Christmas in August

Santa Claus came and visited the boys way early this year! Few weeks ago I walked into Costco to go do some shopping when I noticed that their Chrismas stuff were out. I quickly made a comment to Danny that I couldn't believe that Costco had their Christmas stuff out so early this year. Danny replied and said that most companies try to sell as much stuff as possible for each holiday. I mumbled back, only crazy people give in or something like that. Well, few days after that we went to Walmart to do our weekly grocery shopping and we noticed that the bbq grill we have been watching for quite sometimes was now onsale for way cheap.

So somehow the boys convinced me and we bought the grill. I told Danny that this is his Christmas, Birthday, and Father's Day gift for the next 5 years :). Thanks to Sipa and his truck, he helped us took it home. I'm just glad we got it for a really good deal. Danny has been wanting a grill since our little tiny grill gave up earlier on this year and he has been working so hard and trying to save up to buy his grill. After four days of trying to figure out how to put the grill together, we finally tested it out with some bbq chicken. It was great! Hopefully we will get some more bbq before the cold weather comes.

Vacation in France

Like I promised, I'm back! Since I haven't blogged for over a year I am contemplating where to start. We've been so busy this summer so I am gonna try to blog about some of our experiences. Also, Malik has grown up so much and I am so sad that I didn't keep up with my blog. However, it's a new month and I am determined to be consistent this time around.

***Warning, my next few posts might be awfully long so I can catch up so feel free to just look at pictures or just skim and scan.***

This summer our little family went on a fun and exciting vacation to France. It was one of the most expensive trip we ever did as a family but it was all worth it. Part of why it was so expensive was because we were supposed to use my brother in law's discount tickets but I endend up buying full price airline tickets last minute. It was such an adventure! Seeing Europe and its great history was a big part of our adventure but the other part of the adventure came from sitting at 10 different airports in 8 different cities and using my laptop to look for cheap airline tickets few minutes before we boarded and it was so random and "stress-free." We loved it! I know it's so different than anything I had ever done. If you know me I'm well organized, hate going with the flow and love to plan every step I take way ahead of time. But this time I did the opposite and it was much more fun. Malik loved watching airplanes!

I should probably mention why we went to Europe. Europe has always been a place I dream one day I would go to visit or live. So when my older sister Mata moved there few years ago with her family, my dream became a "must go" kind of things. And, last year we were supposed to go but then my sister's wedding came up so we went to New Zealand instead. We left here June 12 and got into Paris, France on June 14 early in the morning. Danny slept through the whole flight and Malik watched his car movie and knocked out and I stayed up watching movies during the whole flight.

As soon as we landed, reality sat it. Everyone in our plane that used to speak English or British if you are an European, only speak French, the workers only speak French. As we got out from the plane, every direction and any scribble on the walls were all in French. Because neither Danny nor I speak any French, we just followed the crowd. Luckily, they all went to the custom area. The immigration workers that checked our passports kept looking at our documents and started talking to each other and then started talking back to us in which we had no idea what they just said. When none of us responded, they gave them back and we left. I told Danny later they were probably wondering what we were. My sister met us just outside the baggage claim (only travelers are allowed in this area) and we literally walked 3 miles

around the airport to get to the train station. We finally found the train and there were tonnes of people waiting for the train. As soon as the train came, everyone started rushing in. I held Malik and my sister and Danny rolled in our huge luggages into the little train. Time like this that I missed America. Everyone drives, everyone has their huge cars, etc. If you have been to France you know that everything in France is small and narrowed. From people to cars, to their houses, elevators, buildings, roads, food, and everything else. We finally made it to the train and it was packed and they kept stuffing more and more people in. However, after an hour long train ride, we got into our hotel in Paris. It was such a treat to shower and relax after 2 days of traveling. After we all cleaned up and got something to eat, we walked down to the train station and rode the train into the city for seightseeing. My legs were so sored by the end of the day from all the walking we did. But after seeing my sister who is like 8 years older than me I needed the walking :).

Our first day we visited the -
1. Eifel Tower

2. take a cruise down the La Seine River

3. Princess Diana's monument (tunnel where she died)

4. Louvre Museum (largest art museum in the world)

5. Cathedral of Norte Dame de Paris

6. Arc-de-Trioemphe

7. Place de la Concorde

8. Opera House in Paris

The second Day we went to Euro Disneyland Paris.

Third day we drove around the city and then drove 4 hours into the countryside of France, my favourite part of the trip. It was beautiful to see the farm land, animals, houses, little towns, and the vineyard. It was absolutely gorgeous! The rest of our trip we spent it touring and driving around different unforgettable places in the countryside of France. We were able to see Dijion (the mustard capital of the world), old churches, chateu, Lake Annecy (largest lake in France and you can see Switzerland from there. We also went fishing, bbq at the park, went to St. Nicholas, Lyon, and to Walibi Aquatique "waterpark. Everyday was a feast while we were in France. And for fathers day we spent it with my sister's inlaw. Danny and Romu (my sister's husband) roasted a pig. Between my sister, Mata, Danny, Romu, and I we ate the whole pig.

We absolutely love our vacation to France this year! We are difinitely going back. There are so many things to do and see in Eruope and 2 and a half weeks weren't enough. We were able to see and experience so many things but the highlight of our trip was spending time with my sister's family who I love dearly. Malik loves his cousins Lizabeth and William and Danny and I were able to meet Romu. It was an amazing trip!

(we have more pictures of our trip on facebook if you care to see them)

Returning to Blogging

It's been too long since I last blogged but I am determined to start back up tomorrow Sept 1st. I have been thinking about blogging for a long time but just couldn't get the courage and the TIME to login and start but I'm very determined this time to get back. Also, I am thinking of changing our blog site name but will see...

Thanks all for not deleting me off your list!

Siale's Wedding

My little sister, Siale got married today. We woke up very early around 4am so that I could get an early start on her makeup and hair. To be honest, I was so tired because we stayed up decorating the stake center for the reception the night before. But like they said, "what's a wedding without stress, drama, and anxiety", right? :)


However, I have to say that it was fun to get her all ready. We started with he hair then we did her makeup last. It only took me about 3 or 4 hrs to do her hair and makeup. After she left I quickly got myself ready. By then, I only had about 20 minutes or so to get ready.




The sealing was at 11 a.m and I got to the temple right at 11 so I am running up the hill to the door of the temple, and my cousins who were outside told me that I wasn't going to make it. As I walked into the sealing room, everyone was all there waiting for me and the couple. By this time, I was breathing really hard as I made my way to my seat.

The ceremony was beautiful and short. There were tears and joy because this was the very temple that my family was sealed in. My parents and my 6 older siblings were sealed in the Hamilton New Zealand Temple in November 8th, 1977. Two years later I was born and 5 years later my sister, Siale, was born. That is the whole reason why this trip was so special for us. We are all back here after 32years! After the ceremony, I helped Siale put on her wedding dress and got her all looking cute. She looked beautiful and amazing. I was so happy for her. When we came out it was raining really hard. Despite the rain, it was still a special day.

For Siale's wedding, each sibling helped out.

Ana made the wedding cake. It was a simple yet beatiful wedding cake. She baked it few days before the wedding. She did an amazing job!




Mele got Siale's beddings, my parents got her bed, dressers, and tables. My two brothers did the food. They sent containers of food full of crops and food from Tonga. They bought pigs and were incharged of preparing the umu and roasting the pigs. It was great to see them.

I did her wedding invitation, her wedding dress, and was also her maid of honor.




Because of the weather, most of their pictures were taken inside the visitor center. Our families and friends were there to celebrate this special day with us. We also took pictures at the reception.
















Overall, this trip was great. We were able to see families and tour New Zealand. We are hoping to be back here in New Zealand in 2011 for the Rugby World Cup.