Sharks' Hole!

A Christmas Hike

This was the best snow I could find on Guam!:)

During Christmas Break Christina, Maggie, Masense, Patty, John, and I decided to hike up to Lao Lao Falls and Fintasi Falls. We reached Lao Lao falls first and a few of us decided to climb down the fall using the rope that was already there. Since I was the only one who wore shoes to climb down, I was the only one who had the privilege of crawling on my hands and knees through a tunnel of sward grass (mud path with sward grass walls and roof:)) to the other side of the fall. I thought the other side was much prettier and would be fun to try to climb up, but where it was wet, it was too slick and where it was dry, it was too crumbly so I had to find the tunnel and climb back up the way we came down.

After a quick rest and a bit of a snack, we were on our way again on to Fintasi Falls. We passed through a little banana and achote plantation on the way. Since it was the first time I had ever seen an achote plant, I just had to get a picture. As we walked on, we came to a place were there was absolutely nothing growing. I found out from our guide, Patty, that this was actually a volcano and that must be why all the vegetation (mostly dry sward grass) suddenly stopped. She guessed that the last time it erupted was before anyone began living on island. Once past the volcano, we could see Fintasi Falls in the distance. It was only a matter of time before we were all cooling off at the bottom of the falls. We all enjoyed the work out and the beauty the Lord has created here on Guam. What a privilege He has given us to enjoy His wonderful works! Hope you enjoy them, too!

After we finished our hike, Patty mentioned visiting Chief Dagao's cave which was on our way back home. Did she say a cave? It was more of a little crevice in the side of the cliff along the shore. As we walked on the corral at the foot of the cliff, water splashing up beside us, I nearly passed it by! But it did have ancient writing on the walls, which was pretty cool:) so we took a group picture inside:)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we had one service at church and then Christina and I went to Pam's for lunch. We had a nice relaxing afternoon and then it was off to Mary's for a Christmas Eve party. We had a good time eating, chatting and of course watching the kids play:)

Mary's daughter, Lydia, played Santa Clause handing out the gifts to each of their guests.

Joel had a wonderful time tearing up all of the tissue and wrapping paper.

Cara Grace had fun playing with her new fish she got from Mary and Lydia.

Christina and I both had a nice time!

International Day

Friday September 22 was International Day at Harvest Chrsitian Academy. We as a school take a day each year to recognize the many different cultures represented by our student body. Many come dressed to represent their own heritage and some of us come as another. Our class enjoyed hearing a story set in the African jungles and making origami butterflies and frogs. Our half day at school ended with a cultural lunch with our parents in the classroom.

Kindergarten Graduation!

On Tuesday, May 16th, after a year of hard work and months of preparation, the kindergarten class of 2006 graduated from Harvest Christian Academy! Each of the three classes performed songs and recited Bible verses for the gratuates' family and friends who cheered them on. Then each of the students got to walk accross the stage to receive a shell lei from our principal, Mrs. Henson, and enjoy his or her moment of accoplishment! Then, after a final song as a grade level, it was off to the classroom for a reception complete with a photo area, cookie cake, goodie bags, and deplomas.

Many of the children left with shell leis, candy leis, flower leis, and even a money lei piled up around their necks which they had received from friends and family. We have had an awesome school year and although I was in tears after they were gone, I'm glad they are moving on to first grade and I know they will do well and have a great time. I'm so proud of each of my students! Praise the Lord for a wonderful class!

I didn't catch Mrs. Ramos (my regualar aid during the school year) for a picture that night. I was so sad! She is a wonderful, godly lady and a true blessing to me! She made the school year run so much more smoothly. Thank you, Mrs. Ramos! This is one of the HBBI students, Camie, that came Tuesday night to help with our graduation reception:)

Insect Day

Friday, April 28th, was Insect Day for Miss Penick's class. About half of the class enjoyed dressing up as insects. We began a science experiment to see which kind of food ants like the best: fruit, vegitables, or sweets. We named our experiment "Ant Picnic" and then hypothosized which food the ants would like the best and why. After recording our hypothosis on chart paper, it was time to set up our experiment outside. Unfortunately, when we came back ot check on our experiment some time later, we discovered it had disappeared. Not having time to begin again, we decided we would have to try again another day. What a disappointment!:(

Our special snacks consisted of Ladybug cupcakes and "Ants on a Log" (peanut butter and celery with raisens).

Everyone enjoyed painting buble bees and making constructon paper ladybugs with movable wings! We also had a bug zoo. Each of the kids who brought in a bug showed it off to the class and we decided whether the bug was an insect or not. We also enjoyed a picnic lunch under the white tent next to our playground...except that I and one of my dumplings who wore a sweat shirt were melting. He ended up in his under shirt. I just continued to melt. I had built my own ladybug saunna out of flannel, black dress pants, and a black turtlneck. After lunch and some time on the playground, we enjoyed watching a video on insects. We had a really great day!

Field Trip to Fish Eye!

On November 29th, we took a field trip to Fish Eye Observatory. I would describe this as a tower that has been built down into the ocean, not too far off shore. I thought this was easier than snorkling:) Most of the students had a parent who joined us as a chaperone, so we had quite a large group! The kids really enjoyed watching the scuba diver feed the fish. I was told he was feeding them dried squid.

I found it rather humorous that we also sell dried squid as a snack in the cafeteria. Maybe I am remembering wrong what he was feeding the fish. Either way, it doesn't sound very appetizing to me:) We spend quite a while just watching the fish and the diver and really had a great time!

After we had seen everything there was to see, we went to a nearby beach for a picnic lunch. The kids enjoyed balancing on the fallen trees and looking for shells and rocks along the shore.

Chamorro Fiesta

In honor of Guam Discovery Day, we had a half day of school and were able to dress up in island wear for the day rather than uniforms on Friday, March 3rd. When I first told my class we would be having a Chamorro Fiesta, one of my girls delightfully squealed, "Chamorro!" She is Chamorro/Filipeno and my little cheer leader:) We had a fun good morning. These are a few of the kids working on a worksheet about seasons (something we don't have here in Guam).



























With such a colorful class, I just had to get everyone together for a class picture! Don't they look great?!























This is 3-year-old Mailani. She came with her sister to pick up a friend from my class. Since I knew her from Extended Care and because she is so cute, I just had to get her picture before she left for the day:)

Sigua Falls Hike

On Martin Luthor King Jr. weekend a group of us went on a hike up to Sigua Falls. This hike I enjoyed much more than the one to Priests' Pools. There was a bit more of a challenge and quite a bit more climbing. These two pictures were taken about an hour or two into the trip when we could finally see the falls across the valley. We walked part of the way and then a few of us sat on our feet and just slid down the side of the mountain. (It had rained the day before, so everything was very slippery.) Believe it or not, I loved it!

























After we reached the bottom the the falls, most of our group chose to go for a little swim, diving in from a few feet up by the waterfall. At this time, I wasn't really interested in swimming. I was more cureous to see if I could climb to the top of the falls. Judging from the steepness of both sides of the falls, I decided it would be more efficient to climb over the mountain and then down onto the falls. Once I had planned my route, I was off on my adventure. I discovered later that I actually chose the more difficult way. Oh, well. The greater the challenge, the more enjoyable the success:) I really did enjoy this extra little hike, possibly more than I would have if I had gone the easier way. I took quite a bit longer than I had expected, though, and my companions began to get a little worried. It all turned out alright in the end, though. This picture was taken from the top of the mountain, looking down on the smaller fall at the top. I had to hold my camera out over the edge because I couldn't quite see where the ground started to decline. It had rained the day before and the ground was muddy and extremely slippery.
Coming down the mountain was a bit more challenging. I was climbing over trees, burshing ants from my arms and dodging giant spiders (probably the most exciting, most difficult, and longest part of my excursion:), but I finally made it to the river and the waterfalls. I took this picture while sitting on the edge of the larger water fall.

This is our hiking group. I reached the top of the falls just in time to see them gather for a group picture just before leaving. I didn't feel like we stayed at the falls for very long at all, but that could be because I was climbing the whole 45 minutes while they were swimming. I wouldn't have traded activities for the world, though. Some day I'll have to go back when we can spend another hour or two out there. I'd like to walk down the river just for the sake of seeing what else there is.

Priests' Pools Hike

During Christmas break, April and I hiked to Priests' Pools. I would describe it as more of a long walk than a hike. Some of the sights were really pretty, though. I always love seeing the ocean. The Lord has really made such beautiful place here! I enjoyed the hike, especially once we reached Priests' Pools.
I thought this was a nice view. You can see Cocos Island just below the horizon. There really isn't much to it, but it's a nice little tourist trap:)

There were seven pools here in all. Most of our group stayed at the upper pool which was the largest. I was surprised to find out that these pools were really rather deep. One of the men in our group jumped from the top were you see them all into the top pool and still didn't reach the bottom!

Believe it or not I'm standing in this tiny little pool! The floor and sides of all the other pools were covered with a slimy moss, so I was relieved to stand on what felt like rocks at the bottom of this pool. After I got out I discovered that those "rocks" were alive! I had been standing on shrimp of all things. I had gone in bare foot, not wanting to wear sopping wet tennis shoes and socks the whole way back, and came out without a single bite. April on the other had went in with zorries and said that they had bitten her. Go figure:)

April and I were the only ones to go all the way down to the end of the stream? waterfalls? what ever you would want to call them. We were curious about the rest of the place. This is at the end of the water looking back. This was also were I had my first run-in with saw grass (to the right of the picture).