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!