Painting

When Ellie's Aunt Susie came to visit, she bought a little kit to paint a sleigh. One day while i was taking a nap, Franklin took it out for Ellie, and she went to town! Unfortunately, this was not washable paint. We learned two things. 1. Ellie loves to paint. 2. We will use washable paint from now on.


After the sled dried, Franklin helped Ellie assemble the pieces, and she uses it to drag her little stuffed kitty cats around.

A Trip to the Local Zoo

We don't live in a very large town here in the States. I'm amazed that such a little town can have such a wonderful zoo with such a great variety of animals. We've taken Ellie twice so far, and she just loves it! She learns a ton from it, too. Today we went to the library for a story time all about moose, and my little Ellie wowed the socks off me when she was the one to answer what a moose was and that she had seen it at the zoo. I was thinking she wouldn't know what it was! So, yay for our local zoo! Here are some of the pictures from our first trip to the zoo. The pictures are not in any order.


Ellie with the donkey in the "petting zoo" part of the zoo.

Ellie and I posing across from a cage of crazy monkeys.

A buffalo

A family picture

A kangaroo. Even though we have seen kangaroos in Australia, I still think it's pretty wonderful that our little zoo has them, too.

An otter.

A large tortoise.

Black swans that will bite you if you get too close.

Ellie, the kangaroo

 Ellie and one of the zebras

After re-reading this post, I realized that I didn't post pictures of some of the larger animals. Ellie also saw tigers, bears, an eagle, llamas, moose, baboons, and other animals I can't think of right now. Seriously, it's an impressive zoo.

Family Barbecue

One of the greatest things about being in the States right now is that my brother and his wife and the baby they are expecting in November only live a couple hours away. So, the weekend after Franklin arrived, they were able to drive down to spend some time with us... and get to know their niece that they hadn't seen since she was 2 months old.


While the guys were outside barbecuing, we ladies relaxed inside. Ellie, as you can see, didn't feel confined to either indoors or outdoors.


Ellie also found out she loves dandelions and blowing the seeds off of them. I'm sure this will be greatly appreciated next Spring. Her daddy was willing to help her find the biggest ones for her to play with.

First Days in the States

We were without Franklin in the States for two weeks. They were two weeks filled with missing him, battling jet lag, and adjusting to the different pace of life here in the States. One of the first things we did was check out the local playground.


Ellie enjoys the nighttime routine of having a warm bath.


We got to see friends we hadn't seen for a long time.


Ellie enjoyed playing with toys she's never played with before. We've had some lent to us, and she has discovered the thrill of playing with toys at a friend's house.


We also had a friend who just had a baby. Ellie got some practice holding a little one, which will hopefully come in handy in the next week!

A Long Airplane Journey

On our way from the Solomons to the States, we had a 26 hour journey that included 5 different flights. I wasn't just worried about keeping Ellie occupied for a little while, I was also worried about surviving myself.... especially without Franklin. Fortunately, my dad was traveling with us. Unfortunately, he only got to sit with us on one of the flights, which just happened to be the longest.
Ellie did way better than I would have ever expected. She basically slept when she was tired and played and occupied herself when she wasn't. I brought along a backpack for her that had a bunch of simple things for her to do.

We got a coloring book and some colored pencils as a gift before we left. They were useful.

Ellie played with some little animals we had picked up along the way. Half the fun of playing with the animals for Ellie is taking them out and putting them in their little bag.


Ellie also had two stuffed animals she played with. George kept her company at the airport in Fiji, but Bob the turtle spent quite a bit of time with her during the flights.


On our longest flight Ellie enjoyed one of the kids' movies. Food and snacks were also a way to keep her occupied.


Ellie was also pretty excited about the inflight magazines... even the safety pamphlet.


It was such a relief to have the long journey behind us. Although, we were just beginning the long battle with jet lag.

More Family Pictures

We left the village on a Friday and Ellie and I had to fly out of the Solomons the upcoming Tuesday. So we barely had time to recover from the village goodbyes before we had to deal with the crazy to do list of leaving the Solomons and the horrible, heart wrenching goodbyes of leaving more family.

These are the last minute family photos taken the morning we were leaving.

Ellie and her Koko'okini.

And at the airport, Franklin and some sisters and his mom... Lisa, Nena, Christina, Lingesi, Rita, and Franklin.


Also at the airport, Lisa, Hadassah, Ellie, Nena, Christina, and Richie.


And congratulations to Rita who just had a little boy. We can't wait to see pictures of baby Franklin! :)

Family Pictures

The day you have to say good bye to family members for two to three years is heart wrenching. There are a million emotions flowing through you, as well as the people you have to say good bye to. For me, I find that I either have to try to emotionally shut down, or I'll emotionally break down. Not only that, but there is a to do list with things like packing and gathering what is needed for the day's journey.
One thing that we always seem to leave until last is family pictures. You realize it's the last chance to capture an image of everyone the way they are now... next time there might be new kids, the little kids all become big kids, and you just hope and pray that no one will be gone.
So, here are our last minute family photos from the village. Above is Ellie with her cousins, below is Franklin with his mom, brother, and two of his sisters. Baby Abel also made it into the photo, because he doesn't like to do much at all without his mommy.


To our family in the village, we miss you guys.

A Celebration for Dad

On one of our nights in the village, we had a celebration for my dad. Everyone brought some food up to our kitchen and we had a feast.

Ellie sat on the floor with cousins and second cousins.


Franklin had a good time with his cousins and relatives.

My favorite part was the end of the night when all the kids made an impromptu choir, and Ellie joined in the singing. She didn't mind that she didn't know all the words or the actions, but she certainly gave it her best shot!

Time at the beach

While we were in Malu'u with Dad, we took some time to enjoy the beach. The beach doesn't look too beautiful in these pics because it was low tide.
Ellie took time to play with her cousins. She also took time to play by herself.


She and her daddy also found enough starfish to spell her name.


Dad spent time swimming in the ocean, and then enjoyed resting on the beach.


Afterwards, we all walked home and enjoyed ice blocks (popsicles) from one of the local shops.

A travelling break

On our trip to the village with Dad, we decided to take a break along the road. Ellie enjoyed her time finding "treasures" at the beach. We enjoyed the view...

WWII Memorial

One day Franklin and Dad went up to the WWII Memorial and took a look around. One of the most interesting things (in my humble opinion) around Honiara and Guadalcanal is all the WWII history. It's amazing that so many reminders are still around, even after so long.







If any visitor needs a break from reading, they can take in the view, too. Not bad, huh?

Solomon Islands' Independence Day 2011

July 7 is Solomon Islands' Independence Day. To celebrate this year, we went to the big event in town where all the dignitaries were in attendance. Different groups lined up very formally and stood for a VERY long time while important people arrived and took turns speaking.


I thought one of the most entertaining parts was when the VIPs arrived in their vehicles, men in traditional dress would pretend to be hiding and then "attack" each car.


Ellie was not captivated by the proceedings, so she took the opportunity to do one of her favorite activities and look through my hair for "mice". :) Just in case you are left wondering... there were none!

A butterfly

I have personally never caught a butterfly with my bare hands. I might have caught one with a net at some point in my life, or maybe I've just read about it in books or seen it in movies. During our times in the Solomons, though, Franklin seemed to catch them on a regular basis.


I love that Ellie can learn to interact with nature the way her daddy does. That's one of the good things about having two parents... hopefully she can learn to love the things we both love.