penny for my thoughts

Since I unfortunately don't keep a journal I thought I'd write down some random thoughts I've been having lately . . . just so they are down somewhere.

On a post I wrote to celebrate our 4th anniversary this year one of my friends (okay, it was Lolohea lol) commented something about us being a "perfect family". I know she was being sarcastic, but it made me think. Though I try to keep an adequate record of our family I realize I tend to only blog about the good and omit the bad. I don't do it on purpose - I try not to be misleading but since I usually only blog about the "fun" things we do, I never really get a chance to mention the not so fun things we go through too. Now, while I've never been one to let all my drama hang out, I do think that the bad is just as much a part of our experience as a couple/family/person on this earth as the good is.

I don't have a perfect marriage (is there such a thing?). . . and this thought used to frustrate me a little. Before I was married, I always just assumed I would have a perfect marriage someday. When Wayne and I were dating, my assumption grew more certain. I thought, "Wow. This guy is practically perfect. He goes so well with practically perfect me!" LOL Yeah, I was pretty naive. Anyways, what we've found is that while we do have a very good relationship, a good marriage takes work, effort and humility . . . and while we do have a lot of great times, we have our share of hard times too.

Okay, this is what brought this all to mind - Recently I was reading a blurb about Larry H. Miller's autobiography, Driven. Miller was an extremely successful Utah businessman and philanthropist - he owned the Utah Jazz and several car dealerships and movie theaters among other things - and he passed away last year. He was LDS and was known for his life-long service in the church. He was married to his wife for over 45 YEARS and had 5 children. Anyways, I was thinking to myself how nice it would be to have such a successful husband, but was surprised at something she said. She wrote, "I have often said I am grateful that there was never an occasion when we both wanted a divorce at the same time." LOL! Do you love that? Ah, I love it. Have you ever felt like that? I don't know why, but thinking about this has made our hard days more bearable for some reason. It's comforting to know billionaires have tough marriages too sometimes.

Soo, just to be totally clear (hint hint Lolohea haha) I love being married to Wayne, but our marriage is FAR from perfect (the rest of you are like, "Yeah. Duh!" ha ha). We are both extremely imperfect people TRYING to become more perfect together. . . and some days it is fun and awesome and other days it seems like a totally impossible task. Hopefully, we'll keep growing, improving and loving each other more and more everyday. There. I hope that wasn't too much drama hanging out.:)


ps. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this talk about Eternal Marriage (especially the last part about the silverware) from conference a few years ago. Read it if you need a pickmeup or a little guidance in your own marriage. Heaven knows I do! :)

biggest WINNER in my book

Friday was A.J. and Lizette's wedding. He is Wayne's cousin. It was GORGEOUS!! Seriously, some people just know how to turn a cultural hall into a wedding reception and Aunty Isa is one of them - she's amazing. The food and program were good and I was having so much fun I didn't take any pics. . . that is until I spotted KOLI. He was the coolest contestant (and one of the final contestants) on last season's Biggest Loser. It was the first time I actually kept up with the show and it was totally because of Koli and his teammate/cousin Sam. They were the most inspirational and motivated pair I've ever seen. It was very fun to watch their progress. Anyways, I got a quick picture with him, then went back to enjoying the wedding. It was a nice night!

Here's a BEFORE pic of Koli for those of you who don't watch Biggest Loser. . .

And here's the AFTER. Isn't that amazing? Seriously, he is my hero!! And he was super nice and gracious. Poor thing - after we went up to him to take a picture several other people followed to do the same. My bad! hehe

CONGRATS to the happy couple!! We wish you guys the best!!

gno

I LOVE LOVE LOVE girls night out!! Seriously, sometimes it's so nice (and honestly so therapeutic) for a woman to just spend a few hours with other women. I'm so so grateful for thoughtful friends who know I won't have as much freedom in a few weeks as I do now and treated me to an awesome gno - pedicures and food. What more can a girl ask for? ha ha
Thank you! Thank You! THANK YOU! For reals, Thank you!

And, at the risk of being mocked and teased I'm posting a picture of my crimz feet to show my way cute pedicure. The Korean lady threw in the polka dots for free "for my baby girl". I'm thinking at least now I'll have one thing to smile about during labor. :)

Thanks ladies!! You guys are the best!

harvey and keilani's wedding

On Friday, we went to Harvey Unga's and Keilani Moeaki's wedding. Harvey is Wayne's cousin and BYU football teammate and we've loved Keilani since we first met her a couple years ago. I'm sure you've heard, but Harvey was drafted to the Chicago Bears last week. We are so proud of him!! We wish them the best.


The wedding was simple, small and pretty. There was a short ceremony conducted by Harvey's bishop, Bro. Roney, then an eating.

Right after the ceremony, they blessed their 2 week old son, Jackson. He was so cute and Harvey was a very proud dad.

Keilani looked gorgeous. So tall and elegant. . . and Harvey looked nice too. hehe. Don't they make a good-looking couple? We're so happy for them.
CONGRATS YOU TWO!!


PS. The wedding was at the bishops house who owns a very well-known skin care company here in Provo. It was soooo nice - so nice I had to take a pic on our way out. I told Wayne I want one just like this one day.

No pressure. ha ha

monday monday

Monday is usually my least favorite day of the week, but this week it wasn't so bad. In the morning, we went to little Spencer Hafoka's birthday party at Veteran's Pool and in the evening we had a FHE at our house. It was a great day.

Malachi, Kaylene, Spencer, Finau, Kina, Malia and Hina - You have no idea how hard it was to get a pic with all the kids in the same frame. After a few hours of swimming and a lot of eating (Line's homemade pizza was delicious) the kids came home to very long naps. Love outings like this.

After an awesome lesson from the Tonga's, the Kalamafoni's planned a mini olympics for the activity. One of the events was an egg relay. The boys were hilarious to watch. Though there were no points given for speed or distance they all ran very fast and very far past the finish line. The goal was to NOT crack the egg and of course, several eggs were broken. I'm really glad we went outside for this one.

The spectators - love these ladies.

I guess Mondays aren't so bad after all.

random pics of the month

My sister, Tali is pregnant (due in October) and in Tonga for the summer. Many people have been asking me questions about her, but I am usually unable to answer because they don't have internet or phones in Tonga and thus, she is unable to communicate with me. The only contact I've had with her is very little and through Facebook - she posted this pic last week. Doesn't she look cute? I can't wait for her to come back so we can go through pregnancy together.

A couple weeks ago we went to the Nickelcade with the Hafoka's and had fun blowing five bucks worth of nickels in an hour. Kina's favorite thing was the big plastic horse that moved back and forth. Malia's favorite thing was the race car that she could drive (we had to press the gas pedal for her and she went the wrong way like, 90% of the time). And Wayne's favorite game was the basketball hoop . . . that is, until I beat his score - it was beginners luck. ha ha

a logan weekend

Last weekend we went to Logan for Wayne's cousin, Rueben's missionary farewell . . . I mean, the Sunday meeting in which he spoke at before leaving on his mission. We left Saturday morning and made a two day trip out of it. We all stayed in a hotel (THANKS MELBA FOR THE ROOMS!!) and had a fun trip together as a family. As soon as we got to Logan we visited the American West Heritage Center with Wayne's dad - he's wanted to take the girls there for a while. It's a huge farm with lots of activities and settings given to provide an experience of the culture of the old American West. While I was slightly overheated, the girls had a lot of fun. Later, we went to a family BBQ with Rueben's family and friends and then went home to swim in the hotel swimming pool. On Sunday, we attended church and then headed home to Provo. It was so nice spending time with Wayne's family and extended family. From the whole trip, I only have pics from the papadate (I'm fired)- so here they are . . .


Malia and Kina and their Papa

Malia LOVED the horse rides - she wanted to go again and again . . . and again.

Kina was very serious while riding on her horse - didn't want to break her concentration.

The girls fed the goats, horses, pigs, cows and chickens. . . but the goats were Malia's favorite. Whenever they bleated she said they were crying for her.

Another one of Kina's hand-me-the-camera-step-back-and-say-cheese pics

Family pic on the choo choo train

Congrats Rueben and family!! Thanks for a fun weekend!

ward camp

was fun

this is sooo depressing

One of my friends posted this pic on facebook last week.


Laurianne, Leise, Jenny, Larissa, me, Ronal

I need to know two things. First - how come I ate more junk food THEN than I do now? Aargh. I hate how metabolism goes down when age goes up.

and Second - exactly WHEN did I COMPLETELY let myself go? It's soo depressing!

That's IT!! - after this pregnancy I'm getting FIT and SKINNY enough to fit into that little black sock again.

Who's WITH ME!?!? haha

ps. Please ignore the hair - very. scary.

fourth of july weekend

I've decided I'm gonna talk to the guy who's in charge of making up the calendar year and request to have the fourth of July land on a Sunday every year. Since we don't celebrate holidays in Utah on Sunday, we lucked out and had a three day celebration of Independence Day! It was a busy weekend. . . and very exhausting. . . but SO much fun.

On Friday, we went to the Veteran's Pool for my niece, Zoey's bday party. It was so fun spending time with our family. I sat and talked with the girls while Wayne entertained the children. We stayed over three hours - the girls were sound asleep before we even got out of the parking lot.

After naps we headed to the Freedom Festival. It was so good this year - there were tons of booths, lots of entertainment and the girls are now big enough to enjoy the rides. I should have got an action shot of this one - as soon as the whale started moving Kina started cracking up and Malia started crying.

Dinner was at Auntie Ireens house. A lot of family was here from out of town and it was so nice to spend time with them. (Vika, Robert, Chanel, Doug, Wayne, Joseph)

Malia LOVED playing games with the older cousins. She'd be sitting down with them and then turn around and shout to me, "Mommy, look at me!" and "Do you see me, Mom?" I think she felt special to just be included.

On Saturday, we headed back to the Freedom Festival. We played all morning and ate lunch there - I had a Pauni plate. Yum! What do you think of Kina's form - pretty good, ay?

We don't bank at Well's Fargo, but they took our family picture for us. When Malia saw the last picture in the bottom corner she asked, "Why are you mad at Kina, Mommy?" My bad.

While the girls took naps, Wayne took me to watch Eclipse. Though this one is the best movie of the Twilight saga so far, I felt the same about it as I did the others - so so. Oh well. We went to the pool again and then ended our Saturday watching fireworks from the Stadium of Fire - it was beautiful and the girls loved it.

Sunday was truly a day of rest - I slept the WHOLE day . . . literally. It was sooo nice.

On Monday, we went to the parade! I'm not a big parade person . . . or a big crowds person. . . but I knew the girls would enjoy it. We were lucky enough to have some very brave friends, Spencer and Crystal Hafoka and Travis and Mata Uale, who camped out the night before so we had an AWESOME spot. (THANKS GUYS!!) I sat in the shade the whole time (by the food table hehe) and Malia and Kina would come and sit on my lap for a few seconds in between floats but run back to their front seat immediately - I don't think they wanted to miss the show.(Sue, Mata, Me with Malia and Kina)


The actual Provo parade really isn't the bomb - it's more for the experience with friends and family, I think. BUT the highlights for me were these two floats. One was my sister-in-law, Kalo's piano students performing on grand pianos and the other was the float from our Tongan stake. It was accompanied with a dance group and the Liahona band - very cool.

Us and some of our fellow parade watchers

I love holidays because I get to spend time with my little family AND my extended family and friends. I love this holiday in particular because it really does remind me how blessed I am to be an American. I love this country!

Happy Fourth of July!
(. . .and third and fifth too! haha)

congrats humless 7's

Wayne's 7's rugby team, Humless, won their second tournament as a team. It was the North American Invitational at the Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake on June 26. They are currently still undefeated! Congratulations guys!

pregnant. . .

This week one of Wayne's friends told me I looked like I had the Egyptian flu.
I asked him what that was.
He said, "You're sick for nine months then you end up a mummy".

Ha. . . ha. . . ha.


Update on the pregnancy - I'm hot. I'm uncomfortable. And I feel like a whale.

Since I've been avoiding the camera lately this is the most recent pic I could find of my pregnant self (taken at Crystal and Line Hafoka's babies blessing eating with Crystal and Mata).