Jiggy with June

Is it just me or has the month of June come and gone with the blink of an eye?  Here's what we've been up to this month.

Talanoa:
-started taking steps about a week ago but has gotten really good over the weekend.  She's up to about 6 or 7 steps at a time now.
-says mine, gamma (grandma), come, this one, gum, book.
-can't be quiet in sacrament meeting.  Lol!  We've been trying to sit in the front so we can pay attention but we end up in the foyer 98% of the time because she always cries to play with the hymn books.
-does animal noises for duck and chicken.
-is starting to do motions for nursery songs like Popcorn Popping.  I'm sure that's not the real title but you know what song I mean.  Lol!
-can do peek-a-boo.
-is getting too aggressive for my liking.  I sometimes catch her hitting Elina or even biting her :(  Quite the little bully I tell ya!
-gets jealous when I hold other babies, especially Baby Molly.
-is become such an early bird and while I'm talking about sleep let's mention that she is so 'mohe fisi' aka wild sleeper.  She rolls around and changes position like every 10 seconds!

Elina:
-always wants to buckle her seat belt in her car seat.
-cries for the keys every time we come home because she wants to unlock the car and house or pretend to anyway.
-can unlock the front door now.  Runs out when she hears kids in the courtyard and screams, "Hiyeeee friendsss!"  Hahahaha!
-has had less separation anxiety and rarely throws fits when I drop her off to go to work.
-loves taking pictures of herself with my camera but usually never gets her face in it.  Haha!
-is starting to recognize letters and numbers.  Can't do them in order yet but we're getting there.
-is starting to sing I Am a Child of God :)
-has an impressive memory, especially with books we read her.  She knows the parts coming up even in books we've only read her once.
-constantly asking, "What's that?"
-is in love with 7 Peaks now!  Her and Talanoa even rode the "big kid" slides with us last time.  I'll have to take pictures the next time we go.

Vili & I:
-Vili started at PCS again this week.  Yup, we're taking over.  Lol.
-Vili watched the girls for the weekend all by his lonesome so that I could go on my very first girls trip.  It was so much fun but I missed them so much!  (Post coming soon)  Let's just say I'm appreciated a teeny bit more.  Lol!
-I joined in on doing a yard sale with my best friend, Cheka, and it was a huge success (money and tan wise....lol)!  Never ceases to amaze me the things people buy that you were going to throw out!
-I hiked the Y for the first time EVER!  Can you believe it?  Been here 10+ years and it was my first time.  Kind of embarrassing but it's true.  Pictures for proof below.  Lol!
-We met our goal today of attending the temple once a month.  Yay us!  Heard a good talk a couple Sunday's back from the Reid family about the blessings of the temple.  We took it to heart and are trying to be better at attending and not letting anything get in the way.

Remember how I said Elina takes pictures of herself?  Here's two out of the twenty or so I found on my camera.  Lol  Funny story:  One day Elina grabbed my camera to take pictures of herself.  I told her to put it down or she'd go to time out.  Before I finish counting to three she screams random numbers then click, click, click! She's always pushing my patience but making me laugh at the same time.  Lol!  

Our temple date night :)

And here's proof I hiked the Y!  Lol....us at the bottom and at the top!

 

Swimming at Grandma Talite's house.  Who needs bathing suits anyways?  Lol jk I was just lazy!

Father's Day

Everytime Father's Day rolls around I get kind of sad because my Dad lives in Tonga and we don't get to spend it with him.  I miss him so much and I can't help but think of all the good memories we made with him growing up.  We butt head a lot because we're so much alike but it doesn't change the fact that he's my Dad and he's helped me become the person I am today.  I'm grateful to have had such a strong priesthood holder in my family growing up who taught me the importance of the gospel and my Savior, Jesus Christ.  Things weren't perfect growing up and they are not perfect now but you live and you learn.  We all make mistakes and you just have to forgive and move on.  I love my Dad and I always will.

Which leads me to another father in my life, the father of my children.  I'm so grateful that my girls have such a great dad!  I love seeing him playing and laughing with them, cuddling and reading books with them, watching tv with them and on occassion, annoying them on purpose.  Lol.  I hope that one day when they grow up they will realize what a great man they have for a Dad and look for similar traits in their spouses.  Did I just say spouses?  Now I'm going to go cry thinking about how fast they grow up!  Lol! 

Graduations!

We kicked off grad season with Dom's graduation from UVU!  She graduated with her Bachelor's in Behavioral Science in December while she was 9 months pregnant with Molly but walked in April.  She's the third of us to graduate from college and we're so proud of her!

A couple weeks later my little sis (in-law...for anyone I may be confusing), Talanoa, graduated from seminary!  Can't believe how fast time has gone.  She was in the 8th grade when Vili and I got married!  Funny thing is that people think I'm her little sister and that my kids are hers whenever we are out somewhere!  Lol!

Then it was her Provo High graduation.  So blessed to have such a loving sis-in-law who is always willing to help and is such a great example to my kids!  

My little cousin, LJ Laussen, graduated too!

My Mini Musician

Remember how I said Elina loves to sing and dance?  Well, now she loves to pretend-play the uke.

I think we may have a future performer on our hands!  She also fake plays the piano and sings just as dramatic.  Lol.  The other day Elina opened our coat closet (where we leave the uke) and said, "Mommy, twinkle twinkle stars!" as she pointed to it and begged me to bring it down so she could play it.  I just started cracking up!  I tried to tell her it's called a uke but I'm sure she could care less.  Lol.  Here's some pics of her playing and singing.

So focused!

Marvelous May

My kids are napping so I tried to watch Gossip Girls but it couldn't load my episode.  I figured it might be a sign that I need to take a break from GG and take some time to catch up on my blog.  May has been a crazy month filled with so much fun for our little family.  We've been keeping real busy and we like it that way.  Here's what we've been up to:

Talanoa:
-had her 12 month appointment and is apparently a very large 1 yr old!  Lol!  She is 32 inches (99%) and 23.7 lbs (91%).
-loves to help clean up her toys especially in the bath.
-thinks it's funny when she tries to jump.  She says jump but really just goes on her tiptoes.  It's cute and she thinks it's hilarious!
-passes us snacks and expects us to open them for her because she says, "Some!"  aka "I want some."
-pretends to clip our nails with the nail clippers and cries if we don't give her our fingers and toes to pretend with.
-can say book and loves when we read to her.  She also said "stinky boo boo" today when I was changing her diaper but I'm pretty sure it was some freak accident that it was so clear.
-shares with everyone except Elina.  Oh, the sisterly love.  Lol
-seriously can't function without a binky in her mouth at all times.  Uh oh!  What have I done?!
-knows how to put chapstick and lip gloss on.  I have such girly girls!

Elina:
-says the funniest things all the time like.  Lately it's, "Daddy take her" (her as in herself) when Vili is heading out the door.
-sings the clean up song and pretends to be putting things away when she's caught playing with our wallets or  destroying the diaper bag.  Haha!
-has to be bribed to eat anything these days.
-is in a really clingy stage especially since I started working again.  Every time we go somewhere she thinks I'm dropping her off to go to work so she won't ever leave my side.  Breaks my heart!
-prefers to be in my CTR 5 class and still refuses to go to nursery.  Sometimes she doesn't even want to go to church at all.  She is her father's daughter!  Lol Me: Elina, you wanna go church?  Elina:  No, I go night night mommy.  Hahahaha!
-favorite thing to do lately is jump around and say, "Mommy, I chumping!"
-favorite movie this month is "A Turtle's Tale"
-still loves to sing and pretty much dances to any music she hears.  Even background songs in movies.

Vili and I:
-I started working at Provo Canyon School as a receptionist again last week!  It's just on-call so not a whole lot.  Just enough to let me refresh and have some much needed time away from home.
-I dyed my hair brown and I am finally used to it and like it a lot.
-Vili has been golfing a lot lately with the punch pass we bought him.  Glad he enjoys it!
-We both got called to be assistant scout leaders in our ward.  Vili has been dying for this calling since we got married.  Lol!  He just loves camping and all things manly and I guess me and the 2 girls aren't cutting it in that department.  Hahaha!
-Vili took Elina on her first fishing experience this month and she loved it!  When she got home she couldn't stop talking about the fishies, the water, and feeding the fishies her fishies (goldfish snacks).  Lol!
-We finally used our Pass of All Passes!  Took the kids to Trafalga and Seven Peaks.  So much fun!

We had to celebrate this heat with my fave.....some shave ice!  

Elina is such a sweet tooth!  Wouldn't be surprised if she ended up with silver grills like me.  Lol!

Here's a pic of my brown hair!  So different but I like it :)

Always giving Dad a hard time!  I taught them well!  Lol

First trip to Seven Peaks!  Let's just say Elina doesn't like new things right off the bat.  Lol strange thing is she loved swimming pools last summer.  I'm hoping this is just a phase she's going through.

My fearless little one!

Snack time.  Yes, we snuck those snacks in.  That's what broke people do!  Lol 

Talanoa checking for fallen snacks on the ground.  She cried when she realized they were all gone!  Lol

In cheese heaven!