Hafa Adai!

Hafa Adai! That is the greeting commonly heard here in Guam.  Much like Aloha in Hawaiian, it means hello and is used when acknowledging someone.  Now that we have been here a while, it is staring to roll off the tongue.  The people here are very friendly, I have several say hello (hafa adai) when I am running errands or around town.   The natives here are called Chamorro, which is also what their language is called.  For a while the language was not used as much, but there is a renewed  interest in it and it is now taught in the schools on the island.  Although Chamorro is the heritage of the locals, there are many people from several of the near-by islands that live here.  We have met people from Chuuk, Pohnpei and Yap. 

This week we went to our ward's trunk-or-treat.  Living without my usual resources (Joann's, sewing machine, etc.) the Halloween costumes were a little less polished, but the kids had fun just the same.  David was even able to squeeze into last years, one of the benefits of not growing much.  Addie and Sierra went as hula girls to round out the island theme.  I was also able to squeeze in a Halloween 5K.  I'm finding more running routes and others who run, but still on the hunt for a running group.

Addie with her friend, Samantha

Suzy with Dora, one of David's friends.

Island cuties.  Whenever Summerine sees Addie she wants to be in her arms.

I found this stow-away hidden in the car pounding his candy.

Some of our 5K crew.

 We love our weekends here, we usually manage to find time for something fun on Saturday and Sunday is filled with service and hopefully some more family time.  Saturday we had our best round of snorkeling yet.  Sadly, Sierra and Suzy weren't feeling well and stayed home and on top of that, I forgot my camera.  The highlights were seeing sea turtles and Bugs getting the hang of using his snorkel.  The fish  were amazing at this spot, so many and lots of varieties.  We will definitely be heading back there and everyone will be able to go, so looking forward to that!! I am hoping for an underwater camera, we'll see if it is in the budget.

Home sweet home

We are feeling a little more settled.  I continue to scour a few local sites for furniture people are selling when they leave the island.  Still some things to get, but we are starting to think of this place as home.  The biggest difference is our home here is all the walls are made of cement.  This is earthquake and typhoon country.  It makes hanging anything up interesting, but I am sure we will be glad when the storms hit. Other than that and the view we have of the ocean, it isn't much different from other houses we have lived in. We would love and welcome all visitors, unfortunately tickets here are not cheap, but we promise to show you a good time if anyone is interested.