Saturday Mayhem (Ellie's choice of titles :)

First, as requested:

... proof that Pooh Bear knows his way around his iPhone..... or proof that Melda and I spend too much time sitting at the pool with nothing to do.... you decide :)

Today was the grand opening of the new Gym on base..... which is really so much more than a gym, it is a huge complex including long course pool, football field and track.

But lots of activities planned for today:
Here are some Olympians that the girls saw in a meet n' greet. Ellie apparently beat the female skier running through the obstacle course.

I would also like to point out that tonight is my 500th blog!

Can you believe it?

Thanks for reading them all you guys- and hey, if all goes as planned and we get off Guam this summer, I will probably have less than 55 more blogs to go!

Orders!

...as in, we got them. Detach sometime in July, report sometime in August to the Naval War College in Newport, RI.

Still no relief identified, although I did get a call a couple of days ago from someone interested. He's in Japan now, and while he's not due to rotate until December, his detailer is willing to roll him early to relieve me, and, he'll count it as sea duty (he was supposed to go to a ship). So, he sounded fairly positive about it, but I gotta think his current boss might not be happy with him leaving early if he has no one to relieve him.

The good news for us is that we can now work on getting Sam and the girls back to the states (at government expense!). Worst case for me would be if I get an orders modification that extends me a month or more until I get relieved.

Nevertheless, it's good to see it on paper. The sun on Guam is shining a little brighter.

-Kevin

Hey!

Don't really have much to say tonight-

Kevin went to Maddy's award ceremony where she achieved Principles list status! So great. I had to work, so I sent the camera with Kevin...... who proceeded to leave it at work. So no photos, but you will have to take my word for it that she did well :)

Ellie had Chamorro dance tonight, rushed home for supper and homework before she had to go off to swimming. So proud of how she is trying to handle so many activities and still do well at school.

I'll make a goal to have at least a COUPLE photos tomorrow night!

sorry.....

Academic Fair

Went to the school this evening to check out some of the girls school work at an academic fair.
Both girls had some cool stuff on display, and both their teachers couldn't say enough positive things about them.
Made me proud!

Some news- Kevin may have his orders set for this summer and he may even have a replacement lined up so that he can be out of here July starting his new job in Rhode Island in August...... I'll let you know when the plans are set in stone. I would hate to be over confident in all this 'cause with the military, you just never know!

What do you notice....

Madison is in her pajamas at supper time,
she is leisurely reading the new books she has been dying to read from the Scholastic Book Order at school (sorry Bubby for the cover of the books, they are WWII retelling graphic novels, which by the way she was already done reading by supper after getting them today!)
You'll notice Ellie is setting the table with chop sticks (even for Kevin and myself- trying to get us cultured! Maddy and Ellie use their chop sticks all the time, Kevin and I are not that talented)...
Kevin is home from work at dinner time (rare occasion) and is dishing out Thai food....
and Star Wars is on the TV....
Must be Monday Night!

Family night tonight served two functions- first its our usual Monday Family Night, and second it was "report-card-chinese-food-replaced by Thai food 'cause there isn't good Chinese on island" night.

Anyway you look at it- nice evening when we can all hang out home together :)

Easter Weekend in Photos

Saturday started with a swim meet for the girls. They both did well..... the new goal is to get a BB time so they can go to the Guam Champs. They have one more meet to get a BB time, and lots of seconds to take off in varying events- so looking at some hard training the next three weeks!
*swim photos courtesy of Melda :)

Kevin and I went out for date night Saturday evening while the girls were at swim practice. Went to my new favorite:
Ban Thai! Its even better than the other Thai restaurants on Guam. And I know the food is all fresh.... saw a little Thai lady pulling herbs out of this garden to do her cooking.

Resurrection Day came early!

We were at the church by 6am for an outdoor Sunrise Service. Really nice service. Enjoyed the ocean view while listening to Pastor Greg.

Stayed after for breakfast at the church. The girls love the see-saws out back of the church.

Headed over to GabGab by lunch time to spend the day with the Thorntons.
Lovely way to spend Easter Day.
If I can't be home with family, then an oceanside BBQ on Easter Sunday is fine with me!

Hope your Easter was wonderful!

Easter

Happy Easter Sunday

Today in the Human Interest Section: the "Good News"

Matthew 28:1-6
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...

Good Friday

Today I climbed to the top of the world.

Literally!

Mt LamLam is the highest point on Guam, and since Guam extends down into the Marianas Trench- Mt LamLam is the highest mountain in the world (if you don't mess with that "above sea level" stuff....)

Every Good Friday the Catholics of Guam (which is 99% of Guam) complete a pilgrimage up Mt LamLam starting before dawn. They drag up a huge (REALLY huge) cross to the top and have a church member sacrifice himself by committing self flagellation for hours. Hundreds of parishioners make this journey, following the stations of the cross (there are 14...... I somehow only remembered there to be 12?..... someone wasn't paying attention in Catholic School......).

Since it is Good Friday, some ladies from the base decided to make the trek up the mountain -to see the view, the crosses, and thank Jesus for his sacrifice... not that we can't thank Him on lower ground..... just a nice gesture :)
Part way up they have a monument for Mary where people light candles.
We made it to the top with some definite breathless points in the climb. Really beautiful at the top.
If you look at the top-center of this photo:
You can see the tiny crosses on the top. This gives you a better idea of how high a climb Mt LamLam really is.
So glad I made the journey :)

Tonight we had sunset service at my church. This is Pastor Greg:

It was a really beautiful service, outdoors overlooking the ocean at sunset:

Really nice day, nice way to end Good Friday.

Looking forward to Easter now!

Yay Ellie

Ellie brought her report home today- straight A's! So proud.

Speaking of Ellie:

Cowboy boots have become part of her new look. So cute to see her putting on the boots everyday for school with her uniform (except on PE day- that is a running shoe day for sure)

Easter countdown continues.
Huge thank you to Marci! A lady that works with Kevin is always sending home fun cookies for every holiday. I love her for her expertise in always knowing where Kevin is and in helping me to schedule him in when I need help with the girls.... she has been beyond helpful while we were here.

For those asking- still no defined news on our moving date. I'll let you know if and when that changes...... penciled in orders still say Rhode Island this summer but they still haven't put ink on the plan!

Climbing Mount LamLam tomorrow- wish me luck.

Yay!

Maddy has a bunch of school stuff to be proud of.

She was selected to go to a leadership program this coming summer in Washington DC (no, she isn't going due to her mother's nervous issues- but still great that she was selected!).

Maddy also won first prize in the state for her group's experiment- I believe it was making plasma? I am not sure- all I know is that I had an incubator in my fridge for a week and now she is receiving some sort of savings bond and certificate.

And now today- straight A's!!!!!! This is very exciting since she only has one quarter to go in order to be straight A's for the year. Go Maddy!

Ellie is excited to see these come into our house:

Avocados! The ones on the right are local. We are pretty excited to see when they will ripen- not kidding you when I say Ellie's new favorite food is guacamole.... she will eat it with anything!

Counting down to Good Friday.
Love the view out the back of my church.

I am looking forward to sunset service on Good Friday and sunrise service Easter Sunday. Easter is always a time of renewal for me.

I really love this time of year :)

Photos

As you can tell by the photos- the girls first day back after spring break went just fine. They were goofy as all get-out when they got home from school:
But really just so happy to see them happy!

Maddy made it to school without tears (probably because I let her take her Kindle to school for the first time...... )
With all my spare time (between working out, cleaning the bathrooms, grocery shopping, doing laundry, making supper) I made healthy muffins! Cranberry for Maddy and banana for Ellie.... all wheat flour, honey and milk. I'll let you know tomorrow how they go over. Hopefully they taste more yummy than they do healthy.