Weekend Activities

Well, it has been a bit since our last post. Yes, we did survive the storm. It mainly consisted of strong winds and some good rain. The grass is green again. Since we are into typhoon season, more may be coming.

It is a busy weekend. We partnered with the Chaplain on base to provide the Love & Respect Conference to those interested. We had 111 people show up tonight for the first 4 hours of the video-conference. The rest will occur tomorrow morning -- 8 - 12. People seemed to really enjoy it. It is such a great conference, and we were excited to be part of presenting it. For more information on it, you can check out www.loveandrespect.com.

I spent last night at the airport waiting for a co-worker to fly into Guam. However, after waiting for an hour at 1 in the morning, I checked with the counter. They informed me she would be arriving the next day (tonight). So, I came back home, got into bed around 3, and slept a bit. Tonight, I hope to get in bed by 3, but I will have to get up about 6:30 to get the second half of the marriage conference ready. So, a nap may be in order tomorrow!

Hope all is well with everyone. We'll post some pics soon!

Here Comes the Rain Again

Starting over the weekend, the wind began to blow! While we have not reached typhoon status, it has brought a lot of rain and wind. And, it did a little number on Olivia's play house.

I woke up last night around 2:30 a.m. to the sound of a thump, thump, thump. I went outside to find our canopy being tossed around like a parachute. This is a canopy weighed down by six cement blocks! So, I took a knife and cut all the tie lines. By the time I came back inside, I was a drenched rat!

The good news? No physical fitness workout this morning due to the rain! So, I slept a bit longer. :)

Happy Birthday Cake

After getting a great bargain on a red, white, and blue cake mix after the 4th of July, we decided to make it one night. Olivia was convinced it was her birthday. Actually, I'm pretty sure she knew it wasn't, but she was trying her hardest to convince us. Why would we bake a cake if it wasn't someone's birthday?!!! So, we finally decided it was someone's birthday -- our country! She was content with that. As you can tell, she enjoyed spreading the sprinkles, as well as licking the spatula.

Happy 4th of July!

Well, it is 4th of July in Guam! How do you celebrate the 4th here? Unfortunately, not with fireworks. It used to be that a fireworks disply was part of the festivities, but the person responsible for it died. Thus, no fireworks this year. You can't even buy any on the island. Instead, they are having a laser-light show at the Navy base. We have decided not to join the festivities there though, despite the fact that the 80s band, Survivor, will be playing.



However, we did celebrate yesterday on Andersen AFB. We had a Freedom Festival, complete with free hot dogs and hamburgers, a bouncy castle, a water slide, face-painting, paintball, snow cones, hulu hoops, a live band, and lots of free door prizes. In fact, we won a 20 dollar gift certificate to a local Italian restuarant. And, the highlight of the day really was Olivia taking a ride on a Carabao. We didn't bring our camera, so no pics. But, here is what a Carabao looks like. Can you believe we got Olivia on it!?! Right before riding it, she said, "He doesn't like to walk, but it sure will be fun!" And, later, she said, "it was fun," although she was a bit scared when the moment came to hop in the saddle. She said, "it went clumpity-clump, but I held on."

We hope everyone enjoys a Happy 4th of July! We are planning on watching a movie, getting some ice cream (maybe homemade if we can gather the ingredients), and enjoy the day off!

Happy 4th!

For extra reading on the sacrifice of the founding Fathers, read
"Our Lives, Our Fortunes, Our Sacred Honor"

Water Fun

One of the hard things to get used to in Guam is the lack of change in seasons. Granted, we have wet season / dry season, but things don't really change that much. So, of course, that means we can play in the water all year. Here are some fun pics of just that.

What do you get when you cross a 2 year old, a running water hose, and white pants?
Trouble.

Old Friends

Amy G! I cannot even believe you would ask me if I remember you! Of course I do and I have often wondered what in the heck you have been up to! Where are you now? What are you doing? How is your family? I would love to hear...you can leave a comment on the blog and just ask Mark not to publish it so you can give some contact info. That way, he can forward to me and I can get in touch with you! Talk to you soon!
Court

Party Time

Today was party day. Olivia had a birthday party to attend, and the the theme was "dress up." Many of the little girls there had on princess outfits. Although Olivia didn't have a princess outfit, she looked pretty cute in this one! Enjoy!

Spelling Genius!

Although Olivia had no idea what she spelled, we were quite shocked to find her arrange her magnetic letters into the following word:

Our little genius!

The Dog has a Friend

As mentioned earlier, we are dog-sitting. Needless to say, Olivia has had a blast with her. Unfortunately, the dog is quite the scaredy-cat. So, having a 2 year old chase her around doesn't do much to calm her nerves. But, they have their moments. Enjoy.

Play Time

Some good friends of ours are leaving next week, so we had to get one more play time in with them. Their favorite game? Throwing sand at each other, digging in the sand, and pushing each other in the stroller.

Strangers in the Night

We are currently dog-sitting for a couple, so we have a traumatized Cocker Spaniel living with us for the next week. Two nights ago we went for a walk and Courtney found this little critter in our yard. It is a coconut crab! You can learn more about them here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab.

Here is our visitor:

Pic of the Day . . . or week.

Weekend at Underwater World

Well, we are going on Week 3 of Olivia having a cold, which shows itself through a runny nose and cough. Of course, Olivia has learned she can just wipe her hand across her nose though to remove the snot. Unfortunately, rather than remove it, she smears it across her cheeks! Very lovely and ladylike.

Olivia and I did spend Saturday picking up trash at the beach. She was a big help -- wanting to be carried in order to avoid getting sand in her shoes. One hour and 2 bags of trash later, we were ready to hit the store for some doughnuts. Olivia picked a nice big one for her. When choosing for her mother, she picked a doughnut hole. There's something about a mother-daughter relationship.

Sunday was another day of skipping church. Unfortunately, with Olivia's runny nose and her mother's illness, no church was in order. But, we did managed to sneak away to Underwater World to see God's creatures. So, enjoy some pics!

Memorial Day Weekend

It has been quite the busy weekend, as you can tell from the 3 new posts trying to update you on everything. Yesterday, we enjoyed a picnic in the park, sponsored by the Services Squadron. There was Hawaiian dancing, a bouncy castle, cotton candy, live music, BBQ, a water slide, tug-of-war, door prizes, and lots of fun! Unfortunately, we did not win the free trip from Northwest Airlines, but that is OK.

As for today, we woke up early and headed South to CoCo's Island. Olivia has been begging for a boat ride, so we ferried to the island in a boat. Then, we ate some lunch, saw some exotic birds, played in the ocean, played in a pool, and swung on a tire swing. Unfortunately, Olivia is a bit sick, which meant she was really not quite herself and lacking some energy. She crashed as soon as we got back to the truck and got her in her car seat. All in all, it was a fun day. Enjoy the pics.

5 Year Anniversary

May 25th marked our 5 year anniversary! The years have gone by quickly! Of course, we celebrated in true Guam style -- we had a babysitter come watch Olivia so we could go out for dinner and a movie (Taco Bell, Cold Stone Creamery, and Pirates of the Caribbean). We were back home about 11:45, which is the latest we have been out in about 5 years! It is amazing to think of all the things we have done in those 5 years, and here's to the next 5 (and the next, and the next, and the next . . .)

Now Here's Something We Hope You'll Really Like

On May 24th, we had an appointment at Navy to have an ultrasound of the baby. Sure enough, there is one in there, and by the doctor's predictions, the due date will be Dec 20th. We were able to see the heart beat, and we were able to snag one picture of the little one. Enjoy!

I'm Back

Well, it has been about 2 weeks since the blog has been updated . . . and about two weeks since I've been off of the island. I just returned from a week in Vegas for training, and then I did a quick trip to MO. Vegas was nice, and I managed to lose only $40 (I only bet $40). All of the hotels were cool to see, but I did not take in any shows.

After the conference, I flew to MO to spend a couple of days. It was fun to see everyone and hang out and rest and relax. It went by really quickly though. When I returned to Guam, it was like Christmas for Olivia and Courtney. They had gifts from me, as well as from both Grandmas -- T-Shirts, dresses, shoes, outfits, toys, candy, etc.

I'm still a bit jet-lagged. In fact, I woke up last night about 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. Hopefully, that will improve quickly!

We plan to spend Mother's Day at the beach tomorrow. Should be fun, and I hope to get some new pictures to post. Until then, here are a couple to hold you over.

A fun Weekend

Well, we spent the weekend mostly downtown. We had an appreciation dinner we attended on Friday night (mmmm, good food). We brought a babysitter who watched Olivia in the hotel until the event was over, then some friends took the babysitter home. We stayed the night in the hotel, and the next morning we played in the water park. We got a couple hours of fun in before it was nap time. So, we came home, let Olivia sleep, and then came back in the afternoon. Olivia was quite the little water bug. She went down the water slide (with her daddy) a couple times; she was sliding down a toy head first; she jumped off the side 50 times; and she swam in the hot tub. The rest of the weekend was filled with church and mowing the lawn.

Now, just need to get through this week before Mark heads to Vegas for a week! Yeah baby!

Pic of the Day

Look carefully!

Family Easter Picture

This was taken by a friend of ours on Easter Sunday. I had more pictures from this event, but the memory card fell out of the camcorder and was lost. Ugh! Enjoy this one though.