New Zealand Trip - Families

Our trip to New Zealand was awesome! We went for my sister's wedding but it was more for a little family reunion for my immediate family. We flew about 14 hrs from LA to Auckland. Malik wasn't feeling well and both Danny and I were so tired.
As soon as we got in the plane, we were out.

We left LAX on Friday night(July 24th) and got in to New Zealand on Sunday(July26th) morning. My sister Ana came and got us from the airport with a cooler full of jam rolls. Ana is such a good cook and she just barely got them out from the oven before coming to get us. Both Danny and I dived in and just stuffed our faces. It was so nice to see my sister, Ana. She still looks the same to me with her 7 kids. Her hair was so long and so pretty! We got to the house not too long and my parents were there and my brother Soni who I hadn't seen for 11 years was aslo there. It was so nice to see them. It was an emotional meeting but very exciting at the same time. After all these years and we finally get to see eachother here in New Zealand (except Mata) for our little sister's wedding.

Danny, Malik, and I were so tired but we went to church witht he whole family. My older brother Tevita was there with his family and it was so fun to see them. Tevita and I were so close when I was in Tonga. It was nice to finally meet him and his wife. This was a dream come true! I have always thought what it would be like to see my siblings again. What a treat it was to be able to see them and be with them here in NZ. And, the most important thing was having Danny and Malik meet my brothers and sisters for the first time. They all love my son and Danny. My two brothers couldn't stop holding Malik and spoiling him. It was a joy to see them love my husband and my son. We were so excited that we would be here for the next 2 weeks.



Most of us stayed with Ana and her family. It wasn't a huge house but it was fun to stay together, eat together, and laugh together. At nights we would stay up so late, talk stories and make fun of each other. The funniest one was when Ana recalled when she was little Soni beat her up for stealing his 25 cents. It was so funny all the stories that we remembered growing up in Tonga. My parents were there with us and we, as kids would just tease each other and reminisced about the past. What a fun memory! Because it was really late at night, we all camped out in the living room after having late night feast with cocoa and bread. Oh, how I missed the simplicity of life! The small kine things we used to enjoy as family.

Our vacation in New Zealand - LAX

Our vacation this year was to New Zealand! Danny and I have been wanting to go to New Zealand for years now. We wanted to go there last year but we ended up going to Hawaii. But when we found out that my younger sister, Siale, was getting marry in August we thought this was our chance to go. A great vacation and family reunion! I am so excited to see my families who I had not seen in 12 years. We didn't want any reasons of not going so we found a great price on Air New Zealand and jumped on it months before which it was April.

July 24th, we flew from Utah to LAX. The bad thing about our trip, was that Malik was sick. Because we were worried about the possibility of him getting really sick while we are on vacation, we took him yesterday to the doctor. He gave us Tylenol and said to let it run its course. Thanks Doc! Great advice! :)

So back to our getting-ready process. Danny worked the night before and I stayed up really late trying to pack our stuff. First of all, I promised myself that after this trip, I will never wait until the last minute to pack for a trip. Danny had put what he wanted me to pack on our bed so I had to figure out what I was going to take as well as getting Malik's stuff ready. I swear it was hectic. When Danny came home the next morning I was still running around trying to pack our stuff. We finally got everything (I thought) packed and Sipa (thanks so much) took us to the airport. On our way up to the airport, I remembered that I hadn't packed any of my hair stuff. I turned around to Danny and told him that next time we all pack our own stuff. Danny just looked at me and rolled his eyes :) He knews it was my own fault for waiting till the last minute to pack. Danny always tells me that I strive on last minute. He said I function well when I am under pressure. Come to think about it, I think he is right but oh well, I am still mad that I didn't get my hair stuff.

We got to the airport fairly quickly. We checked in and everything went well but we didn't want to go in just yet because my friend Josie was coming up to the airport to drop off a package that we forgot at the house. While we waited, Malik was crying because he wasn't feeling well. I knew that it will be a long flight to LAX. He cried a little on the plane but for the most part, he was okay. In LA, we had about 10 hrs before our flight to New Zealand, we went and spent some times with Danny's aunts and cousins and his grandparents were there. They were so nice to feed us and let us relax before our long flight tonight. And, Malik was able to meet his uncles and cousins and I was able to finally meet some of his cousins. We had a great time in LA!





Danny was also happy to see his relatives. For those of you who don't know, Danny was actually born and raised in LA until he was in high school when his family moved to St. George, Utah. So it was fun for him to be back in LA and see his families there.

July 4th - Fireworks!

We had a very eventful day today! Danny and Sipa camped out at the university avenue last night. I went there with Malik but couldn't convince myself to stay the night so Malik and I came home and slept at the house. Early this morning we went over to university avenue. Danny had reserved us a great spot to watch the 4th of July parade (sorry no pics). It was fun and exciting to see the different floats and companies who were able to join in the parade. Malik really enjoyed himself trying to run into the middle of the street to get the candies and the free gifts they were handing out. It was just a fun time with families.

In the evening, we went over to BYU and watch fireworks. Sipa, Jen, and their kids were there and grandpa Dave and grandma Kay also joinedus there. We had fun laying on the grass awaiting the fireworks from the Stadium of fire. Malik had so much fun screaming when the fireworks were shooting up into the sky. It's so fun to see his reactions, so much different than last year. We didn't get home till really late but Danny and Malik were still in the mood of doing fireworks. The great thing about it was that we didn't spent any money on the fireworks. It was left over fireworks from last year.

Here are couple of pictures of us doing our fireworks at our house. Malik was great! He loves fireworks just like his daddy.















What an exciting day for our little family. We did so much fun activities today. This is a tradition for our little family, the hot air ballons, parade, and fireworks.

July 4th - Hot Air Balloons Festival!

This is our first year to attend the hot air balloons festival here in Provo. It was early in the morning and I am not really a big fan getting up early on a holiday but at the end of the festival, I was glad we went. We were able to see how the balloons got blown up. It was beautiful to see them up in the sky. Malik, Danny, and I walked around and had so much fun taking pictures. What a fun day! This will difinitely a tradition every year!