pics around the house:

Kate reading her kindle in the shade--she is finishing up the 'Candymakers'--I highly recommend that book for ages 8-13. It's a super long book.

I've met many of our neighbors, and I'm so happy that everyone is so nice and friendly. The girls have made lots of new friends already. Today we had a full house of little girls playing hide & seek in our fairly empty house...it was fun. I just met a guy across the street that is from Oklahoma City--he is just a bit older than me, but immediately we discovered we knew a lot of the same people! Crazy small world. I forget how small the 'military' world really is. I guess I didn't expect that in Guam too. There is another neighbor down the street that proudly flies an OU flag. Eventually, I'll get down there to meet them too. The evenings here are WONDERFUL--the temperature is perfect. I can tell we will be cooking out on the grill a LOT. & Congrats to my dear hubby for being on the LTC list! I'm very proud of him. :)

today's pics...

Okay, getting caught up here. I had photos on my camera from today and yesterday.

One last pic that looks more like a postcard:

So the street we live on is right across from a golf course. I can barely see the ocean from my kitchen window. Barely. I truly like the house, I am grateful that we got what we did. It really is about luck and timing.

Our street:

The view down the street:

Keeping the girls busy:

Kate LOVES the lizards all around our house:

finally, internet at the house!

We are finally in our house. Our household goods won't be here till August, so we are still roughing it a bit till then. We have borrowed essential items from the 'loaner closet' on base (iron, ironing board, pots and pans, beds, sofa, dining table, etc.) We are hooked up to the internet, so I can finally get on the computer for longer amounts of time. Our connection from the hotel was so slow. Today, Gracie refused to take a nap....so it's been rough. Hopefully we can get back on track with her nap schedule so that I can keep my sanity. She is one grumpy little toddler at the moment. I'm going to post a few pics (faster for me to put them on facebook, so more will be there.)

That might be it for beach pics for a little while. We are liking our house a lot, and I'm seeing lots of kids Kate and Ella's age all around us. I'm excited for them to get out and make new friends. :)

pics...

I love Tumon Bay.

Today is my birthday, and all I wanted was to hang out at Tumon Bay with my family early in the morning, so that's what we did. It's taking forever to load these pics, so I'll post more when I've got a faster internet speed.

pretty sunset

Actually, I have some after sunset pics too....but it's taking forever to load them...so I'll save them for a rainy day. Scott traveled to Saipan for the day (for work); I'm a bit jealous. I would really like to spend a weekend in Saipan, I hear it's gorgeous. Apparently we have arrived in Guam just in time for the 6 month rainy season. About 4-5 times a day, there will be a very brief, very heavy downpour, & then the sun comes back out. I like it. It's a warm rain, unlike the super cold Washington rain we are so used to. :) Today the girls & I hung out at the pool, and spent a small fortune on 4 kids meals brought to us poolside. I don't take my camera to the pool, unless I'm not getting in the water. We are wearing SO much sunscreen, and still getting a little pink during the day. That's about all my ramblings for now. We have our Guam address, let me know if you want it. I was disappointed to find out that it is not an APO address, but Guam is a U.S. territory--so a regular stamp works fine. If you are mailing something that weighs over a pound, a special form has to be filled out--I think a customs form, but not positive.

Ella's birthday pics:

Forgot to post these earlier. We had the hotel make her a pretty cake, and we also took her to TGIfridays for dinner. It was a special day.

decisions, decisions....

Just a quick post to update. We were shown 2 houses this morning, one on Nimitz hill--the navy housing I was talking about yesterday. Well, the house was great---actually had a pretty fabulous view of the ocean! But it's up on a very steep hill---and there is a HUGE drop off right off the little backyard & no fence. There was a great screened patio, 2 car port, and a covered playground next door. I was so concerned about having Gracie out there. That hill makes me super nervous. This is the only house being offered in this area. So then we drove to Andersen AF base, to check out the home that is being offered to us there. The house doesn't have a car port at all---but the floor plan was better for us. The house felt like it had more space. It just seemed right. I took a bunch of pics, I'll post in a bit. We accepted the house on Andersen and we get the keys on Friday. Monday will be the day we start staying at the house. We borrow what we need for now from the 'loaner closet'--till our stuff gets here. Looks like I'll be taking the kids to swim team on the navy base---but the practices are just twice a week--so I think it will be okay. I'm loving the warm weather here, and can't wait till Guam feels like home.

1st house, with backyard that drops off (we are not taking):

The house on Andersen that we ARE taking:

here is the back of the house:

(That little extra room is perfect for our treadmill!--still trying to figure out how else we will use that space).

The homes are old, but built typhoon proof. All of the windows have outdoor typhoon shutters. This house reminds me a little bit of our house in Japan. It's a 3 bedroom; Kate and Ella plan to share a room. They both have loft beds, so it might work. We are buying a little Japanese-style futon for Gracie.

so...the hotel for a while longer

So, we had thought that Andersen Air Force base was going to be our new home, but we have come to the conclusion that we should live close to the Navy base instead. It's a shorter commute for Scott---and if the girls' want to do swim team (which they are really wanting to do)--that is only offered at the navy base. If we lived on Andersen, I'd have to drive about 40 min. each way to the pool near the naval hospital. Gas is so expensive---and I really don't feel like having to drive that much! This is a small island---but when we drive around, it seems big to me. The roads twist and turn, lots of hills. So to live in the housing area we want to live in, we have to wait approx. 2 more weeks. Luckily our hotel is great, and I think we can survive here. The summer will go by so fast. I'll upload a few more pics now. Ella is 8 today!!! Happy birthday sweet Ella!!

View from the University of Guam (where Scott works):

Back at the hotel, the night view:

few more pics from the hotel balcony...

The girls are a little pink today, even after using super strong sunblock. So we will go swimming later in the evening after the sun isn't beating down so bad. So...I've been having fun taking a few more pics.

Internet is slow, so I'm not uploading anymore now. :) Thanks for the blog comments too!! Friends, come visit!! We will have a tiny 3 bedroom house, but we will make it work...no matter how many kids you have (Marcie). :)

morning photo shoot w/Gracie:

She was awake and ready to go at 5 a.m. this morning, when the sun came out I took her to the beach: