Tafiti Family Reunion
Oh my life I've been working on this post since after reunion
like foreverrssss
It would've been finished long ago had we not lost our camera.
And yes I was pretty sad about losing all those memories that I worked so hard to capture. Lol
BUTTTTTTT...luckily Aljay found the camera and saved the day.
YAAAAAYYY!!!
I wanted to do a cool video or awesome slideshow with all my level one basic computer skills but I was so anxious to just finish this post that all the video editing, PhotoShop-ing, collage making is fa out the window.
eeeggh.
So now you get all the raw footage and unedited photos in all their unadulterated, non filtered, un-retouched glory thrown together in theee longgesstt post ever..
Sa'o mana'os...get ready for it....
BOOM! Reunion time......
A few weeks have passed since the Tafiti Family reunion started and now everyone is back or slowly making their way back to real life. It has been an awesome week full of sleepless nights, endless laughter, too much food, and unexpected twists.
like foreverrssss
It would've been finished long ago had we not lost our camera.
And yes I was pretty sad about losing all those memories that I worked so hard to capture. Lol
BUTTTTTTT...luckily Aljay found the camera and saved the day.
YAAAAAYYY!!!
I wanted to do a cool video or awesome slideshow with all my level one basic computer skills but I was so anxious to just finish this post that all the video editing, PhotoShop-ing, collage making is fa out the window.
eeeggh.
So now you get all the raw footage and unedited photos in all their unadulterated, non filtered, un-retouched glory thrown together in theee longgesstt post ever..
Sa'o mana'os...get ready for it....
BOOM! Reunion time......
A few weeks have passed since the Tafiti Family reunion started and now everyone is back or slowly making their way back to real life. It has been an awesome week full of sleepless nights, endless laughter, too much food, and unexpected twists.
The first unexpected twist- Mama getting admitted to the ER
Well it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. She is old, has her share of physical challenges that we are all aware of, and she is making a long trip to a place with a different climate.... so yeah it shouldn't really be called an "unexpected twist" lol.... but I can't really think of anything better at the moment.
So after arriving in Utah Mama didn't feel good and had to be admitted to the ER for treatment. The higher elevation and plane ride took a toll on her and seemed to magnify all her ailments. Everyone who was in Utah gathered at the hospital to be with her.
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Without knowing when Mama would be released from the hospital, a last minute meeting was held at the Tavana's to discuss proper accommodations for Mama.
During her stay in the hospital, family members took turns watching Mama... grandkids included. How about these three below lol...
| I wasn't able to get a pic with Mama so I stole Adam's pic from FB. |
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| and yeah I stole his caption too since he said it perfectly- Io! You make sure you leave all the grandkids who don't EVENNNN speak Samoan to take care of the old lady *scratching my head* seh ... Hahahahaha best reunion ever! IG meet my niggas Toa and Liv! Adam called us a while after- "yo someone come and get us! This language barrier is killing me!" lol... |
Sunday May 25- Church, To'ona'i, Family Time
We attended Uncle Henna's ward (Mapusaga) in West Valley then had to'ona'i in the afternoon with Dad's side of the family- Sagato's and Lealaitafea's.
Church time..
Then eating time...
And finally game time..
And of course the thing that should take a short time but takes the longest time... family photo time....
Here's some good ol family down time from after we got home that night...
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| the kid's entertainers- HB with his guitar and Ben with his magic blanket ride? |
Austyn's contemporary number :)
and now here's the actual official family reunion week....
DAY 1- FHE
Tafiti Family reunion begins with an all day Family Home Evening at the park in Provo.
DAY 2- Temple/Check-in Day
We started off the day with a 7am temple session that we did get to ON TIME. Major points for us cause we all went to sleep around 3 or 4am (most of us) and we had to be out the house by 5:30am.
It was the first time that Penny, Tery, and I had ever done a live session. It was a pretty neat experience. The Salt Lake temple is beautiful and the whole time I was wishing I could just walk around and look at everything. We started off the day with a 7am temple session that we did get to ON TIME. Major points for us cause we all went to sleep around 3 or 4am (most of us) and we had to be out the house by 5:30am.
*Second scare of reunion- Uncle Eveni was admitted to the hospital later in the day after the temple. I remember when we were leaving our session he had to stop and rest against the wall for a few minutes. Then later in the day he had to go to the hospital. It was a bit scary because his heart actually stopped but he recovered and was discharged within the same week. Miracle I tell you. Thank the Lord for His mercy and allowing Uncle Eveni a little
more time on earth.
After the temple everyone got lunch on their own, got everything packed up, and made their way down to the lodge. The first night at the lodge was introduction night followed by eating, hanging out all night, eating more, and getting very minimal sleep.
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| Well okay some of us did get their beauty rest.... lol Love you Ary!!! About 1 or 2 in the morning we started making signs for the returning missionary as well as the family reunion banner.    |
DAY 3- Game Day. Picture Taking. Returning Missionary. Fagogo.
So games were supposed to start in the morning after breakfast, but everyone slept in. Although it was just the first night at the lodge just about everyone was already exhausted from jetlag/traveling or staying up all night for the previous 3 nights or both.
At some point we woke up, ate something, played games or sat around, and then took family photos....okaaaaa....can you imagine how long it took to take these photos....yess all morning. It was kinda hilarious. Especially when they were trying to get all the kids together for the great grandkids picture.
Here's the best 3 pics of the great grandkids that we got on our camera.
So games were supposed to start in the morning after breakfast, but everyone slept in. Although it was just the first night at the lodge just about everyone was already exhausted from jetlag/traveling or staying up all night for the previous 3 nights or both.
At some point we woke up, ate something, played games or sat around, and then took family photos....okaaaaa....can you imagine how long it took to take these photos....yess all morning. It was kinda hilarious. Especially when they were trying to get all the kids together for the great grandkids picture.
Here's the best 3 pics of the great grandkids that we got on our camera.
And finally the siblings...
After the photo shoot we all packed into our cars and made our way to the airport. Lucky Sister Fuimaono was greeted by all her family. We looked like her fan club with our signs and matching shirts.
On the way to the lodge we stopped by the hospital so Sister Fuimaono can see Mama.
At 6pm Brit was released by our stake president, President Makai. It was the second time I had been at a missionary's release (the first time was Toa's in Hawaii) and I felt privileged to be there for her. We all got to share our testimonies and watch Brit cry her makas out as she struggled to take off her name tag. Mom, Dad, cousin Whitney, and Baby Vi'iga were there crying right along with her lol. Pres. Makai gave her a "salens" (challenge) and made her a promise that if she goes to the temple, continues with her mission habits (pray, scripture reading, etc), get's her education, and stays active in the church by holding a calling, then she will be blessed with a very spesso edernal gompanion....lol woohoo! And knowing how good Brittany is, I'm sure we'll be meeting that someone spessso some day soon...hee hee...
When we finally did make it back to the lodge, we split into groups and played some games.
Here's a few pics and a clip from the games.
Here's one of the groups from our evening Fagogo activity where each group was supposed to perform a legend.
DAY 4- "Workshops". Talent Night. Mama's Birthday Celebration
So the workshops kind of didn't happen. Haha And yes it is because no one got up on time. Lol So most of the day was spent hanging out, playing volleyball, slip n slide, eating, and enjoying all that the lodge had to offer. I don't even really know what all happened because me and Nina jammed (we were running important errands I promise) and didn't get back until just before dinner.
After dinner we had our family talent show yaaayyy!! And what made it even better was that Mama was there for it! Double yaays!!! Even though she was asleep for most of it.... at least she was there with us and got to see her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. Wish we could have recorded everyone...especially the fireknife at the end because eeevverryyyoonnee was spinning (no joke) and it sounded like so much fun.
I was kind of bummed that I missed it. I was feeding and changing baby in the upstairs rooms...but hey I was feeling real cause Aljay and Ary said they were calling me to fireknife...bahhahahahhahaha #dreamcometrue #fireknifeforlife #passion #heawikoo
Hopefully we'll be able to see some footage from Josh since he recorded quite a bit from the reunion with his legit camera.
DAY 5- Clean Up. Check out. Family Dance.
On the final day we cleaned up and left. Oka there was sooooo much food that needed to be taken so anyone who had space in their car loaded up on the goodies.
That evening we had a family dance in West Valley. Even though we were all super tired, our family is die hard and was giving it on the dance floor.
That evening we had a family dance in West Valley. Even though we were all super tired, our family is die hard and was giving it on the dance floor.
the dance battle between the Uncles (more like Kap) and the Nephews
And then after the dance we lost our camera..booooooo....so everything after this was taken from facebook. Thanks everyone who posts pics :)
DAY 6- Umu. Tavana Wedding.
Friday evening going into Saturday morning was spent doing everything for the umu. Then off to the wedding reception which I have no pics for (boo again) EXCEPT for this one pic of this winner guy modeling the tuiga (before the hair was trimmed) that Aljay made for the beautiful bride Tumua.
Stole these photos from FB.
Friday evening going into Saturday morning was spent doing everything for the umu. Then off to the wedding reception which I have no pics for (boo again) EXCEPT for this one pic of this winner guy modeling the tuiga (before the hair was trimmed) that Aljay made for the beautiful bride Tumua.
Stole these photos from FB.
DAY 7- Missionary Homecoming. Baby Blessing. Family To'ona'i. Closing Fireside. D
The final day of our reunion was quite a busy one.
9am- Viiga's blessing and Brittany's homecoming at the Orem 9 (O9 so fine) Samoan ward.
10am- Rushing to take Ben and Nina to the airport. Hate goodbyes/see you laters. Was kagi like baby.
11am- Everyone at our house to eat and catch up on sleep.
1pm- Harrison's blessing (Dennis' son) at their ward.
5pm- Tafiti Family To' ona'i as well as a Family memorial gathering for Dad's sister Naomi who passed away 20 years ago.
7pm- Family Fireside
When I walked into the chapel and had a look around, the first thing that came to mind was "kalofae everyone looks just blaaahhgggg" lol....I'm not even kidding. A full week of family reunion was showing all over our faces. Nonetheless, it was a spiritually uplifting evening filled with testimonies and beautiful musical numbers. Couldn't think of a better way to close the reunion.
After the fireside, everyone took pictures and started saying their goodbyes before everyone started flying out and heading back to their every day lives. #sadface #hategoodbyes #wishingIhadacamera
Final thoughts:
What a week!!!!
It was long yet short,
exhausting yet exhilarating,
tiring yet fun and memorable.
And yes there were moments that were irritz
and times when people got on each others nerves
but hey...thats family and despite whatever hiccups occurred during the reunion (and before and after..true story), it doesn't trump the good times and the fun memorable moments or just that fact that we could be together.
For Aljay and I, we especially loved seeing our kids play with, fight with, and get to know their cousins. We also loved that our kids as well as all the great grand children could meet Mama.
Now that everyone was slowly leaving, you would think that the still lingering ones would go catch up on some sleep, recover from frequent food comatose, and doctor themselves to full strength since everyone was sick!
yeah Good story!!!
Despite being sick and tired there were still family fun happenings going on post reuion! Die hards I tell you. Gotta make use of the vacation time aye!
NOW FOR THE POST REUNION FESTIVITIES LOL....just kidding I'll save that for a later post!
As for me....I couldn't physically participate in all the post reunion funs so I decided to get some sleep (if possible) and detox! (Where you at Nina??!?? Lesss do diss!) hahah no but really. I'm sure the arteries, intestines, kidneys, liver, pancreas, small toe, pinky finger, ear lobes, eevverryyything will appreciate a good detox...or maybe I just could eat something green for that matter. hahaha No but really...tooo much good food and not enough veggies or exercise lol
until next reunion...
Love and miss you family!
Fa! good bye!
9am- Viiga's blessing and Brittany's homecoming at the Orem 9 (O9 so fine) Samoan ward.
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| Missing our Kiwis :( |
10am- Rushing to take Ben and Nina to the airport. Hate goodbyes/see you laters. Was kagi like baby.
11am- Everyone at our house to eat and catch up on sleep.
1pm- Harrison's blessing (Dennis' son) at their ward.
5pm- Tafiti Family To' ona'i as well as a Family memorial gathering for Dad's sister Naomi who passed away 20 years ago.
 |
| It was a lovely evening spent with family and getting to know more about Aunty Naomi. |
When I walked into the chapel and had a look around, the first thing that came to mind was "kalofae everyone looks just blaaahhgggg" lol....I'm not even kidding. A full week of family reunion was showing all over our faces. Nonetheless, it was a spiritually uplifting evening filled with testimonies and beautiful musical numbers. Couldn't think of a better way to close the reunion.
After the fireside, everyone took pictures and started saying their goodbyes before everyone started flying out and heading back to their every day lives. #sadface #hategoodbyes #wishingIhadacamera
Final thoughts:
What a week!!!!
It was long yet short,
exhausting yet exhilarating,
tiring yet fun and memorable.
And yes there were moments that were irritz
and times when people got on each others nerves
but hey...thats family and despite whatever hiccups occurred during the reunion (and before and after..true story), it doesn't trump the good times and the fun memorable moments or just that fact that we could be together.
For Aljay and I, we especially loved seeing our kids play with, fight with, and get to know their cousins. We also loved that our kids as well as all the great grand children could meet Mama.
Now that everyone was slowly leaving, you would think that the still lingering ones would go catch up on some sleep, recover from frequent food comatose, and doctor themselves to full strength since everyone was sick!
yeah Good story!!!
Despite being sick and tired there were still family fun happenings going on post reuion! Die hards I tell you. Gotta make use of the vacation time aye!
NOW FOR THE POST REUNION FESTIVITIES LOL....just kidding I'll save that for a later post!
As for me....I couldn't physically participate in all the post reunion funs so I decided to get some sleep (if possible) and detox! (Where you at Nina??!?? Lesss do diss!) hahah no but really. I'm sure the arteries, intestines, kidneys, liver, pancreas, small toe, pinky finger, ear lobes, eevverryyything will appreciate a good detox...or maybe I just could eat something green for that matter. hahaha No but really...tooo much good food and not enough veggies or exercise lol
until next reunion...
Love and miss you family!
Fa! good bye!
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