Ti's first cousin from New Zealand, Timote Manusina, made his way to America for the first time this week. Line and Mazely picked him up in L.A. and decided to swing by Vegas on their way to Salt Lake. We had so much fun spending time with them even though it was a pretty short trip. When Line first told me that they would be stopping by I pictured an awkward night with some guy that we'd never met before. I didn't know if we would even have anything in common with Manusina to talk about. It was the complete opposite of what thought it would be.
We all met up at our house after church and drove up to the Hoover Dam. I googled the route just to see how long it would take to drive, and what was supposed to be a drive lasting under an hour, turned out to be 2 hours of bumper to bumper traffic. The kids loved the water and I just thought it was so cool to see the actual site where Transformers was filmed.
Seven adults and can you believe not one of us had a camera?! Thank goodness for camera phones.
The boys barbecued for us after and as the sun started to go down Ti Tonga and Mote took Manusina to the strip. Me, Maze, and Toa decided to take all the kids to the pool so they could run loose and get their energy out while us girls chatted. It was also Nela's (Mazely's son) birthday so we sang Happy Birthday to him at the pool which he loved. Later that night me, Ti, Manusina, and Maze stayed up forever just talking. Ti's Fangupo side shares this bond that I love seeing. They have this instant connection that I feel has been there from birth. I've seen it with all of his first cousins. I love how they are such a tight knit family and no matter how far apart they live from each other or no matter how long they go without seeing one another- once they all get together, nothing else matters but catching up and having a good time. I don't have a large family like my husband so I really enjoy being included in this atmosphere. It was such a good experience. I love having family over and I really hope my boys will grow up and share that same bond with their cousins.
3 comments:
Very sweet Kiki! All those years I lived in Vegas, not once did we go to see Hoover Dam :( Oh well maybe next trip? lol
Gosh..That sounded like alot of family fun!! I love times like that. Love your hair btw..=)
Wow...you're camera phone took some pretty good pictures!! Manusina loves it here, he keeps saying he feels like he's in a picture everytime he walks outside because of the mountains. I totally agree with you on the Fangupo family...they are all so close-knit and even though it's the first time they've met, they act like they've known each other forever...that family bond is awesome! I, like you, am grateful to be a part of it!
Post a Comment