four years ago today. . .

Wayne and I were married!


Sometimes things are all sunny and bright . . .


sometimes we're given a little fright ha ha. . .

but overall, I know I've been blessed from above. . .

'cause I'm crusin forever with my best friend, my love.


***

Happy Anniversary Wayne!

i'm glad i didn't get rid of all those pink clothes

. . . because we just found out

Due date: August 15
Possible names: nothing yet, but I'll keep you updated
Mom and Dad: Excited! - we're shooting for an all-girls soccer team ha ha

we're MOVING to a HOUSE!!!

. . . and aside from all the sorting, DI-ing, folding, labeling, packing, taping, cleaning, handling, scrubbing, clearing, coordinating, loading, transporting, unloading, unpacking, moving, organizing, dumping and relocating . . .

I'm waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay excited!!!

kina's talking! . . . well, kinda. . .

Kina is slooooowly starting to talk. She's a little later than Malia, but I'm not too concerned. I can tell there's a ton going on INSIDE her head. . . now it's just a matter of getting it out! ha ha She'll say anything we tell her to say, but these our HER favorite words (and their meanings) thus far . . .

• mommy, daddy, lia
• apple, orange, toast, pop (rice krispies), appo joos (this can mean any colored liquid from orange juice to gatorade), nana (banana), nany (candy, used WAY too often)
• big girl (she says this a LOT! - whenever she wants to buckle her car seat, put on her clothes/shoes by herself, walk down the three flights of stairs by herself or sit on the potty after Malia uses it.
• princess (what she always wants to be)
  
• amen! (the only part of her prayer she says in a non-whisper)
• poo poo, potty, diaper, stinky (she also uses these words a lot. . . for obvious reasons)
• doggie, kitty cat (her favorite animals)
• baby (any other child 5 yrs and under)
• YAY! (used whenever she is happy/excited)
  
• and of course, NO! (always a favorite with my kids ha ha)

. . . and EVERYTHING is said in a very throaty, deep, sorta grunty voice. lol Love our Kina.

snapshots of april

What we've been up to this month. . .

"Coloring" and "drawing" - Malia's new favorite pastimes. I have a whole bag of small card stock strips that were left over from a project I did last year and I now randomly find them around the house with little scribbles. She folds them in half and calls them her "books".

GIRLS NIGHT OUT! - Every now and then mommy needs some mommy time with some other mommies. ha ha. Thanks again Tina!!

Celebrating EASTER with the cool bunny glasses Grandma Ann sent from Hawaii. Yes, we were in the car headed to a doctors appointment and YES, they kept them on the whooooole time! ha ha

Storytime at the Provo Library on Wednesdays (that's TALI with the girls). Nothing like free entertainment for the kids!! ha ha (Those snazzy backpacks were fresh off the DI shelves that day - they've been getting a lot of use out of them lately too)

Playing with STICKERS!! Aside from drawing and coloring, stickers is the new FAVE.

Saturday volleyball. This night cousin Tia was nice enough to sacrifice her playing time to keep the girls entertained with bubbles. Thank you Tia!

Parks, parks and more parks - with the weather being sooooo nice, we're able to hit a few parks a week . . . and the girls LOVE it! This particular one has the biggest slide in Provo. It has THREE twists going down. I know. . . pre-tty amazing. ha ha

In a nutshell, LOVING life ( . . . well, MOST of the time ha ha) with my little girls!!

happy BELATED easter

So one of the nice things about having toddlers is you can celebrate any holiday any time of the year. . . and they don't know the difference! ha ha That was the rationale behind our Easter egg hunt a few weeks after the actual holiday. My friend, Lani, has a big back yard and invited some friends over to celebrate with some food, activities and fun. The weather was beautiful and the kids were happy, which made for some happy moms too!

Everyone was supposed to bring "snacks". . . but we ended up having a mini feast. I wasn't complaining.

By the time the hunt started, the kids were raring to go. Do you like Malia's pose?

Afterwards, Lani played with kids. . . and they played and played and played. They played so much Malia decided to take a little break in the middle of the chaos.

Kina's favorite part of the day was feeding the neighbors chickens. I think she thought they were really hungry cause she only threw them whole slices of bread.

It was so fun to see the kids OUT and ABOUT. I can't wait for summer!!!

Malia and Kina were happily busy the whole time and happily fell asleep a few minutes after getting in the car. Love it!

Anyone wanna go trick-or-treating next week? ha ha

o kay kay KAY!!

conference weekend

I've blogged before about our biannual family tradition of traveling up to SLC to watch the General Conference of the LDS Church on Temple Square. Well, this year we broke from tradition. Instead of traveling up to conference on Friday and Saturday morning (which, when the first session starts at 10 AM, equals a pretty early wake-up time to dress two adults, two kids and complete a one hour car ride) we drove up on Friday night and STAYED in SLC till Sunday night. I gotta say - it was AWESOME. We stayed in the condo of a good family friend of the Latu's. Not only was this condo next door to the conference center, it also HAPPENED to be decorated like DISNEYLAND . . . sooooo needless to say, my kids had a BLAST. We were able to spend a fun, relaxing and spiritually uplifting weekend with Wayne's family - it was easily the most fun I've ever had during conference weekend. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to hear our prophets counsel and testimony and the messages from the leadership of the church (Elder Hollands talk was my favorite!!). My testimony is strengthened and I feel inspired to be a better person.

Malia and Kina have never been to Disneyland, but they know who Mickey Mouse is and I now have a good idea how they would react if we ever went. As soon as we entered the "Mickey Mouse House" (as Malia called it), she was absolutely GLOWING. She ran from place to place to hold, touch and ooh and ahh over EVERYthing. It was so fun to watch.

The condo was unbelievable. I wish I took more pictures of the place - the hardwood floors, sinks, artwork, towels, pool table, beds, dishes, bathtubs (and as you can see, archways) - EVERYTHING was Mickey Mouse. Let's just say the kids weren't the only ones excited to run around and see it all. ha ha

This was Malia and Kina's room. They're eating popcorn and watching Fantasia.

The living room and gathering place - and where I watched one of the sessions while the girls were napping

Wayne laughing cause he can't believe I just beat him AGAIN in Pac Man.

On Saturday afternoon, during the Priesthood session, we met up with our friends Vika and Bubba Filimoeatu for a swim in the Marriott swimming pool, where they were staying. Since the pool was slightly cold, the kids took frequent dips in the hot tub. Ah! I can't wait till summer!!

Sunday was GORGEOUS weather. We enjoyed temple square and running into friends and family on our stroll.

Our family

Concerning this NEW way of doing things - I have to say, I didn't miss the grumpiness (from me OR the kids) that I usually experience after a stressful morning or the fight to keep my eyes open during the sessions from the lack of sleep I had. I LOVED waking up, eating a relaxing breakfast as a family and then WALKING to conference. I was able to truly enjoy and really soak in all the treasures that were offered by our wise leaders. I loved the fun weekend with my family and I LOVED conference!!

i say "jabba" you say "wockeez"

On Friday, I went to the Jabbawockeez concert at SLCC. I expected to have fun, but I didn't expect to be so entertained. The year they won America's Best Dance Crew was pretty much the only year I've somewhat kept up with the show, so I guess you could call me a FAN. ha ha They are such awesome performers! Each of them are so aware of their bodies and have such amazing rhythm - it's so neat to watch. The show they put on is funny and entertaining and shows off their amazing talent. They're starting a show in Las Vegas soon and I'd recommend it to anyone who happens to be in town - extremely entertaining!

the JABBAWOCKEEZ! (I almost got Tali's camera confiscated for taking this pic. My bad! he he)

Me and Tali