Banzai!!!!!

Another busy week led right into a fun weekend. My hubby would've LOVED to have slept the entire weekend - instead he power napped and I kept him on the go, what a GREAT guy!
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Thankfully Mia and I were out of the house when a smashing ball flew right into our foyer... shattering the glass of the side panel by our front door. Apparently our house has been hit several times when the previous tenants lived here. I hope this will be the only time we experience this "glass breaking".

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As you can see... Mia found a few stickers to apply to herself! MY STAMPS! Is she trying to tell me something? Please, mail me as a care package to visit my grandparents!

Dora's son - Roan & Frances' daughter - Paige, joined the kids at Hangin' High!

After 8 months of sitting in the garage... I decided to take our BANZAI FALLS waterslide out and let the kids have some fun outside! Needless to say, the kids had a BLAST! Especially our sweet little Mia.

The neighborhood kids came over and enjoyed the waterslide... even Roan & Paige joined in on the fun!!!

Sunday Afternoon - HYATT swimming pool - spending a relaxing day with friends....

Dora & Christian underwater...

Paige . Frances . Rawlen underwater!

The kids had a GREAT time swimming at the Hyatt... thanks for inviting us - FRAN!

Hyatt swimming pool

Bonzai Falls!

Mia sharing a swing & walking with Tyland

Mia LOVES the park... and the base has nice ones that are fenced in and safe for our "little people". Here's just a few snapshots of Mia with favorite guys - Ty & Ry.

I LOVE this little face photo of her peeking through the peep hole in one of the tunnels!

The highlight of Mia's day was sharing a swing with her best buddy - Ryland

And walking hand in hand back to the house with Tyler... "Tyland" as she would say!

Easter on Guam

Matthew 28, NIV...

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and His clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. "HE is not here; HE has risen, just as HE said... Go quickly and tell HIS disciples: "HE has risen from the dead."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid, yet filled with joy, and ran to tell HIS disciples.

Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings" HE said. They came to HIM, clasped His feet and worshipped Him."

HERE I AM TO WORSHIP ... is one of the kids favorite songs to sing... we'll often have music blaring in our vehicles or even in the house. When Liz Flores (the kids piano teacher & also their YOUTH choir director) asked if they knew the song, of course they said, "YES". She asked if our family could sing it for church for the EASTER program she was putting together.

So here it is... the first time our family sang together for church. The kids did a great job singing their parts (the boys even held their own harmony... ) We had a high stool for Mia to sit on during our song... but in practice she kept praising GOD really loud in her own little "off-tuned" way. Another time she knocked the stool over because she wanted to stand on it so she could be seen! Our little performer had to be taken out & watched by her Sabbath School teacher ("Auntie Sub" - Thanks Sebulah!)



Often times the focus on EASTER is the commercial side of it all... the bunny, the eggs... the candy. This year - the kids did a GREAT job focusing on the true meaning of the celebration. HIS RESURRECTION!

Mia was ready to look for EGGS!

We enjoyed a beautiful EASTER evening with our "island family" the TAITAGUES & MANTANONA'S - We let the kids have fun searching for eggs and we all ate some wonderful & delicious food!!!

Fran & Dora (2 sisters on the left) - we all went to Andrews University in Michigan. I never imagined that I would be living on this side of the world, where they grew up!! It's been great being able to reconnect after all these years!! Dora was the creative mind behind my wedding program (almost 14 years ago) - she was also one of my bridesmaids! She now lives in Barbados with her hubby & son... so glad that she gets to come home and visit so I can FINALLY see her again!

... at Agana Heights SDA Church

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

Agana Heights SDA Church is one of the bigger Seventh-Day Adventist Chuches here on island located across from the Naval Hospital and by Simply Foods & JOY 92 radio station. The music director is Liz Flores - and she is our kids piano teacher. The kids recently started singing in the Youth Choir and have performed a few times already at church. We feel blessed being able to contribute, even in a small way in church... and seeing the kids enjoy themselves - singing & praising GOD's name!


Youth Choir singing "Seek Ye First" with Pastor Mafnas on guitar
with his 3 kids & our 3 older ones...




SPRING HAS SPRUNG... and so has Morgan! Mo is growing at rapid speeds lately... he'll soon be as tall as Daddy Dale! Hard to believe that he & Ryan are only 13 months apart - especially with the extreme height difference. Ryan better watch out - looks like Daniella might over take him soon. I try to tell him it's because he doesn't like to sleep much (once a preemie - I guess always a preemie!) What Ryan may lack in height - he makes up in personality! It's larger than LIFE!
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EASTER SABBATH - April 11, 2009

"Auntie Sub" is Mia's sabbath school teacher... recently when Mia sees her she starts singing a little bit of "Zaccheus was a wee little man", it's cute - Mia will point to Auntie Sub and say, "You come down!" (which is part of the song).

Well, for Mia's birthday - her church class sang "Happy Birthday" and as you can see - Mia enjoyed all the attention given to her!


See the video clip below to see her clapping and adding her own little "cha-cha-cha's" to the song!


We were blessed to have our good friends (the Morrison's) visit our church... for our Easter program. The kids went up front for the Childrens story.


Mia & Ryland sat quietly together (for 2 seconds - ha ha, enough time to snap this photo) reading Mia's new birthday bible book from Auntie Sub.

bouldering, balaying & climbin'

My kids call HANGIN' HIGH - their other home! They go 2 - 3 times a week & continually ask (even before we leave) - "When are we coming back?" I love that they love to climb! It has built their confidence, not to mention their upper and lower body strength! Last week, I started a 10-week training with the owner of Hangin High - Kekoolani "Boni" Garrido. She is wakin' up some muscles that have been resting (okay they've been asleep) for quite some time! The feel good sore sometimes doesn't feel "so good"... but I am really enjoying "MY TIME" once again... prioritizing fitness is something I don't always do - especially with 4 kids who need me 24/7 (so it seems). Thankfully, I have a super fantastic & supportive hubby that steps in when needed!

Salsa & Tahitian Dancing, Tai Chi, bouldering, climbing, pilates, yoga, pole & chair work, isolations & various cardio exercises has me & 2 other girls sweatin' at Hangin' High! The variation is the fun part... and the fact that I can bring my little Mia with me during the morning and afternoon workouts - makes training with Boni actually do-able!

Last week my kids learned how to "balay". Balaying is working the harness and guiding the "climber" and being able to support the climber if they fall or when they reach the top - the balayer brings the climber down slowly with control. If you see the collage above... the bottom left photo has Daniella balaying someone twice, maybe 3 times her weight... and as she lowers her down... Dani is literally lifted in the air while anchored to the base - she is able to lower the climber down to safety. THEY LOVE THIS NEW CHALLENGE! And it really builds their CONFIDENCE, TRUST & overall look on life! Giving them that belief of, "Wow, I just did that - I can do anything!!!"

Below are a few video clips of the boys bouldering unharnessed. I'm so impressed because I have yet to accomplish this bouldering wall. My kids are giving me tips and encouraging me... I LOVE THAT!!! The bouldering wall has a marked path of only certain "holds" you can use to climb on... and with a slight angle to the wall - it's even MORE challenging! On the collage photos above... the top right photos show the angle of the wall they're climbing. Believe me... it's a lot harder than it appears!

If you haven't tried climbing... I encourage you to do it! Go out and get your climb on!!!! You'll love how it makes you feel!

Science Fair Projects

The kids had the option to enter into the school Science Fair. Two out of 3 in school decided to take part. Morgan chose to do his experiment on Potato Energy. Daniella listened to Ms. Amy's suggestion on testing the iron content in the sand on Guam - she named her project - MAGIC SAND. Ryan said his class was doing lots of little science experiments in his classroom... so he opted not to do it this year. As you can imagine - these projects take time to research and put presenation boards together - so a small part of me was absolutely and completely fine with only 2 kids presenting!



Morgan is in 5th grade and wrote down his list of all the items he needed and basically did his entire research on his own. He knew exactly what he needed to do and when he was unable to make the light bulb light up... he then tried to see if his connections created a magnet - and it did! Once he had all his supplies - he was very efficient and quick to set up and research. He typed all his findings and within 1 hour he was basically done. I'll admit - I helped with his story board layout! He received a ribbon for participating this year. I'm so proud of him for WANTING to participate! Yeah MO!

Daniella is in 2nd grade and the fun part about her project was traveling to all the different beaches to collect all the sand and test the iron content. Her best friend & next door neighbor - Alexi helped Dani gather all the sand in ziplock baggies and had more fun taking pictures and running along the beaches on Guam. Daniella named her project, did the research and typed out all the info... and again mommy helped with the layout and storyboard. Daniella won 2nd place in her grade level and was thrilled to receive a trophy for her first Science Fair! Congrats, Dani!

Spring Break 2009

There's a lot to do on Guam, if you take the time to explore! Thanks to my friend Amy, that's exactly what we did for the kids SPRING BREAK. I'm grateful to tap into Amy's island knowledge before she moves away... which is fast approaching!!! But we won't talk about that sad thought right now.... here's the fun week that we had!!!

South End Island Tour

... we saw a lot our first day out exploring the south end of the island. The HIGHEST point (Mt. Lam Lam); the NARROWEST part... and even heard legends of the island!!!

USO "Movie & Play" Day

After a delicious lunch at Tony Roma's... we all headed over for some fun times to watch BOLT on the big screen at the USO. Interestingly, Glynda & I both met Amy months before moving on Guam... via her blog. We both read Amy's blog daily to get an idea of what to expect. Funny thing is Glynda & I met each other first (on New Years Eve Day at Underwater World Aquarium)... she approached me and said, "I know you... you're friends with Amy... I read her blog!" That was a first for me... a BLOG SIGHTING. Ha! It was so nice to finally get together and just hang out. I hope this is just the first of MANY!!! Especially since our "connection" will be leaving us in a month!

ASAN BEACH - Exploration & Boonie Stomp

Amy explaining to the kids about the area and how war was fought here... explaining about our "mission" to find WWII wreckage. She made little ziplock baggies for everyone to tie onto their shorts. However, the wreckage we found were so rusty and some too big for our baggies, that the kids ended up collecting the beautiful blue rocks found! Dani tried to baggie the blue starfish with water in it... but we had to leave "blue" behind... she wasn't too happy about that!

Check out the size of this breadfruit leaf that Logan found... it's HUGE! I tried breafruit for the first time... and it was prepared just like french fries... cut up and fried up. Anything fried up will taste good! Ha!!! It's a local thing!

Our fearless leader!!!!

The kids LOVED boonie stompin' in the water... at ASAN BEACH, looking for artifacts from WWII wreckage. We saw blue starfish for the first time (which I never even knew existed until arriving on Guam), discovering caves (next time we'll have to bring a flashlight) & just exploring for the day! THE KIDS ABSOLUTELY LOVED hiking around Asan and looking for all their little treasures! Since it was 3 mommy's with 8 kids - I'm so thankful that everyone listened and were safe little explorers! Pretty adventureous of us, don't you think?

TERAGUE BEACH - located on the North side -

on Andersen Air Force Base

... HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:

* Mia loved wading in the little ocean tide pools and seeing all the beautiful fish swim by... and throwing little rocks at them... good thing they swim fast!

* Ryan enjoyed being outside - stomping around the rocks and having some kind of sea cucumber cling onto his flip flop.

* Daniella was able to find the smallest little crabs (ooh and there were a ton!).

* Morgan ran back and forth getting his exercise and had a smile on his face the whole afternoon!

* Dale enjoyed a much needed power nap... and of course hanging out with the MORRISON's!

The best part of the day for me... was walking back to our van (after 2 hours exploring)... I heard little Tyler (who I call TyleRooo, from the Green Kangaroo In The Middle book) singing oooh so quietly... "MY GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD..."

Man, did he get it right! After a day like today and experiencing GOD's handiwork - there's absolutely no question about it... HE IS AN AWESOME GOD!

... TyleRoo & my self portrait on our ASAN BEACH boonie stomp through the water! I absolutely adore this little guy... he's so sweet and quiet and funny in his own little TyleRoo way!

catching up... a little at a time!

March came in and left... my girls celebrated their birthdays - Daniella turned 8 & Mia 2. More to post on their liittle birthday celebrations. For now I'll post a few collages I made from our weekend events... just trying to catch up (a little at a time).

Mia's little friend BRINLEY turned 3 years old...



Playing at the park with the Morrison 5!


Mia with Ms. Amy... having a little fun on the mats.