Old Man by the Sea

Meet the "Old Man by the Sea". Amazing, no?
See the resemblance?
Karate Kid 12

This place was incredible! Getting there took a 20 minute hike through dense jungle, and we had exactly an hour to get there and back before dark. There's no way we could have made it out of that jungle in the dark. The path was really narrow, and we had to climb over and under branches and slip and stick in the mud. There were even a few spots where we had to use ropes to maneuver the slippery inclines and declines. It was definitely a worthwhile adventure though!

New Ride

We are officially an SUV family! We decided to replace our Altima with something more evenly matched to the rugged terrain on this island. We got an excellent deal on this Nissan Pathfinder, and we love it!

My Frog Prince

With pictures such as these, is a caption really necessary?

Typhoons & Earthquakes

My first "Be ready for typhoon sale"!

" Powerful"? I felt it, but just barely. I'm sitting here home alone working on the computer and, suddendly, I feel my chair shake. It literally just felt like someone had snuck up behind me and started shaking my chair. I even had to turn around to be sure no one was there. Nothing else in the room appeared to budge. Apparently, Eric and his co-workers felt it pretty strongly at the court though. I wasn't sure it was an earthquake until he called me up seconds later and asked, "Did you feel that?"

Youth Conference

Planning this Youth Conference was the biggest church responsibility I've ever taken on, and now I can say, the most rewarding. Because we live on a small island, the kids really only have each other, but you'll never hear them complain. Instead, they're all best friends with huge smiles and huge testimonies. Eric and I love these kids. The youth and the branch is probably what we'll miss most about this island.

Priceless sunsets

Eric had to run up and down the beach to capture this amazing silhouette of the rowers. It was such a gorgeous shot, I had it enlarged (2' x 3') and framed for Eric's birthday. It's now in his office. We also used a similar photo for our Youth Conference banner ("Power in Purity").
My shot doesn't really compare, but I think it captures the postcard that we're living in. Eric & I feel extremely lucky to be living here.

Random Loveliness

Top: Managaha (small island off of Saipan), 2nd: Banzai Cliffs (where the Japanese committed suicide during WWII), 3rd: Bird Island, and 4th: the view from our Bungalow!

Playing in the mud

This shot was taken shortly after they had been playing football in the POURING down rain. I was pretty impressed (as I watched from the car). Here's a short 1 min video of them embracing their manhood: "Boys will be Boys"

New Hobby

The water here is unlike anything I've ever seen! It's warm and crystal clear. All sorts of bright and exotic fish swim right beside you, and the underwater caves and coral are breathtaking.

Picasa

Apparently, I'm better at uploading pictures than I am at journaling. So if you're interested in seeing our online photo album, please do. Saipan has proven to be very photogenic.
Click here to see more photos.