Rachel's Here!

We're so happy to have Rachel here with us.  We might not send her back!  Mom and Dad, if you want her, you'll have to come and get her.  

We're having a great time, and the kids LOVE spending time with auntie Rachel. 

More to come...

Wild Life

Tonight I met an owl.  I was  driving home down our unbearably bumpy dirt road (we could almost justify a Hummer, but wouldn't) when I saw a white figure swoop over the road and land on a telephone wire.  I stopped the car, turned off the lights, and spent a moment admiring the owl.  We locked eyes, and as I felt him looking at me I nervously expected him to swoop down and nab me for dinner.  Glad I'm not a rat.   We live in such a beautiful wild place.

In the Natural History Guide published by the National Park Service says:  "The barn owl or lulu is a highly beneficial bird in American Samoa, but some people fear it because they associate it with ghosts or aitu. Its ghostly white appearance and its preference for flying at night enhance its reputation as a mysterious bird....Without owls, Tutuila and Manu'a would probably be over-run with rats. A lulu seen flying through a village should not be feared or hated but welcomed, because it will probably mean one less rat near your fale."  Thank you LULU!

We also frequently see lovely blue rails on our road.  Their cousins in New Zealand are called pukekos, but here they have the unfortunate name of Purple Swamphens.  Pukeko sounds much more exotic and appropriate. Samoans call them manu ali'i (chief birds).  At night Ephraim calls them "veloceraptors" for their prehistoric screech that sends shivers down your spine.  They run and flap into the bushes like chickens, but they're stunningly beautiful.

We also have tons of fruit bats, it's like Halloween every night.

I imagine this valley hasn't changed much since Day One.  And we get to be part of it.  I can't wait to show Rachel when she comes.

She's Coming

Can't wait to see this girl!

Haven't seen her since before this.

What will she be like now?!   What will she think of our island?  Will she still like us?  I just can't wait til Thursday!

Triple Birthday Party

Since our neighbors on both sides had birthdays the same week as Ella's we planned a big party, rented an inflatable waterslide,  and invited the world!

Then we found out birthday boy #1 had CHICKEN POX!  Too late to cancel, we just warned everyone about possible exposure and figured if it was just our three families, we'd get to go down the waterslide as much as we wanted.  Fortunately some people did show up.

The waterslide was a big hit.  (Literally.  Kids were getting hurt.  Ephraim climbed up in there to regulate.)  They loved it!  And I'm glad because it was dang expensive.

We followed NZ tradition (the other two families are from NZ) and played "Pass the Parcel", which sounds more elegant, like "Poss the Possol" when they say it.   To play you pass a multi-layer wrapped gift while music plays and when the music stops, the person holding it unwraps a layer.  This continues until one lucky person unwraps the last layer and keeps the gift.  Or throws it on the ground, in our case.  

I fashioned a pretty funny-looking pinata.

 

Chicken leg + ice cream cone = good times

I look kind of grubby.  As usual, really.

The big moment came with the cakes.  Poor pox boy is the one with the shirt that looks like it's from the Red Cross.  Or Switzerland.  To honor his condition his mom made little spotty cupcakes. He was really eyeing B-day boy #2's gorgeous dino cake, which was brought over that very morning from Apia on his grandma's lap.  

Ella designed her tiara cake, so she was happy with it. 

Overall it was an exhausting but fun day.  

p.s. Isaac's birthday is coming up in July.  Maybe if we don't tell him, he won't notice.

Pomp or Circumstance

Today Ella graduated from Kindergarten! We were so worried she'd drop out awhile back. I mean learning those vowel sounds can be really discouraging. And counting by fives takes real dedication. Actually more than anything getting to school by 8 o'clock was the insurmountable chore of her entire school career. We pray she'll continue on to first grade.

Now you can look at Kindergarten graduation a few ways. If you're like Ephraim, you think it's a silly scheme for Jostens to make mega bucks on mini caps and gowns. If you're like Bob Parr (a.k.a. Mr. Incredible) you think it's a psychotic way to celebrate mediocrity. But if you're like me, you just think it's cute, so why be humbug about it.

It was a fun day. Let me tell you, Samoans love graduations. If you've ever been to a Samoan graduation, or ever seen a Samoan graduate, from anything, you know what I mean. Leis, balloons, flowers, certificates, photos, candy, kisses...happy day.

Ella had a part in the program. She read a poem about the letter "A". Awesome.

I had a surprise when the principal presented me with a plaque for reading stories in their classes weekly for the past few months. Then she had me stay up there to help fa'aula the kids, give them leis. That was sweet for me since I had gotten to know them and felt proud of them.

Isaac followed me up on stage, and I had to tell him to go back down. You can see him crying pitifully, in the brown shirt. Poor dude.

Here he's saying , "Look, the Spiderman balloon's flying away."Ladies and gentlemen, I present our Grad of 2010.
Ella with her friend Georgina.
Ella with her great teacher, Ms. Toni
I love that she's all dressed up, walking to the car on the dirt road.
We came home and started the candy frenzy. I figured either I'd try to keep them controlled and have them pester me for more candy all day, or I'd let them devour one lei and face a candy crash. The candy crash wasn't so bad.
Here's to many more graduations!

Murphy's Beach

Saturday Excursion
Destination: Larsons Cove (a.k.a. Murphys Beach)
Directions: Park at the Murphy's house (where's that? Well those directions involve a banyan tree, a fire hydrant, and if you're lucky a neighbor weed-wacking his lawn in a versatile orange prison jumpsuit).
Next hunt down a trailhead in the yard, follow path through jungle, at the two large ulu trees you'll hit the 4-wheeler tracks, take a right down the volcano slope, take a left at the banana trees, if you pass a falesamoa (shack) you're too far, tromp through jungle, hear the ocean, scale a cliff and you're there. Easy as that!

And it was so worth it!

Ephraim and the kids built a four way bridge.




There was a cool tunnel to a creepy cave.






Next time you come too, k?

Keeping Us In Stitches

This post is old but post worthy. Our boys keep testing physics--gravity with heads, friction with knives, etc. Usually we can keep clear of the hospital, but in early April Isaac was cutting a cucumber with a sharp knive and no adult supervision and sliced into his hand at the the thumb crease.

It was our second trip to the ER with Isaac (the first time he split his chin open). Hopefully we'll never have to go again. Being at the hospital here puts me in a really sour mood. Fortunately Ephraim is patient and not-easily-grossed-out, so he stayed with Isaac and kept calm while I took a walk and bought some jewelry and tried to think happy thoughts.

Four hours later we came out with two stitches and a whoppin' huge dressing that lasted until dinner.


Ephraim took out the stitches when the time was right, and now Isaac can't even tell which hand was cut.
I thought these children came with an intrinsic sense of self-preservation...but I guess they have to be in danger to exercise it. I have an ominous feeling that we're just getting started...