Nana's Baptism

This past Saturday my dad's mom was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was a day that over the years I stopped believing would ever happen. Ever since I can remember our family would have a list of people that we felt were ready to hear the gospel. She was always on the top of that list and we prayed everyday that Nana would be baptized. She has had the discussions several times but she always said that she wasn't ready to be baptized. To our surprise a couple of weeks ago she expressed her desire to be baptized. I was so happy for her and for my dad. My dad was the second in his family to be baptized but his sister that got baptized first wasn't a member long before she faded away from the church. I really feel that it was through his example that she came back to church and his other sister joined the church. Now with his mother a member of the church there is only one other sister who is not yet a member. It was such a beautiful day....and everything went just as planned. Kaanoi gave the talk on baptism and I just cried and cried. He did such a good job. When it was time for the actual baptism I sat right in the front with Noah. I couldn't help but just cry because the spirit was just so strong. It was beautiful to see my father baptizing his mother, something I don't think a lot of people have the opportunity to do. It was the coolest thing! My belief in this gospel strengthened even more that day. And I know that our prayers were answered. Nana has been such a great example to so many people and she will continue to be a great servant of the Lord. Thank you Nana for all you do. I love you and am so happy for your decision to be baptized.

Some pictures from the special day.

Hawaii fever..

So, I am horrible at doing this. I just feel like I have no time, the time that I do have I want to SLEEP!!! Hahaha, and I only have one kid. It seems like all my posts are of me going to Hawaii, so my original reason for having this blog (to keep my family updated on what's happening since I live far away) doesn't really make sense cause I'm always with them. So now, I think this is more for those here in Utah who I still don't see that much. LOL!!!

Anyways, I was lucky enough to go home this past weekend. I left on Thursday and came back on Saturday. Because it was such a short trip, I didn't bring Noah because lately he hasn't been the perfect angel that he was before on the plane. And I don't like to have him go to one extreme temperature to another and back again so fast. So, he stayed with my in-laws here. Matt had to work so he stayed as well. Wow! It felt so weird to be traveling by myself again. But it was definately nice because I could ride in first again! I had so much fun while I was there with my brothers and sister. We stayed up late and laughed so much. I went to help Kamealani with her prom. It was so much fun! Her date was in a play so we went to the play to start off her prom experience. We then, had some lunch and headed to my brother's to get her ready. My sister-in-law did her nails..they turned out so cute! I did her hair & make-up. She looked so beautiful! I picked out her dress here since the selection of modest gowns in Hawaii are slim to none. I was so excited to see it on her, it needed major alterations cause she's so tiny and they only had the dress in a bigger size. I was glad that she absolutely loved the dress! That's the only thing about picking out someone else's dress. It wasn't my first choice, but she didn't like the sound of the dress I really loved. But I knew she would look good in just about anything cause she's so skinny. I had such a good time with her and I'm so glad that I could share that experience with her. She has such great qualities that I love.

I missed Noah and Matt a lot, but I was so thankful to have that time to spend with my family. I miss them so much!!! It was so good to see Noah again, he is so loving after he's been away from us. Like he doesn't want to let us go! It's the cutest thing!

Here are some pics of my beautiful sister. Love ya!

A New Year...

Man...I'm pretty bad at keeping this updated. My new goal for 2009 I guess. So it has been a pretty busy couple months. For those of you here in Utah you haven't seen us much because we've been in Hawaii running away from this cold weather. Noah & I left on the 8th of December and met my parents on the Big Island. My dad was working on a movie there and so we took advantage of his nice hotel room. It was really nice to get to just sit and relax and not do much. My mom & I had a good time hanging out, visiting family and old friends. Noah absolutely loved it there. He was so good! Some of the things he loved doing while there was sitting on the patio and looking out at the nice scenery, taking walks by the pool and the beach. He really loves being outside and just exploring everything. He got a lot of bruises on his head because he kept climbing on anything and everything in sight in the hotel room. We stayed on the Big Island for a week. Here's a few pics I got of Noah....I got some pretty good ones!








While on Oahu we just hung out with my brother and his family most of the time. We had a Christmas party at my Uncle's house...I was anxious to see how Noah would react on Santa's lap. Well he was fine until Santa started talking to him, then he just started screaming his head off!



We also had a Christmas party with just our family...it was so much fun but I was sad cause Matt didn't make it for that. It was on the 21st and Matt came on the 23rd. We had steak, kal bi, shrimp, poke, sushi...I was in heaven!!! We didn't have much money so I got my younger brother and sister Apple Cider cause they love that stuff! They wrapped it in a brown paper bag for some reason so that's how I left it!! It was pretty funny! Here's the pics from that party.








We also spent time with my dad's family. We actually slept over my grandma's house and so we had Christmas morning at her house. Noah woke up pretty early...I can't remember what time it was but it was still dark outside. I wanted to capture every moment since this was his first Christmas. He was still pretty sleepy so this is what I got from him..





We went to the Windward Mall and took a picture by there Christmas tree that blew like these bubbles out that was trying to look like snow! My mom asked why I wanted to take a picture with fake snow! Ha, well I don't wanna take a picture with real snow!!




That's my nephew Ku'ena....he was just looking at it amazed! Christmas was so nice...I was so grateful to be with my family! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I was so happy when Matt finally arrived. That was the longest that we've been apart. Matt said we're never doing it again! Hahaha, he missed his two babies so so much! We missed him too! Then came New Years....hahahaha I love how this is just everything in one! If you've ever been to Hawaii for New Years you know that it is crazy! Last year was Matt's first time there for New Years and this year he said that we had to be there again for New Years. I feel like I'm in a war zone or something...but it's so much fun! My family is getting more and more high tech I guess you can say with this holiday. My brother got some nice aerial fireworks..you know the ones you see at the fireworks shows. He wanted to make sure that he was doing them in a safe manner though so he made these contraptions for our own little family's fireworks display. We were all so anxious to see how this would work. The first couple times he needed to tweak it a little but it did work!! It was so much fun.






Some exciting things that Noah did while in Hawaii
*Grew one tooth
*Starting eating table food (and LOVES it)
*Attempting to walk (he just kinda stands there and thinks about it, but then goes back down)
*Crying when we leave (he has never done this, he would always just go and be with whoever and we didn't need to be around but that changed)
*Smacking his lips together like he's spitting (thanks to my nephew...he started doing this and thinks it's so funny)
*Dancing (he's always kind of done this but now as soon as he hears music he's jamming)

Now we are back in Utah..we got back yesterday morning! It was such a nice little vacation! We hope you all had a great holiday season! We love our family and our dear friends!
Hope to have more posts this year!

THANKSGIVING!

We decided Tuesday night that we would hop on the plane and spend thanksgiving with my family since Matt's family went out of town. I had already told my parents that we weren't gonna go so instead of calling them to tell them we were gonna come I just decided to let them be surprised!!! I even called my mom thanksgiving morning to wish her a happy thanksgiving!! She had no clue...they were very surprised and so happy to see us. Then my mom said, "wait so when I was talking to you, you were already here?" Hahahahaha it was so funny. Anyways, we had a good time with lots of good food. I especially liked the ham made in the umu. I love love love it!!! And we had so many deserts. For my family's thanksgiving we have it in the cultural hall of a chapel and some people from my mom's side and dad's side along with close friends and usually some BYU students who don't have anywhere to go. It's a pretty big celebration with a lot of people. So, we had a lot of food. I didn't get any pictures but my sister took these of Noah. He is getting so big and learning new things everyday. I couldn't help but get a little emotional on that day when I realized how grateful I am that he is here with us. I held him close and told him how thankful I was to be his mommy!!! I'm thankful for my mom and dad who worked so hard, and for their continued love and support for me and my family. And of course all of my brothers and sister. I love the relationship I have with my siblings. We have so much fun which is why I am always wanting to go home for a visit, even if it's for a few days!

Here's my crazy niece and nephew...and then some pics of Noah

Living Legends

I forgot to post about Kanawai's performance that we went to. I was so excited the whole week to go. I hadn't seen the show for a while and it brought back so many memories. Kanawai did such a great job, I was such a proud sister :)! I got to see some people that I danced with and that was fun! I love watching their show because you can feel the spirit so strong every time. It was their very first show for an audience and they did really good. They left on a short tour right after to Idaho and they got back on Sunday. Kanawai said he really enjoyed himself and had a lot of fun. I can't wait for the Dejong Show!!!!!

Another week in paradise...

Noah & I went to Hawaii and were there for Halloween. Our family put together a fun little halloween carnival at my Aunty Janice's house. We used to have these when we were little but stopped because we all got old. But now we're all having kids, so YAY!!! We were sad that Matt couldn't come this time but he had to work. We stayed for a week with Deja and Pono. It was so nice, but I feel like I ate like a pig. Deja cooked such good food the whole time I was there. I'm always so happy when I'm able to be with my family. We have so much fun together. I think all we did was laugh and laugh. Noah loved playing with the kids and actually got a lot better and getting around. He still doesn't really crawl but he will get to where he wants to go quick. He also ate a lot when we were there too. When we came home everyone was surprised that he looked so much bigger. His daddy missed us so much so we had to come back. But, we shall be back again....SOON!!!! Here are some pics from our trip.













I can't find my camera...and that has the pictures with Noah closer up on Halloween. He was a train conducter. I also have more pictures of the carnival. It will have to be another post.

Dedicated to Toni Kaonohi

I just returned home from Hawaii...again! Hahaha, anyways...while I was there I attended a benefit concert for Toni Kaonohi. A girl that I grew up in the same stake with. She was on her mission when she had to have emergency surgery to remove a tumor on her brain. Since then, she has also suffered a stroke. I'm so glad that I went to the concert. It was so much fun and it was for a great cause. Her family is in such high spirits despite what is going on with their daughter/sister/aunty. I hope you have a speedy recovery Toni, you have always been such a special young lady.