Really Missing My Grandparents Today...

[Miss them so much!!!]

I am really, really missing my grandparents today!!!

It has been a year since my grandpa passed away and almost 10 years since my grandma passed away, and there isn't a day that goes by that I haven't thought about them or wondered how they would have advised me on certain situations or decisions I have made or just what the overall conversation would be like about different world events that have taken place.

Today is their birthday. They were born on the same day just different years and although they shared so much in common their personalities were very different. My grandmother was very outspoken and assertive and my grandfather was much more quiet and reserved, but they both shared a deep love for the Lord, their family, the Tongan culture and especially for Education!

Oh... how I miss him and my grandma dearly!!! I truly have been blessed to have them in my life! It is only now, when I reflect back on my life, that I realize the importance of what they have taught me. I realize more than ever before how keenly aware they were of the world and how focused they were on their goal to raise a next generation of young people who would be rooted in our native Tongan culture but learn to carve out their own space in this new society.

They valued indigenous Tongan knowledge and even when it seemed that assimilation was the only way to be successful in this society, they refused to conform-- but instead engaged in personal acts of self-determination by making the Tongan language mandatory in our home, by telling us stories of their upbringing, by teaching us traditional Tongan proverbs and history, and by teaching us respect, love, and kindness, from a Tongan perspective.

I cannot deny how much this has shaped my consciousness, influenced my choices and has guided the work that I do! When you are raised around that kind of environment, you cannot help but to innately know that you must give back some how!

I know that they are rejoicing together today and I hope that they both know how much I love, respect, and honor their memory, everything they stood for, and all that they have taught me!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA & GRANDPA!!!!

'OFA LAHI ATU!!!!


[back in the day kickin' it with Grams and Gramps... LOL!]


[another generation of kids kickin' it with Gramps]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'IVONI

[My niece Vaofua 'Ivoni]

It was my beautiful niece 'Ivoni's birthday this past Friday! She is one of the most beautiful young people I know (both inside and out) and I am not just saying that because she is my niece! lol! She truly is awesome!!!

I love you beautiful girl and I am looking forward to hanging out with you this weekend!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! LOVE YOU TONZ!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

We have two birthdays in our family today!

This blog entry is their birthday present because I am broke and can't buy a present... hahahahaha!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'ILAISE



This is my beautiful, amazing and very outspoken niece! She is never afraid to speak her mind and has an opinion about everything. When I first started organizing the H.Y.P.E. Movement, I was with her in her bedroom and out of no where she says to me:

'Ilaise: What is HYPE?

Me: It stands for Helping Youth Pursue Emancipation

'Ilaise: hmmm...interesting

Me: Do you think you can help me with it?

'Ilaise: hmmm...I dont know I am busy I have to clean my room

Me: I dont mean right now but at some point I am going to need you to help me get the word out

'Ilaise: hmmm...actually, if you help me clean my room then I will think about it
[actually is her favorite word]

Me: So if I help you clean your room then you will help me by telling all your friends about the HYPE Movement?

'Ilaise: I said I will THINK about it!!!

LOL!!! LOL!!! LOL!!! LOL!!! LOL!!!

I love you so much 'Ilaise and I'm wishing you many wonderful blessings on this beautiful day and forever!!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEVITA


[Tevita and the little monkeys]

My brother Tevita currently lives in Hawaii so I don't get to see him as often as I would like but I love him dearly! He has been an incredible influence in my academic journey.

When I was an undergraduate student at Utah State University and the challenges seemed overwhelming and I was ready to drop out of college, he drove out to Logan, picked me up and took me out to lunch and said to me "how are we going to ever challenge western paradigms if we are to give up now...you are too smart and too strong to let an educational institution push you out!!!"... that day I decided that no educational institution was going to push me out without a fight!!!

Thank you brother for seeing that potential in me even when I wasn't sure it was there!!! On this wonderful day, I hope that you receive the same amount of love and joy that you have always willingly shared with others!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

You can read more about my awesome brother HERE and HERE

Birthday Wishes for A Beautiful Girl...

[My Rockstar niece 'Anapesi]

Today is my beautiful niece 'Anapesi's birthday! She has grown into such a beautiful and intelligent young woman! I am really blessed to have her in my life and I hope that she will always know how much I love her!

We are surrounded by so much craziness in this world and everything always seems so fleeting but my friendship with my niece is something that I truly cherish and I hope that many, many birthdays from now we will always still remain close!

Happy Birthday Pesi! I love you so much!!!

Sweet November

November is a great month for my family but not so great for my bank account...LOL!!!

We have five birthdays in our family all in the month of November!

Happy Birthday Family!!!

This blog entry is your birthday present... hahahaha!!!!

~'AMONI & SAIONE~

[My two handsome nephews 'Amoni & Saione]

I love these two so much!!! They just turned 9 years old this month and it seems like the years have gone by so quickly! I love spending time with them and for some reason they think it's hilarious when they drive me crazy! hahahaha! One time they were making so much noise that my neighbor came over to see if we were having a party only to find two rowdy little boys jumping up and down pretending to be superheroes at a rock concert! hahahaha!!! Well...they will always be Rockstarz to me!!!


[My two Rockstar nephews]

I love you two so much...always have...always will!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONKEYS!!!


~'ANA~

[My beautiful sister 'Ana]

My youngest sister 'Ana is by far the kindest most loving person out of all my siblings! She will go out of her way to make sure that everyone is happy and will do anything for our family! She always tries to see the positive in everything and I mean everything... it gets kind of annoying sometimes... hahahaha!!! I am extremely blessed to have her in my life!!!


[My beautiful sister 'Ana and her two side kicks Ivoni Si'i and Pesi Si'i]

I love you so much sister!!! You are the best!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!


~JOE~

[My handsome brother Joe reppin' that HYPE]

What can I say about my brother Joe except that I love him so much!!! He is the quiet genius in our family (he is only quiet if you dont know him... hahaha)!!! My sisters and I have never had to buy our laptops or cell phones because he has purchased every single one for us because he is just awesome like that!!! Thanks for all that you do for us brother!!!


[My brother Joe and the Big Boss of our family...my sister Sulia...LOL]

I love you so much brother!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

P.S. can I get an iphone for Christmas? Not an Iphony like Elsie's! mwahahahahaha!


~MY MOMMY~

[My beautiful Mom's graduation picture from BYU-Hawaii]

My Mom is the most beautiful, kindest, and strongest woman that I know! She exemplifies everything that I hope to become someday! She has sacrificed so much for us so that we can live our own dreams. She hasn't always agreed with all of our decisions, but she has always supported us, loved us, and even cried with us when necessary! I am able to live my life the way I want because I know her love is unconditional and constant!!! I love you so very much Mom!!!


[My beautiful and amazing Mom with my Dad, the love of her life...been married for 43 years and still going strong!!!]

Wishing you a Happy Birthday Mom today and for always!!!

'Ofa lahi atu!!!

Double Cuties!!!

Last night I got to hang out with my two cutie twin nephews --Arona & Arami-- They are almost 5 months old and are the cutest and nicest little boys ever unless you want to take pictures of them and then they start doing random things like rolling their eyes, turning the other way, ignoring me, screaming, crying or spitting up saliva all over me... LOL!!!!


[My two cutie twin nephews...Arona & Arami]

I took about 50 pictures with my camera phone before Arami finally looked at the camera with that look like "is this woman for realz...Geez get it over with already!!!" LOL!!! yeah persistence really pays off!!!


[This is Arami or as I call him Orson Jr. Part 1]

It took forever to take this picture because Arona kept looking at me and refused to look at the camera. Everytime I turned him to the camera he smiled and right when I would take the picture he looked away. I finally had to hold his bottle from the top together with my camera and as he was looking at his bottle I took the picture (yeah I am so talented!!! LOL!!!), but how come he looks totally bored like he already knew what I was trying to do and finally gave up and just looked at the camera...hahahaha!!! So much for me trying to be tricky! lol!


[This is Arona or as I call him Orson Jr. Part 2]

The whole night I had the TV on and was flipping through all the news channels CNN, CSPAN, FOX, MSNBC, etc., and unfortunately my nephews didn't really enjoy watching the news! LOL!!!


[Arami laughing while we were watching Sarah Palin being interviewed on Larry King]

We watched the Palin interview with Larry King and basically the twins reactions mirror my own reactions when I hear Palin being interviewed. She either puts me to sleep or makes me laugh! I guess it's safe to say that my twin nephews share my same political views and convictions! LOL!!! LOL!!! LOL!!!


[Arona sleeping while we were watching Sarah Palin being interviewed on Larry King]

I promise I didn't try to influence them toward any political party, although I had to change both of their poopie diapers right when Pat Buchanan came on TV... hahaha!!! hmmm... I wonder what that means??? Yeah it means Pat is full of CRAP!!! LOL!!!

Looking forward to my next night out with my twin nephews so I can follow up on how their political views have progressed! hahahaha!!!

Happy Birthday Neekz!

It's my sister Nica's birthday today and she is probably getting thrown off the stage right now at the New Kids On The Block concert! LOL!!! She is a huge fan... I am so NOT a FAN...which is why I am at home babysitting our twin nephews while she is screaming at the top of her lungs at the concert...hahaha!!!

Anyways, Nica and I have been good friends since our Freshman year in college. Her sister was dating my brother (and are now married) so we kind of had to become friends! hahahahaha! She is an awesome friend...which is why I know she will forgive me for reminding her of some of our crazy college moments... LOL!!!

She was dating this guy in college who decided to be romantic and stand outside her dorm room window singing Celine Dion's "Power of Love"... of course the song is awesome...but it just didn't sound too romantic when he was singing "I am your lady and you are my man!!!"... hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!

We also took the Missionary Preparation class together in college and we were suppose to get up at 7am the next morning to do our class service project...we stayed up so late the night before that when we woke up at 6:30 we started rushing to get ready before we finally realized that we had slept all day and that it was actually 6:30pm when we finally woke up...hahahahahahahahahaha!!!

There are so many more stories, but I will save it for another blog...LOL!


[Me and Nica during our first year of college...LOL!!! Don't hate on the helmet on my head!!! LOL!!!]

Nica is a huge sport's fan and I am trying to encourage her to pursue a career in being a Sportscaster. I think she would be awesome!!! Check her out on TV... (she didn't want me to post this...but too bad!!! LOL!!!)





HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!!!

THANKS FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT FRIEND AND SISTER!!!