We took an hour long flight to the island of Bohol.  We only stayed on this island for 1 night, so we arranged a tour package to see all of the major sites of Bohol.  They picked us up in a van at the airport and then we were off to site-see.

Old Roman Catholic Church, Baclayon, Bohol. Its first structure was built in 1595, but the current building is from 1724.

1565 blood compact between Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna, the chieftain of Bohol. A blood compact was intended to seal a friendship, pact, or treaty, or to validate an agreement.

Python Sanctuary…this snake is still alive but doesn’t move because of obesity.

We paid $2.50 to have this “ladyboy” do a comical rendition of Mariah Carey…Mason wasn’t impressed.

“Hanging Bridge” made of some steel wire, but mostly bamboo.

We paid this guy $2.50 to husk a coconut with his teeth…He did it under 10 seconds.

Trying to get tickets for lunch and the guys got rushed by strangers who wanted their photo taken with blonde hair, blue eye, good looking foreigners.

Lunch buffet while floating down the Loboc River. We had our own private musician for our boat.

Dancers we saw while on the Loboc River.

Chocolate Hills of Bohol…what the island is known for

You can see Tarsiers (smallest primate) at Bohol.

At the last stop of our tour we saw more tarsiers just before closing time and the worker put one on our hands.

Last stop on our tour was a super fun kids play area.

Walking around Nate’s old mission area trying to find food and to see if Nate recognizes anything from nearly 15 years ago.

We stayed at a pretty run down place, but it was near the ferry port. We all loaded up into 2 trikes and headed to the ferry terminal to go to Cebu.

While waiting to board the ferry boat there was a family of musicians to entertain us. The youngest daughter was a really good singer.

Ready to get inside a poorly air conditioned ferry boat for the next 30-60 minutes to go to Cebu.

More photos of Bohol here.

In January we celebrated our 10 year anniversary.  It just so happens that Matt’s cousin also got married on the same day, so they also celebrated their 10 year anniversary.  We had planned a couple of years ago to do something together to celebrate.  We originally planned to go to Europe and visit Germany (where Laura served her mission).  But instead we got this job opportunity to be in the Philippines, so we invited them to come stay with us (where Nate served his mission).  We don’t get to see Nate’s family often, but we love hanging out with them and our kids get along really well.

The 11 days that they were with us were jammed pack spending time in Manila, Bohol, Coron, Cebu…that is 4 flights and one ferry ride for the 9 of us!

This is our first time to be in the Philippines during Holy Week, and we were not quite sure what to expect.  Apparently everything is closed, so there really isn’t traffic in Manila.  However that means that restaurants and malls are closed as well.  But, we managed by eating at some hotel buffets like Circles at the Shangri-la and Taal Vista Hotel.  We drove around Old Manila which is normally super crowded, but was actually a pleasant drive since there was no traffic.  We also made use of the swimming pool at our condo.  Nate and Laura were coming from a state where it was still snowing, so they all were enjoying the sun and being able to swim.  We also had them experience a massage where the massage therapist comes to your home…yes we are spoiled and so are our guests!

First meal in Manila was a Circle’s Buffet at the Shangri-La…this photo doesn’t even show the whole buffet area!

Everyone got to ride a horse up to Taal Volcano…and this place was SUPER busy on Good Friday.

It took us 3 canoes, but we all made it to Pagsanjan Falls. And all of us went under the main falls by being pulled by a bamboo raft

We took them to a dampa seafood place. You buy the food that want cooked and take it to a nearby restaurant for them to cook it how you want

We tried watching the fireworks at The Mall of Asia, but they didn’t have any because of the holiday weekend

Shopping at Greenhill is always fun. Buying purses, shoes, sunglasses, clothes, etc for a fraction of the price

Souvenir shopping at Balikbayan where there are amazing wood carvings, paintings, jewelry, etc.

We took advantage of having a nanny and went out for dinner with just the 4 of us.  Happy 10 year anniversary to us!

The Filipinos know how to throw a party!  I am assuming that the 1st year birthday is a big deal in the Philippines like it is in Hawaii because of tradition.  Years ago children did not live to see their first birthday, so this is a major milestone.  We were invited by a couple that both husband and wife are co-workers of Matt to attend their son’s first birthday.  Of course we went to see how the Filipinos throw a party…and we weren’t disappointed!

Welcome to the birthday party!  All of the boys got an eye patch, bandanna, sword & spying scope.

The set-up was amazing and you still can’t see everything that they had in this photo. We were told that this was an “average” party for a 1 year old!

Party Favors for each child who attended

Prize Table – There were various games that the kids played and after each game they got a prize

Cake Table – Each child got a cupcake that was individually decorated

At the end of the party program there was a pinata

There was a hair stylist available who put fun colors in your hair

Super cool face painting was available for anyone

Photo booth and props were available for all.

And some additional fun things that I didn’t get a photo of that were present at the party were:  MC guy who put on a party program for the kids, random photographers who took pictures of the guests and then you could buy each photo for about $1, a small play ground in the corner to use, a sticker booth where you could get your name placed on a Disney character sticker, a candy bar, an adult buffet, a kids buffet, hot dogs, popcorn and popsicles.

It was a really fun party.  I am glad that our kids got to experience it since I don’t ever plan to throw a party for them like this!  It is true what they say, “It’s More Fun In The Philippines!”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has one of the oldest and largest women’s organization in the world.  Every March there is a celebration for the anniversary (March 17, 1842) of this women’s organization within the church.  And in the Philippines there was also a celebration, but it was a bit different from what I have done in the past.  The stake/area that I reside in decided to celebrate “Women of Asia” for this anniversary celebration.  The 6-8 wards/groups were asked to represent a different country by doing a dance and and singing the country’s national anthem.

Our ward was assigned the Philippines.  So we learned the Filipino National Anthem, did a traditional (ifugao) dance and provided traditional food.  Our whole performance was only about 5 minutes, but other groups where 10-15 minutes.  Another difference in how things are done in the Philippines compared to the states is that these Relief Society activities are for the women of the church ages 18 and above.  So, in the states only the women attend.  However, for this celebration in the Philippines whole families came to support and watch the show.  So, Matt and the kids came to watch me and the other members of our ward perform.

Our relief society sisters who sang and performed

Another group of relief society sisters that performed…I think this was China

These women represented Saudi Arabia

Doing our dance…yep I’m front row

Matt has a best friend since he was about 12-13 years old.  They went through the teenage years together, prepared and served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, went through the dating scene, went on a cruise together and now are both married and with kids.  And when they get together it as if no time as past since they were last together, and they act like they acted when they were half their age!  Ryan’s wife served a mission for the LDS church in Taiwan and with us now living in Manila, the end of February was a perfect opportunity for them to visit her mission and visit us in the Philippines.

“Sawyer and Farley” about age 14

The four of us had fun eating out and just being together

Enjoying a PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) game

Sawyer family ready for Pagsanjan Falls. It rained heavily the day before, so we were only able to go 1/3 of the way, but it was still an enjoyable trip.

Lounging around at a hotel; the boys wanted to be comfortable!

View of Taal Volcano. We weren’t able to go to the volcano because of the rains, but it was still a nice view once the raining stopped

Spent the day on Corrigedor Island. On the way back our ferry rescued a fisherman that was treading water for a few hours.

The boys went scuba diving at Eagle’s Point

We hung out at home talking a lot and catching up. Mason really liked hanging out with the Sawyer family and continues to pray for them