Summer Fun: Days of '47 Parade, Trafalga & American Fork Steel Days Carnival

Days of '47 Parade. Today was an awesome day, and I'm glad we were able to make it to watch the Days of '47 Parade.  My kids enjoyed it, and so did we.  The highlight for us was the Polynesian Cultural Center Promo Team. They had did their "HA, Breath of Life" show at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center last Thursday and Friday, and I was sad we couldn't attend, but when I found out they were going to be in the Parade I made sure that we would be there to see them.  Maybe it's because I haven't been home since January, but whatever the reason I was in need of some familiar faces from good ole' Hawaii-nei!

We made plans with my sister-in-laws and at about 11pm last night we met up at my in-laws house, packed up and drove up to Liberty Park, where all the polys camp out at! We had actually scored a good spot on the corner of 900 south and 500 something east. We kicked it with the family for a couple hours and then we headed home. We didn't want to sleep over, well 1. because we weren't prepared too, and 2. I didn't want to have my baby Hinckley sleeping outside, so it was home for us.  We woke up at around 7:30am this morning and then got ready and headed out to Liberty Park. Let me just say that we will never attempt that again. lol. Traffic getting up there was crazy, and then we had to park at about 400 east and like 850 south, so it wasn't too far from where my in-laws were, but still... finding parking was a pain.

It was HOT as heck (for us people without umbrella's) but I'm grateful that my baby slept through the whole thing.  My brother in law held him while he was seated under the shade so I was able to sit on the road with my other 2 kids and my hubby in the blazing hot sun! lol.  I haven't seen a parade since I was a teen, so I was excited to be able to watch it again.  My kids loved it, and loved seeing all the floats and horses.  Every time a float would come with the princesses, my son would say "Mom that's Saia's princess ok?" lol.  (We call our daughter "Saia"... it came about because Moe couldn't say her whole name "Kesaia" when she was first born, and so it just stuck.) Like I said the highlight of the Parade was when PCC came through, we got excited because one of our good friends saw us and came out and gave us hugs and said Hi, and then as he was leaving someone else ran to me and said Hi and it was one of the girls I grew up with in the same ward, and she was one of my young women when I was serving as a YW Girls Camp Director.  Just seeing all the familiar faces got me so happy and excited, but more-so homesick. lol. But not to worry cause next week Monday me and the kids are headed to Hawaii for a week! So I can't wait for that!

Anyhow, after the Parade we just headed home, and my poor husband had to go to work an hour later.  It was funny because as soon as we got home and parked, it started pouring rain! But the rain definitely help set the mood, cause right after that we all knocked out for like 5 hours.. hahaha, talk about catching up on sleep. Today was a great day for family time, and I'm loving all the things we have been able to do this summer.  Here's some pics:

I also wanted to throw in our activities we did last week... We went to Trafalga last Tuesday, and then to the American Fork Steel Days Carnival last Thursday.

Trafalga. We used the perks of our Pass of all Passes and went to Trafalga in Lehi. Baby Moe loved the go-carts and had a blast going on it with Daddy and he even went on the little "boats" thing he calls it with Daddy as well.  Kesaia probably didn't have as much fun because she couldn't go on the rides Moe went on because she didn't meet the height requirement, but we all still had fun as a family.

American Fork Steel Days Carnival. So Thursday started off with us going around to all the Kid-to-Kid's to look out for a stroller for my Baby Hinckley (I have yet to find one).  We didn't have much luck at the stores in Salt Lake, so we decided to just drive out to the one in American Fork.  On our way there I had seen an instagram post from a friend who had taken her kids to the American Fork Carnival.  I figured since we were going to be in the area, why not check it out.  So I googled it, and found out where it was held at and after going to Kid to Kid we headed over there.  The kids had no idea where we were headed because we kept it between the two of us, but as soon as we drove past it they all got excited and were so ready to get out of the car.  I was glad that we went to this AF carnival because we weren't able to go to the Taylorsville Dayzz Carnival because I had given birth the day it started.  We probably spent a little too much money than we needed too, but money doesn't matter when your kids are having fun and we're able to enjoy some great family time together. 

Upcoming Changes!

Where do I even start?? There are some changes for our family and I like most of them, but I'm definitely dreading some of them that will eventually come. First of all, as you know my little sister has been here from Hawaii for a little over 3 weeks now.  Since she's been here my mom told us that she wanted her to stay here and go to school here for a year, and she wondered if that was ok with us.  I told her Yeah, that we don't mind but she had to talk to my little sister about it.  After asking and confirming with her, I guess it's official and she'll be living with us and going to school here for her 5th grade year.  So now my mom is in the process of making me a legal guardian and now I have to go find out what I need to do to enroll her into school here.  I'm excited, and I hope she is too.  She'll get to experience a lot out here, but I think she'll mostly be excited to see snow for the first time. ;) And now I'm reminded of all the winter clothes I'm going to have to buy her... awesome. lol.

Some other changes in our family is Fehi has put in his 2 weeks to go from full-time to PRN, where he'll only be working 1 or 2 days a week at the treatment center.  I'm SUPER excited about this because that means he'll be home 5/6 nights a week (he's worked graves since before baby moe was born, so that's a lot of nights away from home!) and most of all he'll get to rest and not work so hard.  For the past few months he's worked 2 jobs full-time and though he never complains, I just don't want my husband to tire himself out. So when he told me on Monday morning that he put in his 2 weeks to go to PRN I was happy.  I'm mostly happy for him because the treatment center he works at has had some major changes as well, and it has affected a lot of people there.  My husband has worked there for almost 4 years and a lot of people recognize his hard work, and how well he works with the kids, and they have even rewarded him with gift cards and recognitions for his work, but yet they don't want to give him a higher position.  He's applied for the supervisor position 3 times just this year (and all 3 times he was urged by management to apply) and each time the position is given to someone who everyone knows is less qualified for the job.  There have also been occasions where they've tried to get him to go for a different position by giving him for a far lesser pay (only a 50 cent raise from the $9.90 he makes now.. yeah their pay sucks).  It's really just insulting when they do stuff like that to him, so it was time to just give it a break.

Now with him working less hours there, he can pick up more hours at Costco.  Which brings up more changes.  He's officially off his 90-day probation from Costco, and he has moved to part-time.  Fehi loves working at Costco, and can really see himself growing with them.  He's been talking to management about the possibility of moving up, and they all tell him that they really see him moving up fast, to even being a manager.  The head-honcho of the Costco that Fehi works at pulled him aside one day and told him that he's heard nothing but great things about him, and he wants to try to make him full-time by the end of the year.  Which is a really GREAT thing because there are people who have been waiting at least 5 years to go full-time.  One of the managers even mentioned to Fehi about moving to the mid-west because that's where Costco is thriving, and he could possibly be a manager within two years.  Which brings up the change that I'm dreading.  This manager told Fehi that mid-west is where it's at and if he wants to move up fast he should try going there.  So when my hubby approached me about the possibility of moving I just cried (mind you, he told me this just a few days after giving birth to our son).  I would cry and get so upset that I wouldn't even talk to him. lol.  Then after a day or so I was ok, and never talked about it again.  But then he would bring it up again and I would cry and get upset at him again. lol.  But after the 3rd or 4th time of bringing it up, I was finally ready to talk about it.

I know my husband wouldn't want to move for the heck of it, but rather he's thinking about our family and providing well for our family.  I told him that if he decides to move to the mid-west, that it would just be him going.  I don't want to loose my job at Delta, and I really don't want to move anywhere else so he would move and we would stay here.  I know that if this does happen it'll be the hardest thing we'll have to go through because I don't like to be apart from my husband, and I know my husband doesn't want to be apart from our family.  It's all still up in the air, and if it does happen it may not happen for a few more months or so, but I told him that we first and foremost definitely need to pray and fast about this, and then second I need to know where in the mid-west he thinks he'll go, and then from there we'll move on.  I just hate the thought of our family being separated and my kids not get to see their daddy, especially Baby Hinckley not having his dad around for all his "firsts" and vice versa, but since all is not set in stone just yet, I'm not going to stress out too much over it.

These are basically the changes that are in the works right now for our family.  Though some of them are exciting, and the thought of my husband being away from us isn't so exciting, I know that it's all for a greater purpose.  I couldn't ask for a greater husband because I know everything he does is for us, his family.  He's the best husband ever, and I love him to eternity and back!

Summer Fun!!!

So if you read my last blog post (about resting) yeah... well obviously I don't even listen to myself (hahaha) cause I'm still out and about.  I will say though that I did rest up on Tuesday, but on Wednesday we went out and had some family fun.  Because my love works 2 jobs and his schedule is hectic, we always try to do something as a family on his days off.  So on Wednesday we decided to take the kids out to go swimming.  It's been a little over 2 weeks since we last went swimming (before I gave birth to baby), so it was about that time to go again.  I had heard about this place called the "Herriman Beach", and so I thought we'd go and check it out.  It's (of course) a man-made "beach", well in reality it's a reservoir with sand. So we all got in our swim attire, packed up the kids, filled up the cooler with drinks and then headed over to the "beach."

Surprisingly this Herriman Beach (it's real name is Black Ridge Resevoir) is right up the road from where my uncle and aunt live. When we got there Fehi was surprised, I guess he's never seen a reservoir like this before.  We unpacked and got the kids down by the water, and sat there for 5 minutes then decided to leave lol.  I guess we all didn't like it as much as I thought we would, so we decided to go to none other than Seven Peaks! I just wish we changed our minds before we made the 30 minute drive up to this "beach"... oh well, you live and learn right? ;)

Seven Peaks was a blast (as always) and it was nice because it wasn't as packed as it usually is.  My son is getting a little too brave in the wave pool though.  I noticed that he would walk in more, and then the water would be up at his neck (he's a crazy little 3 year old lol), but you would think that when the waves started going he'd run away.. nope.. he was right up there jumping with every wave.  It didn't matter if he got water in his face, or up his nose, he would just wipe his face and go for more... hahaha.. It must be the island boy in him. ;)  I didn't do much swimming because I sat out with Baby Hinckley, but I still had a blast watching the kids.  We did walk around a little bit, and I didn't even know that they had a splash pad for the kids, and a snake river.  The snake river isn't as big as the one in Provo, but it's nice to know that they do have one. 

After swimming we basically all went home and knocked out.  I was feeling a little bit of the cramps again when we got home, and I have noticed that I'm still bleeding a little bit, so I keep telling myself to just RELAX but of course I NEVER listen.  Because what did I do the next day... go to Wheeler Farm! lol. (I'm laughing now, but it's not funny really... I'm relaxing for real this weekend!) Our friends invited us to go with them to feed the ducks at Wheeler Farm.  I've only been there once before for Fehi's work christmas party, but that was during the winter so it was nice to go back this summer.  The ducks were not no small ducks.. they were huge geese! We were all freaked out because as soon as we started throwing pieces of bread the whole swarm of geese started coming towards us. The kids however loved it and weren't even afraid of them.  

After feeding the ducks/geese we had a little picnic there. And after that we headed home.  It was a fun day for us, and I'm glad that we are finding these little activities for the kids to do this summer.  Here's some photo's from our time at Wheeler Farm:

Though I am having fun taking the kids out and going on little new adventures with them, I am going to force  myself to stay home this weekend.  I'll be finding more activities to do at home with the kids so that they aren't bored, but more importantly so I can recover properly.  Here's to trying to recover again. ;) Wish me luck (for real!)

Postpartum Recovery

Like I mentioned in my previous blog, I feel like I've been on the go since last monday... only 4 days after giving birth to my baby.  I keep thinking about how great I feel, and how I've recovered really well, and how energized I feel.  But then last night I had a rude awakening.  On Saturday I attended a baby shower for my husbands cousin and a friend there was asking me about when I gave birth and what not, and when I told her I gave birth a week ago, she just looked at me in awe and told me I'm crazy for being out already.  Then she brought up something that my sister-in-laws had once explained to me.. something called "kita" (I think that's how you spell it).  Well in the Tongan culture that's believed to be something that happens to you after you give birth if you don't get enough rest, etc.  I think it basically means getting sick (or something that effect) after giving birth.  Well after she kept bringing this up, I just said "no, I'm not afraid of getting that... I'm ok."  So since then I've still been on the go.  

The next day (Sunday) we went to church with all my kids and no hubby (he has to work every sunday at the same time we have church so I usually go by myself with the kids) and a lot of the ward members were surprised that I was already coming back to church.  I only missed one sunday since I gave birth (the sunday after I gave birth) but I felt that if I could get out for all the other festivities that happened earlier in the week then I could definitely get up and go to church...so I did.  Yesterday I had laid in bed all day until we got up and went to run some errands and take the kids to the park. It wasn't until we got home and I laid down that I started to get some stomach pains. I just took it as a reaction to the McDonalds I ate, because it's been a while since I've eaten McDonalds.  But now it's the following morning and I'm still having those stomach pains/cramps and I've noticed that though my bleeding relatively stopped a couple days ago, I've started to bleed every now and then especially when I'm up and doing things.

So now I'm in bed telling myself to sit and relax.  I think maybe I did get up and out of bed a little too early after I gave birth.  It hasn't even been 2 weeks since I've given birth to my baby Hinckley, so I know I need to relax and let my body fully recover.  Sometimes I forget because I have so much on my plate, so much worry about, and I always feel like I have to get those things done but I think for now I need to retire my superwoman cape and let my body recover.  So my house will be messy for a few days, and there probably won't be any cooked meals either.. but it's ok just as long as my body rests and recovers. It's times like this that I wish my mom or grandma were here to help me out. But it's ok cause I have my hubby and little sister and they help me out a lot! Here's to recovering (for real!).

Me & Baby Hinckley at Church (in the Mother's Room of course lol)

Smile for me! :)

Took the kids out to the park/splash pad...
Me & Baby sat in the car because it was too hot outside!

4th of July Week & Mom's Visit

For the past few years I don't even remember really going out and celebrating the 4th of July.  Sadly,  I think the last time we went anywhere for the 4th was when I was pregnant with Baby Moe.  Last year I was working full-time, so I wasn't able to do anything with the kids.  So this year I wanted to make sure we did SOMETHING because I finally had it off (since I'm on maternity leave).  Luckily for us my mom flew in the morning of the 4th.  It's funny because I never told her about us trading in our car, and getting the Pilot.  So when we picked her up from the curb, of course she's looking for the black camry, and instead I pull up and stare at her, and she just looked and turned away then realized that it was me driving.  So then she had the biggest smile, and she said "I was wondering how we were all going to fit in the car!" lol.

After that we headed over to Herriman to pick up my little sister.  We stayed about an hour or so chit-chatting with my Aunt Nela, and then we left, picked up a couple rotisserie chickens from walmart (my fav!) and then headed home.  Of course my mom came with goodies for us (thanks to my sister Mele and BFF Neva for getting them for us!)... she came with teri-burgers, redondo hot dogs, portugese sausage, and hawaiian chocolates.  You have no idea how long I've been waiting for all of these! lol.  My mom also brought fish, and as soon as my husband saw it he got so excited because the fish she brought is used to make Ota (tongan raw fish) and my husband loves my mom's ota.  So as soon as we got home, my mom made a big ole bowl of ota for my husband (he's so spoiled by her and he knows it too! lol) and he fully enjoyed every bite of it.

After getting our bellies full of yummy goodies from Hawaii we got ready and headed out to Fehi's family's BBQ. They had been there all day, so by the time we got there they were done eating, but the music was playing and everyone was chilling and some were up dancing.  There was a dog there, and Kesaia got so excited! So far she loves dogs and babies! lol.

After spending a few hours there we decided to go and buy some fireworks for the kids to pop, and then grabbed some pizza and drinks to snack on. We then headed over to Jordan Park to find a spot to watch the fireworks show.  Like I mentioned earlier the last time I remember celebrating the 4th was when I was pregnant with Baby Moe, and that time we did the same thing... go to Jordan Park for the festivities during the day and then the fireworks show at night.   The fireworks show started at about 10pm and it was pretty cool.  Everyone was loving it except Moe.  He hates fireworks.  Everytime he would hear or see it pop he would yell No! and then ask us to go to the car or go home. lol.  Eventually Fehi got him calmed down, and he enjoyed the last couple minutes of the fireworks show.

Moe scared of the fireworks wanting to leave LOL

And that was basically how we spent our 4th.  My mom went out with her friend and they watched the fireworks show up at Sugarhouse park. The next day was a rainy day so we all decided to just stay home.  Yesterday (Friday)  because it was a nice, sunny day we decided to head out and we took my mom to the new City Creek mall in Downtown SLC.  I absolutely love that mall, though I do wish they had more stores that I liked (cause it's all about me right lol)... like an Old Navy would be nice if it was there.  Anyhow, my mom really liked the mall.  It's just cool how the built it, in parts of the mall it has a roof (which I heard is motorized and can open up) and so there's air conditioning in parts of the mall, but it still feels like it's an outdoor mall.  It's something I've never seen before.  It reminded me of Ala Moana but with a glass roof and A.C.

We spent a couple hours there just walking around and looking at everything, then shopping at Macy's (they have some really good clearance racks!), and of course I had to get my favorite Pink Pina Colada Smoothie from Kneaders bakery, and then right before we left we let the kids play by the water fountain area (they also have a small splash pad there that the kids play in).

After we left the mall we grabbed some ice cream from Coldstones, and then dropped my mom and the kids (except Hinckley) off at home.  My mom wanted to catch up on some sleep (since she was up with Moe the whole night lol) and so we let all of them sleep while I made Fehi take me to Old Navy. :) I had a gift card that I got from Delta that I wanted to use up, and now that I'm not pregnant anymore I thought it'd be a perfect time to go shopping.

side note: with this pregnancy I gained only about 9 pounds the first 36 weeks of my pregnancy, then the last 2 weeks before I gave birth I had gained like 8 pounds (oops! lol) so this pregnancy went well as far as weight gain.  When I finally was able to weigh myself (on Monday the 2nd) I had lost almost all of the weight gain.  I'm about 3 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight.. and probably 20 more pounds to be at my goal weight. But right now I'm pretty happy with my weight and how I look post-pregnancy.. I don't feel like I have as big of a belly as I did with the other two.


So after finding two dresses and two cardigans that I loved I called Fehi to tell him my dilemma (because I didn't want to spend that much on clothes) but he told me to just buy it all. Thanks hubby, I love you! ;) So I did, and ended up spending ahem $85 on everything after I used the rest of my gift card. We headed home after that and then just chilled in bed, until about 9pm when we decided to go out and take the kids to a move at the drive-inn theaters. This is our first time going with our kids, and we decided to watch Brave and The Avengers. Moe hates the movie theaters, and so we thought he'd like this because we could just sit in the car, but nope he was hating it at first.  Finally after probably 30 minutes of him complaining, he let up and starting running around on the road.  We watched Brave and part of The Avengers and decided to go home because we were all falling asleep lol.

This week has been a good one! and I'm glad my mom was able to spend a few days with us.  She left this morning to San Francisco, but before she left she made another big bowl of ota for my husband. Talk about spoiled.  lol. I told my husband that I wished his mom would make me something that I liked all the time. BAHAHAHA. jk. I'm just glad that they have a great relationship, and that my husband loves having my mom in town. :)

More pictures from our outing at City Creek Mall: