Day #11 begins

Good morning! We had a great day yesterday/Sunday. We went to church with our Lawyer Gordon and his family. It's the same church we visited in September 2003. So lots of memories came back for me, from when I first was there, holding 4 month old Hannah and feeling the heat of an upstairs church with no fans! Yesterday they had fans and windows open, the ocean is right in the background - a very beautiful scene. We appreciated being in a worship service with English speaking people from Fiji, Samoa, Taiwan, Philippines, Japan, Marshall Islands and the USA. After the two hour church service, with lots and lots of singing, we went to Gordon and Marissa's home for the afternoon. They hosted us so graciously and fed us delicious food too. Peter said it was the best meal he has had in months....no offense to my cooking. Well, I didn't take any offense, because I had to agree with him!! It was wonderful to be able to swim in the ocean, sit around and visit on the patio overlooking the sea, and to talk in English so easily. We learned more about the island and the customs, and just had a lot of fun. It was a gift. Gordon (born in India) & Marissa (born in the Philippines) have a 10 month old boy named Jacob, plus Marissa's sister (from an outer island) and mother (from the Philippines) were visiting. Soon after we finished our lunch and getting ready to go swimming, I saw the mom and sister working in the kitchen again. They were preparing a snack for us for later. That snack was homemade pizza and spaghetti - and we all ate it after swimming - delicious and unique with some Filipino flavorings.

Above is a picture of our Lil' Champ, as his shirt says, from yesterday afternoon. Boston may be saying "hi" here or may have just thrown something across the room. Yes, he does have quite an arm for throwing. He also amazes me that he lets us wipe his runny nose without ever turning away or complaining. He has the longest eyelashes - but they are also straight with no curve at all - interesting. He is doing well interacting with us and getting used to and sometimes even enjoying some of the daily routines like baths and brushing teeth. He is not very interested in the ocean - although Peter did get him laughing by dragging his toes through the water. Gordon told us that most Marshallese children have probably never even left their neighborhoods, let alone travelled to Laura Beach or somewhere else on the island.

Here is bathing beauty Miss Hannah having just come out of our swimming and jumping waves in the ocean yesterday afternoon. She was trying out the hammock here on Gordon & Marissa's patio. She is feeling fine and having lots of fun here. Typically Hannah - she is noticing lots of things about the styles and customs here.

This was the view from Gordon and Marissa's back yard/patio! Other than lots of rocks and coral to get over to swim (the kids wore their flip flops the whole time and Marissa loaned me a pair of water shoes) - it was a fantastic swimming place with clear water and fun waves. And the water temperature is perfect - no shock of cold when you get in the water. And although the view from their home is priceless - the home was simple and comfortable - so interesting to see how a working family here lives.

I liked this shot of quiet Jacob studying the ocean Sunday before lunch and before swimming. After that he never stopped moving and fell asleep so quickly at bed time last night - after his swimming and playing all afternoon. I stayed in the water with him for awhile, then when Hannah started shivering, she and I went in, and Gordon stayed out in the water with Jacob for a long time more. A neighbor girl came in the water too - and so Jacob could not have enjoyed himself more, playing in the water and talking - our island born boy back in the waters of his homeland.

This was taken outside the church Sunday morning. Boston is looking so very serious - but overall very fun of the five of us. We were given the beautiful flower leis as gifts because we were the visitors at church that morning.

Well, I am the only one downstairs here for breakfast this morning. The kids were watching Animal Planet on tv when I left, so that sounded better to them than waiting for a slow service breakfast down here. Free wireless internet in the restaurant here is great for us to keep in touch for sure (and a big improvement from 2003 when you had to use the hotel computer in the lobby and pay by the 1/2 hour for internet) - but for kids a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while watching tv can't be beat. There is a coffeemaker in the room so Peter can make his morning coffee with our bottled water. Today we plan to visit Boston's birth family - hopefully by going to their home....and then we are also planning to visit again with Jacob's birth family. One of Jacob's birth aunts is one of the servers here in the restaurant. It is amazing how everyone knows everyone on the island - or at least it seems that way to me. Bye for now - Sending our love across the miles and miles of ocean! Lois