Busy Busy Holiday Weekend. . . . .

Mt Ogden Park that's filled w/this playground, hiking/biking/jogging trails, & a golf course :D

Cheesin' for his dad so Hoko can see how big he's gotten. :D

Enjoying her cookie dough shake from Jake's

So I've been indulging in my kids lately. This always happens when Hoko leaves out of town for work. I get so clingy to them that I'm not interested in doing anything that they can't be with me at. So that pretty much means that we've been at parks, movie theaters, grandma's house, auntie Lote's house & that's pretty much it. It's been really difficult, to say the least, for me to go to school since Hoko's been gone cause Savou's been that much more attached to my butt than normal. And I'm sure it has a lot to do with me being pregnant, again. He's also MAJORLY clingy to my girls. But if he sees me leaving somewhere, he gets so sad. He doesn't cry, he's just really sad & constantly staring out the front window awaiting my return. :( Awful, right?? Well, I'm just as CLINGY to them as they are to me. Lol. Or at least my youngest is. My other kids could care less if they're with me or not, except for maybe the fact that my older girls are pretty aware & mindful of my pregnancy & help out in every way they can. :D

Just getting to the Junction 13

Ready for 'Captain America' :D

Excited!! :D

Popcorn & drinks in hand :D

About half-way thru the movie, I ended up out in the hall w/the three younger ones cause they weren't interested in the movie anymore. Lol

He's the BIGGEST 'Cars' fan!! :D

And so are they!! :D

Well, last Saturday we went & grabbed us some shakes to give us some sort of temporary physical relief from this heat wave we've been experiencing lately. And while it hasn't been that hot, being pregnant in this kinda weather is the WORST!! After that we headed to the park for the kids to play while we waited for our movie to start. The kids were dying to watch Captain America, but we weren't in Salt Lake so that we could just go watch it at the drive inns. And since I wasn't about to pay for all of them, we came to an agreement that we would only go watch it at the Junction 13 if the girls paid for themselves from their piggy banks. Which they just got some pretty cool new ones that I'll for be blogging about real soon. :D

So we decided to take pics the WHOLE time while we waited for the movie to end. Lol.

Funny faces!! Lol!!

Baby Hoko took this pic. . .he did pretty good. :D

They can't wait to watch this movie. Esp since they know they're parents grew up watching these cartoons. :D

Sunday came & we were so excited & so happy for my nephew, Gemini. He just turned twelve years old the Friday prior, so we had the wonderful opportunity of witnessing this AMAZING young fella receive the Aaronic Priesthood. I am such a proud auntie of this young man. He is such a breath of fresh air in our family. He keeps us all laughing with his goofy & class clown nature. I have the FONDEST memories of him growing up cause I took care of him a lot & I love him for the decisions that he's made thus far in his life. He makes me so proud to be his aunt. As cheesie as that may sound, it's all true. :D My kids absolutely adore their cousin. It doesn't matter how much more older he is than them, he always treats them like their special & that they mean a lot to him. I love you GEMINI VAINUKU & am so happy that you've chosen to keep yourself worthy of upholding the priesthood ordinances that you just received. :D We bbq'd afterwards at my sister's place & enjoyed the company of families & friends.

Monday came & we headed to Liberty Park for the Days of '47 parade. Our favorite float was definitely this one: The Kung Fu Panda 2 float was so nice!! It's the only one I made sure we took a picture with. :D We also got to enjoy a lil concert put on by the infamous Liahona band. This band never disappoints year in & year out. I love watching their dancers & hearing their music. The rest of the day was filled with the kids playing with their cousins & just enjoying the overcast weather that filled up most of the day. Thank goodness or I wouldn't have made it through the day. My parents were ready to leave the park around 7 pm so we decided that was our que as well. :D We stopped by Mo Bettah Steaks to grab some food & then headed home. The weekend was definitely busy, but always so worthwhile when being able to spend it with family. :D

Definitely our FAVORITE float this year!! :D

Enjoying the mini concert given by the Liahona band :D

On a side note, I'm happy to say that summer semester is coming to a close sooner than later so I'll be too happy with the couple of weeks break before fall semester starts. Until then, that's all folks. . . . . .

CUTE, much?? :D

Hoko called me this evening & told me that he posted a message for me on my FB wall. This was what I found with this message attached to it: 'wanna dedicate this to my number ONE my BEST FRIEND in the whole world love and miss you so much' CUTE, much?? :D



I've never heard this song before, but I love it!! It's exactly what we've both been feeling like being apart this time around. Whether on different days, the same days or at the same time. . . .I got teary eyed listening to it over & over again!! I think because I'm so pregnant right now & my emotions are all over the place. And because I love this man with all my heart & can't imagine my life without him. Thnx for this babe!! Especially on a day like today when everything seemed to not be so easy. With the toilet flooding our basement at the top of this list. :( Gross. . . .but we got it all cleaned up & the Roto Rooter man came to the rescue. So we're now back in business. I'm trying to do my homework, but it seems impossible with my two boys missing their dad & harassing me about when he'll be back along with Savou's question of 'where daddy mom?' for about a million times a day. And as we're coming to a close of another day and Savou is literally doing his version of IP Man on my face right now, lol, I know we're gonna be doing this all over again tomorrow except with a whole new set of challenges brought on by a whole new day. Praying for a miraculous relief. . . .even though I know I'm being dramatic right now. This moment will surely pass as they all do & I will be fine. :D

Weekend/Summer Fun!! :D

Pineview Reservoir

The weekend's not over yet, but we've been having so much fun together. And by 'we' I'm referring to me & my kids. Oh & my nieces & nephews as well. :D The kids have been counting down the days til the release of the Harry Potter movie. And yet I had no clue. Lol. My sister called me earlier this week to see if I wanted to take Aaliyah to the premier of this movie this weekend cause she was taking Cedez. I told her it's okay cause I hadn't heard Aaliyah mention anything about it. Plus, I really wanted to spend time with ALL my kids & I'm not willing to pay for all of US to watch movies @ the megaplex. Too dang expensive!! That only happens when Hoko's home. Which seems to NEVER be during the summer time so we can HIT up the drive inns instead. Anyways, that very same day that my sister called me, I was sitting with the kids in the living room doing homework & the preview for the movie came on. . . . .after it was done, they all turned to me & said, "We're watching that this weekend right mom??" I was like, really?? You guys really wanna watch this movie?? And in unison they all replied, "YES!!" Hahaha!! So I decided to take it to the drive inns where we can take our own food, set up our own blankets & pillows, make as much noise as we want in our van, & most of all. . . . . .it won't cost us an arm & a leg. With of course the bonus being that we get to watch two movies instead of just one. :D

My CUTIE, Savou!! :D

We got to the drive inns a WHOLE hour & a half before the movie started

Baby Hoko cheesin'

Everyone waited ever so patiently. . . . :D My handsome nephews, Gemini & Sale

Posers. . . .

Me with ten of the kids. . . .the eleventh one is taking this pix!! Lol.

So I called my sister up yesterday cause I knew that her & her husband were attending a funeral for a death in the family (her husband's side), to see if they were taking their kids with them. She said most likely not so I volunteered my services in taking all five of her kids along with my six. WOW!! Hahahaha. . . . .as crazy as it sounds, the only thing I hadn't thought about was how we were all gonna fit. Hoi!! But we did & towards the end of Harry Potter, which was our first movie, all the younger kids were sound asleep. Thank goodness. We were able to enjoy our second movie, Green Lantern, in peace. No bathroom runs, breaking up fights, cleaning up spills, changing diapers, etc. . . . .we got to just LOUNGE around & literally enjoy the second movie. :D We had such a blast, even with eleven kids in tow. But I probably won't be doing that again. And only because I don't have enough room for them to ride comfortably in to & from where ever it is we go.

These three were excited that movie finally started!! Lol.

Snacks & drinks in the cooler ready to go!! :D

So intense!! Lol.

Still in one piece!! Hahaha. . . .

After we dropped my nieces & nephews off at home, we drove back here to Ogden to OUR home. We didn't get here til after three. And surprisingly, I still had enough energy to carry my three younger ones to their beds, bring in our cooler, chairs & blankets, & clean out the van. I've kinda been going thru this phase of being OCD about keeping our van clean. I'm the same way about our home, but our minivan's much more compact in size to be able to stay on top of so I pick the van. It has a lot to do with the fact that my kids just can't clean the way I like things to be cleaned so I've given up on the fact that it'll ever be that way between now & Oct. My due date. I can't wait for it to hurry up & get here. And yet we're still evidently in July. Lol.

The view while we're driving!! :D Isn't it beautiful?? :D

Well, on to the next. Today started off kinda late in the morning. I didn't wake up until 10 am. And it wasn't by choice. It was to Savou's every morning plea to please fill up his cup. :D So I happily get up for him cause he's such a CUTIE & so innocent in his plea for his cup to be filled up!! :D It's also one of the very few things that'll make his dad jump up & run as quickly as he can to fulfill his baby's request. Lol. After doing that, I knew that Savou was up for good. But he was still a little lazy so we laid in bed for another hour or so before actually really getting up for the day. I promised the girls that we'd go to the library today since we didn't make it there yesterday. They had books that needed to be returned & they also wanted to pick up some new ones. After we all ate breakfast, cleaned house & showered, we were off to the library. While there, there was a sign up pointing to a room with it's door opened that read family movie showing @ 3. I glanced quickly & kept walking so we can hurry & return their books & get started on finding new ones. Once we were all done, we headed out. But when I saw this sign again, I stopped & told the kids for us to walk in the theater & check it out. I was literally AMAZED!! The theater is awesome. And so big!! I tried to convince the kids for us to stay & watch 'Aladin' which is what was showing, but the older girls were adamant on heading to the lake. So we came to a compromise & decided that we'll plan to come to the next movie showing which is on the 30th. And they're showing 'Alice In Wonderland.' One of my all time faves!! :D

We headed straight to the lake from there. I'm not exactly sure what this lake is called, but it's only a couple of minutes from my house. And it's BEAUTIFUL!! Today was THEE perfect day to be there. The water wasn't too cold. The sun wasn't too HOTT. The breeze was perfect, both in temperature & in movement. I was so grateful. I packed sandwiches, chips, cookies, & drinks for the kids so we were set. :D We swam, we ate, we played, we laughed. . . . .& most importantly, we spent quality time creating unforgettable memories with each other. I love my kids so much for being such a constant reminder to me that it's always the simple things in life that creates such happiness all around us. And more importantly, all around ME. It's definitely been such a memorable weekend while at the same time, there was no special occasion being celebrated or even any of this being previously planned. Yet we had such an amazing time together. :D And what surprised me the most was having so much fun in the absence of my husband. Even though I know for sure that it would've been much more enjoyable with his presence cause I know he would've went all out & had the bbq going, a canopy up & all that good stuff. . . . .but it was fantastic nonetheless. :D Here's our weekend pics!! Enjoy. . . . .

Having a blast!! :D

So much FUN!! :D

I love them so much!! Each of them are a piece of ME. . .. :D

These two were the first out of the lake!! Lol.