We are packed

After three very long exasperating days our stuff is finally packed and will soon be on its way to Virginia. We are exhausted. Moving is not easy, we should know because for us this is #18, but an overseas move is so much more complex. I will spare you all the gory details and will just say this has not been a pleasant three days. I was so happy to see that truck pull away from our house loaded with nine full crates of our stuff. Now with that over, all that's left to do is to wait on June to come. The girls and I will be headed to Bali tomorrow. Lee along with Snickers and Fraidycat will be going it alone for a few days. I may not be able to update the blog from Bali but you can look forward our endless ramblings about our trip when we return. If you think about it send Lee some email so he won't be so lonely.

Welcome to Weinerland

From bottom to top: Thankful Weiner, Hippie Dog, Lucky Weiner, Get a Long Lil' Doggie, The King Weiner, Chili, Dog, USA Weiner, Hula Dog, Sweetheart Weiner and lastly Hot Dog. I have one dressed in a pink tu-tu calle Ballaweiner but she hurt her foot and was being repaired when the picture was taken.

Status of day one

The first day of packing went fairly well. All of our bedrooms and bathrooms are now boxed up as well as some of the living room stuff. At the beginning of the day we thought we lost Fraidycat. When the movers showed up they left the door open for awhile to bring in their supplies. About an hour later Caitlin said she was worried because she could not find Fraidy. UH-OH was my first thought, I bet he ran out the door while it stood open. Fraidy is a strictly indoor creature. I rounded up the troops (the girls) and sent them searching. Abbie found him within minutes cowering behind the washing machine. Poor guy! He was traumatized by all the strangers in his house. We locked him in the "No Pack" room where he hid himself away in a closet for the rest of the day. The rest of us were not so traumatized but we are very tired and we have another long day ahead of us. Tomorrow is load the truck day. YeeHaw!!!!

Big Day Tomorrow

Yep, tomorrow the big truck will roll up in our front yard and be filled with almost all of our worldly possessions. We have spent the day today sorting and arranging and packing etc... and I am pretty tired! The computer will stay hooked up until we leave in June, so we will be able to keep the blog updated.
Lee recommends you go on over to the MLB website linked to the right and watch the clip of the Phillies making a triple play. The first one of the season!
You can also trot on over to our Picasa photo album where I just posted a new album called "swim and stuff" for you to see. Enjoy!

My Inspiration

My neighbor Amy started a blog when they moved to Guam. Amy got me hooked on this whole blogging thing. I only wish I would have discovered it earlier. Amy's blog is all about her pre-pregnancy adventures all over Guam, many of these adventures with the Brown family in tow. There is a cool hobby here on Guam called Boonie Stomping. Basically it's hiking to some remote place and seeing something really cool when you get there or along the way. Before Amy found out they were adding a new little one to their family we did alot of Boonie Stomping and she chronicled all of it complete with pictures. Thankfully Amy will now be able to get back to posting on her blog and moderate boonie stomping now that she feels better. Those first 15 weeks of pregnancy almost did her in. Go check out some of the great places we have been at www.tylomo.wordpress.com The link for her blog is also to the right. Amy has her blog linked up with flickr photos so that you can view all the pictures of her cute little boys and of course all the adventures. All you have to do is click on one of her photos and flickr will do the rest. Speaking of the cute little boys, that's Tyty up their watching Finding Nemo at our house with Fraidycat whom he calls "Tiddy". Our girls are completely in love with their Logan and Tyler!

Missy Prissy

Typical little sister. Letting the bigger sisters do all the work. Maybe she just thought she was stretchy enough? The girls have a big meet tomorrow. They have been working very hard at practice for the past month on perfecting their butterfly strokes and flip turns. We will fill you in on how the meet goes. I know everyone cannot wait to see more swim meet pictures! So I will not disappoint you, and post them as soon as we get home. So until then, in the words of Dory the Fish we will... "just keep swimming, just keep swimming"

Save the Chocolate!

An extremely important matter has just been brought to my attention. The FDA is proposing a change in the way chocolate is manufactured. They propose allowing the use of inferior ingredients in the process of making chocolate! Can you imagine? What are they thinking?! First and foremost would be the substitution of vegetable oils/fats in place of cocoa butter. Yuck! Some things should be sacred! Chocolate standards, for example. The FDA is currently soliciting comments. If you love your chocolate, go let them know how you feel about this proposed atrocity. I left my comment, you should too. The website is:

http://dontmesswithourchocolate.guittard.com/

Stuff

Last night when I posted the link in the message below I did not realize that it was not activated. So I went back in and activated it. Now you can click it to watch the silly itchy dog video. I'm sure that will make your day. Don't forget the videos on the bottom right column too. I will try to change those out about once a week. Ahh you gotta love that youtube!
Now on to other issues. We are currently counting down the days till the movers show up and put our stuff in crates to be shipped to Virginia. Counting today, that is only 5 days away. The girls and I are in the midst of sorting. Stuff to keep and send right away, stuff to keep to put in the express shipment a few days before we leave, stuff to keep to hand carry with us when we leave, stuff to sell, stuff to throw away and stuff we look at and say" hmmm is that ours?" As you can imagine our tiny little house is a big crazy mess right now. I was thinking that Gracie would be a bit more understanding about the move and sending her things ahead of time than she was the last time we did this. Just about everything she picks up she says it will go in her suitcase or back pack for the plane. As it stands, she'd need a pack mule to carry all that she wants to bring with her. That of course won't work because we are flying through Hawaii and they have those strict quarantine laws about animals. :-)
Speaking of animals, Fraidycat and Snickers have to fly home too. (This is not Lee's opinion!) It's about as much work to get them home than it is to get the kids there! We are still working on whether or not to send them ahead of us or leave them and have someone here send them to us. Then there is the added stress of them having to stay overnight in HI and they cannot fly directly into Norfolk they must go on a plane that will land at a large airport like Raleigh Durham or Reagan Intl. Aiyiyi!! Decisions, decisions. Now I must get up from here and go sort my kitchen. Bye for now.

Something new

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3wCVOGBsUM <<<---- This is the link for the video we uploaded to youtube. It's of Snicky getting her belly scratched. I thought I would be able to load it directly onto this page but instead it loaded four other "itchy dog" clips. Guess there are alot of itchy pups out there! These can be seen at the bottom of the right hand column on this page. I gotta figure out how to get Snicky's video into that feed. I never claimed computer literacy, but I'm learning. Enjoy the clips. My fav is the poodle on the bottom.

Happy Birthday!

The girls of the Brown family would like to wish our daddy (the only boy in the Brown family) a very happy, super, spectacular birthday!! We love you!!!

Caitlin dives

Here's a pic of Caitlin diving. All can be seen on our picasa web album.

Gone Diving

Diving, it's one of Caitlin's favorite pastimes. Today she got the chance to do her first wreck dive. There is a popular dive sight here called American Tanker where a huge tanker sank many years ago. You can get to the top of the wreck at about 60 feet down. Caitlin and Jeremy went inside it and explored a little. Caitlin said she was a bit nervous at first to go in and when she got inside it made her feel weird to be right side up inside something that was sitting sideways. I'm so glad I do not know these details before the dive!! I'm already a bundle of nerves every time she goes out. John and Jeremy are both expert divers and they claim that Caitlin is a natural and that there is nothing to fear about her skill level. Plus they take good care and are very cautious when she dives with them, but I'm a mom and worry I will. Caitlin reported the visibility to be awesome today, they saw tons of fish and sea life and found an old Coca-Cola bottle with crustaceans growing all over it. The coolest thing she said they saw was an air pocket inside the ship with lots of really neat plants growing in it. Lee asked her if she felt like Nemo in the Fish Are Friends Sharks Meeting while she was inside the ship? Her reply: "I'm havin' fish tonight!"

Lets eat!

First off let me just say that Guam has NOT been good for my waistline. There is so much good food here, IF you are willing to be a bit adventurous and step out of your comfort zone food wise. I just wish that it would not have taken our family so long to do just that. Only in the past year or so have we been trying new things. Our food horizons have been SO expanded!! My new personal favorite is Indian Chicken Tikka Masala and at a close second is Thai Red Chicken Curry. In the words of Rachel Ray "Yum-o!" The island of Guam has a plethora of Asian style cuisine to pick from as well as its own unique choices. Lets just say that the Brown fam will never again be without finnedene sauce in the fridge thanks to Guam. And did you know that the rest of the world eats their rice sticky? We didn't but we sure do prefer it that way now. I have been experimenting with ethnic recipes at home, trying to copy all the new foods that we have come to love. So far my efforts have been so-so but I have managed to score on one or two items. I'm no quitter though. I cannot wait to go to Bali where I'm told you can easily buy spices for all these lovely foods at a very low price. Plus we are going to attend a day long cooking class there. The above picture is us eating Sukiyaki for the first time while in Tokyo. This is now the girls favorite way to eat Japanese food. Although, Gracie loves her sushi.

Snow in April?

The word is that many of you got a little snow and or very chilly temps there in the US over the Easter weekend. Wow, what weird weather! Here on Guam the forecast reads the same every single day of the year. "Times of sun, times of rain. avg. temp 86 degrees." Some days they predict more rain than others but the temp rarely ever drops below 80 and is almost always somewhere in the low 90's. Our family has acclimated to the heat so well that it has to be REALLY hot for us to even notice it anymore. On the other hand we get the chills when we go into a restaurant or building where the aircon is turned down low. We do not even own winter clothing anymore! I have a feeling we are going to be in shock around October or so in Virginia. It will be our first fall and winter in over three years. As soon as we return we will be hitting the sales racks in search of fall/winter wear for the 6 of us. Me thinks the budget is going to take a big hit! I suppose this is the price one pays for the luxury of three years of summer on a tropical island. You all try to stay warm over there, hopefully a full fledged Spring will be upon you soon and a warm, sunny Summer will follow.

House hunting blues

Man o man o man o man. We are bogged down deep in the midst of trying to find a place to live in Virginia. We are looking to rent because Lee's orders are only for 2 years in Norfolk. I cannot even fathom trying (like our neighbors) to do this if buying a house. House hunting from half a world away is just daunting!!! Thankfully there is a great website out now called rentclicks that has tons of listings and usually lots of great pictures. We have really liked two houses we have found there but lost them both due to distance. While we were in process of faxing apps and paying app fees someone else would come in person ready to sign a lease. Bummer. The pictures and information they give on each house is great but there is no way to know for sure about a neighborhood without actually being there or having a representative you trust there for you. It's all just a big headache. Anyway I thought I would send along two links for the two houses we are the most interested in now. The first link is our first choice. Enjoy looking and don't be afraid to write back with honest opinions. I need some objective help here!!!! http://320315.rentclicks.com
http://182383.rentclicks.com

Happy Resurrection Day!!!

We hope that each of you will have a very blessed Easter today. We sure did! Our day started out at Sunrise service overlooking the beautiful ocean. Lee was asked to be the preacher for this service and he did a fine job. He challenged us all to "look" into the empty tomb and believe that we serve a risen Saviour. We followed the morning up by having breakfast there after the service with those who attended. A few hours later we were off to our regular chapel services. Gracie and Abbie participated in a presentation by the children of the chapel and again Lee preached another great sermon about what Christ's resurrection means to us today. After chapel we again fellowshipped and ate with folks who attended. This afternoon we held the 2nd annual Easter ball hunt in our yard. Yep you read that right. Not an egg hunt but a ball hunt. Not that we are against hunting eggs but last year we waited too long to buy eggs and none were to be had on Guam. Lee cleverly came up with an alternative. We bought a bag of 100 balls like you would put in a kids ball pit. They came in all different colors. We hid them all over the yard and the girls hunted. After the hunt they could exchange the colored balls for prizes. Like each red ball would be worth 2 bite size Milky Ways and each green ball would be worth one dollar etc... Of course we did not tell them that to begin with or they would have fought for the green ones! In the end they each got a pile of candy that they traded with each other until each had their favorites. Caitlin LOVES Peeps! This evening Lee drove out to the prison and participated with the inmates at their chapel in their Easter service and once again preached about the resurrected Jesus. I was not there but I know he did a great job. So that was our day. You can see all the pics from today on our picasa web album. It will be labeled Easter 2007. Enjoy! He is risen indeed!!!

Ear aches and radiators

Poor Gracie had to go to the Dr. today with an earache. No fever or any other symptom other than pain. So I figured it is just our old "friend" swimmers ear. I was right. She has a pretty bad case of it in her left ear. The doc let me look through the scope at both of her ears, that was very cool. I thought wow if it hurts as badly as it looks then my poor Boo is in a lot of pain. So she's been put out of the pool for a week to let it heal and we have to put drops in 3-4 times a day. This ailment has become a pretty common one at our house with 4 kids in the pool 4 times a week, but this is Gracie's first go 'round with it. This afternoon after we got home from the doctor she came tearing into the house. I asked "what's the hurry kiddo?" She said "Moma look its starting to sprinkle outside" to which I say "so?" (It rains ALOT here) She says in an exasperated voice "Moma remember I can't get my ear wet!" I just laughed and said "ok you're right better keep it dry." I'm not sure how she thinks she's going to take a bath or wash her hair. Our truck is down hard too. A busted radiator which of course cannot be replaced with anything here in Guam. The parts are being shipped here and we should have it back sometime next week. We are so blessed to have a "car guy" here who knows his stuff and is honest and hard working. Car troubles are the pits! To me there is not much that is more annoying than car troubles. Our hope is to get the truck all fixed up- it should be in awesome condition by the time we get it back, then we plan to sell it and leave it here on Guam where it can officially be a "boonie truck" for the rest of its days.

CTTS=cute things they say

Here's another installment of CTTS. This one comes from Holly and if you know her very well you will get a chuckle. The swim team as a group went to see the new swim movie out called "Pride". Holly was sitting beside her friend Trevor. After the movie she told us that Trevor is a bad movie buddy because he reacts to all of the scenes, makes noise and talks while you are trying to pay attention. She told us that at one very dramatic/emotional part of the movie Trevor put his head down and she thought he was going to tear up. I said "aww and you were there for him to lend emotional support huh?" She said "nope, I smacked him upside the head and told him to cowboy up!"
Thats Holly.

QIL= quotes I like

My smart girls-->>

I found this printed and stuck to the bathroom wall in our library on the Andersen Air Force base.

"I received the fundamentals of my education in school but that was not enough. My education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture I got out of the public library. For an impoverished child who's family could not afford to buy books, the library was an open door to wonder and achievement. I can never be sufficiently grateful that I had the wit to charge through that door and make the most of it." ~ Isaac Asimov
The girls and I spend a lot of time up at the library on the air force base. It's really the only library worth spending any time in on Guam. We take a trip there about every other week and make a day of it. It is a whole 45 minute drive, which is the Guam equivalent to a road trip. We usually go on a Tuesday when the Andersen Wives Gift Shop is open so we can do a little shopping too. These wives take turns traveling all over this side of the world- Korea, Thailand, Bali, Japan etc... finding great handmade stuff, buy it in bulk and bring it back to sell at the gift shop. Proceeds go to charities on Guam. Some of you have been privy to small gifts bought at this very shop. Psstt... I have more that I am bringing home too. After shopping and library time we usually go eat lunch at the food court where Holly and Abbie get sandwiches from Robin Hood, Gracie and Caitlin get pizza from Anthonys or chicken from Burger King and they each have fun mixing their coke flavors at the drink machines. This happens to be one of the ONLY spots on Guam that sells real Coke and not Pepsi so that is a treat. We are really looking forward to getting back to the States and having several great libraries to choose from. Since being here all four of the girls have turned into avid readers so as you can imagine, the library is a pretty important spot for us. If you have not read a book in a while, give it a whirl! Its great. Not sure where to begin- try The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, good for any age and good for the soul.

Opening Day

Hope you all had a wonderful opening day today. Thanks to the typhoon that decided not to visit us, all of Guam was able to take a Monday off. Lee was happy to use his day off to watch the first game of the season, he was a happy man. The Mets played the Cardinals in case you are wondering but I'm SURE you knew that already.
Looks as if we got all spun up over nothing. The typhoon is tracking north of us which is bad for the outlying islands, but it barely sprinkled here on Guam. At least everyone got an early start on making sure their typhoon closets were stocked.

I forgot

I forgot to mention that I went into the controls here on blogspot and changed it so that anyone can leave a comment without having to sign in with google. So "comment" to your heart's content.

Is this a joke?

This is either a REALLY bad April fools joke or we are really expecting a typhoon within the next 48 hours. Someone obviously forgot to let the typhoon know that it is NOT typhoon season. As a matter of fact typhoon season is not until July and usually the big storms come around the end of the year. Weird weather. Today when we learned that there was a storm out there heading for us we began what has now become a familiar routine. Filled the cars with gas, made sure we had water, candles, batteries, food etc... as well as picking up anything in the yard that might fly away. During typhoon season the grass cutting guys keep the palm trees pretty clear of coconuts but right now the trees are full of them. I mean who expects a typhoon in April?! I just hope the coconuts don't become flying missiles. If you do not hear from me for a few days , don't worry. The cable and electricity on Guam will go out if the wind blows and oftentimes when for no reason at all. Please pray for Guam, Rota, Tinian and Saipan that we do not get blown or washed away. I will send a quick note every so often as long as we have power, just to let you all know how we are doing.

BTW- Go Gators! Uof F gets to play Ohio State for the NCAA Basketball National Championship. Sometimes it's good to be from Florida!

The latest count

10 hours until baseball season officially begins!!!