Merry Christmas from Guam! We've had a wonderful few days and the kids are anxiously awaiting Christmas Day. This time of year we miss friends and family back home, yet our Guam family has brought us much comfort and joy this season! It's hard to believe that we'll be heading home in under 6 months. We anticipate a move to Newport, though we won't know for sure until Tom gets orders. Say a prayer for us!
We want to share a few pictures and a video from our recent holiday activities. This year I organized the 2nd annual Holiday Blessings Outreach. For weeks we collected clothing, toys, stuffed animals (new and gently used), and wrapping supplies from members of the Oakleaf Club, neighbors and friends. On Friday many people donated their time to sort and bundle clothing, wrap gifts, and prepare for the delivery. It was a tiring but great day. Cole was a good sport through all of the preparations. On Thursday evening he helped bring presents across the street to my neighbors garage (on his Healys of course). Jack was completely confused and kept asking when he was getting his presents. When all was ready we loaded 8 cars with gifts and on Saturday afternoon we drove up north to a impoverished village and distributed the gifts. Kids were involved with all aspects of this outreach and I think that made it extra special.
From there we went with friends to Bamboo Willies, which is a restaurant on the water close to Anderson Air Force Base. The kids had a blast playing on the playground and in the sand. They got nice and dirty so luckily we had a change of clothes for everyone as we were heading next to the Christmas walk up at the Air Force Base. There is a neighborhood there that is decorated to the max for Christmas and families walk up and down the street enjoying the sites and festivities. The kids stood in a snow shower (bubbles blown from a huge fan), collected goodies, saw at least 2 santas (how confusing is that?!), and so much more. We lost Jack for about 10 minutes in the huge crowd and boy was that scary. Apparently he saw a plane down the street that was rigged up to fly across the street dropping candy (watch the video!). When we turned our heads he bee lined to the plane. He eventually realized that we weren't there and got scared and thankfully walked back up the street in our direction. When I picked him up he started sobbing and I shed a few tears of joy.
Yesterday we were invited to the church Christmas celebration at the school that the boys attend. We all had a wonderful time and I will have to post a picture of the food table to give you a sense of what "fiestas" in Guam are like. Earlier in the day Cole had some friends over, including two boys that live in a shelter up north. Sernes is 8 and attended Southern Christian Academy with Cole after his family was discovered homeless at Chammoro Village. (On a side note, Cole sang for the homeless at Chammoro village last Tuesday night, and boy was that memorable). Sernes is such a sweet boy. His family now lives in a shelter and both boys attend school. His parents are trying to break free of drugs and alcohol. When we left last night AJ (Sernes' older brother), asked if he could "come with us tomorrow". My heart broke.
Today we plan to hike with our close friends and then make Christmas cookies and get ready for Christmas. Sorry this blog was so long but I have a lot to say this year! We wish you and your family a wonderful holiday and we can't wait to see you in 2008! I will post video here, and then pictures separately in the next entry.
Here Jack is acting silly with the girls at Tirague beach. No we didn't get any snow this year!
A Christmas Feast Chamorro Style 
The other day I got an Email from our friend and old neighbor Sandy. She talked about the Red Sox and how they spend their afternoons watching it outside with their outdoor fire going. It brings me right back to fall and old times with friends. It's strange living in a place like Guam where there is no real change to mark the seasons (our seasons are typhoon, rainy, and dry and right now it's just sticky and rainy). I get homesick this time of year, especially with two new cousins Molly and Lauren that I don't get to hug. Just know that we are thinking about you all even if we don't get a chance to call you. Tom remarked yesterday that when we move stateside it'll be hard to get used to the fact that we don't have to calculate time difference. I'll just be excited that you are awake when we are! Here are a few pictures of our Orton Street friends from this summer. We're wishing we could enjoy your fires with you this year!
