Traci And Jethro

Fano family update.....

2011-09-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

I thought I was so done with blogging, but then I was up super early this morning thanks to my kids and thought I would catch up on reading everyones blogs. After doing that I wanted to blog again. Its so fun to see everyones families and where they are and what they are doing, I LOVE IT!! Thank you to all those to faithfully blog!

Here is a quick update of my family

Ana has started 1st grade and LOVES it. I miss her during the day but its nice to have more time and attention for the other two because once Ana comes home from school its a whirlwind of craziness....homework, piano, soccer keeps us busy every night until bed time but its a fun time!!

She is such a poser!

Penina turned 3 this year! I failed as a parent because of our busy scheduel I didn't have any presents bought for Penina by the time her birthday arrived, and because Ana had a soccer game the night of Peninas birthday we decided to celebrate the next day. So that night after I put the kids to bed I ran to Walmart and got Peninas presents. I felt bad the whole day because she didn't have any idea it was her birthday, but I made up for it the next day, I got the house decorated and presents wrapped and ready for her to have first thing in the morning!! She seemed to enjoy it and fell asleep with her favorite present from grandma Laraine!!

Tautua is growing so fast and is sooooo busy. He is 11 months and LOVES to climb! I have to trap him sometimes just to get stuff done. He isn't walking yet and I'm not so sure I want him to. He is so different than my girls he is more curious and gets into my cupboards, the girls never really did any of that. The one thing he does that makes me laugh he has figured out how to turn on the bath water. As soon as I turn it off he pulls himself up and turns it on and sits down as fast as he can and screams and laughs.

He is such a monkey, but we love him!!

I LOVE SUMMER!!!

2011-08-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

I need more summer days like this!!

Squints

2011-04-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

I had to throw in some cute pictures of my nephew Cooper, “big blue eyes”!!

Easter

2011-04-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

It was a Happy Easter despite the weather. We started our weekend off on Friday with and Easter Egg Hunt with the Fano family in our yard, small but it worked!

The Easter Bunny comes to our house on Saturday morning and left the kids a basket of toys and candy!

Saturday the kids hunted eggs at my mom’s house. My mom filled them up with candy and toys galore. Then my dad sent us off on a GPS egg hunt he set up for the adults. I didn't go on it because I had to feed the babe but it was fun to watch as everyone got in their cars and raced off and hilarious to watch as they pulled in and flew out of their cars looking for the last egg. Jethro lost our keys in the process which we later found in the road in front of the neighbors house. I was told later Jethro was racing so fast in the suburban that as he was turning the tires were screeching, so glad I didn't go or I would have been cussing him out for his driving.
When the final egg was found my mom pulled out a case of silly string and everyone went to town!! It was a crazy fun Easter!

I bought the girls Easter dresses back in January so I have been anticipating this day for a long time. I got them all ready for church and even though we were running late I had to get a picture but Penina and Tautua weren't cooperating. Penina kept looking away or not smiling and then Tautua was crying and started crawling away so these are the best I got. I think I am going to re-take them another day when Jethro is there to help me!

And of course whats Easter without colored Easter eggs.....

BEFORE

And Deviled Eggs.....mmmmmmmm

AFTER

Soap box

2011-04-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

I just had to laugh when I saw the title to this article “Study Links Early Introduction of Solid Foods to Obesity” seriously people?? “Researchers” whoever that maybe want to point fingers as to why more and more kids are obese they blame fast food restaurants, school lunches, and now this. In my opinion it’s all about habits! The article starts off saying: “With childhood obesity becoming an increasing concern, many researchers are working to find out what factors contribute to the problem”
Then in a separate article below this one I read: “It is especially important to help our children establish healthy eating and exercise patterns now — the habits we create with them today will carry over throughout their adult lives.”
Well there is your answer “researchers”. Our world has increasingly become “lazy” as compared to times past. We rely on fast food when we are too tired to cook, movies and video games to entertain our children. I admit I rely on these things but I do try to moderate it though. I try to only eat out no more than 2-3 times a week and that includes lunch and dinners which is the two meals I usually buy fast food for. Because I work at home I often rely on TV and movies to keep my kids entertained while I work but again I try to not let it get out of hand. When I feel it’s been too much TV I stop working and make my kids turn off the TV and play with their toys, color or go outside and play on a nice day. Blaming anyone but yourself is ridiculous, it’s all about habits. I’m not saying I am perfect but I find it hard to agree with the government and laws saying my kids can’t have a toy in their happy meal unless it is so many calories or if I start feeding my child solids at 4 months instead of 6 months they have a high chance of being obese. Come on people get real!
If you are still reading this thanks for reading my rants, I just had to get that out!

Story of my life...

2011-02-16T19:43:00.000-08:00

I just got this book from Ana's book order at school and laughed as I read it because its the story of my life. If you've read it you know what I am talking about! If not I will just briefly explain. Mama Elephant tried to take a bath so she could have 5 minutes alone without her kids nagging at her. But while she is taking a bath each of them come in the bathroom to be with her. They all end up jumping in the bath with mom so she gets out and goes to the kitchen to be alone and not long after the kids follow her into the kitchen.

This is my life to a tee. The kids will be happily playing or watching a movie and so I take the opportunity to sneak off to my room for a power nap but not long after the kids find me in the bedroom and want to be with me. So I leave them playing in my room jumping on the bed or whatever to go in the office to get some work done not long after the kids are in the office with me getting into everything. I do my best give them my attention but some days I just can't stand it. Shower time for me is MY time if I jump in the shower during the day its usually because I needed a break but even then the kids are knocking on the door "mom are you almost done" ; "mom. mom, mom" the best is when the kids are taking a bath themselves (like they are as I type this) I can get five minutes or so of peace while they play in the tub.

I love my kids dearly I love being a mom but I have my moment when I just need some me time and do what I want to do, listen my music, read my books, and watch my movies. Its rare when I get MY time and it usually when i shower where no one can bug me, touch me, ask me to get this or that. I love to take a shower for that reason!!

Ana's hair

2011-01-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

Ana's long hair has been a battle lately I love how it looks but I HATE washing it and combing it and so does Ana. Every time I say "Lets cut your hair Ana" She would say "Noooo" but if I caught her on just the right day she would say "ok" so one day she said "yes" I took her after school and we got it cut.
So we could donate it we got it cut shorter than we planned Jethro wasn't too happy about it when he first saw it but he came around. I was little sad about it as well but the more I play with it I LOVE it. Ana was pretty excited that her hair would be used for kids who need hair. Ana and I both agree that washing and combing it is a much more enjoyable experience even better for me because now I make Ana wash her own hair now that its short I know she can manage that task better than when it was long.

BEFORE

AFTER

New camera

2011-01-26T13:04:00.001-08:00

Jethro has a new toy these days he got a nice Christmas bonus so he bought a new camera. I am really excited about it because its fancy enough that we will be able to take our own family pictures with it and hopefully my mom can have a current picture of the kids on her wall that she constantly asks for each year and I have failed to update for her.
These are a few shots we have taken while playing around with the new camera

Teach them well!

2010-12-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

Its up to us to teach our kids to love the finer things in life!

Jolly Ol' Sant Jethro?

2010-12-14T20:54:00.000-08:00

I had no idea that Jethro was asked to play Santa at our Ward Christmas party and he didn’t expect it either LOL When Jethro and I arrived at the Ward Christmas party he left to go see if they needed any help in the kitchen he was gone for a little bit but came back just before the party was started. I was pleasantly surprise he came back because usually at our ward parties he is gone helping the whole time. Well as we were sitting at the table Bro Reid, the first councilor in the bishopric asked Jethro if he could help them real quick. So Jethro followed him out into the hall and into a classroom where he showed Jethro a Santa suit and asked if he wouldn’t mind playing Santa. Jethro was hesitant……ok so he full on said NO at first and walked out. But after some pleading and begging Jethro put on the suit and made a lot of primary kids really happy!! As this was all happening I was thinking he was helping in the kitchen again and Ana wondered off somewhere and I figured she was with him. Then the Primary leaders announced they had a big surprise that just landed on the roof and asked all the kids to come to the front. I was wishing Ana was in the gym with me because I didn’t want her to miss out on Santa. So I was filming Penina when Santa came in the room (still not aware that Jethro was Santa) she was excited and wanted to go closer. Then I started to look around for Ana to see if she came in the gym yet. I wish I had the camera on still because when I made eyecontact with her Ana had a terrified look on her face and because she was across the room from me she mouthed to words “HELP” to me! It was the funniest thing I have ever seen!! Ana has always been afraid of Santa and as she came toward me I was walking with Penina to see Santa but Ana sat in her chair and wouldn’t join us. Penina had no fear she walked right up to Santa, he handed her a present and when I saw he was just handing out the gift and the kids weren’t sitting on his lap I went back and got Ana . As I walked with Ana back up to Santa Bro Reid said something to me that made me look twice at “Santa” then I realized it was Jethro! I whispering in Ana’s ear that it really was daddy and she looked at him and her look of terror turned into a big grin and she laughed and laughed. I told her not to tell the other kids because daddy had to be Santa’s helper. She was pretty proud that her dad got to be Santa!

Lost!

2010-12-14T20:34:00.000-08:00

Ana lost her first tooth! We were eating breakfast when Ana’s tooth fell out! Even though she was anticipating this moment she was a little freaked out and got all teary, I think the taste of blood in her mouth was disconcerting! The tradition Jethro grew up with was when you lose a tooth you throw it on the roof for the mouse to get and he will give you one of his teeth to replace it with and that is what grows in place of the old tooth. I didn’t think Ana would be too excited to follow that tradition especially when all her friends got a visit from the tooth fairy and she got a tooth from a mouse so we went with the “my” tradition LOL We put the tooth in a baggy and she kept asking me all day if it was time to put it under her pillow, normally I would just let her but Penina has been her shadow lately I knew that if Ana put it under her pillow Penina would see it and go get it and do who knows what with it. So I made her wait until bedtime. The next morning she was excited to wake to a $1 under her pillow and her tooth gone! (Bytheway if you are wondering why Ana’s hair looks kind of funky it because Jethro’s sister came to visit and she put cornrows in Ana’s hair, I didn’t get a good picture of it but it looked really cool especially when we took out the braids her hair was really curly)

Blessed!

2010-12-14T20:15:00.000-08:00

Tautua was blessed a couple of Sundays ago by his daddy! It was odd for me to go shopping for a blessing outfit because the girls used my blessing dress so I never had to go shopping for one. It was a perfect day, I was worried about the weather because I didn’t want my family to have to drive in the snow, thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day!! Cliff and Maile were kind enough to let us host a dinner at their home. I gave Jethro the camera to take pictures because I was busy making sure everyone was fed so we didn’t get to many picture from Jethro. So I gave Ana the camera and told her to take some pictures and she did a pretty good job!! I want to thank all the family that came out to support us and Tautua you made the day all the more special!!!

Three little monkeys

2010-12-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

My three monkeys!

Still adjusting to three kids, its getting better but it’s a lot of work having three kids especially one that is nursing I forgot you can’t just leave the house at a moments whim, you’ve got to time it just right make sure that baby is fed and changed. Trying to get out of the house is a big routine making sure all the kids have their socks, shoes, and coats on. Then loading them in the car as fast as I can before they start playing in the snow and end up getting all wet while I get the baby in the car. I don’t like to leave the house a whole lot but because Ana has school we don’t have a choice. I can’t wait for summer already!! I love my kids despite the chaos, but one thing I am looking forward to for sure…..Christmas morning. I think Christmas is going to be extra fun this year!!

4 weeks

2010-11-10T09:49:00.000-08:00

Time sure goes by fast, its been four weeks already since we welcomed our baby boy to our family!! He has already grown so much and has lost his newborn look. I am loving having a boy, sometimes I can't wait for him to be a little older and start seeing his personality, but for now I am enjoying holding and snuggling him all I can.
This may sound cheesy but sometimes I miss feeling that "first love" feeling you get when you first date your spouse but I now remember you get those feelings all over again with each new baby. I can wait to hold him when he is sleeping in his crib I can't kiss him enough and I can't help but feel so overjoyed with love when I look at him! I am so in love with my kids and I feel so privileged to be a mom!

Home sweet home!

2010-10-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

Finally some down time to catch up with cyber life lol! Its been a whirlwind couple of days but I am glad to be home, as much fun as it is being "pampered" in the hospital. Well some what pampered the nursed bring you your food and drinks and all that you need but on the flip side they annoy and bug me getting my vitals and such when I'm trying to rest and make me feel a lot of pressure if I don't feed my baby every two hours on the dot. But when all is said and done I am grateful for the care of the doctors and nurses who make sure that this baby is going to be well cared for once it leaves the hospital.
Speaking of I had a fabulous delivery nurse. Her name was Katy and she was just a pro! The best part is when she did my IV she got it in the first time! After that I knew this was going to be a good nurse! Since the baby was 5 days past due date we went in Wednesday morning at 7 AM to be induced, I was so excited and nervous. I was dreading all the needles and poking and proding that I have to go thru but I knew once I got my epidural it wouldn't be so bad. Things went along quickly they hooked my up to IV and pitocin and my body was set. The doctor came in and broke my water and then things got going fast. I was surprisingly a 5 when we arrived and then the next hour a 6 and then reached 7 by 10AM. The nurse warned me once I reached a 7 I could progress to a 10 in minutes and I thought that wouldn't be my luck, I don't think this baby will be here until noon. But like I said she was a pro and she was right with in 5-10 minutes I was a 10 and after 4 pushes the baby was out! That was the fastest delivery I ever had but certinaly not the most painless. My epidural didn't really completly numb out the contractions like it has before although my legs were numb I could still feel a lot of painful contraction so I wasn't shy about pushing the button to take the edge off the pain I think I pushed it 3 times in 40 minutes but it just made my legs more numb I don't know how women can do labor without drugs. It hurt so bad but luckly the baby came fast and I didn't have to endure hours of pain. I was surprised after I delivered I didn't even use the "good" stuff my pain level was low that motrin was all I needed. I was so happy that everything went has quick as it did and as easy as it did. The one annoying part was there was a medical student tagging along with my nurse and the nurse asked if I would mind if she let the student do some of the after birth cleaning up and stuff. Well that was a long and slow process but I do what I can to help the medical field.

Baby Tautua arrived weighing in at 7lb 2 oz and 19 inches long. He had some fluid in his tummy and was having a hard time breathing at first so they took him to the nursery for observation while I waited for my epidural to wear off. After that I was taken to my recovery room, my girls loved visiting me, they especially loved the bed and pushing the buttons making it go up and down!

I am always so glad to be back home recovering and being with my family. Being a mother of 3 is a little trying. Everyone wants mommys attention and I feel bad that sometimes I am to tired to give it. I know with time I will adjust and figure out how to divide my time with each kid and husband but for now I am going to do what the doctor ordered and take my naps everyday!!

8 years down, eternity to go!!

2010-10-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

Today is our 8th Anniversary! It’s not at all what I thought it would be both of us forgot this morning. I called Jethro an hour after he left for work and wished him a Happy Anniversary lol. I guess with the anticipation of baby #3 we just didn't think about it. As I reflect back on the past years we've been together it’s amazing to see how far we come and how much we've grown. I can honestly say I love Jethro more than I ever have and I am so grateful for the man he is today. I lean on him more then he knows. His thoughts and opinions matter so much to me and I look to his example of compassion and kindness all the time! Jethro is always so observant of those around him and looks for ways to serve and help where he can and I'm always so grateful for that.....even though I have to nag him sometimes to help around the house LOL I am so grateful to be married to him and have him by my side raising two almost three beautiful kids!! Happy Anniversary Jethro! Thanks for all you have given me!

Dear BYU...

2010-10-04T09:23:00.001-07:00

Dear BYU

This is how you catch a football!!

School is cool!

2010-09-25T00:41:00.000-07:00

Doing the school thing has been so much fun. All my worries have been for nothing so far. Ana has LOVED school, she goes to afternoon K and every morning asks me "Is it time for school yet?" Her class is no bigger then 20 kids and she seems to have a great teacher. One day she came home with a book full of drawings of her done by her classmates labeled "Queen for a Day" she was so excited about it that she looked thru the book over and over! Ana also came home with a certificate that says she is "Star" student of the week not sure how prestigious of an honor that is yet, (we are still learning the schools reward system and all that) but we are pretty proud of her!

Yesterday Ana participated in a "Jump-a-thon" to raise money for the PTA and it was so fun to watch, she was having a lot of fun! So far so good, we are loving school and look forward to all the fun school activities and things in the future!

Photography giveaway....check it out

2010-09-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

"Michele Reyes Photography is doing a newborn session giveaway - check out her blog - michelereyes.blogspot.com for details!"

First day of Kindergarten

2010-09-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

September 1st 2010 was Ana's first day of school. We have been anticipating this day since she turned 5 and now its finally here!! Ana woke up with a smile on her face and was ready to head out the door but she had to wait until after lunch and it was the longest morning of her life!

Finally the time came and she rushed to put on her school clothes and get out the door.

Jethro came home for lunch to join us and see her off on her first day.

She was so excited I didn't cry like I thought I would. To see her standing in line with a big grin on her face made me so happy and excited for her!!

I am so proud of her she wasn't scared at all! As I watched her walk away and was snapping pictures I wanted so bad to follow her and just be with her all day but I knew I had to let her go!

On our way home Penina fell asleep and Jethro stayed and we had a quiet lunch together reminiscing about when Ana was a baby and how much she's grown. As soon as Jethro got up to leave for work I realized how quiet the house will be and started to cry because I didn't have Ana home. I know I will come to enjoy "MY" time while Ana's at school and Penina's down for a nap and soon the new baby will arrive but I couldn't help but miss her so much and wonder how she was doing at school.

As soon as school time was over I was out the door to pick up Ana and anxious to hear about her day. We got in the car and I could see she was sad and was fighting back tears. My heart broke, a million thoughts went through my head of who could have hurt her and what must have happened. I finally got it out of her that she was sad because she wanted to ride the bus home. She thought that she was gonna get the "full" school experience I guess. After I explained to her why kids have to ride the bus and bought her a few treats at the store she was much happier and excited to tell me about her day.

Summer fun

2010-08-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

I have been going thru my summer pictures and just had to attempt to blog about it. We've been having a blast this summer, Jethro is really into fishing this year and so is Ana, so we've been doing a lot of fishing and hanging out at the lakes, reserviors and ponds. Ana has the lucky Barbi fishing pole and usually catches more fish than her dad.

Penina loves to copy Ana and tries to do everything Ana does. It is so fun to watch them play together. Penina is talking more and more everyday and loves to "fraw" aka draw. She had left her art work all over the table, couch and some of her toys but her favorite place to "fraw" is on her legs.

Baby number three has yet to be named, we haven't really found a name we both love and most likely won't until he's born. He is VERY active and kicks and punches harder than any of the girls ever did that I can rememeber. We are very excited for baby boy but at the same time I am nervous to have three monkeys to deal with, I know we will find our routine but its hard to imagine especially with Penina barely turning two I feel she will be more jealous and be a little more harder to cope with then usual uuugggg BUT we'll just have to see I hope and pray she will adjust fast!!

Good Things to Come

2010-06-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

I thought I was giving up on blogging, I can't download pictures because my computer won't read my memory card and there has been so much I've wanted to share. Today I watched this video on the church website I really touched me and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Good Things to Come

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" Prov 3:5

We are back.....

2010-05-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Disneyland and it was a blast!! We hardly had a long wait and the weather was nearly perfect it was chilly in the mornings and evenings so my girls now have a cold but durning the afternoon was just right. I can't upload my pics for some reason but I will keep working on it and hopefully I will be able to share!

Sassy kids and no camera

2010-04-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

I am so sad I have lost my camera and can't find it anywhere. I've missed out on so many cute pictures and videos to take. Penina is talking up a storm these days although most of it is in her own language. It was so cute one day Ana looked at me with big eyes and said "Mom, Penina can speak Samoan!" Right now Penina loves to watch "Are-Lell" Its so cute when she says it her tongue sticks out and all and she can even sing the "Aaah's" when Ariel is giving her voice to the Sea Witch and I am missing out taking a cute video! Penina is 19 months now and has been to nursery a few times and seems to like it. She is so adorable most of the time but she can be a really big stinker when she wants to be. As you can see in the pictures she can give big attitide for a little girl. Which reminds me on her 18 month check up she wieghed 21 lbs and is in the 15% but her height and head are above average LOL She is a light wieght.

Then there is Ana. She is a fabulous big sister and helps me all the time but if Penina is bugging her WAR breaks out and its only the beginning, I know!! What I have to look forward to!
Ana loves being 5 and talks constantly about going to school and list all her cousins who go to school and how old they are.

I love my girlies so much and I am so excited for the new addition to our family. We will find out what we are having May 26th!!

My heart belongs to...

2010-03-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

I have given no time for blogging lately so instead of cleaning I'm sitting her blogging. Lately I can't help but feel like I am falling in love with my husband again. We met 10 years ago this month and I've always wondered where we would be 10 years down the road and if we would still feel the same for each other. I can say we are not where I would like to be but we are getting there and no we don't feel the same as we did 10 years ago I think our love is even deeper and stronger. I am so grateful for Jethro. He is a wonderful husband (although he could help with chores a little more hint hint) Jethro is a wonderful dad and does everything he can to make his girlies happy. Jethro wants so much to have all that is good for his family and works hard to achive that. Jethro is very talented and I love to listen to him sing and play the guitar. Jethro is a clown, he loves to make everyone laugh and that draws people to him and he is so out going and friendly. Jethro recently has been called to be a temple worker and he is loving it! I love the spirit that he brings into our home. Jethro stays very busy and is greatly missed during the hours he is at work or away at school or playing guitar for a show or bishopric meeting and many many other things. I sometimes look at him and can't belive he is my husband and that he loves me for who I am no matter what I weight LOL Thank you Jethro for giving me your love and two beautiful girls and one on the way!!

Happy 5 years!!

2010-03-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

5 years ago yesterday at 7:34pm after 22 long hours of labor my 1st beautiful wided eyed baby girl was born. Whenever I look at Ana I still try and relive that moment of seeing my baby for the first time and how amazing it was to look into her eyes and call her mine! Where did the time go, my baby is 5 and dying to go to school. Jethro and I felt that this was such a milestone in in her life we wanted to make her birthday really special. So we celebrated for 4 days!! Because her birthday landed on sunday Jethro and I took thursday off of work and took Ana to a place called Jungle Jims, its like the kids part of Lagoon, but indoors. Ana loved it and Penina was able to go on the rides.

One ride was faster then we expected and Penina was squished up against the side of the car with a look of horror on her face but she never cired and even wanted to on it again but I couldn't do that to her so Jethro went with Ana the second time. Then we went to lunch at Marie Calenders and then went home and gave Ana her birthday present early. We gave her a scooter and helmet and took her to Classic Skating.

I haven't been to Classic Skating since I was 14. It was so fun to go back there, that place hasn't changed. Ana rode her scooter and Jethro and I skated. I wanted to hold hands while we skated because thats what you did with the boy you liked back in my day but I was pushing Penina in the stroller and I felt like I was going to fall if I let go LOL.

Ana attempted roller skating but still has a long way to go. It was a fun first day of celebrations. We all crashed when we got home we were so tired.

The next day Ana's cousins came over and she had a sleep over birthday party. We played games, I let them decorate their own cupcakes and then we sang happy birthday. The girls watched a movie and fell asleep.

Then next day I let them play all morning and then took them to Jump On It in the afternoon.

Gracie had to much fun I guess and fell asleep half thru our session. Then I took them back home and let them play the rest of the day before I took the girls home at 5. Sunday Ana was excited to have the primary sing to her and her teacher gave her some cupcakes. Then our plan was to just relax at home but Kim called and asked if we wanted to come up for dinner, I never turn down a meal I don't have to cook especially Kims she is a great cook!!! LOL So we had dinner at Kims and she even had a small birthday cake for Ana. That concluded our 5th birthday celebrations. Ana seemed to really enjoy her birthday.

fun with masks

2010-02-18T11:54:00.000-08:00

For Ana's birthday last year I found a bunch of classic masks in Partyland on clearence so I bought a bunch of them and decorated Ana's party with them. Since then the girls have had a lot of fun playing with them especially Penina, she LOVES to put on a mask and growl at us and try to scare us. It is the cutest thing.

Ana's role model

2010-02-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

Lately my motivation to exercise is simply "I am Ana's role model" A conversation I had with Ana.....

Ana: "Mom, I like your big belly!"

me: "Thanks Ana"

Ana: "Is my belly big?"

me: "No"

Ana: "I wish I had a big belly like you"

I just laughed but explained to her that it not healthy to have a big belly and that mommy needs to exercise.

I try to exercise in the morning before the girls wake up or they want to join me on our small living room floor and they get in my way.

Here is my girls trying to exercise with mommy!!

Tsunami Damage

2010-02-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

SO I never finished posting about our trip to Samoa. We took a driving tour of the tsunami damage. I know there was a LOT of clean up done but there was still a lot of debri and mangled cars along the side of the road. It was so sad to see all the homes that were destroyed and a lot of people living in tents. I can't imagine what a sad sight it was to see immediately after the tsunami was over. I picture families trying to find each other in all the craziness. It was very interesting to see in Pago Pago that some area's were affected badly and some were not. The chapel in Pago is still standing but my sister in-law said that it was flooded and there was a boat in the parking lot. I've seen pictures of the chapel before the tsunami and it was beautifully landscaped but now the grass is just barely growing back in and there are no other plants around, it really was sad to see. The interesting thing was the structures on both sides of the chapel were damaged badly. Jethro explained to me how and where the tsunami hit Samoa and why his parents village was not hit is a miracle. I feel so sorry for those who lost homes and most importantly loved ones in the earthquake and tsunami but I am so grateful that Jethro's parents were safe and there home is still standing strong. Heavenly Father has truly blessed our family in so many ways.

This is Jethro's mom holding Penina in the car, did I mention that in Samoa car seats aren't really a requirement, i think they might be trying to make it a law but while we were there the kids had a blast not having to sit in a car seat. It made me nervous even tho the speed limit around the whole island is 30 mph a lot of damage can still be done if we crashed but we said a prayer every morning and thankfully we did OK!

Sledding

2010-01-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

Last saturday I was lucky to have the day off and wanted to take the girls sledding for the first time. We have never taken Ana sledding before now, I don't know why maybe because I always felt she was too little to enjoy it. Because it was Ana's first time I thought she would be scared on the first time down so I asked my 10 year old niece to go with her and Ana LOVED it, she went on her own after that and then she and her cousin Ashly joined together and screamed for joy the whole way down. They went so fast at one time they almost went right into the parking lot. Ana had so much fun.

Penina seemed to like it but was more interested in sitting down and playing in the snow and eating it.

2010-01-20T21:01:00.001-08:00

Christmas in Samoa

2010-01-17T14:17:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Samoa on Christmas Eve night. Jethro's mom had no idea that we were coming she thought it was Joe and Kai and their kids. So she told me when she saw Ana at th airport she looked at her and told Lela "Hey that little girl looks like Ana" and then she saw Penina behind her and realized that it was Ana. She slapped the person standing next to her, I think it was Jethro's dad, she was so surprised and excited to see us.
As we drove home I was surprised to see how many people in Samoa go all out on Christmas lights. A lot of people ask Jethro what they use for a Christmas tree in Samoa, I even asked him that when we were dating, because its hard to imagine a pine tree on the Islands. But thats what they use, fake ones of course, in case you were wondering.
As I was putting the girls down for bed, Ana asked if we were going to put out some milk and cookies for Santa. I didn't even think about that, I asked Jethro if he thinks his parents have cookies but they didn't. So we told Ana that Santa gets so many cookie we were going to put out avacados for him instead. LOL She liked that idea and so we laid out a plate of Avacados.
The next morning was unorthadox for me. We got up WAY before everyone and because Lela and Reenie were sleeping in the living room with all the presents we waited for them to wake up. While we waited Ana and Penina hung out with grandpa, he took them outside to look at the dogs and walk around. Poor Ana kept asking when we can open presents. Finally everyone was awake and we had family prayer and opened presents.

After the fiasco of the morning was over we got ready to have lunch with the Fano side of the family. I was a little nervous meeting the Fano side for the first time after 7 years of marriage but they were all great and very friendly. It was especially nice to see Aunty Ofa and Tiana again. We had a typical Samoan lunch ham, chicken, beef, rice, mac salad and green salad, I blame samoan food for my curvacious body they rarely have vegitables in their meals!! (I know I know of course lack of excersice doesn't help either.)
After our meal and pictures with the Fano family we went to visit Jethro's moms side of the family in a nearby village. This is the family Jethro was raised with so his uncles and auntys are more like brothers and sisters to him. Jethro was so excited to get a chance to visit with them and introduce his family to them for the first time!! It was so fun to be there and see the house Jethro grew up in. Jethro took me for a tour of the land, I have it all on video and am sorry to say I didn't get one still shot of the place. It was amazing to be there I even teared up a little, it meant a lot to me to FINALLY see where and how Jethro grew up. We live in the area I grew up in so I get to share with Jethro and Ana all the places and things I did growing up and now Jethro finally gets to share that with us. It may sound weird but I have a better understanding and appreciation for the way my husband grew up there was so much I didn't know and realize.

The first part of our trip

2010-01-16T22:13:00.000-08:00

We fly out a day later than planned because our flight got cancelled but when we finally made it to Hawaii, all the misery of that day was gone!! I love the smell of Hawaii when you first walk out of the plane and into the airport. Hawaii smells so good, it smells like Plumeria! I love to suck in the smell as much as I can before I get use to it and can't smell it anymore.

We arrived at night so we when straight to Jethro's brother Joe's house and Ana was so excited to sleep in the living room with her cousins. I thought for sure she would end up in bed with us before the night was over. She did come into the room a few times just to give me a hug and kiss in the middle of the night and when she turned to go back to bed I asked her if she wanted to sleep with me and she said "No, I just wanted to kiss you" It was so surprising and sweet!

Of couse the next day we got some beach time in before we loaded on another plane for Samoa. It was a perfect beach day too!!

Ana was so excited to see her cousin Gracie again.

Ana was in dog heaven, she immediatly went into "dog mode" and started digging in the dirt and running on the beach like a dog. It was so funny that girl LOVES to pretend to be a dog!!

Penina was scared of the beach at first. I don't think she liked the feel of the sand or something.
But it was such a great way to kick off the trip!
A few hours later we were on a plane to Samoa. Joe works for Hawaiian Air, which is the only airline that flies to Samoa so he made sure his co-workers hooked us up and we got star treatment!! And the best part was the girls both slept the WHOLE flight!!

We are back....

2010-01-12T14:09:00.001-08:00

We are back I am working on a post of our trip. Right now I'm tackling unpacking and laundry and then folding the laundry ( I hate that part) but I will post as soon as I can.

The flight to nowhere

2009-12-22T22:31:00.000-08:00

We are suppose to be in Hawaii laying on the beach and chill'n instead we are back home from a LONG day at the airport. We are flying out to Hawaii to be with Jethro's family for Christmas and our flight was at 3:15pm today. We left at 11am because it was snowing hard and got to the airport at 12 noon we waited and waited and waited our flight got delayed and we didn't board until 5pm. I was a little concerned because we had to catch a connecting flight in San Francisco and we ended up sitting in the plane for 2 1/2 hours when they told us our flight had been cancelled because the flight crew has gone over their allotted fight time because they had been working flights all day. So I'm thinking DUH get a new flight crew in here lets go. So we exit the plane and Ana is heart broken. She has been so SO excited to fly on an airplane and go to Hawaii. The whole time we sat on the plane she kept asking me if we were flying yet. The poor girl cried for a good 20- 30 minutes. She was tired, hungry and very disappointed. Once we got some food in her she calmed down and was much happier. I guess this was a test run I found I needed more snacks. The girls did great tho I was so impressed with them they were happy and content and just played while we sat and sat and sat. A lot of people on the plane commented on how well behaved they were, I was so proud of them. We didn't get home until 10:45pm, almost a 12 hour adventure. We are going to try again tomorrow, lets hope they do just as good and the flight takes off!! The interesting thing about it all is usually I'm a stress case and I'm very impatient with the kids but Jethro and I were both very relaxed and did everything we could to keep the kids entertained. When they announced the flight was cancelled we were of course disappointed but we felt no grief or anger about it. We feel like there was a reason we didn't fly out tonight. Jethro and I and his family have fasted and prayed for every ones travel plans and Jethro gave us each a priesthood blessing before we left this morning. I feel like Heavenly Father as blessed us with patience thru out the day and maybe there was something defective with the plane that it wouldn't have been safe for us to fly. We feel like the Lord has blessed us and is watching out for us! This experience has truly strengthen my testimony of the spirit of the Holy Ghost and the power of the priesthood!

Mele Kalikimaka

2009-12-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

So much to do and so little time. But here is a post that I've been wanting to do but just haven't yet. Ana's hula class taugh by my sister in-law Maria did a recital earlier this month.

It was really cute, I love watching Ana dance and she really enjoys it! Of course Jethro and the boys playing for the recital and sounded really good! Ana's cousins came to watch, its always fun to have family there to show support, I know Ana loves to have her cousins around she is a lucky girl to have cousins to dance with as welll!!

All I want for Christmas!

2009-12-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

Ana has been asking when we can put up our Christmas tree so I kept telling her soon, the truth was I wanted to do some super cleaning before we did. So finally on Monday I got the house cleaned and we put up the tree she was so excited. It’s been so fun this year because Ana is old enough to really be truly excited for each holiday we've celebrated. Now that Christmas is here she has been wanting to help me decorate which I love because I usually do it by myself while Jethro watches TV or plays Xbox. So I let Ana hang all the ornament on the tree by herself and I just sat back and let her do as she please, usually I'm anal about placing the ornament on just right but I didn't care this year she was so cute to watch decorate the tree. She hung most of the ornaments in the same area of the tree and she was so proud of herself I didn't have the heart to fix it.

This Christmas feels a bit more magical again because of Ana's excitment, I love it!!
Every time we go to the store and look at toys I usually have in mind what I want Santa to give the kids but this year everything I thought Ana would like she has shot down all she wants from Santa is a pink phone that has a rotary dial on it and nothing else. I keep asking her do you want a Barbi, a horse, a stuffed dog all the things she loves to play with but she says "No, I just want the phone". Easy enough for me I guess she is old enough to know what she wants so we'll put it on the list for Santa!

Going private

2009-11-28T11:48:00.000-08:00

After seeing my sister in-laws published blog I decided I would love to have that and I would want to include more private entry’s for that purpose and really do my journaling on my blog so I could have that as a legacy for my kids. So I have decided to go private for that reason. I invite you to continue to read my blog so please post your email address in the comments or email me traciboo22 at Gmail dot com that way I feel more comfortable sharing private information on my blog.

Gone but not forgotten

2009-11-21T10:19:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was a perfect November day for a funeral. We were so happy that the weather was nice. The service for JoAnna and Kayla was perfect. I was so impressed with the three little ones there were so composed and aware and they handled the day better then me. A lot of family memebers have had the same impression that as JoAnna was being pulled from the car she saw Kayla's spirit confused as to what was going on and with motherly instincts JoAnna made the choice to be with Kayla, she knew the other girls had Russ and each other and that Kayla needed her! I feel that is so true, that is so JoAnna!! Although I know of God plan for us and that we can be together again I can't help but miss Joey and Kayla so much!!

I have a very thoughtful husband. Jethro said that the last time we went camping him and Kayla wanted to make a "nature bottle". A "nature bottle" is what the kids usually make out of used water bottles, they gather rocks and flowers and acorns and fill up the bottle with them. So Jethro and Kayla spent an hour looking for acorns and rocks and flowers and all that to make their nature bottle but because they got distracted with the idea to go fishing they never finished making their nature bottle. So Jethro gathered some acorns and flower petals and put them in a vase with a candle and made Kayla her "nature bottle". I thought that was so sweet of him!!

This has been a big eye opener for Ana as to what death really is. I still don't think she fully understands because she says she doesn't want JoAnna and Kayla to be dead anymore and that she wants them to wake up.

I don't know how else to explain it to her but she comes to me and says "mom, lets talk about Kayla and JoAnna" I think we will continue to have lots of talks about them and others we know that have passed on. I just keep thinking how would we do this without the blessed knowledge of the gospel!!

This thing we call death.

2009-11-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

I lost my dear cousin JoAnna and her daughter Kayla this past Thursday. JoAnna was my best friend since we were little we were always together when our families got together Joey and I loved to play together and as young girls I always thought it was so cool that she had her own song,"JoAnna I love you" by Kool and the Gang. JoAnna was always so much fun to be around she was a kind and patient mother and a great example. Kayla was JoAnna's clone she loved everything her mother loved most especialy animals. They had horse, dogs and even a pony. They had such a wonderful life here on earth they both left their prints on everyones hearts who knew them. I love them both so much and will miss them greatly! I'm so grateful that JoAnna married a man like Russ, he is such a hard worker and does all that he can to provide for his girls. Russ has also been a great example and I am so proud to call him family!! A trust fund has been set up at Wells Fargo for the Russel Anderson Family if you can please donate and help Russ who has to pay for two funerals and hospital expenses!!

What is this thing called death
This quiet passing in the night?
Tis not the end but genesis
of better worlds and greater light.

O God, touch Thou my aching heart
And calm my troubled, haunting fears.
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change,
With recompense for vict’ry won.
The gift of Him who loved all men,
The Son of God, the Holy One.

-President Gordon B. Hinckley-

better late then never

2009-11-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

Finally my halloween update!

So we didn't get to do all our fun traditions because the month of October flew by so fast and money was short but we still had fun. We went to the annual 3rd ward Halloween Party in my mom's ward. The 3rd ward has always had a Halloween party for as long as I could remember and its always a lot of fun!! Then we went to our wards trunk or treat. This was the first trunk or treat we've ever been a part of so we had no clue what to do and we failed on our first time. We got there late (suprise, suprise) and Jethro parked the car a little to far away from the action so I stood there in limbo in the middle of all the trick or treaters with my bowl of candy and looked like an idiot plus we didn't bring anything to decorate the car......we are new at the trunk or treat thing, our ward from before NEVER did anything, it was an activitiless ward lol. So for sure next year we will be more prepared and do a way better job at the trunk or treat!! Other then that we had fun watching Ana enjoy the Halloween holiday and all it has to offer. She was very disappointed the next day when I started taking down all the decorations, she wanted it to be Halloween all the time until I told her that it will be Christmas soon she was happy about that but that statement just put a knot in my stomach, this Christmas is going to be an interesting one, but more about that later!

Pumpkins

2009-10-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

For Family Home Evening we carved pumpkins usually I like to buy a pumpkin for each person in the family but since I am the one that ends up carving ALL the pumpkins I just got two this year, Jethro varies year to year on whether he is into carving or not, I love it but he did help Ana carve her pumpkin this year so I think from now on I'll just buy enough for the kids. It was perfect just two pumpkins and this year Ana was more into it and a lot more helpful too, she drew her own face and helped clean and carve it to. I think she did a pretty good job!!

I like to call it "Scare or be scared"

Happy 60th Mom!

2009-10-21T11:20:00.001-07:00

Last week was my moms birthday and she is a glorious, wise and wonderful 60 years young!! We surprised her with a birthday party at Brickoven and later we hung out at the house and ate cake and ice cream. It was alot of fun, all of us were there which is rare these days. It was lots of fun being with everyone again, I'm so grateful to have a wonderful family and most importantly two wonderful parents. My mom is my best friend and I know I can turn to her for anything and she will be there for me at a drop of a hat. I'm so thankful to my Father in Heaven for blessing me with a wonedrful mother!!

2009-10-21T11:19:00.001-07:00

Kids say the funniest things

2009-10-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

Ana is playing with her cousins right now

Gracie (talking about her brother): She is going to sleep
Ana: He's a boy not a girl
Gracie: He's not a boy he's a son

Primary Program

2009-09-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

Our ward had their primary program today and it was awesome!! This years theme is "My Eternal Family", I have never felt the spirit so strong during a primary program. All the kids did a good job memorizing their parts and some even spoke their parts in Samoan. The best part of the whole program was the singing. I was so amazed to see ALL the kids singing even the sunbeams knew the words to the songs. It was like a choir of angels singing with them it was so powerful and strong! While the kids sang the new primary song "Family is of God" I felt the spirit so strongly! That is my new favorite song and then after they finished Ana got up and said her part, she said it perfectly "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ", it was so cute it brought tears to my eyes so see my baby girl getting so big. I know I'm gonna be a bawl baby when she has to start school!! Maybe because it was Ana's first time participating in the primary program I enjoyed it so much and also it was my first time in 6 years to get to sit in the audience and enjoy the program!! I wish I could have video taped it, it was the best primary program yet!! We have some great primary leaders and I am so grateful to them for all their hard work in teaching our kids, especially the primary chorister she did an amazing job teaching all the kids the songs. I just can't say enough it was a great program!!

the "WHY" stage

2009-09-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

I can't upload pictures for some reason I don't understand. But I just wanted to update my blog since its been a month already.
Ana is in the "WHY" stage and she is constanly asking "WHY this" and "WHY that" I do my best to answer her honestly and the best way I can to a four year old but the other day she asked "Why do boys have long tita's?" (tita's is samoan for weewee's, peepee's whatever you may call it in your home) I about fell on the floor out of shock and holding in my laughter. This question came about I later found out after spending time at her cousins house she watched my sister in-law changing her sons diaper and I guess Ana asked her about boys parts as well seeing that his didn't look anything like hers. My sister in-law said that she told her boys have diffrent parts then girls or something and then Ana said "Yeah and my dad has a big one!" LOL Gotta love this stage no shame at all, what do ya do!

On the other end Penina is starting to try and talk more she can say "Cheers" and "Hi" and something that sounds like "Hello" She loves cell phones and pretends to talk on the phone chattering baby talk with her hand on her ear, its so cute!! When Penina see's something that amuses her she says "OOOO DAT" I love it, she is such a funny girl, she laughs at herself when she knows she is being silly. She loves to play with Ana and tried to do everything she does! I love seeing my two girls play together, its melts my heart when Ana looks up and says "I love my sister and I think she loves me too"

Happy Birthday Penina!

2009-08-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Penina's first birthday!! I can't believe it's been a year already, all day I would look at the clock and recall what we were doing a year ago at that time. Jethro went to church and as soon as he came home we took Ana to my moms and went to the hospital and by 6:30 that night Penina was born!! We didn't do too much yesterday I had to work and so we just hung out at home while I got some office work done, but we did decorate the house and let Penina open her presents after lunch. she got some clothes, pajama's, a book and a Leap Frog Fridge Phonics toy that teaches her the animals.

Later Grandma and Grandpa came over and we went to China Isle for dinner and came home for cake and ice cream. Grandma gave her some clothes and a Chatter phone and the one toy that Penina loved the most was a doll that made sucking noises when you fed it a bottle and if you pulled the bottle out the baby cried. She LOVES that doll and wouldn't let it go all night until we pulled out the cake and lit the candle then she was enthralled with the fire until she burned her fingers trying to touch it and then she didn't like the candle anymore so Ana blew out her candle and we let Penina dive into her cupcake.
She loved it!! I put newspaper under her seat for easy clean up but she barely made a mess on the floor she ate the whole cupcake!!

Like I said before I can't believe its been a year Penina has brought such joy to our family I love her so much and can't remember what life was like without her!! Penina loves to give kisses and hugs and if you pick her up she will lay her head on your shoulder and snuggle you. Penina captures everyone who meets her because of her sweet smile and her long hair. We always get complements on how adorable she and Ana are and I love it I'm so grateful to have two beautiful little girls!!

"Where did summer go?"

2009-08-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been asking myself "Where did summer go?" It came and went so fast it seems, but as I browse thru my pictures I realize we did get to do alot of fun stuff. So I decided to post some reminiscing pictures on some of the fun things we did thru out the summer!!

Walking

2009-08-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

I posted a few new videos of Penina, the first one is of her learning to walk using a toy stroller I bought her. She caught onto that fast and loved to push it around.
The second video shows that after a week of using the stroller she has caught on well to walking, she is now a pro and walks all over the house!! I can't believe she'll be a year old on Monday!!

2009-08-18T23:03:00.001-07:00

2009-08-18T23:02:00.001-07:00

Perfect Picinic!

2009-08-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

Last friday I had the day off and it was such a nice day I took the girls for a picinic at South Fork Park in Provo Canyon. My famiy use to have picinic's at the park all the time when I was young, I love this place. Its so peaceful and beautiful!! We took our Panda Express and laid out the blanket next to the river and ate. Ana decided she had to pee and there were bathrooms they were just to far away to leave the blanket and food unattended so I made Ana pee by a tree. This was the first time she's ever had to do this and she laughed and laughed she thought it was the funnest thing pee outside and not in a toilet! So afterward I let her play in the water to rinse off her legs. Then I just laid on the blanket and let the girls play on the grass, and I got some cute pics out of it to!! I hate that the end of summer is near yuck!!!

Shake-a-budah

2009-08-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know Big Budah on Fox 13 News Ana for some reason has always called him Shake-a-budah. Shake-a-budah was mission companions with Jethro's brother years ago and so we got to meet him on Sunday when the boys did a fireside for him in Draper. Ana was excited and shy but she was happy to get a chance to meet him!!

Walla Walla

2009-07-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Last week Jethro and I and Jethro's cousin and his family along with Cliff and Maile's family took a trip up to Walla Walla Washington to visit family. We camped along the Snake River at a really nice campground. We had a blast, its just too bad its a 12 hours drive or we would visit more often! The drive was a killer but Washington is full of wheatfields and Grape vineyards, it was beautiful to see! Here is a slide show of our drive up there and our campsite. More to come about Walla Walla....enjoy

2009-07-29T11:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks to a glitch in the system...

2009-07-14T02:42:00.000-07:00

Its 3:42AM Tuesday July 14th and I just got home from watching a special pre-screening of Harry Potter and the half-blood Prince!!

Reason being, my sister in-law bought tickets on-line to see Harry Potter at Jordon Commons and on the print out it stated our movie was Tuesday July 14th 12:24AM so we show up and think its odd that there is not a whole lot of people there and the movie theater is closed. So we think well maybe they will open up for the midnight showing in a minute......we wait and while we wait some people walk by who have a key to the door unlock it and go in and as they were going in we asked them if they were here to see Harry Potter, they were hesitant to respond but said that tonight is a screening for employees of the movie theater. So we went in and talked to a manager showed them our print out that stated our movie was July 14th 12:24AM she told us that it MEANT July 14 going into July 15th and that our movie time is for Wednesday, we were not having that. So we talked her into letting us stay and watch it with the employees!
It was so awesome, I LOVED the movie they did a good job with it of course having to leave out a lot of stuff from the book BUT they did a good job, I won't say to much more as not to ruin it but I was so excited to be able to see it tonight or I guess this morning I had to blog about it right away cuz I know I'm going to be to tired during the day!! I give it 20 stars!!

Big Wheels Forever

2009-07-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

I loved riding my big wheel when I was young. We lived in a col-de-saq and we would ride our big wheels around and around the col-de-saq. The sound of the plastic wheels on the side walk bring back those memories. I love it that big wheels are still around!

2009 Penina on a big wheel

1976 Jethro on a big wheel

Traci on a big wheel 1984 (I think)

Cutest picture!

2009-07-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

This was taken at Chucky Cheese today. I have to say I think its the cutest picture EVER!!

Funny Faces

2009-07-03T10:19:00.002-07:00

Ana and I were playing around with the camera one night and took a bunch of goofy pictures. Ana LOVES to take pictures!!

2009-07-03T10:19:00.001-07:00

My child

2009-06-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the dolls called "My Child" This is Penina at 9 months with my old "My child" doll

Penina is now 10 months as of yesterday and she cut her third tooth, her top ones are now coming in. Her bottom two came in a month ago on my 30th birthday, happy birthday to me lol!! She has been so clingy and tired thanks to her teething I can't wait until the next one comes in so we can both be happy!! Penina has been crawling since she was 7 months and she is getting faster at it, it so funny to watch her crawl as fast as she can. She can say "Momma", "Dadda", "Ana" and "baby" She also can stand on her own and has only attempted to take one step and then falls. All in all Penina is a very happy girl she can play on her own for a good while so I can get some chores done and she loves her big sister. She is following in Ana's footsteps when it comes to dogs, she LOVES dogs and when she see's one she attempts to bark it is the cutest thing.

snuggling up to daddy!!

TGFO..Thank goodness for Oxyclean!!

2009-06-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

OxyClean is my friend. Some smart person I don't know who, handed my daughter wearing her sunday dress with a white top a chocolate frosted cupcake. She got it all over herself. So I soaked it in oxyclean and washed it and to my surprise it came out looking brand new!!

My old journal

2009-06-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Today I starting reading my old journal from when I was ten, it has been hillarious reading all the thing I wrote about and see how bad my spelling was (that still hasn't changed) I found this entery that I wanted to share I wonder if my brother Brad will rememeber this....

May 14 1990 My little brother Brad just made my bed and took the govers (I'm including the original spelling as well, yes I meant covers) off and put them on again and made a big mess I fixed it and told Brad, not to hurt his feelings, that I was putting on my night gown. My birthday is a week from friday today is Monday. My birthday is May 25 1979, but it's 1990, 1979 was the year I was born.

I'm now just understanding the importance of journaling, the other day I was trying to recall on a specific time in my life and how I felt at that time and what happened exactly, I'm hoping I can find it in my journal. I usually remember to write in my journal twice a year but lately something has gotten into me and I have been writing in it at least once a week. It so important to remember the things that happen in our life that make us who we are!

With that being said this entery says so much about why my dating life was void in high school LOL

Oct 26 1991 Last night I went to my very first dance it was ok I got asked 4 times but I said no. Maren danced with Joshua Card (eeww) Mrs Larson and Mr Gordon danced. I learned the Midnight Slide, I had a good time.

I don't see anyone playing tag anymore, so I tag everyone who reads this to dig out your old journals and post some enterys, let me know if you do!!!

Loves to dance

2009-06-01T09:15:00.001-07:00

Ana had another hula recital, I think she did so good for not going to hula the last couple of months!! Ana loves loves loves to dance!!

2009-06-01T09:12:00.001-07:00

Random pics

2009-05-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

Wow look at me I'm bogging again and it's only been a couple of days since my last post, its a miracle!! These are just a few random things I wanted to blog about.

The first one is Jethro's niece Keola came with her dad from Hawaii to visit while he did some work on their rentals. It was so much fun to see her we just wished all the kids could have come!

The next one is Ana getting her hair professionaly trimmed, not cut because we didn't want to take off to much length. I usually trim her hair but I'm so bad at it we have to get it fixed up by a pro. She looks nervous but she wasn't at all, she was really excited to have it done.

I thought this was funny, it looks like Penina isn't wanting to share the cookies but the two monkeys were actually slapping the cookies like a drum.

This is Penina showing her Samoan side, Jethro gave her a chicken leg to teeth on, she wouldn't let it go I tried to take it but she had a good grip on it in her mouth and when I did get it away she cried no bawled like a baby big time so I gave it back and she instantly calmed down.

A Happy 30th Birthday!

2009-05-26T09:22:00.001-07:00

My 30th Birthday has come and gone and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I've been dreading this day for a whole year, but 30 is just another number I guess. I think because I really enjoyed my birthday it made it easier to bear or bare I don't know I'm not an english major but you know what I mean. Anyway, we started off the day fishing at the Spanish Fork Resivior, it was a perfect day to fish too, not too hot and even though we didn't catch anything the view was beautiful to just sit and relax and soak in!! Then we headed down to the ball park to have a picinic lunch with my family which is a tradition we have on Memorial Day but since it also happen to be my birthday when I got there they had a big banner that said "30 Happens" and a cake and decorations and my sister greeted me with a beautiful flower lei! They spoil me, it was a lot of fun. Afterwards we played a game of baseball, I got to hit twice and made it home both times, but the rest of the time Penina wouldn't be happy with anyone but me, both a curse and a blessing. I had a fun time hanging out with all my cousins and aunts and uncles. Then we went for a walk by the river with my cousin JoAnna and her family and her little girl Whitney collected a handfull of bugs it was so funny!! On our way home we stopped by the cemetery and decorated our loved ones graves with flowers. It was a fun fun day. I am so blessed to have a wonderful family to love and support me in all I do and most of all a wonderful husband who is my best friend and loves me for me and who I get to share two beautiful girls with and who are light of my life!

2009-05-26T09:21:00.001-07:00

A very happy mothers day

2009-05-11T17:43:00.001-07:00

This was the best mothers day so far. It was a lot of fun because our branch did the most thoughtful thing they had a mothers day dinner and dance. The men did all the work and even put on a performance, and I remembered to take my camera this time. So here are a few videos of the dances they did, it was very comical!! Before the dinner the men were asked to escort their wives to the front and the youth gave us a single rose and then we danced with our husbands and then they took us back to our seats and brought us our food. It was so much fun I've never felt to appreciated, I really had a good time!

Then on Mothers Day they gave us candy lei's after sacrament meeting, I LOVED that som much better then the muddy wet plants we usually get lol. After church we went to my moms for dinner and hung out. Jethro and I took the girls for a walk and then returned back for some yummy strawberry short cake for dessert! It was a wonderful mothers day!

I'm so grateful for this time we have to reflect on the wonderful things our moms have done for us and to treat them with a little more respect. I know my mom reads my blog so I'll take this time to tell her once again how much I love her and I don't know what in the world I would do without her. She has instilled so many fun and wonderful traditions in our family we may have our family drama from time to time but there is on thing for sure we have a lot of fun when mom is around! I love you mom thanks for all that you do for us!!

2009-05-11T17:33:00.001-07:00

2009-05-11T17:30:00.001-07:00

Slideshow

2009-05-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

First day of school

2009-05-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

Jethro had his first day of school today in 15 years. Yes my friends he hasn't had a day of school since he graduated High school. I've been nagging him for 8 years now to just take one class. So finally he decided he would and of all classes to start off with he is taking Math. So far so good he is impressed with himself on how much he actually understands considering how long its been since he has taken a math class. I'm so proud of him for taking this step. I know its been hard for him to go back at this time in our life, busy with work, kids, hula shows and all that life throws at you but he knows it will be worth it in the end and it will be a great experiance!!

A Stake Dance at my age?!?!

2009-05-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

I need a big kick in the butt, I can't believe I didn't have my camera with me last night. First I should mention that Jethro and I have started attending a Samoan Ward and what a blessing it has been, but we'll save that topic for another post another day. What I want to share with you is that this weekend is our stake conference and our stake is a Tongan stake which consists of Tongan Wards and Samoan Wards. So to start off our Stake Conference last Sunday we had a Primary Fireside and all the primary kids in the stake put on the program, it was amazing to hear all those kids singing together, they filled up the whole chapel and all the parents filled up the overflow and gym. Then last night we had a Stake Dance, this was not your usual stake dance for youth only this was a family style stake dance and it was a blast!! When they announced it I told Jethro I wanted to go out of curiosity. It was at the UVU ballroom and it was ALOT of fun! It wasn't just a dance tho each ward performed a dance number from the different islands, and in between numbers they played music and everyone young and old got out on the dance floor and boogied. The best was the older couples in there 70's and 80's out on the floor dancing as well. That is when I wished I had my camera to capture these couples dancing. It was so sweet, they didn't only just dance to the slow songs but to the fast songs as well, one older gentleman who looked to be in his late 80's was dancing the "Electric Slide". It was so fun to see everyone out on the floor dancing, even Ana had a blast she was all over the dance floor. The sweetest thing that just melted my heart was when Ana saw other kids dancing with their parents she came up to me and said "Mama, come dance with me" how could I say no. I have always been so self conscience when it comes to dancing but not this time I didn't care I was gonna have fun dancing with Ana and after that I was out on the floor most of the time. I'm telling you I've never enjoyed a stake dance more then I did last night!!

Out of the mouth of babes

2009-04-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry to say I've lost my camera. I know its in the house somewhere I just have to figure out where...anyway in the mean time to update my blog I thought I'd share some of the funny things Ana has been saying.

"Mommy, when I get kids I'm gonna sasa(spank) them."

We were playing Ispy and when Ana guessed what I was spying on the first try she said "YESSSS, I'm a good thinker"

We've been trying to teach Ana good sportsmanship and not to feel bad if she loses a game. So the other day she told me "Mom, lose means win"

Easter

2009-04-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

Our Easter Celebration

This is after we decorated eggs, I didn't think about getting out the camera until afterwards. Ana is such a poser these days.

Then that night we set out the Easter baskets and the Easter Bunnys comes and fills it with goodies for the kids and hids eggs around the house.
We caught a picture of the Easter bunny before she hopped away!

Then we were off to Grandma and Grandpa's for an Easter Egg hunt in the house because of the rain and mud outside.

We usually fly kits after our Easter Lunch but because of the weather we went bowling instead, it was lots of fun!

Fishies

2009-04-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

Friday we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. It was our first time there and it was the wrong day to go....it was sooo packed you had to wait in line at every window to see the fish. But other than that is was really neat, I want to take Ana again when it's not as crowded!

Found

2009-04-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

My friend Angie had this same infestation in her home and now today when I opened up my cupboard I found not just one but TWO of these little critters hidding.

it's funny how it makes you laugh to find toys hidding in unusual places!!

7 months

2009-03-31T14:21:00.000-07:00

Penina is 7 months old now. She can sit up and get on all fours from sitting position but she can't crawl yet. She is rolling and scooting every where and is attemping to pull herself up to furniture if its low enough to reach. Penina gets very mad at meal time if she doesn't have something to chew on she doesn't like the watery baby food. She LOVES to take a bath and kicks and splashes her little heart out when she is in the tub. Penina can amost say "bye-bye" and sometimes says "mama" and "dada". She just started attempting to clap her hands when you sing "If you are happy and you know it" This is my most favorite age, she is learning so much, her personality is coming out and she can't talk back hahahaha

Because I have a sister I will always have a friend

2009-03-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

These two are going to be good friends I can just feel it! Ana loves being a big sister, but the sibling rivalry has already started if Penina is playing with one of Ana's toys Ana will walk up and rip it out of her hand. Sometimes Ana plays with her sister a little too hard and we have to remind her constantly to be soft with Penina. Penina just lights up when she see's Ana. She'll kicks her feet and smile and coo and blubber when she see's Ana. I'm so in love with my girlies, I'm so blessed to have them!!

Getting in touch with my girly side

2009-03-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

I went to the mall on my day off. It was so fun, I hardley get to go to the mall so it was a big treat for me. Sounds pathetic I know but it was fun just to be there and browse thru all the latest fashions, which I don't get to keep up with all too much because I have no money too. I found a new scent at Bath and Body called Butterfly Flowers, smells soooooo good!! In all it was like a recharge to my girly side that I don't get in touch with all to often!
I treated the girlies to a photo session in the photo booth, they thought that was so awesome!!

Spoof blog

2009-03-24T22:39:00.001-07:00

So I was picking up some news papers to throw away when I spotted an article about someone's blog. I've never heard of this blog and as I read I got more and more interested in reading it. The blog is called Seriously So Blessed Its a spoof blog that someone has made too look like the typical Mormon Mommy blogger. Its really funny, if you read under her "About Me" section you get the kind of humor she uses. The crazy part of it is that its gotten so big that a lot of business donate their services to her give aways and she has some good stuff to give away. If you've never heard of it check it out for a good laugh and a chance at some great free stuff.

Picture of the year

2009-03-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Jethro giving Ana a big push on the swing.

Ana loves to swing, I'm sooo happy all she needs is one good push and she can pump her feet and keep herself going on the swing!

Peninaolmoana

2009-03-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

Penina is eating solids really well. She loves to eat the Gerber Puffs and has caught on how to pick them up and put them in her mouth she just has a hard time letting go of it after putting it in her mouth!

Penina is such a good baby. I can set her on the floor and surround her with toys and she will play by herself for a good half hour. Soon she'll be crawling, she can get on all fours but then she just floops down on her belly and she scoots around but she scoots backwards. I can't believe she will be 7 months old next week crazy, time please slow down!

Penina's new thing is to squish her face up and smile really big, its soo dang cute its hard not to copy her when she does that!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANA

2009-03-11T14:52:00.001-07:00

Saturday was Ana's 4th birthday! We had a blast; we invited everyone to dress up as their favorite characters. We kept it simple, we ordered pizza from Costco and I made cupcakes. I usually have a cupcake tree instead of a sheet cake but I couldn't find the base to it so we used big platters instead. The kids had a lot of fun decorating their own piñata’s and hitting them and then we played freeze dance. I didn't get a whole lot of still pictures because I was filming most of it and I have yet to learn how to load movie clips from our camcorder. Ana had lots of fun playing with her cousins and friends. Here is a little "scrap book" I put together on smile box, you can check it out!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Mom watch....

2009-03-04T12:13:00.000-08:00

Now that Ana is almost 4 we are working on pronouncing words correctly and learning how to say hard words like "Conditioner" She is learning that word because her hair is so long we have to put conditioner in it so its easier to comb...anyway her thing now is "Mom Mom watch I can say Cereal, Cer-ea-llll" some days she will do that with every thing in sight "Mom watch I can say Milk, Mmmm-ilk" or "Mom watch I can say Conditioner, Con-di-tion-er" She makes me laugh!

Hair Do's

2009-03-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

When I was little I use to wish I had a little sister just so I could play with her hair so I love that my girls have hair from the beginning I love to play with it. Here is a Hair Do my sister in-law Reenie use to do on Ana when she lived with us. I love it, its so funky so I tried it out on Penina!!

Jethro gets jealous when people say Penina looks like me so he wanted to show everyone that Penina really looks like him LOL

Date Night

2009-02-20T21:45:00.000-08:00

Jethro and I had a date night with our girlies!
It turned out to be kind of a sports themed date night
First we went to dinner at Iggys Sports Grill

Then we went to the Smithfield House at BYU to watch mens volleyball.

It was a fun game to watch the little that I did get to watch, poor Penina didn't like all the noise of the buzzer and the people cheering so she and I took a walk the first half of the game. We were going to leave but then my sister in-law and her family showed up so we decided to stay. We decided to sit in the very back bleachers where the noise wasn't so bothersome to Penina and watched the rest of the game.

It was lots of fun, something diffrent from the norm of movie or bowling.

Jethro has brain washed Ana into becoming a BYU fan and she loves to chant the last part of the fight song "Rah rah rah rah rah GOOOOO COUGERS!

I took this picture because Ana picked out an interesting outfit that day: her dads BYU football shirt, purple pants and snow boots. And this is her Master Tigress move of jumping off the couch, she keeps me laughing!!

Valentines Day

2009-02-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

We had a happy Valentines day, we partyed the night before with family but I didn't get any pictures of it. It was fun though we had everyone bring their favorite pizza and we played guitar hero world tour band. Valentines morning Ana and Penina woke to a few Valentines suprises.
Ana loves doing puzzles so she got a Care Bear Puzzle and some candy and Penina got a Tiger Puzzle (which she'll enjoy more a few year down the road) and a "Love Bug" rattle.

Then Of course we had pink pancakes, I tried to make some heart shape but I can never get them to turn out right.
But Penina had rice cereal!
Because I had to work we just hung out at home and watched A Charlie Brown Valentine.

On the brain....

2009-02-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

I hate this world we live in; it feels like money rules over us. In my job I'm seeing more and more the effect the poor economy is having on Utah. So many people getting laid off and not able to pay their bills. It hurts me to see this happen and it worries me to think when it will happen to us. The prophets counsel of stay out of debt and build your food storage is ever so clear these days. I know money doesn't rule over us and if we ever come to that point in life that we go without it I know the Lord will provide. The church is amazing and I wish so much that the government and businesses would look at its structure and pattern after it. The church is set up to help us in so many ways: spiritually, financially, physically, and mentally. The church has food storage, welfare service, education funds and soooo much more! Most importantly the church has the true and everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ!

On a happier note....

2009-02-11T04:32:00.000-08:00

I love this picture!!

Great Valentine Dessert Idea

2009-02-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

On Studio 5 the other day they made a yummy Chocolate Cherry Cake it looked so good but unfortunately chocolate doesn't agree with my lil'one, since I'm nursing I can't have too much chocolate. SO I decided to make this recipe using a yellow cake mix instead.....OH MY GOSH!! I just have to say in the word of Gracie Sullivan "Perfecto-yummo" It turned out to be really good. I just added cool whip to the top instead of frosting and it was really good!! I think this would make fun valentines dessert, especially because it comes out pink thanks to the cherries!!

1 yellow cake mix
1 can of Cherry Pie filling
2 eggs

Pour everything in a bowl and stir, don't use mixer or the the cherries will mash up. Put in greased pan and bake at 350 for 30-45 mins

Top with cool whip or frosting whatever you prefer!

ENJOY!!!!

I

2009-01-27T14:10:00.001-08:00

Holy cow my baby is 5 months

2009-01-27T13:22:00.001-08:00

Penina is 5 months now! Time has flown, what happened to my little baby? I just found out today that she can sit up without support from me for a good while and then she'll lean forward and support herself with her hands. We are still working on rolling over, she can do it when she trys but she just likes to lay down and kick.

The last week or so she has been saying "mamamamama" mostly cuz she hears Ana saying it all day, I don't know if she really understands the word "mama" she usually just blurts it out when she is playing around, but yesterday my neice Shalynn was holding her and I left the room, Penina being the mama's girl that she is started to cry and then said "Mama" it was sooooo cute, so maybe she understands the word "mama".

We are also in the teething stage...drool and lots of it, runny nose and chewing on everything that touches her hand.

I gave Penina her first taste of rice cereal, her tongue kept pushing it out though, so its a work in progress!!

Jethro's already talking about having another one, I told him slow down mister I want to enjoy my babys while they are babys don't rush me!

Facebook

2009-01-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

So I was invited to join facebook a month ago and I put it off not really wanting to get into that, so last week I joined and HOLY COW I'm in shock at how many people use facebook. I've been finding old old friends on there that I haven't seen in years. Its realy fun to see where people are in their life and their families thats why I like blogger so I can keep up with old friends. So if you have a facebook account add me on!!

Childhood fears

2009-01-16T21:44:00.001-08:00

Thanks Jo for the idea. My friend Jo shared some of the fears she had as a child and how funny the fears were now we can look back at them as adults and laugh. Jo, I had the same fear that someone or something may be hiding behind the shower curtain so I would hurry and use the bathroom or sometimes peak behind the curtain to make sure I was safe!! Even though under my bed was stuffed full of junk and toys I would be scared at night that someone was under my bed waiting to grab my leg the second it touched the floor so most nights I'd run into my room and jump into bed and say my prays laying down. One of my biggest fears and still is depending on what kind of movie I just watched or book I read, is ghosts. I remember imagining our downstairs had ghosts, if I had to go down to the basement family room by myself in the dark I would stand at the top of the stairs and muster up all my courage and run as fast as I could down the stairs turn on the light, get what I needed or do whatever chore I had to do and run back up the stairs like my life depended on it. I remember after I watched that movie called "Arachnophobia" My sister and brother, Kim and Kory, had to force me to take a shower after not showering for a week in fear that spiders would come out of the shower head.

I tag everyone who reads this...I know you have some funny stories to share!

Flashback Friday

2009-01-16T13:33:00.000-08:00

I love this picture of Jethro in his bow tie he looks so cute. He's always been a good dresser. I wish I had a better copy of this picture.

I found this old picture my mom took. I think my brother Kory stacked all our stuffed animals and dolls around Jeff, Brad and me. I love this picture, it fun to see all our old toys we use to love to play with.

I Spy..

Sassy Sister

2009-01-15T10:48:00.002-08:00

Its been a while since I've posted, not to much to post about these days. Jethro's parents left last week and we've just been trying to get back into a routine again. My mom is recovering from her fall, she is resting and trying to get better so she can get back to life again. I haven't posted about the girls for awhile.
Ana is getting sassy. Ana is in a "touch everything with her feet" stage. I've gotten after her for touching Penina's toys with her feet a few times now and today I spanked her for not listening to me (just to be clear a spank is a quick pop on the butt not a beating) when I told her to stop touching Penina's toys with her feet. I scolded her and sent her to her room. She was crying of course and as she was walking into her room she yelled back "YOU'RE MEAN". I couldn't beleive it I was shocked that she just sassed me, I don't want my kids getting away with disrespecting me so I scolded her again for saying that but on the inside I was laughing I can't believe my baby girl is old enough to do that, I wish she would stay little forever!!

Penina on the other hand is a happy baby who knows what she wants and if I'm not doing what she wants I get a good tongue lashing from her. She is quite the talker she coos and caaaa's and blubbers and screams, it so funny to watch her find her voice. Its almost time to start her on rice cereal I can tell cause she smacks her lips when she watches me eat. I've got a video of her latest thing she does when she watches me eat its soooo cute.

2009-01-15T10:48:00.001-08:00