July Journal

Rainbow over Saipan: If you click on this photo to see it full size you should be able to make out the second bow as well. (Photo taken, Sunday, July 20, 2008 during the ferry ride back from Managaha)

It seems the summertime flies by just as fast on Saipan as it does when we are on the Mainland. The beginning of summer vacation six weeks ago feels like yesterday and a life time ago. And now it's drawing to a close. On Sunday, Babs and I will celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary with a "babymoon" at the Marianas Resort (home of our favorite spa, the Mandi). Monday afternoon when we get home will be devoted to the last of the house projects we hope to finish this summer. Tuesday I'll be at the school working all day long and Wednesday morning, my vacation is effectively over when I fly to Hawaii for principal's meetings (where I'll be representing Barbara) and teacher's orientatation where I'll meet next year's batch of teachers. And when I return on August 7, there will only be a week left till school begins.

Below, just a couple of the great memories of a summer well-spent in Saipan. Indeed, these are days we'll remember:


Last Day of Summer School, July 3, 2008: Here's Babs with our three summer high school English students. For our final day, after taking their last grammar exam and discussing Leo Tolstoy's "Family Happiness", Babs and I took the girls to the Mandi Asian Spa to celebrate the end of their summer classes.


The view from the Mandi. Notice how low the tide was. Even with the reef above water, it's still beautiful.

Vacation Bible School: Amy Foote, our pre-school director and Andrea Stafford, a church member organized a VBS program this year at our church. The VBS ran from July 7 to July 11. I helped out by having some former, current, and perhaps future members of REAL Christian Theater perform a skit each night. The skit you see above is a REAL classic called "His Strength, Our Journey" which we perfomed on the final night of VBS. I also pitched with the kindergarten classes and told a LOT of stories! (In photo from L to R: "M", "Little Sister", "J.I.", Me, "Harry" and "J".

Amy's Birthday! Our super-talented pre-school director and dear friend Amy Foote celebrated her birthday on July 12. Carol organized a murder mystery game for her party and it was lots of fun. We all had to come "in character" and throughout the evening we had to try to figure out "whodunit." Unfortunately, I totally forgot to take pictures (which is a shame because Carol looked pretty funny in her costume as the Frenchman "Bo Jalais"--she had a beret and little mustache and everything). But I did get this lovely shot of the birthday girl!

This past Sunday, July 20, was a classic "Saipan Day" where we took full advantage of the delights of living on a tropical island paradise. First, Megan and I headed out to do some Scuba diving with our diving friends, Mark and Tammy James. Mark took the pictures you see below--thanks Mark!


Doing "Okay"

Under the Sea

Megan smiles for the camera


Swimming with the fishes

After diving we went home for about an hour and then took off for Managaha Island. Babs and I, along with Megan, John, Carol, and her youngest kids spent the afternoon under the sun and in the sea. That night John and I went to see The Dark Knight at our multiplex which reopened in May. All in all, a full and fun day!


Saipan as seen from Managaha Island

Carol's son and his friend show off their masculinity

Babs and Elijah

Carol and her daughter, "Little Sister", on the ferry ride back from Managaha

Megan and JohnMo

The dock at Managaha




On Thursday, July 24, we celebrated Fredo Paez's 18th birthday. He and a couple dozen of his closest friends spent the afternoon at World Resort, then met at a nearby park for a pizza and soda supper. Babs and I hosted the "afterparty"--taking Fredo, his little brother, Carol, and a friend of Fredo's out for ice cream at The Big Dipper, Saipan's only ice cream shop.


Fredo and his friend enjoy their ice cream.

Fredo's Birthday After Party at Big Dipper: (Clockwise from left) Me, Babs, Carol, Fredo, and friend.

You'll notice a blue binder in my lap in the picture above. That brings us to the next photo:


Brad and Sheri. Who are these people you ask? Not Brad and Sheri. . .actually I don't know who these people are. This was the picture that that was placed as a "sample photo" by the manufacturers of a wallet I purchased a few years ago. Brad and Sheri are two characters in a novel I've been working on and I used this photo as the basis of a description of their wedding photo. In my minds, eye Brad and Sheri looked something like these two. At any rate, this past Wednesday, I finally finished the first draft of my novel, which I've been working on for the last four years. I spent several hours every day this summer toiling away on this book. The blue notebook you saw in the previous picture was my first hard copy of the book which I was reading through for the first time. If my novel gets published, eventually all of you will know who Brad and Sheri are.