Local waterfall

I was pleased to discover that there is a nice little waterfall not far from our house in Coconut Pt. Supposedly someone was killed here by falling lava rock. Tried not to think about a huge bolder crushing us but found myself looking up once and awhile. It wouldn't have suprised me w/ our luck lately. Somedays the ocean gets so warm that it doesn't feel that refreshing when you jump in. Nice to jump into the cool, fresh water at a waterfall. Just make sure that you take your cell phone out of your pocket before you jump. This is the day I lost my phone. Some pictures....

Nice high waterfall w/ a deep pool for diving.

local kid climbing up the waterfall face and diving

Princess Francesca.

Me and Frankie after a nice swim

Unrelated just a nice shot of a full moon over the ocean at

Coconut Pt

Also unrelated Princess Juliana and Princess Francesca

w/ hairdos by Ate

Xmas in Samoa

Despite my protests, the girls made sure we celebrated Xmas this year. I bought the girls an artificial Xmas tree so they could decorate it on Laura's birthday - something she liked to do. Not quite the same as going out to a tree farm to cut your own as we used to do in Duluth, but it did the job. I also took Nick and the girls to Samoa during their Xmas break. Some photos of our Xmas in the tropics.....

Christmas photo w/ Coconut Pt neighbors. People love to pose w/ the J-mobile

Our christmas tree

Christmas eve party.....

Frankie and Santa

Juliana and Santa

trampoline action shots

Frankie and Juliana w/ amigos at the Christmas party.

Trip to Samoa:

Aerial view of southeast Upolu, Samoa

w/ girls at sea wall in Apia

Snorkeling at Palolo Deep in Apia..........

At the Piula cave pools....

Nick and Frankie going into the cave pool

At Virgin Cove on south coast of Upolu:

Nick spent most of the day burying the girls in the sand

Frankie holding blue starfish

Feeding the fishes

At Papaseea sliding rocks:

ladies showing off their Samoan dresses I bought for them at the market in Apia

Laura's Girls

Tomorrow would have been Laura's 43rd birthday. Although she is no longer with us, I see her everyday when I look into our girl's eyes. I think Laura was able to spend enough time with the girls to shape the development of their personalities. They are definitely "strong women" and have a high level of emotional intensity and intelligence that they certainly didn't get from me! Not sure where I would be now if it wasn't for Francesca and Juliana to keep me busy and focused. Although they miss their Mom, I think they are enjoying their adventure in Samoa and learning that they can still be happy and enjoy life. They have an adventurous spirit and love of life, just as Laura did...

Pacific Horizon's Christmas Concert:

The girls school gave a Christmas concert for the parents. Your looking at the entire student body - preK through high school.

Frankie in her lava lava .

Frankie and some of her girlfriends. From left to right Maria, Allison, and Jade.

waiting for the concert to start

getting ready to sing

pre-performance butterflies

J-bear getting ready

Juliana and her friend Julia

J-bear and class in their lava lavas

getting ready for jingle bells

Swim Club:

Frankie and Juliana are in the swim club. Frankie is doing well and can go out snorkeling w/ me now. They recently had a swim meet at the trade winds hotel - the only pool big enough on the island to hold the races. some photos from the meet...

Ready for racing

Frankie getting ready to race

Frankie giving everything she got

Frankie with her second place ribbon

After the meet. Juliana and Julia

Members of Tutuila swim club

Frankie and Maria

Laura I am keeping my promise.

We miss you. Love Roger, Juliana, and Francesca