Back From the Future

Jenie, Carrie, Me

Monday January 24th I went with a couple of friends my my old ward, Jenie Copyak and Carrie McDonough. We met at Desert Star playhouse to watch their current spoof "Back from the Future." Without getting into details, it's about a kid who uses the time machine to go back in time to change the path of his father's life to benefit himself in the future. It was pretty dang funny. There was one part where this girl who was the scientist went on a silly monologue for at least 5 minutes. The audience, the cast, and even herself was rolling with laughter. It was clear that she does something different each night at that moment. Looks like the Desert Star has a pretty good list of plays for this year. I would love to get back to see more of them, so if any of you are interested in going, let me know.


My loving husband was gracious enough to stay home with Leila. Even after he had been home with her all day since he was off work. For those of you who know how busy/active he is, for him to willingly stay home all day and all night to give me a night out is a big deal.

Double Whammy!

Leila is 16 months old today! She has been fighting a fever and a small cough for a few days. Last night was a VERY rough night. Rough enough that around 2am Kuso and I decided to call my dad to see if he would come over and help Kuso give Leila a blessing. She was restless (and had been for a few days now) and could not relax. When I held her she was stiff as a board and showed no signs of relaxing or snuggling in or going to sleep. She also had this amazing high pitched but short whimper sounding cry. She was definitely not just tired. So this morning we got her in to the doctor.

Yep.
Double Ear Infection.

Happy 16 months! I'll try and post some pics soon.

New Year's 2011

New Year's Eve was fun. Kuso's cousin has a teenage daughter that he didn't want going out. So last year, he had a "family dance" that she could bring some friends to so that they had something to do, but he also knew what they were doing. This year they had the dance again. It was bigger and better and looks like it's going to stick around for a while. It's nice for those of us with young kids because then we aren't stuck at home, but we get to be with our families too.Happy New Year from the Aiono Family!

Kuso, Kingston, Iafeta, & Burton

Leslie & Lisa

(notice my red face...I was dancing up a storm...)

Lisa & Troy

La & Leila (that's her babysitter in the mornings.)

Leila LOVES La. WE LOVE La. We couldn't ask for a better babysitter.La & Lisa

Tanu, Faioso, Leila, & My DadMatai & Gabe - Burton and Leslie's boys.

Some GENIUS decided to pass out the noise makers about 10 minutes too early.

Kuso & Kingston

Mommy & Leila

We don't really set any resolutions. I've always thought that is a silly idea because most people FAIL at completing or even starting their resolutions. I get ideas of things I would like to improve or start in my life, but I don't ever mention them out loud. (Which is one of the biggest reasons goals don't work. One of the first steps is to put it on paper - make it real - get a support group.) Oh well. I don't need a new year to start for me to realize there are some changes that need to be made in my personal life as well as for our family. Let's just say that recognition is there, and there will hopefully be some action toward fixing that recognition. There, my resolutions are in print.

2010 was a good year and here is to wishing that 2011 will top it!

Say Cheese!

Leila LOVES to see pictures of herself. She was having a rough night (just whiny) so I pulled the camera out. We took pictures. After each shot, she would grab the camera to look at it. She would laugh so hard (her fake hard laugh. It's hilarious.) Take One
What's mom doing?

I can do that!

Then she laughs. Words cannot express how much fun this little girl is and how much we love her!

Christmas 2010

In 1995, some neighbor boys broke into my parents camper and stole our Christmas presents. Stemming from that, we have a family tradition that we stay up until midnight on Christmas Eve, open presents, hang out, then go to bed. Then we get to sleep in on Christmas morning and the day doesn't seem so long. So, in keeping with tradition, we have figured out a way to make that work along with having our own little family Christmas after Santa comes.

We hung out at my parents on Christmas Eve. We ate dinner, we ate snacks, we played games, we watched TV. Then at midnight, we opened all the presents under their tree, which are all trades between my parents, my siblings and their small families, and the gift exchange between my mom's extended side of the family. We were spoiled! We always are. And yes, Leila stayed up until midnight and opened (well, watched us open) her presents. She actually didn't even fall asleep until 1 am when we got in the car to go home.

Once we got home, Leila was knocked out cold, so we put her to bed so Santa could come. When Leila woke up Christmas morning, these are a few of the things that she foundThis dog. She loves it. She walked out, saw it, crouched down and made grabbing motions with her hands, then walked over to it, bent down and kissed it, then hugged it. SO DANG CUTE!

Next she saw the baby doll. She immediately grabbed the bottle and fed her baby.Then she fed herself.
Then she saw the toys that she had opened the night before from Shawn, Michelle, and Kiley. A WONDERFUL guitar and keyboard that are SO quiet you can't even tell they are in the room. (Insert sarcasm here.) One might think that the noisy toys are "payback" for some dress up shoes Kiley got for her birthday that click-clack-click-clack in rapid running pattern across their hardwood floors. However, that was not my intention. Kiley loves shoes. Shawn made it very clear that these toys were bought because Leila loves music so much. (?). Either way, she actually does like them a lot. And unless she hits the "demo" button that keeps the stupid thing running, it's been a fun toy. She LOVES the microphone. She "agh agh agh agh" and blows into it to make loud sounds. But then she laughs and since I LOVE her laugh, it makes the musical instruments tolerable. For now.

The dog got good use. She plays on it.

And sleeps on it.

Christmas is always fun. By far one of the best Holiday's of the year. It's fun to see Kuso get into buying and wrapping and hiding presents from me. Growing up they didn't really have presents for Christmas, so this part of how we celebrate is fun and exciting for him. As long as I give him a list of ideas. He's not so keen on coming up with ideas. But he likes the excitement of surprises, so he really enjoys presents.

It's also fun to hear him talk about his traditions back home. As we drove home late Christmas Eve, he commented about how BORING Christmas is over here. In Samoa, people are up all night, eating and playing volleyball and singing songs and just spending time together. That is what Christmas is to him. He gets to have a little taste of that by playing volleyball on Christmas Eve for a few hours and basketball Christmas morning for a few hours. When our kids are older and can take care of themselves, we might be able to incorporate more of that all day all night party that the Samoan people embrace.

This year as I put up decorations, I decided to leave my two small Christ statues out rather than replacing them with snowmen. It was a good reminder to me each time I walked down the hallway to remember what Christmas is truly about. Although we have fun with presents and dinners and traditions, ultimately, Christmas is about Our Savior and the Love our Savior has for each one of us.

Leila's Trip to Meet Santa...Or Not.

Saturday December 18, 2010 we took Leila to Valley Fair Mall to meet Santa. We have a neighbor that has a white beard that she likes, so we were HOPING that she would like Santa and we could take a cute picture of her and Santa. Well, us being the geniuses that we are, decided to go to the mall the Saturday before Christmas. Duh. The line to see Santa was at least 45 minutes long. Not waiting with a 15 month old who can't even tell Santa what she wants for THAT long. Our shopping was already done and had been done, so we just wandered around the mall since we were there.


This is what we found.... Merry-Go-Round - she rode it 3-4 times and we only paid about $.50 one time out of all those times. Other people kept paying and if I offered, they just didn't care. Their kid was going to ride anyway...we weren't in any hurry to go anywhere...so we let her ride. and ride. and ride.

Then we went to the food court to eat. In the back corner they have more toys. She found them and played and climbed and played and climbed. She particularly liked this truck one. She could sit in the front seat and then walk to the back seat. She had fun.

Nosey little girl...always having to see what's going on around her.

And again...always looking out.

Friend Christmas Party

On Friday December 17, 2010, our good friends Burton and Leslie Uta'i hosted a Christmas party. We had a little potluck, did an ornament exchange game, and just hung out enjoying the company of good friends. I'm greatful to have good friends who put forth effort to get people together. Leslie said she wants to try and do this every year. I'm in FULL support. Heck, I'm even willing to have it at our house, I just need someone to get the ball rolling and get the party planned...not just talked about.

My little King-a-roo. He is so sweet. He loves Auntie Lisa. Just ask him. :)

I had to post this picture, not so much for the wonderful quality and professional job that was done, but to show Leila's latest development. She is now climbing onto things. Mostly chairs and couches, but she already tries to climb onto tables from chairs and whatnot. Gotta love developmental stages.