Christmas 2011

Christmas was, honestly...not the same:( I had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas day was spent at my sister in laws place in Des Moines! This year Lance and I decided we'll get the kids mainly clothes and 2-3 presents since we do live in a small apartment with other people so there is hardly any room for toys. I know I shouldn't worry about all the "worldly" things but it made me a little sad that my kids didn't get as many gifts as they usually do past Christmas's. I know I'm just letting my pride get to me but I'm over it and besides, my boys are still happy as could be with what they got. Drey got what he wanted which was an Xbox 360 and Kinect and Zee got a bunch of Car toys, his favorite!
At our apartment, it didn't feel at all like Christmas was coming up...mostly because this year my in-laws decided not to put the tree up because the kids will most likely put it right back down. Lol I thought to myself, "ok, what about my boys...it's not fair to them." for a second a got a little emotional because it made me miss my family even more. I haven't been myself lately because I hate missing out on family activities or get togethers that we always do as a family. Missing out on watching my nieces and nephew grow up. Things like that...I just miss:(
On a good note, we did get to oovoo Elder Alo! We three way'd with my family so it was nice seeing everyone together. He is doing well and loving the mission field! At the same time we were watching my family do their white elephant gift exchange and that's when I got all teary eyed. My family didn't notice but I was feeling so down! Seeing them all have a good time, laughing at what everyone got...I wanted to be there enjoying Christmas with them.
Although I was a super Debbie downer, I can't thank my In laws enough for everything they've done! We did have a good dinner that day and I introduced the White Elephant game to them before the kids opened their gift! It was a success and hilarious too! We played it different so everyone had a limit of $1 or it can be something from your house, something creative. We had 18 ppl play so everyone has a gift. We all stood up in a circle and we sang "Love at Home" every time we say LOVE...we would pass it to the right and when it was finished we opened our gift we ended up with, one by one! The funniest was Stephens gift. It was in a big box but in it, was a can of Pikaki! We all had a good laugh at that. But it was fun and every one seemed to enjoy it as well.

So This season wasn't all that bad.

Next year...it's Christmas in UTAH!!

Mom

One thing that I always wished to have, growing up, was a close relationship with my Mom. You know the kind that you can tell her anything, even if it was something you did wrong, the kind of relationship when you can say, "My Mom is my BEST FRIEND." I'm sad that I didn't do anything about it when I was a teenager. Although my mom wasn't ever one to come up to me and talk about personal things, I could of stepped up to the plate and gone and talked to her. I was going through my journal (from my Jr. High to High school days) and I hated myself for writing so many posts about my Mother. Posts that said all the "bad" things that I didn't like about her, or what she did to make me mad.

I think out of all my siblings, even though they think I was always the spoiled one...I felt like my Mom pushed me the most. There was a time in my life where I had so many things going on. Some I wanted to do and the others, not so much. My Mom forced me to do it. My week was filled with school, piano lessons, singing lessons, guitar lessons, school basketball, club volleyball and church! I was always doing something. At times I would fight with my Mom because I wanted to quit piano, or I wanted to quit guitar...but I would get yelled at and would never win the conversation. I hated that I couldn't have a regular teenage life. I hated that my mother made me go to my basketball tournament instead of my sister, Nita's graduation. I hated that she made me sing and play the guitar in front of the whole polynesian community at flag week..there were so many things that I had on my mind..I don't think I ever sat down and thought about what I can do to have a better relationship with her.

Now that I am older I couldn't be more happier about her pushing me to do all these things! Of course I didn't succeed in guitar lol but I am grateful that she instilled in me to never quit! If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't know how to play the Piano, or play volleyball, basketball, and softball. All those times I wanted to quit doing all of it, my Mom wouldn't let me. As teenagers, we seem to think that our parents are the worst parents ever. When you grow up, you appreciate them more and realize they do it to help us, to prepare us, to keep us busy. I love my Mom so much! Even though still, today I wonder about the things that she does that I don't agree with but she is one of a kind...the best Grandma who adores my kids and sooo much more! 

I love you Mom!

I love my calling!

I love my calling! This I know is where I need to be right now. I feel the spirit so strong when I'm around these young women, (who really aren't much younger than me), who face such strong adversity in their lives, yet have strong testimonies of the gospel and live such virtuous lives. Sometimes I feel they are more an example to me than I am to them!
When I got called to be the beehive advisor, I was excited but scared and nervous at the same time. I have never taught a class before! That is why I know that my Heavenly Father is mindful of me. He knows that teaching is my weakness and that I am very shy when it comes to speaking in front of people but i can honestly say that, that weakness is becoming one of my strengths and I learn something new every week from it!

I am most grateful to be able to utilize my talents with these girls. My music especially. Music has always been a part of me but once again...I was always the shy one to share my talent! Growing up, I did a lot of singing for our church or for farewells, or preludes for sacrament, and most of the time, I got nervous. My hands would start to shake, and my voice will start to be "shaky" too (is that even a word? lol) I think because my Mom always forced it upon me...it was never something that I loved to do (other then singing to myself haha) but it was never my passion... Okkkay, I'm going off track...that calls for a different blog post lol So anyway, for our Young Women in Excellence, I volunteered to teach a music number for them. I found the perfect song that goes with our theme and I can't wait! to hear them sing it next week Wednesday! They sound so good!

 I am blessed to be apart of their lives and thankful to the other leaders I serve with who are great examples to me as well!

Mat Man

I picked Drey up from school today and heard some good things about him from his teacher. It's always nice to hear that your kids are doing well in school! So she told me that they were reading this book today for a good 10 minutes or so. Afterwards they had playing time. They have a choice to either play with blocks, painting, coloring, and so on. Ms. Kim said Drey went straight to the painting area and drew this:

She said he drew so many "Mat Man's" all over the classroom lol She was impressed with his ability to memorize things so quick and be able to draw/paint it on paper. It makes me so proud to see my son learning new things everyday and enjoying it at the same time. All the small and simple things matter the most to me. Like when I hear that he ate all his fruits (he hates fruits!), or that he was a good helper..things like that make me so happy. I'm so glad I made that choice to have him in preschool this year.