NO THAT WASN'T SUPPOSE TO BE A CLIFFHANGER....LOL!!

Red, white and blue coconuts...type of outside decor used by many here (lots of colors used)!

Another type of decor used by many here...they paint the rocks one color and then use white paint to separate each rock..assorted colors also used here..LOL!

Banana trees.

McD's saying TALOFA!! COME EAT HERE..LOL!

Silia, Leila and Apolo on the first day of school. Look how excited Leila was.

The airport...see the mountain behind it..I LOVE THAT MTN! It's name is Matafao.

This sign is posted as you exit the airport.

Tires used as planters and a type of decoration. Found in many colors!!

View of Coconut point from the park. This is where my sister them snorkel and swim..so PRETTY!

My favorite mountain again..MATAFAO! Looks like a man's profile lying down.

These billboards are found all over the island, with messages for parents about their teens. Really interesting!!

Tafuna Elementary..I went to Jr. High here. We were actually the first class to attend this school and so we were able to pick the school color and style of uniform. We picked a teal blue and for the girls their uniforms were to be in the style of a skirt jumper. It is so neat to see that this the uniform and color are still the same!!

...sorry, I just didn't have enough time to finish the blog. Anyway, Monday morning after attempting to enroll the kids at Manulele Elem and getting denied...I dropped dad and the kids off at the house. I drove out to town..Fagatogo...to go to the Student Services Office only to find that it was JAM PACKED!!! It just so happened to be the first day of school for all the Public Schools and so parents and students were there to transfer their children and/or enroll them. It was a good thing I dropped Dad and the kids off at the house, because at the door they posted a sign that read "NO CHILDREN ALLOWED". There were about 30 people sitting and standing waiting to be helped and about the same amount of children running around just outside the office. There were only 3 workers in the office and only 1 that was actually helping people. People were complaining that they had been waiting there since the office opened and that the worker calling out the names on the list was reading the wrong list. They were calling her names and saying mean things that everyone would hear, and then chuckle. I was sitting there thinking, WELCOME TO SAMOA!! LOL! Anyhow, 3 hours later my name was called and 20 minutes after that I was walking out of the office with enrollement papers for Silia, Apolo and Leila. By the time I got back to my side of the island, the school was closed. I went home and relieved Dad of his babysitting duties and then showered the kids, fed them and got in bed. I checked the clock right before I fell asleep...it was 9 p.m.
Next morning got all the kids ready and went to the school to get them started. There was a line of 12 people and I hesitantly took my place in line. 2 hours later I was sitting at the receptionist desk handing her my kid's papers and filling out our contact info. She had to do everything with paper and pen since there was no computer in her office (hence the LOOOONG wait). We recieved the kids classroom assignments and decided to just find their classrooms and teachers that day, so they would start school the following day. Afterwards Dad dropped us off at the house. Fasi picked us up after work and we headed out to Aua, where his family lives. We stayed there and visited for a while and then headed back home for our beds!
I blogged bout the kids first day at school, and with the babysitter. Silia and Leila reported that they loved their teacher's!! Apolo reported that his teacher cusses at the kids and also called him a big fat liar...AYE CARAMBA!! I worked, Fasi worked and then we went home fed the kiddos and ourselves and headed for bed. It was 8:30 when we turned off the lights.
Thursday went just like Wednesday. I dropped the kids off at school, then took the babies to work with me since the babysitter had to leave for a day. I worked, Fasi worked the kids hung out at work and then we returned home to shower,eat and hit the sack....EXCITING YEAH??LOL!
Friday morning started out good. Until I pulled up to the kids school to drop them off. Out of nowhere Leila starts BAWLING!! "Mommy, I don't want to go to school. PLEEEAASE!! I want to go to work with you. Please mommy!!" I was caught off guard because she told us all that she liked school and her teacher was nice. She cried that school was too long, and she didn't have any friends:( My poor baby! Silia and Apolo started to cry saying they didn't want to stay at school either. I felt bad but knew that they HAD to get used to it and make friends, etc. So I pulled away leaving all 3 of them crying...my eyes filled up with tears as I watched them in my rear view mirror as I drove away:( I went to drop off the 2 babies and they too were crying! I left them anyway and headed off for work. But as soon as I got there I called my Mom and BAWLED telling her how sad I was for my 5 kids. I had left every single one of them crying at school and with the babysitter. *sigh*It hit us all Friday morning...oh what a morning!! My mom was able to talk to me and brighten my mood and then on I went with work. My mom told me to just work half day and spend the rest of the day with my kids...so I did. It was much needed time with my kiddos. Fasi and I took them to the park when he got off work. They were dying to get into the ocean, so we let them there at the park. Well, Fasi did anyway. I would've much rather they gone to a nicer, cleaner place but they were already half undressed by the time I got to the park.
Saturday, I went to my Uncle Mifi's funeral. Tala and I went to Samu's to get ice cream and then we went home and rested before heading off toa Relief Society dinner. It was nice!
Our ward starts at 8 am here...NO GOOD! It is called M.I.W. ward, it is an English speaking ward. VERY DIVERSE, but very nice! Fasi spent most of Sunday out at his village. He went to his church and then hung out with his family until Sunday evening. When he got back we went to my family dinner and then came home and watched a movie with the kids.
It has been raining a lot lately. It's so nice, but very humid! After the first day here when I straightened my hair only to get rained on a few minutes later, I gave up on fixing my hair. I now just pull it all back into a pony. We are enjoying being around family and friends that we haven't seen for years and years. We still miss and HEART AZ VERY MUCH THOUGH!!

~i have a ton more pix to post, but we don't have our computers and/or internet at home and the internet connection here is VERY VERY VERY VERY SLOW!!!