smiles of my children

I'm obsessed with this video thing. I took these this morning of Malia and Kina. I love them because you can see their REAL smiles.




Pay no attention to the laundry getting folded - 5 LOADS!! yup, It's been a busy day.:)

a passion for ping pong

Last Saturday we went up to Lehi to watch Wayne participate in our stake ping pong tournament. If you didn't hear about, don't worry - you are in the majority. Ping pong has been one of Waynes favorite hobbies since they got a table in the football locker room. He LOVES it and can get pretty obsessed. I swear I never knew there were so many guys who loved ping pong so much . . . so much that they would get up early on a Saturday to go play. Anyways, the tournament was pretty competitive - which was surprising and humorous to me. They didn't mess around! lol. Wayne made it to the semi-finals but he lost to Fui Vakapuna. Fui was so good. The only person he lost to the whole day was the CHAMPION, President Paongo - and HE was AMAZING. Good job guys!

Nia, Sili and Vai, me and Malia, Melba and Ita, Tali


Wayne and Fui

byu luau - past and present

Ever since I moved to Utah three years ago I have been somehow involved in the annual BYU Luau. I've loved it! I've always loved Polynesian dancing and the Luau was a chance to dance, have fun with my family/friends and exercise all at the same time. Priceless! lol.

This last week was this years Luau and since I'm blogging about it, I thought I'd spice it up and take a little trip down memory lane and blog about past luaus we've been a part of - just for posterity's sake. It's pretty exciting huh. he he. Sooo. . .here we go!

BYU Luau 2007

• danced Maori, Tonga and Samoa sections (two mills, I know)
• Tali, Sili, Le'o and Nia also danced also
  
• held at the BYU Ballroom
• 5 months pregnant with Malia
• HIGHLIGHT - getting to know the talented Lionel Perrett and his family - love them!
  

In looking through old stuff I found this short clip Melba taped of our Maori practice. Sili's in gray, Nia's in white, Tali is in maroon, Nancy's in black and I'm in green. I love the Maori section because the musicians are the dancers! Don't mess with the toru, FA! lol!!!

Nia, me and Sili - I think they did a
good job on the Samoa costumes.

me, Nia, Leo and Lavi after Tonga. . . as you can see we were very liberal with the oil. lol

After the show - Kika, Leo, Sili, Nia, Mata, me and Kina -
We would have made great voyagers. "I'm KING of the world!"

Nia, me, Sili, and Finau and Hoku Conklin -
finally heading home

Sili, Leo, Nia and me - Counting our tauolunga booty.
If I remember correctly it was enough for each of us
to get like, $30. Have I mentioned that I love this custom?

BYU Luau 2008

• danced Maori, Tonga and emceed
• Sili, Nia, Tali, Leo, Kina AND Mata danced also
  
• held at Marriott Center
• 4 months pregnant with Kina (no one knew yet:))
• HIGHLIGHT - dancing in the Marriott Center. It was a special experience.
  

I loved loved loved the decorations. Aren't they gorgeous?

Nia, Sili, Mata, me and Lani - After the show

Beautiful girls - Kika, Nia, Sili and Mata
I love this pic

ALMOST everyone -
me, Tali, Leo, Nia, Sili, Kina, Wayne, Melba and Kika

BYU Luau 2009

• Nia and Tali danced
• I watched from the audience - loved it.
• held at BYU Ballroom with a 360 stage
  
• not pregnant! :)
• HIGHLIGHT - being able to sit back and enjoy the whole show. And No stress:)
  

Taahine foilole Nia

Kia Ora! Sarah, Nia and Tali

(video of Nia, Tali and Kaini showing off their crazy short poi skills)

After the show . . .

(top to bottom) Cameron, Angela, Kalo and Kina, Tina,
Kika, Nia, Leli, Melba, Tali and Maddox, Futi, Kina, me and Vini

Every year the show is different and different is good - of course, there are always highlights and lowlights. lol I'm always impressed by the amount of work and effort put forth by so many people - most being STUDENTS. As much as I'd complain about early practices and too much time commitment before the show, I'd totally miss the comradeship and experience after it was all over. It's been a fun tradition for our family!

uma

New things - Kina can sit and Malia can uma

aunty tali must have been tired

K, I totally realize I have like, two mills videos on this thing now. I never thought I'd be a big video person, but Malia is at that age where everything she does is funny. I think I may be turning into one of those parents who think everything their child does is cute . . . I apologize, I'm sorry. I'll try to keep the gooeyness to a minimum:)

So, the other night Tali came to my house to help me put the girls to bed because Wayne had to stay late at school. We work pretty well together - I feed Kina and put her down and Tali reads to Malia and then puts her down. This night Kina fell asleep fast. I came back into the living room to make sure Malia was getting sleepy and ready to go to bed. Uh, yeah. I guess Tali must have had a really long day or something. . .

Uh, nice Tal. Real nice. It's good to know my child is being so well taken care of. he he.

flickr tag

Now you know I usually don't do a lot of tags, BUT I saw this tag on a friends page and thought it looked interesting. . . plus, it's late and I can't sleep and have nothing else to post about. he he. Here's the rules. . .

1. Go to www.flickr.com
2. Type in your answer to the question in the "search" box
3. Use only the first page
4. Copy the html and paste for the answer.

1. What is your name?

2. What is your favorite food?


3. What is your favorite color?


4. Favorite Drink?


5. Dream vacation?


6. Favorite dessert?


7. What do you want to be when you grow up?


8. What do you love most in life?


9. One word to describe you?


10. What do you dream about?


I tag Ula, Line, Tina, Lolohea, Savani, Leise, Harmony, Miki and Ipo . . . and everyone else who has 5 minutes and needs to UPDATE their blog!! lol.

papa date at the farm e-i-e-i-o!

For our papa date this week we went to Thanksgiving Point Farm Country. It is a real-life functioning farm complete with every barnyard animal you can think of. It provides a hands-on educational experience for kids - they allow them to milk the cows, feed the pigs and ride the horses. The entry fee is only $3.50 so if you have kids and live in Utah you should GO!! It was a beautiful day and there was so much to do. Malia loved it!

As soon as she saw the sheep she started "baaaa"-ing.
She kept at it for a good five minutes. It was so funny!


The tractor wagon went on a ride around the entire farm.
I HAD to stay with Kina in the stroller. It was a sacrifice, but someone had to do it.:)


Malia was a little scared of the horses mouth so she would
put the corn in my open hand and let the horse eat it from there.
She kept saying "Here ya go" "Here ya go".


Holy cow! This was the very first time I've ever milked a cow.
I never realized how easily the milk actually comes out. Pretty cool.


Remember how I said Malia doesn't like moving toys?
She doesn't like moving live animals either.
After I took this picture, the horse started walking and Malia wanted OFF:)


Kina slept while we walked the farm,
but woke up when we went to eat at the cafe.
How could you not love this face?

A good day at the farm!

it's a fish, it's a dolphin . . . it's malia!

I'd like to first mention that the clever post title was made up by none other than WAYNE!! he he. He participates in our blog when he can:)

Malia is in swimming lessons again! We go to the Orem Fitness Center three times a week and love it! She isn't afraid of the water anymore and is learning slowly how to kick, move her arms and blow bubbles (it's a process :). We enjoy it even more because our friend Line and her son, Spencer are in our class!

After our class was over Malia and Spencer started playing with the noodles. Malia wraps the noodle around her and jumps off the little underwater ramp into a part of the pool where she can't touch bottom anymore. She did it once and then, after Line prompted me to grab my camera, we filmed her while she did it again.

Malia Phelps? lol

storytime with grandma vai

Every week Malia goes to story time at the library with her Grandma Vai. She loves it because she is able to get out of the house and be with her Grandma and I love it because I am able to GET MY CHORES DONE! woohoo!! Malia is so lucky to have some of her grandparents so close. She loves story time!




Ita, Grandma Vai, Malia and Vai si'i

malia feeding kina

We've just started Kina on cereal and baby food. I know, we are kinda late, but I just kept putting it off for some reason. Anyway, when she started eagerly grabbing at EVERYTHING we ate, I decided it was time. Malia has been watching carefully every time I feed her. She was kinda jealous at first but after I gave her a bite of the food she has no interest in eating it anymore:). She is now interested in feeding it to her.

Yesterday, I was feeding Kina out of a cup because there were no more clean bowls (I know, nice huh). After we were done, I got up and went to the sink. Malia grabbed a bottle and climbed up in my chair and had her turn feeding Kina.

Kina looked a little confused, but I think Malia almost has the hang of it. Do you like how she holds out the spoon and then yanks it back and says "no"? he he. Nice. Well, maybe next time. . . .

happy st. patricks day!

Our St. Patricks day was very uneventful. Let's see . . . I washed the dishes and folded laundry in the morning and I had planned to vacuum and cook dinner in the afternoon BUT Kina called and invited us to a small-kine play date at the duck pond SOOO we actually got to celebrate the holiday! We had green cookies, green hats, green plates and even green BAGELS. Yeah, I know, we don't mess around, huh. lol! Since we couldn't find corned beef and cabbage we ate Little Ceasar's Pizza and root beer.

We sat and ate while the kids wandered and fed the ducks. It feels like spring is finally coming to Utah. It was a beautiful day!

Looks like the ducks didn't like the green bagels either.
Can you see it?

We found our friend Jaymie and her son,
Nolan on their walk. Isn't he cute?

Kika took this photo with my dinky little camera.
She has such a good eye. So nice, huh.

Malia doing her signature stuff-a-huge-
amount-of-food-in-her-mouth-and-chew move

Ita and Malia

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

rex e. lee 5k

Yesterday I ran a 5K!!! I know, I know - I can't believe it either. I seriously haven't run a step since I found out I was pregnant with Kina. . . over a YEAR ago. But I did it and actually had fun. It was a nice sense of accomplishment to complete it and a fitting kick off to my quest for a healthier body. I'll blog more about that later.:)

The Rex E. Lee run is held every year to raise money and raise awareness for cancer. I have several family members and friends who have and are suffering from cancer so this cause is close to my heart. We started at the BYU outdoor track, ran to the Marriott Center, to 9th East, behind BYU, down Canyon Road and back to the track again - 5 kilometers. I was full on HANGING at the end. My goal was to run the whole way and I DID IT!!! Granted, sometimes my run looked like a jumpy crawl and some people who were walking quickly actually passed me up BUT I didn't walk once, sooo I was extra proud (and somewhat surprised) that I finished on my feet.

Line, Lene and Savani ran it with me. Well, I shouldn't say "ran it with me". . .I'll say we all started together. Yeah, that's more honest. he he. They crossed the finish line way before me. My time was approximately 43 minutes. WOOHOO! Next 5K here I come!!!

Some pics from the run. . .

before the race


after the race


the Dicksons - Courtney, Paul, Jeff and Melissa. They were part of the SPRINTING group.


a random girl at the race. You can't see it very well but the back of her shirt says "Latu 33"-which is Wayne's jersey number. Iiiiiinteresting.


Lene, me, Line and Spencer, Savani

It was a great day for a race! My legs are killing me!!!

dogs and a papa date

I love Fridays!!! Not only is it the END of the week, but it's Malias swimming lesson day AND papa date day. Yesterday, on the way to our papa date we stopped by my brother, Joseph's house to meet the dogs. If you know my family you know that we all loves dogs . . . and not just any dogs, we love BIG dogs. Growing up we ALWAYS had a dog - they were simply part of the family. I always thought I'd have a dog when I had children, but Wayne doesn't really like pets, so we'll see. . .:) Anyway, Joseph has a mastiff named Hula. This was their first time seeing her in looong time and their visit went very well.

At first, Malia would not go near Hula. She stayed at a four foot diameter and barked at her.

I put Kina in front of Hula to break the ice. If Malia sees Kina doing something. . anything. . . she will usually want to do it right away. he he. At first Kina was a little unsure. . .

But soon she was reaching out to pet her.

And of course, Malia followed. It was a successful first big dog meeting. She even gave Hula a kiss on the way out.


Thanks Joe!


****

For our Papa Date we went to meet Wayne's dad at Chuck E. Cheese's. We got a pizza and Malia went to play on the toys and games with her Papa.

He is so patient and attentive with her. He followed her from ride to ride and she had a blast. Malia likes to sit on the stationary rides, but she doesn't like it when they move. She'll scream and want to get off. I told this to Dad so he wouldn't waste his money, but he wanted Malia to have fun so he kept putting coins in the different things she'd climb on. Pretty soon there was a trail of kids following them to take advantage of the free game or ride that was left empty. It was hilarious.


After Malia wanted out on this ride, we put Kina in. She loved it. Ah, she's such a chill girl.


Kina with Kina


Malia and her Papa

After eating and playing we headed home to meet Wayne. We love Fridays!