No More Excuses

Seuao left me a LOVELY little surprise under the Christmas tree....

I was SO suprised!!!

(And I'm REALLY trying hard not to ask him how much he paid for it!!!)

So, brace yourselves for some MAJOR blogging catch-up!  No more excuses!

Tessa's Pictures

Here are some more of the pictures we had done of Tessa for her first birthday:

Tessa is ONE!

September 25, 2009

Our sweet Tess turned ONE this week! I can't get over this girl - she was such a surprise and has been such a blessing to our family. Here are a few of the billions of things I love about this little girl:

I love how her daddy calls her the "little one" - she never was really little, but she will always be her daddy's "little one."

I love watching her walk around, strutting her stuff, shaking her booty with her arms held close for balance. She's already picking up speed - it's scary!

I love her little hums - she is nearly always humming a little song for us.

I love her deepest darkest brown eyes I have ever seen. My dad said one time that through them you can see right into her soul. It's so true - her eyes remind me so much of my brother John.

I love her courage. She's not willing to take the abuse of an unnamed toddler who is in her face all day anymore! She still yelps for help when needed, but she's not afraid to take care of business herself!

I love her cuddles. Tessa will just bury her head right into my chest and stay there - it's just for a few seconds, but I crave those cuddles.

I love her spirit. She can be a little dramatic (where did she learn that???), but when the problem is solved, she doesn't hold a grudge. She listens when we talk to her, and really does do what is asked of her. She doesn't push limits (yet...) and she is so eager to please.

I love her curiosity. She wants to know what's going on!

I love watching her snuggle up into her blanket each time she goes to sleep. She loves her blankies right up in her face, and has been that way since she was born.

I love how she and Lily are starting to play together. She adores her big sister and wants to do EVERYTHING she does. She'll catch up to her soon enough!

I love how girly she is! She loves her shoes, playing with mommy's makeup, shopping, dancing and chocolate. Such a girly girl!

I love how attached to me she is. It's hard being a working mom, worrying that they really don't know WHO you are, but she does - she knows I love her and I love that she wants me around...

Tessa, you have blessed my life in more ways than you'll ever know. I adore everything about you, and can't wait to see the ways you will grow and learn - just not too fast, ok? Mommy needs a little more time just to soak you in. You are my little angel, and I love you. Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

California

First, some history…

Seuao has a sister, Lanu who lives in L.A. She and her cousin (one of Auntie Tolofulu’s daughters, Naivi) were sent from Samoa to live in California to be raised by their uncle (Malo [short for Alaimalo, Seuao’s mom] and Tolofulu’s oldest brother) when they were teenagers. When Lanu came to America, Seuao was only 2 years old, so they really had no relationship to speak of while growing up. When Seuao came here in 2003, after the rugby tournaments he was competing in, he stayed with Lanu in California for a few months. Since then, they have developed a true brother/sister relationship, and it is so nice for Seuao to have some honest-to-goodness family on the same continent! All the rest of Seuao’s siblings live in Samoa, New Zealand, Australia and Italy.

Well, for a while, Seuao and I had been talking about bringing his mom over from Samoa to visit. The last time his parents came here together was about 10 years ago, when Lanu had her son, Tyler. Although Seuao’s dad has been back a time or two since then, his mom hasn’t made the trip, and now she has two new grandchildren to meet: Tessa, of course, and Lanu’s second son, Trey.

So, Seuao rallied a couple of his brothers who are engineers on a cruise ship based out of Italy and together they arranged a trip for Malo to come to America. Both of these brothers, Misipati (Misty) and Vaosea (pronounced vow-say’-ah) have to travel back to Samoa annually to renew their visas for work. Misty was scheduled to come back the first part of August, and all of their flights from Italy to Samoa are routed through Los Angeles. So, rather than having a layover for a couple of hours, he changed his ticket to fly out to Samoa from L.A. a week later. Well, all the stars aligned, all the flights were scheduled, and we planned our trip to California for the gathering!

Seuao drove out to California a few days before the girls and I flew out to meet him there. It was nice for him to have some good time with his family before the drama and the chaos arrived! I will admit though, flying by myself with the two girls was a little unnerving! We did survive though. And Lily handled it (mostly) like a pro! Just look at her all settled in!

Tessa hated being confined – she is one girl that wants to be on the MOVE!

The first couple of days we just mostly hung out. Seuao’s cousin’s wife and her three kids came and stayed with all of us for a little while. We went to Long Beach Harbor and walked around a bit.

We took Misty and Tyler to Universal Studios one day.

Sorry, Tess. Next time you can come too! Lily had so much fun, especially at the animal show and in front of the cooling fans and dancing to the music!

Lily had Misty totally wrapped around her little finger. Come to think of it, she had most everyone, except her mean old momma wrapped around her little finger!

She was definitely spoiled on this trip!

We drove to Ft. Irwin Army Base to visit with Seuao’s cousin Manu and his wife Eti and their family. Poor Misty had to sit in the back seat of the car with the girls – good thing he loves them! There was a LOT of crying on that drive (like 1.5 hours one way). The boys stayed up late watching old wedding videos and talking about the good old Samoa days.

Lily had so much fun with Lani and Kaira.

They just played and played and played! Eti is an AMAZING cook, and did not stop cooking the whole time we were there. They had a comfy home and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

Seuao and Misty loved taking pictures with all the Army gear – boys will be boys, I guess!

Wow’s cousin Naivi, her daughter Lena and granddaughter Baby Naivi all came to Lanu’s house towards the end of the week. We had a big barbeque and a bunch of Seuao’s friends came over too.

One of my most favorite parts of the trip was shopping in the Alley! The Alley is blocks and blocks of knock-off sunglasses, purses, DVD’s, clothes, toys, electronics, you name it, they have it! I got some fun new things, and we had a great time down there!

We really had such a fun trip. Yeah, the first day in the hot house without air conditioning, 2.5 bedrooms and only one bath with like 15 people was a little overwhelming, but now I can’t wait to go back! It was so fun to have so much of Seuao’s family gathered together, and Lanu and her husband Lynn were such wonderful hosts. We love you guys!

What Happened to Summer???

Well, apparently I blog about the same way I write in a journal - I do really good for a while, then I get busy, then I get so far behind the thought of catching up is utterly depressing until I finally buckle down, get it done and vow to never do this myself again....

Until the next time...

In any case, here's the summer recap, if for nothing else to PROVE that we have been busy - not just (completely) slacking! :)

Pioneer Day
Typically, Pioneer Day isn’t a huge event among my family. But since the kids got such a kick out the 4th of July parade, we thought we’d give it a Round 2! Plus, we needed another excuse to pull out the old Red White & Blue outfits again!

We pulled into Logan just in time for the little kiddie parade. Lance saved us great seats in the shade except this DUMB family came and STOOD right in front of us for the ENTIRE parade! Can you believe that!?! We didn’t say anything, but between that and the stupid big kids crowding us out on the other side it was kind of irritating.

(I love how Lily is waving in this picture - just like the princesses!)

It wasn't the best parade I have ever been to, but seeing Ella out there waving her heart out made it all worthwhile!

We went to Hyrum Dam for a little while and played in the water...

(That's Wow on the tube, and Dave driving the wave runner!)

Oquirrh Mountain Temple
Our family had the opportunity to visit the Oquirrh Mountain Temple before it was dedicated. It was so beautiful. Although it took a lot longer than anyone expected, and there were a few minor meltdowns, the spirit and beauty of the temple is something that is incomparable. Lily loved seeing all the pictures of Jesus. It truly is one of the most breathtaking temples I have seen.

Birthdays
Within about 6 weeks during the summer, my family has no less than 7 birthdays. Needless to say we party party party all summer long! We did a big combo-birthday party for me, Mom, Sarah and Granny at a local park. I’m telling you, parks are the way to go! The kiddos can go nuts (and eat all the watermelon they want without Mommy freaking out!) and clean-up is a BREEZE!

For each of my sisters, I have given them “Sisters” bracelets on their birthdays, and this year, Sarah gave one to me, and I got one for my mom this year that says “Mother.”

Phoebe's Blessing
Sweet little Phoebe was blessed on August 2. This baby is just a doll! She is so smiley and so happy (unless she’s hungry, then watch out!) I loved her SUPER frilly dress and her pearls. She looked like a little grandma to me! Lily loves little Phoebes. Dave gave a beautiful blessing to his daughter. We did a delicious roast dinner at our house afterwards. Lexy’s family came too! It was a houseful, but so fun to celebrate this precious girl!

Sabrina

Sweet little Sabrina Anne was born on Sunday, August 23. She is Rebecca and Lance’s third daughter, and such a little sweetheart! She was 7 pounds 5 ounces and 19 inches long. Such a little love!

Bear Lake
For the last few years, our family has made an annual excursion to Bear Lake for a day of fun in the sun! We had to postpone our outing because there was NO SUN on the weekend we had planned, so we rescheduled later on. Unfortunately Seuao had to work all weekend, but I ventured up with the girls anyway.

We had a picnic lunch and a quasi-surprise party for Dave’s birthday.

Someone LOVES cake!

Although it was kind of overcast and not super warm when we got there, as soon as we finished lunch, the skies parted and the sun started shining and we were ready for the water!

I hung out on the beach with my girls, and helped watch some of the others whose mommies were incapacitated…

Of course, Tessa had to eat the sand, but still both she and Lily had so much fun!

Sarah took Lily out on the boat - I think the pictures speak for themselves...

When we got to the car after we were done at the lake, Lily wanted “chicken and an ice cream cone” but fell asleep about one minute after the car started moving! We stopped for chicken and ice cream cones when we got back to Logan – these girls definitely enjoy their ice cream cones!

We played outside until it was time for baths and bed, and let me tell you the concoction of sand, ice cream, peanut butter sandwiches, watermelon and stinky diapers was enough to convince anyone these girls need a bath – no doubt about it! But a fun, stinky, sticky end to an awesome day.