pic of the week

Daddy and his girls

Kina is always asking Wayne, "Daddy? Are you my boy?" 

Not really sure where she got that from.

traffic school

Yes. I am a law breaker.  The other day while I was on my way to an appointment for the girls, I was pulled over for speeding.  The cop clocked me at 52 mph in a 45 . . .a little stingy if you ask me, but oh well.  He saw all three girls in the back seat and commended me for having them buckled in. . . and then he STILL gave me a ticket!  Sheesh!!  Where's the pity? Anyways, after paying $90 for the ticket, I signed up for traffic school which cost me another $60.  It was a happy day in our house. Haha. Well, last night was Orem City's traffic school and while it was extremely boring (Provo's is WAY more entertaining. Yes. I've been there too) I am newly committing myself to being more careful on the road (including speeding, phone use, seatbelts etc.).  Life is just too precious to not be cautious. . . especially when I have such valuable cargo! hehe I saw this video on a friends blog and it depicts perfectly what I'm feeling right now. I love it.  Embrace life!!

family and jdawgs

Our family got together again for our monthly Sunday family dinner.  We hosted and provided the main dish, which was JDAWGS!  Jdawgs is a local hot dog stand that sells the most delicious food - seriously, I crave it constantly!  We bought their secret sauce and had all the other fixings to mimic the real stuff - it was yummy!  The highlight of the day was sitting around the living room playing games.  I love my family!

Alisa grandkids

sister missionaries

Our two favorite sister missionaries are doing wonderful!  Sister Sili Latu is serving in Indianapolis, Indiana and Sister Nia Latu is serving in San Diego, California speaking Spanish.  We look forward to their letters every week and are so proud of the work they are doing preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They are scheduled to come home June 28 - I can't believe how fast the time has flown.  Great job Sisters! Here are some pics they sent this week.

Sister Sili Latu in IN with her companion.

Sister Nia Latu in CA with her district.

michael's article

Michael's back and doing his thing on the football field.  Before his mission he played linebacker for BYU and since he's returned he's changed to fullback.  The Daily Herald recently wrote an article about him and his new postition.  Here are some excerpts.  For the full article go here.

Former Timpview standout Michael Alisa earned playing time at linebacker during his freshman year at BYU in 2008. Two years later, he returned from an LDS mission to Puerto Rico and decided he wanted to play running back. A week into spring football and he's now getting reps at fullback. . . . "We needed some fullbacks," Alisa said, "and I'm willing to do whatever. I'm back playing my favorite position so I'm in dreamland right now. I love it." 

"For me, everything is brand new on the offensive side," Alisa said. "It felt really good to get back. I was really hard on my body after not working out strenuously for two years but it felt so good to just get back out here with bunch of guys and work hard. . . I just want to keep working as hard as I can and help out any way can," Alisa said. "I wasn't planning on playing fullback but that's what they needed. I'll play special teams and just try to be another guy to get the job done."

I'm so excited for the season to start!  Go Michael! and Gooo Cougars!

byu luau 2011

Like I've mentioned in previous posts, I've been involved in the BYU Luau for several years.  This year was my fourth and last.  That's right folks - I'm finally hanging up my dancing shoes for good. haha This year, I danced in the New Zealand and Tongan sections.  For three months leading up to luau, there are rehearsals once a week.  It was much harder for me to make time (and find babysitters) for these practices, and near the end of it all I was feeling kinda burned out.  However, after the nights of performance, I was so happy and grateful I participated.  I had so much fun. I do love dancing - I always have - and it was such a blast hanging out with my sisters and PCC friends who also danced.  I'm thankful for the opportunity I've had to be a part of BYU Luau for these past years and am now looking forward to enjoying it from the audience in future years :)

Lavi, Terina, Stephanie, Jasmin, Fale, Mary, Tia, Lani, me and Eleni
One of my highlights this year was dancing the tauolunga - my favorite dance!  Since most of the girls were Tongan, everyone just wore their own costumes.  I didn't have one so I made mines a few days before with things I found in our house.  Considering all, I thought it turned out great.  

Sarah, Mary, Kaisha, me, Saolo, Terina, Tali, Chantilly, Kaiini
It was so fun to spend time with so many people from Laie.  These girls are forever friends.

Another highlight was dancing with Michael!  He's never danced much before and I was so proud of him for trying something new.  I think he did great!  We danced Tonga to support Tali and Inoke, who were in charge of the section.

Tali, me, Melissa, Terina, Mary, Liu, Sarah, Charlotte, Colin and Lala
PCC Reunion

catching up with Tali

LITERALLY!

Since Tali can now move, I have been constantly just trying to keep up with her lately.  She is so mobile.  The last time I blogged she was juuust starting to sit up with support.  A lot has happened since then.  Here are some of the milestones she's made.

Tali can stand

. . . and crawl . . .

and sit . . .

. . . and climb stairs!

I cannot believe how fast she is growing!  In my mind, she is still a newborn and we just recently came home from the hospital. haha Tali is a quick learner and picks up new things fast - she learned to crawl in just a couple days and was climbing stairs very soon after.  She is one of the most happy and content babies I've ever seen. Wayne affectionately calls her "our little goat" because she eats EVERYTHING - paper, socks, shoes, pens, ANYTHING that is left within her reach.  She loves her sisters, eating, being tickled, walking outside and baths.  She doesn't like her carseat, feeling hungry or wiping her nose.
We love our chubby baby Tali!

our little mozart

I've always loved taking pictures of the things Malia creates with the blocks in the playrom.  She was so excited to show me this one the other day.  I love that she even put in the pedals.

march haps

Not too exciting, but here are some things we did in March.

We went to a little birthday celebration for Elise Fale. I love seeing all these cute kids together.

We watched the BYU basketball game (Go JIMMER!) at a friends house and afterward the girls played dress-ups.

and lastly, 

Kina got her model on.

hawaii trip

The cold was getting to me, so I ran away to Hawaii again.  haha The girls and I stayed just a week, but it was exactly what I needed.  The most monumental thing that happened on this trip is I flew SOLO with THREE KIDS! Yes, I had nightmares before I did it, but honestly, it wasn't too bad.  I planned ahead and brought lots of fun activities and treats and the girls were busy and occupied the whole time before they fell asleep.  It was helpful that Wayne was able to walk me onto the plane AND I was seated near Sister Vimahi (Titi's mom), who held baby Tali every now and then to free my hands.  I'm happy it's over but I feel empowered knowing that I can do it all by myself. 

We had a wonderful time in Hawaii.  The weather was a little rainy on some days, but we still had enough sun to make it to the beach a few times.  We also happened to be there the week of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  Watching the news that night was very scary - it was completely devastating.  Since there was a tsunami warning and evacuation orders in Hawaii, the girls, mom and I went and slept in my dad's office at BYU just to be safe.  However, there was very little activity in Laie and everyone and everything was safe.  Going through the experience, though, just reaffirmed to me how precious life and family are.  I'm so grateful we were protected.

Here are some pics from our trip.

We went to the Honolulu Aquarium AND the Honolulu Zoo.   Both were big hits with the girls.  (I gotta say - Hogle Zoo in SLC's got NOTHING on the zoo in Hawaii - the surroundings are so beautiful and I swear the animals even look happier! haha)

After being indoors for months, the girls had a blast playing outdoors with water.  Maddox and Shan came over to play one day too.

Mom and baby Tali - I love being in warm weather so I can expose all those rolls! hahaha

Both girls LOVED the beach, though Malia is much more comfortable in the water.  My two new favorite beaches to go to with kids are Temple and Turtle Bay - ahh! They were perfect!

While I was there, Sarah Lautaha threw a baby shower for our friend, Hazel.  It's ALWAYS a blast kickin it with my girls!

It was a jammed packed week for us in paradise and it was wonderful.  I returned to Utah rejuvenated and happy.  Thank you Mom and Dad for being so wonderful and thank you Wayne for picking us up!  It was a great trip home.

*Something I want to remember - When we were packing and getting ready to head to the airport, Malia comes to me and asks, "Mommy, I don't want to go home.  Can I just stay here forever?" lol

ofa atu orem 8

Living in Utah, one has many choices which ward to attend.  Usually the ward you belong to is primarily decided by where you live, but because there are so many LDS members in Utah there are many wards you can choose to belong to.  After going to a home ward for a couple years (that's a group of people that are together because they all live in the same neighborhood), we decided to switch to a Tongan ward (the boundaries are huge, but everyone is Polynesian).  That was over two years ago and we LOVED our decision.  The Tongan ward was just what we needed at that time - it was full of our family and friends and we felt loved and supported.  We enjoyed the sense of community, the aloha spirit present and the relationships we made there.  It really was a wonderful experience.  Well, just recently, we have decided to move again . . . back to a home ward.  We moved into our house last spring and have just started attending the ward all our neighbors go to - Edgemont 5.  Our decision was based on a couple things - our new chapel is about a minute drive away (instead of the ten it took for our previous one) and we wanted to get to know our neighbors (and our neighbors kids!).  We have LOVED our new ward.  It's been wonderful to have new experiences and see different ways of doing things.  Wayne is working with the Young Men and I'm working in Scouts. The girls LOVE nursery and primary and really, we couldn't be happier. We miss our Orem 8 peeps, but we know the gospel is true wherever you go.  Ofa atu Orem 8!

family deener

On a Sunday in March, all the siblings met at Joe's house for family dinner (a new monthly tradition).  As our family has grown and changed we've all gone through ups and downs and had highs and lows in our relationships, but I think things are now starting to stabilize and progress.  That night was seriously the most fun I've had with all my family in a long time - and I love that. I love my brothers and sisters - siblings and inlaws.  It really is so fun to see how our family is expanding and I hope we can always remain close.  The dinner was potluck and everything was really good, but the highlight was definitely Joe's yummy ribs. Here are some pics. . .

Alisa grandkids from oldest to youngest - Malia, Kina, Maddox, Joseph, Tali and Amalani.

*Something I want to remember - As soon as we got in the car, Malia says, "That was fun, Mom!" I love my family!

excuses, excuses

It's been over a month since I've blogged.  Aargh!  As the list of things I want to record grows longer and longer, I've gotten more and more lazy about recording it.  The fact that I don't have a camera and my computer was unusable for a couple weeks just added to the problem.  But I'm done with excuses!  I'm committing the next hour to getting caught up.  Wahoo!  Here we go. . . .