Coronado National Memorial

I was able to get out again this afternoon and take a few more pictures. I made it to an elevation of 6575 feet. There is a great view from that point!

Coronado National Memorial

The Great Southwest

I was able to get out and explore the area a little bit today. I saw deer, a road runner, and rabbits, as well as all kinds of flowers and trees. Of course, I took pictures! Enjoy.

Coronado National Forest

Underwater World

Prior to Mark heading out for some training, we all got to enjoy some family time at Underwater World. Enjoy the fun pics!

Jellyfish

Olivia & Jaws

Relaxed Katelee

Killer Big Bird

Today ended the hospital's inspection, so Mark came home a little early. He arrived just in time for the weekly Play Group. So, he snapped a couple pictures, including Katelee giving her mother some good kisses. She is increasing her babbling, and she has started to stand for a few seconds on her own.


Katelee may end up with nightmares tonight about a huge, yellow bird attacking her. When the toy first started singing, she enjoyed it. However, it went through another round, and she began to get a little freaked out. The toy sings "If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands" for the first verse. Then, it goes into "If you are happy and you know it, stomp your feet." At this point, the bird jumps in the air. Finally, it goes into a third verse of "If you are happy and you know it, nod your head." At this point, the bird starts jumping up and down and moves forward. Katelee wasn't too thrilled at this point, and she actually started crying.


We were able to snap a good Girls Pic before bedtime. Does Katelee look traumatized? Thanks to whoever gave us this great toy! :)

To view the video of the Killer Big Bird, you can click on the Taylor Videos link (on the right). The video is about 10MB though. Enjoy!

Weekend Activities

It has been a busy week preparing for a hospital inspection occurring next week. We have been preparing for nearly 6 months, and it is finally all coming to an end. Woo hoo!

Mark has been busy reading all week, preparing for a conference today -- Lay Leadership Conference for the Chapel. He taught the book: Jesus on Leadership. Courtney was able to attend also, and she gave two thumbs up. After his one hour talk to about 30 people, they headed to the next conference -- the Guam Guard (Air & Army). Mark spoke for an hour on Love & Respect.

Most importantly, Mark & Courtney took advantage of the babysitting and headed for a lunch date. We actually ate until stuffed! Now, it is time to head to bed (early) and get some rest.

Speed Racer

Guam Critter

Is that a Clicking Sound?

Monday night: Wake up and take Olivia potty at midnight. Go back to sleep. Let her sleep until morning. Dry bed!

Tuesday night: Take Olivia potty at midnight. Go to sleep. Let her sleep until morning. Dry bed!

Is it clicking? Is she getting it? Hopefully!

Mark got a new camera and has been playing with it the last couple of days. Enjoy the pictures! Believe it or not, none of them have been enhanced yet!

Life (or TV) on Guam

Last night was a long night. Mark went to bed a little late after completing some homework. Then, he woke up around 2 to take Olivia to the potty (yes, still doing that). Then, electricity went out around 3:30 (we think). So, since we had hooked up our generator on Saturday to test it, the thought went through Mark's head: "what if I forgot to flip the switch back?" So, he went outside to check it out. Fortunately, everyone's electricity was out; not just ours. Then, Mark thought: "what if I forgot to switch something off that made EVERYONE'S electricity go off?!!" Well, since Mark was up, might as well take Olivia to the potty again.

The electricity came back on around 5:30. Then, Courtney got up a bit after 6 to get ready for church. Mark got the girls ready, and we headed to church around 9:00. After church, we did some grocery shopping before coming home. Mark was excited to see Mizzou football playing Illinios. He turned on the TV, watched two great plays (MU scored), and then the electricity went out again! No worries! We hooked up the generator and turned on the TV again. Do'oh! The cable was out!!!

Fortunately, in Guam, television programs get repeated often. The MU vs. Illinois game was replayed that day, and Mark was able to watch the Tigers beat up on Illinois! Hopefully, it will be a great year for Tiger football!

Labor Day Weekend Festival

We enjoyed a day off from work today, which meant sleeping a little bit later for Mark (thank you Courtney). We had a quick morning just taking care of household chores. But, the afternoon was filled with a festival on base. It was the same as usual -- music, bouncy castle, water slide, food, etc. Olivia actually braved the water slide this time and enjoyed it. On the way home, we were treated with a rainbow in the sky. Enjoy the pics below.

Birthday Bash

We managed to top off our Sunday afternoon/evening with a birthday party at a neighbor's house. Their daughter turned 1, which meant cake, ice cream, and fun. We were able to snap a few good pictures. But, probably even more entertaining are the videos we shot of Katelee going crazy over Lady, the dog, and Olivia putting on a dance class for us. You can watch the videos by clicking on the link to the right (Taylor Videos).

Beautiful Bows

Party Girl

Diving . . . or First Time Away with Babysitter

Saturday saw Mark & Courtney heading off for a diving adventure. The Chapel hosts a Dive Devotional once per month, and we finally took advantage of it. However, it was the first time Katelee was left for an extended period of time during the day with a babysitter (except for Grandma, who doesn't really count as a babysitter). It was our next door neighbor. And, Olivia stayed with another babysitter (teenager).

It was a good time, and we managed to get a few good pictures. We dove The Blue Hole first -- plunging to 125 feet before exploring the coral around the hole -- and then we went to The American Tanker. The seas were a little rough on the first dive, and several on the boat (snorkelers) got sick. The second dive was in the harbor though and much calmer. We also managed to find an eel on the second dive (Courtney touched it). We also had a nice BBQ of hotdogs and hamburgers. All in all, a good day! (And, no kids were harmed in the making of the good day.)

Courtney heading up the Blue Hole

Courtney plays with a clown fish guarding its sea anemone home

Eleanor, the friendly Eel

One Week Down

Ok, it's been a week since we started potty training Olivia for the night. We have been waking her up twice during the night -- usually around 1:00 a.m. and again at 4:00 a.m. She has only had 2 accidents during the week, so that is 5 successful nights. However, her parents are tired. How long does this go on? When does it kick in? What changes next? We did get some advice to buy a gadget that beeps (sirens) when she goes in her pants. 70 bucks may be worth it! We've also seen some pull-up type underwear that is uncomfortable to wear if wet. I'm sure something will be changing soon though. Her parents are just too tired to keep akdakjd;kaddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd......... sorry dozed off. Will post more later.

Night Potty Training

Well, last night was Night #1 in an attempt to potty train Olivia through the night. She went to bed around 7, and we woke her up again around 9 to potty. Then, Mark got up at 1 to lead her to the bathroom, and then again at 4. Olivia got up at 7, and she remained dry! Yeah!!!

This will last how long?

Saying Goodbye

We had a great time and are really going to miss Grandma and Easton!

Liv and Easton snugglin' in the big red chair.

Saying goodbye is never easy.

Diving & Snorkeling

Just a quick entry to give a heads up of new pictures loaded on Flickr of our diving/boating adventure yesterday. Everyone enjoyed the boat ride, diving, snorkeling, and BBQ on the boat (even despite the rain). Mark dove with a new Navy guy he met, and the rest enjoyed some snorkeling time. We even were able to snag a video of a turtle, which can be seen by clicking on the Video link to the right. Enjoy!

Swimming At The Hilton

We had a fun time swimming at the Hilton Hotel.

Olivia finally decided to go down the slide with me.

We were swimming at an infinity pool. It was so cool we were looking right over the ocean.

Southern Living

The southern half of Guam is just beautiful! We first headed to Jeff's Pirate's Cove where we ate yummy burgers and gyros, followed by a swim in the cove. Easton snorkeled a bit and was able to round out his souvineer shopping at the shop and we learned about the Japanese soldier who hid out in the jungles of Guam for 28 years after WWII. Then we headed down to the cultural village of Gef Pa'go. Next we checked out some wonderful tidal pools. Easton, Liv and Courtney climbed up over the jagged coral to see the waves pounding away as the tide came in. It was a really cool spot. After a quick swim, we went down to Umatac Bay. It is the spot where Magellan first landed in Guam. From there we learned from some local guys about the ruins of the first Spanish Catholic Church and they told us about the "fruit guy" up the hill at Fort Soledad. So, up we went to check out the view. It was amazing-Easton put up some pics of it. Then John (fruit guy) demonstrated how the locals hack the green coconut to get to the juice. He also shared with us some local bananas and star fruit. It was all so good! Katelee especially liked the nana! Wish we had a picture of her attacking it! John also let us pet his carabous. They are huge and so docile. One was pretty curious about Liv and Courtney-a little too curious! The other, as you can see, could care less about us! To round out the day, we stopped at Big Navy to buy Grandma a new camera-hers decided not to focus anymore- and have some dinner before heading home. It was an awesome day!

Easton, Olivia and Courtney jumping on the water trampline at Jeff's Pirate's Cove.

Easton's Human Post Card

Goofing off at Gef Pa'go

Exploring the Tidal Pools

Local Bananas

Fort Soledad

Check out the rains across the ocean!

Opening My First Coconut

The coconut was ok but I didn't really like it,

Cracking a coconut was not real easy considering I only had a hammer and a screw-driver to do it with. You're suposed to use a machete but they didn't have one.