Last summer of Freedom

It's officially summer and it seems it's going to be a hot one. Yesterday it was 99 degrees! This is Ezias' last summer as a free child. He will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. We are all very excited. One of the items on the check list is to get caught up on his immunization shots. So I scheduled an appointment with the pediatrcian. Since Josh has successfully taken Iosua to his last couple of appointments without me there I decdided to not take time off work to go with Ezias to his appointment. It was an hour or so after his scheduled appointment and I had yet to get an update on how it went. So I texted Josh for an update. He called a few minutes later and starts off by telling me not to panic, everything is alright....which of course I immediately start panicking. He then tells me that Ezias fainted twice and threw up while they were at his appointment and they weren't able to get his shots. OMG, right? So he starts from the beginning and tells me on the drive to the dr office Ezias kept saying he was nervous and that his stomach hurts and that he felt like throwing up. When they got there they called his name to go back and they start taking his mearsurements. He kept telling Josh he didn't feel good and he start to walk to him and collapses. Good thing Josh was there to catch him. They take him to a room and lay him down. He starts to come to and says "I want mommy" (which is the part where I start tearing up at work and feel guilty for not being there). He throws up. Then they try to take his blood pressure but he started freaking out and tensing up which causes him to faint again! At that point they decide not to do the shots and to try again in a couple of days. So we had two days to talk to Ezias and try and prepare him for his next visit. I tell Ezias I will be there when he goes back to hold his hand. We talk to him several times to reassure him that it will be fast and he will only feel a tiny pinch. Josh asks him, Son, you gonna be ok?, and he responds, "yeah cause mommy will be there". So we go back and the nursing staff have a giant coloring book and crayons for him and a coupon for a free ice cream from Artic Circle. They are great there. He seems fine up until they bring out the numbing lotion and needles. He starts freaking out but we are able to keep him calm. I had him sit on my lap and covered his eyes while they gave him the shots. It went a lot better the second time around and I was very relieved. That same day Ezias called me and told me that he got his kindergarten packet. He is so excited to start school.
So this incident has taught us and helped me realize a few things: 1.) Don't tell the kids when they have doctor appointments. This will only give them time to freak themselves out 2) I hope in the near future I can be a stay-at-home mom or just be able to work part-time. With Ezias starting school I want to be able to drop him off in the mornings and be waiting at home when he gets off to hear all about his day. I don't want to have to drop Iosua off everyday at a babysitters. I would rather be the one to take care of him. After this incident this is probably the first time I felt like I am really needed at home.
I feel changes will be happening in our near future. Changes for all in our little family. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. And here are a couple of pics to kick off the summer batch of photos.

Spiritual Glasses - I could use some of those!

Iosua's first time in the pool and he loved it!

Just wanted to post some of these random pics so we can remember some important events.

The weekend after Josh graduated his best friend graduated from the University of Utah. Keith is part of our family. In fact, I think he may spoil Josh more than I do. It will be weird if he ever decides to move away. I'm excited to see where their career paths will take them....hopefully not too far from each other.

Ezias' friend Porter got baptized. There are three years between them but they get along so well. I love how Ezias makes friends with people of all ages. He is so social and probably has more friends around Utah then I do. I know as he sees his cousins and friends get baptized he gets more excited for his day to come. I'm grateful he has such good examples around him and as you can see they also like to be goofy.

Iosua has discovered clapping and loves to cheer!

As Mother's Day has just passed I just wanted to post a couple pictures of my beautiful mother. I'm so grateful for this lady! She has unconditional love for us kids. We have broken her heart at times with the choices we make but she forgives and serves us all the time. She has raised 6 kids and she plays a big role in raising her 16 grand kids (and counting). Our family would fall apart without her. I hope that one day I will be able to cook like her, sing like her, sew like her and love like her. 

I think my parents coordinated their outfits this day!

And these are the two reasons I get to celebrate Mother's Day! Love my boys....

and love my husband too.



Poli Grandbabies

The bigger the kids get the more entertaining they are.

Jaida was very protective of Iosua. So cute.

This is how Miss Jaida rolls!

Graduation Celebration

I've been holding off on this post because I haven't gotten all of the pics from the day's events. But I can't wait any longer! I will just add more pics to this post as I get them. Josh graduated on May 29th, 2013. It was a great day. His family came in the day before so we stayed up late with them even though we know we had to wake up at 6am the next morning. His commencement ceremony started at 8am and it was just us two who made the drive north. It was a nice 45 minute ride to sit and reminisce on his educational journey and to think of what lies ahead in our near future. It was a nice ceremony. The featured speaker was Jon M. Huntsman Jr. He gave a very inspirational speech. After the ceremony we headed back home to get the rest of the family as his College Convocation didn't start until later that afternoon. 

 

We had a lot of family come out to see him walk across the stage and we were so happy to share the occassion with them. After the Convocation it was party time! Even more family and friends came to the after party and it was a great time. We had yummy food from L&L and a delicious cake from our favorite Granite Bakery. After stuffing ourselves we played some volleyball and basketball until just after 10:30pm. It was a very long day but it was one to remember.

Party Picture

Yummy strawberry swirl cake w/cream cheese filling! We're so greatful to everyone that has helped our family out to make it possible for Josh to graduate. We love all of our great babysitters who treat our kids like their own. We are very lucky and hopefully we'll be able to pay you back in some way when Josh starts rollin in the dough!

Rare Occurences

My sister has 6 kids...and not only does she have 6 kids but they're 6 boys! I thought it would be a grand idea for her to have a little vacay. She's talked about wanting to experience general conference in Salt Lake and go to some sessions in the conference center. One thing lead to another and viola! She came to Salt Lake free of kiddos and husband to spend 5 days w/us! Conference weekends are always fun because there is so much going on around town and a lot of friends and family come for the various events. So we had lots of fun and plenty of entertainment. I'm thinking about making it an annual traditition but we'll have to include the rest of the sissy's in the future.

We went to a couple of Poly Concerts and had a lot of fun. Olaea and Taima sang back-up one night at a club so we were in the front row cheering for them. Always fun to go out and support them. We stayed up til 3 or 4 in the morning a couple times. Can't remember the last time I've done that but it made me feel young again.

 This was my favorite concert that weekend. Dinah Jane solo'd and took the stage w/Fjii.

But Fjii stole the show...bandaged hand and all! We got there around 10pm and he didn't come on stage until well after midnight. So we said we'll just take a pic of the man and go find a seat because our feet were so sore and tired from standing all night. Fiji kept singing all the right songs though! We couldn't sit down. We stayed on our feet until after the encore. Well worth the pain!

We rode the trax to conference and ran into Elder Tuione who is from Independence. We might have been more excited to him then he was to see us. We wanted to get a pic w/him so we could pass it on to his mom. 

Conference Center Waterfall

So glad my sister was able to come out and hang with us. Another note worthy event that took place during her visit was when Louisville won the NCAA championship! We made navajo tacos and cheered on everyones "cousin" Peyton Siva.

Potential Baby Snatchers

They may look sweet and innocent but they're out to steal Iosua! My parents were here for a month when Iosua was born and came out again in January and stayed another month with us. They have such a strong bond with Iousa that they wanted to take him back to Missouri with them. I debated the whole time while they were here because they kept asking and hinting but in the end I just couldn't stand to have him gone. I'm sure he wouldn't have missed me nearly as much as I would have missed him. I really do appreciate them coming out to help us and watch the kids. I watch my mom take such good care of him and it makes me think she had to of done the same for all of us 6 kids when we were wee little ones.

We have created a lot of memories with their visits over the past few years. Not only do our kids get spoiled when they're in town but even me and Josh. We came home to happy kids, a clean house and dinner most nights. If there was no dinner we would make a fast food run or find some place selling Samoan food. If it's the weekend we usually go out to eat with Olaea and Taima or my parents go out with their Utah friends or jump on the fun bus to Wendover. Late weekend nights you could usually find us playing canasta (the caliente version) w/cousin Malaela or Olaea and Taima. We have a house phone and when my mom is in town that's when it rings the most. I don't bother answering the phone half the time because most of the calls are for her. She has some nephews out here so they like to spend time with her and spoil her too. And of course there's my crazy dad who can't seem to ever bring enough pills or all of his needed medication to last him his visits here. We can't figure out if he does this on accident or on purpose. This usually results in overnight packages being sent from Missouri or multiple trips to the pharmacy. We have been so lucky to have my parents visit so often while they have flying benefits. I really do cherish these times and look forward to every visit. I'm glad that even though we live in another state they are still able to be a big part of my kids lives.

Fulfilling my Auntie duties....

I really enjoyed having Annie and Lance here to visit. My sister is raising some well-mannered kids. I hope Ezias picked up on some of their good habits. They were so polite. Anytime I would do something for them or take them somewhere they would thank me....numerous times. I really appreciated how thankful they were. Josh and I have busy schedules so I felt bad for them being stuck in our little apartment all day. So when I would get home from work I would find the energy to take them out. Even if it was only to the library or grocery store. Their last day here I came home from work and Lance had cleaned my room! Ezias says he helped too. The room looked great and I was very greatful. We love having visitors despite our small living space.
One night we went to Scheel's. It's a new sporting goods store I've been hearing about. Who knew a sporting goods store could provide so much entertainment? They had a ferris wheel that only cost $1 to ride, a playland for the kids, scenic photo set ups and a cafeteria that offered us cheap ice cream and baked goods.

Remember my newly found fear of heights? The top picture is Lance and I close to the ground where I found it easy to smile. In the picture below you'll find me with a nervous smile and my hands gripping the bar for dear life. Notice the sign "DANGER! DO NOT ROCK SEAT", well I took it very seriously. Poor Lance was a little scared at first and I was not very much comfort too him. I just told him to close his eyes and don't rock the seat. He probably enjoyed the ride more than I did. I must really love these kids!

Their last night with us we all went to dinner at HoHo Gourmet Restaurant. This was my first time and I'm a fan. I've been searching for a good chinese restaurant in Utah and I'm happy to say after 5+ years the search is over! This really is "Gourmet" Chinese food. Olaea and his family came along and they are regulars there so they showed us the ropes. They used there VIP access to a private dining room upstairs all to ourselves. The food was tastey and the company was great!