Random Fun with Grandpa & Grandpa

Mom and I have been doing a lot together:  grocery shopping, running errands, etc.  I had an appointment at the medical center (a.k.a. hospital) so I wanted to show mom around our facilities.  We stopped and had lunch at the cafeteria.  (Mom's chili had pineapples in it.  That was a first for me.)

We took mom and dad on the hike to the cannons at Blunt's Point.

 Looking east

 Looking west

A quick dip at Fatumafuti helped cool us down from our hike.

Some local kids were there, and they brought us this cute, squishy sea creature.

Mom and Dad babysat so Ephraim and I could go out for our 11th anniversary.  The kids enjoyed playing Doodle Dice (thanks Marcie!)

Happy 11th anniversary!

My Parents in Samoa

We're so happy to have grandma and grandpa here.  They're the best, aren't they?

I wanted to share some photos of our fun here.

iPad fun!!  Mom brought 2 iPads for the kids to play with.  She's a hero around here.
Day 1- Gear Up

Ouch, mom and dad got scratched on the coral.

Home Improvement with Grandma and Grandpa

Mr. and Mrs. Fix-It

My parents always leave a place better than they found it.  We've been so excited as they've done many projects to make life better for us.  

Dad brought down some tools for us and helped Ephraim replace the starter on the car.

Mom was amazed at how our stove pans had rusted so badly. And honestly, they're not that old either.  So we replaced those.

Ella and Grandma cleaned out the fridge as a Christmas present for me.

Notice how rusty the refrigerator is.

Mom and Dad decided to take care of that rust on the fridge and our deep freezer.

They also switched the handle and hinges so it opens on a logical side.

They've also fixed a table, my dresser drawers, and Dad even had a go at the dirt mounds on our road.

Pastries

The Christmas tradition from the Temple Family that sticks with me (Ephraim) the most is making a load of pastries on Christmas morning. I'm sure the memory is exaggerated, but I've got this picture of our dining table loaded with a mount of bear claws, donuts, various shapes of Christmas bread, sugar cookies, walnut twists, and that Christmas bread with marascino cherries on top. I got the itch to recreate this a few years ago but didn't get past the bear claws. I figured I should start with the best first and because Pa always raved about bear claws the most, they are the best to me as well. They turned out divine and I shared them with neighbors. However, they took me three days to make and the motivation to make them didn't return until this year. I made my own almond paste and the various glazes, made a special trip at 9pm to the last open store that had plain almonds, and folded butter to make my own pastry crust. I took it a step further and made a walnut twist. I wanted to go further as I looked at Ma's recipes for potato donuts and breadfruit something or other yummy, but I didn't have enough energy for that. So on Christmas day I rolled and shaped and baked, with Ella's help, while Melinda and her parents skyped with Fillmore family members. It felt a lot more like Christmas to me with this service to others.

 Making pastry dough. Butter melts too fast in our tropical air, so it takes a while to get a bunch of fold and rolls done.

 Bear claws rising

The final haul. It's not a table full, but it did the trick.

A Saturday in December

This is a post about a typical Saturday.  It was December 15th.

First we went to chapel clean up.  Owen washed some windows, I felt like a ghostbuster with the backpack vacuum, and Ella apparently played catch with her cleaning cloth.

Then we dropped Ephraim off to surf at Coral Heads.  We stopped to watch the other guys get some waves.

Bed head self portrait. You can kind of see Linus through the window (he's wearing a shirt with the Union Jack on the sleeve, it's from the flag of Fiji.)

Then driving around we saw this line of cars on the sidewalk.  They were all loaded with trash for recycling at ASPA (American Samoa Power Authority).  I was happy to see some recycling going on!

Then Ella and Isaac finished weaving little belts with yarn.  Ella's wearing hers around her waist, Isaac's is on his head.  Then they had a dance party.  (I love that they get along so well.)

Later we had our Ward Christmas party.  And that's about it.  Saturday in December.

Fillmore Family Newsletter 2012

The Fillmore Family Newsletter is in. See what the gang is up to: Ann, Bruce, Shellie, Jill, Katie, Marcie, Me, Stephanie, Jan, Rachel, Mark, and their families. Have a look here.

Family Photo November 2012

Our little family on a warm Sunday afternoon in November