Campmeeting Weekend

So the weekend of March 7&8 marked Island-wide Campmeeting...so Adventist Campmeetings in a nut shell are yearly regional meetings for local churches, traditionally held yes in tents, and in the States they are usually in the summer. Here we have campmeeting during March (probably due to the very pleasant weather this time of year) and this year, the tent was traded for the new gymnasium at the academy. The paint was literally still drying...but everyone was so excited to be in this new structure. As you see below, quite a crowd turned out to enjoy the weekend of meetings led by Pastor Maxson (from California). We enjoyed the meetings, and it was fun to have everyone gathered together from the 8 churches on the island.

Sabbath morning service

here is the new conference president, Pastor Torres, who also arrived in time for campmeeting.
I had not been to campmeeting for years, and it brought back some memories of the muddy fields in Freeport, ME, those army-green tents, vegefood and long meetings, ah yes. This time around, it was fun and I really enjoyed the meeting, and I was encouarged/challenged by the message (what is discipleship...).
I loved the music, the short rain storms beating on the metal roof, the mix of cultures and languages, the potluck, and the reassurance that God is in this place...
~~
After the afternoon meeting, we decided to avoid the direct route home and head South to check out this region for our first time (we have been trying to pace ourselves) :)

must check out every nook & cranny

the south end had a different feel to it , and as you can see....a bit more room to breathe

In our explorations, look! we think we found what became of Dad-Parker's former ski boat!

(thought you would be proud! hey, it makes a mighty handsome planter!) :)and as you know, we have to throw in a self-portrait (thanks to Scott's long arms!)
here we are with the southern "mountains" as a backdrop
~~
Sunday morning we went back for the last meeting, that opened with a health fair of sorts which we volunteered at. We decided to trek once more into unknown territory and turned right this time to go home, and circled up into the northern coast (big weekend for us).

so, we ended up driving out to some golf course, and had to stay for lunch once we saw this view from their dining hall (we cannot complain!) and ended up having a delicious lunch
(Dad, I know you would love this! it's a bowl of ramen and a rice ball on the side!)

~~
Thanks for joining us for one of our weekends here in Guam- we are growing to really like this little parcel of land in the Pacific. till next time, we miss you!

February 15, 2009

Here are some pictures showing some of the highlights from the last month here exploring the heights & depths of our new home, settling in, enjoying time with friends & getting to know new friends, finding some new places to eat (no shortage here) and new hobbies and such on the side:

One Sabbath afternoon a couple weeks ago we hiked to the top of Mt. Lam Lam. Actually we only hiked to the top of the "tourist summit". I guess the real summit is about 30 feet higher. It was the first time we really had that small island feel - we could see ocean to the east, west, and to the south! This is tallest spot on the island at 1334 ft. phew and some say the highest in the world (if you count where its base is in the Marianas trench it is 37172 feet!!!).

There is a tradition where every Easter a cross is brought to the top of the mtn. Here is our hiking group at the top:

Both of us have enjoyed a chance to have some extra time together in our schedules. This gives us the time to get a little diving in during the week sometimes! Here Erika is getting ready to dive at "fish eye" - although tourist-ized it feels like diving in someone's aquarium!

Our Subby is also settling in here, here are her new plates...(ahh, now we can drive crazy and blend in with the local traffic)

We have really enjoyed having the Visschers here - Jonathan & Scott were classmates during dental school, and the 4 of us were friends & climbing buddies in Cali -- Jonathan & Debra moved here in August. We are now also neighbors! It has been wonderful :)
Well, here we all went out to celebrate Debra's birthday at the local Planet Hollywood (??!!!) Happy Birthday Debra!!

We have also sampled more local-flare dining. Last week we went with our friends the Woods - to Top of the Mar. It is a Navy-operated restaurant only open to the public on Thursday evenings for (Scott's fav)... Mongolian Grill!

it boasts an absolutely beautiful vista and a perfect place to watch the sunset --
afterwards torches are lit as the sun disappears

It is a set price per plate so of course I (Scott) had to put as much as possible on my plate!
(it was impressive!)

Arrrrr! (for Visscher)... This past weekend we had a day-after-Valentines outing to Jeff's Pirates Cove for dinner. We are working on ticking off a recommended-Eats list that our friend Mike Mercado compiled for us. Unfortunately he and his family are away from Guam at this time....Mike was deployed to Afghanistan this past summer....
we are all eagerly awaiting the Mercado family's return this year!
Well, thank you Mike for the recommendation ~~there's nothing like siting next to the ocean, with wonderful company and great food!
(We can't wait to share dinner here with you Mike & Gemma)
Ah...and a new hobby....the sunset picture on our blog heading above displays our new acquisition - yes, we have acquired a sailboat. I know...some of you may be shaking your head knowing our sailing-expertise! :) She is a 1970 Bristol 29, sadly sitting for 5 years and it is going to take a little muscle to scrub her clean. Last weekend Gordon Garner (very very grateful for his help!) and I (Scott) got the little diesel inboard running and this weekend Erika & I spent some time cleaning - 5 years of mold, dust, etc... Next weekend we plan on moving her to a slip down further south in Agat. Hopefully we'll get her sailing soon! (we'll keep you updated!!)

Home

It is hard to believe that we have been here in Guam for over a month. While we have had to make many adjustments, from everything to the new time zone, to a running AC because of the humidity, to getting used to working in the clinic, to being able to walk to work (just to name a few)...we have come through the month excited to be here, and blessed by this new experience. We have come to embrace our half of our duplex as "home" - and it has undergone transformation from the initial very white, empty, hollow sounding concrete establishment to a home. What is it that has made it so? I think the process of moving in and cleaning is rather a bonding experience - get to know the bad & dirty of the place, chase the gigantic, horrible roaches out - sort of gets you to feel attached to a place. Then, we sat upon our loaner-couches that stood alone in our very white-walled, tile living room, staring at the very white blank wall and this led to our inspiration to paint - ah, yet another step in the transformation - color! Next our crate that we had to move our stuff in arrived - a little surreal to see this 20' crate come up, and aside from a slight tumble of boxes in its trans-pacific journey, everything was as we had last seen it when we packed 6 months prior in California. I felt rather sickened by the quantity, as we had towers of boxes lining our living room. What IS all this stuff?? box after box - and somehow, we realize that our simple lives, really are far from it. We still somehow pledge to sort through things and simplify. But, the boxes did hold familiar objects, and they have assumed their new places in this house...and this also, has helped this place feel like home. So we sit in our living room and there is a meeting of old & new, and even pictures hang (quite the feat on concrete walls), but I think most all, it is having each other here, being here together and building our lives here together, regardless of all the stuff, that has made this feel like home....so happy 1 month!
here are some pictures of our home:

Living room (yes, a red wall!)

Dining area

The kitchen

Our bedroom (found the furniture - from German

lady who imports from Bali)
here we are, enjoying a sunset view
(come visit!)