More pics from Dan's Visit

Visit from Family

Last month, Ron's dad came to visit us here on the beautiful island of Guam. We spent two wonderful weeks with Dan, and took him to the neighboring island of Saipan as well. There was plenty to see and do both here and Saipan. We saw plenty of WWII wreckage, sites, and leftovers. Plenty of golf for the boys, time to catch up with grandbaby Stella, an evening of navy tradition with a Dining out for our squadron, and some island-style sight-seeing! Here are the pictures!

Meeting the Toothfairy tonight!!

Today, Stella finally lost her first tooth. She is completely excited and can't wait to put her tooth under her pillow. She has grown so much this past year. First is was 3 solid inches in 10 months while we lived in Japan, and now she is into another growth spurt and has grown an inch in 1 month. Crazy! She is playing soccer with a local team here on Guam and loving it. School is going well for her and she's excited to start the 1st grade this coming fall! So enjoy the pictures, and hopefully, I'll be posting a bit more often.

SAIPAN TAGAMAN 2011 TRIATHLON

Well, I may have lost my mind. Last night, with an ever-so-slight nudge from the hubby, I managed to signed up for the Tagaman Tri in Saipan this coming March. This on will be a little longer than the one Ron did last month. The race is a 2k swim, 60k bike, and 15k run. For those of us not familiar with the metric system, that equates to a 1.25 mile swim, 37.2 mile bike, and 9.3 mile run. I am looking forward to this challenge. Last year in April, we took a vacation to Saipan. It just so happened they were hosting a Tagaman race. Ever since then I knew I wanted to participate in one. So this is an exciting experience. The race course is no easy feat. The bike course takes us up to the Bonzai and Suicide Cliffs, which is a WWII historical site where the last of the Japanese Garrison committed suicide at the end of the Battle of Saipan. I am going to include both pictures we took from that vacation of part of the race course I'm looking forward to, as well as pictures from Ron's triathlon last month. He said is was some of the best fun he had ever had. I look forward to sharing in that experience as well as going back to Saipan, it was beautiful the first time around. And with it only being a 45 minutes hopper flight from Guam, I won't have to worry about jet lag prior to the race...And just putting this out there, anyone looking for a vacation to the Pacific islands, I wouldn't mind a couple cheer-leaders either. I'm just sayin'...  :)  Click here for Saipan Tri link

Just another day at the Races...(and other highlights...)

Nearly a year after my last post, I've remembered to come back and update. What's happened so far? Plenty and beyond.

This past Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010, Ron completed his first triathlon. Stella and I are so proud of him. This was an Olympic distance; 1 mile open water swim, 25 miles bike, and 10k run. Ron's unofficial time was 2:44. It was a blast to watch all the competitors, not a dull day at all. Unfortunately no pictures were taken. The race started at 6:30 in the morning, and I had a 5 year old to lug around along with snacks, pillows and blankets all through the transition areas. But at least I know now, that for future races, it won't be difficult to do.

We are now in Coronado, CA. But this is only temporary. In late April, Stelly and I moved to Guam to set up house, while Ron had to move to CA without us for 6 months. Instead, we decided that once I got the house stuff settled, I would come to CA and stay during Ron's training. In Nov. we'll finally be back in Guam for a while. We are all looking forward to that. The weather in Guam is perfect; hot, sunny, and NEVER COLD ALL YEAR ROUND! That's the best part.

Recently, I found out that I made the Dean's List during my first year of college. I am rejuvenated with this news. School can really burn a person out, especially when you're keeping a 4.0 average. I am half way done with my first degree in Political Science. And speaking of school, Stella is now in K-1 at Village Elementary School here in Coronado. She loves school, and is in an accelerated program. Her teacher is very tech-savvy and implements great teaching tools from electronic sources into the curriculum. It's a very active learning environment.

That's all for now. As I get a little more set up on this new computer, I'll post pictures, and collect more blogging items. Take care all! In the mean time, enjoy the pictures of Guam from this past May!

Catching up...

Well, it's been a long month. It's that time of year where the holiday spirit kicks in, missing family members finally come back home, and I turn another year older.

Stella and I are super excited for Ron's return home. Not much longer now. We've done some special things for him and we hope he loves his welcome home. (can't give the details, since he reads the blog on the ship) He's had an incredible cruise, stopping in many unique places, like Singapore, S. Korea, Hong Kong, and Australia. We look forward to having him home again just in time for a turkey dinner. It will be nice to know that for at least a year, he won't have to go anywhere again without us. After that, it's back the Navy's schedule. But we won't think about that right now. Ron has hardly been home 5 months in the last 12. It's been rough on Stella. But as she gets older, it gets a little easier since she can use her words more and more.

I celebrated my birthday a week early with some friends in Tokyo. It was a neat experience. Tokyo is an incredible place, so many international people and fast forward. I suppose you could say it's like LA and New York City combined. It was a great time with some great ladies! Unfortunately, I got some bad news from the doctor about my knee. I'll have to give running a rest for the next 3-5 weeks. (one week already down) I have some micro-tears in my LCL. It was a somewhat devastating blow. I was ready to sign up for a half-marathon in Saipan for March, but that may have to get put off until another year. I'm disappointed, but promise to come back with a vengeance.

Anyway, our thoughts are with all our family and friends. Please keep my grandfather in your thoughts. He has been more like a father all these years, and he's having difficult times now.

Until next post...

Pumpkin carving!

Stella's first pumpkin carving. She named him Jack! sorry the video is sideways, silly digital cameras...It showed her right side up when I was recording. LOL.

Tokyo Run for the Cure

Yesterday I had the privilege of participating in the Run for the Cure 10k in Tokyo. As many of you know, I've been an avid runner and training for triathlons. So I signed up to do this run with a friend. We got to run around the perimeter of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Originally, I was only going to do the 5k run because when I actually registered for the run, I was only running 3-4 miles a day. By the time the race came up, I was easily running 6-8 miles at a time. Since I was the only one in my group running the 5k, they convinced me to just go ahead and run the 10k, as the organization wasn't that great and there was no way to tell who was signed up for the 10k event. Race time came and I ran 6.2 miles in 58 minutes! It was a great event and experience. Here are the pictures.

More Navy Ball and the after party

Navy Ball 2009

the pics aren't that great, but our professionals pics will be posted soon. The picture with Ron and the other guy is the George Washington's Commanding Officer. These two were the only ones with "party shirts." At the bottom is Ron being dead serious, and tied the chair decoration around his head to be a ninja! This was obviously after a few good drinks! So much fun. More to come!