Since today is the 18th, I decided to describe my weekend in 18 words.
Laser hair removal - on hold. Concrete - almost complete. Dinner - Cracker Barrel. Rugby. Beto's. Drive-in movie. Church - "woo-hoo!" - again.
Kind of challenging, but kind of fun. (btw...hyphenated words only count as one since you just counted all my words!)
Monday, July 18, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Free as a Bird!
Leila loves the water. We set this little pool up while Troy and Kuso worked on getting our cement project prepped...(which we will FINALLY pour tomorrow! I'm SO excited to have that project done.) Anyway, I just took Leila's clothes off and let her play since she still needed to take a bath.
Well, the diaper got SUPER soaked. Actually, I'm quite amazed with how much water that thing held. I finally took it off and just let her play naked for a little bit. I squeezed the diaper and had to squeeze pretty hard to get any water to come out. Amazing. Then I touched it (like on the commercial) and it felt pretty dry considering it was filled to the brim.
How liberating does that look to sit in your backyard, naked, basking in the sun? I think it looks heavenly. A couple years ago, I took an outside shower at girls camp around noon. The sun was shining and the water was perfect. I LOVED it. Then the outside showering experiences in Samoa...man, I love to be outside naked. Too bad it won't ever happen. You can all thank me for my restraint.
Any time she sees the camera, she has to have her picture taken, then look at it. BOTH of these pictures are from her seeing the camera, then saying "CHEEEEESE." (and usually tilts her head.)
Well, the diaper got SUPER soaked. Actually, I'm quite amazed with how much water that thing held. I finally took it off and just let her play naked for a little bit. I squeezed the diaper and had to squeeze pretty hard to get any water to come out. Amazing. Then I touched it (like on the commercial) and it felt pretty dry considering it was filled to the brim.
How liberating does that look to sit in your backyard, naked, basking in the sun? I think it looks heavenly. A couple years ago, I took an outside shower at girls camp around noon. The sun was shining and the water was perfect. I LOVED it. Then the outside showering experiences in Samoa...man, I love to be outside naked. Too bad it won't ever happen. You can all thank me for my restraint. Any time she sees the camera, she has to have her picture taken, then look at it. BOTH of these pictures are from her seeing the camera, then saying "CHEEEEESE." (and usually tilts her head.) Look how NICELY her face has healed up. I'm HOPING it will stay that way. I'm putting "monkey balm" on it morning and night to hopefully keep that awful dry skin from coming back.
The picture below is from a week prior to the above picture.
4th of July 2011
The 4th of July Shawn, Michelle, and Kiley were still in town, so we went to the zoo. Utah's Hogle Zoo has "Zoorassic Park" set up for the summer. They have all of these cool dinosaurs that move and roar. Some spit water! Most of them have baby one's nearby too. The cool part about them, is they were just scattered throughout the zoo, but they didn't look like they were out of place. Leila wasn't too fond of them, in fact, she hated them. Which is kind of surprising given how brave she is about other things. Not this.
Most of the dino's also had plaque's by them telling you the name of the dinosaur and what scale this model is made to. I didn't look at most of them, but they were about 1/2 or 2/3 to real scale.
Above and Below: My disgusting brothers making the most of their photo op with this giant Elephant statue.
Some of the Wild Life. Our friend Dorian works at the zoo (with the reptiles. YUCK!) but he was going to give us the chance to take the girls back and see some lizards and snakes (we politely declined...again, YUCK!...but he also had access to the ENORMOUS tortoises that are like 100 years old! But he wasn't available to take us for almost 2 more hours. By this time, we had already been there for close to 2 hours and keeping these small girls there that much longer was going to be hard...and chances are, Leila would have been scared anyway!
These statues were about the only things she wasn't scared of...AFTER she watched them for a minute to make sure they weren't moving! (funny side note - when she hugs things, often times she will say "hug" while she is hugging it. Cute.) 
Above and Below: My disgusting brothers making the most of their photo op with this giant Elephant statue.Some of the Wild Life. Our friend Dorian works at the zoo (with the reptiles. YUCK!) but he was going to give us the chance to take the girls back and see some lizards and snakes (we politely declined...again, YUCK!...but he also had access to the ENORMOUS tortoises that are like 100 years old! But he wasn't available to take us for almost 2 more hours. By this time, we had already been there for close to 2 hours and keeping these small girls there that much longer was going to be hard...and chances are, Leila would have been scared anyway!See what I mean? She was even scared of the Lion fountain!
These statues were about the only things she wasn't scared of...AFTER she watched them for a minute to make sure they weren't moving! (funny side note - when she hugs things, often times she will say "hug" while she is hugging it. Cute.) 
Leila loves pockets. and I love watching her put her hands in her pockets.
Family Photos
Family PhotosMy "white trash" family. Troy REALLY wanted to get into the garbage can, and if they came and changed out the bag, he would have. Luckily for us, the bag was dirty and he was able to restrain himself.
After the zoo, we stopped by Pizza Factory for lunch. (It's not as good as the original one in Cedar City, but it's still pretty tasty.) Kuso didn't join us for our morning activities. He had to go to Provo to get some koko from his cousin that was sent with a missionary who recently came to the MTC. (plus he thinks the zoo is boring.)
We took the girls home for naps, then later we all went to Murray Park for the fireworks. Kuso's family (uncle and some cousins families) go every year and we have just latched on to their traditions. Leila wasn't too sure about the fireworks, but after daddy held her tight in his arms, she relaxed and enjoyed them. (no pictures...I have more fun playing around than trying to capture it all through pictures. I need to get better about that!)
Aiono Bi-Annual Reunion 2011
Kuso's family reunion was Friday July 1 - Sunday July 3, 2011. So far the reunions have been here in Utah because there are more places for everyone to stay for free if we have it here! Kuso's family has a reunion every other year due to the distance people need to travel to get together. The reunion started Friday at a park where some people camped over. I worked, so we didn't start the reunion until I got off. We met everyone at the park, reunited with cousins, then headed over to a church for the family dance/taualuga.
Above: Tasha, Nati, Whitney, Nuga, Ana (Nati's daughters)
Below: Tasha, Ana, Grandma, Whitney, Grandpa
Above: Tiana aka Alofa, Little G, and Sierra (Alofa/Tiana is the oldest, G and Sierra are twins less than a year younger!) Siaosi's kids (the 3 oldest anyway) took over the bandannas to show how gangsta they are.
Below: Kuso and his mom dancing.
Above: Grandpa Voi dancing.
Above: Most of the kids (high school and down) that were at the reunion dancing.
Below: MOST of the people at the reunion. 
Below: Cousins James and Siaosi Aiono (not the same Siaosi who's kids are shown above). Our favorite local Utah Utes football players! Go UTES! I'm pretty sure this is James' senior/last year and this is Siaosi's freshman year.
Saturday we had initially planned to take everyone to a water park, but it was decided that was too much expense and too many kids to take around water, so they just had a huge tarp/slip and slide and water balloons. Leila isn't QUITE old enough for that, so I still took her to the pool with my family. (Shawn, Michelle, and Kiley came to town the same weekend as the Aiono reunion.)
After swimming, Kuso had a dance performance so we headed over there.
Below: Cousins James and Siaosi Aiono (not the same Siaosi who's kids are shown above). Our favorite local Utah Utes football players! Go UTES! I'm pretty sure this is James' senior/last year and this is Siaosi's freshman year.Saturday we had initially planned to take everyone to a water park, but it was decided that was too much expense and too many kids to take around water, so they just had a huge tarp/slip and slide and water balloons. Leila isn't QUITE old enough for that, so I still took her to the pool with my family. (Shawn, Michelle, and Kiley came to town the same weekend as the Aiono reunion.)After swimming, Kuso had a dance performance so we headed over there.
I love this picture of Leila. She looks so grown up in her shorty shorts and T-shirt tied back.
Daddy and Daughter dancing! Leila seriously can't control herself sometimes.
Sunday they had dinner at Golden Corral (much easier and actually cheaper than cooking for the entire family.) Then that night we ended the reunion with a family testimony/tell us about your life and family meeting.
Above: MOST of the people who made it to the church.
Below: The parents (reason for the reunion) and most of the young kids (who are the 4th generation for this reunion - starting from Kuso's grandpa (1) Kuso's dad (2) Kuso (3) and Kuso's kid (4.) Kinda cool.
Above: Pailate, BooBoo, Siaosi, Ray, Faioso
Pailate has the same name same age (6 days difference) as my hubby - different middle names is the only way to tell them apart on paper!).
Below: Ana, Xavier, Nani, and Avian
Kuso's family really knows how to have a good time. There is always food, dancing, and laughter involved in almost any get-together. We love to visit with Kuso's cousins from California and we love to visit with his cousins who live here in town, but we never see!
Funnies by Leila
*At my parent's neighbors house - Leila was playing with the dogs. The dog sneezed. Leila looks the dog in the face and says "bless you!"
* Whenever we hear music, we tell Leila to "shake it." When we call Kuso's phone, it plays "Forget You" by Cee Low and Leila usually shakes her shoulders while we wait for him to answer. Lately, she points at me and says "shake it." Then I shake my shoulders and she gets quite a giggle out of it.
* Yesterday I went to get her out of bed to go to the sitters. (this week she has been going to my sister-in-laws house (Alofa) because her regular sitter is out of town.) I told her to get up and lets go. Most days, she gets up and is ready to go. Yesterday she just laid there, looked at me and said "church."
Me: "wanna go see Auntie?"
Leila: "Nope."
Me: "wanna go see One?"
Leila: "Nope."
Me: "wanna go see grandma?"
Leila: "Nope."
Me: "wanna go to church?"
Leila: "Yep."
Most of the time any of these questions gets an excited YEP! But yesterday, she just wanted to go to church. If I thought she had any real sense of time, she would know that it was a YW night, but I don't think that's the case. It made me chuckle that she just wanted to go to church.
* At least on a daily basis she tells us that "Moki -- house." Moki is our neighbors dog that she loves to play with as long as he is on his leash or in Dick's arms. She always points at their house and tells us "Moki." So I always tell her "Moki is in the house." So now that's what she tells us all the time - even when we aren't at our house.
* She always tells me "Come on" (think in a deep disgusted voice) which she usually isn't disgusted when she tells me that, but it's SO funny. She squeals like a girl, then tells me "come on" in this deep manly voice. SO not girly. She also responds to a lot of questions with an unenthusiastic "yep." Again, very deep and not girly sounding. "Leila! Wanna watch the fireworks?" "yep" (think Eeyore). It's hilarious.
* While driving to a friend's wedding last weekend, we weren't by any houses or gas stations or anything and Leila starts yelling "Mom! Mom!" "What Leila?" "Dino's! ROOOAAAAR!" Funny for 2 reasons. 1) it was totally out of the blue and 2) she was scared to death of the dino's at the zoo, but she has talked about them all week long.
* I'm sure there are more, but I'm going to try and post more of these silly things she says now that her communication skills are improving...
* Whenever we hear music, we tell Leila to "shake it." When we call Kuso's phone, it plays "Forget You" by Cee Low and Leila usually shakes her shoulders while we wait for him to answer. Lately, she points at me and says "shake it." Then I shake my shoulders and she gets quite a giggle out of it.
* Yesterday I went to get her out of bed to go to the sitters. (this week she has been going to my sister-in-laws house (Alofa) because her regular sitter is out of town.) I told her to get up and lets go. Most days, she gets up and is ready to go. Yesterday she just laid there, looked at me and said "church."
Me: "wanna go see Auntie?"
Leila: "Nope."
Me: "wanna go see One?"
Leila: "Nope."
Me: "wanna go see grandma?"
Leila: "Nope."
Me: "wanna go to church?"
Leila: "Yep."
Most of the time any of these questions gets an excited YEP! But yesterday, she just wanted to go to church. If I thought she had any real sense of time, she would know that it was a YW night, but I don't think that's the case. It made me chuckle that she just wanted to go to church.
* At least on a daily basis she tells us that "Moki -- house." Moki is our neighbors dog that she loves to play with as long as he is on his leash or in Dick's arms. She always points at their house and tells us "Moki." So I always tell her "Moki is in the house." So now that's what she tells us all the time - even when we aren't at our house.
* She always tells me "Come on" (think in a deep disgusted voice) which she usually isn't disgusted when she tells me that, but it's SO funny. She squeals like a girl, then tells me "come on" in this deep manly voice. SO not girly. She also responds to a lot of questions with an unenthusiastic "yep." Again, very deep and not girly sounding. "Leila! Wanna watch the fireworks?" "yep" (think Eeyore). It's hilarious.
* While driving to a friend's wedding last weekend, we weren't by any houses or gas stations or anything and Leila starts yelling "Mom! Mom!" "What Leila?" "Dino's! ROOOAAAAR!" Funny for 2 reasons. 1) it was totally out of the blue and 2) she was scared to death of the dino's at the zoo, but she has talked about them all week long.
* I'm sure there are more, but I'm going to try and post more of these silly things she says now that her communication skills are improving...
Monday, July 11, 2011
Hip Hip Hooray! ?
Since I'm trying out to be the World's Best Mom, I occasionally let Leila sit in the front seat (or on the arm rest) while we drive to or from church (about a block away). Yesterday, we turned the corner and Leila saw the church, threw her arms in the air in triumph, let out a girly "Whoo!," then yelled "Church!"
Leila seriously loves church. We have finally found our assigned seats in this ward that we have been attending for a year now. So now that we sit near the same people consistently, Leila knows that she sits with us until the sacrament is over, then after that she can color or eat her snacks. And then depending on the week, any time after the sacrament has been passed, she starts taking books to the "older" lady that sits behind us (Older meaning maybe 60ish?). Then it's back and forth and back and forth to switch out books. The lady (Sis. Fenema) LOVES Leila and apologizes to us every week for keeping her so long. Seriously lady, don't apologize. It's quite nice to have little responsibility and your entertaining her keeps her quite reverent, so don't apologize, let me thank you!
Leila loves church so much that for the past few weeks while we have been doing camp clinics for Young Women I've taken her with me so she can just be at the church. I was a little worried that it might confuse her that on Wednesday we get to go and be silly then Sunday we have to be reverent, but she has done quite well.
Leila loves church so much that when I'm trying to comb her hair and get her ready and she is not being cooperative, I say "Do you wanna go to church?" "Yep." Then MOSTLY cooperates.
My Patriarchal Blessing mentions that I will have an easy time raising my children in the Gospel if I stay true and faithful. If Leila's love for church (and Nursery) are any indicator to what we have to look forward to, I am/will be truly grateful and will throw my arms in the air in triumph, and let out my own girly "Whoo!".
Leila seriously loves church. We have finally found our assigned seats in this ward that we have been attending for a year now. So now that we sit near the same people consistently, Leila knows that she sits with us until the sacrament is over, then after that she can color or eat her snacks. And then depending on the week, any time after the sacrament has been passed, she starts taking books to the "older" lady that sits behind us (Older meaning maybe 60ish?). Then it's back and forth and back and forth to switch out books. The lady (Sis. Fenema) LOVES Leila and apologizes to us every week for keeping her so long. Seriously lady, don't apologize. It's quite nice to have little responsibility and your entertaining her keeps her quite reverent, so don't apologize, let me thank you!
Leila loves church so much that for the past few weeks while we have been doing camp clinics for Young Women I've taken her with me so she can just be at the church. I was a little worried that it might confuse her that on Wednesday we get to go and be silly then Sunday we have to be reverent, but she has done quite well.
Leila loves church so much that when I'm trying to comb her hair and get her ready and she is not being cooperative, I say "Do you wanna go to church?" "Yep." Then MOSTLY cooperates.
My Patriarchal Blessing mentions that I will have an easy time raising my children in the Gospel if I stay true and faithful. If Leila's love for church (and Nursery) are any indicator to what we have to look forward to, I am/will be truly grateful and will throw my arms in the air in triumph, and let out my own girly "Whoo!".
Friday, July 1, 2011
Quiz
SO...a couple of my friends have posted this quiz on their blog to have their viewers take the quiz to see how well their blogs reflect their interests/personality/etc. After doing both of their quizzes, I decided to post the quiz WITH my answers because most of these questions would not be answered through my regular blogs. I tend to blog about funny things, or big events, not every day happenings...so, here ya go.
1. What is my beverage of choice? Diet Dr. Pepper or Coke Zero these days
2. What is my favorite meal of the day? snack time
3. If it were 72 degrees outside and the sun was shining, where or what would I be doing? I would probably be at work, but I would want to be doing yard work or taking Leila to a park or just watching Leila play around the yard.
4. Do I enjoy cooking? not really
5. What time am I usually up and ready for the day by? usually out the door by 7:30 or earlier.
6. How many siblings do I have? 2 brothers, one older, one younger
7. What is one of my least favorite chores? cleaning bathrooms! or dusting. or sweeping. I don't mind cleaning the kitchen, cleaning bedrooms, doing laundry, vacuum. But I HATE bathrooms the MOST!
8. What is one of my talents (do I have more than one? hahahahaha)? I don't really have a lot of talents that I can SHOW...but I'm a great organizer (when i want to be) and I'm really good at getting along with people. Pretty much anyone I can have a conversation with and make them feel comfortable.
9. What am I most proud of? My family. My career. That all through junior high, high school, and college (even now and forever) I never drank any alcohol, used any tobacco, or any drugs. In fact, it takes a LOT for me to even take Tylenol or something like that.
10. What is my favorite season? Summer probably, although I enjoy elements of all of them. I love the brisk air in the fall. I love the first snow fall. I love to feel the air warm up and the flowers bloom in the spring, but summer is the most fun!
11. Briefly describe my typical day. Drop Leila at the sitters, go to work, leave work, pick up Leila from my mom's (usually spend several hours there including dinner) go home, give Leila a bath, bed time routine...and we throw some playing in there somewhere. Weekends? Eh. your guess is as good as mine!
12. Name 2 of my favorite treats. White trash (a chex mix type mixture covered in almond bark coating) and cadburry mini eggs (I put these same answers on a friends quiz) but I also love frozen candy bars (Reese's, Snickers, Milky Way)
13. My favorite restaurant? Fiesta Ole or Chick Fil A probably. Although Chili's chips and salsa ring out to me!
14. One of my hobbies? online shopping, I just really enjoy anything that gets me to laugh
15. Do I like to 'craft'? not really, but sometimes if it's simple enough
16. Would I rather get a shot or go to the dentist? I don't really hate either. A shot is faster I guess.
17. Who is my best friend? Probably My mom and Leslie Uta'i (for different reasons)
18. My favorite holiday? Easter
19. It's 40 degrees outside and rainy. Where or what would I be doing? Probably at work, but I would rather be home watching a movie wrapped up in a blanket.
20. My favorite time of day? about 8 pm when the weather is calm, but still warm and nice outside (during the summer.) I also love 430 when it's time to leave work and go do something for ME!
21. What am I scared of? losing a loved one unexpectedly, snakes, spiders, octopus, most animals, reptiles, bugs, etc. I don't like things that can hurt me or surprise me. Heights. Disappointing someone I love.
22. Where do I do the majority of my grocery shopping? WalMart
23. Would I rather spend money going out to eat at a nice restaurant or going out to do something? going to do something because usually, there is something to eat there! If we go out to eat, it's USUALLY to a buffet so Kuso can get his money's worth. $20 at Applebees doesn't do it for him.
24. What is one of Leila's favorite things? Yo Gabba Gabba!, outside, playing with daddy/grandpa/Uncle
25. One of Kuso's? rugby, volleyball, dancing
26. Why do you read my blog? feel free to leave your answer under comments!
1. What is my beverage of choice? Diet Dr. Pepper or Coke Zero these days
2. What is my favorite meal of the day? snack time
3. If it were 72 degrees outside and the sun was shining, where or what would I be doing? I would probably be at work, but I would want to be doing yard work or taking Leila to a park or just watching Leila play around the yard.
4. Do I enjoy cooking? not really
5. What time am I usually up and ready for the day by? usually out the door by 7:30 or earlier.
6. How many siblings do I have? 2 brothers, one older, one younger
7. What is one of my least favorite chores? cleaning bathrooms! or dusting. or sweeping. I don't mind cleaning the kitchen, cleaning bedrooms, doing laundry, vacuum. But I HATE bathrooms the MOST!
8. What is one of my talents (do I have more than one? hahahahaha)? I don't really have a lot of talents that I can SHOW...but I'm a great organizer (when i want to be) and I'm really good at getting along with people. Pretty much anyone I can have a conversation with and make them feel comfortable.
9. What am I most proud of? My family. My career. That all through junior high, high school, and college (even now and forever) I never drank any alcohol, used any tobacco, or any drugs. In fact, it takes a LOT for me to even take Tylenol or something like that.
10. What is my favorite season? Summer probably, although I enjoy elements of all of them. I love the brisk air in the fall. I love the first snow fall. I love to feel the air warm up and the flowers bloom in the spring, but summer is the most fun!
11. Briefly describe my typical day. Drop Leila at the sitters, go to work, leave work, pick up Leila from my mom's (usually spend several hours there including dinner) go home, give Leila a bath, bed time routine...and we throw some playing in there somewhere. Weekends? Eh. your guess is as good as mine!
12. Name 2 of my favorite treats. White trash (a chex mix type mixture covered in almond bark coating) and cadburry mini eggs (I put these same answers on a friends quiz) but I also love frozen candy bars (Reese's, Snickers, Milky Way)
13. My favorite restaurant? Fiesta Ole or Chick Fil A probably. Although Chili's chips and salsa ring out to me!
14. One of my hobbies? online shopping, I just really enjoy anything that gets me to laugh
15. Do I like to 'craft'? not really, but sometimes if it's simple enough
16. Would I rather get a shot or go to the dentist? I don't really hate either. A shot is faster I guess.
17. Who is my best friend? Probably My mom and Leslie Uta'i (for different reasons)
18. My favorite holiday? Easter
19. It's 40 degrees outside and rainy. Where or what would I be doing? Probably at work, but I would rather be home watching a movie wrapped up in a blanket.
20. My favorite time of day? about 8 pm when the weather is calm, but still warm and nice outside (during the summer.) I also love 430 when it's time to leave work and go do something for ME!
21. What am I scared of? losing a loved one unexpectedly, snakes, spiders, octopus, most animals, reptiles, bugs, etc. I don't like things that can hurt me or surprise me. Heights. Disappointing someone I love.
22. Where do I do the majority of my grocery shopping? WalMart
23. Would I rather spend money going out to eat at a nice restaurant or going out to do something? going to do something because usually, there is something to eat there! If we go out to eat, it's USUALLY to a buffet so Kuso can get his money's worth. $20 at Applebees doesn't do it for him.
24. What is one of Leila's favorite things? Yo Gabba Gabba!, outside, playing with daddy/grandpa/Uncle
25. One of Kuso's? rugby, volleyball, dancing
26. Why do you read my blog? feel free to leave your answer under comments!
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