Kirk&Cherrie

Cherrie's Band (sorry for the lousy recording)

2010-10-04T10:16:00.001-07:00

My Beautiful Kianna and Handsome KC

2009-06-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

I love my Kids! They are so freaking cute!

Silly little Corbin

2009-06-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Cherrie

2009-06-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

2009-03-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

Announcing the birth of Corbin James Benge. It's been posted on Facebook like crazy, only just now got around to putting it here)

Capture methane from sewage; heat homes, fuel vehicles, make electricity.

2008-12-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

I have a dream for the future of the United States. It might sound crazy, but I've been researching it for a long time. I just posted it at change.org. They have a section where you can post and vote for ideas that you want the new presidential administration to consider. If you can, please crate an account and vote for this idea. I would really love for it to get enough votes to actually get some notice.

KC must be spoiled

2008-12-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

We must tell KC that he's cute too often.

We were walking at Temple Square last night, looking at the Christmas lights with some friends, when KC went running and fell down. He got up quickly and turned to say something. I was expecting him to say "I'm OK" or "It didn't hurt", but what he said instead was, "It's OK, I'm still cute."

What is that all about?

Nail Salon - Anjelah Johnson - Comedy Time

2008-12-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

Oh, this made me laugh.

Sick with Parainfluenza 2

2008-10-31T11:53:00.001-07:00

FYI
The kids and I have been sick lately with some sort of respiratory/sinus thing. I had it first, and then when Kianna started to get it, and she started to have a fever, I decided to try to find out whether or not we had Influenza. I performed a nasopharyngeal swab on each of us and brought it to work to see what we had. If you haven't ever had someone perform an "NP swab" as we call them, then you're really missing out... it isn't pleasant as you can imagine if look at this picture.

Anyway, it turns out that we all had infections Parainfluenza Virus 2 (I'm assuming KC's was the same). Parainfluenza is an influenza-like viral disease that can cause croup, upper respiratory tract infection, pneumonia or bronchiolitis. Type 2 virus occurs during autumn every second year. Over the years I have seen a few infant deaths that looked like they might be associated with Parainfluenza 2, (in fact there was one the week after Kianna and I had it) despite the fact that Parainfluenza 2 is usually less severe than Parainfluenza 1.

Mama/Mommy/Mother/Mom

2008-10-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

A friend sent this to me. I just thought to share it with you guys. It touched my heart. I am so blessed to have a wonderful mother and a mother-in-law. I love you Nanay and Mom Benge.

-Cherrie

The young mother set her
foot on the path of life. 'Is this the long way?' she asked. And the guide
said: 'Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end
of it. But the end will be better than the beginning.'

But the young mother was
happy, and she would not
believe that anything could be better than these
years. So she
played with her children, and gathered flowers for
them
along the way, and bathed them in the clear streams; and
the sun shone on
them, and the young Mother cried,
'Nothing will ever be lovelier than
this.'

Then the night came, and
the storm, and the path was
dark, and the children shook with fear and
cold, and the mother
drew them close and covered them with her mantle, and
the children said,
'Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no
harm can come.'

And the
morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and
the children climbed and grew
weary, and the mother was weary.
But at all times she said to the
children,' A little patience and we are there.'
So the children climbed,
and when they reached the top
they said, 'Mother, we would not have done it
without you.'

And the
mother, when she lay down at night looked up
at the stars and said, 'This
is a better day than the last, for my
children have learned fortitude in
the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage
Today, I've
given them strength.'

And the next day came strange clouds which
darkened
the earth, clouds of war and hate and evil, and the children
groped
and stumbled, and the mother said: 'Look up. Lift your eyes to the
light.
' And the children looked and saw above the
clouds
an everlasting glory, and it guided them beyond the
darkness. And
that night the Mother said,
'This is the best day of all, for
I have
shown my children God'

And the days went on, and the weeks and the months
and
the years, and the mother grew old and she was little and bent.
But
her children were tall and strong, and walked with
courage. And when the
way was rough, they lifted her,
for she was as light as a feather; and at
last they came to a hill,
and beyond they could see a shining road and
golden gates flung wide And
mother said, 'I have reached the end of my
journey. And now I know the end
is better than the beginning, for my
children can
walk alone, and their children after them.'

And the children said, 'You will always walk
with us,
Mother, even when you have gone through the gates.'
And they
stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates
closed after her.
And they said: 'We cannot see her
but she is with us still. A Mother like
ours is more than a memory. She
is a living
presence.......'

Your Mother is always with you.... She's the
whisper
of the leaves as you walk down the street; she's the smell of
bleach
in your freshly laundered socks; she's the cool hand
on your brow
when you're not well. Your Mother lives
inside your laughter. And she's
crystallized in every tear drop.
She's the place you came from, your first
home; and
she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your
first love
and your first heartbreak, and nothing on earth can
separate
you.
Not time, not space... not even death!

@the park

2008-09-29T08:44:00.001-07:00

Hogle Zoo

2008-09-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's A BOY!

2008-09-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hello to everyone. Hope you guys are well. We are too. I just had an ultrasound and we found out that we are going to have another baby "BOY". Everybody thought that the baby was a "GIRL" except KC. He was right. Kianna was kinda disappointed as well as nanay haha, but we surely are excited to see the baby in February. So far, the baby has two legs, two arms and one head hahaha.The baby is healthy. KC was funny because when they started the ultrasound, the first thing they did was to put the gel on my belly and KC saw it and he said really loud "Why are they putting HAIR gel on your belly Mommy?" (He cracked us up! ) Oh well, As soon as they touch the equipment to my belly the very first thing that showed on the screen was the baby's butt with a penis(titi) very obvious .Here is the ultrasound picture...You guys take care

New Pics

2008-09-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

Our 3rd Baby

2008-08-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

3 months and 1 week

KirkandCherrie

2008-08-14T17:54:00.001-07:00

Bridal Veil falls

2008-07-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

Kianna and I hiked to the falls while KC waded in the pool at the bottom.

I am so Blessed to have you Kirk...

2008-06-21T21:34:00.000-07:00

Hun,

Thank you for everything. Thank you for loving me and for taking care of me. Thank you for being sooo understanding when im crazy. Thank you for all your sacrifices. Thank you for accepting me for who i am. Thank you for marrying me in the temple. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful, adorable Kianna and KC. Thank's for seven years of our marriage. Thank you for your promise that you will love me for eternity and that you won't leave me. Thank you for encouraging me when i am down and lonely.
Kirk, just want you to know that i am devoted to you. I love you dearly and my promise to you and to God will never change. That i will Love you, Respect you, Understand you (except when it comes to camping lol...just kidding) and be loyal to you. I will always be here for you. Sorry if i hurt you in the past. Sorry if im crazy most of the time (lol). Sorry if i only allow you to go camping 2 to 3 times a year. Sorry if i am smarter than you most of the time (hahaha). Sorry if you are more retarded than me. Sorry if you feel dumb sometimes. Sorry if you get jealous sometimes because your wife is hot and you are not (hahahaha) . Yup, i am better than you most of the time but I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU MORE THAN MY SELF! I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH!!!

Hey, don't take my jokes seriously. You know me. You married a clown. I love you. I just wanna thank you for everything that you did. I dunno what i was thinking. I started really serious and i got bored while i was typing this. So, this message became stupid..hahahaha...sorry...BUT I LOVE YOU THOUGH! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. No one will replace you in my heart. You will always be my eternal companion...

Karaoke party with my friends at Monarch-Bountiful. Miss 'em!

2008-06-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

2008-06-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

2008-06-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

We miss our Mom..Get well soon Nanay!

2008-06-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks To All Of You!

2008-06-18T19:40:00.001-07:00

I just wanna say thank you to all my family and friends who've been supporting me since my nanay had a stroke. I am so blessed to have you guys. Thanks to Monarch Dental who sent me a beautiful boquet of flowers. Thanks to my co-workers at monarch dental downtown and Bountiful. Thanks Dr. Olsen for calling me and for your offer to help. Thanks to Perez Family (we love you guys), Ruth Anne and Matt, Patrick and Maricel. Thanks to my friend Daisy (from Japan) for keeping me strong and for always been there for me. Thanks to Annalyn De Guia who treated my parents like her own. Thanks also to Jeny Gonzales, Christ Taylor, Deorelle Ansale,Karen Arines, Benge Family, my Family in the Philippines (The Itable and Briones clan), Northpoint 1st ward, our neighboor in the Philippines who actually prayed for nanay during her surgery, Thanks to Nikki and Dave for taking care of my kids and for teaching my kids to pray for their mama, Mom and Dad Benge, you guys are awesome! Thanks for all your help and for your love, and anyone else i forgot to mention. Thank you so much for all your support. My mom will surely appreciate your prayers for her. My nanay get stronger everyday because of your prayers. Keep praying for her...I love you guys!

For You Nanay

2008-06-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

Nanay,

You're a wonderful mother,So gentle, yet so strong.The many ways you show you careAlways make me feel I belong.
You're patient when I'm foolish;You give guidance when I ask;It seems you can do most anything;You're the master of every task.
You're a dependable source of comfort;You're my cushion when I fall.You help in times of trouble;You support me whenever I call.
I love you more than I can express;You have my total respect.If I had my choice of mothers,You'd be the one I'd select!

Nanay's picture one day before she had her stroke

2008-06-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

Nanay..I Love You so Much!

2008-06-11T18:10:00.001-07:00

Our picture before my graduation ceremony

Nanay,

I just want you to know that i love you and i won't leave your side during your trials. I hope you'll be able to read this soon. I'm sorry if i hurt you sometimes. I promise to love and respect you. Thank you for being my mom and my bestfriend.....Please get well soon...I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Nanay had a stroke

2008-06-11T08:42:00.001-07:00

As most of you probably already know, Cherrie's mom Anita (Nanay) had a major brain hemorrhage on Saturday night at about 6 o'clock. It turns out that she has a large AVM (Artereo-Venous Malformation)just like Devin. These malformations have weak walls which is why it hemorrhaged.

At first she didn't have any symptoms other than a sudden excruciating, debilitating headache. For about fifteen minutes we were with her, talking to her, trying to figure out what was wrong, we even took her blood pressure, but she didn't have any other stroke symptoms, just the headache. So we were left to either dial 911, run her to the emergency room (about 15 minutes away) or run to the insta-care clinic in Bountiful (about 10 or minutes away). I was afraid of going to a busy emergency room and getting ignored as the "Lady with a headache", so I left Cherrie and the kids and drove with Nanay and Tatay to the Insta-care clinic. Nanay was still talking to us the whole trip, but as soon as we started to get out of the car, she stopped talking and starting mumbling. She had lost all strength and could barely stand up. We hurried her into the lobby, and we were lucky that nobody was there. Just as we got inside, she started vomiting, and lost all strength in her legs. I yelled at the receptionist that she was having a stroke and everyone in the clinic jumped on it. Within a minute she was on a gurney and being evaluated by two doctors and several nurses. They're response was awesome, and they got her stats and info as they started loading her into an ambulance. It just so happened that our very good friend, Alili Perez, was also in the clinic at that moment, and she came over and got my keys to lock my car and take Tatay home while I climbed in the ambulance with Nanay.
We drove to IMC in Murray while the ambulance team stabilized her and contacted a stroke team at IMC to be ready for us. They put did a CT scan to see if the stroke was a "bleeder" (hemorrhage) or a clot. It was a bleeder, but they also thought that there was something else there too, so they put her on medicine to help control the brain inflammation and keep her blood pressure low while they did further MRI's and angiograms to see what was going on. They found that she had an AVM which sort of changed all the treatment options. If there had been no AVM they would have tried to get in and relieve the pressure immediately, but with an AVM they needed to stabilize her and let the bleeding stop on its own so that they could evaluate where to cut without causing more uncontrollable bleeding. On Monday they performed an angiogram/embolizaton (just like on Devin), where they blocked of the major feeder veins to the AVM.
On Tuesday they performed surgery to remove the clot formed by the blood which had pooled as well as the veins and arteries of the AVM itself. She is still recovering from that. She has weakness on her right side and still isn't able to talk, but the doctors are hopeful that she will make a pretty good recovery and be able to regain some of those functions.
Cherrie and I feel really blessed. We were supposed to go down south for two days to celebrate Cherrie's graduation from the dental assisting program, but Cherrie had a feeling we shouldn't go, that something might happen. Wow was she right. I can't imagine what would have happened if we had been 4 hours away when this happened.

What a change from the way she looked a week ago.

Our little Kianna

2008-05-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

KC in a Scary Situation

2008-04-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday KC was playing in the garage while I was working, and I left him alone to go get something behind the house. While I was back there I heard him start screaming; like really screaming. I thought he must have gotten hurt or something so I ran around to the front of the house and into the garage. At just about this same time, Kianna came out of the house into the garage to see what was wrong too. KC was just screaming and crying, so i asked him what was wrong.
He pointed at a robin (the bird) in the yard quite close to the garage, and I said, "What? Did the robin come in here and scare you?"
"No!" he sobbed.
"What happened then?", I asked.
He just kept gesturing toward the bird.
Then Kianna asked rather sarcastically, "Did the robin come in here and peck your face?"
Still sobbing almost uncontrollably he replied, "NO, it's LOOKING AT ME!"

I guess he was terrified of the robin's evil eyes.

My mom...

2008-04-09T18:51:00.001-07:00

Bret and I camping near Lake Mead

2008-03-18T07:57:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of us hiking around lake mead. Some pictures of some cool petroglyphs we found, and pictures of our campsite. I didn't bring a good camera, I only had my cell phone, so these pictures kinda suck.

OK, I admit I look pretty retarded in this one.

My two heroes!

2008-03-15T10:52:00.001-07:00

My little Kianna

2008-03-15T10:41:00.001-07:00

My sweetheart Kianna. She just turned 6 a week ago. Isn't she cute?

Our little niece (Lily) is funny!

2008-03-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome to United States Tatay at Nanay!

2008-03-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

Celebrities that i met while i was in the Philippines.

2008-03-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

My cousin is a member of a popular dance group in the Philippines called "G-FORCE". Every sunday they dance at the show called A.S.A.P . One week before our departure, she got us a front seat ticket at the show and i am so glad that we had a chance to meet these celebrities.
Iya Villania. She is really pretty and very friendly. She actually gave us a hug and a kiss..Thanks Iya! You really are pretty inside and out!...

This is Bea Alonzo. One of the popular actress in the Philippines. Pretty but not that friendly.

This is the newest young actress in the Philippines "Kim Chiu". Pretty (not in this picture) but a little bit snobbish!

Maja Salvador. She's pretty but i didn't like her make up lol..

Anne Curtis. Very beautiful and very charming young lady.

Gretchen Barretto, Piolo Pascual (not friendly at all) , Sam Milby, Christian Bautista and ??? dont remember his name sorry lol...

Rachel Ann Go (pretty and friendly), Sarah Geronimo(pretty rin and friendly), Boy Abunda, Christian Bautista at marami pa! lol

Gary Valenciano is the BEST! (left side) My forever idol! Jericho Rosales is really cute but Gary is HOT! lol ...Sorry Jericho!

My trip to the Philippines 2008

2008-03-05T12:23:00.001-08:00

My Oldest Brother Ramil

My Brother Ronnel

My Aunts and cousins

Ila(my niece) and her Tita

My brother Ronnel and his family

Me and Daisy

Mom and Dad

Camilla making a silly face!

I miss this little girl. She's really talkative.

My dad's brother and sisters

Me and my Aunt's birthday party.

With my College Friends (Philippines 2008)

2008-03-05T11:52:00.001-08:00

This is Daisy. My bestfriend in college.

This is Ervinna. She and Daisy are my closest friends in college.

Ervinna, Me (i cut my hair :( ), and Daisy@ music 21

Tropicana Apartelle in Malate, Manila

With My High School Classmates (Philippines 2008)

2008-03-05T11:45:00.000-08:00

With my High School Friends.

Annalyn's Daughter

You can do it Kirk! Fight! Fight! Fight!

2008-01-15T14:58:00.000-08:00

2008-01-15T12:51:00.000-08:00

imikimi - Customize Your World

Our family

2007-12-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

Santa is inlove with me!

2007-12-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

halloween 2007

2007-11-01T09:39:00.001-07:00

Crazy quotes from Cherrie while under the "influence"

2007-10-31T20:37:00.000-07:00

Cherrie was recently diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but just to be sure there were no other underlying problems, she had a colonoscopy as well. Well, as you know the medicine they give you allows you to be somewhat responsive, but makes it so you won't remember anything, so if they ask you to do something, like roll over, you can do it, but when the medicine wears off you'll think you were asleep.
Anyway, it is interesting to watch someone "come to" after being under the influence of that medicine, because they are just so out of it, and don't remember what they said three seconds ago. As Cherrie came to, I had to grab a pen and jot down some of the funny things she said... pretty much in order of what was said first. It made me laugh so hard. She doesn't remember any of it though.

1- "Are they done already..?" ("yes", I reply) ... "that was fast!" (she said this about 10 times or so over about 20 minutes.
2- "I wanna eat" (repeated about 6 times or so)
3- "I wanna eat donuts." ("Donuts?" I ask)...yeah, a donut with a pumpkin on top... (I repeat this back just to make sure I heard her.. and she sort of mumbles "yeah" as she drifts off again.)
4- "Are they done already? ("yes") Did they all watch? ("I think so") I'm gonna charge them five dollars each... everyone that watched."
5- "I wanna go jogging... ("jogging?") ...yeah, jogging." (A minute or so later she came to again, and I said, "Hey, do you wanna go jogging?", and she gave me a dirty look.)
6- "Were they all there? Did they all watch?" (repeated 6 times or so)
7- "Is this the same room?" (repeated about 3 times)

@ the soccer game

2007-10-10T18:22:00.001-07:00

Kianna

2007-10-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

2007-10-10T18:16:00.001-07:00

KC is still in shock after he was abducted by the Chinese Aliens ..LOL

Our Family

2007-10-10T18:11:00.001-07:00

Pictures from our trip to Seattle

2007-09-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Our Angels

2007-09-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

Kianna is a fruit lover.

KIANNA & KC

2007-08-22T12:15:00.001-07:00

WOW! look at us!

2007-08-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

2007-08-11T08:34:00.001-07:00

Reunion In The Philippines ( My grandma's 75th bday, swimming, party etc.)

2007-08-02T16:53:00.002-07:00

My beloved "Inay" (grandma). I love you so much inay!

Happy Birthday Inay!

My life my "nanay at tatay" (mom&dad)

Itable Family with grandma (Mom, dad, brothers, sister in-law, and niece)

Inay with my mom, cousin, and my favorite Aunt Edith Arines (sitting on a wheel chair)

Our Lolas

My grandma and her children

Sagun Family

Briones Family

Grandma with her children and their spouses

Arines Family (Dennis, Edith, Denmark and Joshua)

Cadapan Family

Sagun Family

Denmark, Erwin, Kuya Ramil and Kuya Ronnel (I love mah brothers)

Our family

2007-07-11T08:39:00.001-07:00

Alili's 40th Birthday

2007-07-10T14:49:00.002-07:00

The birthday girl "ALILI"

Beautiful "Milan"

Bochok and lola

Birit "Moroni"

Birit "Pappy"

Ling, Alili and ate Nita

With the birit king, "Ryan"

With the birthday girl "alili" I love you.

My little Kianna.

2007-07-10T14:46:00.001-07:00

2007-06-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

A present from Ben and Kristin...Thank you so much guys! This is a great gift ever. We love it! We love you guys so much! Ben, you really are talented!

Buchukoy!

2007-06-26T09:10:00.001-07:00

New Pics

2007-06-19T14:16:00.001-07:00

One crazy night

2007-06-07T14:11:00.001-07:00

Talen's baby blessing

2007-06-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

Maricel, Baby Talen and Patrick

Kianna and Daddy

Uncle Matt and KC

Dad and KC

Me, Ruth Ann, and Emily

Us again (with Maricel)

Summer Time Again!

2007-05-28T09:25:00.001-07:00

Mga pictures kuha sa backyard namin.

@ The Zoo

2007-05-26T08:36:00.001-07:00

<---kc looks so funny in this picture.

our new house

2007-05-26T08:20:00.001-07:00

Our Bathroom

Our New House

KC's 2nd Birthday!

2007-05-26T07:58:00.001-07:00

I wanna taste my ice cream cake!

With my nanay

Dad posed like a bakla. Silly daddy!

Yahooo!

Buchokoy talaga

Kirk And Cherrie

2007-04-20T12:42:00.001-07:00

Cool Slideshows

2007-04-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

Kianna and KC's Slide Show

2007-04-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

2007-03-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Mini Me and Mini Kirk

Magnanay nga kayo!

Funny Kianna. You can even see her little uvula :D

March 2007

2007-03-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

Together Forever....

Ako at si Buchukoy The First...

Spending time with my kids (look at KC!)

Ang Second Buchokoy ng buhay ko!

Si Ate Chie, Si Ate Kianna at si bunso..Ang magkakapatid :P

Our filipino friends..

2007-03-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Kunwari mga model ng kama!
Mga babaeng palaban!

isa pah!

2007-03-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

Kianna's Birthday..

2007-03-16T10:21:00.000-07:00

2007-03-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

2007-03-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

With my friends

2007-03-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Bochok eating lumpia

2007-02-23T09:08:00.000-08:00

Si Buchukoy at si Bruhilda!

2007-02-23T08:58:00.000-08:00

Our Big Boss!

2007-02-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

Perfect Couple! Si Pogi at si Maganda :)

2007-02-23T08:45:00.000-08:00

Who wants to get their teeth cleaned?

2007-02-23T08:42:00.000-08:00

Kianna And KC playing in our bedroom..

2007-02-23T08:34:00.000-08:00

Mga asawa naming retarded!

2007-02-23T08:23:00.000-08:00

International Stake Activity.

2007-02-23T08:18:00.000-08:00

Texas Trip

2007-02-23T08:07:00.000-08:00

2007-01-03T10:20:00.000-08:00

Our Little Fairy

2006-12-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas!

2006-12-26T10:09:00.000-08:00

2006-12-24T12:13:00.000-08:00

2006-12-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

Kianna and KC

2006-12-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

Cool Slideshows

Our Family

2006-12-22T09:51:00.000-08:00

Cool Slideshows

Grandpa Wes, Jim and Aunt Karalee

2006-12-16T09:21:00.000-08:00

KC and Mom

2006-12-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

Si Buchukoy ng buhay ko!

Our little girl

2006-12-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

with our friends. Iriz, Ruth-Ann and Matt

2006-12-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

Typhoon wreaks havoc in the Philippines

2006-12-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

Well, we've been watching and waiting, and finally last night at about 1:00 a.m. we were able to contact family in the Philippines. That little house we spent the last few years building was completely destroyed, but everyone is OK. It's been hard to make contact because the first big storm to hit the area several months ago knocked out power throughout the province. That limits every body's ability to recharge cell phones, and makes it hard for us here to be able to contact them.
We spoke a few days ago with Cherrie's brother living in Manila, and he was on his way out to Manito (the little town where Cherrie's parents live) to see if they were OK. He was especially concerned, as he had left his young daughter (about Kianna's age) with them to babysit for a while. So yesterday he finally made it down there, and we were able to talk to everyone (he brought a fully-charged cell phone with him). During the storm, the wind blew out every window, and then ripped the door off it's hinges before tearing off the entire roof and causing the joists to collapse. Cherrie's Parents and her niece took refuge under the kitchen counter and sink and waited out the storm.
We actually fared much better than many. One of our good friend here in Salt Lake has her whole family living in the same area. They were unfortunate enough to be living right at the base of the Mayon volcano. Luckily, someone in the family noticed the approaching torrent, and the entire family was able to climb to safety as the mudslides completely buried their home. It appears that they, like many other thousands, lost everything but the clothes on their backs.
Cherrie's dad says he plans to rebuild everything. We are grateful that they had a good little cinder block home, because at least all four walls are still standing. The next-door neighbor had a house made of traditional bamboo with a thatched roof, and nothing is left.
So now we are going to try to help them purchase some materials to at least repair the roof so that they can be out of the rain. It might be hard though, as the whole area is affected and I am sure that there will be significant shortages of building materials, not to mention the difficulties in transportation.

SEE VIDEO FOOTAGE

With our filipino friends

2006-12-01T20:12:00.000-08:00