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!

7 months

my two front teeth

dr. suess pigtails

Time is definitely not slowing! Our little June is already 7 months now and such a joy in our family.

At 7 months:

-15 lbs (tiny little thing! a lady the other day asked me if she was 3 months old! ha!)

-We can put her hair in REAL pigtails. Her hair is so long we really have to have it up so she can see!

-Sits up fairly well.

-Rolls over! Hooray! She is so cute when she does it, we love to watch her as a rolly polly.

-got her first TWO teeth!

-slowly eating more baby food. She's really interested in our food but baby food, not so much. (Although Owen is MORE than happy to eat her leftovers ha!)

-in size 3 diapers

-does a great Tarzan yell

-usually thinks her brother is hilarious

-starting wearing 6-9 month clothing

-laughs more

-is VERY mommy clingy. If she sees me walk away or into a room and I'm not holding her she cries. 

-she does this cute thing when she gets shy, she lifts her shoulders, slyly smiles and lies her head on my chest. SO CUTE.

-blows her tongue at you.

-stands really well against a coffee table. I usually don't even have to hold her.

-LOVES the sophie giraffe.

-will sleep 7-8 hours straight and go down for another 2-3 hours IF she has a room to herself.

She really is just such a silly, mild mannered baby. We are really enjoying her! Love you June Marie!

the low down.

Since making the decision to move across the ocean there has been lots to do. Tim had to take the NAPLEX and a pharmacy law test and then wait for the results to be mailed to him since we live in the stone age. After that we were waiting for his diploma, license and our passports to be mailed. (How are some of these not available to do online? What year is this?) Right now we are only waiting on ONE thing and it should be here any day so we're looking to leave the U.S. in about a week.  (mere DAYS before the last Harry Potter movie! The universe hates me!) We are SO excited to get real life going.

While doing all this waiting we've been living it up as much as you can on a zero dollar an hour plus benefits salary by hanging out with our family and friends. It's been pretty awesome. The kids are LOVING seeing their aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. I can tell they really miss their home in ABQ (we love you ABQ!) but they've been doing really well.

Owen has been chatting it up the last few weeks. He's said several new words like: Sorry, dog, Nate (our nephew), Bye, Hi, Hello, Grandpa, Aunt, Nancy, even crap! (Thanks Aunt Nancy! ha!)  One night I heard him wander into the kitchen and went in to follow him. I picked him up and said, "Let's go back to bed son." He answered, "No, mom!" He is really learning quickly and is loving the rough housing with Uncle Vince and cousin Nathan.

Saipan, here we come!!!!

Hoogle Zoo.

We went to Hoogle Zoo. I LOVE this zoo. 

It was super crowded because of the holiday weekend but we still had a lot of fun.

We got to see Rob & Kari for a minute too! They were arriving just as we were leaving.

Aren't the mountains so beautiful?!

Red Iguana.

The Red Iguana is hands down my favorite restaurant of all time. It's home to our 2nd date and the first ever "salsa challenge!" We were able to sneak in for lunch one day and we were in heaven.

Salsa Challenge 2011.
The salsa was super spicy this time and our mouths were burning but we just couldn't stop!

My mecca.
You know the food is good when you dread feeling full.

Carne Asada a la Tampequena

Tacos don Ramon

I'm still salivating.