I am so excited to get this blog out. It has been a few weeks since we have flown back from the 'Pearl of the Orient'. We had an unbelievable time visiting Grandma and Grandpa Clark in the Philippines. For those that do not know, Preston's parents are serving an LDS mission in Philippines as mission president and wife. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to go and see them on their 18 month mark. They will be serving for another 18 months before returning home to the US of A. Since their departure in July 2014, there had been three new arrivals to the Clark clan so we were excited for them to meet new grand-babies as well as spend time with all of us.
Now, let me take you all on the journey of a lifetime ...
Our flight went from El Paso - LA (2 hour flight), 4 hour layover, then LA - Taipei, Taiwan (14 hr. flight), 3 hour layover, with the last leg from Taipei - Manila (2 hr flight) = 25 total travel hours.
The boys fell asleep in LA when we were waiting for our flight.
Preston and I hoping they stay asleep and praying these flights go well ...
Spoke too soon :) As soon as we were boarding the flight, both boys woke up ready to go. These two brought a TON of joy to our hearts though when they did amazing on all flights!! I couldn't believe it! I was thrilled. We were separated by one seat. We had the three seats you see above and one across the aisle. Pres and I took turns hanging out with the boys. Everything was going so well until jet lag hit. After the flights we had a few moments of jet lag that were quite interesting, to say the least. However, I would rather have hard times after the flights then on the flights. Apologies to those that had to survive those moments with us ;)
There are no rules in the Philippines when it comes to seat belts and driving. Jack loved the "no rule" policy and enjoyed every second of it. We were unable to bring a car seat for him so he sat in the front seat with whomever was sitting there at the time. In this pic Uncle Judd had our little guy while Grandpa drove and Sadie Belle looked on.
This is a very common mode of transportation. It's called a trike.
Our first day in the Philippines we headed to the mission home to check out where Scott and Sandy spend a lot of their time.
This is another major form of transportation called a jeepney. They are like little buses. I think they look like something you would find at a zoo to take you around and see animals. Jack fell asleep in the car on the way to the mission home. That never happens! I am guessing jet lag played a role in that.
The Elders arranged for us all to take a ride in one. It was a lot of fun to see how many people travel here. It was quite warm and would get very crowded fast.
A view of Tarlac from a Jeepney. Notice all the trikes lined up along the right. They are used mostly as a kind of taxi service.
Waking up
Beckham boy and I enjoying the ride.
Mr. Jack just hanging in there with Grandpa and one of the Elders.
My sweet boy.
I couldn't get him to look at Pres. He was so curious as to what Jackson was doing. How cute is he in that hat?!
I love this picture because you can see Isaac boy in the window of the jeepney that was behind ours. We had so many people in our party that we had to split up into two :) The Elders took us to the local palenke, or farmers market. The palenke is divided into two different types markets, the wet and dry market. The wet market is where you would find all kinds of butchered meats and fish. The smell of this joint was incredible. We walked rather swiftly through that part. The dry market is the mostly vegetables and rice. Much easier on the senses.
Walking through the dry market. We received many looks as we walked through. People were amazed to see so many white people in one place. It is rare to see a crew like us this deep into the Philippines.
Some of the foods we saw as we walked through the dry market.
Walking through the wet market. The next few shots were taken by my very talented brother-in-law Ammon.
Hello Hello
Wet market
Sharpening knives
Jeepney's lined up and ready to go.
Awesome, decked-out jeepney
After our tour through the market we ate a delicious meal. It was barbecued chicken with rice. Silverware is generally a luxury, so eating with your hands is very common. The food was delicious!!
After lunch we headed back to the mission office. Great group shot!
Jack had to show Grandma something. I thought this pic was so cute.
Beckham boy hanging out.
Scott in his element.
Day two was a beach day! We went to Subic Bay, an old US Naval Base.
Jack enjoying his beach time.
Such beautiful mountains and incredible people! We had so much fun spending time with these two.
Little cabanas that people could rent out and use.
Beach baby
Jack and Grandma
I love this shot. Jack was a little nervous about the ocean at first. He warmed up quickly though when he saw his cousins were fearless. He wouldn't go too deep though which made me happy.
A view from where we were all sitting. It was absolutely gorgeous! I couldn't get over the beauty that surrounded us as we took in this day. It was great.
On our way home from the beach we pulled over to check this out. You may think these are birds but they are BATS! They have huge fruit bats in the Philippines. Wing span can get close to 6ft long. That's one large bat!
The sound alone was incredible. We also saw monkeys!! I wasn't able to get a shot of them but I had no idea there were monkeys there.
Day three was church and a beautiful baptism of Sadie Belle Koudelka. She turned 8 years old on January 3rd and chose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We were so very proud of her and thrilled we could share this special day with her.
Sadie Belle on her special day. Such a beautiful girl inside and out.
The Koudelka Clan right before the baptism. Sadie's father, Judd performed this wonderful ordinance.
Proud Grandpa and Grandma.
We drove a couple hours to a beautiful town called Gabaldon. After we attended sacrament with the great people of that branch, we drove a short distance to an Eco Park and hiked to an secluded spot along a river. It was a very unique and rare occasion to have a baptism in a river. It was beautiful. Everything about it was sweet and sacred. I am so grateful we were all able to witness such an event.
The river (photo by Ammon)
The gang is all here! Love this!!
Along the drive we saw amazing rice fields and workers. The Philippines is truly a gorgeous place!
Photo by Ammon
Another amazing shot. Photo by Ammon
Day four we stayed at the mission home. Unfortunately, many got sick at the end of day three. Jack actually got car sick on the way to church. I had him sitting with me in the middle seat and he just couldn't handle the windy/bumpy roads. He had to sit in the front from then on. I don't think he minded that. Several others got some kind of stomach/flu bug and were out of commission most of day four. We ended up taking that day to relax and enjoy a trike ride. The Clark's set up for a member of the church to come out and give us all a ride around their neighborhood. It was really fun to experience that.
Jack was thrilled and rode every time. He wouldn't get out. I appreciate everyone allowing him to join them on their fun too.
So EXCITED!
Buddies. Jack went with Isaac on his ride. Love this!
On one of the rides little man road up front.
He loved it! Mikale said he would just make faces at himself in the side mirrors and laugh. Haha.
LOVE LOVE LOVE
My cute little man. Love this baby boy!
Aunt Shelby and Beckham boy hanging out.
Love this pic. How cute are those three?! Thank you Aunt Mikale for taking Jack for yet another ride. Haha
One last trike ride. Brian, Preston, Jack and Judd all went for a ride. Tight squeeze I would say haha.
Watching a movie on our chill day.
We heard a lot of laughter coming from the hall and had no idea what was going on. When we went to see what was happening, we found Jack and Kai climbing the mattress and using it as a slide. They thought it was hilarious. They were very entertained. Teagan and Claire were there to monitor what was going on.
These two really enjoyed each other's company. I think they were the only ones that knew what the other was saying haha. Beckham boy and Claire.
The place we called home for six days.
A shot of the back of the house.
The Clark's live right by a processing factory for sugar cane. You would see loads of sugar cane on these trucks any given day.
Another shot.
Our final day in the Philippines we headed to Manila to stay the night before our flights the following morning.
View from our hotel room.
Before everyone parted for the night, we got gelato.
Jack found the security dog and decided it needed to be pet. :)
Day six we all flew home. Our flight wasn't as crazy as our flight on the way there. We left Manila-Taipei (2 hour flight) a 3 hour layover with the Koudelka crew, Taipei - LA (10 hour flight) and stayed the night in LA. Woke up and headed from LA - El Paso on our last flight!
The boys slept the ENTIRE flight from Taipei to LA! We had to wake Jack up for the landing. Pres and I were so so HAPPY!! They did such a great job and were really good sports through all the traveling and the trip itself.
That trip felt like it went by in a blink of an eye. We are so thankful and grateful for the time we were able to spend with family. We truly enjoyed seeing Preston's parents and look forward to having them back here. Thank you Mom and Dad Clark for such a wonderful time and for a trip to remember for many years to come!
