PANGAIMOTU ISLAND RESORT - Today was Saturday!  We woke up early this morning, got our shopping done and we were able to spend half the day at an island right off of Tongatapu (mainland). It is called Pangaimotu island and it has a sunken ship there that you can swim and snorkel around.  They have a little simple restaurant there and some volleyball, ping-pong, and other fun activities.  We went there from around 11:00 to 4:00 and had a great time with the kids.  The rest of the day was spent getting ready for Sunday.  This was a fun little island and relaxing to just watch the kids have fun in the water.  It was about 75 degrees - Perfect!  Remember, it is Tonga's winter season.  What an amazing winter to be having!  The water can be a little bit chilly, but once you hop in, you get used to it pretty quick.  There were quite a few fish in/around the ship.  It was a great spot to snorkel.

This is the boat ride over.  This ride was smooth sailing compared to the ferry that we rode over to Eua.  This was only a 10 minute boat ride from the mainland.  

Logan and I talking to a family that we met in Eua that was going to the island that day as well.  We got to be friends when we were serving in Eua.  It was awesome to spend a little more time with them.  Their names are Antony and Veronica and they're from Australia.  They have been all over the world and have had some crazy adventures.  They have two little girls - Makayla and ? (I call her "curly sue" because she has blond curls and looks like Shirley Temple).

This is the family.  Great people!  We have met a lot of people that travel from New Zealand and Australia.  They come here to Tonga to do service or to vacation.  This is their winter holiday, so there are some tourists that we see from time to time.  

This is the same picture as above, but I wanted to tell a little more about it.  The kids were climbing on it and jumping off of the top of it into the water.  Something interesting is that the Tongans don't wear immodest clothing like bikinis.  These people are VERY modest with everything.  They don't show much skin.  So, when they go swimming, most of them (men and women) wear shorts and shirts when swimming.  To us, that was great to see.  Also, in public, you don't see a lot of "public displays of affection".  The Tongan kids were playing and having a great time in the water, climbing the trees, and playing in the sand.  Braden tried to copy them on climbing the trees as you can see down below.  :)

We played a little "Quirkel" while we were waiting for lunch.  So far, Elder and Sister Johns are undefeated.  One of these days, we'll try to "dethrone" them.  :)  Fun game!  We had to wait a while for our lunch - about an hour or so.  One lesson we are learning here in Tonga is, "No hurry, no worry."  I'm trying to learn how to be more like this.  It's a hard lesson to learn, but someone has to learn it.  :)  It really is a hard one though.  No, really!

Here's a different view of our picnic area.

Family picture on the island.  Ella cut her toe on a sea shell, so she is having a little bit of a difficult time.  It's hard being 4.  :)

One of our favorites.  Braden climbing a palm tree and hanging out.  He saw other Tongan kids doing it, so he figured he could.  Why not.  He's not afraid to try new things (we wish he would do the same thing with different foods).  He struggles with the Tongan food here.  He's making baby steps with that though.  The other day, he tried a little bit of fish.

We snorkeled for a little while and saw some cool tropical fish, some sea cucumbers, star fish, eels, and the rusty underwater boat.  Snorkeling is one of the most relaxing and cool things to do.  

Ella being silly with her food.  Now, if she would just eat some of it.

The kids were capturing star fish and then putting them back in the ocean.  They thought it was so cool to see the star fish up close and personal.

Four years ago, we made a "bucket-list" of things we wanted to do as a family before kids start leaving home.   One item on our family bucket list was to make a sand castle as large as Ella while we were in Tonga.  We had a little bit of a difficult time, but with the help of a little palm tree on top, I think we did it.  It looks taller than what it does in the picture, I promise.  :)

The posers again!  Look at what Logan is holding in his right hand.  Amazing strength!  The kids got a kick out of this picture.  I thought it was a cool photo op!

Makayla had to outdo her brother and hold the ship with her finger.  WOW!  MAKAYLA IS AMAZING!  After our time on this little island, we went home, had dinner, and got ready for tomorrow (Sunday).  We are excited because tomorrow, we will be meeting the new Mission President for Tonga and his family, and there is a special musical fireside tomorrow night that we're going to take the family to.  It should be good.  Good night and God bless!