Season Opener: Lions vs. Titans

Mote and Nic played their very first football game on Saturday and it was awesome!!! I didn't think their team would understand the game well enough because they're so young, but I was wrong. The game started off shaky. We got scored on within the first couples minutes, so I was sure we were going to get blown out. It took them a little bit to find their groove, but when they did they were awesome!! Mote scored 3 times to help his team to victory and Nic played both offense and defense.

They both said they had fun. I had such a good time watching them play and I can't wait for next Saturday to watch them again!! Go Lions!!!

Ries Elementary 4th Grade Award Ceremony

Thursday I took a trip to the Elementary because Mote got an invitation to their award ceremony. I was exhausted from work the night before but was so glad I made it. I knew he was getting honor roll, but was surprised when they called his name for 3 awards that day: Outstanding Citizenship, A/B Honor Roll for the 3rd trimester and A/B Honor Roll for the entire school year. I almost cried seeing him on stage with his awards. I'm so proud of this little guy. He has been a great leader to his brothers and a wonderful help to me while his dad is away. And on top of all of that he has managed to work hard in school and earn honors.

4th Grade Wax Museum

Mote's class put together a wax museum for their end of the year project. He chose to be Babe Ruth. It made me a little nervous at first because we have NO baseball gear whatsoever at home. But I think we did pretty good. He was so cute in his little costume and did a great job at memorizing his speech.

Pinewood Derby + Arrow of Light

Mote's first Pinewood Derby and his last day of being a Wolf.

Nine!

I find myself blogging more often on my personal blog, but would like to take time to blog a little on here too cause I know my Mom would love to see updates on her grandkids... so here goes :)

Mote turned 9 last month!

 

 I can't believe how long we've had this little monkey with us =) I feel like so many mother's get sad that their kids grow. I see so many sad faces :( when moms document how their kids are aging... I must be a weirdo because I am the total opposite. I love seeing my kids grow and hit milestones... absolutely LOVE it! When they started crawling - loved it, walking - loved it, went to kindergarten - LOVED it!! I am ECSTATIC to see them learn new things and grow. Some of the cool things that Mote got experience this past year were:
Baptism: He was baptized by his Grandpa Tevita and confirmed by his Grandpa Kina
Scouts: He loves scouts! He's been able to learn some handy things while hanging out with some pretty cool kids. He's earned his wolf badge and has moved on to bears now.
3rd Grade: He got to finish out the school year at Wright Elementary where he's made some great friends. He completed the year by making it on the A-B Honor Roll.
Art: He is still very artistic and brings home so many art projects from school. 
Music: He bought a Recorder from school and really fell in love with it! He mastered several songs which granted him special recognition from his music teacher. He performed for our ward for his talent night which I was so proud of! Glad that he is brave enough to get up in front of a crowd.
With each new year he's grown into a wonderful young man. We are thankful to have him as the oldest child in our family and are grateful for his leadership toward his younger brothers. We are eager to see what this 9th year of life has in store for him. Here's to another year of surprises!

 

 

 

Baptism

Last month my oldest son, Timote, turned 8. Eight is such a special age for us because it is a time in life when you choose for yourself to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Normally I only write about church related things in my personal blog, but I feel impressed to share this special experience from our family. Before I had kids I remember thinking about baptism and how it occurred at the age of 8. I thought 8 was way too young for a child to make a personal decision about religion. I wondered why 8? Why not wait until your older and wiser and have a better grasp on decision making? Why 8? When Mote turned 7 I told my husband that I didn't want Mote to get baptized unless he understood the meaning of it. I didn't want him to get baptized just because you're "supposed to" when you're 8. This summer, as his birthday drew nearer, we talked more and more about the gospel and I could tell he was so excited to get baptized . We scheduled an interview with our bishop and I didn't really know what to expect. When we got to the church I waited out in the hall as Mote went in to the office. I sat outside for longer than I had anticipated. When the door finally opened, the Bishop invited me in to sit next to Mote. He recapped on what he and Mote discussed. They talked about the actual baptism and how it would be conducted. I listened to the Bishop talk and glanced at Mote from time to time. He was so handsome sitting there. I couldn't believe how much he had grown. I sat there and smiled. Together, Mote and the Bishop reviewed with me the covenants Mote would enter. The Bishop explained that Heavenly Father promises that if Mote keeps the commandments and is obedient that he can return to Heavenly Father and live with Him in heaven. When I heard this my eyes filled with tears. I immediately thought of Lauren. I thought of her in heaven, waiting for us to make it back to her. I leaned over and hugged Mote and whispered in his ear "Mote, did you hear that? We'll get to go to heaven and see Rennie." He smiled at me and nodded his head. What a beautiful promise. The realization that I too made this promise at 8 filled my heart with joy. The Bishop said he asked Mote personally if he wanted to be baptized and Mote said yes. I walked out of that office and said a silent prayer of gratitude, thanking Heavenly Father for such a wonderful son who is an example to me, for his character that has helped strengthen my testimony, and for the beautiful covenants that we have and the opportunity to live in heaven with our Father and our family.

Mote got baptized on July 2, 2011. He was baptized by his grandpa Kina (Ti Tonga's Dad) and confirmed by his Grandpa Ti (my Dad). It was so special to see these ordinances take place by these men that mean so much to Mote. It was neat to reflect back on my baptism day as well. I thought a lot about it during Mote's. As I watched Mote and listened to the words that were said that day, I remembered the details of my baptism day and silently renewed those covenants in my heart with my Heavenly Father.

 

I'm so proud of Mote and the righteous decision he made. I have a testimony that this gospel is inspired and run by a divine Father who knows all. I now know how special the 8th year is. I believe it is a time when we are old enough to understand the ordinances of baptism, and still pure enough at heart to make a worthy decision. It is a special age when Heavenly Father thinks that his children are ready to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I thank my son for teaching me this.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Mote: "Happy birthday Grandpa!!"

Grandpa: "Thank you Mote!"

Mote: "How old are you Grandpa?"

Grandpa: *laughs* "I'm an old man."

Mote: "But how old are you Grandpa?"

Grandpa: "61"

Mote: "60 months?! ... I knew it!!"

Class of 2010

Yesterday Nic graduated from Kindergarten! He missed school last Thursday and Friday so I didn't get the reminder his teacher sent home about the graduation date/time. As I was dropping Ti Tonga off at work Monday morning I remembered that Nic would be graduating later that day. I'm so glad I remembered before I dropped him off! I kept thinking what would've happened if I sent him to school not dressed properly or if I wasn't in the crowd as he performed on stage :( But we made it! When it was time to go to school I told him that me and Siope would meet him at his ceremony. Before he went out the door he said, "Mom! Don't forget your camera okay?!" He's been so excited to wear his graduation cap ever since we turned in his cap money (over a month ago).



This year there were more classes graduating. I don't remember Mote's year being so full. I didn't get a good seat and I was so annoyed that parents kept standing up during the performances to get video footage and pictures of the kids. They completely blocked my view. I didn't get any pics of Nic on stage and couldn't get good footage of them singing. Poor Siope was upset that he couldn't see. I tried holding him up so that he could see Nic, but balancing him, my purse, and the camera all at once was more than I could handle. I got one blurry pic of Nic entering the cafeteria...
and a little clip of one of their class songs...

The students performed several songs and ended by marching out to Black Eyed Peas' - I Gotta Feeling. We met up in Nic's class afterward where his teacher Ms. Keidel presented each of her students their diplomas.Refreshments were served...and each of the students presented us with their Kindergarten books- a collection of some of their projects and artwork they created throughout the school year.
Here's Nic's very first homework assignment...
Nic has had a total of 3 teachers this school year (not by choice). There was a lot of moving around due to the number of kids that entered into Kindergarten. His 2nd teacher was Mrs. Higa who we ABSOLUTELY LOVED!!! She really cared about Nic and had a way with getting through to him. He learns a lot differently and she was so patient with him! The progress he showed while she was his teacher was amazing. We were so sad when we found out she was leaving his class to teach special ed. She showed up to watch each of the kids receive their diplomas. I was so happy to see her. She congratulated Nic and spoke words of encouragement to him.

Nic & Ms. Keidel (his current teacher)
Nic & Gabrielle- his pal, neighbor, & carpool buddy
First Grade Bound!
Siope, Nic, & Timote
Mr. Graduate!

Ti wasn't able to make it due to his work schedule. When we got in the car Mote said, "Mom guess what? I got an award." So I'm thinking-- cool... another math award? And Mote says, " I made it on the honor roll." I was soooooo proud of him!!! Bummed that I didn't know about the award assembly, but so proud of his achivement! We picked up Ti Tonga and then went out to celebrate. The kids chose.... Chili's of course. Ti's birthday was on Sunday so it was a celebration of his birthday, Nic's graduation, and Mote making it on the honor roll.

Today Mote came home with his graduation certificate from 1st grade...

Tomorrow will be the last day of school, then the boys will get a 3 week break before starting the new school year. This coming year we are actually switching to a traditional 9 month school schedule - Hallelujah! Not much of a break to allow for the adjustment, but I'm sure I won't be complaining once next summer hits. I'm already making plans to ship them off to Grandma's next June =)

Pre-Birthday Gifts

Ti Tonga and the boys will be heading out to Salt Lake this Friday - which happens to be Mote's 7th Birthday. My brother was just over last weekend and bought the kids a video game. He came over again last night and Mote says, "Misi guess what this Friday is?" Misi thought he was just bringing up the future trip to Utah but Mote exclaimed, "It's my Birthday!" Misi was so surprised that he asked me if Mote was telling the truth. So today after I picked up the boys from school I got a text from Misi asking if we were home cause he wanted to come over. He shows up with a bag full of birthday goodies for Mote.
I'm not sure how I'm going to top this ^ so I'm just not even going to try ;) I sent Misi a text last weekend thanking him for the first video game he bought and told him that he really didn't need to buy the kids anything. He responded by saying that I have such good boys who deserve nice things and that he loves them. It almost made me cry. I really do have the best family! Not just cause they buy my kids things, but because they love to do things that make my boys smile. Thank you Uncle Misi!
I'm so sad that the boys are leaving without me this weekend. Nic keeps saying "Mom, I wish you could come with us." I do too :( I guess it's just me, Mario, and Luigi this weekend =(

From Last Place to Top 3

Soccer is done and I really should post about Mote's achievement this season. When he first started competing it was so cute to watch them play. After a couple games we noticed a pattern - we were losing lol. And frankly we were no match for any team! They were all a lot bigger than the kids on our team and we went the entire first season without even scoring one single goal. The next season we started out with the same pattern, but all the sudden one game Mote scored and our team went crazy. The other team was looking at us like we were nuts because of course we still lost, but the team mates and all the parents were cheering and screaming like we had won a championship. It was a huge step for us. Each season we enrolled him again without much expectation of winning any games. I thought it would still be good for him to learn the game and gain coordination. Each year the team showed improvement. We actually started scoring more, and eventually were able to pull out a victory. The kids have been practicing super hard and this year we won enough games to actually compete in the end-of-the-season tournament. I never even knew there was a tournament at the end of the season because we've never qualified to play in it. Mote was absolutely stoked! He was so focused and determined. Out of my 3 kids he is the most competitive. My parents got to watch the first game in the tournament and we ended up losing which was tough for Mote, but everyone said he did great. He scored our only 2 goals. The next week we played for 3rd and 4th place and we won! I thought he might be bummed because we didn't win a trophy, but he was sooooo excited that he won a medal for 3rd place. He wore it all day Saturday and when I was getting ready to drop them off at Mote & Toa's that night he tried to wear it in the car and I had to tell him to take it off and leave it in his room because I didn't want it to get lost. We called Ti Tonga (who was in Colorado) and my Dad so that Mote could tell them about his win. And when Monday came Mote was all dressed for school with his medal around his neck. I let him wear it because I didn't want to burst his bubble a second time but made him promise that he would be extra careful with it while at school. Nic has been super jealous and has even stolen it a couple times, so I had to tell Nic that if he plays really hard then one day he'll earn one too. I'm so proud of Mote's team and how much they've improved. I told Mote that next year maybe, just maybe, we'll bring home a trophy =)