Where to?

We have orders!  We were supposed to be gone by now, but we just got orders Wednesday.  Finally!  Hooray!!

Come November, we're headed to...

(hint:  it's got lots of water

....and nothing to do with gingerbread aprons)

GUAM!

Turns out we're not moving very far.  Guam is about a four hour flight from Japan, way out in the middle of the ocean.  Any flights from the states lay over either in Hawaii or (get this)... Tokyo.  So, we may have ended up in the one spot farther from home.

(the girls sharing their sunset beach pictures they drew 

when we told them about our new house)

If this comes as a surprise, you're not alone.  We weren't quite expecting it either!  Originally, our plan was to get out of the Navy after our tour in Japan was done.   While here, Adam learned about an opportunity called Full Time Support.  You'll have to go to him for any real questions, but essentially it's an active duty position in the Navy Reserves.  Adam was accepted to lateral transfer into the program which will allow him to continue to work within the submarine community managing the reservists and supporting the submarine fleet.  

(very excited to try out pastels)

Adam will be working on the USS Frank Cable, a submarine tender (a big repair ship for the submarines and surface ships in Guam/the nearby ocean).  It is a deployable ship, which is kind of ironic given that one of the big reasons we chose to go FTS was so Adam could spend more time with the family.  But we spent a lot of time praying about this new direction, so we just have to trust that this is the path chosen for us.

So how do we feel about Guam?  Well, a bit of everything to be honest.  Initially I was super disappointed.  After three years overseas, I'd really been hoping for somewhere within the contiguous United States.  We were dreaming of road trips to family and friends, summer reunions with extended family, holidays together, being close for weddings, counting the time change on one hand, two day shipping from Amazon...  but that will have to wait.

But we're also really excited.  Everyone we've talked to that's actually lived there has loved it.  It's got gorgeous beaches and snorkeling, and pleasant temperatures year-round. And Claire has graduated from constantly eating sand, so beach days might be reasonably relaxing!  ;)  We're looking forward to the slow pace of island life.

Best of all, we'll be visiting Seattle in November!  The girls and I are hoping to stay 4-6 weeks while Adam goes to school in Norfolk and starts to check-in at Guam, but he will still be in Seattle for a few weeks.   We're looking forward to seeing as many people as we can!