Guisinger's Represent!

After a week of campaigning and handing out candy bars reminding students to "Vote YES for JESS," as well as cute fans to a few key people,  we found out last Friday that Jessica was elected as the Executive President for Guam High School for the upcoming school year!!!  Then, when Tanner came home from school that same day he casually mentioned that he'd find out Monday if he was elected National Jr. Honor Society President.  "What??!!"  I didn't even know he was running . . . surprise, surprise.  He said he decided to run at the last minute, gave a spur-of-the-moment speech, and began to wait for the results.  Well, he came home from school today and, as we were asking how his day had been, let us know that we were speaking to the new NJHS President!!!  So - two for two.  Both kids won and we are very pleased and excited for the opportunities and experiences which await them!

Tanner and the eCybermission National Competition

Tanner, along with the other three members of Team Proton, have been working on designing a small hydroelectric generator for a STEM competition for the past six months.  After winning the island and regional events his team was selected to represent the SE region (??? really??   Last time I checked Guam was WEST of the US) of the US in the National eCybermission competition which will be held June 17 - 21st.  There will be 16 teams total competing - four teams from each grade level, 6 through 9.

To see a news clip from one of the local TV stations click here:
7th graders solve community problem

To see the official news release click here:

And the official DODEA news release here:


Tanner is getting pretty excited to go!  We'll keep you posted on how they do in a few weeks.

Birthday in Guam

 May 24th - Jessicas 17th Birthday

The day began with two fun surprises: 
First - Shannon (one of Jess' good friends) started off the day just right! she set up her first period class with turtles all over!
Second - When Jess got home from school she had a special email from Reed waiting in her inbox.

I took Jess out of school early so that we would have a day to go "play". We didn't want to waste anytime so instead of going to a beach up north we hurried home to change and then went down south. We first went to a look out point in Umatac and took some pictures while waiting for Big John and his Caribao, Betsy, to show up.

Big John walks all around the southern part of the island giving rides to people. We came on a great day! The sun was out and Betsy was hot so Big John let Jess go into the water on Betsy. It was so cute, Betsy's legs couldn't touch the bottom so she just floated there with her little snout sticking out.   

 After the ride went went down the road to the Priest Pools. (Pools of water that ancient priests bathed in) We had seen pictures and it looked beautiful, however when we got there it dawned on us that it was the middle of dry season so all the water in the pools had dried up. We still had fun sticking our feet in the water.

We got done with the pools around 1:30 so we headed home to pick up Rachel and Tanner from school. We cleaned up and then headed to pick up Chad from the airport (he had been at the Far East soccer tournament). We had some time to kill so went to an awesome new ice cream shop down in Agat. He got in around 4:30 and then we just went down the hill into Tumon to have dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. (She is her fathers daughter)

 On our way home we saw a ton of smoke so we went fire chasing and found the fires in the back yard of one of our friends. So we stopped to make sure they were okay. Being the adventurous person she is Jess thought that was one of the best parts of her day. 

 We had a continuation of her birthday on Saturday so Chad could be with us. We went Zorbing and then to the Inarajan pools to have a picnic and go swimming.

 (Zorbing is When you get inside that big ball and then roll down the hill.)

(The girls had a contest trying to catch the fruit snacks in their mouth)

Since we first found out we were moving here Jess has been asking for a pet turtle. We went to Chamorro village on Wednesday and they were selling turtles for a reasonable price but because we're heading back to the states for the summer we had no one to take care of it.  I said we could get one when we got home so a stuffed one would have to do for now.

Jessica and "Zoom"

 We had a great weekend celebrating with Jess and it will for sure be remembered.

So Many Fun Things . . .

My "excuse" for not keeping up with the blog is the thought of having to download pictures to include (it literally takes hours for me to do one post - tech saavy person that I am NOT).  The obvious response would be, "don't include a picture."  However for me, that's the best part.  Pictures truly do contain hundreds of words, and, in my opinion are usually the best part of most blogs.  So, in an effort to get "caught up," (which I realistically realize will NEVER happen - here is a summary of our favorite events over the last few months:

Paddling

What an opportunity - to join a Paddling team in Guam!  Not many opportunities to do paddling on the mainland, and I'm so pleased that she took advantage of this great experience.  There's much more to paddling than just the racing.  It involves a lot of culture and tradition, including several spiritual aspects.  She learned a lot, gained a new skill, and got great exercise in the process.

Jess' boat coming in from their best race of the season - 2nd place in the semi final championship!
(She is in the 5th position)

This is a panorama of the beach on race day. Each school sets up multiple canopy tents to sit under when they
aren't on the boats. Lots of barbecues going and music playing.  Race days are always fun!

The six paddlers who go out pray as a group before each race for a safe return.  What a novel idea :o)  I love Guam!

Little Jess and Big Jess.
(Jessica and her twin sister, Caroline, are two of Rachel's best friends here)

Jess - right before getting in the boat for the semi final race.

Jess and her teammate, Taylor, excited after doing well in their race!

Mt. Lam Lam Ice Cream

Chad took the kids to, what we have been told is, the best ice cream and Shave Ice on island.  It is located in a small shop, tucked away in the shadow a large Catholic church, with very limited hours.  We actually spent about an hour, follow various sets of directions (even driving in circles at one point), only to pull up just before noon to find out that it wasn't open for another 20 minutes.  We were not about to give after all that, so we headed to the Payless grocery store across the street to pick up a few things.  Was it worth all the driving and the wait . . .

Savannah Smith (another great friend), Rachel and Tanner

YES!  Definitely a must-go while on Guam.  I have been assured that we will go again. 

An Abundance of Local Fruits - Ripe for Our Picking!

We went to visit some friends on another base the other day because they'd been telling us about all the fruit they'd been picking.  We walked with them to the rear of the property and found a mango tree, heavily laden with ripe mangoes, and about a dozen trees filled with "Guam Cherries" (otherwise known as Manzanita, or Panama Cherries).  Rachel and I picked a bagful of mangoes, and a bucket full of cherries.  It is finally mango season.  I have been waiting all year for this.  I am SO excited - mangoes, mangoes, everywhere.  In fact, there is even a Mango Festival this coming weekend in Agat!!  I've already dried several trays of mangoes, made several smoothies, put them in salad and eaten plenty - just plain! 

Soccer Trip to Japan

Chad coached the Boy's Soccer team this year for Guam High School.  Two weeks ago he was able to take the team to Kadena, Okinawa for the Far East competition.  They didn't do so well, but they sure had a lot of fun!  And, Chad was able to enjoy a return to Okinawa - American Village, Jusco, Coco's Curry, a favorite Okinomiyaki restaurant, Gate 2, etc.

Prom

Zack and all his lovely ladies!  Jessica went to Jr. Prom this year with several friends.  The group, from L to R (Lauren Reeder, Jess Plummer, Jess Guisinger, Zach Mckeller, Sabrina Sabel, Caroline Plummer, Hannah Heckman) Such a fun group of kids!!

Taking pictures became a little uncomfortable in the heat, long dress, high heels, and grass. . . .

. . . a beautiful view, and a beautiful young woman.  Ready to head off to Prom!

A Bike Ride

Rachel and Tanner were bored one Saturday so they called around, borrowed two bikes, and set out for an adventure.  They enjoyed an afternoon cruising around base, enjoying a cool treat at McDonald's, and then racing home.  I'm so glad they have so much fun together!!

Well folks, that is it for now.  A few more posts to do and then . . . I won't say I'll be caught up, but I will have captured several of the more noteworthy or fun moments in our family's life.

Temple Trip to Tokyo

 Lots has happened over the last few months . . . but we'll start with one of my favorites - our trip to Tokyo so we could go to the temple with Reed for his first time.  What a great experience / adventure!

Our adventure began on Tuesday, February 26.  The kids and Sloan caught a C-130 at Andersen AFB around 4:30p, and landed at Kadena AFB in Okinawa about 10:15p that night.  Because the plane was a powered by propellers it was a bit slower than planes with jet engines (a 6 hr. flight as opposed to 3 1/2).  However, we were warm (which had been a huge concern) and, we got to walk around and stretch out.  It was quite loud, but we all had earphones. We saw a gorgeous sunset, and had a great flight!  The only downfall . . . the latrine was a bucket with a toilet seat set on top of it that was surrounded by a thin curtain located near the rear of the plane - right near the cargo. . . nice.

We were able to spend several days in Okinawa - visiting favorite parks and beaches, renewing friendships, etc. - before heading on to Tokyo. 

One of our favorite beaches, Araha Beach . . .

 . . .  otherwise known as Pirate Ship Park

One of our favorite parks . . .

. . . Drop Slide park out gate 2 - which also had a roller slide . . .

Because the military Space-A flights to Yokota from Okinawa kept getting cancelled, we ended up having to buy tickets on Japan Airline (JAL) to get from Naha to Haneda, Friday morning. 

The stewardess offered . . . so Jessica accepted :0)

Chad had arrived in Tokyo the day before and decided to meet us at the airport so he could guide us back to the hotel.  It was quite a process.  We took a combination of buses, trains, and lots of footsteps(definitely a planes, trains, and automobiles kind of day) to make it to our hotel but we finally made it to the New Sanno!  We were so excited to be there - one to finally all be together in Japan, going to the temple, and two, being able to stay at the New Sanno once again.  The New Sanno is a beautiful hotel located in the heart of Tokyo run by the army.  We stayed there several times prior to this weekend, while living in Okinawa, and it had become a favorite.  And,  this time the kids brought their swimsuits, and actually got to swim :o)  (family joke)


The purpose, and highlight, of our trip was finally a reality . . . our trip to the Tokyo Temple.

It was so wonderful - to be in the temple with all of our children.  What a blessing!  I went down to the baptistry with Jessica, Rachel and Tanner while Chad and Reed did some preliminary things;  then I met them upstairs in the chapel.  What an amazing experience!!

The next day, Saturday, was spent mostly in Tokyo.  A friend of ours, Chris Okano, (who served in Auburn as a missionary) met us in Shibuya and walked around with us for the day.  A fun "coincidence" occurred while waiting to meet up with Chris.  We had just walked out of the train station in Shibuya when we saw two elders standing in the middle of the sidewalk area.  We went over to them to say hi and began to ask where they were from, etc.  Chad mentioned that he had served a mission in Hokkaido and one of the elders said, "Hey, my dad served in Sapporo."  Long story short - Chad and this elder's dad, Eric Kerr, had been roommates on their mission, and at BYU afterwards.   Sloan and his mom, Anitra, are also friends - what a small world. . . .

Elder Kerr is the missionary between Chad and Sloan

An interesting side note.  Notice the short sleeves and light suit coat being worn by the elders, in contrast to the winter jackets and scarves worn by the Guisingers.  Needless to say Tokyo was a tad bit colder than Guam.  It took some getting used to.  Brrrrr . . .

Chad left to fly back to Guam early Sunday morning, while Sloan and the kids went to a special stake conference being held in northern Tokyo.  They got a ride with the Roth family - a family visiting from Misawa whom we had met in the temple two nights before.  The Roth's were there with their daughter who, as it turned out, was entering the MTC about 3 weeks before Reed.  Elder Callister spoke during the conference, and then Sloan and the kids caught a train to Yokota with many of the members from the Yokota ward who had gone to Tokyo for the conference.  We met so many wonderful and helpful people.  They truly made the remainder of our trip much more comfortable and enjoyable.  What a blessing!!

There were no flights headed to Guam on Monday so we walked to a 100 yen store off base, the commissary and the BX.  I LOVE 100 yen stores, and really miss not being able to go to them.  They have so many fun things to buy . . .  We also found a vending machine on the way back to the base that sold Corn Soup.  Reed was so excited!  It brought back memories of another trip to Yokota - one we took in December of 2007.  Later that night we saw that there was a flight headed back to Guam early the next morning.  So . . . after an early morning shuttle ride to the flight line, a heart-pumping race to the Japanese passport office (located right off base) with Reed, and several delays, a KC-135 finally took off and we were headed home.

Our flight home was quite the adventure.  The plane we fly in is often used to refuel other aircraft while in mid-air.  One of the crew members took Reed and I underneath the tail of the plane to the fueling boom.  We got to lay down in the cockpit?? (for lack of a better term), and experience what it would be like to try and connect a fuel line to a fuel tank while flying in mid-air.  Wild! What an amazing feat.  Very impressive!!

But wait, that's not all - Reed got to sit in the cockpit during take-off, and Tanner was invited to sit there during landing.  Both of the boys spent about 30 minutes in the cockpit with the flight crew - asking questions and watching the maneuvering that went on.  Definitely an amazingly fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We were gone exactly a week; a week that was full of memories, fun, and adventure!