Saturday, June 21, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Guam: Graduation!
Last night was the big graduation and we just all had a blast--and yes, tears were shed. We'll leave it at that. The ceremony took place at the base movie theater, complete with an open concession stand (we skipped the popcorn tho...):
Here's Katie walking in with the processional:
As you can imagine, John spent most of the evening in this position (we've got the whole thing recorded, of course):
Naturally, the pictures and video for the rest of the evening all have Katie's big smile--for some reason she just couldn't stop smiling!
Here's Katie walking in with the processional:As you can imagine, John spent most of the evening in this position (we've got the whole thing recorded, of course):
Here is the actual, official receiving of the diploma:
Naturally, the pictures and video for the rest of the evening all have Katie's big smile--for some reason she just couldn't stop smiling!
The official moving of the tassle from one side to the other:
A very special part of the evening was a surprise to me, the graduates presented each mom with a rose in a tribute to the parents. Katie's moments with John were especially touching for us all!
Naturally, the big conclusion was the traditional tossing of the caps:
And of course, the family pictures to finish things up:
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Guam: Baccalaureate
Yesterday we got to start the graduation fun with a short Baccalaureate service at the base chapel near Katie's high school. It was a nice ceremony, I enjoyed the speaker and they had a candle lighting ceremony for the seniors. I didn't get great pics, but here are a few:
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Guam: Underwater World
Today was a lot of fun. We started out early since we crashed about 8pm last night: we woke up by 5am. Nice to see the sunrise and all, but we'd like to see more of the evening! Anyway, we got up early and enjoyed the breakfast buffet downstairs. It's a fancy one (at least it costs fancy) but we decided to try it out. The food was great, tho, and it was kind of nice to have a quiet sunrise breakfast together.
After breakfast and some resting in the room, I made use again of the workout facilities and took a shower down there. The only issue we've had so far with the room is that the shower isn't very hot; it gets kind of warm and fluctuates. So I'll probably take the rest of my showers down in the locker room!
The girls came by then with Hannah's boyfriend T.J., and we went to the "Pleasure Island" area which is the fancy shops and fancier hotels. We toured "Underwater World" and just had a blast looking at all the fish, sharks, and crazy sea creaturs. Below are some pictures for your enjoyment. We also had the video camera running the whole time, so at some point we'll post some clips (once we get the editing done).
After breakfast and some resting in the room, I made use again of the workout facilities and took a shower down there. The only issue we've had so far with the room is that the shower isn't very hot; it gets kind of warm and fluctuates. So I'll probably take the rest of my showers down in the locker room!
The girls came by then with Hannah's boyfriend T.J., and we went to the "Pleasure Island" area which is the fancy shops and fancier hotels. We toured "Underwater World" and just had a blast looking at all the fish, sharks, and crazy sea creaturs. Below are some pictures for your enjoyment. We also had the video camera running the whole time, so at some point we'll post some clips (once we get the editing done).
Guam: Date day
So on Friday John and I decided to take just one day for ourselves since this is our big vacation for the year (or more likely for the decade). We got the girls to school, and had some breakfast in the room quietly before heading down for a fairly intense workout in the facilities here at the hotel. I think I've actually gotten to the point where I semi enjoy working out! Very weird.
Anyway, after we cleaned up we headed into town to wander around a mall, have lunch and see a movie. We ate at the food court and saw "Don't Mess With Zohan" the new Adam Sandler movie. I'll just say we give it mixed reviews. It was pretty funny in a lot of parts but way, way...way over the line in some others (in my humble opinion). Anyway, a good date time in any case.
So we headed back to the hotel and watched some tv with a snack. Then, for our great date night we...fell asleep by 8pm. Oh well, I suppose we really needed it. And these beds are COMFY!
Anyway, after we cleaned up we headed into town to wander around a mall, have lunch and see a movie. We ate at the food court and saw "Don't Mess With Zohan" the new Adam Sandler movie. I'll just say we give it mixed reviews. It was pretty funny in a lot of parts but way, way...way over the line in some others (in my humble opinion). Anyway, a good date time in any case.
So we headed back to the hotel and watched some tv with a snack. Then, for our great date night we...fell asleep by 8pm. Oh well, I suppose we really needed it. And these beds are COMFY!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Guam Hotel
Okay, so here's a short clip with some of the view from our lovely little balcony. It is just PERFECT for an early morning cup of coffee and conversation or afternoon book and glass of wine.
Guam Day 2
So the big part of today was getting to go to Katie's band concert tonight. I'll post more about that tomorrow (hopefully with video), and also video of our hotel room and area. Still figuring out the video system.
For now, I'll just say we're enjoying things and taking it easy. We got about 12 hours sleep last night--from 8-8--so we got up refreshed. We walked around the resort grounds and beach for a while, it's really a beautiful tropical paradise type area. After that we actually made use of the workout facilities here, which are very nice.
After the band concert we went to Chamorro Village, the once a week event the local native people host with native food and stalls selling handmade and other goods. That was a fun experience, and I really enjoyed the Chamorro rice and noodles (some of the other more exciting cuisine, including squid, was a bit beyond me).
It's a little late now and we have the girls here overnight, so I'll sign off for now and update more tomorrow. Hope all of you are well!
For now, I'll just say we're enjoying things and taking it easy. We got about 12 hours sleep last night--from 8-8--so we got up refreshed. We walked around the resort grounds and beach for a while, it's really a beautiful tropical paradise type area. After that we actually made use of the workout facilities here, which are very nice.
After the band concert we went to Chamorro Village, the once a week event the local native people host with native food and stalls selling handmade and other goods. That was a fun experience, and I really enjoyed the Chamorro rice and noodles (some of the other more exciting cuisine, including squid, was a bit beyond me).
It's a little late now and we have the girls here overnight, so I'll sign off for now and update more tomorrow. Hope all of you are well!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Arrival in Guam
So it's just after 3am in Guam, and here I sit in the lobby of the Hilton with a cup of coffee and my laptop. Getting here was quite the process, which I exacerbated with my desire to spend Saturday in Dallas with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law.
Our travels began with a flight from Phoenix to DFW that left at 6:20am Phoenix time Saturday morning. We spent a great day with the family in Dallas, staying up late with my mom Saturday night. On Sunday, we left DFW airport for Tokyo at 10am--an almost 13 hour flight.
The flight to Tokyo wasn't as bad as I thought it would be--I haven't flown internationally in a few years and they've improved the in-flight entertainment from my last experience. We each had a small touchscreen video monitor in the back of the seat in front of us, through which we could select from a handful of movies, television shows, radio stations, or just watch the flight progress on a map. I watched two movies and several sitcoms--finally got to check out "Big Bang Theory" which was pretty cute.
So we arrive in Tokyo at about 1pm local time and we have until 9:25pm for our next flight. We wandered the airport for some walking, checked out the duty free shops, and had dinner in a funny little cafeteria. We stopped by the free Yahoo! place to check email, but I had some trouble with the keyboard (hit a wrong button and couldn't get it to stop with the Japanese characters).
That all killed about 4-5 hours. So we went to the gate, I got out my trusty pillow and blanket and proceeded to doze / read / sleep on the floor until our flight to Guam. We left Tokyo at 9:25pm local time for Guam, arriving at about 1:45am Guam time. John's girls met us at the airport, very nice, and now he and the girls are crashed in the car for a couple hours sleep until we take them to breakfast and school.
We tried to see about an early check in to the room here at the Hilton, I wasn't optimistic about getting in at 3am, but I thought maybe by mid-morning. Nope, I was assured by the night desk agent that under no circumstances, ever, at any point in history, do they let people check in early. It's 2pm, or we pay for an extra night. Gotta love that customer service, especially when she flat out told me they've got our room ready!!
And so here I sit.
I'm getting back to my coffee and a good book for now, more to come later.
Our travels began with a flight from Phoenix to DFW that left at 6:20am Phoenix time Saturday morning. We spent a great day with the family in Dallas, staying up late with my mom Saturday night. On Sunday, we left DFW airport for Tokyo at 10am--an almost 13 hour flight.
The flight to Tokyo wasn't as bad as I thought it would be--I haven't flown internationally in a few years and they've improved the in-flight entertainment from my last experience. We each had a small touchscreen video monitor in the back of the seat in front of us, through which we could select from a handful of movies, television shows, radio stations, or just watch the flight progress on a map. I watched two movies and several sitcoms--finally got to check out "Big Bang Theory" which was pretty cute.
So we arrive in Tokyo at about 1pm local time and we have until 9:25pm for our next flight. We wandered the airport for some walking, checked out the duty free shops, and had dinner in a funny little cafeteria. We stopped by the free Yahoo! place to check email, but I had some trouble with the keyboard (hit a wrong button and couldn't get it to stop with the Japanese characters).
That all killed about 4-5 hours. So we went to the gate, I got out my trusty pillow and blanket and proceeded to doze / read / sleep on the floor until our flight to Guam. We left Tokyo at 9:25pm local time for Guam, arriving at about 1:45am Guam time. John's girls met us at the airport, very nice, and now he and the girls are crashed in the car for a couple hours sleep until we take them to breakfast and school.
We tried to see about an early check in to the room here at the Hilton, I wasn't optimistic about getting in at 3am, but I thought maybe by mid-morning. Nope, I was assured by the night desk agent that under no circumstances, ever, at any point in history, do they let people check in early. It's 2pm, or we pay for an extra night. Gotta love that customer service, especially when she flat out told me they've got our room ready!!
And so here I sit.
I'm getting back to my coffee and a good book for now, more to come later.
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