Labor Day Weekend

We enjoyed a party put on by the base on Friday afternoon -- a pre-Labor Day Celebration. There were the typical activities -- jumpy castle, water slide, music, free food, and face painting. Olivia saw a little girl with a butterfly on her face, and she decided she needed one too. She was quite proud of it, so we had to share!

And, this may be the last for a few weeks as we head back to the States. So, will update when we return.

Prego Party

While you would think Campbell's would have a monopoly on the Prego name . . . not when all these ladies get together! Courtney had a last bash before heading back State-side for a while.

From soonest due (left) to last (right)

Much to say about nothing

Well, has it been two weeks since we last updated the blog? Ugh! That might be a combination of things -- being busy, pure laziness, and/or no big news to report. Of course, at the very least, we could have posted a new picture.

Again, not much is new. Mark did some diving last weekend. This was the first time he has been in the water in about 3 months! We didn't actually get to dive where we had planned due to a big storm coming through and causing big waves, but I did dive somewhere I had not been previously. Nothing major to see except a big hermit crab.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to buy a cow. I think we go through at least 17 gallons of milk per week. OK, maybe not that much, but probably around 2 or 3. It is cheaper to buy half gallon cartons here than a plastic 1 gallon container, so we generally have 5 or 6 half gallon cartons in our refrigerator. It adds up.

Olivia went to a petting sue (Guam style) last week. She said she pet a baby goat. "How did it feel?" asked Courtney. Olivia answered, "I think he felt a little bit well." There were other animals there too, but I heard she was too afraid to touch them.

A couple of weeks ago, Courtney and Olivia went to Big Navy to tour a Chilean ship called the Esmeralda. From Courtney's account, they had a ball with Olivia -- giving her lots of attention. I'm pretty sure she enjoyed it too!

Dr. Steve Allison in the Neighborhood

In early August, Steve Allison visited us while passing through the area. Where are you going to be "in the area?" -- Bali, as well as some other Asian countries. He works with missionaries as part of his job. So, he flew in on a Wednesday and played until Sunday. Unfortunately, Mark had to work Thursday and Friday, but we made up for it on Saturday. Steve (as introduced by Mark to some of his friends) is an old professor of Mark's from ACU.


I believe Steve had a good time with Olivia, reminding him of his daughters who are now grown and out of the house. Olivia and Steve hit it off quickly. I believe Steve's first assessment was, "man, she's verbal!" We got to hear lots of stories of how Olivia was similar to one of his daughters. Unfortunately, it is the same daughter who yelled "what the hell is going on in here" when the preacher visited! He brought Olivia a game of checkers, which Olivia quickly turned into her own game of Stack & Crash. Steve also treated Mark & Courtney to a dinner one night to one of the fancier places in town (without Olivia). Mmmmm.


We had a good time on Saturday driving around the whole island. We stopped at Jeff's Pirate Cove and had lunch with Esther (co-worker) and Jim (her husband). Then, we went to their house to have desert and hear about their trips to Bali. We also did some swimming in their pool. The whole trip to Guam allowed Steve to get adjusted to his jet lag and relax a little bit before getting down to work. I know we had a good time with him here.

Meet Miss Taylor

With Olivia, we narrowed down a list of over 10,000 names to 100 to 20 to 2. When Olivia was born, we did not name her immediately, trying to decide which name fit her best. We also did not know whether Olivia was a boy or a girl before she was born.


However, with our latest addition, we figured it would be an easier transition for Olivia (and Mama) to learn if she was having a brother or a sister. So, we found out a couple of weeks ago we are having another little girl!


Fortunately, the name game is actually easier this time. We will be paying honor to our grandmothers -- Ava Lee Barton (Mark's "Nanny"), Kathron Westerhold (Courtney's "Granna"), and Dorothy Daily (Courtney's "Grandma"). One important side note: Dorothy always wanted to be, and claimed she should have been, named Sarah.


Thus, the name we finalized is:

Sarah Katelee Taylor

To be called "Katelee"

According to http://babynamescountry.com/meanings/Katelee.html, Katelee is an American combination of Kate and Lee. The Greek name Kate means pure. Lee is actually short for other names, such as Leonard (brave as a lion), or Farley (sheep meadow). And, the Hebrew name Sarah means princess.



So, we will have a pure princess who is as brave as a lion from the sheep meadow?

Welcome to This World

Well, we finally made it to the doctor to see if that was a watermelon seed growing inside of Courtney's belly. As you can tell from picture 3, we are having a . . . well, I don't need to tell you. You can see for yourself!

Olivia and Emily

We are blessed to have great neighbors who Liv plays with several times a week...good for the kids and good for the moms! Here the girls are sitting at a "Toy Stand", sharing a snack and just hanging out. Oh, those lazy days of summer! Emily and Olivia are about the same age and have a ball playing together.