Mouth Watering Waffles

So, those of you that know me, I always go to allrecipes.com to look for new things to make for dinner. I will only choose the 4-5 star recipes that have good reviews. I LOVE this website. Yesterday morning I decided to make waffles from scratch, but didn't have a good recipe. Of course, I went to allrecipes.com and found the most delicious recipe for them. It takes a little bit more energy than just adding water, but 120% worth the wait on being made. In fact, I made them yesterday and this morning for breakfast and I have never seen the waffles go so quickly. They all disappeared really fast with Maika eating the most at 4 1/2 waffles. Anyway, YOU HAVE TO TRY THEM if you like waffles and even if you don't!

Jesus Made Me....

Last night after dinner, Kalena was hugging Cliff and here is the conversation that happened:

Cliff: You are almost as dark as Daddy.
Kalena: Yeah, I am
Cliff: That is weird because you were so white when you were born.
Kalena: Jesus made me brown so I can be like you.

I just had to laugh because she must want to be like her Daddy because she does always tell me "Mom you are bright (white)." I just say yes I am and that is okay.

Little Things

As I was going through the pictures on the camera, I nearly forgot about some of the little things to blog about.

One of them is when my sister-in-law, Traci came over for dinner and she brought some Twinkies. I completely forgot this was a twinkie Lavea'i was eating until I kept going through the pictures and I have one of me holding a second twinkie for him to take a bite. It definitely was a winner with him.



One night at dinner, I noticed Lavea'i licking his plate. He does it ALL the time now if it has some sort of sauce on it such as ketchup or ranch. It brings back memories of my mom's yummy, frozen strawberry syrup. I always licked my plate so clean it probably didn't even need to be washed.



I had taken pictures of all the kids that night at the table and I didn't want to leave Tula'i out of the post because he is just so handsome.



Another little thing that I absolutely LOVE is Kalena and all her accessorizing. Cliff had just gone to the airsoft gun store and bought the kids cheap guns. When it finally was sunny one day he took them out in the back yard and shot a few rounds. When they were done Kalena put on his goggles and rode her bike around the back yard with them. I enjoyed seeing it and had to get a picture.



Along with her, Maika just continued to keep on shooting or acting like it. Just a little side note on him and Tula'i. We have caught Maika using a stick of gum for a gun in church. And just today, Tula'i used half a chicken nugget for a gun. If that doesn't tell you how much these two like guns, I don't know what would.



Last but not least, I was watching my friends little girl last weekend while her and her husband went to dinner. Her little girl, Kenna, is so stinking cute! Lavea'i and Kenna always get along so well. They were born 10 days apart from each other so that is probably why they get along. They understand each other because it is hard for me to dumb it down to his level of speech. So, he probably likes to be able to talk with someone of his own age. But that night, Kenna and Lavea'i were standing right next to each other drinking water and jabbering back and forth. I decided to get some pictures. When I would tell them to say cheese, Lavea'i would do it and Kenna would just look at him like he was crazy.

A Child's Perspective

I stayed home from Sacrament meeting with the 2 youngest boys due to colds. Nothing major, but enough to keep them home and away so other kids don't get the yucky, runny, stuffy noses and cough.

So, as I was checking my email to see if our Relief Society lesson was sent out via email, I got an email from Cliff with this picture attached. The title of the email was "Guess who this is?" I guessed it was Barbie, because Kalena loves her. But, I was WAY OFF. The lucky portrait is of myself.



She is quite the artist. If I must say, it is quite the exact replica of me. NO SARCASM AT ALL IN THAT STATEMENT! HAHAHAHAHA!

Talks, Scriptures, Musical Numbers, What Else?

It is fun seeing the kids go to primary and really enjoying it. After about the first 2 months of fighting with Maika to go to primary without us, he is now going on his own and LOVES it! Not only does he love it, but he is giving the scripture this Sunday. Kalena just gave a talk this past Sunday and I also accompanied a girl who plays the violin for a special musical number. The accompaniment wasn't the easiest, but I did it after hours of practice and help from the Lord. Kalena GAVE a very good talk. I worked with her on Saturday to memorize it and this is she did:

When I do things that help me find the way to Jesus and Heavenly Father.
When I show my faith, when I'm saying my prayers.
(She missed the part "When I hurt somebody, I say sorry.)
When I am baptized, I will be 8 years old.
When my dad gives me a blessing for the Holy Ghost.
When I try to choose the right.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Of course, I had worded it differently, but that is the way she memorized it and gave it. In her own little words, she gave her talk and did a FABULOUS job! It was so good that we rewarded her by making a rainbow chip cake.

Now it is Maika's turn and I pray that he will be able to memorize the 4th Article of Faith and not be so shy on Sunday that he doesn't give it. But, I have learned through experience with Kalena that if she has been prepared she never fails. So, I am hoping this is the case with Maika. I will let you know how it goes.

The "Poor" People's Trip

This is such a late post, but I was finally able to edit my photos (well, at least the few that were taken). We went to Disney land again this year, but this time we drove and enjoyed the trip with my brother-in-law, Jethro, and his family. The timing could not have been better. The longest we ever stood in a line was 20 minutes and that was for Space Mountain and Hotel Tower of Terror. It was so much more fun to go with another family. Kalena loved it more this time around because she was with her cousin, Anatoniga. Lavea'i did great once again. This time around we actually did quite a few rides for the little kiddies. My favorite little kid ride was Buzz Lightyear. The boys really liked it too because of the gun shooting. What can I say, they love their guns!

The first day we ended up staying in California Adventure. Our very first ride was "Soaring over California." It was amazing to feel like we were actually flying. Then off to "A Bug's Life" 3D show. Ana was crying before it was halfway through... poor girl. Then we went up to get "Bear River Run," which is one of the funnest rides because you get wet. What better way to have fun in the heat than to get all wet? Just remember not to wear a white shirt. Our day ended watching the Pixar parade. Maika loved it, but Kalena had knocked out as soon as she sat down in the stroller. We were all tired due to the driving the previous night and getting a little bit of a snoozer in St. George at Cliff's cousin's house. Thanks Dustin and Sue!

The second day we headed to Disneyland side and took in most of what we wanted. We never stopped to get pictures of us in front of the Disneyland flower bed of Mickey. Didn't want to wait for the line to die down, but we did get one in front of "Cinderella's castle," as Kalena put it.



There we went on the carousel and a bunch of other rides that Lavea'i could go on. He wasn't too impressed though.

By the time we were done with all of the kids rides we were starving. So, off for lunch. Cliff bought him and the boys turkey legs to eat. He should have bought one because they were so GINORMOUS! I ate a supposed to be chimichanga...YUCK! Don't ever buy one, it isn't worth the money. I repeat DON'T EVER GET ONE OF THOSE!!! The kids were getting worn out by this time, but we still had to go, go, go! Gotta get that $$$$ worth.



After lunch, we went back to California Adventure to ride the "Hotel Tower of Terror." Amazingly fun and gut wrenching ride! We got both Kalena and Maika on the ride along with "Space Mountain" earlier that morning. As you can see, they were quite scared. Maika, I am surprised, went on it again the next morning and this was his reaction.



Man, what kind of parents are we to take our kids on these rides? I loved being able to take them though and always see them hold on for life.



This was our last ride for day 2, because now it was time to eat again.

We went to Ariel's Grotto to eat dinner with the princesses. It cost a bit of money, but definitely worth it for the girls and not having to stand in line to get every princess's autograph. Kalena wanted a book to get all there signatures, but we didn't have one. I tried to get her to let them sign her shirt, but she wouldn't hear of it. She had to have paper, so luckily Auntie Traci had an extra pad of paper. But, I did get Tula'i to let Ariel sign his sneaker.







Along with dinner, they give all the kids crowns to decorate with a page of stickers, but where do they all end up. Just ask Dad.



Dinner was yummy of course, but a bit much for me to eat this time around. I ended up giving some of my tri-tip to Cliff. I think it is because I ate all the salad in the appetizer dish.

After dinner, off we went back to the hotel. Later that night, Jethro and Traci watched the kids so Cliff and I could go on a ride...Space Mountain. First time Cliff had been on this one. Now, just imagine a 6'2", Samoan guy in those mini roller coaster carts. He could barely get the bar over his knees. Poor guy! I felt bad, but we still had fun on it. By the time we got back up to the room, only Lavea'i was sleeping. I was surprised that he wasn't the only one still up like usual.

Anyway, Day 2 was over and the next day was it. We hit a couple more rides and called it quits!!! It's a Small World was the winner for that day.





What an exhausting, but fun trip. Cliff did point out how we as parents say we are going on vacation to Disneyland, but it really is A TON of more work than just being at home.

Of course, we can't leave without getting a picture of the kids with Mickey Mouse! And this is definitely one of my favorites of the kids. Too bad Maika had to go with Dad again on the Hotel ride.



By the way, the reason for it being called the "poor people's trip" is because we had planned on this for over a month, but in the mean time Cliff lost his job. We had already paid for the hotel and had a few bucks saved up to go. But when I told my mom we had gone, she came back with "Oh, is that where the poor people go on vacation now?" And I say, "Yes, YES it is," as I chuckle.