Birthday Gift

Ron got me a new iPad for my birthday so I am learning how to post photos onto our blog from it.

Celebrating Nancy's 65th ...

It was Sunday, June 23rd when we celebrated Nancy's 65th birthday in Silver Spring, MD. Her Dad, Levi Willits, and his wife Ramona were present for the celebration with Doug's family, and Mark's as well. All of the six grandkids are pictured below with Nancy (Tasha was the one member of the family not present for the event).

Mark had purchased a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake which was "unveiled" for Nancy once all six kids got home from the first night of DVBS at Mark and Marta's church. - rw

The "good word" from Playa Blanca ...

As we implied earlier, our accommodations are nice for two nights on the Pacific Coast.

Reeve and Daniel haven't been able to get into the surf since a "red flag" has been flying most of the time, indicating the presence of jelly fish and stingrays + the absence of a lifeguard. However, some time has been spent building sand castles and playing soccer on the beach. Today (Thurs.) we took the bus to the village of El Valle, situated in the caldera (valley) of a dormant volcano. In the village we did some shopping for cosas typicas and visited a zoo.

The golden frog that we saw there is a national symbol, along with a "national tree." Also at the zoo (in an outdoor, tree-and-shrub-filled setting) were jaguars, parrots and a host of other animals. From Playa Blanca we take the bus tomorrow (Fri.) back to Panama City where we have a last night's stay at the same hotel where we stayed the first night. - rw

More from Panama ...

Our accommodations at the Wyndham Hotel in Playa Blanca (on the Pacific) are luxurious to say the least! We have a suite for the 4 of us -- with Grandpa & Grandma upstairs in a king size bed and Reeve and Daniel downstairs in twin beds. The suite has a full kitchen and bathrooms on both floors. The view of the Pacific is impressive as well.

We had a great day visiting an Embera Indian village not far from Gatun Lake. Both boys paid a couple of dollars for tattoos that will wear-off in a week. We are here at the beach hotel for two nights. - rw

On the Panama Canal . . .

On our very first "Grandkids' trip" it is obvious to all that two very special boys are enjoying the buffet meals that Caravan provides 3x a day! (This was breakfast on Tuesday morning.) On Monday our tour bus took us to a place where we boarded two small speed boats for two hours on Gatun Lake -- especially for the purpose of seeing wildlife.

The monkey pictured is a "White-face Capuchin Monkey," named after a monastic order that split off the Franciscans and were known for their light-colored hoods. In addition to seeing several of these monkeys and some Howler Monkeys, we also saw baby crocodiles and an abundance of bird life. Our tour guide (in the red)

is Cinthia who leads 4-5 Panama tours a year for Caravan, but is actually the director of all of the Caravan operations in Panama. She's a native of Costa Rica. She has done a terrific job for us, and is a delight to all 42 of us who are together each day on the tour.

A highlight of "Day 4" was the chance to actually board a tour boat and travel through the Miraflores Locks, and the Pedro Miguel Locks as well (3 locks in all). It was definitely a great experience to be right in one of the locks, watch the gates close behind us, see the lock fill with water, and then witness the opening of the lock in front of us so that the boat could move to the higher level. - rw

Our first-ever Grandkids' trip in Panama!

After flying to D.C. on June 12th, Nancy and I drove on the 14th half-way to Toledo, OH on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to meet Doug and pick up Reeve. (Reeve, 11, and Daniel, 12, are with us on our "Caravan Tour" to Panama.)

Our first full day of the tour was "Father's Day," so our tour guide had the tour bus decked-out with appropriate balloons. Nancy and I are pictured in Panama City with a view of the Pacific Ocean. (So far we have really enjoyed our Caravan Tour. Our tour leader, Cinthia, is a native of Costa Rica but currently is working for Caravan in Panama.)

A real highlight of our first full day was the chance to see the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal and actually watch two large ships pass through the locks! - rw

The Last Day in KL ...

On our last day in Kuala Lumpur (before flying out at 5:30 p.m.) I had the chance to go to the Melawati campus to see Reeve "graduate" from 5th grade (it was actually called "A Moving-on Ceremony."). The picture above was when Reeve and others were recognized after spending 6 whole years at ISKL, Melawati Campus (Reeve began school here in "Prep Senior," or kindergarten.).There were actually 6 different 5th grade classes, with about 20-21 kids in each class. However, each class was recognized individually, as was each student in each class. Reeve is shown just before he walked across the front to receive his "diploma." After his name was read, the vice-principal read a short piece that Reeve had written regarding an outstanding experience from 5th grade -- something that was done for each of the over 100 students! - rw

A last "Preaching Date" at SAPC ...

On our second-to-last Sunday at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church (5/26), I had the opportunity to preach on "The Parable of the Minas" from Luke 19. A special treat for me was that Doug was asked to be service leader (presider at the service) and was also the one to "do" the childrens' story (Reeve is on extreme left while Rania is the blond (also left side) and Gabi is the one with brown hair right below Rania).Following the second service I was honored by being given an I-Pad Mini and being treated to a meal for Nancy and me at a nearby restaurant. All in all, it was a good day! - rw