i like nerds

Wayne's bioinformatics lab published another paper!  It's the third paper published that Wayne has been involved in and we're so grateful he's had these awesome opportunities.  It's about Alzheimer's disease and you can see the article here.

Wayne's Lab - Dr. Keoni Kauwe, Mo Lee and Manti Su'a

happy valentines day

I always kinda giggle to myself when I hear about some womens Valentine's Day expectations.  Many want their husband/boyfriend to wine and dine them and shower them with lavish gifts throughout the day.  The equation is simple.  More gifts/surprises/money spent equals more LOVE.  haha Many want this so bad that if they don't receive the level of spoilage they believe they deserve they get very angry.  I've never been able to relate to this way of thinking.  The ONLY thing I hope for every Valentines Day is that Wayne doesn't spend money that we don't have on something that I don't need.  haha  I remember our very FIRST Valentine's holiday as a married couple.  Wayne bought a small diamond pendant necklace from a local jeweler.  I opened the box, said thank you and then asked for the receipt and we jumped in the car to return it.  I'm a simple girl - really - make me dinner and I'll love you forever. haha I think one day, when we are comfortable, I'll enjoy little surprise gifts of affection, but right now all I want are paid bills and a clean house.

That being said, I got Wayne a gift this year! Giving it to him was definitely the highlight of my Valentine's day - he was SO surprised. Two years ago, Wayne gave me his wedding ring to hold at a volleyball game and I lost it.  Ever since, he's been ring-less.  Since it wasn't in our budget to get the same 14 carat ring that we bought when we were engaged we just kept putting it off.  A couple months ago, I found a gold Tungsten ring that looked almost exactly like the one I lost at like, half the price.  I love it and so does he.  What do you think?

Happy Valentine's Day!

the good and bad of vegas

Last week, our family went to Las Vegas.  We went to see Wayne and his team, Humless, play in the CCS (Men's Club Championship Series) Bowl and the USA Sevens Tournament.  Since most people's first question about a trip is "Did you have fun?" I thought I'd do a little run-down of the fun and not-so-fun we had in Vegas.

Good

• Plane ride there - the kids were angels and we had the whole back row (six seats) to ourselves.  It was Heaven.
• Awesome hotel - we stayed at Embassy Suites (courtesy of Humless) and they were beautiful. . . the complimentary breakfast buffet which included made-to-order omelets, french toast and pancakes (among other things) wasn't too shabby either.
• We got to cruise Vegas in a van! It was fully equipped with a DVD player (a MUST-have in our next vehicle), fold down seats and sliding doors that opened on both sides. I LOVED all the space and I think I must've said "K. For reals. Next car I want a VAN" about a dozen times. Haha. Thank you Kina!
• Family time! - I love spending quality time with our family.
• WARMTH!  Utah has been so cold lately, it was so nice to feel the sun's rays again.  And of course - 
• Sourdough Jacks - YUM!

Bad

• Our team lost. And it was a bad loss.  I don't even like talking about it, but it involved a penalty and a bad ref's call.  Aargh.  It was really disappointing for everyone to end the tournament like that.  I felt especially bad for the sponsors and players who had put so much into it.  It was such a downer and kinda cast a gloom on the rest of the trip for me.
• I had packed poorly so I felt ill-prepared for some situations. . .including just getting dressed in the morning.  To make it worse, Malia, Kina AND Tali all had accidents in some of their outfits so it cut my already small supply down even more.
• Watching all-day rugby tournaments is more of an adult activity than a kid activity. . . so we didn't really end up watching that many games.
• Plane ride back - our family got split up and there was like 20 minutes of chaos with babies crying. I was really touched, however, with the sweet sweet people on our plane.  Seriously, it was like everyone was a team and trying to help us.  I was soo soo grateful.  After the storm, they went to sleep . . . and I sat in my chair and cried. 

. . . So it was kinda a so-so trip for me.  Oh well.  I'll say this - I LOVE taking trips as a family.  I think traveling is invaluable to my kids.  It's so fun watching Malia and Kina in the airport now - they totally know the whole security and boarding drills.  It's awesome.  I wouldn't trade these experiences for anything.  That being said - I don't think I'll be going again to Vegas for rugby anytime soon. :) And now, some pics - 

This is a good example of my poor packing.  Since the girls had no swimsuits, they wore this cute tank-top and rolled pants combo to the pool.  Kalofie. 

Us at a game.  Can you tell Wayne was outside in the sun a lot?

Humless 7's (not everybody pictured)

Special thanks to Wayne who organized the whole trip and to Humless who covered most of our expenses.  And big kudos to our family - it was more fun because everyone was there.  Thanks for the support!  Viva Las Vegas!

a trip to the ER. . . again

Last summer, we went to D.I. (our local thrift store) to buy some cutting knives for our house.  While walking into our house with the bare knives in shopping bags, Kina grabbed at them and sliced her finger.  Of course, we went straight to the ER and got her all fixed up.  I had hoped it would be our last ER trip in a while. . . but it wasn't. haha

Last night, after the kids had been bathed and pajama'ed, we were all sitting around the living room while Malia and Kina ran around giggling.  Suddenly, Kina tripped on something and ran head first into the entertainment system and started crying.  After looking at her head, Wayne said we needed to go the emergency room.  Kika came over to stay with Malia and Tali (Thank you Kika!) and Wayne and I headed to the hospital.

Kina - slightly accident prone, but very brave.

Daddy and the TV helped calm her down before the stitches began.

The nurses were so sweet.  They gave her treats, coloring books, little toys and stickers.

Before she got her stitches they gave her a shot that "turned off her brain" so she wouldn't feel the pain.  It was the saddest thing for me to hold her then. She was looking up at me, but there was nothing behind her eyes - no recognition.  It was kinda creepy.  BUT it helped her stitches go smoothly - all FOUR of them. She was awake the whole time, but handled it very well.

As soon as she heard where we were, Grandma Vai came.  This is them after the ordeal.

I'm hoping this will be our LAST trip to the ER for a while!

*Something I want to remember - It took Kina a few minutes to shake the effects of the drug and she kept looking around attempting to focus.  We kept trying to talk to her, but we could tell she just wasn't there yet.  When she finally could talk again, the very first words out of her mouth were, "Where's Malia?"  Oh, I love my sweet little Kina.

january haps

As you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging much lately.  Aargh.  I think about it all the time, but just never quite get around to doing it.  My camera is kinda on it's last legs so I haven't been taking many pictures . . and since I'm not much of a writer pictures of my cute kids are all that save my blog from complete and utter boredom. Haha. Some of you are like, "uh. . . ACTually. . . " lol. Anyways, I found a few pictures from my cell phone to document the month of January with.

We got to babysit Tali's baby, Amalani, a few times.
The girls love it and so do I.

Tali had her 4 month check up and was in the 99th percentile at 20.1 lbs. I love my chubby baby!

(Lala, Mel, Mark, Lani, Lee, Lee's husband, Colin, Mary, Charlotte, Sariah, me, Tali, Inoke and alllll the KIDS)
I went to an Family Home Evening hosted by Colin and Charlotte Tuilevuka.  It was in honor of our friend, Sariah Angus, who was visiting Utah from Australia.  It was somewhat of a PCC/BYUH reunion and was soo fun to catch up with everyone.

Malia wore her dragon costume
a lot.  This day she fell asleep in this very
dragonish pose.

(Sariah, me, Tennielle, Tali)
I got to see Tennielle! - she's my BFF from PCC days and
we haven't seen each other in years. Again, so nice to catch up.

Malia and Kina discovered dress-ups!  Whenever Vita and Vai come over to play all four girls run to the dress-up box to get ready.  Many of these fun costumes are from my mom in Hawaii - Thanks Mom!  They're getting a lot of use!! 

After seeing me bathe Tali in the kitchen sink,
Malia and Kina wanted a turn.

Tali started solids! Her favorites so far are
green beens and peas.

(Malia, Rachel, Elise, Spencer, Elenoa, Kina, Unga)
The kids had a playdate.  I put on a movie and told them that if they got scared to hold hands with their neighbor.

And a few conversations from January I'd like to remember (these are the kind that are only humorous to the mom, so please feel free to scroll ahead haha)

(One night at dinner with all three girls - trying to get them to eat their food)

Me: Can baby Tali eat your food?

Malia/Kina: Noooo.

Me: That's right. 'Cause baby Tali doesn't have any teeth.

Malia: Mommy, baby Tali has teeth. Baby Tali has RED teeth.

(EARLY one morning while everyone was still sleeping EXCEPT a loud barking dog outside our window)

Malia: Mommy, what's the doggy saying?

Me: He's saying, "Go back to sleep Malia because it's too early to get up."

Malia: Oh

(barking continues)

Malia: Mommy, what's he saying now?

Me: I don't know. What's he saying?

Malia: He's saying "Malia, can you come to me and give me a walk?"  (then in a very loud voice) I'M COMING DOG!

(One day while taking my hair out of a bun)

Kina: Mommy, you're like Pocahontas.

(Another day while I was putting mousse in Kina's curls)

Kina: Mommy, I'm like ANNIE!

(One night at the dinner table while Wayne's mom, Vai was in Hawaii for the week on vacation)

Malia: Mom, where's Vita and Vai?

Me: At Grandma's house with Kina.

Malia: Where's Grandma?

Me: In Hawaii.

Malia:. No, Mommy, GRANDMA (I immediately could tell she thought I was talking about my mom who LIVES in Hawaii but was trying to tell me she was referring to Vai who lives in Utah.)

Me: Yes, Grandma is in Hawaii!

Malia: . . . No Mommy. . . . BROWN Grandma.

Tali: Mmmmmmmm. Mmmmmm. MMMMMM!

(What Tali says before, during and after every single mouthful of food that enters her mouth.)

Whew! It's been a great month. Wayne has been working and studying hard, the girls have been going to preschool and joy school (we've started having joy school at our house too! We love it), and I've been busy trying to clean my kitchen and get my laundry caught up.  It's been VERY cold in Utah and we can't wait till February when we'll be visiting to warmer climates.

 And in closing, the last happening of the month - Tali outgrew her diapers.