The busses in front of Parkview Square

See You at the Pole

Gathered for Prayer

Quarter 1 complete

Well, this week is the first week of the second quarter. The last few days I have been hard at work getting things finalized for my first quarter grades. We have also been hard at work preparing our home for our child. Last week some friends came over to help us rearrange the house, and in a couple weeks we will be painting. I've decided to add a few pictures so you can see what the place looks like now, and after we've finished painting, we'll post some more pictures.

Betsy is doing well, as is our little boy. We've had lots of people ask about names, but have not decided on any for sure yet. Feel free to comment with suggestions.

The living room, Betsy decided to have a little more open area. There is actually enough room that our guest air mattress will fit in the living room between the computer table (behind me as I took this picture) and the rest of the room.

Mom, Mama, and Daddy, this will all make much more sense to you than everyone else, I guess everyone else just needs to come see us so we can give them an official tour!

A closer look at the corner, Betsy's scrapbooking table brought into the main room

If you look at the wall on the right you can also see why we are painting! Lots of marks on the walls.

The baby's room

Changing table/dresser for our child, we picked this up at a garage sale, it has some other items inside as well.

Our new "cot" given to us by one of Betsy's friends at the RDA, it will actually convert to a bed as our boy gets older!

Little Whittaker

Looks like Grandpa!

The newest Whittaker

Well, we waited to post because of our doctor's appointment, wanted to update you all on our baby. The appointment went well, everything looks healthy and seems to be developing properly.

OK, so now is the time for you to make your final decision/guess as to the gender, we do know now and have included it later in the post. In order to find it, you will need to highlight this text and the paragraph below it. (I've changed the color of the text to make it invisible, but if you highlight it you will be able to read it!)

IT'S A boy!

Last week's Spiritual Emphasis went very well. The Genesis Strength Team was well accepted by the students and had a great time ministering to them. It was fun watching them rip phone books, break axe handles, crush cans of soda pop, tear decks of cards, and bend rebar. It was also wonderful hearing their message of salvation and seeing lives turned over to him. There were 10-15 students who made first time decisions for Christ. There were also many who talked to teachers and staff for assurance of Salvation. It was a wonderful time! Thank you for all your prayers.

Betsy is sleeping much better lately, though her back has been bothering her a lot. Continue to pray for good rest and comfort! We continue to look forward to next Wednesday's appointment.

Love you all!!

Betsy had another doctor's appointment on Monday, no new information, but another chance to hear the heartbeat! Still looking forward to two weeks from now and the detailed scan.

Other than that, enjoy the pictures!

Elementary Computers

Here are a few of the kindergarten students working hard. They are so fun to work with!

Spiritual Emphasis Week

This week is our spiritual emphasis week. Our theme verse this year is Isaiah 40:31,

"But those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."

As our guest speakers we have the Genesis Strength Team ministering to the kids. These guys are incredibly strong and do some amazing feats of strength; as they are doing these feats they talk about God's power in our lives. Please pray that God would work in the lives of our kids!

Genesis Strength Team

Wow, look at that power! Jay is ripping a deck of playing cards in half. The kids are amazed!

Mariachi Band

We also had the opportunity this week to have a visit by a Mariachi band from Mexico. It was neat to see the dances and hear the music. Very colorful. (And very hot! Long sleeves in Singapore don't work very well.)

Another visitor

This week we have another visitor, Rachel is a family friend of Danny's. Haven't seen her in many years. She is traveling through on a tour of Southeast Asia. It has been fun having her here. In showing her around we took her to the Lantern Festival at the Chinese Gardens. The next few pictures are of those lanterns.

It was an incredible transformation from when we went with my parents in July.

Hanging out in front of the volcano

Noah's Ark

The theme this year dealt with animals, so they included this set of lanterns about Noah's Ark.

Remember the pagoda from a few weeks ago?

Swans flying over the water

Lantern Festival, lots of lights!

God is good!

It is hard to believe that we are already into the third week of school. I feel really good about the year so far, as I have been able to improve on the way I run my classes and to use the things I learned last year to help me out. My elementary computers classes are going well, much better than I was fearing. Thank you for your prayers for me.

One of the new things I have added this year is a website for each of my classes so I can keep students and parents better informed on upcoming assignments. The last few days I have been taking pictures in class, so I even posted those pictures. If you would like to see the students in my classes, you can view my profile by clicking on my name on the right, then select the different class pages.

On the home front, we had one of Betsy's friends from the RDA over for dinner. It was neat having him here and being able to talk with him. He asked a lot of questions about where we are from, and enjoyed looking at pictures of eastern Washington. We enjoyed hearing his stories of life in Singapore. Please pray that we will continue to have opportunities to share Christ's love with him.

Betsy is continuing to have troubles with her sleep cycle, pray that she will get all the rest she needs, and not feel like she's just being lazy as she sleeps all day. Right now she is beginning to come down with the flu. Pray that she will get the sleep needed to kill this flu bug quickly!

Thank you so much for all your prayers, continue to pray for us through this pregnancy that God will use the next 22 weeks to build us closer to Him and closer to each other; and that we will be prepared for the child He is blessing us with.

A view of our condo from the top of nearby government housing.

The walkway heading to school

This condo is right next to ours; it has been interesting watching it grow from a hole in the ground to the 8 or 9 story building that it is now.

Here is the top half of the new condo. This picture was taken from our building.

Dinner is almost ready!

Our own home

Monday marked the beginning of a "normal" year. Summer vacation is officially over. Our last guests (at least for a couple weeks) left.

This past month has been wonderful, yet crazy. My parents were here for the last two weeks of July (much fun, glad they came), then three days after they left some friends who are doing missions work in Papua New Guinea and Australia came to stay at our place while they work on getting their missionary visas to Australia. They left on Monday, thus, for the first time in a month our house is lived in by only us! It was a wonderful month, we were glad to have the guests and to have the home to be able to provide for these people, but at the same time, it is also nice to have our home and privacy back. We will be enjoying this as much as possible while we prepare for another member of the family!

Love you all!

A New Year Begins

Well, two days of school have now passed. So far the year has been great.

My schedule this year is:

1. Prep Period - It's nice having this first thing to kind of get settled for the day.
2. Algebra 1 - This is an 8th grade class, with a couple of 9th and 10th graders. I'm looking forward to teaching middle school again this year. 18 students.
   
3. Calculus - This class doubled in size to 8 this year. I'm looking forward to teaching it again and improving upon last year!
4. PreCalculus - 16 students this year (up from 11). Again, it will be nice to improve on my teaching last year.
5. Computer Applications - This is a 9th grade class with 14 students right now. I really enjoy teaching the computer classes as they provide a different atmosphere than the Math classes and the students tend to enjoy them more.
6. Elementary Computers - This is my scariest class! I am teaching each grade from K-6 once a week. Most of them I'm not too worried about, Thursday scares me though!
   
1. Monday = 2nd & 3rd, 19 students
   
2. Tuesday = 5th, 15 students
   
3. Wednesday = 4th, 16 students
   
4. Thursday = K-1st, 23 students - This is the one I am most dreading, not sure what I'm going to teach, or how I'm going to keep them under control for 50 minutes! Pray for me.
   
5. Friday = 6th, 17 students
7. MultiMedia - 9 students. This should be a fun class, hopefully will learn a lot about the students as they create many different projects.

All-in-all I really like my schedule, and I'm excited to see how God works in my classes this year.

Little Whittaker Update

We had another doctor appointment on Thursday and got a few more pictures to share. Everything is looking good so far. Please continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy and for good rest for Betsy.

A praise, we were able to get all the details worked out for our insurance and from here on out all the doctor bills will go directly to insurance for 100% coverage!


Little arms and legs

Head Shot

The whole body

As you can see from the picture the doctor didn't adjust the due date, still set at February 19.

Summer is over

Sorry this post is a little late. The last few days have been somewhat hectic:

On Friday, Danny reported back to duty at school for a weekend retreat (staff only), while Betsy took Mama and Daddy to the airport as their two week visit had come to an end.

The retreat was a great time of learning about my coworkers and building connections with them, but it was also hard being away from my pregnant wife. I was grateful that Betsy had things to keep her busy with the other wives here (they went to the zoo).

The last three days have been normal preparation for school, I can't believe the kids arrive on Monday!

Yesterday we also had some friends who are traveling through Singapore arrive. They will be staying at our place while they get the paperwork finished for their move to Australia. It is fun having them here, but we didn't get much of a break between my parents and them!

Tomorrow we go back to the doctor for another checkup and another look at our child. Betsy is 12 weeks pregnant now. The morning sickness has pretty much passed, but she hasn't been sleeping very well.

Love you all lots, thanks for your prayers!

Prayer Request

The last few days we've been hearing things about my little cousin Holly. Many of you have heard about her problems in the past. She has been struggling with different medical issues most of her life. A few years ago she was battling with leukemia. Well she had to go in for a surgery last week and it did not go as planned. She will live, but she is in a lot of pain and has a lot of problems. They found her intestinal walls to be very thin and actually put some holes in them (accidentally). She is not taking it well. She knows about God and asks for prayer, but she also questions how He could love her with all the hardship she is facing. She is 13 years old and just wants to be a normal kid. She is asking for a "creative miracle" one in which all of the weak parts of her body are replaced with full and healthy parts. Please pray with us!

Visitors

Well, this post is a little late, sorry. Betsy has continued to feel better lately with only one small bout of nausea a few days ago. My parents came last Thursday and we have spent the last week showing them around.

Yesterday was a rather fun day. We decided to give them a look at the "outskirts" of the city (i.e. the part that is NOT the downtown business district) So we got on the MRT(Mass Rapid Transit), which is above ground once it leaves downtown, and enjoyed the view of mile after mile of 12-25 story apartment buildings. At the end of the line we did a little shopping, got some wonderful lunch, then went to the Chinese gardens. It was a nice place. This site has a few pictures. If you click on them it will give you a closer view. The building in the first picture, the Pagoda, is seven stories high with a spiraling staircase all the way up. I decided to run up it, so my dad could take a picture from the bottom with me looking over the railing. I made it to the sixth floor before I had to start walking, then my legs were jelly for a while. It was fun, but probably not the best idea! I'll post some pictures next.

Now it is the weekend so we will probably spend some time at the pool, but not go out much as it gets pretty crowded!

Thanks for your love and prayers.

The Pagoda

The centerpiece of the Chinese Gardens, it was a beautiful view from the top, and a nice breeze too!

Looking up the center

Daddy waited at the bottom while we climbed to the top. 30 stairs per flight (one circle is one flight), a total of 180 stairs, but the view and breeze were definitely worth it!!

Walking back down

Now a picture as we head back down, I wasn't feeling the best, so I walked instead of running this time! Betsy got a head start, you can see her almost down.

Looking Down the Center

We made it. This time Mama waited at the top to take the picture.

T minus 73 hours

Well, summer vacation is almost here! We've been working hard all summer and are ready for a vacation! In 73 hours Danny's parents arrive for a two week visit. This will be our vacation time as well. Pray that Danny is able to get everything done at the school before Thursday.

Yesterday evening we returned from our housesitting adventure. It was nice to be in a slightly more comfortable home, but we were definitely ready to be home! It was great this morning to be able to leave for work at 8:50 instead of 8:00.

Hmmm, let's see, what else can I say to prolong this post before getting to the part you all really care about. . . Went grocery shopping today, was nice to be able to simply walk home with the groceries, though the 30 lbs were definitely getting heavy by the end of the trip. The swimming pool was a soothing treat.

Thank you for all your prayers and congratulations. Betsy has been feeling much better for the last few days. This was good as we had dinner with friends on Friday and Saturday, then moved back home Sunday. Please continue to pray for us (especially Betsy and LW) during these next 7 months. We look forward to having another look at LW (little Whittaker) when we go back to the doctor August 11.

News You've All Been Waiting For

On Wednesday, July 6, we got to see the heartbeat of our little baby. Now we know why Betsy hasn't been feeling well lately. Everything in the ultrasound looked really good. The doctor set our tentative due date as February 19th. We are very excited! We covet your prayers as we prepare to be good parents. Below is a picture of the ultrasound. Our next visit to the doctor is in a month, we will keep you posted on new developments.

Little Whittaker

Computer Maintenance

Well, I continue working at the school getting the computers up and ready for the coming year. With the 65+ computers at the school, this is a big process. I've been enjoying it so far and have learned a lot from Andrew the IT director for the school. Friday I had the wonderful adventure of helping Andrew at Simlim. Simlim is a mall devoted to computer supplies. Somewhere around 300 separate shops selling all different types of parts, it was an interesting time, about 7 hours of walking around the mall, haggling with shopkeepers, and carrying supplies back to the van. It was fun, yet tiring, didn't get back from the shops until 8 pm.

I've also been growing a bit tired of the commute. It takes about 45 minutes to get to work, and about an hour to get back. After the 10 minute commute all year, that is a long time!

Summer Vacation

Well, we are settling in with our new summer routine. It has been nice being in a new home. We are house-sitting for one of the school families. It is a nice home and much larger than our own. As part of our responsibilities, we are taking care of their dog, and dwarf hamsters. So home life is busy with walking the dog and taking care of our 7 dwarf hamsters (4 of our own and 3 that we are hamster sitting). To fill up the rest of our time, we have been working at the school for 7 hours each day. I've been enjoying the time working on the computers, and even more I've been enjoying not having any homework to bring home at nights or on the weekends!

Betsy has a slightly lighter load at RDA over the summer, only volunteering in the mornings, but is keeping busy by working as a receptionist on Mondays and Tuesdays at the school.

Our schedule will continue in this way for the next few weeks until we move back to our place in the middle of July to get ready for my parents arrival on the 21st.

School's out for summer!

Wow, the school year has come to a close. It is hard to believe that a full 10 months have passed since we arrived here. Today I finished my job of cleaning up after the year and am officially on summer vacation. Tomorrow I start my summer job! I will be helping Andrew with the maintenance of the computers at the school. I will be working through most of the summer doing this, it will be nice having the pressures of teaching gone, but still having a job!

Most of the faculty are in the process of leaving for the summer break. Only a very few of us are staying in the country for the summer. It will be a quiet summer, but Betsy will continue volunteering at RDA, and she will also be working at the school in the office 3 days a week. These summer jobs will help us with our summer expenses, but could also be a bit of a strain. I look forward to the real vacation that will come in July when my parents arrive for a two week visit!

Love you all!

Special Olympics

This last Saturday, June 4th, was the Special Olympics held at RDA. I, Betsy, was given the great opportunity to help in this event. Some of us leaders started the program with a demonstration of the leading technique we use at RDA. Then students performed dressage tests. I had two independent riders take the test. They did well, and I was so proud of their achievements. I was very nervous because I was the one calling out the pattern of the test for each rider. If I had made a mistake, it would have ruined the test. Thank you, Lord, for getting us all through!!

After the dressage tests, we had relay games for other riders. These riders were led to the start line in a trot, dismounted, then ran on foot through the relay. The races were all very close until the end of the second race. One student tripped and bumped his knee. He was the last rider for his team, so the whole crowd cheered as he got up and finished the race. Now that is sportsmanship!!

Lastly, some other students and instructors had prepared a drill ride (patterns on horseback). I was not supposed to help with this because it was with a class on Tuesdays and I don't volunteer that day. But one of the leaders couldn't make it, so I filled in. It was lots of fun!!

I've included some photos of the event with captions explaining each. So, now you can have a glimpse of that great day!!

I led Harley in the leading demonstration. This type of leading is called "Hands Free" because the horse is led mostly with voice commands. With riders, we still attach a lead rope to the head collar of the horse for safety. But as you can see, we did not have them attached in this demonstration. This photo was taken at the end, when we "bowed" with the horses.

This is my first rider performing her test. You can see me in the back calling out instructions for her.

This is my second rider. He was very nervous, but he accomplished his goal of completing the test without a single mistake in the pattern.

My two students came in third and fourth in the dressage test. Well done!!!

Here are two competitors in the relay games. The adults with them are "sidewalkers", people who walk beside the rider on each side to keep the rider balanced. After the riders were dismounted, the sidewalkers ran the course with them.

This relay racer was one of my students on Thursday mornings. I always enjoy her smile!

Time comes earlier here

This afternoon Betsy and I went with a few students from the school and got to watch Star Wars Episode III in an early release. The movie actually started at 4PM on Wednesday the 18th, which was early in the morning on the 18th back there in the states. It's kind of fun knowing that we were one of the first to see the movie. It was a good movie, but it ends the way we expected! It was also an interesting study. The theatre wasn't even half full, I couldn't believe all the empty seats. It was fun to spend some time outside of school with the students as well.

Vinegar

A couple of weeks ago I learned a new use for vinegar, maybe some of you already know this:

I was having troubles with my stomach (use your imagination), wasn't sure if it was food poisoning or bacteria or maybe a parasite, but it lasted a few days. well, one of my coworkers mentioned drinking vinegar to kill anything in my stomach. So that is what I did, a glass of water with a tsp of vinegar. It tasted NASTY! (I drank it in the bathroom in case I couldn't keep it down.) It actually wasn't as bad as I expected, but I won't be taking it up as a regular drink. Apparently what ever was in my stomach didn't like it either, the vinegar cured me!

So, now we have another home remedy!! Yippee for avoiding the doctor!

Sunday School

This past Sunday I had my first opportunity to teach Sunday School. It was a fun time, and I think it was enjoyable for the kids. It was nice to finally get a little more involved in serving at the church. The lesson was on Samuel anointing David to be King, and having a heart for God.

At school, we continue to fly toward the end of the year, only 3 weeks of school left. As always, there is still a lot of things that I would love to cover before the end. Oh well, we have covered much. Pray for wisdom over the next weeks. After the year is over, most of the staff will leave the country for the summer. We look forward to the two months to explore Singapore and enjoy ourselves here, but we also know that it will tend to be very quiet. Of course, when July comes, so do my parents! It will be a lot of fun to have them here for those two weeks.

Betsy had a good week at RDA, she put in a lot of time on Thursday and Friday preparing for a fundraising dinner that was on Saturday, but did not have a chance to speak with her friend. Pray that she will have an opportunity to share with him this week, and that he will be open to God's message.

Answered Prayer

I (Betsy) have been learning so much lately in a Bible Study I attend every Wednesday morning. The big challenge God set before me was to learn to fear Him, as talked about in Kings. We have been studying the period in history when Israel splits into the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Some of the kings did not fear the Lord and faced serious consequences. I want to abide in Him and fear Him but cannot do either without Him. Because of my desire to constantly be aware of God (fearing Him), one of my many prayers lately has been that my countenance and attitude constantly reflect Jesus to all the lost around me. God gave me the answer, "you are," in a most amazing way.

One of my friends that volunteers at the RDA told me last Thursday, "I can see Jesus in you!" He went on to mention that he had known many Christians, but none like me. He asked me if I knew for sure that I would be going to Heaven when I die simply because I believed it was true. I emphatically answered, "YES!" He said, "See, you know it!" He also talked about his not knowing and finding out when he died. I didn't get a chance to talk to him about it at the time. Please be praying for a divine appointment this Thursday. I want God to speak to my friend. I want him to start a relationship with the Almighty, one true God!! Praise and Glory be to the only God of the universe and His great work here!!!!!!

A hawker center

Thought we would give you a picture of a typical local hawker center (yes mom, that is the correct spelling). Many different stalls selling all kinds of different foods.

Dinner with friends

A group of teachers out to eat!

Departing Friends

Saturday evening we had a Teacher Appreciation Banquet. This was a great evening with wonderful food and even more wonderful company. We also honored the teachers who will be leaving after this year. Pray for them in their transition, and also for those who are coming to replace them.

The culprits

Let me introduce you to Florence & David Tan. These are the people who introduced us to Singapore. I often tease Florence that it is her fault I am here, though we both know it was really God's calling!

Five weeks left

It is hard to believe that the school year is almost over. I am busy with the final planning to best use these last five weeks. The students, of course, are getting a little antsy to be done. It isn't quite the same as in the Oregon where this time of year we start to get sunny weather and students start to crave the outdoors. But the kids are still ready for vacation! I am too!

Over the last couple of weeks I was able to help with the PE class and teach a unit on disc golf. We set up a small course behind the school, and on Friday a couple of the students and a few of us teachers went to West Coast Park and played for a couple of hours. It was fun to be out playing again. I'm looking forward to a chance to exercise some more once the year is over. At the same time, it will be a difficult summer as most of the school people will be going home for the summer.

But, on the other hand, my parents are coming in July, so we look forward to that opportunity to show our home off to them!

Thank you again for all your prayers, we truly enjoy your support. Have a wonderful week, talk to you next time!

Morning on Mount Faber

I (Betsy) started to exercise again here. On Mondays and Tuesdays I hike up Mount Faber, walk a loop road, and practice my tai chi. The following 5 pictures are from last Tuesday. I like going up Mount Faber because of the exercise but also because of the fresh, morning smells. And my favorite part is the wonderful a view!

The 6th picture is from when Mom was here. We took her to a polo match. We all had so much fun!! The riders are all at different levels of skill. The game would be slower, then it would get faster with the more experienced players. The horses are switched out every 7 minutes to give them a break. It is hard work and to add the humidity of this climate on top of that is extra difficult. But the horses give the game their all!!

Thank you for your prayers. I still enjoy my volunteer work and tutoring. There are only 5 weeks of the school year left and even my tutor student is starting to get jittery. She is always diligent, but recently a bit distracted. I will continue volunteering at the RDA during the summer but will have different students. Continue to pray that God will use my testimony to reach the lost.

Pretty Flower

Cityscape

Birds

Ships

Harbor

Polo