Welcome Walter Afualo Beck

One of my favorite photos of all time.  I love these wild boys of mine. 

I haven't written a post in months!  So many things have happened since the last post... time to get caught up.
We've had a lot of visitors.  It was soooo nice to have family around.  I felt pretty bad for all of our guests though.  It was SO HOT and without AC I think everyone was kind of miserable at our place.  At the beginning of February Miles and Bre came to stay at our house for three weeks.  We had a lot of fun with them.  They were able to go and do some fun things for their honeymoon while they were here too.
Later in February Nana and Grandpa came to visit.  Anything that could be done in Samoa, we did while they were here.  We hiked Aunuu, snorkeled, walked the blow holes, went swimming, hiked Matafau, went to every museum, hiked some more, cooked in our neighbors Umu and had family over for dinner, celebrated Des' second birthday (Auntie Bre made his birthday cake and we decorated it with fish stencils).  Did I mention we did a lot of hiking?  We took a trip to Apia for three days with them too.  Nathan and I hadn't been over to Upolu for five years and we had never taken the kids.  I think To Sua Ocean trench was one of everyones favorite things.  Moses wasn't too excited about jumping in but once he was in the water he did pretty well.  Des, on the other hand, will jump into any body of water we come across and LOVE it.  The water temperature doesn't matter to him! Haha

Sliding Rock

To Sua Ocean Trench- one of our favorite place on Upolu.

Papapapaitai Falls

Togitogiga Falls.  We swam here to get the salt water off after swimming at To Sua.  So refreshing!

Happy 2nd Birthday Des!  Such a ham!

Visiting Great Grandma Siasaga Afualo's grave in Mesepa

The boys had a good time hiking, and swimming with Nana and Grandpa for two straight weeks.

At the end of April Mopa, Gabby, and Uncle Teesh came to Samoa for a week.  We did a lot of fun things during there visit but I think we all agreed that our favorite part of their visit was hiking and snorkeling Aunuu.    We just happened to time the trip perfectly.  By the time we took the boat over and hiked to the beach by the arch on the northeast side it was noon.  The sun was out so the water was crystal clear and it was high tide.  The reef just off of the beach there is pretty untouched so we saw some beautiful coral and some crazy fish that even Nathan and I had never seen.  I think we all liked hiking the blow holes too.  It was high tide when we went and the blow holes were shooting higher than we'd ever seen!  Gabby got some really cool slow mo videos of MoPa standing next to one of the blow holes exploding.
After their visit Gabby, MoPa, Asher, and I went to Australia!  It was a much needed getaway from Samoa- I hadn't left since we moved here.  I'm not going to lie- it was a pretty nice break from the kiddos too.  Aaaaaaaaaaah- ZEN.  Haha On the flight from Apia to Brisbane there was a little girl in the seat directly behind me.  She was screaming for at least half of the flight.  It didn't bother one bit.  Why?  Not mine!  Haha I did feel bad for the man she was traveling with though.  Besides being a nice break, Australia was an amazing adventure.
We spent the first three days in Queensland.  The first day was birding.  I might sound like a nerd, but it was so fun!  The birds were unreal and I think we'll be quoting our guide for the rest of our lives.     He was hilarious. 

Our birding guide "Chook"

The second day we took a chopper out to the great barrier reef.  It was pretty amazing to see it from the air before going snorkeling/diving.  Right when we landed on the helipad that was floating on the reef the motion sickness hit me.  BAD.  I couldn't take any medication since I was pregnant so I spent a good portion of the day laying down with a towel over my head.  I forced myself to get in the water and snorkel, of course!  I couldn't miss out on seeing the Great Barrier Reef with my own eyes.  It was an experience I won't forget.  

Taking a helicopter tour over the Great Barrier Reef before getting dropped off for a day of snorkeling and diving.  Nice face Dad!  Haha

The third day in Queensland was spent taking the tram to Kuranda, doing some tourist shopping, and taking the train back down.
We spent one day visiting Uluru.  The highlight was waking up early to watch the sunrise over the rock.  WOW.

Our last two days were in Sydney.  Of all of the cities I've visited/ lived in Sydney may be my very favorite.  It's so beautiful and clean, the shopping is awesome, the food is delicious, and it's so well planned (running/walking trails everywhere, beautiful parks, etc.)  I think we all gained a good 20 pounds in the two days we spent there.  So many good restaurants!  On our first night we went to the Symphony at the Sydney Opera House.  I'm not sure what happened but with about thirty minutes left in the performance my whole family lost it. Like, LOST IT.  We could not stop laughing.  I'm blaming it on the jet lag- we were all completely thrown off time wise so it was way past our bed time.  We were out of control!  Hahaha I felt really bad for the people sitting around us trying to enjoy a sophisticated evening at the symphony.  But we couldn't stop.  When it ended everyone stood up and started cheering for an encore.  We just looked at each other and headed straight to the door.  No way any of us were lasting through more classical music.  Sorry Beethoven- I guess it's just not a Jackman thing! 

Asked someone to take our picture with the Opera House in the background.  Ummm... Thanks?

I'm glad we could make some fun memories together since we don't see each other enough.

What I really want to write down, before I forget details, is Walter's birth story.  He was born a few days ago on Sunday, June 19- Happy Father's Day to Nathan!

The whole pregnancy was pretty intense- by far the hardest I've had.  Between being sicker than I've ever been in my first trimester, being on the opposite side of the world from family and friends (on a teeny tiny island with no amenities, and none of the foods to feed my pregnancy cravings, mind you) Zika virus breaking out on island, no air conditioning through the hottest Samoan summer in years, moving twice, and learning that there's no pain medication for giving birth on island, I had some rough days.
Without getting all sappy and going into too much detail, in the end I know that Heavenly Father knows me, loves me, and has a plan better than my own.  The whole experience was a humbling reminder that faith is a requirement in order to feel happiness.  I just don't have all the answers!  Try as I might to micromanage EVERYTHING, ultimately I'm not in charge.  And I'm so glad.  After being pregnant and giving birth here, I feel like there are a lot of things I can do that I didn't think I could before.
After a long nine months I woke up feeling contractions around 4 am on Saturday, June 18.  They were 20 to 30 minutes apart and they stayed that way for a good portion of the day.  I wasn't sure if I was going to go into active labor so I stayed home and made cookies for the Relief Society Father's Day gift that was being handed out the following day.  Nathan took the boys to the beach to swim.  As the day progressed so did the severity and consistency of the contractions.  By late afternoon my contractions were pretty painful and about 15 minutes apart- still not close enough to be considered active labor so I went to the church to help package the cookies since Father's Day was the next day. I'm so glad I did because it kept my mind off of the pain I was having.  Shortly after I got home, around 8 pm, I was struggling to stand.  The contraction were getting closer and closer (about 5 minutes apart,) lasting about 50-60 seconds each, and strong enough to take my breath away.  Ouch.  I DID NOT want to go to the hospital and have them tell me I wasn't progressing or that I was being  whimpy so I kept waiting.  I took a shower while Nathan put the boys down for bed.  Then Nathan took a shower while I walked back and forth from the kitchen to our bedroom, leaning up against whatever I was closest to when the contractions hit.   Nathan finally called our friends, the Bigelow's , to come over around 11 pm.
I tried to have Nathan apply some counter pressure to my back while we waited but it made it worse because I couldn't move around freely like I wanted.  So I scratched the idea of having anyone touching me (or talking to me.  I think no matter what Nathan said, I would just get mad.  Haha)  Nathan knows me well- he told me after he knew the best support he could provide was to stand next to me silently.  Thank you!  Perfect reaction to my crazy, laboring attitude.
By the time our friend Shadie got to our house I could not think straight.  I remember telling her to "just feed the boys candy if they cry for me."  Oops!
The drive to the hospital was interesting.  I couldn't sit down at all.  I just knelt down backwards in the passenger seat and reached my hands back to the back seat.  I talked myself through the contractions... out loud.  So basically, I just sounded like a crazy person.  At that point the contractions were so close together and painful that I lost track.  They pretty much felt right on top of each other.  I remember thinking that if I got to the hospital and they told me I wasn't far along that I might die.  We parked the car, Nathan grabbed the bags, and we walked in.... VERY SLOWLY.  I couldn't really walk so I was just hobbling and stopping every three steps to get through the contractions.  Finally, we made it to the labor room and the nurse came in and checked me.  I was dilated to 9 1/2 cm.  She said "You got here late!  Are you feeling the urge to push?  It's time to have your baby!"  Even though I still had to push the baby out, I felt so relieved knowing that it was almost over.  I got up, walked to the delivery room (how I walked, I'll never know!), pushed through the first contraction and my water broke.  Two contractions later, and some seriously painful pushing and baby Walter was in my arms.  I couldn't believe it.  We arrived at the hospital at 12:15 am and he was born at 12:40. No tearing.  My lightest baby at 7 lbs 8 oz!  Perfect little boy! Prayers = answered.  We left the hospital 17 hours later- didn't even stay the night!  We had heard some scary stories about giving birth in American Samoa so we were pleasantly surprised by the sweet nurses, the cleanliness of the maternity ward, and some of the supplies they provided.  I had heard they didn't provide any diapers so we were happy when they gave us a handful of them- although, they were size 3.  Size 3 for a newborn?  Haha, how big are these Samoan babies?!  Regardless, the experience was great because we had expected the very worst.  We felt really blessed leaving the hospital with a healthy baby!

A few other details I don't want to forget:
- I remember getting really annoyed because the nurse and the CNA were cracking jokes the entire time I was in the delivery room.  They both started cracking up when my water broke- very different from my experience in the states.  I'm glad someone was enjoying their night while I was trying to push a baby out!
- Dr. Zutu, from the Solomon Islands, delivered Walter.

He's been a dream of a baby this week.  I'm crossing my fingers he stays like this!

The Holidays

Jillana was on island for the Leone Highschool reunion. So nice to have a familiar face around for a week!

Moses and Des had their first dentist appointments!  They did really well- no screaming or crying from either boy.  I'm guessing it's because their favorite person ever is their dentist!

Wading at low tide in Vatia.

Nathan went Palolo fishing with Stan and Tapu.  They only come out once a year around two in the morning.  The Samoans say Palolo is a delicacy, but I'm not buying it...

The last few months were a blur!  All of October and November I was feeling really blah- by far the hardest first trimester of all three pregnancies.  I didn't clean at all, the boys entertained themselves and had way too much screen time, and I cried over anything & everything (thank you crazy hormones).  Thankfully, I have a REALLY good husband who washed dishes, did laundry, and mopped floors for eight straight weeks- all while working and playing with the boys every spare minute.

Luckily we managed to have some fun in between my crying fits and constant episodes of nausea.  In October, we took a tour through the Starkist Tuna Cannery.  Nathan did some dental work on the manager and he invited us to come check it out.  We had to wear hair nets and ear plugs which Des wasn't too thrilled about.  We didn't get to see the entire operation since we had the kids with us, but I'm glad we brought them because they had a good time.  The cannery used to run 24/7 but because of new international fishing laws, the cannery has been struggling.  When we took the tour they weren't running the assembly lines- just cleaning the equipment and waiting for a shipment of fish to arrive.  The assembly line workers make a little over $4/hour... I worked at a tanning salon one summer in college (the easiest job in the entire world) and made $6.50/hour! It's pretty crazy to think that the cannery is Am. Samoa's economic backbone and its workers make so little.  Hopefully they'll stay in business- I can't imagine what would happen if they went under.

The primary presidency planned a fun Halloween activity for the kids a few days before Halloween.  We had a costume contest, played games, and trick-or-treated through the church.  We had ward members sign up to decorate all of the classrooms and they did not disappoint!  The rooms were awesome and the kids had a blast.  Moses was a pe'a (bat) and Des was an ula (lobster).  The only problem was I ordered their costumes on amazon- they were, of course, made for Halloween in the northern hemisphere so both of the boys sweat to death in the heat and humidity.  I think Des wore his costume for a total of 5 minutes.  Moses was excited enough about being a pe'a that he suffered in his FLEECE costume all night.  When we took it off he looked like he had just stepped out of the shower!  

I'm glad the boys had a good time at the primary party because trick-or-treating through neighborhoods isn't too safe thanks to the crazy dogs.  On Halloween Des had a fever so I stayed home with him while Moses and Nathan went to a few houses with some of the Faga'alu boys.  Moses felt really cool trick-or-treating with the big boys and I felt comfortable letting him go since the local kids know how to avoid the dogs in their village:)  Win, win!

Johnny, Moses, Vili, and Sema trick-or-treating.

We finally moved into our new place on November 20.  We're renting from the Folasa family in Mapusaga Fou.  The house is huge!  It's got four bedrooms which will come in handy when the visitors start rolling in!  I was really excited for the boys to have there own bedrooms so we could all sleep better at night.  Turns out most nights I fall asleep in one of the twin trundle beds next to Moses' toddler crib (his room is really small- it's the coolest room because the fan moves the air better in there).  Des will not fall asleep unless he is literally touching his face against Nathan or I's arm.  So he either falls asleep next to me in the twin bed and gets moved to the twin trundle right next to me (so there are three of us in the smallest room in the house... haha!) or he falls asleep next to Nathan in the master bedroom.  So much for separate rooms and getting more sleep!

The view from our bedroom.  The ocean is down there but it's hard to see since the sun is rising in this pic.

All in all we like the house.  The boys wear themselves out just running around in the living room and they swim in the yard almost every day!  On clear days we can look out of the windows and see the ocean through the coconut/banana plantation in the backyard!  Downsides- no AC so we've been battling mold like crazy, there are termites, and our neighbor has SEVEN dogs... basically we have the same problems as every other family living on this island:)  I guess I just need to get used to it.

I went to pick up Moses from school after their Thanksgiving Program and found him dressed like a turkey!  

We spent Thanksgiving at the Reid's house.  It was really fun!  The kids played with each other the whole day and we all hung out and played card games and laughed a lot.  It was potluck so everyone brought some traditional thanksgiving food or Samoan dishes.  The food was really good.  I think we ended up counting six or seven different types of meat and no vegetable side dishes (actually, we had mashed potatoes and taro - those are vegetables;))!  Haha we had a very Samoan thanksgiving.

A few days before christmas Des swallowed a Nickel!  I was freaking out but we looked up online what to do and everything we read said money smaller than a quarter will usually pass on it's own.  So we spent the next week and a half sifting through stinky diapers- yay.

We went to our ward Christmas party the Saturday before Christmas.    There was, of course, a ton of food and the primary had a short little program.  All of the younger kids ended up swimming for a couple of hours.  As a primary presidency we had planned to have Santa come but needed to get them out of the water to sit on his lap.  Bishop Goodwin suggested we have santa ride around the corner on one of our Kayaks so the kids could follow him out of the water.  What an inspired bishop! Haha.  It worked out perfectly- the kids all started screaming when they saw Santa coming around the corner.  They swam as fast as they could, ran out of the water, and made a line without us having to say anything.  The kayak was the best idea ever:)  Moses was loving it and Des had no idea what was going on.

Santa comes to Samoa on his Kayak!

The sunset after our Christmas Eve kayaking adventure in Leone

We didn't have any plans for christmas day but it turned out to be so fun!  Christmas morning the boys woke up to lots of presents thanks, in large part, to Nana.  Nana sent new clothes and shoes (which the boys desperately needed), a play mat, a tee ball set, and gifts for Nathan and I.  I called Tino (one of the sisters in our ward- she's got a 9 year old girl Helen and a boy, Kendall, just younger than Des) and she spent the day with us.   Tino showed us how to fry fai and ulu chips while the kids went swimming and played with their new christmas toys.  Wyatt, from our ward (his wife is off island to have their first baby) came to the beach with us too.  we all hiked down to Fagatele Bay and swam, snorkeled, and had lunch.

It was pretty nice not to have to stress about anything on christmas (no preparing food, setting up big fancy christmas decorations, buying fancy gifts...) but I think we all missed being with family.

On New Years Eve Des was gagging a ton at dinner and we still hadn't seen any sign of the nickel he swallowed.  Nathan ended up taking Des to the ER to check for the nickel in his throat and Moses and I popped little poppers to celebrate the new year at midnight (actually it was 9:00 pm, but we were both sleepy so I just pretended it was midnight.)  The doctor said there was no way Des could have been eating if there was a nickel in his throat so Nathan got sent home- no x-ray for Des.
A few days ago Des ended up back in the ER because his left leg had a bad infection.  His knee and his thigh were so swollen!  He was in so much pain that he wasn't sleeping and he couldn't put weight on his leg.  He would get really mad whenever we tried to look at it.  He was put on antibiotics (for like, the millionth time in his little life) and his leg is looking way better now that he's taken it for a few days.    I think the whole episode started from a bug bite on his knee.  Whew.  Please, no more fevers, ear infections, bug bite infections, or nickels... This kid is giving us a run for our money.  Lucky for us, Moses has been relatively healthy (aside from his eye infection, the rash on his neck and face, jellyfish stings in both hands, and the flu)... haha so I guess he's had his share too.  Good times in Samoa.

Moses wrote his name for me for the first time!  He's been working on it at school.  His 'E' is the best!