1st Grade Photos

Here are some photos from my 1st grade class- they love getting their picture taken!

Time in Saipan

For those of you interested in knowing the time in Saipan here it is! Thanks Uncle Pete!

Student Activities Saipan Community School

Dear Friends, Family, and Readers:

I thought I would share a brief blog with you showing some pictures from a middle school basketball game at our school since it is a very different environment from recreational basketball league in the states. Our students need lots of encouragement as basketball (as a team sport) is new to them and they are still getting used to playing and learning the rules, but here are a few pictures for your enjoyment. The games we watched were the girls who played first and the boys who played second. I have also posted a video of a student of mine named Andy as he demonstrates his Yo Yo skills. He told me he has been in three competitions, so I filmed him after school. It is neat to be a part of the lives of so many talented and for the most part respectful kids. I hope you enjoy.
Sincerely, Grant

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday... The Girls Version!

Hi On Sunday while Grant and the boys were caving, the girls and I were doing what we do best..........swimming and hanging out by the pool. I am a fish and I love to swim all the time whether that be in the beach or the pool. Liz, Rachel, Amy, and I spent the afternoon swimming, laying out, and chatting. It was very relaxing and stressfree. I love getting to know these girls more every time we hang out and feel so blessed to have them in my life. They make living in Saipan amazing!
After the boys came back-which was a fun reunion we watched the boys swim and then headed to Wild Bill(a local restaurant) and all ate dinner together. It was seriously one of my favorite days in Saipan and the kicker is we all planned it last minute. It was an amazing day!
Here are some of my favorite pics from the day!

Spelunking in Saipan

Dear Friends, Family, and Readers:

This previous weekend I had fun spending my Sunday caving with some friends. We went caving at some caves found on Saipan along a narrow trail leading into the jungle just off of Banzai Cliff. This is not my first time caving as I did a more extensive stint with my high school physical science teacher Mr. Ford when I followed some of my peers into Adventure Scouts (an off shoot of the Boy Scouts of America). With Mr. Ford and fellow classmates I explored Spring Valley Caverns in Southern Minnesota. I have some pictures of that experience, but will not post any for this blog.
The experience caving this time was just as grueling as I remember and just as tight as we crept through places as tight as chest and back to the wall of the cave. We found some WWII artifacts and some artifacts which may have been more recent but we were unable to tell due to the rust that had eaten the majority of anything metal. When I entered one cave I somehow got poop on my hand and could not tell where it had come from, the mysterious beast, which chose not to identify itself will forever remain a conundrum. We spent about three hours in the two caves we explored. After exiting the caves we looked for sea turtles off of Banzai Cliff and I took a picture of a fisherman who was precariously standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean. When we had had enough of the cool breeze we got in the car and went back to Flame Tree Apartments (where our friends live) and jumped in the pool. Our wives joined in watching us swim. At the pool we decided it would be good to get some food so we went to one of our favorite restaurants Wild Bill's Bar and Grill for some grub. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

This is Grant signing off!

Pictures are of the following (but not in order):
- Brian M. pretending to eat an American made rusted grenade from inside the cave
-Brain M. giving the hang loose sign as Josh crawls through an opening.
-Tools (a wrench, batteries, an oil drum etc) found in the cave
-Josh and Brian at Banzai (didn't get the picture of Matt in there, sorry Matt)
-Kara and Rachel at Wild Bill's
-Crazy fisherman I saw off of Banzai.
-I also got a picture of Josh taking photos as our official extreme cave photographer. I hope to get a zip file from him of images he took of me and the other guys to post later.

Girl Time!

This weekend I have had a lot of fun hanging out with my girls here in Saipan. On Saturday Amy and I made cards together. It is such a relaxing time, you get to make cute cards, and chatting with a friend is always nice.This time we made valentines day cards and birthday cards so I am set for the year on birthday cards! This is the 3rd time I have gone so I feel as though I am understanding everything more and am more confident in my work. When I got home I started to make my own cards and plan on making cards on my own!
Sunday was girls night. We started off with the boys at PIC and then everyone came to my house for a movie! We watched Leap Year, one of my favs. I love all of these girls dearly and they have made my stay in Saipan an awesome one!

New Years Resolutions

This is Kara's New Years Resolutions-
I really enjoyed 2010 and all the change it brought into my life. I am equally excited about this new year too. I do believe in New years resolutions, because it is a good time to reevaluate your life.
So here they are:
1) Read the bible everyday. This can be a verse- to an entire book. I do not want to limit myself.
2) Work out more. I work out at the gym once a week, but want to walk more.
3)Put my best effort into everything I do, whether that be relationships, work, hobbies!

Happy New Year Everyone!
Kara

PIC

PIC is short for Pacific Islands Club. It is a resort on Saipan that has a waterpark. For those of you who know me well know that I love water parks and could spend everyday in one. Grant and I went to PIC for the day for the first time on Saturday. Our favorite part was the lazy river and we can not even count the times that we went around. I enjoyed the water slides even though they were pretty small and just being able to relax. To me it seems made more for kids than adults which was kind of a downer since there is not an "adult" pool or huge waterslides. We had a ton of fun tho and just spent the day talking, swimming, and hanging out. It was amazing to me and i said this to Grant that it is January and here we are swimming outside on a tropical island. Amazing! So here are a few pics from our date at PIC!

Ringing in the New Year by Hiking:)

On New Years Day a group of friends and Grant and I all went trekking to Bird Island. It was a beautiful day in Saipan and it is a fairly easy hike. We went to Bird Island to snorkel in the reef. It is gorgeous there because it is a Wildlife Sanctuary and it is protected so people can not take items from there. On the way I saw a purple starfish in the water and ran to it. It was so great to be able to hold it in my hand and to feel the sea life up close. We saw a lot of brightly colored fish and enjoyed our time snorkeling. Bird Island is one of my favorite hikes and it fun going again because you see something new each time. The best part was having Grant as my hiking partner!

New Year's Celebrations

Our New Years was a great time of being with friends. We spent the day hanging out. Then at night we met up with Amy and Matt for free food at Wild Bills. They also had free drinks which ended up being kinda humorous because i just wanted water and they made me pay for water but the drinks were free.. oh the irony. It was a great feast and the best part was that it was free. From there we had people over which was great because I wanted to host a new years party so it worked out well. We shot off fireworks at the beach and then played games. The Game of Things was so hilarious with a great group of friends. From there we went to the Hyatt downtown and watched their firework show. It was short but sweet. It was wonderful to hang out with good friends to ring in the new year. I have felt so blessed to have these people in my life to enjoy my time in Saipan with. It makes being here amazing! Enjoy the pics! Happy New Year!