Philippines Grand Finale!

Ok, this is finally it. The last of our trip to the Philippines. Wednesday we left the beautiful Bohol Beach Club and made our way back to Cebu.

One last walk and a few pics of the beach

A big yucky beetle

I think this is a banana tree, it was in the front of our hotel. I want one for my yard.

On the boat back to Cebu. We had front row right in front of the big screen.

The famous Jollibee's. Nels loved this place while he was on his mission. It was in the mall right next to the Marriot in Cebu. It's like the Filipino version of McDonald's. We ate here twice.

Nels and Ben got to golf at the Cebu Country Club on Thursday while Becky and I went to the spa and had a massage and facial.

They even had their own caddies.

Thursday afternoon, we met up with Rita Cuevas (on the far left) and she took us around one of Nels' old areas and also where she lived. This is her mom, dad, sister, and nephew.

In the house of another gal Nels baptized. She is the one next to Nels. She isn't active any longer.

Thursday afternoon we saw an older missionary couple in lobby of the hotel. He told us to go to the Temple that evening and he would get us into a VIP tour (the real open house didn't open until Friday morning). So that night we headed up to see the Temple. My Uncle is the Bishop of the new Temple President in Idaho Falls and they had heard we were coming. They invited us into their office and gave us our own personal tour. It is a beautiful Temple and was such a great experience for us.
Nels and I with Rita and Brother Gaso.

Nels and Ben crammed in the back of Brother Gaso's car on the way to dinner Thursday night.

Becky and I (Looks like I need a tan!)

Dinner at AA BBQ. It was kind of like Tucano's Filipino style. We didn't realize how much food we had ordered. Brother Gaso had his two sons come and eat with us and the bill for all 8 of us was only $58. We even sent bags of food home with Rita and Brother Gaso.

It was also the only place we found "Lift"(like MT Dew). Nels really liked this on his mission too.

Friday morning we went through a regular session of the open house.

The girls putting little white booties on our feet before we went in.

This girl was in our group going through the open house (Sister Florentes). She thought Nels looked really familiar. Turns out that she served in McKay's mission.

An American in a Filipino hat!

The kids are sooo cute!

Another crazy shot of their power lines.

Saturday we went up to the Taoist Temple.

Us acting like a dragon, it's in the picture up above.

Cebu tops, on a clear day you can see the whole city.

The "love bell". Hold hands and ring the bell. It was very loud!

Nels has a pic like this with him and all his mission buddies. I bet he never thought he would get one like it with his wife! (except he wasn't holding their hands) :)

Leaving Saturday night. Brother Gaso was kind enough to take us to the airport.

Almost home in the Seattle airport!

I will say this was the most incredible experience I have ever had. I feel so blessed that I was able to go back with Nels. Did I ever tell you the story of Elder Oaks personally telling me to go back with Nels? He came up in April of '09 for a Stake Conference. He stayed with my parents and we were lucky enough to have dinner with him before he flew out on Sunday. Elder Oaks had lived in the Philippines and my brother-in-law Jake expressed that I was really nervous to go over with Nels. He told me that I should go because it was apart of my husbands heritage. I am so grateful that I did! What a blessing this experience has been! I would love to go back and serve a mission there one day.

A huge thank you to all of those who made it possible for me to go! Monica, Quincy and especially Janis for taking the time off of work to come stay with the kids. I am truly grateful! Thank you!