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!

Locked out.....

It seems like Vete and I just love to learn the hard way- thats seriously the story of our lives thus far. Yesterday we were in the car coming back from Provo and Vete wanted to go home and eat and I needed to run a couple of our errands- so we took off the house key so Vete can get into the house, and I could run the errands. Vete told me that the time he was home he kept saying to himself - "put the house key back on when they get back", he stated that in his mind he kept repeating it so that he wouldn't forget. Well- he forgot and we got home about 11:30pm from eating dinner with the hoching fam bam- we were exhausted, Tai was hungry and cranky, and I was ready to dive into my bed. Well as soon as we got to the front door, Vete froze and we both realized we didn't put the house key back on the key chain. First we though Nica had a spare, then realized last time we were locked out we used the spare and forgot to return it. We brainedstorm some more, then thought maybe we left a window or the sliding door opened, and checked- they were all locked. We tried the credit card thing because the dead bolt was not locked- and of course plan failed. So we initially thought of a lock smith but figured it would be too expensive. So then we thought it would be cheaper to replace the door knob then to call a locksmith- so then Vete tried to kick the door handle off, thinking that the lock would break off too. Well another swell plan failed, at that moment we decided to call a locksmith. They stated that they would be there in 15-20 min., however they were there in less then 5 minutes. The guy picked the lock in no time but had a hard time opening the door because Vete kicked the door handle and jammed the door. So because the guy was built like a 15 teen year-old boy, very scrawny guy -he had Vete ply the door open with his tools, and yay- we were inside. The locksmith ended up costing 69.00, and because the door handle is jammed to replace the entire door fixture it will cost 30.00. So I know Nica we should have listened to you and hid a key in the back, and we should have given the spare key back to you - but we love learning the hard way, it's the streak we cannot seem to break!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.............

Peni and Chet took all of us shooting today, it was my second time in my entire sheltered life that I have shot a gun. I don't even know what the name of the gun is but my favorite was the hand gun and I tell ya it is a great stress reliever, and very therapuetic I might add. The first time we went shooting with Peni and Chet, I didn't hit a thing besides the dirt in the mountains. This time I actually hit one of the water bottles, I have to add that it was 10 feet away- however I was still proud of myself. It was a lot of fun, Leiutu brought her twins and they were so good just chillin in the suburban. Thanks Normans for supplying the guns, I got my shooting fix covered until next year.

Liahona Article: Always Rely on the Spirit!

Vete's parents are serving a mission in Quezon City, Phillipines and this beautiful article was written about them in the Liahona. They are great examples to Vete and I and, especially to lil Tai- who is named after his Grandfather Taituliatu. They are in their sixties and if you take a look at their work ethic you'd think they were in their twenties. We miss them and can't wait till they get back in June 2010! I know it is hard to read, but not sure if this is in the sept.08 issue, or will be coming out in the oct.08 issue.