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 :)

blog stalker ;)

as I was checking out other blogs, (have u noticed many new blog hoppers? :)) I saw this post

"I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing. If I do an interview with photographs people desperately want to change me-- dye my hair blonder, pluck my eyebrows, give me a fringe. Then there’s the choice of clothes. I know everyone wants a picture of me in a mini-skirt. But that’s not me. I feel uncomfortable. I’d never go out in a mini-skirt. It’s nothing to do with protecting the Hermione image. I wouldn’t do that. Personally, I don’t actually think it’s even that sexy. What’s sexy about saying, ‘I’m here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I’ve got?’ My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder." --Emma Watson.

Maybe they should pass the memo to the Disney channel lol I like that, kids dont really understand this concept until someone famous makes it cool... I love Harry Potter books:)

A Little Heaven on Earth

a popular proverb says “Thee lift me and I’ll lift thee, and we will ascend together.”

I got this from an article in the Ensign...  Everyday is a work in progress to achieve a little heaven on earth, with busy busy schedules and a funeral on top of it this week my husband and I have counted our blessings and have pulled more than usual towards spiritual guidance for ourselves and others in our humble abode ;)  A scenario this article puts into my mind is that having a Celestial Marriage is like climbing a mountain and binding yourself with your eternal companion as you climb together and when you have children you tie them along with you for the ride, it puts into perspective our responsibility to live a consecrated life not only to bless our posterity but to make our journeys here on earth together a harmonious(awesome) one! :) I love my life.  May my sweet loving sister in law Janelle Lula Tongaonevai rest in peace and send some love and comfort to her eternal love while he gathers his faith in the lord to endure his stay here on earth, till they meet again! our heavenly father has an eternal plan we can't understand many times but I hope hes comforted in knowing he took her to the temple and that their marriage is eternal... ofa lahi atu

 Famili Ke Ta'engata

Ending of Summer 2011

My sister has been gone for a couple weeks now and has finally set off to Guam she is located in Saipan right now which is about a 45 min airplane ride from Guam and learning Chuukese :) shes excited to get to work! we miss her so much but theres something about the gospel thats so beautiful that I cant help but be so proud and happy :)

Athena is playing the piano now, we found an awesome music student that lives in the building next door :) and she starts Kindergarten this Fall.

My brother in law that just moved in with us will be a Jr this year and playing Football for Highland :)

as you can  see we took new family pictures!!! Our good family friend Latu flew in from California on the weekend we had Katies farewell and we all met up downtown at the Temple :)

 

We just had a Mataele/Ika family reunion, green rocks



Sister Ika

My little sister has been called to Micronesia Guam, seems like it all happened so fast because as soon as she left I have really missed her. I am so happy that she has chosen to give the lord 18 months to help spread the gospel!  I know she has a strong testimony and has gone through much adversity to get to the mission field, Im so glad she has made good decisions in her life and pray this will help bless my brothers to come back to church strong.  I am so grateful for the restoration of the gospel and the atonement that ensures our salvation if we live according to our savior... I am so blessed to have parents that never took breaks on gospel teachings in our home.  Ofa Atu Sister Ika

my lil ace

My daughter jus turned the big 5 and is so ready for kindergarten, please excuse the bragging because this is for her to read one day ;) she graduated from upstart which is a software that was provided by the Waterford Institute and was free :) she learned math reading and science and has already started to attempt reading books.  She practices soccer and softball with her dad a couple times a week and loves to workout hard with him and Hunter, she loves to learn her articles of faith and just passed number 6 off.  She loves to work on crossword puzzles and draw pictures to hang on her wall.  She always wants me to buy her new math workbooks and cross word puzzles because she goes through them really fast.  This year we went swimming as a little family and watched movies after, she asked for a plant and gummy bears lol.. Her dads sisters brought her tons of gummy bears and chocolate, uncle william aka fish bate hooked her up with some money, birthday song from auntie Ana and Adrian in Oakland, and many texts and birthday shout outs via text and facebook :)
She will start Kindergarten this fall and totally wants to take the bus to school... I told her I can come eat breakfast with her before school and she told me that its pretty much for the kids so I shouldnt lol wow life goes so fast ya know?

Happy Fathers Day

I'm a day late... fathers are such a blessing to have, I think about how much harder it wouldve been to not have my father around because my husband lost his dad at the young age of 3... hes naturally a fatherly figure to my kids and sometimes a mother lol he puts so much love and effort into his kids that he makes being a family a lot easier.  Im sure his father is so proud!  My Dad is tight because he conquers everything in his path and more, he picks up new talents by the week lol and sharpens them so that he can become an expert.. he shares his talents and loves to help, after all he is a teacher :)

I've had a hard life, but my hardships are nothing against the hardships that my father went through in order to get me to where I started.- Bartrand Hubbard