Wow, it's been a really long time since we've posted, sorry about that. The Quattlebaums are alive and well in the Philippines, and a lot has happened in the last month.
We got the credit card situation taken care of, and we've been fully reimbursed for the fraudulent charges. Good news.
The week after that post, we had out school production. Here are a few quick snapshots to show you how epic this was. I was working the spotlight, and Melissa was working to keep a gaggle of first grade 'angels' from turning into little hellions. It was pretty fun, but we were all happy for it to be over. I'd been working to help with the show since... early October I believe..
Melissa and the ladies hanging out back stage. Doesn't she look lovely?
Me doing my thing on the follow spot.
Melissa's class. This must be the 2nd performance. During the first night, the little guy who is waving couldn't find his mom, so the entire time during the finale of the show he was bawling his eyes out. To his credit he didn't miss a beat on his choreography. He's quite the character, and requests to be addressed as "Mr. Man CJ".
This is a little wider shot. How we managed to fit the entire lower school on this little tiny stage was a miracle.
What's a play without some ribbon dancers? There was only one fist fight. One of my students got into it with a 4th grader because one of them sang the wrong words during rehearsal.
After that we had another week of classes, and then it was vacation time! Justin and Anya came and met us at school, which was fun. They got to see our classrooms and meet some of the other teachers. We took off and went to the beach for a few days, where we stayed in Nipa huts (think woven plant fiber walls, bamboo slatted floors, thatch roof) and had a small army of cooks taking care of our every need. We got to meet Anya's family, which was terrific. We had a great time with them. During our stay with them we drove a couple of hours to San Fernando and went to the 100th annual lantern festival. All of the neighborhoods in the area get together and each creates a 'lantern' that puts on a neat sound and light show. My favorite was *does his best robot voice* San Juan!
Here are a couple of snapshots of the lanterns. They were huge. There were so many people there. (whoops, forgot the camera cord at home, will add these photos in a bit)
The next morning the four of us, me, melissa justin and anya walked up the beach a ways and found this wonderful area where the surf was really pounding us. It was beautiful. I took my wedding ring off and set it in our beach bag on top of a towel so that it wouldn't come off while I swam.. it's pretty loose on my finger and I didn't want to risk it. Most of you can see where this is going. While taking the towel out, the ring was flipped into the air, and was lost. We looked for 30 minutes, crawling through the sand, but the wind was blowing so hard that we figured it was covered and lost for good.
When we got back to the property, Anya told her family what happened, and they insisted that they should go look with a fresh pair of eyes. They found out that a fisherman walking by had found the ring, and taken it. We put the word out that the ring was a 'remembrance' ring (the stones are from a ring my grandfather gave my grandmother the day my dad was born), and the driver went door to door looking for the fisherman. Soon he found him, and brought him to the cabins. We gave him a small reward and got my wedding ring back. What a miracle!
The most memorable thing about the trip is the fact that I now have a new sister-in law to be. My brother popped the question after seeking her fathers blessing, and she said yes. We've very happy for the two of you and love you very much. 
We got the credit card situation taken care of, and we've been fully reimbursed for the fraudulent charges. Good news.
The week after that post, we had out school production. Here are a few quick snapshots to show you how epic this was. I was working the spotlight, and Melissa was working to keep a gaggle of first grade 'angels' from turning into little hellions. It was pretty fun, but we were all happy for it to be over. I'd been working to help with the show since... early October I believe..
Melissa and the ladies hanging out back stage. Doesn't she look lovely?
Me doing my thing on the follow spot.
Melissa's class. This must be the 2nd performance. During the first night, the little guy who is waving couldn't find his mom, so the entire time during the finale of the show he was bawling his eyes out. To his credit he didn't miss a beat on his choreography. He's quite the character, and requests to be addressed as "Mr. Man CJ".
This is a little wider shot. How we managed to fit the entire lower school on this little tiny stage was a miracle.
What's a play without some ribbon dancers? There was only one fist fight. One of my students got into it with a 4th grader because one of them sang the wrong words during rehearsal.
After that we had another week of classes, and then it was vacation time! Justin and Anya came and met us at school, which was fun. They got to see our classrooms and meet some of the other teachers. We took off and went to the beach for a few days, where we stayed in Nipa huts (think woven plant fiber walls, bamboo slatted floors, thatch roof) and had a small army of cooks taking care of our every need. We got to meet Anya's family, which was terrific. We had a great time with them. During our stay with them we drove a couple of hours to San Fernando and went to the 100th annual lantern festival. All of the neighborhoods in the area get together and each creates a 'lantern' that puts on a neat sound and light show. My favorite was *does his best robot voice* San Juan!
Here are a couple of snapshots of the lanterns. They were huge. There were so many people there. (whoops, forgot the camera cord at home, will add these photos in a bit)
The next morning the four of us, me, melissa justin and anya walked up the beach a ways and found this wonderful area where the surf was really pounding us. It was beautiful. I took my wedding ring off and set it in our beach bag on top of a towel so that it wouldn't come off while I swam.. it's pretty loose on my finger and I didn't want to risk it. Most of you can see where this is going. While taking the towel out, the ring was flipped into the air, and was lost. We looked for 30 minutes, crawling through the sand, but the wind was blowing so hard that we figured it was covered and lost for good.
When we got back to the property, Anya told her family what happened, and they insisted that they should go look with a fresh pair of eyes. They found out that a fisherman walking by had found the ring, and taken it. We put the word out that the ring was a 'remembrance' ring (the stones are from a ring my grandfather gave my grandmother the day my dad was born), and the driver went door to door looking for the fisherman. Soon he found him, and brought him to the cabins. We gave him a small reward and got my wedding ring back. What a miracle!The most memorable thing about the trip is the fact that I now have a new sister-in law to be. My brother popped the question after seeking her fathers blessing, and she said yes. We've very happy for the two of you and love you very much. Eventually our time at the beach ended, and we had to say goodbye. We'd planned on catching a bus to Manila to join them for Christmas, but it just didn't work out (the bus company didn't take reservations on Christmas and Christmas eve, so we would have had to go in to the bus station at 2am to try and catch a bus into Manila)... we ended up staying home and spending the holiday with just the two of us. It was lovely.
Vacation went by in a breeze. There's some other stuff that happened.. memorable things like driving in Olongapo for the first time, and trying to have Melissa's laptop repaired..and now we're back to the 'real world'. Paying bills and taking care of business. It's good to be back from such a nice break. We're rested and rejuvenated and no longer feel like this...
We love you all, miss you fiercely and hope to hear from you soon. -The Quattlebaums
Vacation went by in a breeze. There's some other stuff that happened.. memorable things like driving in Olongapo for the first time, and trying to have Melissa's laptop repaired..and now we're back to the 'real world'. Paying bills and taking care of business. It's good to be back from such a nice break. We're rested and rejuvenated and no longer feel like this...
and this....
We love you all, miss you fiercely and hope to hear from you soon. -The Quattlebaums
