Worth Her Weight in Silver...

I always like to keep my gifts for Anna a surprise. Last year she knew what I was getting her for her birthday before I did. Last Christmas it was a good week prior to the actual holiday when she had her gift and was already done with it. (It was the book Twilight and she had the whole thing read before Christmas Eve Eve...)

For her 25th birthday I was careful to really keep the whole thing under wraps. I called the places I needed to and made reservations, but didn't write a thing down for fear that she'd stumble across my notes. I contacted a few friends that were to join us and kept them to an oath of secrecy. And if emails were involved, I deleted them as soon as they were read, and I then deleted my trash to cover my steps. And to my surprise, I did actually keep the gift a secret until it was time for the reveal. She tried to guess it and asked me a few hundred times to tell her, but I stuck to my guns.

Last year on her birthday we drove around the island and saw Guam's sights. We drove by the dock for a small island and resort off of the coast of Guam called "Cocos Island." I thought it would be a great idea to go there for a special occasion.

Anna on her 24th Birthday with Cocos Island in the background

This year, as we drove closer to the southern tip of Guam Anna looked at the map and asked if we were going to Cocos Island. She'd guessed a dozen things already that day, so this was no indication that she was any closer to figuring it out. "Are we going to that island?"

"Island? Oh, you mean Saipan. No, we are can't afford to fly there."

"No, not that one, Kokomo or something like that."

"Cocos? Oh, yeah, that would have been a good idea. We totally have to do that some day. Since you have the map open, what town are we in? I'm lost. I'll pull over here so we can check the map."

And guess what parking lot I pulled into. Ain't I good? I parked the car and we took this picture to officially start her gift.

Front Sign

We met up with our friends and boarded the boat. The ferry took about 20 minutes. The first thing we did when we got there was to pay for the biggest part of Anna's gift. The resort island was only the scenery. The gift was her (and my) first parasailing experience.

To pass the time before our appointment, we did some snorkeling. The Japanese tourists have trampled that poor little island to death. The reef is really nothing more now than a brown wet wasteland. I saw a super white eel swimming around, but other than that, not too exciting.

Then came time to parasail. Before you get excited and scroll down for footage, I'll just tell you now that I don't have any pictures. I was worried about getting my camera ruined or lost, so it wasn't on our boat. But I can tell you that it is everything you imagine. Anna was a bit nervous at first, but once she realized that she was not going to plummet to the earth below, she really enjoyed it. I had her loosen her death grip on the ropes and spread her arms like an eagle. It was a rush.

We were extremely parched after the flying and screaming. Rather than get some plain old water, we treated ourselves to much needed ice cream.

Nothing like Ice Cream on a hot sunny day

We met up with our friends and chilled. Two of our group took a walk to a different part of the island where they got "star sand." It's small sand grains that for some reason are shaped like stars. It's some cool stuff. I'll have to work on getting a pic of it for you.

We had a full day and felt like it was time to head back. The ferries only came once an hour, so when the one we wanted came, we had to make a mad dash for them. The pier never felt longer.

Cocos Pier

We were all very tired after the fun day. We gathered together for one last shot under the entrance.

The gang

This was all on the Saturday before Anna's birthday since her birthday is on a Monday this year. But on Monday we had the Kalima family come over and sing happy birthday to her. As we ate cake and ice cream we asked the kids how old they thought Anna was. The first one to answer was Toton, age 8.

"How old do you think I am?"

"Um...Beautiful?" The wisdom of youth.

Next asked was Kiki, age 6.

"How old do you think I am?"

"Um...Oh, I know! 99 Cents!"

To a child my wife may seem to be 99 cents on her 25th birthday, but to me, she's worth her weight in silver.