A Happy 4-day MOTHERS DAY TRIP

When we first arrived on Guam, my friend Amy told me about an MWR (Morale Welfare & Recreation) Travel Fair that was taking place one weekend. Our family decided to go... a little late, which was good - because that's when they were drawing for door prizes for GRAND PRIZE TRIPS to different locations. The big prize was Australia (the couple that won that just arrived to Guam the night before - lucky dogs!)... another prize was to Asia (won by our neighbor with 5 kids)... and the one we won was to the island of YAP.

The original plan was to fly the whole family to YAP and spend our 4 days together exploring the island. That was until I started pricing out airline tickets to YAP... I was surprised to see each ticket was over $420! Yikes... the calculations in my head knew it was going to be much more than a FREE TRIP!
'

That was almost 9 months ago when we won our YAP trip... so before it expired, I decided to take my friend Amy as a Mother's Day "girlfriends trip". Honestly, I don't think Dale was feelin' the whole YAP trip, so it seemed to work out just fine! Thanks honey!!!


the night before leaving for YAP

MOTHERS DAY SUNSET - we celebrated Mother's Day together on Guam by taking pictures at the Grille at Sante Fe...

We have some amazing husbands to take time off of work to watch the kids so we could go and explore! Amy & her family will be leaving Guam and moving to Tennessee this Monday... so timing of this trip was just perfect!

Continental Airlines picked up our tab for our flight for 2 ($450 per person)
Village View Resort, the only beach front on YAP accommodated us for 4 nights
Beyond The Reef offered us 3 days of diving - although we didn't dive - we did take the boat out a few times to explore the mangroves, O'Keefe's island and go snorkeling.

First of over 2000 photos taken between us... on our way to YAP!

MORE PHOTOS OF YAPPITY YAP...

On the deck outside of our "Room with a View" - waking up to the sounds of the ocean water was beyond relaxing!

I love this photo... I took it in Al's office (he owns the Village View Resort). He graciously opened up his office for us to check our e'mail and connect with family back home. As I was waiting for the dial-up modem to connect to MY WORLD... I snapped this photo of Al relaxing on the bench in the hut that he made. With his keys hanging from his office door and the view of the beautiful ocean outside, I don't know how anyone could get any work done with a view like this one!!

We stayed in Wacholab Village... a beautiful little get-away with a room with an incredible view of the ocean. The Moon Rize Cafe has a wonderful chef Alex (from the Phlippines) cooking simple and delicious meals. Whenever we went out to eat... we were wishing to be back at Moon Rize.

... one of our favorite dishes - Sizzling Chicken!!! It's all in the sauce!

Speaking of Moon Rises - the first night eating dinner at Moon Rize... we were mesmerized by what I would say was the most amazing Moon Rising. The camera just couldn't capture such a beautiful site! Everyone stopped eating and were in complete awe of the fiery moon coming up over the horizon! Obviously this photo does not even come close to what we saw!!!!

We walked along the stone paths that connected different villages... while on the path - it's traditional to be carrying a green leaf in your hand as a sign of respect... an old tradition showing that you mean no harm and that you come peacefully.

Al was so nice to tour us around the island and give us a peek into the Yap lifestyle. We drove through neighboring villages with their stone money adorning their pathways. He took us to a place where they teach the young how to make the traditional Yapese outriggers and boats... and finally dropped us off in the main city - Colonia - where we explored around the area and took time to relax and get a massage at the tranquil TaroLeaf Spa, at the Manta Ray Bay Hotel & eat lunch on the ship (Mnuw) - where we ran into our girlfriends hubby - Nick. Another great day on YAP!

... enjoying a boat ride with JP & Joe from Beyond The Reef

It was a joy to watch the kids at a local school practice their traditional Yapese dancing for their end of the school year graduation ceremony. Al's (owner of the Villiage View) brought us there to watch his kids paractice. What a treat for our eyes & ears to experience this cultural traditon with the locals!
There was a sweet boy named JAMES (photographed next to Amy in above collage) who sat next to us and when we asked him how he knew how to speak English so well, he said, "I watch a lot of TV." Then he added how his mommy gets mad because he watches too much TV. I told him ALL mom's are like that about their kids watching TV!
James was so happy to see his mom at his practice and asked me to take a picture of them together!
I saw James talking to one of the older ladies and saw how respectful he was and how happy she was that he came over to talk to her. Such a sweet boy!

One of my favorite photos of the girls performing sitting down....