Ella's First Piano Recital

Ella had her very first piano recital last Saturday.  She was a little nervous at first, but when her turn came she was cool as a cucumber.  She played "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" as a duet with Ms. Edna and "Shall We Waltz".  We all enjoyed the day.

Thank you Ms. Edna!

Misadventures of Ikey the Chick

I've mentioned before that we swap childcare with our friends the Monsons so each couple can go on dates.  Last Thursday was our turn to host, so after homework and snacks we headed outside to play.

After a short time we heard Matthew run inside calling, "I caught a chick!"  And he had!  He had a baby chick in his hand.  I asked him how he caught it and he said he just reached down and grabbed it. The kids were all very excited.  I was too!  I've been wanting to raise chickens.  They run free all around, but I'd like my own for the eggs.  So I was thrilled Matthew had caught it and ran to get a box.

They put the chick in the box, but it discovered a little hole in the side and ran out into the bushes.  The kids all followed it and tried to recapture it for some time, but soon tired of the business.

But not Matthew.  He wasn't deterred.  And after a few minutes he came back excited and said, "I caught it again!"  Smile.  "But I accidentally stepped on it."  Frown.

 The poor thing didn't look so good.  It's head was floppy, it couldn't stand on its legs. When they set it down, it didn't move.

 The kids were so cute about it.
Some comments: Are you okay, little chicky?  He's alive!  He needs his daddy.  We think he's injured.  We accidentally stepped on him.  In awhile he might feel better.  Be careful he might run away.  Don't worry, he's okay.  Stand back, he might run away any second.  Surround him so he won't run away.  

 They put him in the box so "he wouldn't run away."  When he didn't move, they thought he was taking a nap.  So they put leaves and grass all around him to keep him comfortable.

They soon realized his wasn't going to pull through, so they decided to give him a proper burial in the bushes.  The marker still stands there today.  It reads, "Ikey the chick, Died on 1/6/12."

Their parents were surprised when we told them about the day.  Well, we learned about the circle of life.   It's always an adventure here in American Samoa.

Baby Food Mess

 Above: January 2007- Ella feeding peas to Baby Isaac.
Below: January 2012- Isaac feeding bananas to Baby Linus.

I love Baby Food Messes.

Christmas with Rachel

Well, we've been busy having fun this Christmas Break.  My sister Rachel and her friend Paul came to visit us for a week.  We had SOOooo much fun, and packed adventures into everyday.

Just off the plane and into the humidity!

Snorkeling in Faga'alu.  This was their first official day in AS.  Paul got stung by wasps at Fatumafuti, and then attacked by fire ants here at the beach.  Lucky kid!  First of many encounters with our wildlife. (They also were startled by a big gecko in Rachel's room which Paul thought he later killed, and then they rescued a hermit crab which somehow was crawling down our HALLWAY!)

We hiked to Nuuuli Falls.  The kids were in heaven playing with Aunty Rachel.  And the mosquitos liked her too.

Early morning Paddling with the gang.  Beautiful morning!

Afternoon hike to Mt. Alava.  The tough hike--from Vatia with lots of ropes and ladders.

Our Nativity cast party. Wise guy and chic shepherd

We braved a gray day to find Airport beach passing the explosive blowholes.

On Tuesday to Wednesday we flew over to Western Samoa.

Apia Market place

Traditional Samoan lunch:  fried chicken, rice, boiled green banana, palusami (boiled taro leaves in coconut milk), panikeke, koko esi (tasty but looked like snot).

Apia Temple

Baking at Larson's cove. 

Utulei Beach

We loved having Rachel and Paul here.  We tried to make them miss their flight, but unfortunately it didn't work and they had to go.  Off on that lovely Hawaiian maiden plane.  Rachel, you're welcome back anytime!  You really could sit and watch the waves all day...

Pua'a

Samoans love food.  Life is a constant round of preparing it, serving it, consuming it, cleaning it up, giving it away, buying, selling, thinking about it.  It's very important.  And very tasty.  I love Samoan food.  Love my palusami, boiled fa'i, taro, and ulu.  Love it.  But sometimes, there are things I won't eat.  Like this!

This was served at Ephraim's Christmas lunch.  When it still has its HAIR, I draw the line.  To me that's still "pig" and not "pork."
At least we know it's not processed, right?
Would you eat this?

Mt. Alava 2011

Last weekend Ephraim and I got to hike Mt. Alava again.  It had been a long time.  The Monson's watched our kids so we could go, and yesterday we watched their kids so they could go.  Read about their hike and some history here.

 We took our little skipper along. And he was pretty much like this the whole way up, which was like 1.5 hrs.

 Okay, I went paddling first thing in the morning.  It was lovely.  And then Ephraim came to pick me up at Sadies.  While I was waiting for him, I bought the "Mt. Alava Breakfast" at Goat Island cafe.  It was HUGE.  Two plate-sized pancakes, two eggs, to slices of bacon, two ham, to strange sausage slabs.  The kind of meal where you can't decided to use ketchup or syrup, or both.  I couldn't finish it all obviously, and Ephraim was already full, so we packed it up the trail with us.  And this is what it looked like at the top:  Mmmm, mmmm.

 Lovely view, makes all that pain worthwhile.

 This path comes up from the other side of the mountain starting at Vatia.  We'll do that someday, but it involves ropes, ladders, and more pain.  Not in a hurry.

 At the top you can sign the guest book.  We had a laugh at this guy who wrote: "Great place to sleep.  No pen" scrawled with some kind of char.  It was funny until we realized we didn't have a pen either! So a scrawled our names with mud, sticks, some spit, chlorophyll, you know... like that.  Jokes on us.

 Getting ready to head back down.

 That styrofoam came in handy when it started dumping rain.  We used it as baby's roof.  Sad, I know.  And we ripped off a piece to put in Ephraim's heel to save him from a nasty blister.  Don't forget the styrofoam when you hike!  Or if you're here you'll probably find some in the bushes already.

Since most of our dating was done on muddy trails, it's always fun to reconnect--with each other and with the fun people we once were!  Hiking provides metaphors for life.  Quiet time to reflect.  And a steady exertion mentally and physically.  Wish we could do it more.
By the way, Ephraim's got a beard.

 The styrofoam wasn't enough of a roof, so we fastened a banana leaf to the backpack.  Gone tropo, I know.  That poor little baby.  He wasn't so happy on the way back down.

Overall, it was a great day.  Loved the workout.  Loved the view.  Love my hiking partner.

Smashing Pumpkin's Pie

We didn't really do Thanksgiving.  And that's fine.  We did make two pies, an apple and a pumpkin. We took the pumpkin to a new friends house, but when we got to their house we realized the pie wasn't in the car.  And we remembered that Isaac had left it in its container on the hood of the car, and as I pulled out of the driveway it had fallen to the ground.  We went back and retrieved it.  And ATE IT!  It was lovely.

 And today (Friday) Isaac decided he wanted a snow storm so he shredded some styrofoam all over the floor.  So clever.  He wasn't so happy to vacuum it all up after.

And this evening Owen went surfing for the first time.  He was a trooper and came out smiling.

 Isaac's had some scary experiences with the ocean, so he's been hesitant about it for many months.  But today he and Ephraim caught a few waves and then just played around with the surfboard.  Now he wants to "surf" everyday (except Sundays).   Sounds good!

Happy November Holidays to everyone!