I remember September 11, 2001...

I was with Jessi, in Las Vegas on vacation. We woke up in our hotel room and turned on the TV. We thought we were watching a movie, or something else that wasn't real. Maybe we just refused to admit to ourselves that we were watching something that WAS real. That day lives on in my mind in perfect clarity.

Our flight was cancelled; we waited nearly 12 hours in a tiny bus station, along with hundreds of other visitors waiting to get out of Las Vegas. We were cramped and tired, and couldn't believe that our country was under attack.

But life goes on, and we are blessed more than we deserve. Jaydn will live in a much more wonderful, exiting, and dangerous world than we are living. I don't see how things could get better. This certainly places upon us the honerous burden of ensuring Jaydn is prepared for the future. Jaydn, as I have explained, is doing really well in school. Here is a picture of him with his friends.



Here's another cute picture:

And here's his entire class:

It's still crazy to me to think that he's one of the only kids in his class from the mainland. He gets to feel what it's like to be a minority. Not many kids have that opportunity. I'm sure this will be a good experience for him.

His best friend on the island is moving soon to the states, but will move back within a few months. His name is Trey, and he's a few months younger than Jaydn. Here they're playing outside our house with the big banana tree leaves.

A few weeks ago we went to a beach in Faga'alu. The reef extends out only so far, and then it drops, so it is really good for snorkeling. We saw a sea turtle and a purple squid in the water that day. (I'll get an underwater camera sometime, I promise!) Here you can see where the reef ends and the deep part begins. Snorkeling is so fun when the water is deep and calm!

Even the most difficult of circumstances can be alleviated when you have a nice beach nearby. Unfortunately, most of the beaches here aren't that nice--either they're polluted or they're really rocky. But we make the best of both. And, now the day is over, and Ofu is my next blog entry!