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.

Life Continues

Angelic Slumber
Infant Optometry
Bangs
Europunk

Grapecheeks

Birthday Me

This post was from a few weeks ago, before the tsunami. Now that things are calming down, I thought I'd post something from our normal lives.

I'm so loved! I had a great birthday on the 23rd. Ali Pili watched Isaac for me in the morning and they made a carrot, pineapple, raisin cake with cream cheese frosting! De-lish!

We went to library time, then to lunch at Sadie's with some friends. We went high-class with dinner at Carl's Jr. (hello, $6 Bacon Guac Burger.)
Then home for cake.

Look at that BLAZE! I left two candles burning after the first breath. (Does that mean I'm going to have two children? Too late!)

The best part was that my children were so nice to me that day.
And the best best part was that Ephraim and Ella had practiced a song on the ukulele to sing to me.
And the best best best part is that I love where I'm at and who I'm with and what I'm doing at 31.

Tsunami, Week After

I wouldn't say things are normalizing here because hosting hundreds of aid workers, managing without our only city, and living without power on half the island are not really "normal" for us. A definite change has taken place on the island. But schools are back in session after being out last week. And people are shopping, working, and living like normal.

We are definitely skittish here. Did you hear about the earthquake off of Vanuatu Islands today? I did. At McDonalds. From the janitor lady. News like that travels very fast. After that every person I saw was on the phone. I got in my car and joined the sudden traffic, all of us tuned into the weather service alert on the radio. On my way I noticed school kids in trucks, so I picked up Ella from school. She was tearful, worried about another tsunami, and felt the panic in the air. I assured her this earthquake was too far away to do damage, and that we had a few hours notice until it came, so everyone would be fine. But I also felt emotional. It's been a rough week for everyone.

(You can look up SamoaNews.com for updates and specifics.)

My friend Melanie posted a fitting description of the state of the island.

I agree that the Samoans are a resilient and happy people. I like to think their simple faith helps them move forward through difficulty. E muamua le Atua. God first.

This is the Browns' picture taken Day Of Tsunami. I love it.
I can just imagine:
"Hey, guys, you know there was a tsunami here this morning. There are cars slammed into second-story windows. Massive flooding, dangerous chemicals, stuff like that..."

"Yeah, that's cool. But check out this EEL!! It's AWE-some!"