Air Force Ball 2009

So last night was the 62nd Air Force Ball at the Hyatt here in Guam . . . thought you would enjoy the few pictures I took . . . wishing I would've taken the time to take a couple with the beautiful scenery outside . . . the ocean, the beautiful sky . . . next year!
BB
Col. Fingal
Lt. Col. Cihak








Patti Cihak
Ronda Fingal
Kim







Kim & BB

Scenes from life on Guam

Island flowers










Brooke surfin'










Gavin crashin'











Such love, such a pose for the camera . . . I'm impressed!












The sign welcoming us home . . . for now.

Gavin & hermit crab at Ritidian Point

Swimming after the storm passed by at Ritidian Point

Driving through the jungle to get to Ritidian :-)

Nightly view . . . this was one night after leaving the commissary.

The double digits for Brooke

Hard to believe she has turned the big 10! We celebrated by having a family birthday party extravaganza: spending a day at small but fun local waterpark, dinner at Outback and the night at a hotel in Tumon Bay, and of course a little bit of time in the hotel pool the next day . . . and the famous, long awaiting "I got my own I.D."

The slide race!

Two Lovers Point at sunset

Date night - we went to a yummy new local restaurant last night and stopped at this place called Two Lover's Point on the way . . . a Romeo & Juliet legend of two lovers whose families didn't want them to be together - a Chamarro son & Spanish daughter. You can read about it at www.twoloverspoint.com/legend.htm

Gun Beach

The drive to Gun Beach definitely required 4 wheel drive . . . a very rutted out coral/paved road filled with pools of water and excitement - the kids thought they were on a roller coaster ride!

Gavin on the beach - see my pool that the tide took over!
A shot of Tumon Bay

World War II gun (look towards back of picture in center)
sorry I forgot to crop the photo first

Exporing in the water

Amazing beauty . . . I'm speechless!

Disneyland 2009

We wanted to take the kids to one last time to Disneyland before moving to Guam and here we are. Our stuff was all packed up, and we had a week that we could go . . . and God was so gracious to provide beautiful weather - we were blessed!

Day One with the fam at Disney - Kayle & Josh were already off riding the rides - they caught the first bus over - impressive what teenagers can do when they're motivated :-)
Goofy One and Goofy Two or should I say Goofy Two and Goofy Three because Kayle will always be Goofy Number One!

Kayle and Khela (Josh Khela, that is) We were able to catch up with them now and then (usually because they were wanting food)

Walking Main Street with Daddy!

Getting the morning Starbucks before catching the bus to Disney . . .

Gavin & Brooke ready for the pool and loving their little suite - so were we! We used Priceline and got the Hyatt near Disney (it was gorgeous) complete with shuttle, pool and Starbucks! Their suites were 1/2 that week - how perfect - how like God to pour out His blessings!

It's turquoise day with Sully!

The sun peeked out for a few hours one afternoon, so we got soaked on the Grizzly River Run!

Oh yeah! Getting ready to ride Toy Story Mania - that was a hit (and the longest line the whole time we were there but so worth it!) Mr. Potato Head talked to Brooke as she was standing in line - hillarious!
Look at that cute couple :-) They survived Disneyland for 3 days!

Destination: Hawaii . . . en route to Guam

So here's the story on this for those of you who don't know it. It's a really loooong plane ride to Guam - 5 plus hours to Honolulu and 8 more to Guam. God totally had the details on this because Brandon needed to meet with some people in Hawaii at the base there and we knew we needed to break up the trip for the kids (that sounds better than saying for us :-) so we were able to spend 4 nights at the beautiful Hale Koa (military hotel) right in between all these nice hotels on Waikiki Beach. It helped adjust to the time change too, as Hawaii is 3 hrs. earlier than CA and then Guam is another 4 hrs. earlier than that (and it's already the next day). Kayle was still back in the states, at Boy's State for the week and then another week with friends and getting his cast and pins removed from a boxer fracture he got the day the packers came - but that's another story!

Just made it to LA - first flight done (the shortest one) and it's only 7:30 a.m. Time for Starbuck's :-)

Happy Father's Day Dad - at Cheeseburger in Paradise

Daddy & Brooke at the luau

Here's Gavin working on the poi balls - thanks for practice Mrs. Crawford!Brooke and Gavin making sandcastles on Waikiki Beach

Gavin found some yummy pizza!
After lunch at a quaint little beachside spot at Hickam AFB; watching the waves and the airplanes landing nearby.
Mommy & G at the luau A RAINBOW - God's promise of His faithfulness.
Brooke, Daddy & G walking the beach at sunset.