Bdaaayyyysss

Just as I thought the end was in sight my husband is trying for his PHD.. its bittersweet, good because he is going above and beyond what I have pushed for and sad because more years as poor students lol We are lucky to have family that support us............

Earlier this month I went to the Bay area for my (moms side)Grandfathers brothers funeral Hiliate Mapa, he was like a grandpa to all my 1st cousins and 2nd since most of our grandfathers died while we were quite young, we grew up with him and his family.  His wife passed away last year and he left the earth on valentines day probably to be with his love... <3 they had one daughter but they always had family living with them:) he is the last of the brothers surviving.  Two of his sisters I have never met live in New Zealand and Tonga and are the last surviving of my great grandmother Tupou Kelo.  I happened to be in San fransisco on my birthday due to flying standby and got bumped off so it was really different and fun to spend it with my many cousins in Cali! Hiliates whole house sang happy birthday to me and Tina, Crystal n Moleni crew lol took me to BJs(omg the Tanforan mall!) for a dessert yummm then Puki kli and Noni made me a breakfast jack cake wow fat lol then when I got home my kids made me a cute cake that I forgot to take a pic of darn...  @ church it was elder Kinikinis homecoming and I enjoyed his talk as he came home from San Jose! great speaker... after church my sister in law took us to eat chinese food :) it was an amazing day...

 I am whole heartedly grateful for my ancestors for paving a way to provide our generation with better opportunity and instilling amazing examples of living a Christlike life, I love the plan of salvation and pray to keep my family eternal

Starting the New Year off :)

I noticed in my last couple posts ok well most of them, I have a picture for almost everything lol please excuse the need for a visual ha, Im in Kindergarten mode! ;) Started the New Year off with fun games at my sister in laws place, my first time playing scrabble can u believe it? lol I LOVE that game, I am secretly competitive (at least I hope Im not obvious lol)so I had no mercy ;) My husband is the oldest of his moms kids, not his dads but we dont see them too much... so we try to pull them together for some FAM time, we all shared some memories and new goals and how we can accomplish them. It was cool spending time with them as we are trying to have better relationships in general and I dont know a better way to start than within :)   we then had a eating after church with my siblings....
BACKTRACKING
Christmas was a lot! my kids are always thought of awww..... Christmas Eve we had a talent show and all the grandkids did a lil sumthin sumthin, I read about one of the prophets doing one with their family so I thought it would be a fun and entertaining tradition to start... we finally got to talk to Sister Ika in Guam since they are a day ahead! she listened to the rules and only spoke for an hour lol still a nerd ha ha but better yet an obedient loving servant :) shes so cute and the only complaint she had was how itchy the mosquitoes make her... actin like we dont got those here!? ha ha shes doing wonderful and I know the Lords work is being shared graciously.  My sister brought us food from her ugly sweater party that her inlaws  had and I hade a bad allergic reaction from the crab wontons LOL so ugly I swear I ate 20 and woke up swollen but I still went to church because it was my 1st cousin Nancy Otukolo's mission farewell and she is going to New York! awesome :) she shared her beautiful testimony and I cried because I admire her faith to become more Christlike... I really liked her statistics she shared about NY, way to be prepared sister!
We had a eating with my Mothers fam, at her sisters house where my grandma Kalo stays.  I talked to her while she ate and I entertained her with my sucky Tongan but shes the only one that I can practice on ha ha shes funny and is in such good health, well shes finally bedridden but shes 88! shes outlived 2 kids and her husband :)
We then ended the night at my sister in laws and they bombarded my kids with presents! I had to put some away for their bdays lol
Cheers (with some ice cold water ha) to the New Year!!!!!!

Happy Holidays

I was gonna send a Holiday card that listed the top five of our 2011... but right when I was gona check out I saw the price was 2.50 a card haa haa so Im gonna blog it :)

1- Athena started Kindergarten and loves it

2- Achilles hits the terrible 2's and kills us but is very entertaining with his dance moves :)

3- Sister Katie Ika got her mission call to Micronesia Guam and is adjusting quite well

4- Last year in student housing! Made so many amazing friends and loved all that came with it such as the free workouts and the free Institute classes

5- 5 years of marriage down.. the growth has been enlightning with a better knowledge of the bigger picture :)

Sad times too :( RIL Janelle....

Heres to 2012.... something I read Last night

Your reputation is what others think of you and your Character is YOU!

Heres to a growing yet optimistic priming of my character;)

Happy holidays please be safe and stay warm, I have korean blankets if u need one LOL

Think to Thank

With Thanksgiving 2moro I see so many grateful people expressing what they are thankful for :)

There are so many things Im grateful for but at this particular time I can say Im truly thankful for a Grateful heart... so I can remember to not always want more but to be happy and loved with what I have!

Pinterest! LOVE

Im obssessed with this site...

pretty.... wana make one soon :)

Hunger Games!

Cant wait for this movie and feel a lot better about the end seeing who they casted for Peetah woo saaa ;)

Organization is what I need with my makeup! this is cool

Oh man my kids would love this but who wouldnt? that would wake me right up in the morn lol

Want this to be my next read! Love wearing Toms not only for the comfort but because they donate a pair for everyone you buy, we bought ours in memory of Janelle

Want this magnetic polish for my next nail adventure with the girls..

oh yay a cute healthy snack, strawberries in greek yogurt frozen yummmm

aw the reminder to think of others

gosh I wish I had her hair ....... and her face lol

aw the things we gripe about sometimes lol

me for all my sisters, LOL

we seriously did this! it was so fun wish we had our pics... we also piled up with our heads poking out.. oh how I had such an awesome childhood

shouldve done this for breast cancer awareness, next time!

totally turning my fridge into a chalkboard ;)

birthdays

October is over but I wanted to bring up all the birthdays in my family that fall in October.. what a busy month, most importantly my Grandma Kalolaine Vaka Mapa... she turned 88 this year and is still kickin :) something I admire about her is her dedication to the Gospel... she has served so many missions and has been by herself for awhile since my grandfather passed away about 21 years ago.  She was very good at geneology work and always showed us her map of our family history going all the way back to adam and eve... pretty cool :)

October

This month has been an emotional roller coaster aaaaaaaahhh dont like those rides too much.. reminds me of how human I am lol I have this picture of how I want things to be then the practice part comes into play and I wonder if I should short change my goals... being at home with my kids gives me so much time to think, changes this month have been really hard and we have been trying to get over the slump.  I cant seem to keep the sad stuff outta my thoughts but we are working on it everyday... I guess I jus needed to vent it out.  You know what they say when ur feeling down, count ur blessings :)

Things I am grateful for

A hard working ambitious husband who has come so far with me in spiritual and physical strengthening, Im glad hes here with me on this journey

A beautiful obedient daughter who pushes herself to learn more and more! I have to check on her every night to make sure she sleeping and not reading or doing her math work book lol Kindergarten is far more intense then from what I remember lol

A naughty but oh so cute lil boy whos my bff cuz he literally wont leave me alone ;)

I am the Faith in God leader in my Liberty 3rd ward and enjoy it so much, these girls are so fun and push me to be consistent and alive lol

My testimony of the plan of salvation, I find comfort in knowing I can be with my family for eternity and that all that we do here on earth is priming us for the day when our time on earth is done :)