Christmas 2015

**late post**

Yes yes... late post. It be like that sometimes lol. A lot has happened over the Christmas break so I'm pretty sure I'll be playing the catch up game for a bit.

Christmas and New Years 2015

This winter season (Christmas/New Years) has been a busy one. Before Christmas Day we were constantly busy with the business (totally forgot that our business is in retail and that holiday season is super busy...duh! #suchanewbie). On top of that I was still recovering and didn't have the strength or energy to do everything with the kids. I was worried that Christmas would become more "busy" and less Christ centered, especially with business picking up.  Luckily, we were still able to take time for family and focus our hearts and minds towards the Savior.

Family Traditions

  • Aljay took Leila and Iosefa to Temple Square to see the lights. It's been a tradition for our family since we've been in Utah. It was freeeezing so me and the babies stayed home.
  • Sick family- This is starting to become a tradition..thumbs down. The weekend before Christmas  Leila started getting her molars in so she ended up with swollen gums, gingivitis, sore throat, and topped with severely dry cracked lips. Sefa was okay...he just had a cold sore and sore throat. Viiga had a bit of a cold/wet cough so we had to watch him carefully so that he didn't get baby sick. Aljay had sore throat and sinus headaches. I had a gross cold sore and sore throat. YAY for sickness! Luckily baby Saleima never got sick! 
    We had lots of movie nights snuggled under a warm blanket

  • We also made homemade treats to give to friends and family. I was just planning on making furikake chex mix (because it's easy and yummy, but requires an oven, so I still feel like I "baked")......but fetchin pinterest made me want to bake cookies with all their 'super easy cookie recipes' and 'best chocolate chip cookies ever' recipes....ugh...I couldn't help it, I had to try..... I legit baked one big batch of chocolate chip cookies and was over it...my remaining 3 "super easy" recipes I was planning to try got chucked and instead I baked a big pan of brownies called it good. The kids had fun taking the treats to our neighbors and friends.
    Aljay and all four babies #movienight
  • We set up our Christmas decorations a little later than usual this year, but the kids still had a blast. We didn't do a real Christmas tree as we usually do. We went to D.I. and scored a nice sized pre-lit tree for $5 and bought a few more decorations to what we already have that we got for cheap at the ReStore. #win
  • For our Christmas Presents we decided to take Leila and Sefa shopping at the dollar store so they can shop for each other. We had been wanting to take the kids out on Daddy-Daughter dates and Mother-Son dates and decided to use this as an opportunity. Aljay took Leila to the dollar store and gave her $5 to spend on gifts- she was so excited and put a lot of thought into the gifts she got for her siblings. The next day I took Sefa- who is such a boy when it comes to shopping- and we loved our time spent with them. p.s. his gifts for Aljay were crackup!
  • Snow Days!! We had quite a bit of snow this year! It's a good thing since last Christmas was really mild. Aljay took the Leila, Sefa, and Viiga sledding with Nate and Mike and their kids (that was right before all the kids got sick). Then when we had a fresh fall of snow, we tried to make a snowman outside our house but couldn't last long enough in the cold to actually finish it (thats what happens when you don't have snow clothes). 

Christmas Day

We woke up to four feet of freshly fallen snow. It was really beautiful. We started the morning with lotu, presents, and food. The kids had so much fun opening their gifts and seeing what they got each other.

 Toa (who ended up working Christmas day) was Mr. Santa!!! He hella spoiled the kids...and adults lol!!! He bought the two older kids remote control cars....don't know who was more excited...the kids or the adults (you know we all dreamed about getting these kinds of gifts as kids). He got Viiga the T-Rex from the movie Good Dinosaur (it roars and gallops). Then for Aljay/me he got *us a punching bag!! Complete with gloves and wrist wraps lol. It actually arrived a few days early and we were all home when it was delivered at our doorstep...so we were already messing around with it before Christmas :)

 All I wanted for Christmas was no more lives torn apart, then wars would never start, and time would heal all hearts....hahahah #mygrownupChristmaswish #Igoogledthelyrics. 
Nah but forreals I truly didn't want anything #growingup but I knew Aljay would get me something so I just got him basics- shavers and sharpie pens. He got me mixing bowls, an electric blender (so that I would start to like baking hahaha), and a colander. Very practical gifts for a practical person :) Loved it! Maybe I'll try one of the recipes from my pinterest lists LOL. 
Check out deez shades Sefa picked out for Aljay. We were cracking up!
#WillyWonkaShades
oh and he also got Aljay "daddy candy"
(aka tums lol)

We usually spend Christmas with Uati and them but Omi's family was having a reunion so we decided to just have Christmas by ourselves. It was really nice. Our good friend Si (went to school with at BYUH and danced at PCC) was supposed to come over but the overnight storm made the roads too dangerous to drive anywhere, and he's about an hour drive away in normal weather. 

Since we knew we weren't going anywhere, Aljay and I decided that we should make our favorite foods (smaller portions= more variety :) Our menu- Korean fried chicken, ahi poke, ota, fa'alifu kalo, and muli pipi. Then for dessert we had banana cream pie, cakes, ice cream, and pistachio salad yuummmmmm!!! We were definitely getting our bodies winter appropriate. I made some li hing mui pineapple and green beans to sort of offset the diabetes, gout, and heart attack that we were consuming.  Of course there was too much food and we (Aljay an I) were full before we even blessed the food. Good thing Lahvjal and Penny came over and helped us finish some of the food. Oh and of course they spoiled us with presents....we're so spoiled!


Family Visits

We were planning earlier this year to have Christmas in Arizona with the rest of my family, but decided it wouldn't be a good idea since baby was still young and going from two different temperatures wouldn't be good. So my parents decided they would have Christmas in Arizona and then fly up for New Years with Tui. Then on top of that Aljay's parents spent Christmas in New Zealand with Chu and Sui and then came here! :) We were so blessed this year to have family visit with us! And to make it even better...the Iafetas dropped in for a day trip just before Christmas!!!! 

 Iafeta's Day Trip!!

Yes this is the best pic I got #needtoupgrademyphone
Candace and Jay and their beautiful kids flew up for a day trip! How nice is that!?! We had already planned on them coming but totally forgot it was Thursday when they rang our doorbell and greeted us with big ole smiles!! Best "surprise" ever! We had lunch at Golden Corral and hung out with the kids at home. It was sooooo good to catch up and hang out! I, especially needed it. I was crying when they left. Miss my sister. It was towards the end of the kids "sick week" so luckily their kids didn't get sick.




Grandparents!

There's a lot to write. We had a ton of things going on while both sets of Grandparents were here. We had family events going on left and right. 

  1. First Ary returned from the mish!
  2. Then two days later we had Baby Saleima's blessing!
  3. The next day we had Uncle Mia, Aunty Kim, Keily, and Dane's temple sealing.
  4. Then Sunday was Ary's homecoming, so we all went to their ward and had to'ona'i at the Brown's house right after. 
Somewhere in there we had New Years Eve or something....I couldn't keep track of the days. It was all a blur to me. A fun happy blur lol.

Oka I'm getting tired and impatient with this blog post. It's too long lol

Bottom Line....... We fully enjoyed our kids being able to have their Grandparents and Tui with us! Time well spent! 

*Side Note>>> We learned that Sefa got some come back skills. He was going back and forth with Grandpa Viiga...it was hilarious.

*Other side note>>>I didn't take enough pics but luckily Aljay's Mom, theee Miss Paparazzi, was ready in full effect. So I'm just gonna make a borrow lol. Thanks MOM!

You can see allllllllll of Mom's pics here.

Final Bottom Line.... 
We love and miss everyone.
 Families are forever. 
The Church is true. 
Amene!











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