more than climbing...

While at the orthodontist with Morgan, I met Boni, the owner of the rock climbing wall in town and she invited me to come out and give it a try. So glad we did!

Here's the first of many various girls night out at Hangin' High! I love it... especially the feel good sore feeling! Truly a great work-out!

Last weekend I decided to bring the entire family for FAMILY DAY and show them the fun I was having with climbing! They had a great time! The kids were excited and even little Mia (22 months) kept pointing to the wall and learned how to say, "I climb".

I love the fact that it's MORE than just climbing. More than a challenge! It builds confidence, trust, communication & even problem solving. Learning to work together with people you know and some you don't know.

I signed the kids up for this month for the Ekulo Kidz Climbing Club and decided to pick them up from school and bring them to the wall. Our friends, the Morrisons decided to come out with us and let their boys try it too... we had the entire place to ourselves, it was awesome!

Later at dinner, I overheard my friend Amy say to Morgan, "You're a good climber" and Morgan's face lit up and said, "You saw me?"

Recalling that small moment from last night touches my heart and brings tears to my eyes. The way he phrased it with such a surprised expression of being recognized amongst the others. My son is growing up so quickly and I have found him becoming more reserved and quiet. He'll be 11 soon & already his voice is changing... maybe he's more conscious of that.

Since climbing, he has been talking non-stop about THE WALL and can't wait to go again. He's found more confidence in himself! To me, it's worth the time to take him back again and again!

As a mommy of 4, I try to make sure my time with each child is evenly distributed.... it's hard though... because some require MORE attention than others! Some personalities are much bigger than others. I'm so blessed to have good kids. Lots of prayer and lots of discipline, for sure!

"You saw me?"... yes, my son - I SEE YOU! And more importantly I hope you will always know that in your quiet strength you are growing into such an amazing young man! Mommy and Daddy love you so much! God loves you even more than we do... and that's a whole LOTA love! It reminds me of one of GOD's promises in Isaiah...

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed", says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

My groovy little grinders!

Mia's 1st dental appointment and she did awesome! Almost 2 years old & 12 teeth - I would say it's time to get things looked at! There were some tears once the Doc came out with his strange lookin' glasses... but overall, I'm so very proud of my baby girl! Yeah!

** do you see her little hand saying "wait"... she was trying to figure out his eye gear!

Morgan has 4 more months with his braces (phase 1)... and he's done a great job keeping his teeth clean despite all the gear!

Ryan has a chipped baby tooth that he voiced he wanted it fixed (that's comin' out of his little wallet, thank you very much). He's a grinder and the sound of his teeth grinding at night makes me cringe!!! Surprisingly though... he had a great check up and keeping things clean!

... Dani, Dani, Dani! She's going to break our bank! My groovy little girl already has had fillings for a cavity... now she has a few more! PARENTS, IF YOU'RE NOT HELPING YOUR KIDS FLOSS... start doing it! We kinda dropped the ball on that! All Dani's cavities are in the crevices between her teeth!

... the X-ray's don't lie! My groovy girl will spend 1 day each week next month getting her teeth fixed and filled! 2 cavities at a time... yup - 8 new little cavities. They're small... but they're there! Errggghh!

Dr. Eusebio & Daniella

The big question is this... Happy Gas or No Happy Gas? She'll get the area numbed and worked on... and I believe my girl can handle all that without having to get the "gas". She thinks so too... but I don't want to traumatize my baby!

.

The savings would be $616 (yes, that's how much the Happy Gas will cost total when we're finally done). Daddy thinks the experience (w/out the gas) will make her remember to be more diligent with brushing! Now that's tough love!

I just love my gap-tooth smilin' girl!

Girls Trip to Thailand...

Updates on our Girls Trip to Thailand will be posted soon... as soon as I can catch up, I'll be writing more about our time in ChiangMai and our ONE NIGHT in Bangkok.

Thanks to my parents who watched my kiddos while I was away... and my sweet hubby for working so hard!!


5 mom's (1 daughter), 5 days, 2 cities & LOTS OF incredible memories! Photos and details to follow. Here's just a few more photos to share...

Loved all the colors and fabrics... splashes of color are now throughout my home, reminding me of my time in such a beautiful country!

Enjoyed a full day feeding, bathing and learning about rescued & aging Elephants at the Elephant Nature Park.


... more to come - Ziplining over the Rainforest... Flight of the Gibbons! We didn't see any monkeys while zipping along 18 platforms, 11 ziplines, 2 skybridges and 3 lowering cable stations - but we sure did hear them! Truly an amazing experience!

We took the night train from ChiangMai to Bangkok

Our last night in Bangkok we took a water taxi and explored the city view from the water!

The reality is this -

Here's the reality. I'm behind on my blog! There's a ton of photos to share & moments caught!

The reality is... we are enjoying our time with my parents & so happy that they are here with us. Wishing our time with them could be longer - yet thankful for the time we have with them!


Thanks to some really good friends & neighbors - we spent a fun filled day ON the water, IN the water & ABOVE the water on my Mom's birthday! Watching dolphins, jet-skiing, parachuting, banana boat riding and spending time as a family - what more could we ask for?

Dani & MomMom sharing a cool & refreshing island style drink!

... clearly Mo's life jacket needs to be upgraded to the adult size!


My sweet little island girls

up up and away...

My amazing parents... aren't they just so cute in this photo? LOVE THEM!

** thanks again for a GREAT day today **

Philippines

... enjoying time with family - will update blog soon!

Mia and Ryland

Last week - Ryland spent the afternoon with us while his mommy (Amy) went to PT at the Naval Hospital. This is Mia's first little friend (one of the many little "men" in her life) on Guam... and I can really tell that she has a real soft spot for him. We're so happy that Amy was convinced to leave him with us... it did take some arm-twisting!



Follow the photos and see how cute these two are. Mia had a morning nap . . . and right after feeding them lunch Ryland looked very sleepy - so we took the blanket out and hoped for the best! He had to be really tired to sleep through all this... but he did - for over an hour!

My favorite pics are :

- Mia signing "sleepy" & "mommy" to Ryland (who didn't even look for her while away... which I think is amazing - since I have such clingy momma kids!)

- Mia signing "shhhh", pretending to "yawn"... and laughing.

- look how cute their legs are intertwined when Mia decided to lay back down!

Mia finally gave up and walked away to play with her pony... and just hung out and waited for him to wake up! She was very very patient!! The boy can sleep!!!

2009 is starting off GREAT...

. . . 10 more days until we see my parents... the kids are so excited too!!! Thanks to facebook, yahoo & skype we've been able to keep in touch - but there's nothing like a GREAT BIG HUG from the ones that you love!! We'll spend time with them in the Philippines and they will also spend time with us here on GUAM! Together we can all explore the island! FUN!!!!! Yeeaahh!


Here's a picture of my parents with the kiddos over the summer in South Carolina! They spent the entire summer with us... it was fantastic! REAL BONDING!

I had to add this picture someone at Dale's command made in SC... isn't this too funny?

Ready or Not... Here we GROW!!!

My latest Momma Moment caught me off guard. I took the kids (& a friend) with me to GPO (Guam Premier Outlets) to return a pair of shoes that I bought for Morgan. The shoes were too small. As I was talking to the manager of the store, he looks at the pair of church shoes and non-chalantly says, "This is the last size in the boys section... please look in the MENS sizes for a different pair". HOLD ON... did you just say, "MENS DEPARTMENT? You don't understand, this is for my son, he's only 10 years old."

Yes... I had my camera to document my Momma Moment!

Sure enough - we found a nice pair of church shoes in the MEN's department for my 10 year old! When I look at my oldest son - I still see my little boy... crawling and rolling around at the playground. He is quietly and quickly growing into a man... and it's happening all too fast!


Ready or Not... Here we GROW! I can still close my eyes and remember when we took these photos in our kitchen in Virginia. That's the best part about taking photographs and capturing those moments in time... it can just bring you right back there!!!! Then when I open my eyes - I'm catapulted right back into reality and I'm not quite sure how the time passed so quickly! I've said this before - but what a blessing it is to be able to be home and be there to experience my kids rapid growth! The craziest part is that I don't see it happening until I look back at my other pictures and see how much things have changed!

Daniella (17 months), Morgan (4) & Ryan (3)


Daddy Dale & Morgan (4 years old) 2002 in Virginia

* posing with Morgan's 5th grade teacher - Mrs. Santos

We are so proud of you Morgan for growing into a respectful, kind, loving, gentle & honest young man! Congratulations on getting on the Principals List with a 4.0 and above average in your first semester at McCool Elementary (5th grade). We love you so much!!!

Morgan with his classmates in 5th grade

There's NO place like HOME!

The other night when the girls went out... right before chopping our hair off - we stopped into KB Toys to see what they had on sale since the company is going out of business. Everything was 50% off & I found a WIZARD OF OZ costume box. In this box are 3 outfits... Dorothy (and her RED shoes), Glinda the good witch and of course a wicked witch of the east costume in black with green bracelets. Mia LOVES it! Of course I'm not surprised at all that Daniella is enjoying this box of fun!
The costumes are really cheap, there are so many little parts like sleeves that go with this and strands that go with that... plus my little Mia doesn't even know the story of the Wizard of Oz! But the big smile that comes over her face when she opens this box of costumes is indeed priceless!

Living this military life and moving every 3 - 4 years for the last 16 years I have never felt the need to click my heels and want to be anywhere else! Home is where the HEART is and I've enjoyed the places and the people that have blessed our journey through life! As a young family living in Annapolis, one of Dale's commanding officers made a comment to him that has become our MOTTO for LIFE in the Military. She told him to "GROW WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED". That is exactly what we try to do. To appreciate all that is around us and just GROW!

As I look at these goofy pictures of my girls just playing dress up... it makes me think & want to ask - will my girls be like DOROTHY and help others along the way... find a brain, find a heart, find courage... will they recognize the wicked witches and the good-hearted Glinda's who are helpful? For now - they'll just be kids and play dress up and I pray that their YELLOW BRICK road will always lead them HOME!!!

Be THE ONE in 2009

We spent the first day of 2009 as a family - exploring and walking around the 5K loop (3.1 miles) & swimming at the Hotel here at Leo. We really enjoy living up here on the HILLS (Manenggon Hills, Guam). It certainly has it's advantages. It's peaceful and quiet. The kids have a nice group of friends to play with in a safe environment. The area is maintained (yeah, no yardwork) nicely because we are part of a Resort Community with golf fairways as our backyard! Which can be a hazard if there are some bad golfers on the course... but overall - living here has been a GREAT choice for us! Do we miss our spacious 5 bedroom house in SC? YES. Am I happy that we sold it before moving here - ABSOLUTELY! We are together, as a family... and that is truly what is MOST important!


The entrance and security gate to the duplex homes... where we live!

- just up the hill from La Cuesta is the little mini-market that the kids love to go to to get snacks, 50 meter lap pool, Japanese walking pool & another hotel pool... just walking distance from our home.

Mia not fond of the little lizards that crawl around everywhere

... Jeeps, ATV's and mountain bikers love these back trails at Leo

... our view of Tumon from our walk

the hotel/condos, soccer field/running track

halfway around the loop... the sun was very hot today!!!

the last part of the walk is ALL up hill - it's a GREAT workout!

I pray for my neighbors and friends who are not with the ones they love because they are serving in the military. I want to THANK ALL OF THOSE SERVING OUR COUNTRY and doing their part to serve and protect! I pray for my family & friends who are mourning over the loss of a loved one... diagnosed with an illness... or struggling with something in their lives! I pray that I can be the best wife, mommy, daughter, sister & friend... I pray that I am doing all that I can to teach my children right from wrong and to learn to LOVE others and most importantly to LOVE GOD!

HOLD TIGHT everyone... I believe 2009 will blow right by!!! Take time to enjoy what is MOST important in your lives!!!!! Tell those around you - YOU LOVE THEM... show those around you - YOU LOVE THEM! Uplift and encourage each other and make a difference!! One person at a time...