Time flies.

Seriously

It's been a year since I last posted. I would say I don't believe it, but the dates on the postings don't lie. It's been a whirlwind of a year, that I'll try to hit the high points of.

In July we went on a week long trip to Taiwan. We loved it! Such an amazing experience, and I'm so glad that we got to go, and more that the kids got to see it. There are so many lessons learned in travelling that can never be learned from a textbook. We made it to the Shilin Market, Taipei Zoo, Taipei 101, the Ping Tsi  Railway, took the Maokong Gondola up to a tea village, the National Palace Museum......the list is long. As much as we are tourists, we try to make sure we find ways to interact and really see the locals by hitting public parks, using public transportation, visiting public markets asking where the best places are to eat, etc. As a bonus: a friend's father lives there as well, so we got to meet with him and he took us to a few of his favorite places too!

Fruit market down the street from our hotel.
We picked fruit up there daily.

Chiang Kai-shek memorial

hanging out in a small town outside Taipei

I think personally, my favorite part of Taipei was the food. Simply amazing. As a bonus, it's a real street food city so there was a bunch of yummy eats everywhere we went! The finger food aspect made it popular with the kids as well.

Oh, if you're wondering while I'm a bit larger in that picture above, we found out I was pregnant in the beginning of May. :)

GNOSC (the organization I was Treasurer of) has kept me quite busy over the last year. Since I last posted we've run 2 highly successful Asian Bazaars and another Craft Fair to benefit the Guam USO (have pictures of our joint events, and was just named best large USO in the Pacific for the 2nd year!) and other local charities. I've attended numerous social events, the USO Six Star Salute twice (an annual event honoring their top volunteers, and the top service member from each branch of service here on island), and learned so much both from my duties and from all the amazing members of our organization. It's time to step down though, and the volunteer for my replacement was voted in a few days ago. I have a few things left to close out before turnover, but seeing as the checks for our final fiscal year charitable distribution was done this morning, the hours are getting quite short.

Kids have been growing like weeds. The biggest is over 5 feet tall! Crazy. As I mentioned, we welcomed a new little one into our home this December. She brings us all such joy!!!

trip home

playing on mommy's bed

Easter best

I'll continue the updates soon! love you all!

Priest's Pools and Merizo Pier

These past few weeks have been packed with tons of fun in the sun.

For the middle child's birthday I and a few friends took the kids to Tarza Waterpark (same place we went for the oldest girls birthday).I'm beginning to think this will be a theme for all the birthdays here. That's fine though. Makes for a great day, and even the baby is a water slide junkie.

This past week was spring break, so it seemed as if all our friends wanted to go to the beaches. We didn't take the full week off from school, but we did manage to make it out to Gab Gab beach and Taga'achang beach during the week.

On Friday, we also managed to go on a short hike. This time we went to Priest's Pools, a series of cascading freshwater pools in a volcanic rock formation at the southern tip of the island. It acquired the name because priests used the pools to bathe in following their arrival with the Spaniards in the 1500s. I've wanted to do this hike for a while, and we managed to drag quite a few people along with us.

swimming in a pool

Following the hike and playing in the pools, we decided to head over to the Merizo Pier and jump off into the beautiful water overlooking Cocos Island. It was supposed to be a short stop, but we were having way too much fun and stayed for quite a while playing.

The oldest got this gem. I may have had some fun that day :)!

Such a great Guam day!

Holy week.

Before I start this post, I should probably clarify that while we are not Roman Catholic, but Lutheran, we have been attending Mass at the chapel pretty much since our arrival. We are not attending the only Lutheran church in Guam. Many things played into this decision (not really something I want to get into here) but this fact does play into my experiences over the last week.

Mass on Palm Sunday was wonderful, and served as my first glimpse into many traditions that while not key to salvation stand as beautiful symbols and reminders of our faith. The priest started the service walking around with baptismal water sprinkling the congregation as a reminder of our baptisms, a beautiful reminder that our baptism ties Christ to his death on the cross.

When we were at the service on Maunday Thursday, I was reminded about something our pastor said in Charleston. Maunday Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter vigil services traditionally were not three separate services, but one continuous service that carried over from one day to the next. This idea was made very clear that night, when the priest consecrated enough of the sacrament for both Maunday Thursday and Good Friday, and then at the end of the first night we took the sacraments back to another room to be held until the next evening. 

cars and people everywhere

Friday morning we took part in a local island custom. The tradition is that  early on Good Friday Catholics get up and hike to the top of MT Lamlam, the tallest peak on the island (which is not very far from the deepest point in the ocean, the Marianas trench). To be clear: EVERYONE does this, no matter what the age old or young. One of the churches (the Basilica I believe) starts the custom off by carrying a cross to the top just before sunrise that will remain up at the top. We went a bit later, starting at 9 with the chapel when most islanders were already done with the journey and heading out. Once I saw the line of cars parked in all directions really far away from the trail head, I was kind of grateful that we showed up later and I could slip into a closer spot as people left.

we're off!

I've never prayed the stations before, but I was highly impressed by the power fullness of the prayers and how they really forced me to focus on both the cross and the journey there. Of course, the views were amazing as well (unfortunately the overcast weather made it great for hiking, but not so great for picture taking. These in no way do the views justice).

Father Tom

Can't tell if he's having fun...

note the number of crosses
there are more behind me

baby with no shorts and no shoes
totally an island baby

we made it!

This tall one was put up in 1980. I can't figure out
how they got it up there

how he got up and back

kinda cool. They go up the day
before to clear the path. of the grasses
that are taller than I am

  That evening it was back to church for Good Friday and another dark and yet somehow beautiful service.

Unfortunately, between the 2 nights of late services, the hike Friday morning, and Adam being at work all night Saturday I had to miss the Vigil Service. It was just too much for the kids and they needed to go to bed early.

Thankfully, though, they let Adam out of work early and he was home before midnight and able to easily head with us to church the next morning (had he stayed the whole time he would have left work after mass started at 9am). As an added bonus: this year our anniversary fell on Easter Sunday and I got to spend it with him! We celebrated with a yummy rack of lamb dinner and quiet family time at home.

Happy Easter!

Love you all and hope you had a wonderful and blessed Easter. HE IS RISEN!

Scuba lessons

Not much going on here recently, just school, meetings, kids acting so rotten I can't take them in public......

Last weekend, though, was pretty neat. Our oldest was able to get his qualification dives for open water done with our great instructor (dad tagged along as well). He's very proud of himself, and put quite a bit of effort and hard work into it. We are very proud and impressed!

getting out of the water with dad after his final qual dive

Being 10, he's only able to dive to 40 feet, but there's still a ton to see at that level.

Why Scuba you ask? First off, this is a tropical island with crystal clear water. TONS can be seen while snorkeling, but Scuba lets you see more.Secondly, this is one of the cheapest places in the world to get dive certified. When we were in Charleston, we looked into courses and they were over $600 plus equipment. Here if you have a few evenings and a weekend to block off and do the classes it costs only $169 and includes equipment rental. Huge difference. Since we altered the schedule to slow it down and make sure he learned the base knowledge thoroughly, it cost us a bit more than that, but not much.

Downside is he's now constantly asking to go diving. :)!

Haputo beach

After a crazy week of saying goodbye to friends last week, Monday we went hiking to Haputo point again. This time, I arranged it as a FRG (family readiness group) event for the boat families. Ended up that only a few perople went, but since Adam had the morning off he got to come along!

The hike (like last time) was easy, but still fun. This time I remembered my camera and got some great pictures for you all!

Yup. I live here

"mushroom rock" so named because of how the waves
have carved out the limestone

baby backpack

playing and snorkeling

all the stairs look a lot different from the bottom....

Guam National Wildlife Refuge

A few weeks ago, I called the Guam National Wildlife Refuge and set an appointment for a cave tour. Since they can tour groups up to 20, I asked if any of the other wardroom (boat Officer) spouses wanted to come along. I got a few yeses and we all agreed to meet up at the point, which rests at the northernmost point on the island (Ritidian), nestled between the Air Force base and a small Navy base. 

The drive out was interesting, there where points in the road I wasn't sure pavement existed any more, and I got to play "dodge the pothole" to the extreme. This game is common on Guam (I've already had my tires taken out more than once), but this was like nothing I've ever seen before. The wide wheel base on the van and truck frame made it quite manageable, however, and I made it a fun addition to my day. The oldest (correctly) ascertained that I was showing off. 

I always love views along cliffsides here

We made it down the cliff and into the parking lot where we met our friends, and I ran inside to get our guides. I'm glad we arranged the guides. While most of the refuge and the beach are accessible to the public, the caves containing pictographs are not. The guides led us through a gate and made sure to brief the kids on what to expect and preservation requirements. In the caves, we saw drawings that have existed for many, many years. No one knows for sure what the symbols mean, but our guides made sure to let the kids have a few guesses. :)!

Kinda hard to see, but there are drawings on there

one of the guides showing us a piece of pottery

Our guides were amazing. Not only did they show us the caves and drawings, but took the time to point out wildlife to the kids and made sure to talk about the Serianthes nelsonii tree, a native variety that exists only here on Guam and in Rota. The population is being monitored closely, and there is fear that it may become extinct as another island species impacted by importation. According to our guides, trees are being infected by a non-native bug (they think possibly brought in by resistant ornamental varieties of the same tree shipped to the island and used in landscaping) and withering away. They are trying to figure out how to combat the issue with limited success. It's amazing to me how one tiny bug can cause so many issues, but it's another example of how not being careful about what you're shipping and transferring can cause large issues down the road.

This is the first refuge I've been to where you are allowed to take things out. You can register for a permit to pick things like papayas and take them home (something to remember for next time). 

After leaving our guide we had a quick snack and started through the jungle on the nature trail. We never completed the trail, as the sounds of the ocean lured us away from the trail and down to the beach. I can't say I was upset by this, the beach was amazingly beautiful and amazingly quiet. We met a work study group from Japan that was full of some very amazingly friendly people (who made us the subject of many pictures) and very eager to play and have fun. The kids excited them by knowing how to say a few simple Japanese words, which I think helped bridge the language barrier. 

Ritidian Beach

Baby is now a pro at hamming it up for foreigners

After a few hours we had to leave and head home, exhausted, sandy, wet, and very happy. Another day that made me remember how blessed we are to be here.

Family weekend

Last weekend Adam amazingly got a good chunk of the weekend off. Since time like that is rare, we were sure to take full advantage of it.

On Saturday evening we went out to watch the sunset at Two Lovers Point (and to just show Adam the location). Unfortunately it rained before we could see the full sunset, but we still got to see some amazing views.














We even bought a heart lock to hang on the fence together.

Oh, and the baby became the prime subject of many pictures for a Taiwanese tour group. The tour guide was sweet and fun to talk to.

After church Sunday morning, we came home, ate brunch, and took a glorious few hour nap. When we finally got up and going again, we headed out to Dadi beach for some quiet beach and snorkel time before bed and dinner.

 

I always feel so blessed when we get to spend time together as a family. Adding in some beautiful locations makes it that much more amazing!