the Metro Manilla area. All I have to show so far is a map of the area. I'll have pix of the temple, etc. soon.

We are very excited about our call and are looking forward to serving in the Philippines. We did say we'd like to go to Southeast Asia...

We'll post more as we get more information.

Can't find Anything!!!!!

2009-05-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

We moved Alisha into our house this week. She will be watching the house while we are gone (still don't know - no letter on Thurs. or Fri. maybe next week...) It will be fun integating two houses - 2 washers/dryers, 2 extra beds, bookshelves, TVs, tables, chairs, etc, etc and so forth!!..... It will take a while to sort everythng out. We are also trying to pack up things we don't need and get them out of Alisha's way - but we can't pack everything yet - we could be around for 2-4 months waiting for a visa if we need one - depending on our mission assignment and what country.

In the meantime - there are boxes and stuff everywhere!

THE WAIT CONTINUES!!!

2009-05-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED OUR MISSION CALL YET - BUT - WE HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE MISSIONARY DEPARTMENT AND A COUPLE OF THE COMMITTEES. THEY HAVE CALLED TO DISCUSS POSSIBLE ASSIGNMENTS AND TO CLARIFY SOME INFORMATION ON OUR RECOMMEND. THEY SAID WE SHOULD HAVE OUR CALL IN TWO MORE WEEKS (HOPEFULLY THE FIRST WEEK OF JUNE) - OF COURSE THAT IS WHEN I WILL BE AT GIRLS STATE IN PORTALLES ALL WEEK. IF IT COMES ALAN WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I GET HOME...

2009-05-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's Official!!! Alan is Re-Tired!!!! as of 4PM this afternoon. (Note the smile on Alan's face!!) There was a nice dinner last Saturday (at Cindy Nuttal's house) and a reception and presentation today (Friday) at the hospital. Now the fun starts as we get things ready for our mission (still no word yet...). Alisha will move in this month so we are getting things put away so she'll have more room when we are gone.

Old Toys and Memories

2009-04-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

I've been going through boxes as I pack stuff away so Alisha can move in while we are gone on our mission (no - we don't have our call yet...) and found a box of old toys. Most of them were Dawson's Star Wars stuff (which I took up to Barrett - see past blog). For some reason I had saved these old cardboard blocks of Dawson's. I have no idea why - they are very well worn from all his playing. He would play with these blocks for long periods - stacking, then knocking them down, then restacking and knocking them down. And all the while he would laugh. Maybe the blocks had an influence in his going into construction (with occasional demolition work on a project...).

I don't know why I kept them but in finding them I rekindled a memory of a fun time when Dawson was little...

Little Mermaids

2009-03-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

Katalina celebrated her birthday with a swim party at the Apex Center in Arvada (CO). It was a fairly warm day in March but as we were driving over we had snow flurries. But no worry - it was plenty warm inside. Here's the Little Mermaids taking a break. Kat is the one with the goggles.

The Paperwork is IN - Now the waiting begins!

2009-03-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

We clicked the little submit button at the bottom of the webpage and up popped (in bright red) "Recommendation has been submitted" - Our mission paperwork is in!
We met with the Bishop this afternoon (Sunday) for his interview and he will click his button tonight! Next comes the Stake.
Hopefully, everything will be to Salt Lake within the next two weeks and then we wait...

My Birthday!!

2009-03-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

It's My Birthday!! #53!!
I have always loved birthdays. I guess when I was young it was because of the party and the presents, but not always. Birthdays are a reminder that I'm still here - still going strong - the Lord still has a purpose for my being here. It's an affirmation of my life on earth - not just another number added next to my name. So celebrate your life in my honor!! Happy Birthday to everyone!!!

Talansia

2009-03-05T06:43:00.000-08:00

My talansia are in bloom! So what you say? What's a talansia? Talansia are tropical air plants. I have to have a piece of the Florida Keys at our house so our bathroom (with the highest humidity in our house) has several varieties of talansia and staghorn fern (also an air plant). It's exciting when it blooms because with our arrid air here it only happens every few years.

Silver Beaver

2009-02-27T17:03:00.001-08:00

I was honored to be presented with the Silver Beaver Award from the Great SW BSA Council. This is my 23rd year in Scouting. I'm a Wolf Den Leader again - just where I started at the beginning when I was Dawson's leader!

The award was presented at the Council Volunteer luncheon on Sat. Feb. 21st. The Council Pres., Paul Sowards, presented my award. He was our Bishop when we first moved to Albuquerque and remains a good friend. I helped his three sons with their Eagle projects.

At our February Cub Pack Mtg, the Pack gave me a special plaque they had made. All the cubs and leaders had signed the back. It's great! One of my 8 yr. old scouts was so cute - when they said I received a Silver Beaver he asked to see my beaver - thinking it was a real beaver.

2009-02-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

Barrett and Grandpa Alan

2009-02-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

Can you believe Barrett is 6 years old? We just got back from Denver where we celebrated with him. It was fun. In the picture Katalina is lighting the candles on the Transformer Mountain cake. He blew them all out in one breath!

We went to the neighborhood park and had a marshmallow war with marshmallow shooters!

I took a box of Dawson's old toys up for Barrett. He wanted to make sure he got everything out of the box so he climbed inside to play.

Kat got a dress up box of Hannah Montana costumes from Aunt Alisha!

We call this - "Dancing for Breakfast!"

100 days - reset

2009-01-25T19:24:00.000-08:00

Well, we reset Alan's retirement clock and last Wednesday was 100 days left and counting. We went throught this in the fall when the original date was Jan.2. But there won't be resets after this one - It's May 2nd (for sure). He checks his clock each morning before work and gives a little smile...
Monday (Jan 25) we both have final dr. appointments. Alisha took pictures for us on Sunday (we have to send in a "missionary appropriate" couples picture). It looks like everything will be set to be sent in by mid-February (barring anything coming up at the Dr. Appt.)....
We'll keep you posted (or is it "blogged"?)

Christmas is Finally Put away

2009-01-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

I finally got my Christmas decorations put away. It always takes awhile to decorate and then put everything away. Not because I put up so much but because I spend time reminising. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a time capsule. When I decorate (and then undecorate) the tree I look at all the ornaments we have collected over the years - they represent places we have lived (like the little covered bridge from Indiana or the gator from Florida) or have visited (the double decker bus from London), or things that have occured in our lives or lifetime (the diploma for my college graduation). We have ornaments with grandkids' pictures and animals for different pets. There are ornaments given to us by friends and family. Every year we would get ornaments for Alisha and Dawson, but now they have those for their trees. Sometimes I look at the decorator trees in decorating magazines and think I should do that, but then I wouldn't be able to spend time remembering the places we've lived and people we've met, the fun adventures we've had, pets we've loved, grandchildren, friends, family....

2009-01-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

Alan had to have a cardiac cathiterization on Tues. When he went to his Dr. for his mission check-up he was sent for a stress test which found an irregularity - hence the cath. Fortunately, there was no blockage but there was some plaque build-up so he will have another test this month and possibly cardiac rehab. The Dr. wants all of this taken care of before the mission paperwork is signed. Alan is doing very well. He had to stay down for a few days after the test. Depending on the outcome of his further tests, we may have to change our mission call request a little. We may need to be in an area with medical care available should we need it - so we probably won't end up in the wilds of Africa. We'll let you know how things are going.

2008-12-13T10:37:00.000-08:00

OK - so I need to get into this blogging thing. I guess I am supposed to write (type) about stuff that is happening with the Jones. But then I'd have to have stuff happening...

Alan has set this retirement date as May 2. When he met with the HR rep, he suggested the date be Alan's hiring anniversary, so that's the date (27 years with the VA). When we get all our Dr. appts. finished we will be about ready to submit our mission paperwork. So our leave date will probably not be until some time in the summer. It pushes things back a little but not much.

New Site

2008-12-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

Watch here for info on Alan & Imogene Jones. (I tried to have the title KeepingUpWithTheJones but it was taken...)