ITS FINALLY MAY!!!

April was great! But I'm ready for MAY!!!

I've beeeeeen anxiously waiiitttiinnggg for this month!!!!

And for many reasons...
  1. Family Reunion is around the corner! YAY we get to see family!!!
  2. We will finally get to meet Baby Viiga face to face!!! (3 or less weeks left... hopefully)
  3. Aljay gets to take his 2 week leave from work during Baby's Birth/Reunion.
  4. Weddings! (Tessi and Famika's, Futi and Tumua's)
  5. Aljay's Birthday on the 21st! (which he might end up sharing with Baby...who knows)

Honestly I think I'm most excited about #1 and #2 (hehee) and the fact that now I'm finally able to say that everything is happening THIS MONTH....Whenever people have asked about when baby's due, or when our reunion is, our answer has always been "Next Month" or "in two Months".....BUT NOW IT'S THIIIISSS MOONNTTHHHH!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!

Can you tell I'm excited?

I shouldn't overlook April though...there were tons of wonderful moments that happened in April that I haven't yet posted about. So here's a quick look at some of those notable moments that happened last month...in no particular order. (Sorry not too many pics)

  • We upgraded our car! Woohoo!

    We had been talking about getting a bigger car to accommodate our growing family. In my mind I was thinking minivan because minivans are the BOMB! But I already knew that convincing Aljay would be a battle not worth fighting, since his heart-mind-soul was already set for anything other than a van (he wanted a bigger SUV...anything with 3rd row seating). So we agreed that he would be in charge of getting the car and I would be in charge of our budgett
    One day he went straight to the dealership after work and just got the car lol. I didn't know he was going to get it that day, it was kind of surprising...but a good surprise. He called me while at the dealership and after multiple conversations back and forth, I finally gave my approval (regarding the cost and what we can afford) and he finally came home with the car that night.
    Now we are back to car payments- all that joy in not having to make car payments anymore with the last car went out the door lol. It was great while it lasted though. But the trade off is worth it.  We both feel much SAFER driving our family around, and now we have more room to accommodate our family when they come for the reunion :) Plus, we got a great deal on a car that is in good condition. So we are happy and grateful for the Lord's blessings on our family. The only way we can explain how we were able to get a good car and good deal- Tithing and budgeting (living within our means).


  • Lahvjal and Penny made it UTAH!!!!
    Boy was it soooo goood to see the both of them! They visited us the night they arrived in Utah. I was sooo happy but felt really bad for them because I knew they must have been tired. But I knew they were probably excited too! It's so nice to have them here! And of course I didn't take any pics. Useless...I know.

    I'm so happy that Aljay finally has someone here that gets excited about art, design, creating new things, is creative, and brings in another perspective, and isn't afraid to try new things....and will camp on the computer looking at artist, designs, and youtube videos.......AND ENJOYS IT! I tried being that person for Aljay, but oka oka I can only handle so much. My brain just isn't wired that way lol.

    I'm happy I get another sister and friend to hang out with, vent all my troubles (sorry Penny, your ears are gonna get it! lol

  • TShirt Business in Motion
    Now that Lahvjal (the master mind) is here, the clothing business that him and Aljay have been talking about is now in motion. Uncle Mia, Uncle Gaugau, Futi, and Tumua had a meeting to discuss things. We'll see how everything turns out. There is a lot of support, ambition, and at the same time uncertainty with a little bit of fear. But once these guys (Aljay and Vjal) figure out exactly their direction, goals, vision and all that good stuff, we are sure to see good things come about (Lord willing). 
     I've volunteered to be head custodian LOL but Uncle Mia said he's already claimed that spot....sooooo I asked if I could be cafeteria manager for when the business gets big enough to have a cafeteria lol. I'm excited for them! Especially Aljay and Lahvjal!

  • Pregnancy is going good.
    I've started seeing a little bit of swelling in my feet and hands at the end of the day, but I don't mind at all! I'm actually happy about it because it's a sign that I'm getting closer to delivery! lol Things now are really similar to Sefa's pregnancy so I'll be more excited than mad when I see my body start to swell and my nose start to stretch lol cuz it only means that we are getting closer to delivery!

    Oh and guess who passed their glucose test!!!!???? NOT THIS GIRL!!! lol...BUT on the bright side....they decided that because of how far along I am and because of my past history I don't have to take the 3 hour test, and just go in for GD counseling....which was super quick and easy since I've been through it before and have already been taking proper care of myself. #winning!

    Oh and guess who hit 200lbs? YUP.....I did i did...lol..Not that I'm super proud but more like in shock. I was kind of like whoa! when I stepped on the scale and saw 200.00lbs exact. Wowzers. For someone my height and stature it's shocking. But I've never been this heavy and don't plan on staying here for long. Hopefully Baby will help a mother out and take 20lbs off of me after he comes out LOL. #fingerscrossed#legscrossed#eyescrossed

  • I DIDN'T TOTALLY FAIL ON CELEBRATING EASTER! Yay! lol
    When it comes to celebrating Easter, both Aljay and I had similar upbringings- no Easter baskets, eggs, egg hunts, gifts, chocolate bunnies, gifts, golden eggs, etc. Anything close to that was only celebrated if someone else was hosting it, like the ward primary. It wasn't until I moved to the mainland (Mayland in 2001) that I was introduced to the idea of  kids even getting gifts (baskets, candies, dresses,ect) for Easter. So there was no surprise that I had developed a disdain towards the commercialism of Easter and bunnies and eggs. Not a total disdain, just to the point where we as parents don't go out of our way to get baskets and gifts for our kids. We've taken Leila and Sefa to egg hunts (once at Gunstock, and once here at Rachel's ward activity). Yah I know what junk parents.

    What we did learn, from a young age, was the importance and significance of Easter, which is exactly what I wanted my kids to learn first and foremost. The Atonement, the Savior's sacrifice that allows us the opportunity to repent and return to live with Him, His priceless gift that I am most grateful for, and Christ's testament that like Him we can conquer death..... Too much for toddlers? lol...They're never too young to start learning!

    So every day, during the week of Easter Sunday, Sefa and Leila learned a little bit about the true meaning of Easter. We watched videos from the  Mormon youtube channel, used pictures, sang songs, read related scriptures (as much as they could handle), and had thoughtful discussion (kind of) about Easter. I'm not sure how much they got out of it, since most of these activities lasted an average of 10 minutes, but I tried. I was feeling real proud because despite Leila's constant questioning of "when are we going to get the eggs?" or "am I going to get a basket?"...I was able to redirect her attention by answering "EASTER IS NOT ABOUT EGGS!!" or "eh  you already got eggs from the egg hunt we went to!" Then she would answer "oh yeah because Easter is about Jesus."

    Finally, on the 3rd day, Leila broke through my anti-commercialism/bunny/egg/candy wall with her simple question>> "Why do they do eggs and candy?"....ugghh My inner nerd was curious and so I turned to google and discovered the reason behind the tradition of eggs and where the rabbit concept came from. I won't go into details, but I will admit that I was intrigued and bottom line ----> had a change of heart.

    So on the Saturday before Easter Sunday, while prepping for the luau, we got some eggs and candy so the kids could have an egg hunt with their cousins. Looks like we all learned something new. Good job Leila and Mom! lol
Tried to get a decent pic of Austyn and Nautica but they were very busy  gathering eggs and candy. 
A very happy Leila. 

Darren's other daughter. 
These two were BFFs the whole day. 

These eggs....I mean egg hiders. 




All in all...April has been good....and May will be even better!!!!

So bring it on MAY!!! I've been waiting for you!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being Prepared For These Times

Image
Auuuu that title sounds like I'm trying to write a General Conference talk or something hahaha. Probably still on the GC vibe from the beginning of the month lol. Anyways... So this pandemic that's going on, it's been something else! It has put the whole world on lock down. So many lives have been affected. I've written quite a bit in my journal, but I wanted to make sure to write about how the Lord has prepared our family specifically for this time. Looking back just in February and March, we can easily see how the Lord had orchestrated parts of our lives.  In February Aljay secured an art collector who commissioned several art pieces. His deposit was the cushion that brought a sense of financial security when we entered this lock-down life.  Towards the end of February, my bosses had heard about school closures in Seattle and decided that we should have a plan in place for our advisers to work remotely in case the schools had to close. We honestly didn...
Read more

2025 February

Image
Leila - Volleyball and more Volleyball  Leila had two tournaments in February. This club season has challenged her in a good way. She wants to play the outside hitter position but is playing on a 16s team (meaning older girls with more experience) and is sitting in the 3rd spot for out side hitting. To get to the 1 or 2 spot she needs more reps, more practice, and more individual coaching. We're seeing improvements each week, but are planning to set aside money for her to do more 1:1 coaching.  These tournaments are no joke. They are allllll day. 6am - 7pm sometimes. 1-day, 2-day, and sometimes 3-day tourneys. The mental stamina it takes as a parent ahahahahh is a real thing! Trying to say the right things to keep your athlete focused, motivated, and locked in is tough. There are so many things that are over stimulating or compounding: - the non stop sound of whistles and girl's cheering/screaming - the smell of swass in the building that increases as the tournament progresses...
Read more

2025 January

Image
Start the year off with two volleyball tournaments for Leila. The picture below is of her and Isa, the only 14-year-olds on their U16 team.  Fires are destroying parts of California, the Palisade area experiencing the worst of it. Texas and some of the southern states are experiencing some of the worst snow/ice conditions. TikTok is on the verge of being banned, President Trump is continuously passing executive orders that are sending people into panic.  Saleima made a list of the disasters and warned us that Jesus was on His way.  Sefa moved up to the Teachers quorum and was ordained by his Dad, Uncle Dennis, and Uncle Ben. He's growing so quickly and I love seeing his growth. They have a great group of young men. I love that they are old enough to plan activities, including attending the temple to do Baptism.  Sefa's also starting U15 7v7 pylons with coach Matt Manuma. He had made the decision to not be held back for football. It's a common practice here in Utah, a...
Read more