Updates part 2

Before I start the updates I do want to say that thanks to a few wonderful gifts from some amazing people in our lives we were able to get the family a paddleboard for Christmas (thank you!)! So amazing and fun! Of course, I got the camera out at the beach to try to get pictures and it failed to work. I PROMISE I will get some soon! The kids are awesome at paddleboarding, but Adam and I using it is more like a circus clown routine in water........

Last I left you all in the updates I had made it through Thanksgiving. As I alluded to in that post, the annual USO/GNOSC Craft fair was coming up the following weekend. As most fundraisers go there were a few hiccups along the way and lessons learned for later, but overall it was a great event that raised a lot of money for both the USO and GNOSC's Charitable donations fund!

For the oldest girl's birthday I took the kids and one of her friends to Tarza Water Park. A few family friends joined us for the day and helped me watch all the kids as well. It was neat doing a winter birthday out in the sun at a water park, and everyone had a blast. It's a neat water park, not too large, and the best part is it's relatively quiet with short to no lines at everything! After a long day of Swimming and playing, we packed up, brought the friend home and went out for sushi for her birthday dinner. It was great, but next time I need to think carefully before timing out a water park trip the same day as a sushi dinner. After a full day at the park the kids were ravenous and as a result the dinner bill was rather pricey. :)!

A few days later I went to the GNOSC/AOSC annual Christmas party that was held at a wine bar downtown. It was a lovely evening with friends and a nice break for me from the kids.

Somewhere between all of that and the other various parties, get togethers and meetings the kids and I still managed to hit a few historic sights on the island (which I will do another post on, I promise), make and hang over 100 paper snowflakes, attend a few base Christmas events, make cookies, strufolli and over 8 dozen cannoli shells. It was busy, but a blast, made even better by the excitement of that Adam was finally coming home!

Oh, before I go, I bet you all want to know about Adam's homecoming. Until the last minute he didn't have tickets home, but back to HI. After some phone calls they bought him a plane ticket from HI to Guam. Based on the flight schedules this wasn't exactly the most direct route, but we were happy to finally have a date. A few days, and many phone calls later, just before he was set to leave Panama City, the Navy agreed to send him directly home to Guam. We chose to keep the kids out of the loop on the shift (the flight went from coming it at 7pm to coming in at midnight the previous day) and I got someone to come stay with the kids while I picked him up. It was a late night, made later by the baby deciding to wake up when we got home, that ended in me having my husband back. The kids got a huge surprise when Adam walked out the next morning with me. Made for an awesome and amazing day! :)!

Felis Nabidat!

(In case you haven't guessed, that's Chamorro for Merry Christmas :)!)

Our Christmas tree this year....a palm.

I know I've promised more updates, but, it's Christmas. So, I'm putting updates on hold for Christmas stories.

It's now about 9pm on Christmas day here, and many of my friends and family are starting to get up and move about on this blessed occasion while we wrap up our day watching movies and eating struffoli.

Christmas Eve morning was full of errands. I had to go to the post office and stand in line for a while (sidebar: I need to write a whole blog post on the post office sometime), deliver Christmas cookies  to the USO for their Christmas event, and go to the exchange and commissary.

Once we were finally done with all of that, we came home and did the Feast of the seven fishes, but with a Pacific Island twist (think lemongrass shrimp in coconut sauce, miso glazed scallops, grilled fish, etc). It was a delicious idea that I plan on repeating again next year! After that we went to the Christmas Eve Mass at the Naval base chapel, followed by homemade cannolis for desert. yummmmmm!

They're all yelling "Merry Christmas!"

This morning we had eggs benedict for breakfast (kids request) and went to St Michael's at the Air Force base for Christmas Morning Mass.  After that.....well.....we decided to take full advantage of our location. We changed into our swimsuits and spent the afternoon swimming and playing at Tarague Beach! It was so much fun. The kids have decided that it's a Christmas tradition that must be repeated, and I'm not arguing :)!

this beach bum made it through a whole trip without eating sand!

When we came home we finished our annual reading of the Christmas Carol, opened gifts, played games, and finished up with a duck dinner (again, kids choice).

It's been a wonderful few days, and we all feel very blessed to spend it with Adam home. I hope you all have wonderful and blessed days as well while you celebrate the birth of our Lord and savior.

PS......I don't miss the cold. ;)!


OK, breakfast MAY have started with mimosas on the balcony :)

Updates: Part 1

Time to get started on all this!

Last you heard from me was right before the boat pulled in. It was a hard time on all of us, knowing that Adam would not be coming in with the boat. 

I had tickets to the Marine Corps Ball in Okinawa, and had planned on heading up there to miss the return entirely. Unfortunately, the Space A chances over a 1 week period of trying were zero and we ended up not leaving. On the bright side (there always is one), I made a new friend in the process. I met a woman and a baby at the terminal that was trying to get back home to Okinawa. When the flight we were both cleared on was cancelled I invited her back to my house to take a shower and rest in a real bed instead of sleeping in terminal chairs. She ended up spending a full week at my house waiting on a flight (and cooking yummy food for all of us) and even went to a beach party for the wardroom with me :)!. Her baby is only a month younger than mine, and they had a blast playing together.  I now have a few more people to see the next time we make it up there!

The day after the ball there was finally a flight to Okinawa, but I chose not to try to get on it. While it would have still been great to see our friends even without the ball, I had already told the USO I was making food for their annual Thanksgiving day dinner, and I didn't want to get stuck on the other end trying to get back and have to go back on my word. It was also close to the time for the Annual GNOSC/USO craft fair, and there was a bunch of work that I still had to do for that.

On Thanksgiving Day I delivered food to the USO, and then went to a friend's house for a potluck - style dinner with the wardroom. It was a great day. 

That's all for now folks. Have to get back to tending to the kiddos. Will continue again later!

Good morning!

Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote. My computer broke (actually, it's still broken) and Adam had the laptop.
I now have the laptop again because ADAM MADE IT HOME LAST NIGHT! It's seriously the best Christmas present I could imagine.
I'll be writing quite a bit over the next few days to get you all caught up on our lives. But, right now, I'm off to  spend time with my family :)! Love you all!

An unending series of parties and meetings.

The title about sums up life here over the last few weeks, I'm not even exaggerating. We haven't even gone on any field trips!

First order of business has been helping new spouses with their arrivals and preparing for the upcoming homeport shift. Homeport shift is a major event, and the plans reflect that (though still not as extravagant as other boats because of lack of funding). These meetings are never really just meetings and include lots of food and socialization as well!

Next up is GNOSC. We're into the final planning stages for an annual craft fair that we do  in conjunction with the Guam USO to raise funds. A very large event that draws quite a crowd I guess, hopefully the trend continues! 

Lastly, we've been trying to squeeze in a few last rounds of fun time with friends who are leaving. It's hard to believe that we've been here long enough to have friends transferring already! Thankfully, the Navy has taught me that this really isn't so much a "goodbye" as a "see you in a few years". :)!

Those are the major things. Somehow in the midst of all that I managed to make the kids costumes for Halloween, take them out, get kids checkups and shot done, normal homeschool, purchase a car (aka "Guam bomb" for Adam....and that's just what I can remember.

It should be slowing down here a bit soon, not entirely all by my choice. For those who don't know, my husband will not be arriving on the boat as part of the homeport shift. He was dropped off in HI and will be heading to the Navy's dive school for a few weeks. The kids have reached their limit for watching homecoming plans and yet knowing that daddy isn't coming home (it has taken a major toll on the youngest girl). As soon as I finish the bags we're making up for the single guys I'm calling it quits. 

Ugh

I had hoped to spend the day touring the southern part of the island with a friend taking more pictures of this beautiful island for you all.

Instead, 2 of my wonderful and adorable children decided that despite my repeated warnings to the contrary throwing rocks at trees outside the chapel was a good idea. Luckily, they managed to not hit anyone outside our family (like the way I worded that?). One kid caught another in the head with a rock and there was blood. Lots of blood.

Fun times.

Thankfully, because we were at church we had tons of help. People took the other kids home so I wouldn't have to worry about them, helped me stabilize the injured child, and made sure I was ok. He ended up not needing stitches, but the event derailed our plans for the afternoon.

Maybe now they'll listen when I say "Don't throw rocks."........

I doubt it.

Has it really been that long.....

...since I last posted?  The record doesn't lie so I guess so.

Sorry. I know I keep saying it's busy here, but it really is. I recently took on the treasurer position for the Guam Naval Officers Spouse Connection (GNOSC). It's an amazing group that loves to have fun and also does a bunch of fundraising in support of both military and local non profits. Also, now that the boat is on its way here, the spouses are starting to move here and boat events and homecoming preps are underway.

I've been told a few times in the last few weeks "dust doesn't settle on you". I'll take it.

Of course, there's never too much going on to explore! Last Friday it FINALLY cleared up a bit and we started to get a break from the rain. We took the chance to head out to the Gef Pago, a cultural park in Inarajan that is run by the Historic Inalajan Foundation. In the park we learned how to clean coconuts,  make sea salt, weave baskets, cook rice in woven leaves, and artistic weaving (where we met the SWEETEST old lady!).

watching them clean coconuts
(and make candy-they gave the kids a shell full!)

local sea salt

the little packet she's holding is how they cook rice

master weaver, and a sweet lady :)!

After touring the village they took us across the street to see an old house that predates WWII (a rare event here between typhoons and the intense bombing that occurred prior to the US storming of the island). The house was a one bedroom with a large common area in which 16 children all slept on the floor under mosquito nets!

one room........16 kids

From there, we were invited to the soft opening of a new small museum down the street. In true Guam fashion, we were invited to not just tour the museum but eat lunch with the group as well (trust me, saying no was not an option). What an amazing experience!

love the pools

We took the time to go see some church ruins, drive down to the Inarajan pools and swim for a bit, and came home.

old Baptist church

Yesterday we went and explored the historic Sumay village location. The village at one point was called "the pearl of the island" as the most wealthy village on the island pre-WWII. The village hosted whaling ships, the transoceanic cable station, was a stopping point for the Pan Am China Clipper, and supported various US military activities. That all changed when the Japanese took the Island in WWII. The strategic position of the village made it a prime target for takeover and the villagers were moved out (the Japanese used the village parish as a horse stable). The village was destroyed by US bombing efforts, and the ruins now remain on the Naval base (which makes resettlement impossible). Through a working relationship with the villagers and descendants the Navy now maintains the old church grounds and the cemetery and allows for the people to come on base to pay their respects. The people can always arrange a visit, but the prime days are Sumay day in April, Liberation Day in July and All Souls Day in November.

Sumay Cemetary

Cross of the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Church

Afterwards we drove another spouse over to get her car, and then drove up to the Air Force Base to spend a beautiful afternoon with friends at Tarague beach. This morning it was back to Gab Gab beach with a bunch of spouses from the boat. Hopefully tomorrow another south island tour with a friend (have I mentioned that I am ultra excited to get a break from rain?! :) ). Have fun everyone!

Tarague beach

Busy weekend

I meant to post this last night after the kids went to bed, but I fell asleep at 930 instead. I guess I was a bit tired.
In between running errands that had to get done Friday, we of course we went on a field trip. Unfortunately it was raining, so outside plans were cancelled and we made our way to the War in the Pacific National Park visitors center. It was an amazing little museum with a ton of information. I really loved how interactive it was, and how many details they were able to put in such a relatively small center. My favorite parts were reading through the books of personal accounts of events, and the display at the front that explained the different battles on the island and showed where they occurred on a map (it traced everything out and showed videos at the same time). After consulting the kids we skipped the video that they had available. There's a short clip in it covering decapitation (a Japanese punishment for locals when they controlled the island) and after reading through many of the stories the kids thought it would be too much emotionally for them to handle. Can't say I blame them, I was welling up quite a bit myself.
Interesting side note  this is the first national park visitors center I've been in where everything is written both in English and Japanese.
Friday was also the little girl's birthday. We had a cake and a movie night at home to celebrate. Oh, she also asked for McDonalds so despite my goal to not eat there at all while we are here I ended up going there for lunch.
Saturday afternoon we went to the 25th annual Guam Micronesia Island Fair. It was an amazing event, celebrating the similarities and differences between the islands. We loved going through the delegation and craft tents, talking to the people, and learning about the cultures. The kids even got a lesson in how to properly husk and shave a coconut!

learning to shave a coconut

husking coconut

making traditional boats-told the kids to take notes ;)!

The best part I think was watching the dancers from the different islands. It was so neat seeing how similar they were and yet how different they were. For example, the female dancers from Kosrae sat while they sang and danced. According to the announcer, this is because traditionally it was considered disrespectful for a woman to stand before the king even to perform.

Marshall Islands

Kosrae

Palau

The older 2 and I could have stayed there for many more hours, but after 4 hours of being at the festival the little kids were done.

Sunday morning we went to church, then to the commissary for a few things, home to bake a cake and get ready, and then back over to Gab Gab beach for a small gathering of friends for the kids birthday. It was the perfect excuse for a beach gathering and all the kids thoroughly enjoyed it (unfortunately I forgot my camera). After a good 3 hours at the beach we headed over to a friends house for dinner and more kids play time. By 7pm, the baby was more tired than I've ever seen him before and was very vocal in his desire to go home and get to bed....so I indulged him.
I hope you all had a great weekend as well, and to my friends in RI enjoy the Arts Festival!

Magellan's landing

And a bit more :)!

Yesterday I let the oldest pick where we went for our field trip because it was his birthday. He chose to try to find Ferdinand Magellan's landing site, so, after we were done with some things that had to be done, we headed out.

The location is on Umatac Bay, a bit south of the Navy base on the western side of the island. it's a beautiful, quiet, drive to get there.

I should clarify: the traditional landing site is at Umatac Bay, but of course historians dispute the actual landing site. What is not disputed is that the bay was used for the Spanish trade route from Mexico to the Philippines, and that there was a fort at both the north and south ends of the bay.

When we arrived in the bay area, we started at the north end of the bay to try to find the ruins of Fort San Jose. We found a pull off to park at with beautiful views, but failed to figure out where the ruins were. (Now looking back on it I think I know where they are, so we'll have to go back and try again).

Then we continued around the bay to stop and look at a cross situated on the bay and admire the small catholic church across the street.





Next we arrived at the beach park with the Magellan memorial marker. We read all the signs, explored the church ruins of an old catholic church across the street, and then went back to the beach side to explore the beach a bit. This beach was much different than many of the other's I've seen thus far on Guam. The rocks were different and the sand was black in color. It was still quite beautiful, just different.

historical marker

church ruins-and little ones distracted
by a coconut.

river flowing into the bay

 From there, we continued around the bay to our final destination: Fort Nuestra de la Soledad. There are no actual signs I saw to mark the site, but I can now say that if you're heading south it's the second right turn following this:

Pretty cool, huh? I could actually see the Fort from the marker for Magellan's landing, so I knew about where to go, and just guessed until I figured it out. :)! It was completely worth it. We got to explore, and the views from the top were breathtaking.

On our way home I pulled off at a random overlook area just south of one we stopped at the the last time we were in the area. The views were completely amazing, and I can't wait to explore some of the trails we saw the starts to there!

Latte of Freedom

"In commemoration of the 200th birthday of the United States of America in 1976, Governor Ricardo J. Bordallo launched a bicentennial project to celebrate the American freedoms and the proud heritage of the Guamanian people. The latte, the handiwork of the ancient Chamorros, gave rise to Governor Bordallo's vision for the Latte of Freedom.

As the Statue of Liberty welcomes visitors to America's eastern shores, Governor Bordallo envisioned the Latte of Freedom rising above Guam as a welcoming symbol of American freedom in the Western Pacific. And just as the children of America donated their pennies to erect the Statue of Liberty, Guam's school children raised thousands of dollars to make the first donation to build the Latte of Freedom.

Today, we welcome you to the Latte of Freedom, a gift from the people of Guam to freedom lovers everywhere."

The Latte of Freedom stands a full 3 stories tall on the western side of the island behind the Governors Mansion in Hagatna. The above quote is inscribed at its entrance, and I think is a wonderful description of it.

Next to the Latte is the Hall of Governors, which is run by the Guam Museum Foundation and contains a few Guam historical artifacts. The day we went, the man working in the hall took the time to explain quite a bit of Guam's history to us and answer questions we had. 

From the Spanish American War up to the capture of the island by Japan, the Governors of Guam were all actually just US Naval Admirals assigned to the island. Once the island was re-taken by the US during WWII, Governors continued to be assigned military officials (again, primarily Admirals). In 1949, the position switched from an appointed military official to a Presidential appointed civilian one.This continued until 1970, when the people of Guam were finally given the right to elect their own governor.

Guide explaining the governor history

Interesting to note on the picture above: according to our guide the beautiful desk in the middle was actually used by the Spanish here when they controlled the island. Sometime after the US gained control of the island he US Navy moved it to Annapolis. The people of Guam were successful in getting it brought back to the island by the Navy.

Items from the period of Naval control

Beyond just the Hall and the Latte there were many interesting things to see on the Governor's Mansion property. There were cannons, WWII guns, Latte, and memorials. The impending rain made the views of the  bay no less astounding, either.

Local note: there is a small fee to climb up in the Latte ($2 for adults and $1 for children)

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's been a whirlwind here recently. I keep saying I need to sit down explain what's been going on, but when I finally have a few minutes I tend to just fall asleep.

No hiking trips though, I figured the girl should have one set of stitches out before doing anything that may involve getting another set in. ;)!

The week started off pretty rough. I got a phone call early Monday morning from my brother about this tragic event. The female victim went to our church when we lived in KS, and babysat our kids a few times. Her whole family is quite amazing, and her death was quite a shock to everyone. Please pray for her family and her church family, that God brings everyone peace and healing that only he can provide.

petting an ayuyu (pronouced ah-ju-ju-
 Chomorro for coconut crab) at
the market

Every Wednesday downtown is the Chamorro Village night market. The market is open daily, but on Wednesday night it really opens up and becomes a huge event attended by tourists and locals alike. There's food stands everywhere, local crafts, multiple DJs, and plenty of people dancing. It's normally one of the first things that people do when they arrive here, but we hadn't until last week. I'm so glad we finally did. I was a bit concerned about the crowds and such (it was very busy) but it was such a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere and quite a bit of fun as well! I see now why so many make it a weekly family event.


For last Friday's field trip we went to Two Lovers Point. Admittedly not the MOST educational of places I could have picked, but a very popular island site none-the-less (that and ever since the oldest girl heard about it she's begged to go). It was amazingly beautiful, and thankfully we arrived before the hotel tourists really started to show up so it was relatively quiet until just before we left. The story behind the point is the old "star crossed lovers" tale, but with a local twist (any one else notice how it seems every culture has one of these stories?). The Village Chief's daughter was supposed to marry a Spaniard, but she fell in love with Chamorro. Dad gets mad, and tries to force his daughter to marry the Spaniard. In the end, she and her lover stand on a high cliff, tie their hair together, kiss and fling themselves into the water.

taking in the view

The water is so clear and blue!

I found it pretty interesting that on the backs of these stone pictures of the tale was the story in a different language: English, Chamorro, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

story in pictures

Friday night we went to another local market, this time in the village of Mangilao, which is just north of where we live. The market goes on every Thursday and Friday, but last week it was expanded and extended through the weekend for the Donne' (aka Boonie) Pepper festival. It's a local little pepper that can pack quite a punch, and the locals use it in about everything. We sampled, tasted, talked and no kidding left with 6 jars of different types of jellies. I mean come on, where else but here could you find spicy star apple (star fruit) jelly? That's my excuse anyway. :)!

Saturday was an early morning. Once a year they do an island-wide beach cleanup that starts at 7am, and the kids and I signed up to help with the beach up the road that we love so much. I was very proud of the kids, they all worked really hard and even climbed around in the less accessible areas to make sure it was really, really, clean.

My plan from there originally had been to go home, shower, and immediately head out to go grocery shopping. The shopping part got delayed though. While at the cleanup we were all given T-Shirts, and we could use the T-shirts to get $5 admission to Underwater World (post about our last visit) as well as a $5 plate lunch from the restaurant there. I figured it was a pretty cheap fun event that we could do, and the kids had worked really hard for it. By the time we left Underwater World, went to the grocery store and came home it was 3, but it was well worth it. We all slept hard that night!

Sunday morning we went to church, and then Sunday afternoon we met a few families from the boat at Gab-Gab beach and hung out for a while.

Beyond that has been normal home school, library trips, having friends over, getting stiches removed......and for myself I've become pretty in the Guam Naval Officer Spouses Club, which is a great group and gives me something to do with out the kids. :)!

Having fun and keeping busy as always!

Tarzan Swimming Hole Hike

Yesterday marked our first attempt at the Boonie Stompers, a local group that meets every Saturday to hike some trek on the island. You just have to show up on whatever Saturday you want at the Chamorro village at 9 am (the hike schedule is on line about a month in advance), sign some forms, pay 2 bucks for everyone over 12 and you're ready to go! The guides give a brief overview of the hike, and then everyone caravans out to the hike site.

these little beauties were everywhere

Yesterday's hike was to the Tarzan Swim Hole. It was a medium hike, about 1.5 miles each way. I strapped the baby on the front, put my back pack on my back, and started out. The hike itself was beautiful (though occasionally quite muddy), and I was amazed at how far we could see around us.

the boys are up there.....somewhere

When we got down to the river, I was very thankful to be out with such an amazing and friendly group of people. The guides and others in the group helped quite a bit to get the kids across the river without incident. Once we crossed, it was only a short distance to the swimming hole.

The water was surprisingly cold and refreshing. There was a high boulder to jump off, a rope swing, and a natural water slide. We all had a blast playing and swimming.

getting ready to get back on the rope swing

Unfortunately, we had to leave a bit earlier than the rest of the group. The oldest girl slipped on a rock and split her chin open. Thankfully again, the group was quite helpful in getting us up and out from our location. Not only did a guide escort us up so we wouldn't get lost, but others came along to help with kids, one guy carried my backpack so I wouldn't have to worry about it, and the guide actually carried the baby on his shoulders for the last 1/3 of the trek! It was such a blessing to have such wonderful people around to help with everything.

Once we got out we grabbed the van, got a quite bite to eat and headed straight for the Naval Hospital. Unfortunately they were quite busy and it took about 6 hours for us to get through there, but as always they were very helpful and highly professional. My friend was wonderful enough to come and stay at the hospital with us as well to help watch the other kids.

Despite the hospital trip, it was a wonderful day, with clear reminders of how blessed we are to be here!