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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Saipan Sunset






Below is the island of Tinian where the Enola Gay launched her famous mission to Japan.

If you zoom in on this picture of open water, you will see a tank that is still remaining from WWII with its turret poking out of the surf.

This cliff is Bonzai cliff. During WWII, when the Americans recaptured Saipan from the Japanese--many Japanese families and soldiers committed mass suicide at this site.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Baby Shower

Dave's boss' wife hosted a very thoughtful and generous baby shower. She thought of everything! There was tons of great food, a gorgeous cake that she made, complete with the monkey from Nathan's bedding set replicated with clay.
Dave's wing chaplain's wife was so generous as well. She has clothed my little boy. She bought so many cute outfits for Nathan....I hope he gets here in time to wear them before he outgrows them. The Cars swimming trunks light up. I have never seen anything so cute.


Nathan received so many wonderful gifts! I couldn't begin to list them all! The other part that just makes a mommy's heart feel so much better is the generosity for the orphanage. Some of the ladies went together and purchased a gift card for us for the BX...we'll be buying a car seat and some other necessities for Nathan.

On with more good news....Nathan's visa paperwork has surfaced. We are waiting on our updated home study to be submitted. Hopefully we will get approval shortly after this is submitted.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Saipan

Dave will be headed out to Saipan tomorrow morning. He has been tasked with a short notice TDY for 3 days. He is excited to see the WWII sites on the island (on his off time). He will have a camera and will bring back lots of photos, I'm sure. He loves his job! He is so good at what he does. When a chaplain is called out on a short notice TDY, it isn't always for the best of circumstances. He is going to officiate a graveside service. He is very good at what he does and knows how to separate his personal life from his work life. He's quite the man!

On a side note, we did contact our agency and still no word of Nathan's visa info surfacing and our agency says that getting Nathan should be another 6 months. Not what I want to hear, but God has a bigger plan than I see. I am going to trust he knows what is best for us!

Friday, October 24, 2008

New Find







I was out on a bike ride and found a new little treasure on Andersen. I had heard of this Overlook, but hadn't seen it for myself.

As I was riding yesterday, I was thinking of some random things that I am thankful for....I'll share. Padded bike shorts, downhill slopes on the way home, the sun, the clouds to bring a little shade, dead brown tree snakes, the gorgeous blue water, airplanes, the internet, unlimited calling to the US, DOD schools! There are so many more things that I am thankful for, but this is a crazy snippet of what I saw and thought!

BTW, I don't lug my camera with my on my bike rides. I drove back to clock my ride and brought the camera along then.(I would use mapmyrun.com, but remember we don't have great online maps on Guam) That is not on my list!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Roller Coaster

The adoption process is quite often called "The Roller Coaster." This doesn't even come close, those are fun. Waiting for Nathan is not. I'm not sure what I would tag adoption today. I am trying to focus on the here and now. I have a great family of two wonderful girls and a great husband. I was up at 2:30 a.m. to call our agency....this whole time zone thing stinks. I didn't get through and realized that if I did, I wouldn't be rational. I called after the girls headed off to school. They will research what has happened and didn't seem to think my e-mail from the Department of Homeland Security not having any of our information on file was alarming. It helped to talk to them, I think. I was also told that travel before the end of the year was almost impossible. I think I knew that was coming, just not something that I wanted to hear. I have to remember that God has a bigger plan than I can see and that He has this all under control. I need to release it. I'm trying. I have to remind myself of this several times a day. Holt said they would get back to me by the end of the week. That is Saturday here. Have I told you that I don't like the time zone changes?

Monday, October 20, 2008

Tough Day


I thought I would blog for Valorie today. She is having a rough day. We found out that the application for Nathan's Visa didn't get submitted as we were told. The wait is getting hard--even though we are told it hasn't been that long. We are parents ready to be with our son! It is a lot like waiting in a plane terminal when the Airlines are running 14 hours late. You know the plane is coming but your confidence in the airline is really starting to fade. In the mean time,

Life is good here. The church is taking off. We had record attendance this week. God seems to be moving mightily. If you ask me what is working--I can only say: The people are seeking God. God is faithful, and we are trying hard not to get in His way.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Science Project






Today consisted of McKenzie's Science Project. I have a feeling there will be several of these days. Dad, err Kenzie is making her own electric guitar.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Talofofo Falls

There was a torrential downpour on our drive out to the falls. You can't even see through our windshield. This was in between the swipes of the windshield wipers on high. It subsided prior to our arrival :)
There are dogs everywhere on island. The strays are called boonie dogs. This little guy followed us. Miranda and McKenzie are wanting a puppy. I am not convinced that we need one. Miranda has gone as far as writing dad a note to stop being a puppy hater! (It is actually me that is the puppy "stopper." We aren't really puppy haters.)
The animals just wander around.



The falls were extra muddy because of the previous storm.
Hiking to the cave.
This is a picture of what the cave was.
The opening to the cave.

One of the first "Must See" for us in Guam is Talofofo Falls. The falls are nice, but Yokoi's Cave is what we all wanted to see. Sergeant Yokoi was a Japanese soldier that hid in the Talofofo jungles for 28 years. His two fellow soldiers died from food poisoning. He didn't know World War II had ended. He was finally captured in 1972 by local hunters and returned to Japan where he was given his back-pay and he eventually found a wife.

Kenzie's Purse Cake


McKenzie and I have been watching Ace of Cakes quite a bit lately. She wanted to make her own purse. Pretty good, hey? Way to go McKenzie. You are a wonderful artist!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

MMMmmmm Vietnamese Food

We were graciously invited out to a new friend's house for dinner. What a delight! They are VN and wanted to share their food. We had the best Pho! Oh, the lumpia! It was all great. I am terribly stuffed. I forgot the camera, but the camera doesn't do it justice. You have to taste it. So, instead of being in VN. I enjoyed the authentic taste. We are lamenting the fact that Nathan is still in VN and his foster brother is uninting with his forever family tomorrow. We are delighted for the families in Dong Nai this week. Congratulations to all of you. Until then, I am going to enjoy the memories of our wonderful dinner :)

Monday, October 06, 2008

Vitale's

Our family's favorite restaurant is Vitale's Italian Kitchen downtown by our Home away from Home (Outrigger Resort).
I took out the camera while we were waiting for our food.




Who wouldn't love a pizza on a pedestal? It isn't just the pedestal....it is really good pizza. We can't wait for another little guy to share our pizza. We'll have to start ordering more. It was almost not enough, but a great deterrent from overeating!

Thursday, October 02, 2008

I-600 Filed!!!!!

We have been waiting on this little piece for about 5 weeks now. We have learned that our I-600 will be filed in VN today and we should receive and e-mail in about two weeks acknowledging they have received it and then the clock begins. Does the clock really mean anything?.....not in Dong Nai! It normally means 60 working days or less we would have Nathan's approval from the US to travel and then we would get People's Committee approval from VN to travel. I am still asking for clarification on what is next and what to expect. Moving forward is never a bad thing.