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.