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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Shrews


Tonight I hate them. I almost smashed three of them jogging/walking tonight. They like to find their homes under the sidewalks and come out at night. Since it is too hot to jog in the daylight, this makes it almost impossible to avoid these guys. Their squeeks are going to haunt me tonight. I swear they were chasing me! If I could do it without getting caught and fear messing up the whole ecological balance of the island, I would buy boxes and boxes of Decon and have myself a fine little time!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Carabou


Miranda was able to take a seat on the carabou at "Rota Walk." Rota walk is an evening of Christmas lights and festivities on Rota Drive, where the commanders live. It was a lot of fun! I didn't want to lug my camera and am sorry that I didn't. I'll share with you next year. Luckily, our friend sent this photo of Miranda.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

More of Christmas





The presents are opened and everybody is taking it easy! I will be busy getting food ready for lunch. We are having the single and deployed group over again for a non-traditional meal.

McKenzie has a new hard case for her guitars and lessons. Miranda has a Barbie house and Karate uniform and lessons. Dad has a gift certificate for scuba lessons and I have an airline ticket to Saipan. Dave is going TDY in a week or so and I am going to go with him. All Dad wanted for Christmas was to have Nathan home. So, McKenzie thought it would be fitting to make a "flat Nathan" to have him here for Christmas.


Merry Christmas from Guam. We are starting a new tradition in the Leonard household...at least while we are in Guam. We went down to the beach and made a "snowman"

You can see here that McKenzie was making it "snow" on the beach.






The waves were so high that we weren't able to swim/snorkel, so we enjoyed a little beach time and then headed back to the house to get ready for the Christmas Eve service. On the way home we saw 5 little piggies and their mom crossing the road. McKenzie asked where the daddy pig was and I told her that the daddy pig probably doesn't act like what she would think a daddy pig should act like. Miranda piped in that he was probably BACON! What a girl!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!



We are rejoicing in the birth of our Savior! Merry Christmas from the Leonards!

If you are hoping for a hard copy Christmas Card this year, it will be late! The photos that I had printed (In which I thought was plenty of shipping time) still have not arrived to Guam, let alone been sent out to you! I am learning a few things: plan ahead. If you see it and think you may want it, buy it now! There is no thinking about it and going back. When you go back, guaranteed it will be gone. I have learned this lesson with several items this year. The shelves in the commissary are getting thin. Not scary, like food shortage, but don't use recipes that need specific items...they may already be gone :)

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Coolest Job Around


Dave was lucky enough to be allowed to go on the Annual Operation Christmas Drop to the Micronesian Islands. Here he is trying on his boss's helmet, hoping to be able to be tethered and help push the boxes out, but the regulations have changed. Still an honor to be able to go on such great incentive flight.

What a bank....Anybody air sick?

I'm having trouble uploading video here, I'll try again later.

Here is a link to the official AF Christmas Drop video. Click on AF report, holiday cheer.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Positive Movement!

It isn't huge news, but any good news that the Vietnam Government has at least touched Nathan's file is good progress. We have heard that the Dong Nai officials have sent out an investigation team to verify his dossier and make sure that he really is an orphan. We are anticipating approval in the next two weeks. This is the approval that we thought we had at the end of August! After this, his file will go to the MOJ in Hanoi and then back to Dong Nai for People's Committee approval. These steps all take more time, and if everything just sails through, we may be able to travel in March. Please continue to pray for speedy approvals all the way around!

There are three other families that I am in close contact with that have been waiting much longer than we have. Please pray for Nathan, An, Hunter and Dannette that all of these children will receive miraculously speedy approval and travel home soon!

We are still waiting to hear for approval for Nathan's US Visa. At this point, I know it will come before we travel, but I want to have one more box checked off.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

More of Bryson


Here is Grandma and Kyndall and Bryson. Poor Grandma. She now has Christmas, Her anniversary, Nathan's Birthday, Miranda's Birthday, Kyndall's Birthday, and Bryson's Birthday all within 30 days of each other!!!!

Bryson Thomas Douglas




I received photos of my new nephew. Here is a blurp from my brother's e-mail.

"Hi all, after arriving in less than desirable conditions at 11 pm, Bryson took his first breath at 11:16 pm. That's 16 minutes in the hosplital for anyone who's counting. He weighed 8lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long. He was a little cool, so he got an hour under the sun lamp. He is happy and well. His eating habits resemble that of a Morisette."

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

I'm a NEW AUNTIE!!!

I was in such a shock/hurry that I didn't get the details, no weight, no nothin'. Brian said he would e-mail me a photo and info to get out to the family because I will be up for a lot longer than everybody in the states.

He called me at 1 pm and left a message to tell me that they would induce Krystal on Wednesday. I didn't think much about it and at 4 he called and said the roads were awful and that he was on his way to the hospital with Krystal because her contractions had gone from 15 min apart to 6-8 minutes apart. I thought he was being good at being cautious during bad weather. He called me again at 5:30 and I heard Bryson crying in the background! They almost didn't make it to the hospital. They live about an hour away. I'm glad they made it! I'll post more details when I know more.

Harlem Globetrotters





Last night the Harlem Globetrotters trotted through Guam. What a fun time! No photos of my girls, but a couple of Miranda's friend getting to share in the Globetrotter's antics.

Notice how tall this guy is. It looks even more profound because of the perspective, but he was TALL!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Butterflies



When we were walking back to the car after our "photo shoot" there were tons of butterflies on the bushes. It was almost overwhelming. There are LOTS of these butterflies on the island. I hear that there are seasons where there are more. It must be getting close to butterfly season.

Christmas Photos






Here is a glimpse of our Christmas photos this year. On the last one, I didn't quite make it faster than the timer. Do you realize how sharp it is to walk on coral in bare feet after you have just shaved your callouses and had a little accident while doing it? :) We did get a successful family photo, but that's for Christmas, now isn't it?

Friday, December 12, 2008

Translation!

Dave had some friends come over to translate our video of Nathan. It was a lot of fun to have somebody understand and tell us what was said. The foster mom said at the very beginning that Nathan had big feet when she couldn't get his shoes on. She also told him to smile and hold still, a lot. He is two. What two year old wants to hold still for the camera? They also showed him Dave's picture and told him it was his daddy. They said we had a beautiful home. Not much else from our video.

It was almost more fun to hear what was being said on our friend's daughter's video. She is a little older and had more interaction. What a joy to be able to share these little tidbits.

Now, we need them over to help me cook pho!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Quarterly Update

We received Nathan's update. He is healthy and has had no health problems since the last update and likes to finish all of his food and is very attached to his foster mom. Not a whole lot is new. He is still 23 lbs. I think the update takes a few weeks to get to us. I am guessing these photos were taken the same day that the video was taken. We will have friends come over on Friday to translate the video. Hopefully we can learn a little more from it.
Here is a photo of my forever family
I have some mischief bottled up inside...I can barely contain myself
I need to be with my forever mom...she will fix my shorts!

Monday, December 08, 2008

Island Hope Visitors



We had the local Foursquare pastor and leaders over for dinner along with the East Asia Missions Director. It was a wonderful time of friends!

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Succesful Birthday Party






I woke up at 5 to do Miranda's cake. After the party and hospital visitation last night, I knew I was in no condition to finish a cake. She ended up with a Po head on a platter. It was cute, but not what I had anticipated for a Kung Fu Panda cake. She didn't mind.

The water park was a blast! So much better than I had anticipated. It was mommy friendly and I didn't mind riding all of the rides, except the one you see here. It had a really large drop and I had just eaten lunch.

I am off to get ready for Christmas party number two this weekend. At least my husband isn't the general. He said he had 22 parties last year. He had three just last night. That just doesn't sound like fun at all! I'm happy with the few that we do have :)
Miranda's Cupcakes for her class.

Friday, December 05, 2008

It's All Going Down Hill.....FAST!

Po, that is. I was sewing the stocking and looked over and his head was on the FLOOR! Looks like I will be starting over tonight. The problem, there is no more black food coloring on the island of Guam and I ran out. As Dave told me, you may have to give up on being supermom this time. The kids don't know that this tragedy has occurred. I quickly cleaned up the floor and covered the cake in foil. I'll deal with this after the party. I don't have a boring life!

Did Po's Arms Fall Off?


Please tell me that at the end of Kung Fu Panda his arms fell off. They didn't???? Oh, I'm in trouble. I will be busy running to the store to get more cake supplies to fix Po. I don't have time to post photos. I'll have to do that later. For now, I am off running errands like crazy!!!!

Right before Po's arms fell off Dave called and asked if I could make a stocking like Miranda had when she came home from the hospital in. I said sure, when do you need it? I could hear the background and caught on real quick that he was already at the hospital. Sure enough. He needs it, uh, NOW! I would have said no, but he told me there were complications and this would really help them. So, I am off to the fabric store too. Did I tell you that we have two Christmas parties, one tonight, one tomorrow night, Miranda's Water Park party tomorrow, and Foursquare Leaders in town and at our house on Sunday night for dinner?.....Well, I'm not getting much sleep this weekend. Gotta go!

Monday, December 01, 2008

Happy 2nd Birthday Nathan!

We celebrated Nathan's 2nd Birthday with our neighbors last night. It was a great time. Dad bought Nathan a new basketball hoop. It is a little big, but he can grow with it. Dave is getting impatient to have his little guy home....we all are. So, I decided on a monkey cake. It was a fast put together, so it wasn't as cool as the one I saw online, but still cute. Happy Birthday Nathan!

The girls blew out a candle each for Nathan.