A great gift!

What a great gift to hear from our missionaries on the mission field. My sister Saolo has less then 3 months left on her mission in Romania and we cannot wait until she gets back. Vete's parents have about a year and a half left on their mission in the Phillipines. Last week we had the opportunity to speak with them, it was good to hear their voices and that they are doing well. All of my siblings and their kids met at our place on Christmas Eve to speak to Aunty Olo and she was suppose to call us at 8:30pm after talking to my parents in Cali. We all waited patiently for her call which came at 11pm instead of 8:30 pm, alas is came and we ended up talking past 12pm midnight. But it was all good the kids were excited to open their gifts as soon as they got home. Speaking to Sora Betham was a gift to us all, she told us of her experiences on the mission and with the country of Romania. She spoke of the countless orpahns that run into on-coming traffic to wash windows for any type of monetray payment if any, and she watched so many of these orphans get hit by cars and die. My sister loves little ones and she and her companion visit many orphanages and it kills her to see all these little babies confined in their metal crib totally isolated by any type of human touch. She told us of her experience where their was a baby that started crying when they got to the orphanage and wouldn't stop crying, she stated that no one did anything and it seemed like a good hour passed by. She went against missionary rules and picked the baby up and cuddled the baby as long as she could. Shortly after that she got yelled at by one of the ladies who ran the orphange, and told my sister that the baby she held is now spoiled and will want to be held again. I personally have never been exposed to situations like these and it makes me so ashamed to continually see how much I take for granted. It was a great reminder to my neices and nephews to be grateful for whatever they get for Christmas- but I bet they forgot it as soon as they got home, lets hope I'm wrong. The day after Christmas we got together at Utu's house with Vete's family and we were able to speak with Vete's parents and Nica(who is visiting them during the holidays) on the webcam. We didn't speak to them very long because they were needed elsewhere, but it was good to see and hear from them. My love goes out to all the missionaries on the mission field who are giving their all in spreading the gospel. It helps me magnify my small but important calling of being a visiting teacher. I miss Sora Betham, and President and Sister Ho Ching- you are great examples to our little family and cannot wait for the day that you all get back. That will definitely be a sad day in the Phillipines and Romania!

BTW Olo and the other missionaries on the mission made a little Christmas video, I have no skills and unable to download it to my blog so here it the link-
http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n8/betham72/?action=view¤t=JingleMovie.flv

Visit from Mamma Mia!

My Mom came to town a week ago, and it was a jam packed 3 days of family get togethers and outings. She brought Gomery's oldest daughter baby Roz with her and seriously Tai treated her like she was his little sister. He would follow her around the house and tell her "Aua baby" when she was not suppose to touch something, and he would give her snacks and toys to play with. It was so cute to see, my son is going to be a great big brother someday. While my Mom was here we took her to get her hair done, and she got a Dora-looking haircut so all the grandkids were calling her Big Dora- she loved it. Then we all went shopping, and bowling, and the day she left we had a little family Christmas party. I have to be honest my siblings and I have our issues with each other but for the sake of the holidays and my Mom's visit we set that aside and enjoyed each others company, it was great. Tai got in a fight with one of his cousins and ended up with a black-eye, although he didn't retaliate or hit back the black-eye made him look like a little scrapper. Of course I felt sorry for my son because he did not deserve it, but what can you do kids will be kids. It was a great weekend and I was very thankful that my Mom was able to get time off and visit us. We really miss her and wish they would move here but as long as it snows in Utah they will remain in Cali.

Mom and some of the grandaughters

The girls modeling their Ofu's

Baby Roz and my mom, first time Baby Roz has seen snow

Mom and all the Utah grandkids

Tai, Drew, and Baby Roz on top

Me with the very spolied Baby Roz

Tai and his fave cuz on my side- she was not the one that gave him his black-eye

Work it Nacho!

Vete begged me not to post these pictures, but I couldn't resist- sorry love. Gabe and Heather threw a Christmas party this year and we had to wear out favorite Christmas sweaters. Vete and I got our sweaters from Deseret Industries, but of course Vete's vision of his attire for the party did not stop there. When we were about to leave he comes out of the bathroom with his beard reduced to this ridiculous mistache, and the rest of his wardrobe reflected Nacho libre- what a hottie! But I have to say Chet got the best gift ever, a picture of his brother-in-law in a questionnable pose, wrapped in a granny panty- priceless. Gabe and Heather did a great job in hosting the party, it was a lot of fun. Vete will appreciate this post when Tai grows up and see's how much of a clown his Dad can be!

My palagi boy is samoan on the inside.....

Before we went over to Utu's house for thanksgiving, we had a little mini thanksgiving brunch with our tiny family. Vete, Tai and I had taro, mamoe, bbq shrimp (thanks Sarana for the recipe), and pisupo- yes no greens in this meal. It was very good, and although my son has very palagi features he is all samoan when it comes to his palate. Tai couldn't get enough taro and pisupo, he loves the stuff- which is good because he can afford to gain a couple pounds. We later spent the rest of the day eating again and again at Utu and Orsons house, and playing with their cutie twins.

Ugh, the scale is my enemy!

The scale never takes a break, over the Thanksgiving week I gained a whopping 5 pounds. I guess the weight gain was inevitable, during the past month or so I have been struggling just to maintain my weight. I have been going through my work outs just to get them over with, not putting 100% percent into it, and skipping more then a few days. Not to mention I have been sneaking in some cheat items into my so-called diet- (mint oreos, chips, mcdonalds). Today is rededication day, I'm going to get back on my diet and workouts with 100% effort, before I hit the point of no return. I posted me new playlist, music has a way of helping me forget the pain, and the minute by minute dull of the treadmill. If any of you have any favorite workout songs please share..... I would love to update this, thanks Happy Holidays!

My Boys

This post is dedicated to my 2 boys, the blessings that I will be forever in debt for.
I'm thankful for my husband for the following reasons:
1. Of course without him I would not have my son Tai who is my inspiration.
2. He is the coolest person, in chaotic or calm sitautions he stays cool and doesn't react but responds.
3. Very organized, does the sorting of the laundry, pantry, closet- everything that I make a disarray and mess of he organizes.
4. Great cook, when Vete does cook it's always good!
5. My best friend, knows what I'm thinking and feeling without saying a word.
6. His constant love for me; through my many moods, my sporadic and random conversations, my weight gain/loss and then gain again, through it all and as hard as it is to love me you do and I'm thankful for you!
I'm thankful for my son Tai for the following reasons and more:
1. Tai is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.
2. The one and only person that I can never be apart from for more then a couple of hours.
3. His smile melts my heart.
4. He inspires me to work harder.
5. He is the motivating force behind everything I do, my goals and my dreams for the future.
6. He is the reason I cannot stop smiling, the reason why I look foward to another day, the reason why I want many more little munchkins just like him, and the reason why I am the luckiest Mother in the world.
I love my two boys and they make my life a complete joy, when I count my blessings I count you two a million times over!

NKOTB Concert

I went to the NKOTB concert with my sil's and my cousins (Louisa & Marieta- I claim my husbands family as my own). It was so much fun, the little boy band crazed girl in me came out and it was a blast. My sil Nica got the best seats we were 5 rows from the front stage, we could see their sweat (lol)! I was 5 yrs old when NKOTB came out and I got to know them through my sister because she listened to them a lot, and it was a dream come true to see them live in concert. I know I'm 27 yrs old and I'm a mother and a wife, but ya know what we are still entitled to be as immature as we want- I think sometimes I take advantage of that a little too much but who cares. Lady Gaga performed and then Natahsa B. they were really good, and can really sing. Then NKOTB came to the stage and they are middle-aged but they still got it, they look good and they can sing. I gotta back track here cause the only downside of the concert is my dang camera died so I don't have too many pictures of the concert. I was so mad out of all the times it could have died it had to be that night. Also a couple of days before the concert my son broke my glasses, and I didn't have time to fix it so I was a dork and taped it together and wore it that night. Other then that the whole experience was awesome, my husband kept teasing that the ladies at the concert would probable throw their granny panties to the stage. It was funny because a lady in front of us threw her bra and it went right behind the security guard- man the bra looked old and over used. While NKOTB were singing someone from the audience through a shirt to Donny W. and it said "I love Mormon girls" and he put it on! Over all it was a great concert, a great time away from my husband and son- and great time to act like I was a child again. And yes I purposely dressed like "where's waldo?" so that they would notice me- and it didn't work!

Found it!

Halloween night was the night I lost my camera, and I've never been so lost. I didn't know what to do, so many lost memories, so much to blog about but how could I without a picture to upload. It was a hard time for me, but hooray I finally found my camera that was in Tai's nike bag, that was smashed in the seat compartment of his toy truck- and why didn't I look there first. Ok so nothing much has happened in the Ho Ching household, the past couple weeks has been pretty much the same old thing. Tai was a pirate for Halloween and he did not want to take a picture these are the best we could get :



The winter cold has begun and Tai has been spending a lot of time practicing his numbers, and alphabets only because he knows that every time he gets it right he gets a piece of candy from Halloween. Tai is finally using the potty, he is going number 1 really good but is still having a hard time going number 2. It has been snowing a lot in Draper and Tai is just loving it. The first day the snow fell I hurried and got Tai bundle up and he was so excited. When we finally made it outside Tai just pointed at the snow and looked at me and said "snow Mommy, snow", he didn't even touch it. Oh my so much like the Father! Because it is getting so cold we have been spending a lot of time inside which means time to get creative with indoor play. The following is a result of that.

Baby Elliott 99 days

Whoever watched Oprah today probably has fulla eyes like me from crying like a baby for a whole hour. Oprah did a show today about inspirational stories of children who beat the odds, accomplished their dreams, and who have gone through a lot of adversity. Their was a story of a couple who had a baby boy that was born with a disease where he would not survive past a couple of days. They named their baby Elliot, and he surpassed doctors expectations and survived to live a full 99 days. The couple captured every moment of their sons short life with a video journal, seen on this link (http://www.oprah.com/media/20081001_tows_99balloons). Every day their son was born they celebrated with a birthday party at exactly the time of Elliott birth. Touched my heart and it was just a great reminder to me of how fragile life is and how we never know when each moment will be our last.

The Great 8 Tag

Got tagged by Tina, here we go!

8 Favorite t.v. shows:
1. LOST
2. No reservations
3. Bizarre foods
4. The biggest loser
5. The game
6. Making the band
7. House Hunters
8. The Daily 10

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Sam Hawk
2. Cafe Rio
3. Taste of Punjab
4. The Hukilau Cafe
5. Cheese Cake Factory
6. Laie Chopsuey
7. The Pie
8. Ruths Chris

8 Things that happened yesterday:
1. kissed Vete goodbye
2. slept in
3. searched the internet for a lab coat for Tai's mad scientist costume
4. had breakfeast
5. took a walk
6. had a snack at great harvest
7. visited with my sister
8. picked up my neices

8 Things to look forward to:
1. When sister Betham, and Mom and Dad Ho Ching come back from their missions
2. when Tai is finally potty trained
3. the day I don't have to work (not anytime soon)
4. Going to the Temple
5. NKOTB concert, oh, oh, ohhhho- the right stuff-lol!
6. our trip to disneyland in a couple of months
7. Every Friday, Vete and I only day off together
8. my alone time by myself in the gym (when it happens)

8 Things on my wish list:
1. Working on my masters when my kids are grown
2. Following Anthony Bourdain's travels around the world and eating the same foods he has eaten on his shows
3. To meet my ideal weight and size
4. To eat what I want and not gain weight
5. Have my children grow up to be happy contributing adults of society, be true to themselves, and to be strong in the church.
6. see my family all get along and support and love each other no matter what
7. To give Tai a sibling, or two, or five......
8. To teach my son by what I do instead of what I say

8 Things I love about Fall:
1. the holidays
2. cool sweater weather
3. hot chocolate
4. black friday
5. holiday family pictures
6. the christmas story
7. a holiday call from the missionaries
8. celebrating my moms birthday

I'll tag Sarana, Harmony, Miki, Alvina, Hine, Peni- and everyone else!

An afternoon with the ducks

There is a park that I always take Tai to, and just across the park there is a man-made duck pond that we just discovered. We spent the afternoon feeding and wathcing the ducks swim and waddle back and forth. The weather was so beautiful, and Tai just had a ball! I didn't have any bread so we fed the ducks animal cookies, they ate it- just hope we didn't give the ducks any digestive problems. The ducks were quickly crowding towards Tai when they found out he had some food, they were gentle but I just got worried something might happen and ended the feeding frenzy. Seriously I know I'm a cheese ball when it comes to Tai, but I kind of teared up watching him feed the ducks. I had a moment- and just looked at him and saw the greatest blessing my Heavenly Father has ever blessed me with. I love my husband but the love between a parent and a child is the greatest love of all, and I am so grateful for my son. He is growing up so fast his baby days are definitely numbered!

Scarecrow Festival

Today we went to try out JCW's, and then we went to check out the scarecrow festival at Thanksgiving point. It was a lot of fun, however we felt so sick from the huge burgers and all the junk we ate at the festival- I was ready to puke! We bought this huge thing of kettle corn that was fresh off the kettle and it was warm, sweet, salty, and the bomb- it was so addicting we couldn't stop eating it. The festival was fun, Tai kind of got freaked out by the scarecrows- other then that he loved it. He loves spiders and there was a inflatable one but for some reason got too scared to touch it so he just admired it from afar. They had games, rides, inflatable toys, entertainment and lots of food. The coolest thing we saw was the KSL news helicopter landing in the middle of the festival, Tai loves planes and a helicopter is close enough. We also saw Shawn Bradley, their would have been a picture posted- however Vete begged me not to embarass him by asking Shawn Bradley for one, I don't know why-lol! It was nice to spend some family time with my two babies.

RJ....

Words to describe my Dad: strict, practical, honest, dependable, hard working, frugal, humble and definitely stubborn. My brothers and sisters and even my husband always say that I'm so much like him, I even have a nickname (RJ: Ron Junior)- I get teased the most by my sisters! I always brush it off and tell them that I just look like him, other then that I am my own person. How ever I have been catching myself doing the things he use to do, saying the things he use to say, and understanding that I tic just like him. My Dad grew up in Samoa and he didn't have a lot of material things and had very little money. When we use to ask for money for lunch- my Dad was always dumbfounded at how much lunch cost for us, he use to tell us that in Samoa his lunch was a coconut and that was it. My sisters and I always had very long hair, and my dad would teach us the rule of a pea, always use just a pea size of shampoo/conditioner, and toothpaste- and that is all you need. I played a lot of sports growing up, and grew really fast vertically when I was younger (now I'm growing horizontally) and my Dad would buy me shoes that were 3 sizes too big so that I would eventually grow into them and keep them longer. Now I realized why I was soooo clumsey, and why I always tripped over myself- but that is a different story. My Day was a saver and was very tight with money, and when we would ask for fast food, his response was "we have food at home". My Dad was always self-employed but in addition he had another job at the Laie temple doing maintenance so that we could all have health insurance. He would wake up every morning at 4am to clean the inside of the visitors center and the outside grounds, and he would have us help him on the weekends. The temple is very prestine, and orderly- so we would be half asleep and doing our little jobs and if it wasn't good enough then we would half to do it again. When we vaccumed it had to be prefect, the vacuum lines had to be straight and exact- I have nigtmares of straight and perfect vaccumed lines till this day- lol! Lately I have really been thinking about the lesson learned from my Dad, and have not appreciated it until I lived on my own, and started my own family. I'm teaching my son the rule of a pea, because Vete won't have it he's is a pretty boy and needs his globs of conditoner-lol. If you have a look at the video of Tai at the gym you can see his shoes, and yes they are 2 sizes too big I just can't help myself. I really try but Vete knows that my stubborness is just the way that I am. I aspire and try to follow my Dad's example, especially while our economy is doing so bad- but he is an original! When I complain about how hard I have to work, I'm quickly humbled just thinking about my Dad. The only fault I have of my own is whenever Tai asks for something I give in- I'm learning though! I love you Dad, from RJ!

My Hercules

I am the biggest procrastinator when it comes to working out- I wait until the very last possible minute of the day to get it done. So I'm usually working out between 10:30-11:00pm because no one is in the gym at that time, and when I take Tai with me we have it all to ourselves. Tai loves to work out he tries to copy what mommy and sometimes aunty Nica does and is pretty good at following. I do keep a close eye on him when he is in the gym, and we monitor the things he does. It is a crack up seeing him try to lift, and put on a act like he is spent after his little work out- which is what he learned from his mommy who is spent after every work out no matter how small it is. I know I go overboard on the vidoe clips, but I couldn't resist these two.

First cup of the season

It's just about mid-october and it is freezing outside, it feels like November weather here in Utah. So instead of going for a little walk- Tai and I stayed inside, read some books, and had our first cup of hot chocolate for the season. Times like these makes me really appreciate Utah and its ever changing weather. However I know I will get sick of it in a couple of months, but for now I'm enjoying it!

Tagged

I got to brag about my husband because he did the cutest thing yesterday. He has been planning with his sister to get me a ticket to the NKOTB concert, and I spoiled his surprise yesterday. When I found out what he was doing I told him it was too expensive, then thought of the other things I could have gotten instead of seeing the NKOTB in concert, then he told me "can't you just except that I want to do something nice for you". My wanna-be tight wad thoughts went away, and then realized I'm actually going to see NKOTB live in concert wahoooooooooooo! I cannot believe my husband would do this because I would not spend that much money on myself, and Vete is not the type to surprise me in anyway- he is very predictable. I'm so excited and cannot wait, I'm the biggest fan of all boy bands- I was a huge fan of NKOTB when I was young, and then a huge fan of backstreet boys but more so NSYNC when I was in high school- right Harm-lol. I am now counting down the days until Nov. 15th. But I told Vete that next time he wants to do something nice for me he can do things that are free, like wash the dishes for a month, take the trash out wo/ me asking 10 times, or give me a back massage- and he stated, "it's ok I would rather buy you things"- lol, luv u Vetz!
Where did you meet? In sep.2000 after a BYU football game
How long have you been married? We dated too long 5 1/2 years, and married for 2 1/2 years
What is your favorite feature of his? his eyes and lips
What is your favorite quality of his? I luv everything about him, I luv how he is very composed when it comes to his emotions, he is very easy going, very very very patient- something he learned to be after marrying me!
Does he have a nickname for you? eh suga j/k, just Betty but it has many different tones depending on the mood.
What is his favorite color?Blue
What is his favorite food? Anything many different types, but mostly Samoan
What is his favorite sport? Football
When and where was your first kiss? In his old jeep
What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Spending time with our son doing fun things, watching Tai smile, and do something new.
Do you have any children? Yes, 1 very spoiled boy
Does he have a hidden talent? Yes. great singer
How old is he? 30
Who said "I love you" first? He did
What is his favorite type of music? Samoan
What do you admire the most about him? He knows how to make me smile when I am mad, very motivated once he sets his mind to something, very family oriented, great father and husband!
Do you think he will read this? probably, later on
I'll tag anyone, it's fun to brag about yo hubby or significant other!

Happy 31st B-day Jim!

My brother turned 31, and we had a get together. The food was good as always and Tai had a lot of fun playing with his cousins. Congrats Jimmy on another year down and many more to come, and I mean this with much optimism!

Birthday Dinner!

This year everyone has been so busy that no one on the Ho Ching side has been able to get together to celebrate any b-days. So we all went out to dinner to celebrate everyones b-day, it was funny because the waiter asked what we were celebrating and Vete's sister Leiutu stated our birthdays that were 5 months ago. It was fun thanks Mom and Dad, here are some pics of Tai, Leiutu's twins and of course thier fav aunty Nica.

100 Calories my apples......

Everything is bigger on camera, especially this brownie, for real it's tiny!

It's been about 2 months since Vete has started with Total Health and Fitness, and he has lost 26 lbs. This has been bittersweet because I'm happy for him however in the same amount of time I have only lost 4 lbs, and still 16lbs away from my goal. I get so frustrated however I know what is holding me back- my "SWEET TOOTH". I tend to buy sugar-free snacks however I go way overborad to the point where I might aswell have eaten a king-size candy bar. I went to walmart to find alternative snacks that could help me curve my sweet cravings. I love little debbies and I saw that they had a 100 cal. brownie, I bought it cuz I know for a fact that if it's little debbies it has to be good. After grocery shopping for about 2 hours my stomach was growling, I quickly grabbed the little debbie brownies and ripped it open like a hungry wild animal. When I saw the size of these things I was so disappointed, no wonder it's 100 cal.- it's snack sized made for an infant. I cannot believe manufacturers make these things and expect people to continually buy them. I mean it's almost like they took one of thier regular brownies and cut them in 4's or maybe 6's - and now it's suppose to be figure freindly because it's 100 cal.- well I can cut a brownie myself I don't need the manufacturer to do it for me and then wrap it up. Oh man, so I ended up eating 6 peices because 1 just didn't do it for me- my stomach is not pea-size. Anyone out there know any figure friendly snacks that taste good and are filling please help. I hope this doesn't sound angry- I have to make a note to myself to not blog while hungry!

Cornbellies!

I promised I would take my neices and nephews out to do something fun, and The Cornbellies at Thanksgiving Point was the perfect place. Tai had so much fun playing with his cousins, going on the rides, and playing games. We would have stayed till closing but Tai was turning bright red from the heat and I forgot his sunscreen. I was too scared for all of us to do the David Archuleta maze, I feared I might lose one of the kids for good- the thing was huge. However it was a fun filled day and the best part was admission was only .97 cents- what a deal!