New Year's Eve Partaaay!

Tori and Nick were so gracious to open their houses up to us for New Year's Eve party North Carolina style complete with yummy NC BBQ. There were 12 adults and 14 kids! Six families crammed inside a cracker jack box aka military housing! We started the night out by playing on the playground until the sunset. We had a few injuries (you'll see what I'm talking about in the web album) and then we headed inside to get our grub on. They did a NC style (vinegar based) BBQ turkey in the crockpot and TWO chickens on the grill. We had BBQ potatoes, salad, dips galore....aw man I'm getting hungry just thinking about it again! We also celebrated Tori's birthday. She turned 30 at 12:07 am! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TORI!!
The girls: (top left) Mia, Dot, Dani, me, Brinley (Christina's beauty that I claimed for the picture!) (bottom left) Shelly, Bella Boo, Meredith, JoJo, Isabelle, Christina holding Nyla and the hostess with the mostess, Tori.

The guys (with a few girls): (top left) Rick, Mia, Dale, Chris, Ryland. (bottom left) Mark, Bella, Morgan, Justus, Ryan, Logan, Tyler, Nick, Howie and Tori.

The Wii game "Active Life Outdoor Challenge" was a HUGE hit. We had quite a few laughs especially when Dale played right along with the kids. Go Dale!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!

Girls Gone Wild!

We had our 2nd girls night out last night and it started out pretty mellow. We went to Macy's, did some shopping, ate in the food court, talked...you know regular girl stuff. We shopped a little more at Kay Bee toy store (did you know they are going out of business??) and then Shelly had an idea. To get our hair done. You see, Tori had gone and chopped her hair off earlier in the day. She got the cutest little pixie cut and I mentioned that I'd like to do something different with my hair. That was the end of it. I was slowly being coaxed into the salon, into the chair and watching my semi-long locks fall all around me. Did I hyperventilate? A little. But the outcome was a far easier and funkier hairstyle than I've had in a long time.

Next girls night out....color.

Before the glam-a-thon....

And after...........

See what a little cut will do to a woman!
GIRLS GONE WILD!

Afternoon drive

Logan has had this John Deere truck type thing since he was 3. He's dubbed it "The Johnny John". When we first got it he rode around with Tyler in the passenger seat holding on tight to the oh-crap-bar (sorry, I couldn't think of what else it could be called!). Fast-forward 3 years and here we are again on the Johnny John only this time with 3 passengers. They started out side by side but eventually went from that to Ry sitting on Tyler's lap since Logan couldn't shift with Ryland sitting on it.

The Last December

I had to bring the boys to the beach today because it's December and I won't be able to a year from now. In fact, the more I think about it, I've got a lot of "lasts" that I need to get started on. I think I'm going to call it my "Last List". Gosh now that I type that it sounds a bit morbid. Ok well maybe not that title but you get the picture. Oh and speaking of pictures, here are a couple "lasts" for the month of December.

Our last trip to the beach in DECEMBER!

Our last ride on the double decker bus to see the Christmas lights in Tumon. Oh and this is not Logan startled. This is Logan ACTING startled. I see an academy award in his future.

The last cheezer grin aboard the double decker bus! This picture, on the other hand, was not an act. This is really how excited my lil man was to be up on top of a bus!

Waiting for the double decker bus. This is definitely a last. It took us 30 MINUTES to catch this bus!

Happy Birthday PapPap!!!

A sad goodbye

Last night I said goodbye to a wonderful family. Pastor Dave is a missionary and accepted a position as the pastor of a church in China. He is a wonderfully talented speaker and they are very blessed to have him there. He's taking along his two sweet girls and my good friend, Grace. She has been in my life since we've moved on Guam. When I was pregnant Chris agreed to let me have someone come in and clean our house. That someone was Grace. I had a horrible pregnancy and Grace was there every step of the way. Every time she came over she prayed with me. She lifted me up to the Lord with her ladies at church every week as well. She was a bright light in some very dark days and I am so very thankful for her. We started attending her church and our relationship has grown. She frequented Logan's class (her daughter, Debra, was also in it) as an aide to Mrs. Sablan. I will miss her very much.

"Faux" Gingerbread Houses

Yesterday, the Ramirez kids joined us in making gingerbread houses. They were actually graham crackers that I glued together with melted sugar since I didn't have the time to make umpteen million sheets of gingerbread (although I might try that next year!). We had tons of candy as you can see by the picture below. My kids hardly ate dinner that evening because of all the candy they ate! We had several very creative constructors too. I think the kids enjoyed themselves as much as I enjoyed watching them.

Mia is trying to take a nap and Ryland is coming to comfort her. Look at her little feet crossed! So cute!!

Dani and Tyler are anxious to begin but I made them stop and pose for me.

Logan being oh so careful with the decorating. He got a few things on his house and then decided it was more fun to EAT the candy then to decorate!

The final projects!

Rota Walk 2008

Boy, did I look forward to this all year. On Andersen AF Base there is a street in which all of the houses are decorated and on the last Saturday before Christmas everyone comes out to walk the street all the way up to the base CO's house where there is a band playing and sometimes a live nativity. The people that live there hand out candy, play projection movies on their homes, and just come out to enjoy the fun. We have a blast every year that we go. This year we went with the Ramirez family and had a wonderful time. It really helps you feel Christmas-y when you're on an island under the sun!

Contemplating

Tonight I've been going round and round in my head over to mark my blog as private. I've gotten startling news from a fellow blogging friend. Some videos of her kids can be found all over the internet. Terrifying.

I've never given it much thought since we live on a small island and you kinda get a false sense of security. BUT I'm moving back to the states. The sense of security is starting to diminish already. My children and their names are printed all over this blog. I've started it to keep friends and family up to date on the happenings on Guam but have come to realize that I've literally opened a book up to the world...with my kids on the front cover. So for now, the blog will stay the way it is, until I think about this further.

Any thoughts on whether I should make it private?

8 Things TAG

RULES
1. Post rules on your Blog.
2. Answer the six "8" items.
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment.

8 Favorite Shows:

1. LOST!
2. Amazing Race
3. Survivor
4. Heroes
5. Friends
6. Everybody loves Raymond
7. King of Queens
8. Grey's Anatomy
   

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Went to see Bolt at 1p and sat there for a half hour of High School Musical 3 before I realized that it didn't start until 3:30!! (Thanks CHRIS!)
2. Watched Bolt
3. Cooked dinner (fajitas)
4. Changed poopy diapers (all day long! Poor Baby!)
5. Watched TV
6. Made Christmas presents
7. Brushed my teeth
8. Wrapped presents
   

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Christmas
2. AFTER Christmas when things go back to normal
3. Seeing my family again
4. Getting Ty into swim class
5. Possibly going to BALI!! WOOT WOOT!
6. A pay raise in Jan AND in March ;-)
7. School starting after the holidays!
8. Going on a new adventure (TN...sort of...will miss my friends!)
   

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Vitale's
2. Olive Garden
3. Jamaican Grille
4. In and Out
5. Bob Nadeau's Sub Shop (NH)
   
6. Cheesecake Factory
7. Freemont House of Pizza(NH)
8. My step-dad, John's house...does that count??
   

8 Things on my wish list:

1. To be debt free
2. A new lens for my beautiful camera
3. to be 30lbs lighter
   
4. To find a great church in TN
5. To find great friends in TN (not that they would ever replace the ones I have now!) ;-)
6. For healthy happy children (this is actually #1 but I'm too lazy to cut and paste!)
7. A new puppy for the boys
8. To find an awesome truck for my hubby
   

8 People to Tag:

1. Dot
2. Shelley (sis-in-law)
   
3. Shelly (Sanchez)
4. Christy
5. Tori
6. Rebecca
7. Tina
8. Theresa

Hmmm.....I wonder who will play my game....C'mon people!!

The Spite House

I will never say I have a small house again....

See full article here.

It's officially official.

We just received actual orders this morning for TN. That's the one little piece of information that we've been waiting months for. Now it's time for planning...when to ship our household items, booking flights, finding a new home in TN....all of this by May 18th.

It's all very bittersweet. I love Guam. I love my friends. And I don't love change. I try to look at every move as an adventure but now that I've been living on an island I've grown accustomed to the simplicity. There's a saying here that goes "Once you go island, you never stop smilin'". Let's hope that's true!

Day Five - Buddha

This was the last day of our trip. There are many, many more pictures for your enjoyment in our web album!

Day Five - Big Buddha