Bowling

Yes, we are all still alive! We've just been busy enjoying our little baby and when he is sleeping, we are either giving Rian tons of attention or spending time together just Matt and me.....oh yeah, or sleeping too!!

But everyone has been begging me to update the blog. I'll start with our fun night out last night. And go backwards from there. Matt is the Scout Master and 1st Counselor in Young Mens at our Church. For the mutual activity this week, they planned a bowling night. Matt invited us to go with! Rian was so excited, if you can't tell from the picture! And Miles was such a good boy!

I loved watching Matt and Rian bowl together! It warmed my heart!

She is my little model! I love her!

Yep, they got a STRIKE!!!

Miles did wake up, but was content in his carseat. Matt scored a 194. Not an all time high, but pretty impressive none-the-less! I think bowling might be our new popular FHE!

Biba Guam!

July 21st is Liberation Day and it is probably the most widely celebrated holiday on Guam. Here is a little background info: Japanese forces landed on the Micronesian island just days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, occupying it until U.S. troops recaptured it in July of 1944. July 21 — Guam's official Liberation Day holiday — marks the day American troops began the battle that proved a major turning point for the war in the Pacific. Guam celebrates this holiday to honor those who fought for the liberation of this westernmost U.S. Territory.

We decided to take part in all the festivities, especially since Matt was given the day off of work (it was a Tuesday)!! We headed down to the 1 (one of the main roads) to watch the parade. Although it was incredibly hot, we managed to stay for 2 hours of the 4 hour parade. Here are a few pictures!

Locals made many floats to honor Liberation Day. Check out their outfits...awesome, huh?! Of course, we had to get a picture of the carabao too! Rian just loves carabaos :) I also took a great picture of the F-22's (Air Force) flying overhead!


The military took a HUGE part in the parade and I just loved that! The Marines even flew in from Japan to participate! We also have to give a shout out to the Seabees! NMCB 40, a Seabee Battalion, participated in parade too (they are the ones with the hard hats)!


Matt took this picture of a Military Helicopter flying directly under the sun. Here are more pictures of all the Military that took part in the parade. Check out their fire power!

Some of the floats were so cool! Here is another local in a little loincloth :) Rian loved when the cheerleaders went by too....she is such a mini me!

After we couldn't stand the heat anymore, we had a little lunch and then headed to the beach to cool down! It was a really fun family day! Long Live Guam!!!

Grillin' & Chillin'

We actually bought this grill the day after Thanksgiving, but haven't used it until now (because we didn't want it sitting out on the lanai for the five months we were away). We were so excited to use it for the first time! We love to grill and we expect to spend a lot of time out on our new lanai grillin' and chillin' (yes, we moved to a bigger place with a bigger lanai in the same building)!!!

Trip to Utah

While we were in the states, we wanted to take the opportunity to see Matt's family and our friends up in Utah. We had such an awesome time! We started off the trip with a trip up to good 'ole Logan to visit our very good friends The Rubens! I totally felt like we were home the minute we drove up the canyon. Logan will always hold a special place in our hearts! When we lived there we would meet up with Matt's cousins at Firehouse Pizzeria every once in a while, so of course we had to do that the first night we were there. We also walked around campus for a bit and took some pics. We enjoyed some Aggie Blue Mint....a must! And of course had a blast spending time with Eric and Andrea and their adorable new baby, Maci! We love you guys and we had so much fun hanging out! Thanks for letting us crash at your place!
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We left Logan and drove straight to The Carrolls! I still remember the first time we met April and Markham. It was our first Sunday at church and the ward was having Linger Longer. We sat at the same table as them and when we mentioned that we were from San Diego, Markham spoke up that he was too. We instantly connected with them, especially once Matt learned that Markham played ice hockey too! April quickly became my hockey watching buddy and we went through our first pregnancies together! Now we are both pregnant again :) We even brought our new babies to USU Hockey Games together....remember that?! We love the Carrolls and are so happy that we had the chance to hang out with them again!

Rian and Kaity had so much fun playing together! It was so cute to watch them interact!

We also spend some time with Matt's Grandparents. Grandma enjoyed reading to Rian and even gave us some Dr Suess books to take back to Guam. Rian absolutely loves Dr Suess, so they were the perfect gift! We are so happy that we were able to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa before we left the country for 3 years. It was so nice living so close to them (actually all of Matt's extended family) while we were up in Utah. I loved spending holidays and Sundays with them and getting to know them better! I've really grown fond of all of them.

Matt's Aunt Patty and Uncle Jeff graciously offered their home to us for the remainder of the week. Rian loves her best friend, Aunt Patty! Whenever you are around Aunt Patty, you are bound to have a great time! Rian helped her plant her spring flower pots. Patty asked Rian to make a hole in the soil for the flowers and Rian would poke her pointer finger in the dirt.....it was too funny! But hey, at least she tried! They also baked some cookies together! Aunt Patty even let Rian crack her very first egg....video below! We love you guys! Thanks for the wonderful hospitality! We really enjoyed ourselves :)

I feel the need to explain this picture of myself. Matt took it and said "Of course, this is how Tracy gardens. No matter what she is doing, she always has a hand on the phone"! My sister called while I was breaking up the soil for Aunt Patty. She had some news and I really hadn't had the chance to talk to her all week. But anyone who knows me, will get a kick out of this picture....because it is Typical Tracy:)

Here is a video of Rian cracking her first egg. Aunt Patty was very brave to let a 2 year old crack it. Now every time we use eggs, she asks if she can break them! Enjoy!

CECOS Graduation

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Congratulations to Matt for graduating in CECOS Class 243! We are so proud of you! And thank you for all you do for Rian and me! We had a fun 12 weeks with this group and have made friends to last a lifetime. Don't the guys look SO GOOD in there service blues?? I think this is one of my favorite uniforms, besides the cami's of course ;) Way to go, Matt!!!!

I Love My Seabee

I absolutely LOVE this uniform!! Matt was issued it earlier this week and it has been the uniform of the day since. Don't you just love it too???

When I was taking his picture this afternoon, Rian asked to be in the picture too. I swear we did not pose her! She wanted to stand there just like Daddy :)

Rian's Workouts

Thanks to our new Wii Fit and my new Jillian video (thanks Kim for that suggestion!), Rian has been really taking an interest to working out too. Here she is doing push-ups with Daddy.....and just fyi, no, this is not his usual form :)

Now she is doing sit-ups!

I actually meant to upload a different video, but I accidentally uploaded this one and so I decided to post it anyways!

'Tis the Season

Matt and I returned to the Hilton Resort this time with Rian to enjoy some of the Christmas decorations.

She absolutely LOVED the trains! I imagined my Dad and her sitting there for hours just enjoying it together. Maybe one day he'll be visiting during Christmas and they will be able to do that!

Sorry about the face Rian is making in these pictures. Lately she does not want to smile for the camera. I swear she really had a good time, eventhough her face tells another story :)

beach day

We tried out a new beach on Saturday. Even though the water was a little rough, Matt and Rian still had a great time building sandcastles and searching for shells, while I relaxed and read Twilight :) Matt and Rian found some amazing shells. We started a collection and I'll post pics when we get some more.

We thought Rian looked so cute in her little baseball hat, so I went a little picture happy. I think I may have found our spot next year's xmas cards. This place was beautiful!

Tumon Beach

We ventured out on Saturday and explored some of the island. Mainly in the area of Tumon, the more touristy part of Guam. It was so pretty. I could just sit and stare out into the water forever. The pictures hardly do it justice. There are so many shades of beautiful greens and blues, it's just amazing.

Remember you can click on the collages to make them bigger!

The beach has a long strip of sand that we walked up and down. We collected sea shells, and watched some hermit crabs. I was completely fascinated by all the rocks covered in this green mossy stuff. We had an awesome time besides of the 90 degree plus high humidity weather. What were we thinking not wearing our bathing suits???

Two Lovers Point

After a nice ride in our air conditioned car, we enjoyed the beautiful views from Two Lovers Point. It's a lookout located high on the cliffs above the water. Legend has it that two forbidden lovers jumped off the cliff to proclaim their love for each other many moons ago.

We went too late in the day though. The sun was reflecting off the water, so you can't really see the true beauty of the water...at least in the first collage. It was still an amazing view, just next time we'll go in the am.

Two Lovers Point at Sunset

We came back to Two Lovers Point to watch the sunset. I took some pictures while Rian made some friends.....but I'll post about that another time :)

It was kind of hazy that night and there was a marine layer. It wasn't the best night for a sunset, but it was still pretty. After the sunset, we went out for a nice, yet expensive dinner. You know when the kids meal alone is $9 you're in trouble, but we still had a great time and Rian got a balloon out of it!

trick-or-treating

While you all were sound asleep in the states the night before Halloween....we were already enjoying ours! Our complex held a costume contest for the kiddos. Rian did not place, but we all know that she should have :)
After the contest, the kids paraded around the lobby area (Rian's favorite part...she loves to march thanks to my mom!) and then we went trick-or-treating.

Here is Ri showing off her glowing bracelet.

And here are the 1st and 2nd place winners. Everyone totally thought this little pilot should have won 1st, he was adorable. But tinkerbell won instead.

Rian and Daddy showing off all the candy. Way too much for a 2 year old.

And the family pic. But of course all Rian wanted to look at was her candy and not the camera....oh well.