Happy 38th Birthday Luluvita Elizabeth Soliai-Suamataia

My sister Lulu and I have always been close .... she's very lucky to have me in her life - lol !! I don't think very many other older sisters would tolerate her "bossy" ness ! Anyways, hope you have a great, relaxing birthday !!

~Missing my boys~

Benson ..... in Cincinatti ! You haven't called in a few days - Hope all is good on that side ! Call me this weekend ......

Williard & Carl ........ at Youth Conference ! You'll be home later this afternoon/evening - the house has been quiet !











Fotu ..... at overnight Scout Camp ! Even though you just left this morning - I miss my Fotu, he is a sweet little (not really that little) boy !

Some Special Fathers .....

Father's Day has come and gone and I didn't want you to think that I didn't think about some really "special" Dads in my life ......

The 1st one I want to blog about is my " Daddy" Fotuopalaau P. Soliai - it's been alittle over 2 years since our Dad passed away and I still miss him ! Don't get me wrong, I know he is in a better place, pain free and more importantly with our Mom - but I still think of him daily and miss him terribly. For almost 10 years (up to the day he died) my Dad had been someone I saw, talked to, laughed with, drove around or planned things around EVERY day ! It was a great blessing for me to have been able to form that bond with my Dad - and although alot of people thought Va (older Sis) was his favorite, he really didn't have one - he LOVED all his daughters the same - oi, I mean kids ! My father my WHOLE entire life never, ever showed favorites towards his kids or grandkids, we/they were always treated the same ...... and then, when I got pregnant with my 3rd child and he was a boy and I named him after Papa - boy did I make out - lol ! That kid was spoiled - if Papa had to go on a trip he took Fotu and his Mom got to travel also, when I pot pregnant with my 4th child (I already knew I was having a girl) my Dad asked me what was I gonna name my baby - I told him "Fotu" I'm not stupid - I'm naming ALL my kids after you - lol ! Happy belated Father's Day Daddy ... Rest in heavenly peace !!!

~The above picture is of my Dad with his sister Nafanua Soliai-Savali and brother Vaega Sua~

The next one is my babies Daddy .... Williard LOVES his kids (he loves me too) ! He is a good Daddy and has always been - he has a weird sense of humor but I guess after 17 years a person gets used to it ! He spoils his kids - anyone who knows my husband knows he's a really good cook, a hard worker, pretty crafty and does laundry,dishes and cleans house ..... well his kids - not so much ! We are very LUCKY to have him in our lives and WE LOVE HIM MUCH !!

~This is a picture of Williard with our daughter Salele~

The last one I want to mention is my brother in law Meki - being that we are now orpahns (lol) Meki and Va have had to step up and into the "parentals" shoes ! We are lucky our sister was blessed and married well - she is spoiled, and leads a good life and she is lucky she has someone so "learned" to council with ! I think they only had 1 child because Heavenly Father knew they would be forced to adopt 8 more plus their families !

~This is Va, Meki and their daughter Katerina~

I hope everyone had a GREAT FATHER'S DAY !!!

Weekend in Quincy

Last weekend our family drove out to Quincy, WA to attend our nephew Skyler's high school graduation. His graduation was on the 5th and then his graduation party was going to be on the 13th - the following saturday. We thought it was more important to be at his graduation and not attend the party.

Well, when we got there we had such a nice time - we decided to drive back out the following week and overnight it, that way we could attend the party and spend more time with our brother David and his fiance Janet. We LOVE Janet ... she is so funny and since meeting her has always been so caring -and just so easy to get on with. Anyways, we left Kent at about 7:45am and made our way to Quincy - it was a really nice drive - the roads were open, the weather not too hot, not too cold and we got into to Quincy at about 9:50am - we did a quick stop at Mcds to pick up breakfast and then headed out to David's house to have breakfast with him and Janet and to chill ! After breakfast the kids were thrilled that David bought out his four wheelers for them to ride .... these kids were on cloud 9 - you'd think they had ridden these things their whole life the way they were on them.

Anyways, at about 12:45pm we started getting dress to take the kids to the Aquatic center (they opened at 1pm) - they loved that ! Being from the island it is only natural to LOVE being in water - but living in washington where it is more cold than hot - it is not something we do often. The kids had a BLAST at the pool - not only was it cheap (it was $ 2.50 for children and $3.50 for adults - and you could stay as long as you wanted) but it also had a concession stand and the stuff was also cheap so that worked out great and we just bought snacks for the kids there for lunch ! We left the pool at about 4 because we needed to get home and get ready for the graduation party.

The party was nice - they had it outside - we got to meet alot of David's friends and Family and I had a good time visiting with Joyce (David's Mom), her sister and a cousins wife (I'll get their names and put them in). After the party we went home and the kids were exausted (thank goodness) - oh, and so were the adults - so we put them to bed and followed not too long after. Sunday we got up to David and Janet making us breakfast - after breakfast we hung out while the older boys went with their Uncle David to clean up and put away the tables and chairs that were used for the party. We had gone to the store to pick up an "emergency" replacement part for something in David's house and when we got back the kids were out four wheeling (yes on a sunday - those sinners) - I thought they were making foolish choices and told Lulu she need to get them in - I think Lele was the leader of that pack !

Anyways, we finally left to drive back at about 3pm and got back to Kent at about 5:54 ( traffic was bad) - and althhough it was good to be home - we miss David & Janet ! Thanks again for everything !!!

I can't believe I'm doing this .....

One of the reasons I decided to start blogging is because I seem to be "seeing" signs all the time telling me that I need get going with my journal writting ! Since, I spend so much time on the computer ( researching of course - not surfing - lol ), I figured what the hey - this might be a fun way to get me motivated to start recording down our "memories", and as an added plus I can put up pictures to show proof ! Anyway, I hope I can keep this going and not bore you guys too much. Next week tuesday the kids get out of school and I'm pretty excited - they really are growing way too quick and I've decided to try to make this summer vacation a fun, bonding, learning, relaxing and spiritual filled one - so, wish me luck,energy and PATIENCE to make sure it is what I hope !

My next "memory" I will be blogging on, is our family's road trip last week to spend the weekend with our brother in Quincy,WA.