Sticker Madness

Sometimes the kids want to wear their stickers in...uh...different ways. A lot of the kids had them either in their hair or on their foreheads after Sunday School today. William ended up wearing a fish sticker on his forehead and posed with it and his fruit snack.


Surely you didn't think Dustin would miss out on a photo op! He was trying to show off his coloring page but his choice of sticker placement was more interesting.

Last night after Youth Fellowship Naiomi, Lina and Lani made sandwiches for today's after-service fellowship. Looks like Lena got a head start on munching!

Joel and Joey provided special music today. We forgot to put Joel's keyboard on a table or stand so he just played it on the floor, which is the way he usually practices. These guys are really good Musicians!

Tuckered Out

I know what you're thinking...but you're wrong. Although this would be a common reaction to one of my sermons, it's only Saturday night and Justin was just all tuckered out.

Five kids (the 3 Amigos and our 2 Chimichangas) spend Saturday nights with us and have a youth fellowship, after which they help us prepare for Sunday services. They work pretty hard.

Justin zonked out as soon as he walked in tonight and missed everything. He couldn't even be convinced to wake up and have pizza or ice cream.

Must be nice to be so young and able to sleep in contorted positions like that!

Birthiversary

Today was our Birthiversary....or Annibirthary, if you prefer. Annie and I married on her Birthday, you see.

Annie's family gets together every Sunday at Nang's and as many other times during the week as anyone can dream up a reason for. Birthdays and important dates are a big deal to everyone and they celebrate in a big way. Today, the family surprised us with two celebrations and we're really flattered and grateful.

Two of Annie's sisters came to Church and brought a Birthiversary cake and a big meal for the congregation. An hour later, we were at Nang's cutting another cake and having another Birthiversary celebration. The little kids were keen on scarfing cake!

There were THREE Birthiversary cakes and two dinners...and there will be another celebration tomorrow night at a friend's house. Did I mention that people on Saipan like to celebrate?

Terry and Alex presented us with a wonderful scale model of the Victory. We're giving it a prominent place in our living room. Thanks, Alex and Terry!

Preparing For Church

Saturday is a busy day at our house. It's our final push day to get ready for Church and lots of people get involved. After preparing all the craft supplies and tidying up the classroom, Naiomi, Kayla and Marica are squeezing tangerines to make tanger-ade for our Sunday School kids.

A Day At The Water Park

Our Granddaughters and some of our Nephews recently went to the Pacific Island Club, one of the really nice resort hotels we have in Saipan. The P.I.C. has a beautiful water park that you must see if you ever visit Saipan. The Chimichangas really enjoyed the waterfall.

Dustin and William - the happiest baby on earth - drying out. I suspect that William was lured out of the water by the snacks. He loves to eat!

Somebody must have slipped the Chimichangas a sedative, in order to slow them down long enough for a not-yet-in-the-water photo. They go ballistic when they get to go swimming.

3 Amigos

Christine and Escalo posed for Escalo's Uncle, who is on active duty across the pond and has not yet seen him.

The Three Amigos (Joel, Justin and Joseph) are going to be providing music for us in the future. One plays the violin, another the keyboard and the third plays drums.

The Three Amigos also helped out with the Cradle Roll kids. Dustin (in the red shorts) is too old to be in Cradle Roll but is too much of a ham to miss a photo op.

Third Meeting

Daisy and I practiced waving. Not sure what happened to my ring finger. Musta been an attack of old age. Looks like I need more practice.

After Sunday School, Annie's kids came out and seranaded the adults and older kids with the song they had learned - "Jesus Loves Me". Then they showed off the pages they colored.

Lica (pronouced "Leeka") responded enthusiastically to my sermon.

Hazard Mitigation

We have a small construction project.

Today was the day the concrete footers were poured.

Looks like a lotta high tech equipment has come into vogue since I spent a Summer as a Construction Laborer, long before dinosaurs became extinct.






Due to all the typhoons and earthquakes we get here, 100% concrete construction (including roofs) is a must.

After the blocks are laid, each hole will be filled with concrete. The result is a really strong structure that stands up better to typhoons and high winds.

We had ELEVEN typhoons in the region last year. We were lucky, in that only two of them struck Saipan.

Walmart Makes Her Belly Belly Happy!

Being new to Saipan and unable to find just the right thing for my Wife's Christmas gift, I tried Walmart online.

They got it here as quickly as they would have in the mainland and we were very satisfied with the order.

I had thrown her off track with an "it doesn't use gasoline as a fuel" line.






Surprise! It doesn't use batteries!

'Risa's Art Work

Our Niece 'Risa in Kentucky sent us some of her special art work.

Can you guess what it is?

It's an ELEPHANT, of course!













'Risa also picked out a new Kia van for her family the other day.

She chose a gold color and is thinking of allowing her Dad to drive it to work sometimes.

Yet More New Year Stuff

Loli was happy to be home on semester break.

She wants double peace.












We discovered Liberty (far left) standing in front of the Band area, crying.

Couldn't get her to stop until we took a picture.









Then, she wanted to be in EVERY photo and followed us around, getting into all the shots.

We figured that maybe she wanted one with just her in it and that proved correct.

Here, she's bustin' a modeling move.

Annie used to be a professional model and all the little girls in the family try to mimic her photos. However; we aren't sure where this pose originated. Several of the kids do it when their picture is taken. We know they're "modeling" when they cock their head to the side. Maybe it's a Bratz thing..they're all obssessed with Bratz. Cute!

More New Year Photos

For some reason, I didn't get many food photos.

This is tuna sashimi. The stuff on the left is a bowl of soy sauce and some sliced limes.

They squeeze the lime juice into the soy sauce and dip the sashimi in it.

I can't eat sashimi and will never know how it tastes. It's a textural thang...too squishy!





William - the happiest baby on earth - and Nadia.

William felt compelled to show the world that he was eating candy (or something red).










Nang and Marica struck a pose.











Some of the teenie boppers played Mexican Train.

This is a very popular game in our family and someone gave Annie a talking version of it for Christmas.

Big hit!

New Year Plant Decorations

I had never seen this fruit. It's called Pahung ("pah hoong") and each of the knobby-looking things on it bears a nut on the inside.

This one isn't yet ripe. When they ripen, they turn darker and fall off the tree, whereupon they are cut open with a machete and the nuts are taken.

The Pahung isn't seen much these days. Fortunately, several trees are still growing on the family farm.

The plant decorations were really nice.

Adorning this canopy were tangerines, pahung and baby coconuts.

The green thingies with sprigs are a cluster of baby coconuts.

The food tables were decorated with bannana leaves.

I thought they were especially spiffy.

Greeting 2006

The New Year is the most important holiday to Annie's family. The have a big 3-day celebration that goes on round the clock.

Annie paused in her food coordination duties long enough to pose for a quick photo with Nang (Chamorro for Mother).

A tremendous amount of cooking and food preparation is required and it takes a lot of supplies. A lot of work goes into it.

My eldest Granddaughter Naiomi took this shot of Finica and Rose Annie, two of the ziggity zillion cute kids in our family.