Advent Calendar

We're doing an advent calendar for the first time this year. I've always wanted to do one and with the kids being a little older I thought this year would be the perfect year to start one. After scouring the internet for ideas for activities and different looks I finally settled on this one.

Saipan is a really small island and because we're so near the equator we really only have one season. That means we don't have The Nutcracker Ballet, or forests of trees to cut down. I had to get a little creative with a few of these but I'm really happy with what we have!

-Decorate Stockings. Our real stockings are in a storage unit in the States and though Tim's Christmas socks were cute last year they weren't quite big enough to put anything in. When I was growing up I remember making our stockings when I was about 4 or 5 and having my parents help me write my name in glue before dumping a bunch of glitter on it. It's one of my favorite memories and I still love that stocking. I found some Christmasy fabric here (hooray!) and I'm hoping to re-create that with our kids.

-Salt Dough Ornaments. They grow so fast I thought having one hand print a year would be a nice thing to have and see them grow.

-"Daddy Tree" I bought some green streamers and plan to let the kids wrap Tim from head to toe in it. I'm also going to make a star "hat" and paper ornaments for them to stick on him. Tim is a good sport and is, for the record, doing this willingly. :-)

-Christmas Package to Palau & Kaitlyn Copper. On our recent trip to Palau we made some amazing friends who we didn't get to properly thank. We also have a friend who is in her senior year of high school and had to return to the states to get treated for cancer. We'll be spending an evening picking up candy and trinkets to pack up and send to them along with hand drawn cards.

-Go to a Tree Lighting. I think there is only one here in Saipan so if we can't make it for some reason we may just do our own on the tree in our front yard. (the same one Tim carved our names in on our 5th wedding anniversary)

-Get Christmas donuts from Winchell's and then go behind the airport to watch the planes fly over. 

-Make a wish on the Hyatt's Wishing Tree. Every year the Hyatt (a big resort here) has a big tree that you can purchase paper to write your Christmas wishes on and then tie it to the tree. All proceeds go to charity.

-Lanterns from Mt. Tapachao. My friend recently went to China and brought back flying lanterns for us (like the ones on Tangled). We're going to climb the stairs to the highest point in Saipan and let them go.

-S'mores on the beach. 'Nuff said.

-Hand print Wreath. Can't get enough of those little hands!

-Christmas Cone Trees. Our kids don't have a long attention span or great building skills or Gingerbread Houses are out. Instead we're going to take waffle ice cream cones and turn them into Christmas Trees.

-Get involved in a Service Project.

-Lindor Chocolates. A celebration in and of itself.

-Red & Green themed dinner. I've been missing New Mexico red & green chile so we plan to do red sauce enchiladas and guacamole.

-Work Party. I'm going to borrow a bunch of Christmas books from the library for the kids babysitter to read to them that night.

-Decorate Sugar Cookies to give to our neighbors.

-Christmas Parade. We don't have a Christmas Parade so I decided to put together our own. I invited a bunch of friends to dress up as their favorite Christmas item or theme (Christmas pajamas, elves, snowmen, Surfer Santa) to walk our yard (which I plan to light with luminaria candles) and end with crockpot hot chocolate and donuts.

-The Christmas story simplified. We'll be pulling out our scriptures and reading it to the kids in terms they can understand.

-Holiday movie & caramel popcorn night.

-Play with "Shooting Stars." I'm making stars out of felt with ribbons attached to tell the story of Christ again and explain the star of Bethlehem. I figure they will pay better attention if they have something to play with.

-Christmas Caroling. Whether it be the traditional group caroling in public or e-caroling (where we will record us singing a song and send it to our friends & family).

-Attend our church Christmas party.

-"Snow Storm" our friends houses. Just like "Heart Attacks" where you stick paper hearts all over someones yard but with homemade snowflakes.

-Secret Santa for someone who needs some cheering up.

-Stay up watching, "The Muppet Christmas Carol," and open our new pajamas.

I'm insanely excited for December this year! 

family.

We had family photos taken for our Christmas card and I am so in love with the results. So many of these pictures make my heart skip a beat. Watching Tim with our kids is especially lovely to see captured and I never get over seeing Owen's independent spirit and June's sweet cuddles. I can't believe how fast they are growing and how much we as parents love them. Family is such a special thing and I'm so thankful that I built mine with a man who makes sure we're all loved and protected. My kids fill our lives with all sorts of crazy emotions but we are so happy to have them in our lives and so grateful for the wonderful love we have in this little family we've created.

holiday in the tropics.

Christmas can be a little strange when you're still sweating in the tropical heat and frequenting the beach. It's hard to make it feel like Christmas. This year I wanted to do everything I could to make it really feel like Christmas.

Miraculously, our tree from last Christmas survived the entire year! It's a bit taller and the leaves are a little more green than burgundy (we've kept in the house) but we still love it all the same.

My sweet June was a little under the weather the day we decorated the tree. She put up a few ornaments and then quietly rested her head on my chest while I talked to her about the lights and how exciting it was that Christmas was coming.

Owen was really into it this year. He's really grown with his independence and was such a great helper with the tree. I loved watching him stretch his little arms as high as he could to get the ornaments in different places.

I can't help but laugh at this silly boy!

And I just couldn't get over these little hands putting decorations on our tree!

That night he was having a hard time going to bed so I brought in some lights to string around his bed frame. He was delighted! He kept pointing to them saying, "Look Mom, look! Wow!"

When I snuck back in later that night to turn them off I couldn't help but take an extra minute to see his sweet sleeping face basking in the glow of Christmas lights. 

Our Saipan Charlie Brown tree.

For the first time ever we are doing an advent calendar. I scoured the internet for ideas on activities the kids would like and what style I liked. I'm really excited to make every day of December build up to Christmas.

June would have me rock her to sleep every night if I let her. Since she's been a little sick I've been indulging her more. I admit I stay longer than I need to just so I can look at her sweet little face lit up by the lights. Christmas lights really can work magic.

Now we can linger in the living room, lounged on the couch, eating popcorn and watching Christmas movies all we want. The holidays are definitely among us, and we couldn't be happier.

Hidden Beach

I took Tim to another beach here that he'd never been to before. The kids and I went with friends back in March and it was stunning. It looked quite different this time of year but the rolling waves and tiny waterfalls made the pot hole ridden dirt road worth it.

Coconut, coconuts everywhere!

It was actually insanely bright and my camera was whigging out. It looked terrible in auto mode so I just had to deal with darker pictures. I fully admit to being a novice photographer.

I literally could not stop laughing at this picture. 

I love how interested they are in al the crabs.

Love watching them.

Wave watching.

We passed our one year mark in July and our contract end is coming up so fast. We are really not ready to leave. Luckily, we have the option to renew again and stay for another year or two. (Or forever! Ha! I kid) There are definitely days when I miss the states and all it's amenities and seasons but I am just not ready to say goodbye to countless beaches, gorgeous running trails, and the year round sun. Not to mention the fact that we never have to mess with any time changes like Daylight Savings since we're so close to the equator. There will come a day when we're ready to return to the states (I think) but right now Saipan is our home sweet island home. 

bebe.

I'm just going to come right out and say it. I'm baby hungry. And since my poor husband has to hear about it weekly, possibly even daily, I figured I could open up the dam of what I've been thinking and just let it all out.

I realize it's probably irrelevant to everyone else out there but I get a real sense of relief when I read about other mothers with the same ideas running around their heads. When I know it's not just me-- that's when I know I'm not crazy.

I've always wanted kids. And once the sheer number of Tim's HUGE family stopped overwhelming me I fell in love with the idea of a big(ish) family. (*I am in NO WAY capable of having twelve--bless Maureen's heart!) There were three (plus my wonderful half sisters) in our family and I remember we wanted another brother so badly. We'd pray for one in our family prayers and finally my parents had to break it to us that they were done. They would've loved to have more but reality was that they couldn't. This news didn't stop us from praying and hoping that we would get a magical baby brother. Heck, we were kids, we still believed in Santa Claus so why not a miracle baby brother? He never did come of course but even as a kid I wanted a bigger family.

Our number of "potential" kids in our minds is always changing as I'm sure it does for every couple. When we first got married it was five. After we had Owen it was two. (ha!) Now I want five again. It was a mere 8 months after he was born I had the itch to have another. I thought I was crazy! (So did Tim) Immediately after giving birth to Owen and feeling (quite literally) like I had been run over by a train, I vowed I'd never do it again. My brain just couldn't fathom going through that again. We could always adopt, right?

But here I was, just 8 months later and I just couldn't shake the feeling of baby hunger. After a few more months of trying to get Tim on board we decided we would try again after he graduated (which was about a year later). Just days after we found out I was already pregnant. It was definitely a whirlwind. (And a confirmation that I was, once again, RIGHT! Ha! :-) )

Owen and June are just 19 months apart. Living in a tiny two bedroom apartment (in which June quickly kicked us out into the living room) and a move across the ocean, I was content with the two we had. I definitely had my hands full and the more Tim talked of the benefits of only having two (no minivans!) I started to think I might be content with that.

That is until I started getting sleep again. :-) It seems to always happen that way for me. As soon as our youngest starts sleeping through the night, you can bet a week or so later I'll be thinking about having another.

So here we are. June will be two years old next month and I'm so baby hungry it's insane. I miss being pregnant and feeling little baby kicks. I miss scouring family geneology for potential names. I miss baby clothes and tiny features. I even miss labor if you can believe it! (Well, June's labor, Owen's was a totally different story) And while there will be things I'm sure to complain about if I do get pregnant (not being able to run as much, getting HUGE, pregnancy boobs, no sleep, the inability to see my toes, incessant flatulence etc.) I am now, more than ever before, so so so so SOOO baby hungry.

Perhaps I'm just living in a fantasy world. Either way, I'm glad I got that off my chest. :-)

sunday dinner.

We had breakfast for dinner.

my little helper.

and the swiper.

vroom, vroom.

Although I think my man would look insanely good on a motorcycle I  refuse to let him own one. Mostly because I want him to stick around until we're old. We met in the middle and got a moped a few months back. The kids love getting rides and though it's not a Harley, I still think he's a hunk when I'm riding on the back with him.

a recipe.

My Recipe for Happy Days:

-Prayer

-Listen/Read the scriptures or past conference talks

-Yoga or Running

-Music, music, music

-Tickles

-Inside Jokes

-Loud kisses

-Long kisses ;-)

-Food: I get grumpy fast if I don't stop to eat.

-A sense of humor. My 3 year old just wiped his boogers on my favorite shirt? Disgusting, yes, but also pretty hilarious. 

-Prayer. Again and again and again.

-More kisses.

-Watching the sun set.

The End.