October Haps: Pumpkin Picks 2011

Samiu and Toakesa slept over and we let them all pick out pumpkins. We can't carve our pumpkins early out here because they won't last in the heat. We will normally carve our pumpkins the day before or the actual day of Halloween. I wanted to spruce them up in some way so I decided to add some spook to them while they sat on the porch waiting to be carved. I let each of the kids pick out a design and we decorated each of the individual pumpkins. Here's some pictures of the kids with their pumpkins they chose...

The entire group with their picks of the patch

And here's what the pumpkins looked like after we decorated them with vinyl

Pumpkins L-R: Mote, Siope, Nic, Toakesa, Samiu

Here's our Halloween House

October 2011... Happy Halloween!

October Haps: Haunted Harvest

It's almost Thanksgiving and I haven't even finished blogging about October -- eep! I'll try to run through the rest of our Fall happenings real quick. We took the kids to the Haunted Harvest at the Springs Preserve. It was super packed. We had fun, but I'm not sure if I would take them back again cause I felt like we stood in lines the majority of the time we were there.

October Haps: The Beatles LOVE

When I switched over to my new schedule I had to work 10 consecutive days before I finally got time off. I wanted to do something fun with the kids to celebrate my hard work LOL, but before I could even plan something my mom called and asked if her & my dad could take the boys to California with them. I gave her permission without even thinking twice ;) So me and Ti got to spend the night out. This is kinda embarrassing, but we didn't really know what to do with ourselves. Ti wanted to go watch a show, so we got dressed and headed to the strip. We had an employee discount for The Beatles LOVE, so we booked some seats for that. We picked up our tickets from our Concierge at Aria and we had time to kill, so we hung out at some of the lounges and I took him up to the 58th floor where we have a sitting area. There's floor to ceiling windows there and it's the best view of the strip. He was blown away. We went over to the Mirage after and made our way to the theater. It was so packed!!! Their theater is awesome though! It's cool just standing in line cause there's so many interesting things to look at and their staff is all dressed up (man I would hate to have that job and have to dress up in those corny outfits). The theater itself was cool. The seats circled the stage all the way around, so you had a good seat no matter where you sat. The only other Cirque show that I've seen is Elvis and this was very different. There were a TON of acrobatics. It was crazy. We definitely had a good time. We walked the strip a little after the show, then decided to have dinner somewhere off the strip so we headed to Sierra Gold. We ate, then made our way home and called it a night. I don't think we've ever had a real night out together WITHOUT the kids in such a long time. It was so fun to spend some time together with my husband. And I know the boys had a blast with grandma and grandpa in Cali.

October Haps: Fall Festival

Wow, October really flew by! I can't believe it's already November. Last month was definitely busy for us. We got to do so many fun things, so I'm going to try to recap on everything we did this season. Fall is one of my favorite times of year, especially in Vegas because the weather is so nice that we're able to do a lot of outdoor activities. The kids had their annual Fall Festival last month and we were finally able to go again as a family. The last time we attended was when Mote was in Kindergarten. We had so much fun that year. Since I've started to work, my schedule hasn't permitted me to participate in any after school activities. Now that I've switched to grave, I can go to pretty much any after-school function <~ I might regret this later LOL. Anyhow, when the kids got home from school I was just waking up so we got ready and headed back to the Elementary. We started off at the trunk-or-treat then made our way to each of the games.

The kids loved these low riders at the trunk-or-treat

All the frisbee tossing in the street payed off at this game

We got lots of candy and prizes then stood in the what seemed like a never-ending line for the haunted house. I was impressed with how spooky the haunted house was. The kids were terrified! Nic screamed like a little girl the entire time. I had to drag him and Siope forward because they were so scared. And there was a little girl who grabbed on to Ti Tonga's arm and held on until we got out HaHa.

We saved the cakewalk for last. We never seem to win this game, but it's still so fun. We gave the kids their tickets and told them they HAD to dance the entire time... and sure enough they did. Me and Ti Tonga took our seats to watch and we couldn't stop laughing. The first song they played was Sean Paul and Siope was going all out. It was so funny to watch him dance around the seats. After the first song the DJ called the winning numbers... none belonged to us, but she let the kids go one more round. The kids danced around and around and when the music stopped they rushed to grab a seat. The DJ called out 4 or 5 winning numbers and I seen both Nic and Mote jump out of their seats. They won! We went and claimed their sweets and Ti bought the kids some Popsicles with their left over tickets.

We grabbed some food on our way home and had dinner out on the patio before I went to work. It was a great fall night.

Welcome to Nevada President Obama

A little taste of our life here in Nevada... It's reality. I know everywhere in the country has been affected, but I'm not sure if anyone realizes how bad it is here. When I've told people they all kinda nod their heads and say, "yeah yeah everyone is struggling everywhere." They don't get it. It's been so bad that we've had general authorities come and we've held special fasts for the people in our city that have lost their jobs and families that have been affected by the turn in economy. Welcome to Nevada. I don't like to get into politics too much on here, but when I saw this video it hit home for me. So we're just rolling with the punches and doing our best to survive. Good news: we are still alive :)

Ch-ch-ch- changes

I've had my swing shift (5pm - 1am) for over a year now. It worked out ok when the kids were in preschool and Kindergarten, but now that they're all in full day I've started to grow less fond of it. During the day I sit at home all by myself, then as soon as they get home from school I have time to say Hi and ask them how their day was before I get in the car for work. I barely see them. When I get home from work at 2am of course the entire house is asleep. I discussed the idea of switching over to a day shift with Ti and was excited to make the move, but every shift that came up had me scheduled to work Sundays during church... so I never signed up for any of them. I waited and waited and thought that I was doomed to this swing shift forever LOL. One night I went in to work and seen a grave shift up for bid.  I've worked grave before and barely survived. Didn't think it was for me. But I looked at it again and couldn't help the interest and curiosity that crept in my mind. 11pm-7am with Saturday & Sunday off. I wanted weekends off so bad. Hmmmm... If I started at 11pm I could actually have dinner with my family and even put the boys to bed before work. And if I got off at 7am, that would put me home at around 8am - just in time to send the boys off to school. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to sign up for it. It took a little convincing for Ti. I think just the word "grave" made him a little uncertain about the change. I worked 9pm-5am before and it was brutal! But that was when Siope was still in preschool and so I never was able to get consecutive hours of sleep. I was confident that this time around would be different. We finally decided that I would sign up for it. If it didn't work, then I could always go back to a swing shift.

I've since completed my first week of grave and am going on week 2. Can I tell you how much I love it?! I know there are pros and cons to each shift, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons for me with this schedule. When I explained what my new schedule was going to be to the kids I was surprised at the reaction from them. They memorize my routine from swing and on Mondays they would come home and jump all over me cause they knew it was my day off. I told them that I was starting a new shift and I would be going to work while they were sleeping and come back in the morning when they were waking up. Mote jumped so high and hugged me so tight.

The other night we went out and had dinner at Chili's. It was freak'n awesome that I got to go out and have dinner with my kids during the week! Each night we do homework and have dinner together. I'm able to give them a bath and put them to bed before I get ready for work. When I come home in the morning they're already awake... usually brushing their teeth and soon as they hear the front door open, they run down the stairs to greet me.

Surprisingly my body has been doing ok adjusting to the time difference. It didn't do so good when I worked 9-5. And I'm not sure if I'm doing better because I went in to it this time expecting the worst. I've been ok during my shifts... a couple yawns here and there and Ti has bought me some 5hr energy drinks, but for the most part I've been fine. Last week I never got more than 4hours of sleep at home though. I would sleep either 4 or 3hrs each day. My body just wasn't accustomed to sleeping at this time of day. Today however I got 6 hours! Which is good enough for me!! I was shooting for 6 or 7, so I'll take this 6 that I got :) I have very little to complain about this shift. So far so good!

Continuing to Honor Lauren

We're constantly thinking of ways to keep Lauren's memories alive. Ti has said to me before that as the kids grow older that their memories they have of her will start to fade... which I refuse to believe. One of my sis-in-law's had a sister that passed away when they were younger and I asked her if she still remembers her. She looked at me and answered firmly, "Kiki, I have vivid memories of her." Which brought so much comfort to me. I think of Lauren on a daily basis and yes, the memories of her are still vivid. I hope and pray that they remain that way as the years pass.
As certain events come up, it breaks my heart that she isn't here to experience them with us. At Fatu's UNLV game I looked around and tears filled my eyes cause the entire family was in the bleachers to support him. When Ren was sick Fatu had a conversation with her and told her to keep fighting so that she could get better cause he wanted her to come out to his football games and watch him play. Fatu talked with me after about his conversation he had with Ren and said he wasn't sad. He felt positive and good about her. That he was sure that she was going to get better. I thought about all this while I looked at everyone that night at Sam Boyd Stadium and I wished Ren could be with us to complete our family cheer section for her Uncle Fatu. I'm sure however, that she still was able to watch him play and that she had the best seat in the house :)

Halloween is coming up which was definitely one of Lauren's favorite holidays. Who doesn't love Halloween right? Carol and them decorated her spot at Wasatch Lawn

Happy Halloween Rennie!

Bats on her trees to accompany her butterflies

I just know she would love this!!
It is bittersweet to continue to honor her in these simple ways. We are happy to remember and think of her, but sad that she is not physically by our side. We might (big emphasis on "might") be in Utah at the end of the month. I hope I make it in time to contribute to her Halloween decor.