A new perspective

We've eaten a lot of ice cream lately! We've visited our favorite ice cream spots and discovered some new ones. Here are the kids at the playground/beach near my sister Annie's house. One night in a moment of weakness I bought 3 big tubs of Edys brand, and it lasted just a few short days.

We have been to the Ecotarium 5 times already and the train never gets old. The kids love going through the short tunnel and screaming as loudly as they can. My sister Kara and her kids Mae and Kaden joined us on this ride (and a little girl whose mom runs the snack bar there). Unfortunatly we learned yesterday that Kenda, the polar bear that Haven adores, passed away. Haven tells Tom daily that she is going to take him to the "tarium" when he comes home. We'll break the news to her then.

Here is Cole and Paige acting goofy on during our boat ride in Marion. The kids pulled lobster traps, fished, and enjoyed going fast.

We finally went strawberry picking. Haven got right down to business and actually managed to fill her carton with ripe red ones. Cole filled his carton and Jack spent the entire time on the large dirt pile in front of the strawberry patch.

I had never been ice skating in the summer time. It just always felt like a winter thing to do. We enjoyed skating with our Orton Street friends Alyssia, Mia and Sophia at a rink close to our old house in Worcester. Cole was all about speed. I made it around the rink once with Jack before he called it quits.

The spring flowers have been especially beautiful this year. I don't think I ever truly appreciated them until we moved to Guam. Living in Guam made us think often about the things that make living in New England special. As we prepared to return home my list of "I can't wait to ... " grew by the minute. Over the last few weeks we've been doing those things we missed so much (berry picking, boating, smelling the rain, playing on the sand at the Cape, visiting with cousins and friends, etc. etc.) and it has meant so much. I love to watch the kids rediscover the little things - like standing at the window watching the lightning (we had lots of rain but no thunder and lightning in Guam) and riding in the car with their heads out the window feeling the breeze (in Guam we never opened windows). Here are a few pictures of us enjoying those things we missed.

Waiting

I apologize for the long delay in updating our blog. It's been quite a month. We arrived in Massachusetts on May 9th, traveled to upstate NY for a week to visit with Tom's family, and then returned to Massachusetts on May 15th (Tom's birthday). On the 16th Tom returned to Guam. Though it has been so nice to be reunited with family and friends, I was unprepared for the difficulty that our children, and especially Cole, would have with this move. I won't even try to put it all into words because I simply don't have the words at this point. I am just so thankful for the love and support we've received. This last week has been a week of answered prayer and we are all doing well and eagerly awaiting Tom's return on June 23rd. Then, on July 1st we move into our new rental home in Portsmouth RI. We're looking forward to time with Tom, time in our new home, and time at the Cape, in NY, and in Maine this summer. To all my friends in Guam - I miss you!!! Though I haven't had much time to call or write please know you are in my thoughts often. Here is a picture of the house we will be living in, a picture of my dad's new boat that he has named "Joy" and a few pictures from Davis' farmland (one of our favorite places to visit). In my next entry I'll post pictures of our family. It's going to take a while to sort through them all!