Finally something to blog about! I have been slacking and haven't felt like blogging about anything lately until today. We had our family pictures done two weeks ago and I was little worried because we had major wind and my hair kept blowing across my face and getting stuck in my lipstick. I just got them back and was very pleased. Thank you so much to our awesome photographer Caroline. Here are a few of my favorites.
We had fun this summer spending the Holidays with family. For the 4th of July we went to my sister Emily's and had a BBQ with their family, my parents, and their friends Colt and Christy. The food was great and the kids had a lot of fun playing and watching fireworks together. The 24th of July we went to Shawn and Britney's for a a BBQ and then we drove up to the hospital to watch the fireworks with Vai out on the hospital rooftop patio. Britney had a ton of glow sticks and gave them to me to give to my kids. When we got to the hospital there were a lot of other families up there with their kids. I decided my kids didn't need anymore glow sticks and so I decided to pass them out to all the other kids up on the patio. Most of those kids faces lit up, they were so excited to have a bracelet or a necklace. It turned out to be alot of fun. I am grateful to live in this country where we have such amazing access to good health care, wonderful Doctors, and the advanced medical technology we have to save lives. I am grateful for the freedoms we enjoy as part of living in this great nation.
So as most of you know Vai spent most of her summer in the hospital. Since coming home from the hospital she has done surprisingly well but her life is consumed with taking pills and giving shots for diabetes. She swallows pills 5 time a day and gives herself about 4 shots a day. We spend every Thursday at Primary Childrens for her cardiology appts where they do her lab work and check all of her drug levels, she has an EKG, and an echocraiogram, and then she sees the DR. The staff and Dr's there are wonderful and we love them all they are a huge part of our lives. I took a few pictures just to give you an idea of what she has and is going through and another look at our summer.
Our summer was a little hectic and we weren't able to do a lot with Vai in the hospital. We did take the kids a couple of times up the mountains to have a picnic and spend some time together. We went once up to American Fork Canyon as a family and then once up to Bridal Veil Falls with our cousins and also with the Warner's while they were visiting from Texas.
Makaila and Tila play soccer, McKay plays football, and Isaac thinks he does it all! These past few months I find Isaac putting on the shinguards, socks, and cleats asking me to take him to his soccer game. The next minute I find him in McKay's football pads, helmet, and football cleats telling me he's gonna go play football. I have also caught him ready to go scuba diving. By the end of the day after all his adventures I find him sleeping with the football helmet and if I try to put it away, he wakes up and screams at me.
The other day I was helping Tila get ready for school and this was the conversation...
Tila: Mom do people ever ask you if I was adopted?
Mom: No, why would they ask that?
Tila: Because I look like I am adopted, I don't look anything like you.
Mom: Well you may not look like me but you do look a lot like your Dad and I promise you that you came out of my tummy!
Tila: Yeah, I know I just look like my Dad, but none of your kids look like you. We all look like we are adopted.
I thought it was pretty funny because none of my other kids have ever questioned the fact that they are mine.
I have had so many people asking about Vai. I don't want to put the information out their on facebook because it's so public. A friend told me about a website that I can go on and create a page for Vai that I can update and people can leave comments etc. Please feel free to check it out.
www.caringbridge.org/visit/vai
Thanks for all your prayers and thoughtfulness on our behalf, we love you all.
Isaac loves my Mom's little dog Lizzie. The other day I went running and left Isaac at my Mom's. Usually I take Isaac with me and push him in the stroller and if I go with my Mom we sometimes take Lizzie and she sits on Isaac's lap as we go. Well I guess Isaac was mad that I left them home and insisted that we take Lizzie for a walk. I thought we would walk to the end of the street and back but NO, Isaac dragged Lizzie and I about another mile. Isaac had so much fun and didn't want to go home.
Tila is my little animal lover. The kids go to Grandma's when I'm at work and it seems that stray dogs, stray cats, and anything else always finds its way to Grandma's. There was a nest in one of my Mom's trees and apparently the baby bird fell out of the nest and broke it's wing. Tila spent the whole day worried about this poor baby bird and sat out on the lawn with it, finding it worms, and just caring for it.
I wish I had a better camera with me but the kids have a ton of fun with their cousins!
We went to California for Taylor's cousins graduation the first of the month. We flew into Orange County on Friday and thought we would spend the day at the beach. I was quite disappointed that it was freezing cold in California but nothing could keep my kids from getting in the water! Saturday we spent the morning at the Fontana Bel-Air Swap Meet and that afternoon took the kids to see UP with all their cousins. Saturday night was the big Graduation Party and eating. For all my Palangi friends and family when you go to a Tongan wedding, graduation or any other signifigant event there is a person from each family that does a Ta'alunga (cultural dance) where the rest of the family members get up and dance around behind them while others come and stick money on their oiled skin. After the dance they gather up the money and it goes in a basket that all goes to the one that the celebration is for. Makaila has been the one requested to represent our family and do the Ta'alunga. Makaila gets really nervous but she likes to do it because Grandma and her Aunties always make sure they sneak a couple dollars under her dress that she can keep. My husband's family is so much fun and we always have a great time going to Cali and spending time with them.
I know I am pathetic but I miss my husband. This week Taylor's shift at work changed and he now works graveyards which means I am sleeping alone and it sucks! When we were first married Taylor had this same graveyard shift where he worked midnight to 8am. I don't remember it being this terrible but maybe I was just used to it since he had worked that shift since we started dating and for about two years into our marriage. Now that he has been on days for so long and I am used to having him here at night I am struggling and it is only the second night. He is supposed to start at midnight but they have had him coming him at 10 which means he is leaving here at 9:30. That is my time! I always look so forward to 9pm because that is OUR time. Our kids are in bed and that is when we snuggle on the couch and watch a movie, or catch up on the shows we haven't watched, and talk. Now 9pm comes and I am alone. I don't want to watch anything by myself and I can't go to sleep, so here I am blogging and playing on Facebook and it is only 11pm. I will probably end up putting on a movie I have all ready seen and fall asleep on the couch like last night. I feel really bad for all those wives who have to live apart from their husbands for any period of time, or who's husbands travel a lot. I guess you get used to it and hopefully I will too. I love you Taylor!
I decided last week when the weather was nice that Isaac needed a bike that he could ride. Last Wednesday we went to Kid to Kid to go see if they had bikes. The moment we walked in the store Isaac found the perfect bike so we paid for it and went straight home. The minute we got home he wanted to ride his bike. I tortured him by making him come inside and wait for me to make him a little lunch since it was 11:00. Normally we don't eat that early but I had to meet my visiting teaching partner and the girl we visit at 11:15 at the park so I knew he would get hungry. Well he decided to take his lunch with us and knew just how to get it there.
He loves his new bike and I cannot keep in the house. The first thing he asks when he wakes up in the morning is, "ride bike"?. I love this kid so much!!!
This year my kids school had a Spanish themed dance festival where all the grades performed a different dance representing a spanish country. Makaila's class did a street Samba, I'm not sure what the !st grade did cause I missed it, and the kindergartners did the chicken dance and then sang a song in Spanish. After all the grades performed there was a school picnic where they sold tacos and nachos and had a family dance. I tried to take some pictures but my camera batteries died right as soon as I turned it on, however, I was able to snap a couple pictures with my phone. Cell phones are so useful and come in handy for so many purposes.
Makaila's team had their last game against Sparta on Saturday. This team is doing such a fantastic job! Their team has been through some ups and down this past year and is on their 3rd coach but they have grown and pulled through strong. We don't know the final standing but we believe they are solidly in 2nd place or tied for 1st. This last game was so exciting for me and I have to brag a minute. Makaila came out and played so hard she scored the first goal of the game with a hard left foot and she is not a lefty when we saw her take the shot we were waiting for her to shank it but she cleared it hard and it was powerful, she sent the goalie out with it actually. That first goal changed the momentum for the whole team. Makaila scored the 2nd goal with a penaly kick from nearly mid-field. Right before the end of the first half she then headed it and almost got a 3rd goal and quite a reaction from the coaches. She was on fire and aggressive and won the MVP award. The rest of the game she made great passes and great assists and her team went on to win 6-0.
Timberline Junior High had their 9th Grade Night Dance on Friday Night. Vai had told me for the past two weeks that she didn't want to go. When the couple she was supposed to babysit for called to cancel that all changed. It was 4pm on Friday and she decided she wanted to go but she didn't have a dress. I told her to go take a shower so we could do her hair and make-up and then we would run and find a dress. The great thing about Vai is that she is so easy to please! It does not take Vai a week of shopping and trying things on, when she find something she likes, she takes right then and there. So when she was ready we jumped in the car and we were going to run to Kohl's but the I decided we would try Ross first. I have to admit I never think to go to Ross because I never really shopped there but my in-laws love it and always find things. We walked into Ross and within 5 minutes Vai found a dress she loved and 2 minutes later shoes she loved. The dress was sleeveless it just had these tiny spaghetti straps and also a pretty deep v-cut. I told her she could have it if she would wear a shades shirt under it. She looked adorable and was very happy she couldn't stop smiling all night. Once she got to the dance she called to see if she could got to a friends after and watch a movie and have a treat so I told her yes. The dance ended at 9pm and she called at 8:45 telling me ot pick her up at the school at 9 instead. Taylor when to get her and asked her why she didn't go to her friends and she said she wanted to come home and hang out with us. WHAT! at that age the last thing I wanted to do was hang with my family on a weekend. Taylor told her next time she had to gow ith her friends and be social. Vai is a good girl and I am glad that she likes being home and that home is a safe and secure place for her. I feel very blessed that she likes being a part of our family as much as we like having her a part of our family and that is this is home and we are her family. You always worry a little when raising somebody else's child how that child really feels and I am able to know. Her dress had a really cute bubble skirt and her hair looked really cute but it is hard to tell cause the wind was blowing so hard when we were trying to take the picture. I should have taken it inside.
I am so glad this week is finally over! I had two secrets I was keeping and this week just seemed to drag on. My Dad turned 60 on Mother's Day and my mom, sister, and I decided to have a surprise Birthday party for him on Thursday night. My Dad doesn't like attention and does not like people to make a fuss over him so we thought he might be a little annoyed with us but 60 is big one and thought we should celebrate. My Dad has been very fortunate to have great friends and they have a friendship that has spanned 50 years. So lying to my Dad when he asked me what I had going on this week was secret #1. My brother Ryan moved to Alaska to start school the end of April and his wife Megan stayed behind to work until June 12 when she can start her job in Alaska. Well Ryan got up to Alaska and as it turned out his program was pushed back and he didn't start school until May 18th so he has been up in Alaska all alone knowing nobody. Mother's Day Sunday his wife came over and Megan and I were talking and I reminded her that he still had a round trip buddy pass from last month and asked her if she would want to fly him down this week since he didn't have school so he could be here for my Dad's party and so we called Ryan and conspired and decided not to tell anybody and surprise them all at the party. Ryan flew down Monday night on a red-eye and that was secret #2. I was so excited for my Dad's party and very excited for everybody's reaction when Ryan was there. The party was a hit and my Dad was very surprised and both my parents were shocked and very excited to have Ryan there.
These are some of my Dad's good friends socializing before the party Robert and Catherine Chatfield and Layne and Diane Downs. The awesome Birthday cake above was made by one of my Dad's coworkers Larry Newton's wife Geri.
This morning Tila didn't have to be to school until 10am because the Kindergartner's were going on a fieldtrip. Since she fell asleep last night while we were reading scriptures she didn't get a bath so I had her take one this morning since we had some extra time. After her bath she got dressed and I had her come to my bathroom so I could do her hair and when she saw herself in the mirror she said Mom, I almost look like Beyonce!
Isaac's new thing to say is, move you're in my spot. The other night Taylor and I were in bed and Isaac wandered into our room, pushed the computer chair over to our bed and climbed in and was pushing his way in between us when he started kicking me away and said, Move you're in my spot! I turned to him and said no this is my bed this is my spot and then he said no this is my daddy! It doesn't matter what it is whether it is somebody sitting at certain spot at the bar at my house or at Grandma's house if someone is sitting where he is used to sitting he immediately gets upset telling them to move, that is his spot!
Last month Grandpa and Grandma's dog Maggie had puppies. The kids love going over to their house to play with the puppies especially Isaac. Isaac like to go hang out in the kennel with puppies and open and close the gate for them. Isaac really loves to try and pick them up and carry them and help them get a drink by putting them right into their water. My kids are really begging to take one home but I have not quite decided if I want to be cleaning up after a dog since our yard is quite small. I refuse to have animals indoor and so it would definitely need to be outdoors and I don't want to have to worry about scooping up poop and kids stepping in it etc. We will see.
