September 12, 2024
Meet the newest family member - Emilia Florence!
Soooo sweet and precious! Little Emilia made here entry into the World in the early morning hours of the same day as her cousin's wedding. September 7th, is a such special day for the whole Patrick clan! Another niece celebrated her 5th Wedding Anniversary, and the happy Wedding couple actually had their first date, on September 7th too! Below are proud parents of Emilia, Laura and Chris!
And below is proud Grandparents - my brother Pappa John and Nonna Joan! Such a blessing to be home for this special moment!
Making coconut cream is such a big part of the Samoan culture I feel compelled to share the 4 step process we were so nicely shown. Every Samoan young and old takes part in this tradition, it is an intrigue part of their everyday lives.
The tour today was focused on the National Park but we also got a lot of insight into American Samoa's history and current day life. Our guide was Nini and she is a college student studying accounting and finance and works as a part-time guide.
Today we took the National Park of American Samoa Tour. It's a unique park - the only one south of the equator and where the U.S. Government doesn't own the land. Efforts to establish the Park go back to mid 1980 over concern about the decline of fruit bats and wanting to protect the tropical rainforests. On October 31, 1988 Congress established the NP of American Samoa. In 1993, a complex arrangement for a 50 year land lease years with seven villages and the Samoa government was signed. We got lucky with our tour - we were expecting an open air bus, but because we were a small group, we got a plush air conditioned van!