Meet The Newest Addition To Our Family..Baby Mel Elijah Jr.

 

We're so in love with our new addition to the family, baby Meleki Elijah.

He keeps me so busy lately these days that I don't have time for anything

else. So I cherish the time we have with him. It's been almost 3 months

since he arrived and the children love him to bits as well as Meleki Sr.

as seen here in this pic. (above) He is always cooing now and smiling at

the older children. I do have to remind them now and then to please let

the baby get his rest.

 

Sorry the quality of the pic. isin't great. My 8 yr dd took it with her flip

phone after our family prayer. Well, I have to cut my post short as my

dear baby has awaken. Hope you'll all have a great weekend.

 

 

Maopa



7 Weeks To Go!

It's been a while since I've been on here. Alot has happened since
our happy announcement. I still haven't been able to get to a doctor
to check if it's a boy or a girl. Trying to get the insurance has been
a struggle for us. But I have been feeling the baby kick alot and last
night couldn't sleep that well from all the baby's movements.

The baby has gotten really low, so I know I'm getting close. I could
have this baby before the 7th week hits. I have a feeling it's a boy,
my mother thinks it's a girl and they're prepping and buying things as
if it's a girl coming. I've asked them to wait until the baby arrives so
we can see then.

We're also in the prep phase of moving to another home. We've
outgrown this home and are now looking for something where we'll
all fit with the baby. I'm a little stressed by it and not looking forward
to it. I have been packing little bit at a time and will leave the rest up
to dh to worry about.



Tia (my eldest daughter) graduated last month from Everest College
from their medical program and is now preparing to enter her papers
to go on her mission. I'm so proud of her and the path she's chosen.

Ami's still serving his mission in Forth Worth, Texas and is currently
living with another Tongan family in Euless and enjoying his work in
the Lord's field.


Hinalei (second daughter) is busy in high school with volleyball and
studies.

Loni turned 10 years old this month and enjoyed his birthday money
from friends and family. We did cake and ice cream for that and took
him to a nickecade to play to his heart's content.

Loni and Nesi have a Polynesian program after school today that
we'll be attending. Don't know what their dance number is. I did help
with the costumes and will be there at 4 pm today helping the kids
get dressed for their last activity before school gets out on the 12th.

Another Blessing For Our Family

photo credit: zazzle.com greeting card

Last Thursday 11/29/12 on Nesi and Mom's birthday our family
got another surprise and wonderful news. I'm expecting! I was
scheduled to go in for my colposcopy Friday morning at 11:45
when I decided to run to the store Thursday night to get me a
pregnancy test. After the swollen feet on thanksgiving night and
bouts of nausea after smelling certain foods, I was certain that
I was pregnant. But wasn't sure, since it's been like 8 years or
so. After seeing the double lines on the stick, I knew I had to
make a call asap in the morning to let them know that the test
came back positive.

The day before I was on the phone with them and they asked
if I've already had my period, so it wouldn't interfere with the
surgical procedure and I told them that I hadn't had my period
and was still waiting. So they asked my when I last had it and
told me to get tested before coming in or I could go in and they
could do a test on me. So I decided against the latter, since I
was too eager to find out.

Dh is so excited that he was just walking around the house
singing and smiling! I was feeling happy and scared at the same
time. Thankful for the blessings, but totally not loving the morning
sickness deal. Most of this weekend, I've just stayed in bed with
closed doors, not able to handle the smell of my husband's
cooking in the kitchen. When I called mom to say happy birthday
to her, I also told her of the news and she was surprised and
asked me, "How long has it been since the last one?" Not sure
if she was happy for me, I said, "I know it's been a while and I
thought I was done as well." She told me that Heavenly Father
has more planned for me and to just pray about it. I'm one year
away from turning 40 and it's still a surprise to me, when I wake
up in the morning and thinking about it.

The kids are excited and arguing whether it's going to be a girl
or a boy. Loni says that it should be another boy to make it even.
3 boys and 3 girls..lol..Nesi said she's thankful for whatever He
blesses us with, she just wants a baby sibling to feed, change,
play and talk with.

Latest Updates....

Hi Friends! It's been a while since I've been on here and
alot has happened since I last posted from Salt Lake. I'm
currently back in Portland and working again. This time,
I'm getting my contractor license back up again to be able
to start working and pay off my son's mission coming up
pretty soon. How much? $10k....Yes, my eldest son is
going to be 19 on the 10th this month and getting ready
to put in his papers to serve the Lord. I'm so excited for
him and the road he's chosen to take. I found a little part
time job on the side that's part time and the pay isin't so
bad. I'm sure you're itching to find out...I'm started last
week as a product demonstrator for $12 an hour. That's
not bad, considering people are out there looking for a job.
I thought it was something to do in my spare time while
getting everything set up again for the business.

Last week, we finally received our tax refund and paid
some bills and saved the rest to get re-licensed and all.
I really miss Salt Lake and my old job at Beehive Clothing.
It was a wonderful environment to work in and I made
friendships for a lifetime. Now, I'm on to a new chapter
and new things. On my exit interview with my supervisor,
she gave me some great advice and told me that I can
always come back there someday if the family moves
back to Salt Lake again.

Taking her advice, I'm keeping myself busy these days
with the kids, working and starting the hobbies I've
always wanted to start but kept putting off. (That's on
my next post) Although I was really busy in Salt Lake
working and all, I did shed some 35 pounds when I was
there. When I got there I weighed 300 pounds, coming
back, I finally got the chance to weigh myself and
really glad to see that I now weigh 265. I still am trying
to go down to my weight goal of 180 pounds. That's
another post as well..

How was your week?

 

Viliami's High School Graduation

This past Thursday, my eldest son, Viliami graduated from West Lake High
in Saratoga Springs, Utah.

The commencement ceremony was beautiful with wonderful speakers, and
an excited crowd of family and friends. I loved the speech their principal
gave and hope that my son listened to his wise words and advice. My camera
wasn't working so well that day, so I'm really glad my lil' sisters had their
cameras on hand to take pictures. The picture above is of all my children
and I.

This week has been so busy. We stayed up making his candy leis the
night before until 2 am. The commencement ceremony started at 9 am. So
we were walking around with not enough sleep. The flower and plant lei's
were shipped in overnight by my 1st cousin, Mana and his wife. She hand
braided the necklaces just for Ami. I'm so blessed to have family that
loves and cares.

Ami and one of his besties

side view of Ami and my mom, who he also 

calls mom:)

Ami and my youngest sis. Siva

Ami w/ all the aunties, sisters & nieces

Line (ami's 1st cousin), Ami, Hinalei (sister)

Trip To The ER

Sunday evening we found our way to the ER to take Nesi
in for a cyst that grew on the right side of her head, next
to her ear. This is the second time that she's had it, the 1st
one was in Portland, around August last year. We were
assured that it wouldn't come back, but here it is again &
even bigger. She wouldn't let anyone near her since it hurt
her so much. We were at the ER for 2 1/2 hours and left
with Nesi relieved and the cyst removed.

They told us she's the 4th child that's been treated for
the same thing within 2 days there. We were told that it
could've been caused by a mosquito bite or a virus, some
thing like that. We just have to change her dressing every
24 hours and treat it with some medicine they gave us.
Other than that, she's coming along just fine:)

Settling into a new home

You are probably wondering about the big spaces between posts. Well, we were nearing the end of our lease at our apartment and decided to just hurry and find a rental home we can move to temporarily for a year. We found a 3 bdrm, 2 bath home in Gresham that's got lots of room for all of us and then some! Good news is..I lost 9 pounds within 5 days of moving,loading,unpacking and no eating or drinking after 6pm. Then I'll drink my 3 liters of cold tap water along with my prenatal vitamins upon rising in the morning. (no, I'm not prego..just trying to grow my hair) The kids love the new place and are excited to have their own rooms.


After moving in we had to wait for a week to get our internet installed by Qwest. So after the internet got hooked, our trusty computer just broke down. So now I have to use the wii to access the internet. That is why there is no pictures.

how is your week coming along?

Changes, Callings and Moving...

Lately I haven't had alot of time to blog. I did receive a new
calling in church. I am now the Primary Secretary and started
this past Sunday. It was enjoyable and I love being in there.
I'm learning alot with my new calling and trying to remember
faces and names. The presidency is a wonderful trio to work
with and I will miss them when we move next month. It'll be
kinda far, so that means we won't be within their boundaries
to attend the ward. So we will have to find another one soon.

Why are we moving? Trying to find something more affordable
than where we're at right now. We're currently paying $940
a month for rent (2 bd,2 bth), but recently we've been late due
to payment schedules from different clients and have been
paying $1,300 or more a month in just late fees and court costs.

The kids aren't looking forward to moving to another school
but I know they'll adjust soon enough once we're settled in our
new place. I just filed our taxes so that amount should help us
get into a place quick enough. I love filing electronically online
because you get it pretty quick. We're getting our on the 4th
so I've already got all the utilities lined up to get paid before
the move.

Furlough Day Due to Budget Cuts

Loni comes home after school and tells me that

he has some really important papers to give me

and that I have to look at it immediately..teacher

says. So he hands me a November Calendar 

Reminder and I see 5 days on there are Furlough

Days due to budget cuts..yikes. Starting today. 

then Nov. 22nd through the 24. then Thanksgiving

Holiday. 

I felt bad reading it and wished there was something

I could do to help out. So I started looking through

the closets for the Scholastic Phonics Kit we received

2 years ago and never put to use and let the kids test

out the new Steps to Scholastic Success Slide Show

Mathematics Grades 3-4 CD-Rom we received to 

review for our Holiday Gift Guide on Luscious Deals. 

I'm making sure that my kids learn what they have to

learn with all these furlough days adding up. Maybe 

I went to extremes today but, I wanted to start a new

schedule that would be better for them in the long 

run. Time on our new Wii game machine has been 

cut down to half an hour instead of an hour. We're 

now doing 2 rounds of 20 minute reading sessions 

in the morning and afternoon. I'm trying to get more 

ideas and have been surfing homeschooler blogs 

most of the day, between cooking, cleaning and 

blogging. I want to do more stuff like science and 

studying about other countries. What do you think?

Ami's Football Game...

Photo credits: Salote Teisina

Ami and his teammates won their football game on 

Friday evening against Mt. View 42 to 48!!! They're 5-0! 

CONGRATULATIONS GUYS!!!

Benji, Fiki and Lai (Salote's brothers)

Christmas Piggy Bank

Loni & Nesi counting their change

Recently the kids have been picking up all

sorts of loose change all over the house and

I told them that would be their little Xmas 

piggy bank. We hadn't counted it yet until

this morning and they had a total of $15 in

pennies and silver coins. Hopefully we'll be

able to rack up enough to get them something

educational and fun by then, combined with

the coupons coming soon for toys.

A Day at The Set...

photo credit: Lynch's

Today was a fun and nervous day for me.
I was reviewing a product for a week for a PR
agency and all I can say is that this product is
super awesome. I can't say what it is until it
comes out..I do know for sure that I would
definitely tell everyone to buy one!!

So the rep for the PR company calls me and
asks if I would be willing to be involved in the
commercial for this wonderful, new product
I just tested, so I said, sure..why not?
Let's just say I used this product to make
a polynesian specialty and we'll leave it at that.


I couldn't take pictures or anything there of
course..but I did meet some wonderful people
the makeup artist (she's a really great person,
and fun to talk with), the producer is really
funny and great to work with, The girl who
took care of all the digital stuff from the
camera guys..she was walking me through
everything and what to say when the producer
is talking to me. So it was really fun. The
lady who was preparing the food buffet is
great too, she said, that her step dad is Tongan
and we had a great conversation about her
community and family back home.

The crew had to relocate to another place
and so I was the last person at this area.
After they were done with me then everyone
started packing up the cameras, props and
stuff to move on to the next location. It ended
around 12 noon and lunch with the crew was
funny. Everyone is so nice and there was just
funny conversations all over the place. So this
is what it's like behind the scenes.

I'm glad to call it a day, since I was up stressing
the night before wondering how I was going
to do. It turned out to be alright in the end.


We ended the rest of the day in errands and
a warm family home evening. How did your
Monday go?

Nesi spending time with her dad on his trip 

down from Portland. They wanted to go to 

the mall and watch movies at the dollar movies

and we watched, Letters to Juliet. 

d

Let's just say, that it was a great movie and I

would go and watch it again. So far, the kids

had tons of fun with him and tried to get in as

much time with him as possible before he heads

back to PDX.

Nesi hoping to get a free stuffed animal..

Good Luck, we wasted a lot of $$$ and got

nothing back..lol

Loni trying out some Safari game, then losing 

within a minute of him depositing .50c

Weekend Updates...

Saturday morning we left early to go see what 

we could for cheap at Smiths with mom. We  

ended up getting GM cereals at $1.99 ea. wyb

10 and instantly receive $3 off plus another $3

in coupons. Then we got the Hunt's 24 oz. bot

tles for $1.98 before coupons. .98c ea. after    

coupons. We found the Lawry coupons at Smi

ths and then headed over to Winco to use them

there to get $1 off any meat or poultry wyb 2 

Lawry Marinades at $1.68 ea. We ended up get

ting 4 packs of chicken legs and thighs at .48c lb

the limit is 2 packs per person. 

Later on that evening we relaxed at the West 

Fest enjoying the fireworks show!

Joe took my two older daughters to
Taylorsville Dayz and West Fest for
my third child, Hinalei's birthday. I
came later with the little ones.

Tia and Lei cheesin it for the camera.

Sunday June 27th, 2010

We had a good day today at church. I left early

after sacrament meeting. We cooked & caught 
up on all kinds of family stories. 

I'm back!!

I'm back!! I finally got back in from Portland with
my computer and was able to finally get it up and
running today. When I got back on Wednesday, I
thought my computer wouldn't start up and thought
that my trip to get it was all in vain.

 The bins that my monitor and cpu were in, arrived
cracked and that worried me when I got home.
I wasn't sure how my cargo was handled by JetBlue
ramp agents and was saddened by this. It seems to
have been thrown from how one of the bins are
cracked on both sides.

Thursday it wouldn't start up and the monitor was
just dead. So I let it rest and tried it again yesterday.
Good thing because it finally started up and every
thing is good to go. So I'll be back to my regular
posts and all. How was your week? I can't wait to
do my rounds and read up on your blogs and how
you're all doing!! I'm heading out to go coupon
shopping at SMITH'S today with my mom and
little sister.  Happy Saturday everyone~

Iki and Seini's Wedding

Iki and Seini Tonga

I'm now able to post up about my little brother's
wedding from two weeks ago. It kept us up for
many days and we're glad that it's over and that
they're now married and moving on:) Congrats
to Iki and Seini...

These are just a couple of pics. from before the
wedding and during.

Iki getting dressed up in his Tongan attire by 

mom and the aunties. 

These are Seini's sisters and family coming with her Tongan 

bedding. Then we exchange by giving them Iki's Tongan bed.

The couple with their mothers. 

Getting Settled In...

It's been two days since we've been here in Salt Lake. I flew down
on Sunday evening on the last flight at 5:40 pm and admit I cried the
whole hour and twenty five minutes of flight time. It was hard, still is
but there is a sense of peace and a load off my shoulders.

The kids are having fun here and there. Once in a while they'll stop
and tell me that they miss dad and ask why we have to be here in
SLC and not there with him..I wasn't able to get on since their
computer was getting fixed and just returned today. I soo miss my
computer..but left mostly everything behind to start fresh here.

I really missed blogging and felt withdrawals not being able to
catch up on all the latest happenings with my mom blog friends.

The kids enjoyed spending time with their new cousin Sione..Nesi 

wouldn't leave him alone and just loved being with him. I'm currently 

applying for jobs and hoping I'll land a job soon. 

My little brother is getting married on the 29th and just approached 

me this evening about decorating since the one they had chosen..just

flaked out on them last minute. I think I just landed my first job here.

decorating my brother's wedding.. I'm so tired..just want to get some

sleep and I should be back in the morning to explain more..