The Last Command Post.

We all got sick a few weeks ago and were cooped up in the house forever. June and I were still pretty sick but we thought maybe fresh air would help. Unfortunately, it didn't and we had to leave after about an hour but we still got to see some really cool historical sites.

We headed up to what's known as the Last Command Post. Essentially it's a lookout point with a cave the the Japanese inhabited during the war and it's supposedly the last one to surrender. 

Entrance

In the cave. Tourist leave cigarettes and beer for the fallen soldiers as a sort of homage.

The guard rail was made for tourism but this is the lookout point.
They had several guns set up here and some of the pieces are still there.

WWII guns.

Owen and a torpedo.

They had lots of little peace monuments and memorials.

They use coral in everything here, even the roads!

The history is just so alive here. Everything from WWII was just left in it's place and is still here. The jungle takes over everything so when you're hiking it's almost impossible not to run into some artifact left from the war. There are several "undiscovered," caves (not known to the city), missiles, and even human remains. There is a spot up near the landfill that they have completely closed off due to land mines and when new bombs are found they try to extinguish them there. 

We are loving our time here, especially with all this history! It's like watching the History channel LIVE!

9 months.

Bugsy is 9 months! How did this happen? It definitely goes by faster with your second, I can't believe we'll be planning her 1st birthday soon!

 At 9 months June is:

-officially crawling---everywhere!
-climbing onto everything. Lately she has refused to take naps and spends her time trying to crawl out of the pack and play.
-added "dada," to her vocabulary. Tim was so excited!
-can stand by herself! (walking may be soon to come!)
-is a chewing champion. she can eat almost anything with those two little teeth.
-loves crackers, veggie straws, cookies and mangoes
-her hair is getting really long! and the tips are getting bleached by the sun.
-has developed quite an attitude. often times she yells, "mom!"
-puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. and then cries and yells when I take it out.
-love real keys (not toy keys), necklaces and owen's toy cars. (owen is not super fond of that)
-still VERY attached to mom. Follows me around everywhere and still requires me to hold her much of the time.
-no longer sits still. She climbs out of carts and thinks I'm a personal jungle gym.

Our little girl has grown so much this month! I feel like she is all over the place now.

Ladder Beach

We went to Ladder Beach on Labor day and it may just be my favorite beach so far. You walk through CAVES to get there, beautiful sea glass everywhere, and it's been our best snorkling experience to date.

Just as you're reaching the beach...

This is ALL coral that has died and come up on shore.

View from above.

We caved and bought a 4x4 so we could make it through the rough terrain to these beaches. Turns out the back makes a great changing table. :-)

Wing Beach Waves

Because of some stormy weather we had a few weeks ago there were some crazy waves at some of the beaches. We went to Wing Beach one night to watch the waves and it was so fun we ended up going for a date later the same week. It was such a rush to be carried back to shore on these huge waves!

Bird island

Our neighbor is an avid hiker and has found incredible historic sites leftover from world war ll. He took us out hiking one day with the intention of showing us an old japanese cave he found but because of the rain we decided to go to a small nearby island called bird island. We started in the jungle and hiked thru mud and cliffs to get to the beach. we saw all kind of neat plants and wildlife (like coconut crabs!) on the way. Once at the beach we hiked thru the ocean, the water coming to our waist, the rest of the way to the island. We spent the next few hours snorkeling deep pools, coral reefs, exploring beach caves, picking up sea glass and hiking all around the island (including a section where the waves were crashing, was really narrow and we were told what to do if we got swept out with the current---yikes!)  I got my first real sunburn but it was soooo worth it! So far saipan does not disappoint!
*sorry for the sub par photos. We need a waterproof camera!

8 months

Our little lady turned 8 months while we have been here! What a joy she has been! She definitely is showing us more of her personality every day and she can be quite the diva.

At 8 months:
-eats well now! She eats a bowl of rice cereal and fruit at least twice a day.
-usually sleeps 8 hours a night
-takes two naps,  one in the am and one in the late afternoon.
-army crawls!
-talking! Says momma all day long! Sometimes ba ba and pa pa.
-likes to play with brother! (most of the time)
-makes a silly "mischievous" face where she srunches up her nose, squints her eyes and smiles. So funny.
-still very grabby! She is just so curious!
- loves spoons, necklaces and keys.
- still teething, poor baby!
-bites! Ouch!
- Is super cuddly.

Love you baby bug!

We are saipanese, if you please.

We have been here in saipan for almost a month now and are enjoying island living!
I think we may have traveled the most round about way possible but we made it! We traveled from salt lake city to los angeles to honolulu to the marshall islands to guam and then finally to saipan. we conducted some business upon first arriving and stayed a mere 5 hours at a crappy hotel where I almost lost my mind. With the help of our land lady and some friends from the ward we were able to move into our house that night. Thank goodness it was furnished!
Since then we have been working on getting set up which has been quite a process! Everyone goes on island time which basically its whenever people feel like it.  Getting started here is actually really expensive as everything requires a deposit (even water!) So we were cleaned out pretty quickly upon arrival. Thank goodness tim has one of those "paying" jobs again. (suck on that internships!!!!)
We were immediately welcomed by neighbors, church members and even the locals. Everyone is really friendly and helpful. Almost every store I go to they gush over the kids  and then help me to my car. So nice! In church they get passed around and fed lots of candy. Yes, I would say we are well taken care of here. :)
We have already had several adventures as there is much to see and do here. We sure miss our family and friends (and our comfy couches! Wicker with cushions just aren't the same!) but island living seems to agree with us!

Owen wasn't used to Dad going to work again so he sat and waited for him to come home.

'

our first morning in Saipan

 Trees in our yard

Ocean views!