NKOTB Concert

Saturday November 15, 2008...was the coolest and/or the lamest thing I've ever done. Take it for what it is. Yes, I went to the New Kids on the Block reunion tour. Yes. I paid money to see the old men sing and dance.

I was at the Marriot Center in Provo in 1990, and I swore if they ever did a reunion tour, I would be there, so, I made it to the E-Center in West Valley in 2008.

Despite the notable bad hair dye jobs, lame dance moves, and wrinkles on their faces that DEFINITELY were not there 20 years ago, the boys still put on a good show. Kapeka said it best, "I can listen, but I can't watch." They sounded great. Maybe they should invest in dance doubles to make the visual part of the show more appeasing.

Left to Right Above

Jon, Joey, Donnie, Danny, Jordan

Yes. I still know all their names. True fans do.

We had awesome seats. I hardly had to zoom to get this pic.

See #43? That's Jon. I was pretty sure I was going to marry him when I was younger.

Now, he is old with a bad dye job.

My brother said he hated me a little bit for going to the concert.

Hate me if you will, but hate is also a form of ENVY!!!???!!!

Halloween Weekend

This weekend, my brother Shawn, his wife Michelle, their daughter Kiley and my other brother Troy came in to visit from California. They all came in Thursday night, but Michelle came in Friday. Kiley and my parents came to my work party which was Kiley's costume debut. She was not very happy and the costume lasted about 3 minutes. After taking a nap, Kiley was in a better mood and was such a good cooperative girl for Trunk or Treat with my parents ward. She left the costume on all night and didn't even try to take it off! My mom made the costume all by herself! Adorable huh? That's my mom and Kiley going trick-or-treating above.

Saturday night we went out to dinner to celebrate Shawn's birthday that was on the 30th. We spent the night laughing our guts out over the STUPIDEST stuff, but it was fun. Sunday, my mom made turkey dinner before everyone had to go home.

It was so fun to have all of our family together for the weekend. I miss having my brothers here. Come back and visit soon!

Shawn and Kiley Trick-or-Treating

The neighbor kids.

Bella and her doll were witches and little Max was a turtle.

The other neighbor kid.

A pirate obviously...with peg leg, hook, and eyepatch included.

This is my mom's favorite pose that Kiley does.

She calls it her "supermodel pose."

Hanging out with Uncle Troy.

Kiley and Grandpa Vic waiting for dinner at the Outback Steakhouse.

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Today Nicholas Voa Aiono turned 3! This is Kuso's older brother Levi's son. Hard to believe he is only 3 because he is about the size of a 5 year old! His birthday party was at a park near his mom's house. BBQ and a Thomas the Train cake with actual moving train on top! We were so excited to go spend time with Nicholas. We don't get to see him often enough. He is a wild boy, but is SO funny to watch.

We bought him this truck you see in the pictures, some clothes, and some shoes. He opened the truck first and was SUPER excited and started yelling "TRUCK! TRUCK!" Then he opened the shoes which happened to be "Thomas the Train." He saw the box and got SUPER excited again. But when he couldn't get the box open, gave up and went back to the truck. Mom ended up opening the clothes because Nicholas just wanted to play with the truck and was not interested in opening any more presents. He played with it NON-STOP for an hour and a half. Then we left the park. Who knows how much longer he played with it when he got home!

Uncle Kuso showing Nicholas how the buttons work.

One moves it forward. One moves it back.

One honks the horn. One sets the alarm.

One plays "Cotton-Eyed Joe" and the truck "dances" by moving back and forth.

Nicholas got the hang of it quickly.

Not enough that he knew which buttons he was pushing, but as soon as he heard the back-up beepers, he knew he needed to turn it around to let it go the way he wanted it to go.

He didn't like it when the truck went farther than he wanted it to go, so he would run in front of it, or stand behind it and yell at it to STOP! It was hilarious!!!

Whatever just happened, he thought it was AMAZING.

Hence the "Oh" on his face. He is so dang cute!

After playing with it for a while, he decided it was cool to push the button, then lay on the ground and watch it go. After it would stop, he would run to the truck, push the button, then run back to his original spot on the ground to watch it again. Who would have thought that one truck would entertain a 3 year old for SO LONG!!!

We were all pretty entertained watching him be entertained.

By the end of the party, he would push the music button.

When the song played, he would get up and dance.

Happy Birthday Nicholas!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Where My Girls At?

Melanie, Kelly, Katie, Kapeka, Me, Colleen

(Don't sweat the red-eye effect...actually, I decided to take the picture out.

Let's just say it wasn't too flattering for me!)

On Monday night, some of my girlfriends and I were able to get together for dinner. Katie came in from Washington State. That is what it took to get the rest of us all together who live here in SLC. We all went to Southern Utah University together and spent PLENTY of hours together back then. We were only able to spend a couple hours this week because half of us have children to get home to and the other half of us have to get up for work in the morning. It was a good time though. Makes us all remember the good times and ridiculous late hours we spent together during college! I miss those carefree days sometimes...

I know most of the girls who were at the dinner will be checking this blog...

CALL ME! Let's get together again!

Cousin Gus' Wedding

This past weekend we went over to California to Aukuso's cousin Gus' wedding. He married a great girl named Rachel. We got into town on Thursday night. We went straight to the chapel to help with the food for the dinner on Friday night. We spent the day Friday hanging out with Kuso's cousins getting ready for the wedding. Friday night was the dinner. Kuso ran in to more friends and relatives there.

Saturday was the wedding. The line looked gorgeous! They got married in a chapel on the grounds of the Oakland Temple. After pictures on the Temple grounds, everyone headed over to the reception at a fancy Country Club! It was SO nice. The food was good, the entertainment was hilarious, and the dancing was fun. Everyone enjoyed themselves!

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was hanging out in the hotel lobby every night with Kuso's family just talking and telling stories until 3am or later!

At any given time during the weekend, there were at least 3 Aukuso's within sight. There was the groom, our Kuso, two other cousins in the line, and Uncle Aukuso that they were all named after! It was kind of cool.

The Line

The Boys

Me, Rachel, Gus, and Gus

Joe, Filoi, Ie, Gus, Sememe
The Oakland, CA Temple

Looking away from the Temple

On the West side of the Temple, there is an overlook of the Bay. In the background on the right side you can see the Golden Gate Bridge.

The picture on the top of the page was my first attempt at taking a "landscape" shot!

Catch Up!

So, I haven't been the best about keeping this updated lately. We've been off busy having fun. And I have been bad about taking pictures, and blogs are more fun to look at when there are pictures attached. I'll work on it.

Labor Day weekend Aukuso and I went camping with my parents, my aunt Karen and uncle Craig, cousin Amber, and their friends. We went near 12-mile flat up the canyon from Gunnison, UT. The camp spot sucked. Lots of rocks and dust. Not too many trees. But it was fun! We enjoyed some good food and an outdoor movie just in time to get into bed and then the storm hit. And it hit HARD! We woke up to slimy mud. It was really icky, but kind of fun trying to get everything thrown into the truck so we could get out of there before the storm hit harder. It was a good time.

This past weekend, Aukuso and I went to the Utah State Fair. We spent over 3 hours there. We did not see any animals. We did not ride any rides. We did not look at any displays. We did watch a few shows. We did eat....a lot. We did shop. We did watch people. I love the fair. It is the best place for my favorite sport..."people watching."

The End of Rugby Season

Kuso has been playing rugby with the Vikings all summer. They ended the season by playing in the tournament put on during the Tongan Festival. Despite several injuries, most of them minor, Aukuso and his team were able to take 3rd place for the entire tournament!

Kuso kicking for a field goal

After the end of the game, both teams line up and take a bow for the fans.

Today, they decided to dance. That is Aukuso's brother-in-law, Toetu, leading the group.

Although I complain about sitting on wooden bleachers all day, and worrying about Kuso getting hurt, I have learned to enjoy the game. Dare I say, "I LOVE RUGBY"?