We made it to USC campus

Sisters all together again

Blake would take handful of his cousins snacks and then feed her some one by one

Farley family with the graduate

Everyone who made it to USC gradutation

After graduation we all hung out together having a swim party, BBQ and game night.

We had a birthday cake for one of my brothers. Since the sun went down it was getting cold and Matt was trying to warm up by candle light.

Blake found his cousin’s stuffed animals and was content to play with them for a while.

This is the biggest group photo that we were able to capture. One family was still at the hotel and Kalani was off with her uncle and grandma already.

Matt proposed to me in front of the castle… Apparently he’s had some practice 🙂

We got to meet Kylo Ren.

One crazy group at the jungle safari.

Mason is so good with his baby cousins.

During lunch my sister’s tongue started to swell after eating something. The restaurant took that very seriously and got a nurse to come check her out (we all ate for free!).

This was the only photo that we have of Kalani at Disneyland. We didn’t see her again until after the night parade.

Mason was able to participate in the Jedi Training.

He got to fight Darth Vader!

We had a great time going on rides and making crazy faces.

We watched a few parades since babies were sleeping and/or we wanted to sit down.

We got to walk around the Newport Beach temple grounds.

We made a stop at the Reptile Zoo. A show that we watch is filmed here often.

Blake HAD to hold the ball python.

My sisters and our family boarded a plane and headed back home after a fun weekend.

We enjoyed a campfire and taught the kids some fire safety tips.

Roasting marshmallows and Starbursts over a fire was a fun activity.

Mason made a small wagon at Home Depot with his uncle Seth.

Kalani’s birthday dinner at Valley Ranch. This was the kid’s table.

Kalani made her own birthday cake. It was devoured quickly and Blake always knew where it was at.

My parents with their Texas family.

Grandparents with 10 of their 15 grandchildren.

Our flight was delayed leaving Manila so we didn’t get to see our welcome sign until the next day. Being at Coco Grove really does feel like we are coming home.

Six year old Mason doing a flip off a rock at Cambugahay Falls

Lugnason Falls got a major make-over from the last time we visited two years ago.

Our kids love to ride on the motorcycle with their cousin Sherwin.

We had lunch at our cousin’s home and then sat around chatting and some people took naps.

We had dinner at another cousin’s home.

On the way back to the resort from our cousin’s home we saw the moon shining over the ocean.

Christmas Eve dinner party at Coco Grove we got to listen to these sisters sing.

Coco Grove fire dancers also performed.

Island Melody Band were the final number for the Christmas Eve party. (we’ve seen them perform 4-5 times now and they’re always great)

Christmas Day we got on a boat and headed towards Apo Island. Our kids wanted to be in the front.

Apo Island is in sight after an hour boat ride from the resort.

We had lunch here and also went to the turtle sanctuary nearby to snorkel with some turtles.

Mason and Tia snorkeling while a turtle eats grass.

Apo Island has some beautiful coral.

We saw a sleeping turtle while scuba diving.

Christmas dinner we had about 25 family members over and four missionaries from the LDS Church. Dinner was delicious, the company was great and the entertainment was memorable.

Missionaries shared a message about our Savior Jesus Christ to our family members on this Christmas night.

Nearly 30 descendents from grandpa Limary/Limatoc together for Christmas in Siquijor.

Wacky photo with everyone who was participating in our Christmas celebration…family members, missionaries, and resort staff.

We love Siquijor and the beautiful people and scenery that fills our days there. (photo from our balcony at Coco Grove)

Boarding the plane looked like this since they had the AirCon blasting, but it was hot and humid outside.

Getting ready to land in Bohol.

Eskaya Resort is on Panglao island of Bohol.

Blake liked the golf carts that we came across often and had to sit in them and “drive” for a while.

The main pool at Eskaya had a kiddie pool in front of the main pool. Basically our family was the only one using it during our stay.

If we didn’t want to be in the main pool, we could use our private pool that was just outside of our villa.

Mosquitos were a problem at the resort. We all slept under mosquito nets and the resort burned mosquito coils for all of the villas.

Before leaving the island, we found a local LDS church and attended their sacrament meeting, which happened to be the Children’s Primary Program, which was fantastic.

Most of the ride from Abu Dhabi to Dubai looked like this…a lot of nothing but sand. After living in a concrete jungle for three years, I think this view is beautiful.

Sometimes we came across these air conditioned bus stops.

Getting gas in the UAE is time consuming. Since there aren’t a lot of gas stations in the country, you wait in long lines to fill up your car.

We made it to our friend’s home and it was great to to see them again and our kids couldn’t wait for their kids to get home from school.

Our first evening in Dubai, we left the kids with our friends and Matt and I had another date night. This time at the Mall of the Emirates. Matt tried snow boarding at Ski Dubai, and I watched the penguin show since I have only tried skiing once in the fourth grade and that wasn’t a fun experience.

We had a delicious dinner at Karam Beirut where we were also able to watch people on the slopes at Ski Dubai.

Our friend and tour guide, Carey, had us walking a lot on our first morning.

First stop was to Al Bastakiya area to attend a culture breakfast at Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding. We ate the traditional food that Emerati families would eat and then we were able to ask any question to our hosts about their country, culture, or anything else on our mind. Yummy food, very informative and fun.

We walked to the water taxi area and rode the boat for a short ride to cross the Dubai creek so we could see some spice souk & gold souk.

GOLD ring that is big enough for a giant!

While the older kids stayed home to play with their friends and toys, Blake joined Matt & I at the Dubai Mall where we took him to his first aquarium.

Blake wasn’t sure about this glass flooring where there were large fish (maybe some sharks) underneath. He was too scared to walk over the clear areas.

While waiting to watch the Dubai Mall fountain show, Blake was making friends.

Duabi Mall fountain show is only about three minutes, but was fun to watch and to see Blake enjoy the lights, music and water.

Night view of the Burj Khalifa after the water show. We actually watched the water show twice before heading home.

Our friends got us 9am tickets to go up the tallest building in the world, The Burj Khalifa.

You don’t actually go all the way to the top of the building, but still at 452 meters (494 yards), we made the records books.

Our kids looking out at Dubai from the Burj Khalifa

If the Burj Khalifa had a voice, this what it would say.

We had time to spare in the afternoon, so we went to the “Atlantis The Palm” hotel and walked around their Lost Chambers Aquarium.

In the late afternoon we got picked up in a four-runner and headed out to the desert to experience a desert safari. Blake stayed home with our friends for the evening since he was too young.

There were so many cars there to do “dune bashing.” It is like a roller coaster ride in the car.

We stopped and watched the sunset during our time of dune bashing.

We arrived at the “Arabian Nights Tour” dinner location where hundreds of people gather for a buffet dinner, entertainment and a fun experience. Mason quickly made friends with the majority of the kids there and they all played tag.

Mom & daughter henna.

Camel ride was short, but now we can say we rode a camel in the desert.

Farley family as Emiratis.

In the Middle East, Fridays are the Sabbath day. So we got to attend church with our friends inside this villa that is the LDS church building.

After dinner we drove about 15-20 minutes and pulled off on the side of the road and picked a “camp ground” area in the sand dunes. Matt caught this small lizard as it was zipping over the sand dunes.

We got to watch the sunset with friends.

We built a fire in the sand and made s’mores.

To end our Friday Sabbath, we went home and decorated Halloween sugar cookies.

We woke up early and went to the JBR beach where they “mow” the sand. 

We spent a couple of hours playing on these inflatables in water and enjoying the company of friends.

Mason got to help carve a pumpkin since it was Halloween. Poor boy is six years old and that was his first time to “carve” a pumpkin.

We had such a fabulous time being with friends and exploring Dubai.