Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful time last night ringing in the new year.  We spent the last seconds of 2011 and the first seconds of 2012 on the beach in Guam with our friends - it was the perfect ending to our time here.

Christmas in California

Drew & I got back last night from a wonderful visit to California.  We were able to spend five days with his family up in Piedmont and five days with my family down in Pasadena.  It was a lot of traveling, but definitely worth the trip!

We were spoiled by Drew's family & friends in Piedmont.  We went to a fabulous brunch, saw the Cirque du Soleil show Totem, played lots of games, went to church, and celebrated our anniversary, Sue's birthday and  an early Christmas on the 20th.  It was great to all be together and catch up.  We're happy that we get to see them again soon!

Enjoying Christmas in San Francisco

The Coffin family Christmas tree

The Coffin Family (complete with Pele, the cat)

After our trip up north, we flew down to Pasadena to spend time with my family.  Jake was able to come out to CA a bit earlier than Angela, so we were able to hang out with him & my dad a lot.  We ate at all our favorite spots that we can't get out here on Guam, including In-n-Out & Chipotle!  So tasty! We also got to quickly see some of our wonderful friends in the area & that was such a fun treat.  Drew's best friend, Adam, recently got engaged & we got to hang out with him and see the gorgeous ring he got for his gorgeous fiancee, Annie.  They are such a cute couple!  It also worked out perfectly that we were able to get the whole Charles clan together in Bakersfield for our annual Charles Family Christmas.  We are so blessed to have such an amazing family and it was fantastic to spend Christmas Eve day with them.  We miss them all so much already!!

Visiting Beulah Mae, aka Grandma

Jake & Kobe, the Christmas elf

The Charles family Christmas tree

Twinsies

We had a long, but uneventful trip back to Guam...that is until we arrived.  Drew's bag arrived without any problems, but my bag has gone missing.  They promise me that it's on the next flight in from Hawaii tonight, but I'm not holding my breath.  Thankfully I left a lot of stuff at my dad's house since I'll be returning there shortly.  Hopefully it arrives safe & sound, though!

We hope that you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did as we took the time to remember the miraculous gift of Jesus and all the blessings he has given us.  We are so grateful to be so loved!

A Christmas Miracle

The other night Drew & I experienced a true Christmas miracle.  We were on our way to our friends' house for dinner in Agat and we got lost.  We ended up driving up this pretty steep hill that dead-ended in a cul-de-sac.  Drew was driving and as he was about to make the u-turn so we could get back on track he said he saw a deer.  I didn't see the deer from my side and figured that it was one of the tiny deer we've heard are on Guam but have never actually seen, and I assumed that it had scurried off when our car drove by.  I was a bit disappointed.  But, as Drew completed the u-turn, I saw a huge deer sitting (not in a dead or hurt way at all) alert in the grassy field by the side of the road.  And this wasn't just any deer, I promise you, it was a reindeer!  It was a massive deer and it had massive antlers, just like any normal reindeer has.  It turned it's head to look at us, but didn't seem to be too bothered. It was so amazing!  As we drove away stunned I told Drew that we'd just seen a Christmas miracle - a reindeer in Guam!

And it doesn't end there...we finally called our friends to try to find their house and we were almost there when a cat ran out in front of our car.  Drew braked for him, but instead of running across the street the cat stopped right in the middle of the road and started doing jumps & flips right in front of our car.  That cat was full of tricks.  Once he'd showed off enough he ran back the way he came.  I'm not sure what he was doing, but it was another spectacular sighting!  We really need to go to Agat more often.

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time

Last night Drew & I had an early Christmas party with all of our friends here on Guam.  It was an ugly Christmas sweater party or really anything ugly & semi-Christmasy party because sweaters are pretty hard to find here on island.  All of our friends did a FANTASTIC job on their outfits and we had such a wonderful time.  We also had a white elephant alcohol gift exchange, which was really fun.  Check out some of these amazing outfits.

Mary & Jeremy

Jen & Martha

James & Siiri

They both got their fur vests at Ross & did not plan it!
Shopportunities for sure!!

Oh Snap!

On Friday night a few of us had gone to see the Harlem Globetrotters.  They came to play a game on base for all the sailors & their families.  It was very entertaining and a few of the crowd members were chosen to play a game where they made a human square, for lack of a better way to explain it.  But since we had just seen this the night before we decided to try it out at our Christmas party.  It made for a great party trick and some amazing pictures.

Going strong

And then Jake decided to stand on them...

Since I forgot to take any pictures of all the food Drew & I made, I decided to just list the menu instead.  :)  We were a really great team in our food prep & everything turned out spectacular.

• Dill dip with veggies
• Fig & olive tapenade with sliced French bread
• Cheese, salami & cracker platter
• Chex Mix (made by Drew)
• Spinach-artichoke party cups
• Stuffed mushrooms
• Chocolate candy cane cookies
• Peanut butter Hersey kiss cookies
• Gingery gingersnaps
• Egg nog
• Mulled wine

We had so much fun at our Christmas party and are so thankful for all the great friends we have on Guam.  We'll miss them all a lot.  We're glad that we got to celebrate Christmas with them & that we get to come home to celebrate with friends and family in the states too!  

Let the holidays begin

Christmas has officially arrived at our apartment in Guam.  We just went with a tiny, fake tree this year since we'll be coming back to California.  But we still think he's pretty cute.

The Dad Has Left The Island

After eating to our hearts' content on Thanksgiving, we had some serious hiking to do to work off our food.  We hiked to some cool waterfalls, some historic sites and a series of cascading pools.  We also did some more sightseeing, eating and lots of playing games.  I think we must have played at least 20 games of Scrabble!

We went to see the Muppets, too.  And it was really funny!  It was such a nice thing to do on our vacation together.  We all really enjoyed it.  I think that Dad & Fred had a really fun time exploring Guam.  We had such a great time having them in our home & showing them around this tropical island.  As Dad was leaving, he said that he really did think this was paradise.

Setting off on a hike

Waterfall valley

Asan Beach Ridge

Piti Guns

Carabao

Priest's Pools

Two Lover's Point 

Christmas is going to be here soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday in Guam with Dad & Fred.  Drew & I are so thankful that they could come all the way out here to be with us.  And we are so thankful for all of you that are far away.  Even though we miss you lots!  We hope that you are having a blessed Thanksgiving with your families & friends.  We all have so much to be thankful for.

Yesterday I spent the majority of the morning cooking the pies, the turkeys and all the side dishes.  I made a Ginger Pumpkin Pie and Bourbon Pecan Pie from Cooking Light magazine.  They turned out okay, but I overdid the crusts a bit.

And while I was busy slaving away in the kitchen, I walked out to find Dad and Fred sleeping on the couch...

I guess they were busy working up an appetite.  :)  Drew made the tasty cranberry sauce and was so helpful getting everything ready, and he was especially helpful with the clean up.  I have such a great husband!  And I am very thankful for him.  

The feast

The Dad Has Landed

As some of you know, my dad made the long trek out to Guam to visit us for Thanksgiving.  He came with his friend, Fred.  They arrived in Guam late last Friday and we have had a great time hanging out so far.  I am planning a big Thanksgiving meal for all of us tomorrow.  It is so nice to have family and friends to spend the holiday with.  They are staying until next Monday, so we will still have lots of time to play games & hike off our turkey even after the big day of thanksgiving!

So far we have toured the Navy base, visited a few historic WWII sites, gone to a few museums and hiked to some beautiful beaches.  It is so fun having them out here & getting to show my dad around the island.  I'm so happy that he was able to make the trip all the way out here to visit us.

Lunch at Clipper Landing on base

Ga'an Point at Agat Beach

Beautiful Ritidian Beach

Dad relaxing in the water at Haputo Beach

 

War in the Pacific Museum