Back in Samoa

Today we flew from Auckland, NZ to Apia, Samoa to American Samoa. The airports got progressively dingy-er as we went on. I really felt like I was in Samoa again when I saw little kids eating Coke and chips, and gum stuck to the interisland plane seats. Okay, and the beautiful mountain cliffs and coconut trees.

Good news: yesterday was our 8th anniversary. And today is our 8th anniversary again since we went over the dateline and we're doing Monday twice. (Does that make it our 9th anniversary? Or our 2nd 8th?)

Bad news: our house is gross! There's a filmy grime on every surface. In the cupboards there are traces of the geckos, ants, cockraches, and rats who tended the house for us. Oh, and the car is dead. Maybe it didn't like sitting in the constant rain.

But that's okay. We're happy to be home in our own beds on our dear little island again.

Merry New Zealand Christmas

Hello, Family and Friends!
We're having a great time here in New Zealand. Here's a shot from Tongariro Crossing on North Island. We wanted to wish you all a wonderful Christmas, since it's already Christmas here. We'll have lots of photos and stories to report later. We are happy to celebrate the birth of the Savior today. May we all feel His love today and in the coming year.

Pilgrims and Indians

We rode to Thanksgiving dinner in the back of a truck.


We'd planned a yummy turkey dinner at the Pili's. But it started right around high tide, so Ephraim took the car to enjoy to amazing Thanksgiving surf conditions. And we hitched a ride in our friend's truck. Ephraim came a little bit later.

The box on the right has pies (on the tire). The box next to it has Samu's ice cream (!) It was a hot day, so it turned into soup. I forgot to take more pictures, but trust me we had a nice day. Except Isaac cried when he had to ride home in our boring old van.

This is an impromptu family photo. (Can you tell it's the end of a hot day?)

Ikee Bikee Motorcykee

Isaac is such a handful. He was very quiet one morning. Then I saw he was creating Lion King. He cried when it was time for a bath.



Last Sunday he fell and sliced his chin open. It looked like he had two mouths. I felt sick. Luckily Ephraim viewed this gore as simple tissues and vessels, so he took Isaac to the ER to get the chin taped together.


Talking to friends, I learned that every little boy slices his chin open sometime. So I'll try to be ready for Owen's turn. Gag!

Snail Mail

We don't use the mail for anything local. To pay bills, for example, we drive around once a month to drop off payments for phone, electricity, rent, etc. It's just easier that way.

Check out the expiration date on this insurance notice. It was stamped August 6, 2008 on the envelope, and we got it today. This letter really could have made it to us faster on a snail. It took over a year to travel 8 miles (as the crow flies, 2 miles). Maybe the postman had trouble figuring out where on earth "Pago Apgo" is...?

Really?! Oh yes, really.

Meet Alfred

He's our big gecko. He lives behind the clock. He loves to get into our garbage at night and leaves little droppings. Someday we'll get a full body shot. I guess I could just lift up the clock, but I wanna give the guy some privacy.

Goodbye, October.

Sheesh, who knew that 31 days could take so long? And are you also so scheduled already that November feels half way over?

Well, here are some key events for us in October.

General Conference, Stake Conference, and Primary Program--spiritual feast
Ephraim attended a training in Florida leaving me on "Tsunami Island" for 2 weeks.
He attended our sister-in-law Connie's funeral on the Big Island on his way home.
On that same day, I attended my friends' Shin and PuHee Woo's funeral.
The Browns moved to Michigan, leaving us an empty house next door and empty-hearted.
Owen's got 4 teeth and worms his way across the floor.
We owned a kitten for a day (easy come, easy go).
Halloween brought Miss Muffet, her friend Spider, and lots of candy.


And some photos:





Okay November, bring it on.