November | Family Happenings

 1st of November - pulled out the Tree and the Christmas decoration bins lol

Terrible pics but there is a tree behind Lani's head (left pic) and one of the Christmas bins next to Brit (right pic) LOL



Made a Tuiga

Our good friends, the Aulavas (they're in our ward), asked us to make a Tuiga for them. It's been a hot minute since we've actually made a tuiga. Thanks to Etsy and Amazon, it was a lot easier than previous times. It was a team effort and I'm glad Aljay is always on board to help lol. He came up with a genius way to make the tuiga sit so that it looks like the top part is going into the bun (like how the tuigas with separate parts is). But the whole tuiga, including the hair, is a single piece that is so easy to put on/take off/dance in/store. Hmmm...maybe I should start selling tuiga's on etsy lol. 


Below is a pic of the Taupou who will be wearing it for the Samoan section at the BYU luau. This was just the try-on. We've never been to the luau so we're excited to go. 

Here's how it all turned out. She looked gorgeous! And boo we missed the performance because Samoa was first and we were late (and yeah I'm still sad about it). But we were able to re-watch the livestream online. Yay for technology!



Manusina Art - Finished a few projects

Dunked Cookies had their first pop up shop in Orem and needed a display wall that fit through a standard door. So Aljay engineered it and I played assistant. This guy really kills it when it comes to ingenuity and craftsmanship? Is that the word I'm looking for? ahhah I'm just really impressed with how he figured out how to put everything. It's a science! 




Celebrated Our Favorite 6 Year Old!!! 

Birthday post HERE

Ended the month with a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. 

Started the day with a lovely Charcuterie board for breakfast and snacking. Made by Aunty Brittany. 



Then we went on a family hike up Bridal Veil falls while the turkey and ham finished up. 









Then dinner!

This year we did a traditional "American" meal with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and all the sides. Usually Aljay just wants Samoan food, but he was actually down with it lol. It's still a bit of cooking, but easier than Samoan food, in my opinion hahahha So yes, I did all the cooking, which was actually very fun and relaxing since we didn't have solid plans or were expecting people over. 

Aljay was in charge of the kids cleaning and setting up our table lol. I wouldn't have had it any other way!


Then Uncle Lahvjal and everyone's favorite AUNTY PENNY came over.


Also, Aljay decided to do a piece for our family. Believe it or not, this is his first art piece that is intentionally made for our family. It's an artsy form of the Chinese character for family. In the top right corner is Aiga and in the bottom right corner is Familie (German for family). The kids names are also written in various places on the painting. 



After our meal, the kids went to the movies with the mens and the women stayed home. Our other favorite Aunty Nini (Teki's sister) rented out a movie theater for their family and invited us. I was too tired and not in the mood for Ghost Busters, so I stayed home with Britt and Penns. We cleaned up the house and then hung out until the monkeys came home again. 

The next day the kids got to go over to Aunty Penny and Uncle Vjal's house for a sleepover. I've never seen them work so hard to get their chores done LOL 
All of them, besides Salani, went to sleep over (Yes Britt too lol). 
It was the first time our house was that quiet and Aljay and I felt lost hahha.

Anyways, I'm grateful for making it through another month. 
I'm grateful the winter cold stayed away for a bit so we could really have a nice fall season. 
I'm grateful our kids have been relatively healthy and strong. 
I'm grateful for Aljay and the work he puts in to provide for our family. 
I have so much that I am grateful for.
I thank God every day for this life I have been blessed with. 






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