Mote the Builder

Mote got his first set of Lego's for Christmas this past year and we were surprised at how much he loved them! He would amaze us with the things he would build, so for his last birthday Neo got him a new set. It was weird because the new Lego's from Neo sat untouched for the longest time. The pieces are miniature and there are so many more possibilities this new set offers compared to the standard set he got for Christmas. We expected him to dive right in with his imagination and start building, but me and Ti Tonga found ourselves playing with them more than Mote lol. I think he was intimidated by the size of the new Lego's? It's been over a month since he's gotten his gift and he's finally gotten over his little fear. He started building a couple of really simple things like a magic wand (which looked like just a stick lol) and some towers, but this morning when I woke up he showed me a giraffe that he'd made. He must've woken up early to work on it because it was all put together even before I got out of bed. Mote has such a wild imagination and I love seeing the things he comes up with!

Gary the Giraffe. Oh yes, he names them too!

Phone Call

Have I ever mentioned that I'm not a morning person? Well I'm not! So when I heard the phone ringing at five o'clock this morning I was a tad annoyed. I got out of bed to see Ti Tonga's number on the caller ID. Ugh, does he seriously have to call just to remind me to lock the front door?! I was not prepared for the words that would follow. "Hun, I just got in a car accident and our car is totaled... I'm so sorry Kiki." Omg I was wide awake by now, but still trying to grasp onto what was happening. Ti Tonga was absolutely frantic on the other end of the phone and hung up quickly to go and check on the other guy that was involved in the accident. I tried to gather my thoughts and waited patiently for Ti Tonga to call back. The phone rang again and he confirmed that both him and the other guy involved were safe- thank goodness! I remember the first time I got into a car accident and the shock that followed after, so I tried my best to calm Ti Tonga down because he was very alarmed and upset. All he kept saying was "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
It turns out that he wasn't far from our house. Our community is fairly new and the road that he was traveling on doesn't have any street lamps, so it's very hard to see when the sun is down. He said he didn't even see the car driving across the road, so when he crashed into him it caught him by complete surprise. The gentleman in the other car (a black Honda Element) said that this was actually his second time in this situation. He had been hit before by another car that couldn't see him at night, so he was very understanding and nice to Ti Tonga. They swapped info, filled out the police reports, and our car was towed. Thank goodness Ti wasn't too far from the house because we only have one vehicle and I didn't have anyone to call to pick him up.
After sitting for a while my emotions started to change from "Thank goodness everyone is okay" to "Oh my gosh, our car is totaled. How are we going to pay for all this?" We spoke with our insurance agency who took our claim and they arranged for us to get a rental. Later that day we heard back from our agent who confirmed that the Tahoe was picked up from the tow yard and was being looked at. We will be hearing back from them within 2 days on the repair details, but she said that it looks like they may be able to repair it. I am praying that our car hasn't suffered too much damage and will make it's way back to our garage after some TLC in the shop!! And to think... my insurance rate was scheduled to drop next month :( I shiver just thinking about how high my new rate will be, but I'd rather pay a higher rate each month, than to pay for a new car! Please give me my car back PLEASE!

Another Summer Day

I needed to go grocery shopping today and I almost took the kids with me, but after having flashbacks of the lovely behavior they display while in the supermarket I decided to keep them home and go a different route. I found out what time Ti Tonga would be home from work and decided to take the kids to the pool. Hopefully this would wear them out so they could take a nap while I went to Walmart in peace and quiet. That was my strategy and by golly it worked!haha We went to the pool and I let the kids do their thing while I sat out under the shade. Sometimes I forget how hot it is outside because we're indoors most of the time under the AC. Oh my word was it hot out- even under the shade! I was kind of regretting not hopping in the pool, but I knew if I did I would be too lazy to go shopping after. The timing today couldn't have been more perfect. When the kids got out and we got back home Ti Tonga was just getting in from work. I got the kids dressed and didn't even have to tell them to take a nap. By the time I had my shopping list done Siope and Nic had fallen asleep in the bedroom downstairs and Mote was completely knocked out upstairs. Usually there are some temper tantrums thrown when the kids find out I'm leaving BY MYSELF, but none of that today- Hallelujah! I would be lying if I said the shopping trip was a breeze. I hate going grocery shopping! And I never realized that until I moved to Vegas. I feel like the layout here is so much different from Salt Lake? Maybe I'm trippin, but it seriously seems that way! It takes me so long to get everything because I'm running around searching for things that seem out of place. And you'd think that after being here over a year that I would get the hang of things. Unfortunately that's not the case. Anyway, I passed by the book aisle and they had Stephenie Meyer's books on display- it was so weird to see New Moon on paperback! Very exciting though because that means we're getting closer to the release of Breaking Dawn! Yay!!!! I cannot wait! Ti's birthday is this Friday and Breaking Dawn gets released on Saturday Hooray! I hope I'm not too distracted by the release of the book that I don't show enough attention to Ti Tonga on his birthday (wish me luck!) haha

Here's some pics I took at the pool. My camera battery is officially dead, so these are from my phone.

Because of Tonga

The opening song on this youtube grabbed my attention because it was the same song that some of the family performed on Sunday at the reunion. And the "hip hop" song playing at the school is the song that Line and Dana Rae did their skit to. :D
There's good information and footage of our Tongan culture and geography in this short video by Jeffrey Phillips. I really enjoyed it!





Watching Aisea really makes me think about my Dad. I kept picturing my Dad as a boy growing up in Tonga. I remember my Dad always telling us how easy we have it in America. Every time we would complain about walking to school (which was only like 3 blocks away) he would tell us how he had to walk miles (not blocks) every day just to get to school. Hearing Aisea talk about how he can only dream about visiting the states, makes me realize how blessed I am. I'm sure my Dad had those same dreams. I'm grateful that my parents were able make those dreams come true. I'm sure it didn't come easily though. I'm only now starting to imagine what hard ships and sacrifices they faced. And all for me and my siblings. My grandparents still live in Tonga. So when my parents came to America, they were completely on their own. There was no email back then and long distance phone calls were much too expensive to be used unnecessarily. I can't imagine not being able to turn to my parents for advice or help. I can't imagine not having them there. I don't know how they did it- being thousands of miles away from everything that they knew. I don't how they did it, but I will forever be grateful. Thank you Mom and Dad for EVERYTHING! I hope I can show the same heroism to my kids that you have shown to me. Ofa atu,

Kiki

Perfect Harmony

I can't do any scrapbooking or photo editing since my laptop only "half" works. I was at least able to work with this template though. I still plan on doing one for Ruby Mei, but in the mean time I plugged in a picture I took of Pisila Lupe at camp.

Credits: Ecology card by Paislee Press, Word art by TaylorMade

2008 Reunion Day 5

After the dance last night we stopped by my mom's house and the kids discovered a brand new bike in the living room. I'm surprised that the 3 of them didn't fight over who's bike it was. They all seemed to know that the bike belonged to Nici and their shrills of enthusiasm eventually awoke my parents. After causing such a commotion over Nici's new set of wheels, we decided to let the kids sleep over. And it was off to the "after party" for me & Ti Tonga lol. Ti went to hang out with the guys at Lopi's and all the girls hung out at Monica's. I can't believe how long we stayed up talking and baking. When Ti Tonga and the rest of the guys came back to Monica's they arrived bearing gifts... omg Beto's at 4am- something tells me that's not healthy! Good thing we left the kids at my parents! By the time we got to Neo's apartment the sun was coming up. Needless to say we slept in and didn't make it to sacrament (shame on us!) :p
Today would conclude our reunion for 2008. Last year we had to leave on Sunday, so we missed the last meeting :( Dinner and discussion was set to be held at Sau Lahi's. I had no clue it would be this fun! We had a couple musical numbers- my favorite being **Mele (Polo)'s number! I've always heard so many great things about her voice, and finally got to hear her live- she's amazing! The food tonight was just right for my palette. I'm not a huge fan of Tongan food, and today there were a ton of American dishes =) Monica and Ana-Lopi put together a slideshow that was neat. They had pictures from both last year and this year so it was fun to see how much everyone has grown. The best part for me was when we discussed our plans for next year. It was like being part of a real committee or jury- it caught me by surprise. We got to voice our opinions and vote on ideas that were presented. It was awesome to be a part of it all! In the end we unanimously agreed on a representative from the family to lead us next year. I'm so happy to say that our 2009 president for our Fangupo family reunion is *drum roll please* Losili Vanisi!!! Yay! Bay Area- here we come!!!

**Mele performs together with Natural Roots! You can check out their music here.

2008 Reunion Day 4

We woke up this morning and started packing up. We took down the tent and loaded everything in the truck. A lot of the kids were gathered at our campsite so I decided to take lots of pictures while Ti Tonga did most of the cleaning. When we were done we went up to Jr and Tina's campsite and ate some breakfast... again, it amazes what Tongans cook while camping! Rosemary made some Topai and so me and Ti Tonga had a bowl or two (who's counting?) And the kids played until it was time to go. We took a different route back so we could see more of the mountains and again I failed to capture how beautiful the canyons were. We went straight to my Mom's house and I swear I slept til like 8pm. Ti Tonga took a nap then headed over to help Mote and his aunts cook. Saturday night was our talent night. Pisila had invited the Samoan side of the family, so there were more people in attendance than normal. Oh my goodness the food was absolutely DELICIOUS! I completely forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures from Saturday evening grrr! Alisi Tatafu performed an informal kava ceremony (which honestly at first I thought would be totally lame) But turned out to be awesome! They called up the guys to represent different villages and one of the Samoan representatives was included. Ti Tonga got a chance to sit in the circle too- geeze I really wish I had my camera! This was the first (and probably last) actual kava ceremony that I've seen. It was cool to see the process of the ceremony, the meaning behind it, and the reasons they perform the tradition. Most of the talents were dances. The one that was most memorable though would have to be the Fifita boys! Here's a clip of their little performance. Hilarious!



Afterwards we ended with a number from everyone in Salt Lake. I LOVED LOVED LOVED it! Everyone came out in their Tongan attire- including the little ones! And they performed a Ma'ulu'ulu. The lyrics were personally written for our Fangupo family by Sau Lahi, Katea, and Ova (if I'm not mistaken). I hope someone will upload footage so that I can eventually include it on here. It was the perfect number to end the night with. I loved hearing the male and female voices harmonizing as they sang in my native tongue. I loved watching their graceful hands as they told a story of our Fangupo family- it was beautiful!

2008 Reunion Day 3

Kina Leka and Christina were in charge of breakfast this morning. The only thing on everyone's mind was pretty much getting back in the lake. But before we did, Mazely got up and said a few words to everyone under the pavilion. I can't explain how much respect I have for this woman. She is the oldest grandchild of Timote and Ilaisaane and she is just amazing. I don't think I have ever met someone as sweet as her. She has this innocence to her that I just love. She directed her words toward the in-laws of the family and expressed her gratitude and appreciation for us. Her sincere words were so touching, it had us all in tears. One of the reasons I love getting together with the Fangupo family is because there are no cliques. Everyone feels welcomed and I was a little sad because I thought that we had kind of lost that vibe this year, but Mazely's wonderful presence and words helped ease all ill feelings that were floating around. With everyone in a better mood we headed for the sand and water. We were able to pull together and rent a couple of jet ski's which I'm sure was the highlight of the day for most. Sau Lahi was there with his boat, so there were lots of activities to choose from. Siope wasn't playing much in the water so I decided to take him for a ride on the boat. Just as we were about to leave more kids hopped on board and I seen Mote amongst them. It was so much fun! I can't believe how fast that thing was able to go. When the boat ride was over I went on the jet ski with Ti Tonga and Siope. The speed of the boat had nothing on the jet ski! Lunch was self serve. They had a sandwich bar up in the main pavilion and after I had eaten I was so tired! I tried to stay down by the water to get as many pictures as I could, but I couldn't stay awake. I went back to the tent with Siope to take a nap and woke up to Tina and Li offering me more goodies that I couldn't resist. Ti Tonga and the boys came up later and Mote kept asking me how come I didn't get a picture of him on the jet ski's. DANGIT! Next year I'll have to toughen it out so I won't miss anything. After showers and a fresh pair of jammies, we met up with everyone for dinner. It amazes me what Tongans manage to cook when you're in the middle of no where. I remember eating dutch oven meals at Rough camp, and here we are eating kale sipi and capisi sipi! lol... These people don't spare anything when it comes to cooking. This was definitely the coldest night! We ate frybread with honey and powdered sugar for desert- yummy!!! And someone whipped out the cocoa while everyone was cleaning. Such a good time! Before bed we headed up to Tina and Jr's campsite and roasted marshmallows over a REAL fire this time. Nici decided to sleep with Nana that night which was completely fine with me. Me, Ti Tonga, Mote, and Siope headed back up to our campsite after we were full of graham crackers, marshmallows, and Hershey's chocolate. Goodnight =)

2008 Reunion Day 2

Everyone met at a park today (I'm not sure what the name of the park was, but it was in Glendale again). We had brunch, got our directions to the campsite, and headed for Morgan. Our drive up there was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!



I never noticed how beautiful Utah's mountains were until I moved away. No matter how many shots I took, I could never seem to capture how stunning the scenery was. Here's a clip of us pulling up and a shot of the area when we pulled into the canyon.





The layout of the campsite was so cool. It totally exceeded my expectations. There were about 8 different lots. Each lot could accommodate up to 4 tents, had it's own pavilion with tables and benches, and parking for 2 vehicles. In the parking spots there were these little light posts that would light up at night and had power outlets attached! And it gets better... throughout the campsite there were bathrooms with actual plumbing, electricity, and get this.... SHOWERS! lol This was the first time I've ever been camping with access to hot water, let alone showers! The campsite was amazing- loved it! We were the first one's there surprisingly, so we got first pick of the lots. We chose the one nearest the lake, which worked out great! Toa and Mote came shortly after and set up in our lot right next to us and they had an extra tent which they put up for Po. First thing we did after setting up camp was hit the Lake! This year our committee did a good job of ensuring that safety was our first priority up there. With all the kids in their life jackets we headed for the lake. I liked this lake a lot better than last years because it was sandy (hated those darn rocks last year!) It had a larger area for the kids that was shallow which was a major plus. We swam til the sun started to go down, and yes the kids had their infamous goggles on! haha... Can I tell you how nice it was to take a warm shower after swimming- omg! Got the kids jammies on and headed down to the main pavilion for dinner... YUM! I ALWAYS look forward to meal time when I'm with this family! My in-laws, Pisila Lahi, and Namu all under one roof- you seriously can't ask for a better combination of chefs! We had frybread (with the taco toppings), shortribs, and chicken. I swear I could feel myself getting fatter. Ti Tonga and the guys stayed under the pavilion and played dominoes while me and Toa went back up to our tents. Jr and Tina were a spot right above us and they took all the kids to their campsite to tell them scary stories. When they were done they came over to our area and roasted smores. Mmmmm, can't think of a better way to end the night. Our campfire was pretty sad, but it did the job lol.

Fangupo Family Reunion 2008 BACK TO MY ROOTS II

We got to Salt Lake super late! So we missed the day time activities at the park :( When we arrived in Salt Lake we went straight to the dance which was being held at the Harold B. Lee Center (boo Glendale) lol. Pretty much the same faces as last year, but there were a couple that were new. I finally met Ti Tonga's first cousin Dana Rae (Toa's daughter) and her sister Alisi was there as well. Their New Zealand lingo cracked me up the whole time! And we also had family that made it from Australia!!! They were suuuuuper nice, so it was such a pleasure to meet them! They plan on coming each year, so I'm holding them to their word. Anyways, the kids ran around with their cousins for a little bit, but I was dead tired, so after we got our t-shirts we called it a night. Aren't our shirts the freak'n bomb! The artwork was done by a local artist in Salt Lake (who also happens to be Tongan). Our theme from last year was such a hit, that we decided to keep it the same every year. We went and crashed at Neo and Kauasi's new apartment in West Jordan (very cute!) Tried to get as much sleep as possible because we were leaving for camp first thing in the morning.

Biker Boys

It rained today! I've been in Vegas for over a year and I can count on one hand how many times I've seen it rain. What does this have to do with my blog title? I'll tell you...

When we moved to Vegas we didn't have a lot of belongings. Along with our furniture we brought down a bike that we got from Sila and Abe. It was one of those bikes that you controlled with your hands. There were no pedals, and you controlled the movement by swiveling the handlebars back and forth- it's actually really cool. We've gotten so many compliments on it! Anyways... for Siope's 2nd birthday we got him a 3 wheeler, and Mote got a "big boy" bike this past Christmas. So the swivel bike went to Nic. Nic really got the hang of his bike, and even though his bike wasn't as fast as Mote or Siope's- he absolutely loved it! I'm not sure what happened, but one day 1 of the wheels on Nic's bike broke. So lately when we've been going outside to play, he's been watching his brother's ride their bikes while he just runs around. As I watched them I would see Nici eyeballing Mote & Siope. As soon as one of them would step off their bikes, Nic would swoop in and start pedaling away lol. I guess he told my parents that Mote broke his bike, so while we were out in Salt Lake my parents decided to surprise him. We came home really late after our talent night and there in the living room was a shiny new bike! Nic was so excited!!! We brought the bike home and since the weather was bearable today, the boys got to ride their bikes... ALL 3 OF THEM!


Cool guy!


My Biker Boys: Mote, Nici, & Siope


Nic's new bike came with a nifty water bottle. Good lookin out Grandma!


*ahem* it's a "Sport's Bottle" not a "Water Bottle" Mommy!


Enough already!


Siope


Thumbs up if you're happy!


Hi Grandma! Thank you for my new "Big Boy" bike!

Back Home

Good mornin' Vegas. We got in last night at around 9pm. The boys are still sleeping and Ti Tonga's at work (poor guy! he started at 3am). It's pretty much a given that I will end up forgetting something in Salt Lake when we travel there. Usually it's just clothes or shoes. Unfortunately this time it was my charger for my camera battery :( So I'm uploading my pictures now and I'll have to try my best to preserve the rest of the battery life until my parents can mail the dumb charger back to me.
I definitely want to cover our entire reunion, but I don't want one blog that's a gazillion lines long. I guess the easiest way to do this is to create a separate entry for each day. That way when I look back I'll be able to remember the events that happened each day. I still feel like I'm asleep so I'm not sure if I'm making sense.
Gosh, just thinking about the reunion makes me miss everyone back in Salt Lake! On our drive back Ti Tonga was talking about buying a house in Salt Lake. He wants to move back and I do too, but I'm not sure how soon that will happen. I thought that since this past trip was an entire week, that I would be dying to come back to Vegas by the end of the reunion... not true. It still wasn't long enough for me. I cried in the truck as we left my parents house. I wish I could've seen them before we left. I wish I could've hugged them goodbye. Fatu was the only one home. Everyone else was at work. We probably won't be going back until November for Thanksgiving. Our lease is up in December so I told Ti Tonga that our trip back home for Thanksgiving is not set in stone, that we should probably just stay back.... but now, my mind is set. I wouldn't miss Thanksgiving dinner with the family for anything! So... see you in November famili. Ofa Atu!

-Kiki

Ready to Roll

We're packed and ready to go! Me and the boys are just waiting for Ti Tonga to get home from work so we can head out to Salt Lake. We picked up the rental last night, so every thing's loaded and we're
ready to hit the road. We'll be in Utah until next Tuesday for our Fangupo reunion. Ti Tonga's Fangupo side always knows how to have a good time. I love them so much and can't wait to meet up and have fun! I'll be back with lots of pictures, more appreciation for my culture, and memories to last a lifetime! So long Vegas...
See you Tuesday =)

-Kiki

Independence Day

I guess I should blog about Independence Day real quick. Ti Tonga actually had the whole weekend off which is EXTREMELY rare!! And normally when that happens we pile in the car and head out to Salt Lake, but being that our Fangupo reunion is just days away, we decided to save some money and stay in Vegas. Neo and her little family flew out for the day which made up for our lost trip to Salt Lake. We didn't really do much, but it was good to spend time with family.
K, so I didn't buy fireworks until that day and HOLY SHMOKES- is it just me or have the prices of fireworks gone up!? I guess the price on everything has gone up thanks to these lovely gas prices. But seriously I was so shocked at how expensive the darn things were! We spent like $125 on a family pack (and that wasn't even the biggest package!) I seriously remember paying like $40 for a family pack that size back in my day ha! Anyways, the kids were stoked and so we left the firework stand with a car load of 4 super energetic/hyper boys (my 3 plus Mafileo.) I swear those fireworks lasted us a good 10 minutes. I couldn't help but think in my head, "If we were in Utah I could've went and watched amazing fireworks at Murray Park for FREE that lasted 3x's as long as this!" Oh well, the kids enjoyed it.

Here's some pictures from our day:


"Mom, can you take a picture of me and Mafileo?"

Mafileo chillin. Ready for the fireworks to start

Mafileo's first time with fireworks, he did very well!

Neo, Mafileo, Nici, & Mote

Couldn't quite capture how cool the fireworks looked, but I tried

Mote and Ti watching the last one

The last of the sparklers. Mote & Nici


***p.s. It was a little over a year ago that we moved into this house. My how time flies!!!***

Goggles

We were at the pool the other day and Mote kept opening his eyes when he would go under the water. His eyes were so red, but he wouldn't listen to us when we told him to close them before he went under. So Ti Tonga told Mote he would buy him some goggles and if you know our kids you know that they have top notch memory! They reminded us EVERY day about Teti's (Daddy's) promise to buy them goggles. Lucky for them, I happened to stroll down the seasonal aisle at Smiths and seen a whole section dedicated to goggles lol. I threw in 3 of the cheapest priced and headed for the checkout counter. The kids were excited... a little too excited!

Siope insisted that he try his on as soon as we got home...

You can't see his actual eyes in any of the pictures, but in real life they were very visible. I think the camera flash was reflecting off of the orange or something? I wonder what it was like for Siope while I was snapping away. Maybe the flash was too bright?

lol It didn't stop him from singing and doing a little dance for us though!

I think it's safe to say that they like the goggles! And that was just day 1 with them. Day 2 was filled with just as much obsession. Still no swimming, but Siope managed to wear the goggles again. Brushing their teeth right before bed, and out come the goggles...

Brushy, brushy, brushy

Brushy, brushy, brushy

Brushy, brushy, brushy

And rinse

Today would've been day 3 since we purchased the goggles and I'm happy to say that I didn't make the boys endure any more misery. We went to the pool and they were all able to finally put those goggles to good use! Unfortunately I didn't bring along the camera... but I got a few shots with my camera phone. I'll have to upload them and post them soon. Enough goggle talk for the day! Goodnight =)

-Kiki

My Vow

I've been blogging on myspace, but when I decided to delete that account I lost all record of my blogs :( And I've been meaning to get back into journaling (but I must warn you that I am a huge procrastinator). Besides, doing things online is just so much more fun ;-) So here I am on Blogger. I vow never to delete this account so that I can get a kick out of reading my entries later on down the line. I am a mother to 3 rambunctious boys and they are growing so fast! Hopefully this blog will help me capture moments from their adventures they have daily.