The Monitor Lizards I mentioned to be about 4 to 5 ft. in length. I forgot about the tail, make that about 7 ft. long. Very cool. Although this lizard does resemble the Komodo dragon it is much slighter with a less powerful tail but check out those claws. Someone needs a pedicure!!

An addition to our Palawan trip. Our traveling companions sent us some more pictures. The view at the river entrance and exit, and a picture inside of the under ground river.

January would not be complete without this celebration. Yes, 39 again. Thanks for birthin me mom, thanks for putting up with me dad.

Our girls got together and threw me a party. That was the best present I could get. Thanks to Larry and Connie for that one.

We continue to try to keep folks safe here. Sometimes they do crazy stuff like go to under ground rivers. My husband always says "Go ahead, I will stay here to write the report" Love to you Elder Johnny.

We traveled to Palawan's largest tourist attraction one day. The Under Ground River.

It took 2 hours by car then 30mins on a boat. It was worth the trip. Love the ocean it was amazing. Sorry, dark in the cave no pictures. Elder Gibb at the front of the boat had a spot light. We did see great Stalactites, mites and lots of Bats, thus the protective head gear. Guano, you know. We saw many monkeys and Monitor Lizards out side the cave. The Lizards are about 4 maybe 5 feet long. They were not bothered by our presence. Wonderful prehistoric looking creatures.

Oh, yes this was lunch.

January was a fun month of travel. We and the Rees' flew about 1 hour south to the Island of Palawan. The Mayor found out we were coming and we received the royal treatment. Kind of embarrassing, but I could get used to it. As we got off the plane we four were given shell necklaces with the City logo on it. No, they did not take us directly to the prison, but we did make a stop there. We had some good experiences and made some contacts. We are all about making contacts. We have a new mission presidency member out there and wanted to see how they were surviving. Other then the fact that she is having a hard time finding stuff he will eat, they seemed great. We were able to introduce him to the Mayor and hope they can work together there. Great chance for the church to do some good there. Teach some skills, encourage personal hygiene, proper food prep etc. Very clean Island, very pretty.

The homes along the beach at Subic bay. Loved that pantie clad child in the water. What a different life style. Very laid back. Now you know why severe winds can wipe out a village.

The bay is front yard, play ground, Bath, laundry room and toilet.

They tell us in the schools here there is one toilet to every 184 children. Children and adults get sick here often. Wish they could figure out this connection.

January was as eventful as December. We traveled with our good friends the Rees' to a place called Subic Bay. We saw many things but what I wanted to see was the monkeys. I was not disappointed. We came across a family? of about 30. As I watched them lick moisture off the road from the A/C of vehicles, I said "they are so thirsty." As I turned the elders were already on it. They filled a bottle a few inches with water. This smart fellow knew just what to do. Remind anyone of their grandchildren??