Beautiful Hands

You can tell a lot about a person by looking at their hands.... I especially love looking at elderly hands, with all the wrinkles, all the scars, the crooked fingers from years and years of hard-work, faith & love.  Ma's hands speak volumes of the type of life she led... her wrinkles show the 87 years she's been on this earth.  The scars, she's got a story for each of them.... her index finger on her left had won't bend...it's been like that since she was 24 years old.  She was at the beach in Tonga with her new baby, she was fishing, getting food for dinner...she slipped and fell in the water and sliced her hand on a sharp rock.  The rock cut the middle of her hand and damaged the nerve that's connected to her pointer finger....she hasn't been able to bend it since.  Her middle fingers on both hands are crooked at the joints, that is from years of arthritis from working so hard to provide for her family.  Her hands are old and wrinkled and worn.  Her hands are so beautiful.  Her hands held and cared for her nine children.  Her hands held and cared for all her grandchildren.  Her hands held and cared for all her great-grandchildren.  Her hands trembled and shook as she held her husband's hand when he passed away almost 30 years ago.  Her hands have sewn.  Her hands have cooked and baked.  Her hands have disciplined and scolded.  Her hands have calmed and reassured.  Her hands are full of love.  When you're around Ma, you can't help but notice her beautiful hands.  I love her hands!  Her hands are old and frail, but everyday they pick up the scriptures and read.  Everyday they hug my boys Makai and Filimone.  Everyday they hold their namesake, my little princess Ilaisaane Lautala.  Everyday they bless my life, my husband's life, my children's life.  I love Grandma's hands.

At the doctors office before I gave birth to Lautala, I noticed little baby's hands and feet casted in stone covered with a beautiful glass dome.  There was a little brochure next to it with pictures of the different types of things that could be casted in stone.  There was a picture of old hands.  I immediatly thought of Ma's beautiful hands.  I showed the brochure to Ova, and without even saying anything, we were both thinking the same thing.  We needed to do Ma's beautiful hands.  It took us a while to finally do it, partly because I gave birth, and partly because she's been sick...but we finally did it and it turned out AMAZING!  It captured every little detail from her pointer finger, to her crooked joints, to her wrinkles and her veins.  They are beautiful!  It is a priceless gift that will bring back memories for years and years after she is gone.  We decided to give it to Tea, because she's the one that has been taking care of Ma her whole life since Pa died.  She cried uncontrollably when she saw them.  We all cried.  What beautiful beautiful hands Ma has...and now we'll have them forever!

Likes & Dislikes

- I love my husband
- I love my kids

- I love my family

- I hate spiders, or anything little crawling thing

- I like avocado with a little salt on toast

- I like any starch really, it's my favorite type of food

- I love to coupon shop

- I hate paying full price for anything!

- I love flying for free

- I love my in-laws

- I love surprises

- I hate when my boys forget to lift the toilet seat

- I love my husband's job

- I hate that he has to work graves and he's not at home at night

- I like swimming

- I love the summer

- I don't like people who waste time talking about other people

- I love meeting new people and making new friends

- I love that I have lifelong friends that I can trust with anything

- I love my parents

- I hate when my kids are sick

- I love to eat (as you can tell)

- I hate drama

- I hate when people hold grudges... why can't we all forgive and forget? Everyone makes mistakes!

- I love little children's brutal honesty

- I love going to anywhere that has a beach w/ my family

- I hate when my house is messy

- I don't love to clean :)

- I love to try to be creative

- I love to sew...and am in the process of making my daughter and I matching dresses! :)

- I love taking road-trips

- I hate all the flab I have leftover from my kids

- I love it that my husband tells me he loves me every single day

- I love that my boys have picked up on that habit!

- I fear losing loved ones, or being alone in the dark

- I don't like fish unless it doesn't taste like fish

- I LOVE ice-cream

- I wish I liked to work-out

- I hate driving in the snow

- I love watching football, rugby and basketball

- I LOVE my UTES!!!

- I love my Savior Jesus Christ

- I'm grateful for my husband's preisthood

- I love holidays

- I love summer bbq's with family and friends

- I hate that my hair is so thin

- I love my sisters and brother

- I love to blog!

- I hate when I'm running late

- I hate when I forget something at home

- I love to dress up my little girl

- I love it when Makai reads to me, or when Mone sings and dances

- I love that I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

- I hate when my bank account is overdrawn

- I love taking pictures

- I try not to leave the house w/out mascara

- I love watching my kids play sports

- I love the people of Chile

- I love that I can speak Spanish fluently

- I hate that I can't speak Tongan fluently

- I love that my husband has his fob moments... hahaha

- I don't like seeing other people cry

- I don't like how emotional I am and how easily I cry at everything

- I don't like how nervous I get when I have to talk in front of people

- I love all my neices and nephews

- I love having girls nights out

- I love laughing so hard that I almost can't breathe

2 Months Old

So our little baby girl turned 2 months old and we can't even believe how fast she is growing and developing. We took her to the doctors for her 2 month check-up and of course her first round of immunizations. I was thinking that she was going to have to get like 5 or 6 shots, but luckily they combined a few of them so she only had to get 3. It's so sad to see babies that young screaming because of the pain of the poke....but honestly, she took it a lot better than her older brother Makai who screamed like a little girl and had to be held down by his dad for just one shot. She got her shots a few hours ago and she's so fussy and irritated now....those are just so not part of her character, but I'm glad that the tylenol is helping her feel a little better!

The doctor said that she is very healthy and is growing just like she should. She's so much fun right now because she's more alert and aware of things that are going on around her.

- She weighed 12lbs. 14oz.
- She measured 23.5 inces long
- Her head circumference was 15.6
- She's started smiling
- She recognizes her Mama & Daddy's voice
- She still is such a good baby and never cries unless she's hungry
- She rolled over twice, don't think she's got it down, but she did it!
- She stays awake for longer periods of time
- She sleeps pretty good through the night, waking maybe once or twice
- She still LOVES to be wrapped up tight
- She sweats like crazy
- She's getting used to her Mama always dressing her up (at least I hope...hahaha)
- She's getting used to her brothers always smothering her
- She drinks 1-3oz. every 2-3 hours
- She wears size 3-6 month clothes already

We sure do love our little girl!!

Oh, and I forgot.....we pierced her ears!! Surprisingly she didn't even cry....and she got her first pair of 14k gold cubic zerconia earings....

A HUGE scare.....

My dad was giving a talk this past Sunday at one of his ward conferences and he said the room started spinning, he was sweating profusely, and the whole left side of his body was in pain. He almost passed out. He had a mini-stroke.... I couldn't stop crying when I heard, wondering and worrying about him. He's had doctors appointments and check-ups every single day this week just to make sure everything is ok. They found a spot in his brain on the x-ray they took and didn't know if it was an air bubble or a blod clot. That means more and more tests....
My dad is a very strong man, and a very faithful man. When he should be at home resting and taking it easy, he's still going to his church meetings. We all tell him they will understand if he misses a meeting, and he comes back with "if I do the Lord's work, he will bless me and make me better" he is right.... his faith will heal him!
I love my daddy so much! I know he will be ok!
Please remember him in your prayers!!

Alisi Siosiana Fangupo's special day!

Little Lisi is the oldest daughter, 2nd child of Kina & Christina. She's a little princess, a good-helper, and a great sister/cousin. She turned 8 years old at the beginning of February and was baptized on March 6th. She was baptized by her Grandpa Kina, and confirmed by her dad. It was a very special day for a very special little girl. Tina asked me to make a little invite for her to give to her family....here it is:


I also remembered to take my camera that day, so here are the pictures from her special day! We sure do love you little Lisi!

Little Lisi in her dress that her Auntie Toa & Uncle Mote bought her

With Grandpa and Makai before the baptism

With Mama Alice

In her whites with Grandpa Kina

With Grandpa Kina & Grandma Kesa

Little Lisi w/ her dad, grandparents & sister Pisila

Little Lisi after she was baptized, in her dress that Tea bought her...

President Makai with the two that got baptized...

Lisi with her Mom

Blessed to have both Great-Grandma's there for her special day!

Little Lisi with her Moms...Tina & Alisi

Proud Parents

The whole fam-bam

There was also a small eating held for Alisi...it was nice to have the family there to eat, visit, and hang-out. We always have a good time when the family gets together! It was just the immediate families in the big huge gym @ the church so all the kids got to run wild while the parents visited and ate. It was a lot of fun and we are all so proud of Little Lisi for her great example to her younger brothers and sister and cousins!

Tina wanted to do something special for Alisi on her special day so she stayed up all night with Mua making these awesome cakes! Aren't they so nice!!

Getting ready to go to the eating...some shots with Lautala & Filimone...

A Prayer for Chile....please!

Devastating pictures of the Chilean earthquake 8.8 on the ricter scale...

As many of you know, I was a Missionary in Chile for 18 months. I lived in and around Santiago (the capital). So you can imagine how my heart jumped into my throat when I heard about the disasterous 8.8 magnatude earthquake which hit there. And, there were many many many secondary quakes. The last count that I heard was 70! I've got some very dear friends down there, people who are as dear to me as family, and I'm terribly worried about them. Fortunately, they're mostly in Santiago, not Concepcion, which was the worst hit. But, that doesn't mean they're out of danger!

I woke up that morning February 27th, to CNN covering this massive quake that hit my beloved Chile...I must have stared at the t.v. and cried for a good 4 hours. I emailed, facebooked, and did pretty much everything I could to try and get a hold of someone from there to make sure they were ok. My heart felt like it was ripped out of my chest and I felt so helpless. The news was covering the city and the big buildings and businesses, but my heart and mind was with the millions of families living in shacks that I knew, the people that I served with, the people that I loved. I kept wondering and asking myself if they were ok, if anyone was hurt, if their houses were still standing.

I had a long list of things to do that day, but nothing seemed as important to me at that time as finding out about my people. I spent the good part of the day trying to get a hold of someone, anyone....but had no success. Finally, I heard from Evelyn....a young woman in one of the wards I served in. She was ok and so was all her family, but she said it was terrifying to be woken up and 3 in the morning to incredible shaking. I can't even imagine. Throughout the rest of that day and week, I was able to get a hold of more of my Chilean people. Everyone is ok. Some houses are ruined, but those can be rebuilt.

Serving and living among the Chileans for 18 months makes them my home and my family...so when this tragedy happened, it hit home for me. I'm so grateful that nobody I knew personally lost their lives that day.

Even though it happened a while ago, there are still people who did lose loved ones and millions of people that are homeless, so please spare a thought and prayer for the Chilean people!

Pictures with Daddy

I love capturing these father-daughter moments....this is him kissing her goodbye before he heads to work. He's such a great dad!

Lautala's Baby Blessing....

So our little princess was blessed on February 7th, 2010. She looked so beautiful in her little white dress. I got super emotional when I was getting her dressed that morning because the dress she wore was a dress that my Grandma Carr made for me before she passed away. After having two boys, I wondered if I was ever going to get the chance to use it. My aunt Darla was holding on to it and made the finishing touches before she gave it to me. It was simple. It was homemade. It was a little old-fashioned. It was perfect! My Grandma Carr was a very crafty woman and she hand-made or home-made almost everything she wore or ate. I'm so blessed to have these little things from her that helps me to remember her.

Ova gave the blessing for our little girl.... and it was absolutely beautiful. She was only 1 month old at the time, but she already had him wrapped around her little finger. It's so cute to see how he melts when she looks or smiles at him. He kept telling me that morning that he was afraid he would get all choked up and nobody would be able to understand him. He did get choked up a little at the beginning, but he gave a very beautiful and heart-felt blessing. I'm so proud of him!





My little Filimone has this new obsession with sharing his testimony....and he had asked me several times if he could go up and bear his testimony. It was so cute, because when he got to the microphone, before he bore his testimony he said "I love my baby sister" Both him and Makai can't get enough of her...and I still have to limit them kissing her or they would seriously have their lips planted on her face all day long. It's so cute to see them with her though! We all got up and bore our testimonies that day... It had been a while since I'd been up to the pulpit, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me with another sweet child...and also to thank all the friends and family that came to support. Ova's testimony is firm and I absolutely love hearing him share it.... that day he shared an experience with everyone. In one of my earlier posts I talked about my little sister Leka getting her endowments.... that happened 2 days before Lautala made her debut. He was so tired during the session and was struggling to stay awake and all the sudden, he felt her sitting on his lap. It was hard for him to describe, but he knew it was her...she was there helping him stay awake. He said he felt her throughout the whole session and when it was over he heard her tell him that she'd see him soon. That was the first time he'd ever had an experience like that, and that was his first bond with his daughter, before she was even born.

It was just an amazing, filling, rewarding, spiritual, family-filled day.

We had a small eating at Ova's parent's house after and it was nice having just our families there eating, talking and enjoying each other's company.