Christmas in Saipan!

We spent Christmas Eve (day) at Managaha Island with two neighbor families. What a perfect way to spend the holiday! Of course, I must admit that we did go home, turn on the air conditioning and drink HOT chocolate with whip cream and candy canes...it was Christmas after all!
Merry Christmas!
Managaha Island...
Max in his new bath robe from Grandpa...
goofin' around at bath time!

Christmas in Saipan cont.

Mom and Tayah waiting at the dock for the Managaha Ferry...

Max waiting patiently for the ferry...
Megan, Max, Kiana, Tayah and Sera Ann at Managaha on Christmas Eve...Megan and Kiana both live in our neighborhood and are good friends of Tayah and Max.

Christmas in Saipan cont.

Max's Christmas Program - see description below...
Max is in the middle - 8th from your right.
Jingle Bells!
Whispering Palms School, where Tayah is in 2nd grade, put on the musical Twas' the Night Before Christmas. Every student had a part - Tayah was Prancer the Reindeer. She was very proud of her part and carried it off with much confidence - including the 5 lines that she had!
Prancer!

Christmas in Saipan cont.

The Saipan Hawleys...


The Saipan International School Christmas program...
The Kindergarten class (and K4) wore Santa outfits and sang (with all their might!) Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and Jingle Bells. As a finale, the whole school sang a Saipan version of The Twelve Days of Christmas - including two trips to Guam and a coconut in a palm tree -it was really rather humorous!

Krista's Soccer Season

I had NEVER played soccer before - and as of Sept., I couldn't have told you one bit about the game. So, just for the fun of it, I decided to play womens league soccer this fall. It was a blast! I learned a ton - and still have tons more to learn, I made some new friends, got some good exercise and got to 'socialize' three or four times a week (practices and games).
Our team name was Wild Fire (we were sponsored by a Thai restaurant named Wild Bills and our uniforms were orange) and we held first place throughout the season. This past Sat. was our Finals game which we won in over-time! A friend took a few photos of me during a game a few weeks ago - my number is #1.


Here are 14 of our players (along with our volunteer coach, Steve) - we had about 20 players signed up on our team.

Photos from Nov. 2007

Max's Kindergarten class was asked to decorate one of the Christmas trees in the airport. The had to use all recylable materials. It was a great learning experience for the kids - and fun when they got to go inside the airport to hang their ornaments.
The three kids waiting for Tayah's Brownie (Girl Scout) Investiture Ceremony to begin. Stay tuned for photos of the actual ceremony...
Max and Sera...
One last soccer photo...

Happy 3rd Birthday Sera Ann!

Truely a Sera 'move'...
"Don't bring the cake to me...I'll just go to the cake". Before I knew it, she had climbed on top of the table to blow out her candles. No one can say that Sera is afraid to go after what she wants!
We had a wonderful birthday for her - on her birthday, we celebrated with just the family, and then a few days later we had an afternoon party for her with 5 of her closest friends and their siblings. We made fruit loop necklaces and played outside on the swingset.
Happy Birthday Sera Ann...

Happy 3rd Birthday Sera Ann!

Here are the cupcakes that the kids decorated when we celebrated Sera's birthday with just the 5 of us (on her actual birthday - Nov. 15).
The night of her actual birthday, she opened presents from the family. Everyone spoiled her with wonderful presents that she truely loved. Here she is pausing mid-way through opening to put on her new Jasmine outfit from her Great Aunt Lynne.
The birthday girl during her weekend/friend party.
The Bunny Cake...
My mom made this cake for me when I turned 3, I made it for Tayah when she turned 3 and now I made it for Sera Ann when she turned 3! Not professional - but made with lots of LOVE!

Max's soccer season

Nate and Max with their team...
When you coach 5 and 6 year olds, you do a lot of shoe tying!
Ready for action!

max's soccer season

Nate and Max with their team - 5/6 year olds

















When you coach 5 and 6 year olds, you do a lot of shoe tying!
The team!

Max's soccer season

This is one of the public school's soccer fields. The school buildings are in front of Max - and if you look behind Max, that is pristine beach and ocean right at the edge of the field. Not too bad for school grounds huh???
Max and Nate playing around before a game...

Max defending his goal...