Surf, Sun, Sandy Beaches...

Well, we don't quite have the sandy beaches or are able to surf in the ocean, but we definitely have the sun. AND, we can act like we are surfing down the slip 'n' slide! It is quite the fun time just to watch the kids run half way down the slip 'n' slide and then decide to slide. Or for Tula'i is was, slide a little get up and slide again repeating this pattern until the end of the slide was reached. At the end they would all like to stay in the puddle of water that had accumulated. They all LOVE to play in the water and I can't imagine a little kid not liking it. But, we had a fun filled week of water last week. One of our friends bought a big pool and we went over on Monday. Tuesday we stayed home and did the slip 'n' slide and filled our little pool. Wendnesday, I went with a friend and her two girls up to a splash park. Thursday, I made the kids stay inside and chill that day so I could clean and get the laundry done. But, back to the water on Saturday! Oh what fun water can be and if I didn't have things to do while I was at home, I would be slippin' and slidin' right along side of them.



Maika would keep stepping on the holes to make the water shoot up higher on the rest of the slide. It would make Kalena mad, but oh well. He was having tons of fun.





Tula'i was in the water the most this day. I don't think he took a single break to dry off at any point in time until I shut the water off.







Their cousin Anatoniga was over for the day and about an hour later our other friends came over, but I was done with the camera by then.



Here is a short video of the kids playing around on them. Just a few things to notice are: Tula'i butting in front of everyone, Tula'i's white plumber's crack, and at the end of the video Tula'i and Maika are racing and Kalena announces the winner of the race...Maika's reaction is so funny I wish I would have gotten the video from the front.

Thank You for Grandmas

Last night we had a very cheap family home evening activity, thanks to Grandma! She is always bringing stuff for the kids to play with or little fun things to do. Last night I decided to bust out the train kits that she had left for the kids to paint. I glued them all together beforehand so I could just enjoy the time watching them paint their box car. Of course, I had to get some pictures of them hard at work. They all love to paint and Lavea'i just likes to make a mess. He got mad when I took his away because he just started putting the paint on the table. I took over and finished his. He started throwing a tantrum by flinging himself back in his chair and then trying to hit me. When I decided to let him paint again, he only painted for a couple of minutes before being done. Thanks, Mom, for the crafts and the cheap FHE activity.









Thanks for the slip 'n' slides too. Pictures of that on another post.

Testimony of Food Storage

Cliff lost his job at the beginning of April, which put some projects on halt. Anyway, we have been buying food storage here and there. I would buy things that were on sale and just stash it down in the food trying to listen to the prophets counsel of saving up our year supply. Well, not only did we stock up on canned goods, but we stocked up on meat, a little bit of good ol' t.p., and washing detergent. He has recently returned to work, but I must say that we need to stock up even more with a few more things. I have had to use what I had in storage to cook our meals and let me say we ate a lot of spaghetti, ramen noodles, pancakes and hamburger helper. I even used some of our powdered milk when needed and it didn't taste bad at all. But, I know that now I would stock up on more things other than what I have to make it more of a variety down there instead of eating the same things. I also know that we were prepared well enough for the kids not to be affected at all by it. They had no idea because we still had treats to make and eat. In fact, my sister-in-law came over and laughed because of all the brownies and cake mixes I have down there.

So, those of you that don't have your food storage, hop to it. Cliff and I had no warning of him even getting laid off. He went into work one morning and came home at lunch with no job. CRAZY, but at least we were prepared somewhat.

Happy 4th of July!

Usually every year we get together with Cliff's family, but this year it was my side. I was excited when 2 of my sisters said they were coming. Our oldest sister had a good reason not to be coming...adopting a baby. Cliff started off his 4th by going fishing at midnight and staying out all night. So much for his 5k he said he would run with me. That is okay because I got my sister and a friend to run it. It was quite the challenge the last mile being a steady incline. The race was started well with the pledge of allegiance and the singing of our national anthem. I haven't heard any one say the pledge of allegiance for a very long time and man, it sounded so nice to hear it loud and clear from the crowd of runners that morning.

After the race, we just sat around for a little bit then headed out to the store to get a few last minute items...including fireworks. My favorite firework this year was the big parachute guy. It is one that you can do during the day and is loud.

When we got back from the store everyone started showing up. The kids played in the water while the food was being cooked. The adults sat around talking story and enjoying each others company. Cliff's back somehow started to hurt that day and he was in so much pain, but he still BBQ'd all of his YUMMY chicken and then took a ton of ibuprofen and off to bed he went for a couple of hours. Every year this is the day I make homemade ice cream. This year I took my brother's advice and did strawberry and boy it turned out SO DELICIOUS!

We pulled out the Mexican horseshoes game after eating and my sister and I were the champs, until my brother warmed up and then they barely beat us. That was the game for the night.

I don't know what the deal is, but kids absolutely love sparklers and pop its. I bought a box of pop its for each kid and then they all were able to have one huge sparkler.



Jakai wasn't into it so much because Aunty Shara had woken him up from his 4 1/2 hour nap. But, he sat there and watched the whole thing.



Lavea'i sat it my nieces lap the whole night chillin' with her. He did enjoy the show and kept looking at the neighbors when our were all done. He was really tired along with all of the other kids. Tula'i knocked out in my arms while everyone was getting ready to leave. But, I still had to give them baths so in the tub he went and cried the whole time. But, as soon as he was done into bed they all went and crashed in no time.



Kaleo was my helper in lighting the fireworks, but then my brother, Kimo took over so I could at least get these few pictures. I haven't seen him for so long he has just grown up so much. Time flies!



Maika's usual pose when he thinks that something is too loud. You will catch him and Tula'i covering their ears quite a bit.

Not the Best FHE

We have just finished the story of Nephi and his brothers returning to get the brass plates from wicked King Laban. It is funny to think that the one of the only things the boys remember, even Tula'i, is the graphic detail of Nephi cutting off Laban's head. So, a last minute family home evening idea was to act out this story.



While trying to get the story started, the 2 older boys had their own agenda as well as Lavea'i:

They get the fighting from a movie called "Ip Man." It is a story about the master of Bruce Lee all in subtitles, but very good to watch. So, the boys are playing as if they are the Ip Mans.

Kalena got in on a little bit of the action, but she was the only one focused on fulfilling the commandment of getting the brass plates. Now we know why she was able to play the part of Nephi. The after math of the boys playing around is Cliff questioning them about the story and as you can see...all they can focus on is the cutting off of Laban's head. Boys will be boys!!

It's Time to Get Dressed

One morning Cliff told Maika to go and get dressed. I have both his and Tula'i's clothes in the same drawers. They can wear the same clothes but Tula'i's pants are a bit shorter. So, this is what Maika came out wearing. Not only did I crack up at the choice of his outfit, but also the way he put it on. His pants (which are Tula'i's) are on backwards and about 3 inches too high...waiting around for a flood. His shirt is on backwards and inside out.



He definitely takes after his father when he dresses. Gotta love how kids dress themselves.

New Found Hobby

Jethro, Cliff's brother, has been going fishing a ton lately and that is his new found hobby. Well, it has rubbed off onto Cliff. I can't believe how much Cliff likes to go fishing now. For the past 2 Saturday's they have been and even some nights throughout the week. Well, the day that got him hooked on fishing was the day we all went together for the our second time as a family. Kalena caught her first trout and said, "I want to keep it so Daddy can eat it." Notice that she wouldn't touch the fish, so Uncle Jethro had to hold it in the picture for her.



The place we went was up at the Spanish Fork reservoir. It is a man made one and they keep it stocked with fish. So, it is a nice place for the kids to just play around as the fishing happens.

We went in the early evening and just ordered some pizza to take down with us for dinner. I got a couple of good pictures with our video camera. I took our nice camera, but realized that I forgot to put the memory card back in it from the last time I blogged. So, these pictures will have to do for the memories we created that night.