Gab Gab Beach

On Sunday, we went to Gab Gab Beach down on the Navy side of the island. It is a nice little area for swimming and snorkeling. The waves were kind of big on this day. The boys had fun, and are looking forward to many more visits to the beach. Here are a few pics of the boys, and one of Daniel with Daelin and Taylor.

I, on the other hand was mesmerized by the sound of the waves crashing on the shore and could have easily taken a nap on the beach!

Merry Christmas from Guam

Well, Santa has come and left Guam already and the boys are pleased with everything they got this year. They want to thank Nana and Poppy, and their aunties, uncle and cousins for everything. They got several DS and PS3 games, along with a Wii and three games for that and the Wii fit. I can't wait to try that out myself! They have already played it and even rocked out with Rockband 2! The temperature is 83 degrees outside, no snow, no family on island, but it's Christmas. Christmas' have changed over the years, but I guess as long as we remember the real meaning of the day it really hasn't. We also have the best military family ever over here, so that makes it special all the same.

Here are a couple pictures of them opening gifts this morning.

Christmas Goodies for Santa

You know the drill...you leave out cookies and milk for Santa every Christmas Eve. This year however, we decided to let the boys decorate the cookies that our friend Danei baked, and we added Christmas cupcakes, hoping Santa would enjoy something different! Here are some pics of the boys at work, and of the finished product. I think Santa will enjoy every crumble! What do you think?

Daelin's Culture Day/Music Program

Daelin had to do a culture project and present it to his class on DEC 12. He picked Australia. Along with putting together a poster on what he learned about Australia, we had to bring in something to eat for his class potluck from Australia. He wanted it to be a dessert! Surprise, surprise!! We found a wonderful and very tasty dessert called Lamingtons. The Aussie's eat these at all their holiday celebrations. I have included a picture of our Lamingtons we made and a picture of Daelin with his poster. He did a great job on his first project! He remembered everything he wanted to mention, without any help from us. It brought tears to my eyes to see my baby appearing to be all grown up.

He also had his holiday music program the same day. Enjoy!

Light Show

Every evening until Christmas at the Micronesian Mall they have a light show coordinated to music by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was SO cool! There are so many lights and at the end they have fake snow coming down. All the kids loved it. I told the boys, that they are lucky because they have actually seen the real thing. Many of these children here probably haven't had the opportunity. This is a picture of the tree. It is so gorgeous to see in person.

Boys New School

The boys started school at Andersen Elementary School on November 17. They only missed two weeks of school during the whole process, not too bad! Once we got to Guam, we learned that we needed a TB skin test, and that they were in the middle of Parent/Teacher conferences all week (NOV 10-14).

As a parent and future teacher, I am very impressed with the schools. Each week, my boys will attend PE, Library, Music, Art, Culture where they will learn about Guam and the Chamorros, Spanish, and the Computer Lab. AWESOME! As a fifth grader Darrien also has Health. Get this...they have enough text books for every child in every class! AND...they offer after school clubs and tutoring for certain academics. Is anyone else just as impressed as I am? Darrien and Daelin both enjoy their new teachers and are getting along perfectly. I am a member of the PTO and volunteer when they need me. I will soon start substituting when I feel like it. Right now, I am enjoying the time by just going to school and scrapbooking. Here are a few pictures of the boys on their first day of school and one of the front of the school. The school consists of four buildings. It's huge, and so beautiful!

New House

So after staying at the PIC for only 2 days, we got offered a house on base! We were scheduled to be at the PIC for 10 days. Can you say shocked? So on November 5, we got a house, some loaner furniture, and our unaccompanied shipment delivered. BUSY DAY! Again the feelings of excitement and sadness overwhelmed me. Here we are at our new home and it's just empty and cold. I just wanted our stuff to start making this place our home and move on. I also realized that we lost alot of space with this move, but didn't leave anything behind. No one informed us of that tiny important fact. So once again I start to stress. If you don't know me too well, it's what I do best! Here are some pictures of the front and back of our house. We are attached to our neighbors and share the carport area. We have been in the house just over a month and I have to say that I am finally feeling secure and comfortable.

Pacific Island Club

Since we were staying at a local resort, we had to check out what they had to offer. They have everything you can imagine. Snorkling and wind surfing lessons, shops, restuarants, internet cafe, and nightly shows. The boys loved the pools, waterpark, and slides. Here are a few pictures of them enjoy the day while Daddy inprocessed the base. I on the other hand enjoy a drink by the pool and read a book. It was just what I needed!

Landing in Guam

After getting delayed in Boise, we headed for Seattle, then on to Japan and finally landing for the last time in GUAM! My first thoughts,"I will never get on a plane again until the Air Force makes us." That was the longest flight ever! For those of you that don't know, I HATE TO FLY! Daniel got to sleep a lot, the boys did great.
I bet you are wondering what we thought of Guam? Well, we got in at about 2:30 am local time, and we all immediately noticed as the wonderful warmth moisture hit our skin. The complete opposite from Idaho. The taxi took us to our hotel, Pacific Island Club (PIC). It was great to just be able to stretch our legs and walk. Because of the time difference and jet lag we went right to sleep and was up by 8 am. These are some pictures from our ocean view hotel room. We enjoyed our stay and the people and food was awesome!

Moving After 7 Years

It all started in February 2008, when we found out we had orders! We were all very excited about the idea of going to Guam. I remember I found out at work, and I cried as I told Naudia my news. In that moment, it was tears of joy. As the months past, I personally just put it out of mind. Daniel on the other hand mentioned it daily! The boys would mention it about every other day at first then every other week. As the school year ended and we went to Texas for summer break it hit me that we won't be able to just hope in the car and drive to visit family anymore. That reality was hard. The next reality was even harder. Leaving Idaho after seven years! I know it sounds crazy, but SEVEN YEARS! Darrien started school in Idaho, Daelin was born and started school in Idaho. Out of all the places we have lived, Idaho holds more memories and history for us as a family. Needless to say, I cried like a baby for the last three weeks off and on everyday. Bottom line, even though we might not have totally loved Idaho, it was our home for seven years and alot of great things happened there within our family and for that I will never forget Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. To all the people that touched our lives there, Thank you!