Missing You...

MomMom & PopPop with the kids in Charleston, SC

... Uncle Len came to visit us in Charleston a few weekends before we left for GUAM

Mia still calls for PopPop & MomMom in the morning... she enjoyed her special time with them... sleeping in the motorhome and being an "only child" for the summer! Poor thing must be wondering where they are?!

PICS from our Going Away Party at the Boykin's house.... WE MISS OUR SC Friends!

... and my two MK Girlfriends - Jan & Arloa -

Fun at the PIC Resort!

This has been our "backyard" for the last few days... can you see why the kids are LOVIN' GUAM! The PIC Resort - (Pacific Islands Club Resort) http://www.picresorts.com/ - is truly every kids dream! The staff that work here are incredible - especially the young kids running the pools and various activities! They greet the kids and make them feel so special... and often times I see our kids greeting them by name, too! What a great "introduction" to our new home! On Wednesday we'll be moving to our new home at Leo Palace Resort... and I'm sure we will miss all the friendly faces here! As much as we have enjoyed it here... I'm also ready to unpack our bags and make our new home - a HOME!

iCONNECT

It's hard to see the yellow store sign behind our heads - but it's the iCONNECT cellphone store that Dale & I bought our cellpones at... and it's so fitting that I met my NEW friend - AMY in front of it! It truly was a GREAT connection today! A "connection" of a developing friendship through our wonderful cyber world - the INTERNET. When I found out we were moving to GUAM, I went to google and googled "GUAM BLOGS" and Amy's blog appeared and we "cyber"met. For several months Amy & I have kept in touch & I've watched and read her blog faithfully. Amy has been a GREAT source of comfort for me... knowing that she would answer all my questions about Guam and I loved how she took her camera everywhere and documented EVERYTHING... like me! Was it a coincidence that we met? NO WAY - I truly believe it was meant to be!

I have to let you all know that Amy is my inspiration to blogging. It's because of Amy that I jumped on this BLOG WORLD. She actually created my "header" on my blog page. To meet her beautiful family & see her awesome blog - go to my "friends & family blogs" and see - "the Morrison Family in Guam" - her blog is titled: Morrison Musings. You will notice on her blog that she is a very interactive & creative mommy! She is amazing! I can't wait to tap into her creativity and continue laughing with her and watching our friendship grow. Hmmm... she's even invited me on a trip to BALI with her... I'm very tempted to go!

Our kids are "racing" at the mall... leave it to kids to meet and just start playing & having fun! They all acted like they've known each other for years!
Ramirez & Morrison kids: Mo & Mia, Tyler, Logan & Ryland... and Dani & Ryan! They had fun playing with the hidden camera & TV behind them. As we were saying "goodbye" for the 5th time... I told Ryan that we'll see them again soon and he said, "When? Tomorrow?" That's always a good sign!

Ryland & Mia were having their own conversation while the Daddy's - Chris & Dale got to know each other...

Back to School. . .

On Friday - September 5th the kids went back to school! After a full week on the island - everyone has adjusted to the new time zone & with all immunizations and necessary "shots" required - they were finally able to start! Luckily, they only missed 6 school days! They are attending the brand new McCool Elementary School on the Navy Base. They were very very excited about buying all their school supplies and new backpacks and trying on their new uniforms (yeah - I LOVE UNIFORMS!). I love not having to worry about what they will wear!

Daniella (2nd Grade) . Morgan (5th Grade) . Ryan (3rd Grade)

The Pacific Islands Club has a HUGE breakfast buffet waiting for us every morning! You should see the selections the kids can choose from! All kinds of fresh fruits... donuts, pastries, cereals... pancakes, french toast, waffles... hashbrowns, TERIYAKI SPAM (ha! ha -), white or fried RICE... even kimchee, marinated milk fish, miso soup or rice soup... salads, toasts, even cutlets to make sandwiches... and a few other things I don't even recognize - geared for the many Japanese & Korean tourists here!

The kids heading outside our hotel room... and all geared up with their backpacks, teachers gifts & school supplies! Even Mia is carrying her diapers on her back! Everyone has to do their part!

The kids riding down the elevator. . .

Morgan with his 5th grade teacher - Mrs. Santos

Ryan & his teacher - Mrs. Sabo

Daniella & her 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Borja

This is our last weekend here at the hotel - and even though it's been raining - we are still enjoying the many pools and the beach here at the hotel! On Tuesday we will be inspecting our new house at Leo Palace and moving in later on that day! Hopefully our household goods and van will arrive soon and all unharmed! We feel so blessed to have found a place to live even before moving here (THANK YOU GROVER FAMILY FOR YOUR "hook-up!". Everything seems to be falling into place. . . so far so good!

Hafa Adai

We finally arrived to our 5th tour - GUAM! It's only been 3 days and we have been enjoying a "vacation-style" welcome to the island! Hafa Adai (pronounced like: Half a Day) is the local greeting here, similar to "Aloha" in Hawaii. Our 4 day stop in Hawaii was the best transition and advice given! It allowed us to slowly transition to the new time zone here! We're still not caught up... but slowly getting there!


Our sponsors - James & Lynn Morris (and their 2 girls - Elizabeth & Kasey) welcomed us at the Guam International Airport around 7pm Friday evening and drove us 5 minutes down the road to our hotel - Pacific Island Club! Not only did they load us up in their 2 vehicles (approx 14 pieces of luggage)... they bought us food & snacks (milk, cereal, bread, cutlets, bottles of water, snacks, etc). That night we all went out to eat across the street of our hotel to "JAMAICA MON"... excellent Jamaican food! The next night - they even invited us to their beautiful home in Summer Palace for a barbecue dinner & the kids even got to play "rock band" with their girls!! They have made our transition to Guam such a wonderful experience for all of us! THANK YOU SO MUCH MORRIS FAMILY!!!! Words can't even explain how much we appreciate you all!



The hotel that we are staying at has like 7 - 8 different pools, waterslides, kayaking, snorkeling... even windsurfing! The sun is very intense on this side of the world - I even got sunburned! If the kids aren't in the water... they are running the obstacle course, archery or playing badminton!

Dale checks into his command tomorrow and we will start registering the kids for school. Vacation time is quickly coming to a close! We will keep you posted!