Just for fun

I don't know why this picture is so funny to me as a parent.  Perhaps if she was a pain in the neck kid I would be justified in finding some humor in her obvious distress.  But no, she is so sweet.  I just couldn't help but snap this shot.  She was having such a good hair day...

Morgan and I were having fun making crazy faces.  I think there is real potential here.  She came up with these on her own.

Morgan helped me on some organization projects.  After 5 months of living here in Guam I am finally making getting the garage organized a priority.  We had to cut some wire shelving to fit in the laundry room and Morgan provided great moral support.

Last Sunday I got a call from the emergency room and had to go in to dig out a metallic foreign body from a sailors eye.  He got it while grinding metal.  I was really glad I had my safety goggles on when I saw this picture.  

Brent's Birthday

I took Friday off of work for my birthday.  I still ended up having to go in to work for about an hour and a half in the morning, but was able to enjoy the rest of the day.  I got home from work at about 8:30 and Paij had made monkey bread.  It is kind of like cinnamon rolls.  It was AMAZING.  I think it will be my birthday breakfast request from here on out.  

I then went diving with a friend.  It was a great dive.  We collect some nice shells, saw some sea turtles, and a lion fish.  After the dive Paij and I went kayaking out to a beach some friends told us about.  We tried to hike to it before, but the coast line was way too rugged and trying to trail blaze through the jungle did not look inviting.  Kayaking was certainly the way to go.  The beach is secluded and made of magnetite, a black magnetic sand.  There were lots of black butterflies at the beach.  We collected several bottles of the sand and look forward to letting the girls play with it.  

We got home and our back yard neighbor was throwing a party that included a couple bounce houses with slides/pools.  We played with the girls on the smaller bounce house.  The pictures below appropriately capture the joy and skill exhibited by various members of our family.

 The larger bounce house would more appropriately be termed a bounce mansion.  That building behind the bounce mansion is our actual house.  The party was fun, however, we only lasted about an hour.  The party continued for over 12 hours, which we did not realize was possible.  

Later I opened presents.  Morgan and Jaycee enjoyed these glitter batons they received from their Grandma Michalene.  Today Jaycee was found crawling on the floor with the baton in her mouth like a doggie bone.  We are still concerned about how that kid is going to turn out....

Here is Jaycee kicking back at the dinner table saying "cheese" for the first time.

I requested chocolate fondue in lieu of a birthday cake.  Paij looked at me like I was sacrilegious, but it really was what I wanted.  She also made some amazing carne asada burritos (good Mexican food is hard to come by here in Guam, imagine that).  Paij really has become quite the cook.  I really appreciate all her effort and time she puts into preparing such great meals for our family.

It was a great birthday.  Thank you Paij for making it so wonderful.  I am so grateful that I get to become an old man with you.

Paij just recently got called to be the Primary president in our congregation.  She is nervous and excited  for this opportunity to work with the children at our church.  I know she will do wonderfully and the kids will be blessed to have Paij working with them.

June 2012

It has been a while since our last post, so here is an update.  Life in Guam continues to be very pleasant.  We recently took the girls out kayaking again.  On the way out Paij spotted what she thought initially to be a sea lion.  I was confused because I have never heard of sea lions being in Guam's waters.  I looked down and was pleased to see a sea turtle swimming just below the surface beside my kayak.

 We paddled around an island.  On our way back we found a small, secluded beach and decided to pull in to explore.  We let the girls play in the sand and found some great shells.  

I believe Paij got this footprint idea from Pinterest.  We decided to try it out while exploring the beach.  

 The girls are certainly growing up.  Jaycee is becoming more and more independent.  She usually insists that she feed herself, and as you can see by the picture below the process usually goes flawlessly.  

 We finally took the girls to the bowling alley here on base.  Both Morgan and Jaycee had a great time.  Jaycee loved to clap every time the pins got knocked over, and Morgan was proud of the fact that she is a strong four year old that can carry the 6 pound bowling ball all by herself!  It was a lot of fun and we decided it will be a routine family outing.  

 Morgan has finally decided that having her picture taken is not a bad thing.  It is really fun to take pictures of your kids.  For the last year Morgan has been uncooperative with having her picture taken.  That changed recently, and I like to think that it is a sign of a positive self image.  It is really fun to see her pose and ask to have her picture taken. 

Two weeks ago was Boy Scout Camp.  I have been working with a local Boy Scout Troop essentially ever since we arrived on Guam.  We have a great troop.  We had 25 boys attend scout camp.  It was a LONG week!  It rained every day and most nights.  We had two tent casualties during a storm one night, which made for a memorable night of minimal sleep.  Unfortunately, there were several memorable nights of interrupted sleep.  Overall, it was a great experience in spite of the lack of sleep.  We were fortunate to have the Navy grant the scouts access to camping on  base property.  Additionally, the scouts got to go on a tour of a nuclear sub, a large Navy subtender ship, and have a helicopter land and provide a tour.  Additionally the Navy SEALS came and let the boys check out their guns and gadgets.  I was able to look through the night vision goggles at night.  I looked up at the stars and was completely caught off guard at how spectacular the stars looked.  It was not just the brightness of the stars, but the quantity of stars that I could see.  I have never seen anything like it.  If you ever get a chance to use night vision goggles on a clear night, you are in for the best stargazing of your life.

Paij and I recently became dive certified.  I have become fascinated with the things to explore underwater.  Paij has been a reluctant companion.  She is still not thrilled to have fish swimming around her, especially big fish.  I am really grateful that she is a willing dive buddy.  Here is a shot of her on one of our dives.

I received the new GoPro Hero 2 waterproof camera for Father's Day and my birthday.  I have enjoyed playing around with it.  My first dive using it was out to a reef where sharks are often seen.  We were fortunate to see five sharks on that dive.  I got up close to where they were feeding and was able to have two of them come within a few feet.  It was awesome.  I learned after the fact that I need a special housing to get clearer pictures with my camera, so the photos and video are not sharp, but you can still get the idea of what the dive was like.

We decided to buy our own dive gear rather than rent for the next three years.  We received it this past week, along with the new dive housing that allows me to get clear underwater pictures.  Paij and I went for a dive on Wednesday to try out the new gear.  The visibility wasn't very good, so I don't have any underwater pictures.  However, we surfaced as the sun was setting.  I snapped this picture just after popping up out of the water.  I don't think I will tire of the sunsets here on Guam.  

They are spectacular.