For the Rest of Us

On the 27th we celebrated Festivus!

The Dye Family in Newport started us on this tradition last year. That was a REAL Festivus celebration because the head of the household really did bring on the rumble.  Here's a photo of Vince (dad) taking down Preston (son) in Festivus 2006.Doesn't that look like a great family tradition?  We chose more civilized leg wrestling.  Here's Ephraim letting me put up a good fight, again 2006.

This year we again tried to include the proper Festivus elements:

A Festivus Pole. "It requires no decoration.  I find tinsel distracting."

Feats of Strength- "Let's RUMBLE!" We hurled coconuts across the lawn.





Airing of Grievances- "I've got a lot of problems with you people! Now you're gonna hear about it."

Here are a few of our gripes:

• People who don't wash their hands after using the bathroom
  
• People who drive too slow over the potholes
  
• People who drive too slow
  
• Potholes
  
• Stray dogs
  
• Litter on the beach and in our yards
  
• People who talk in movies
  
• People who sing along to music in movies
  
• Emails that delete themselves before sent
  
• B.O.
  
• Puppy thieves
  
• Grumpy salespeople
• Disney Channel
  
• Trying to find a functioning bathroom at work*
  
• Ankle-biting mosquitoes
• Car payments
• Sharing airplane armrests

(*Jay said at his work place there are three bathrooms.  One got clogged, so the solution was to move a REFRIGERATOR in front of the entrance.  That was two years ago.  The door of Bathroom #2 has a friendly window (?), so finally Jay usually ends up waiting in line for Bathroom #3, the Ladies room.)

It was quite therapeutic to rant in front of a captive audience.  Please share, what are YOUR grievances?

Hope you can join us next year! Happy Festivus!

Peace on Earth

"[At Christ's birth] on both sides of the veil, a heavenly host broke into song, 'Glory to god in the highest,' they sang, 'Peace upon earth among men of goodwill.' But except for heavenly witnesses, these three were alone: Joseph, Mary, and the baby to named Jesus.

"Shepherds would soon arrive and later, wise men from the East. Later yet the memory of that night would allow for Santa Claus and Frosty and Rudolph--all of whom would add to our delight. But first and forever there was just a little family, without toys or trees or tinsel. With a baby--that's how Chrismas began."

"You can't separate separate Bethlehem from Gethsemane or the hasty flight into Egypt from the slow journey to the summit of Calvary. It's of one piece. It is a single plan. It considers 'the fall and rising again of many in Israel,' but always in that order. Christmas is joyful not because it is a season or decade or lifetime without pain and privation, but precisely because life does hold those moments for us. And that baby, [the] beloved and Only Begotten Son in the flesh, born 'away in a manger, [with] no crib for his bed,' makes all the difference in the world, all the difference in time and eternity, all the difference everywhere, worlds without number , a lot farther than your eye can see."

Jeffery Holland, Shepherds, Why the Jubilee? pg. 16, 68-69.

Coconut Point

Saturday we were invited to the USDA Christmas Party held at Coconut Point. We had a great time! The tide was low but rose quickly.

We took a kayak out on the brisk current and discovered this great tree.


We couldn't resist playing on it. Could you?




Isaac in his turbo UV supersuit. And pink hat. (You should see the hot pink bubble suit we make him wear at the pool.)

Rachel

My little sister Rachel is 20. (WOW) Her emails brighten my day.

"what size shoes do you wear again? same as me? i have a pair of heels i don't wear. they're black (i don't know if black is ever necessary in samoa) and they are pointy toed (i don't know if you'd even consider wearing pointy toed shoes). but i don't wear them anymore because i only wear heels on sunday and it's a long stinkin walk to church and i can't hike it in heels. so i don't have much use for them. they're cute but i don't know if they'd be your style. and i have lots of shirts but not so much shorts.

i'm sure mom is shipping you christmas, tree and santa included so it shouldn't be any problem to stuff shirts and such between the boughs and in santa's pockets. mom can make anything happen. i'm going ot miss yall at christmas! and your pictures on your blog are so beautiful! i can't believe your amazing adventures. here i am cold and constipated and you're husking coconuts with a wonderful husband and cute kids.

don't worry, i bought myself a fake engagment ring today so i can feel like i'm almost in the same league as the rest of my family. the bad news is that the ring only fits on my middle finger because it's so cold out here my fingers shrink. I just say "my baby's got to get it sized" and people leave me alone about it. haha and did i tell you my glasses broke? one of fhe ear pieces broke off so they sit on one ear and they're lopsided. next year when mom gets more money for insurance i can get new ones but until then i'm cathy crooked glasses. it's the life i lead.

ew 'have a holly jolly christmas' just came on the radio sung by alan jackson. it's country. i want to puke. christmas music should never be country. they have their holiday. fourth of july. anyway i'll talk to you soon. i have one more final to study for. and i have a feeling it won't be whole hearted and i'm just going to do poorly. but then finals will be done so i'm thrilled. "

isn't she great?

Tremor

Last week I experienced my first earthquake. (You know I've never lived in California, Japan, or the Big Island.) At 4:50 AM everything started shaking. It woke us both up, and Ephraim let me know it was an earthquake. (He knows--he's lived in California and Hawaii.) I was a little nervous, but in my drowsy stupor I just enjoyed the gentle rocking. It lasted maybe 30 seconds. I really wanted to stay awake to see if there'd be any aftershocks, but I couldn't. And there weren't. So that was that.

Apparently it was a 6.1 and took place somewhere in the Tongan Trench. USGS says the Intensity was Light and the Damage was None. I say the Experience was Amusing. That's a perfect earthquake for me.

FBI Special Treatment

Last Sunday we visited the home of a new family at church who moved from Texas. He works for the FBI and gets just about anything he wants with the wave of a badge. Usually with "yes sirs" and "no sirs" included.

Samoans seem to love giving and getting special treatment, for special people. Normal people (like us) just have to beg, borrow, or steal to get anything. Or just be really patient. Take phone connection for example--the true test of your importance. Ours took about 2 weeks to get connected. Theirs took two days.

{I have big rants about customer service, but that's a subject for another post. Actually an entire blog could be dedicated to it. And it's hard to understand unless you've experienced it. But anyway...}

They have a lovely home on a hill. The view helps to make up for leaving their spacious Texas residence and comfortable mainland lifestyle. It also helped them wait patiently for their shipment of household goods to arrive at the port, and eventually on a truck, and eventually in their house. (I guess the badge didn't help much with that.) We could sympathize.


Our church building is the big white one in the center.

At night hundreds of large fruit bats flew low overhead. I kept expecting to see Batman swoop down for a top secret FBI caucus.

I wonder how quickly the Batphone would be hooked up...?

Summer in December

Sorry about that gruesome last post. Hope you're not scarred.

Anyway, here are some shots from around the yard. Notice the lack of snow. Is it strange celebrating Christmas in 90* weather? Well, I guess it's just wonderfully different. I admit I do love the coziness of warming up with piping hot cider and a crackling fire after tromping through slushy snow. But cooling off in the shade with ice water and a blasting fan after melting under the blazing sun has its charms as well.

So I hope those of you in colder climates are enjoying the cozy scarves, mittens, sweaters, wool socks, and house slippers. And the rest of us will enjoy shorts, sunglasses, light cottons, cool linens, and rubber slippers.

The windows from L to R: kitchen, living room, our room, kids room

Can you see her fairy wings?

All husked. Now to crack it. (We use a hammer.)

Our tin roof creates evenly spaced cascades.

Phun with Photo Booth

Everyone should own an iMac.



Ephraim couldn't stop laughing for this one.

Melinda looks like Lilo





We took these after showering in toxic chemicals. (We're now superheroes.)




Consider this your Christmas card. Love, the Temples

When I Grow Up I Wanna Be a Hawaii Sea Grant Extension Agent!

Isn't that what we all said as kids? But who gets to actually be a Hawaii Sea Grant Extension Agent when they grow up? Only the few, the proud. And Ephraim.

When people ask what my husband does, I either give them the more accurate long version or the easy answer that isn't quite right. It's like when people ask what church we belong to. I either take a deep breath and say, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We meet with the international ward in Pava'ia'i." Followed by blank stares. Or I say, "Mormon."

So what does my husband do?

Easy answer: He works at the college.

Long answer: He works for the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program. A lot of his time is spent teaching two classes at the American Samoa Community College, but really his job is to promote aquaculture in American Samoa. That means he works with fish farmers helping them write grants, setting up and maintaining their tanks, and keeping records of all their work.

This is Troy, one of the tilapia farmers showing his tanks.


Ephraim has special projects like this one. The science department of a high school on an outer island set up their own tank for students to maintain an aquaponics system. That's the culture of plants solely on water from a fish tank. The plants use the wastes in the water and you don't need soil.


He also sits on various committees for ocean, coral, and environmental issues, and has many other duties. You'll have to ask him about it sometime.

Ephraim really loves this job. Who wouldn't? Especially when you get to end the day like this.

That's Ella and Troy in the water, and Ephraim on the shore. After checking the tanks and doing business, Troy brought us cookies and juice on the beach. Later he headed down to the water and plopped right in, you can do that in just a lavalava.