Tafa Crew

So, my brother-in-law tied the knot last week, and was sealed in the Oakland, CA temple. Chris, Kilika and I were priviledge to have been able to go and share this wonderful experience with him. Fortunately, so was his father, mother, younest brother and sister. Yes, Chris's family (minus one brother, his wife and two kids) were able to get a visa to come to America to join in the festivities. It was the first time I have met them, and it was wonderful. Papa is a quite, and very knowledgable man who doesn't like to show his emotions. Nana is a wonderful woman full of love for everyone, and especially the gospel. Lei, is like any 17 year old kid, still trying to find out who he is. Hisa, loves to have fun and enjoys being in the company of friends and family.

For those of you who don't know, Hilamani (the one who got married) is a twin (he is also who we named Kilika after...Kilika Kaimipono Hilamani Tafa). His twin died when he was young, I think around 5 or so. He was hit by a bus when they were all walking to school one morning. So, when we were in the temple, on our way to the sealing room to wait for the couple, Nana (Their mom) heard someone calling her name. She was looking around expecting it to be someone that was behind her trying to catch up, but no one was behind her, and she heard her name being called again. She then felt peace, and automatically, Hilamani's twin popped into her mind. He was there at his brother's sealing, and he was letting his mother know that he was there.

The sealer did an AMAZING job. He brought the spirit in the room so quickly and strongly. His words were for the couple about to be sealed for time and all eternity but it touched every heart in that room. There was not one person who didn't received the peace, knowledge, comfort or answer they were searching for. It is sad to say but it has been such a long time since I have felt such a strong presence of the spirit and it definetly brought peace to my heart. I had forgotten what it was like to receive such inspiration while in the temple. I can't wait for the Laie temple to open again, and I am planning to attend as soon as it's dedicated.

Well, with all that's said, the wedding was beautiful, the reception was beautiful and I enjoyed my short trip. I will hopefully be posting up pictures soon. Now, it's back to work while my hubby and son have fun playing in the mainland with my in-laws. It's going to be a long two weeks without them. I don't know what I am going to do with all the time I will have left over in the day that is usually dedicated to taking care of them.

I have been helping coach a club team with my parents this year. The club that we coach is called Mana Jr's, and we coach the 12 year olds. It has been a humbling experience, but rewarding to see the girls improve from month to month. Even though I would rather be playing, it's still nice to be around the sport. So, as a club, we have to do a service project, and the parents decided for our girls, we were going to volunteer at the "Fishpond" out in Haleiwa. It was down right DIRTY!!! But the girls loved it, they jumped right in and had fun. Kilika wanted to get in on the dirty action too, but he just wanted to swim in the water. After several UNsuccessful attempts to get him to understand that this water is different from bath and swimming water, I finally took him out and he was not happy about it. But, it was a good experience and overall a great way to spend the morning.

Here are our girls, minus one. They are a fun bunch to coach. They all get along very well, and they never seclude anyone.


Kilika and myself looking at the ducks before we started the dirty work.



Here are the girls getting nice and muddy and having a blast!






The girls were in the big pond with the "fit" adults pushing the mud to the banks so the tractors could clear it from there. It was a lot of work, and really stinky...not to mention all that mud. Everyone was getting stuck in knee deep mud.




Here are the "older" adults that didn't want to get into the big pond. They were pulling up all the moss from a different pond, transferring it up the hill, where they were planting the moss in fresh dirt so more moss would grow. It was heavy back labor!




The clean up...the first picture is of some of the parents that helped out and got dirty too...






We caught a 35lbs fish! It was HUGE!!!



After a hard morning of labor, who wouldn't sit down and enjoy the view!


It felt good to do some service and learn a little more about the ancient Hawaiian traditions. The fish pond is an original from an ancient ahupua'a (it has obviously been modernized). It was a good morning that ended with some ONO bento's and shave ice!

This past weekend we celebrated my cousins daughters 1st birthday. This cousins parents own Extreme Fun Rentals and so they put on a little carnival like theme for the party. They had face painting, cotton candy, shave ice, three rides, three jumpers and a petting zoo. To top it all off, was live entertainment. We were really worried because it was pouring all week, and there was a 60% chance of showers on the day of the party. So, if it was raining we would have to move everything inside the chapel (which is no way big enough). But it turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL and perfect day for the party.

We had fun at the Balloon Twist tent...


I was getting DIZZY on this ride, but Kilika loved it and had to go on twice in a row...I thought I was going to see the lunch I just ate...




Kilika and his cousin Indie (3yrs old) riding the Helicopter ride together...




Kilika riding a horse for the first time. He LOVED it! I thought I was going to have to hold him while he was riding but he went on like it was nothing. I was very proud of him to ride alone like a big boy!!




Kilika getting some airbrush tattoo's on. I had to pry him out of that seat, he would've been happy at that tent the whole day, getting different designs all over his body.

Kilika had a lot of fun this Easter. I think because he is starting to catch on and understand more. It was rainy all week, so we hid eggs inside the house for Kilika. But it was fun even though I wish we could've done it outside. Here are some pictures of Kilika and the eggs he found...He had a lot of candy...which he finished within a week because his father will give him anything he wants just so he will stop whinning!!
NOT so much fun for me who actually has to deal with his sugar rushes...


(sorry, for some reason I couldn't figure out how to rotate this picture)

Christmas this year was nice. We had our traditional Christmas Eve party with some close family friends. Santa came and visted the party, and gave presents to all the little kids. It was really cute. This year, Kilika was scared of Santa...it was really funny watching him cling to Chris when Santa came and sat next to them. Santa gave Kilika a xylophone, and he loves playing with it. He still has "gentle" issues, but he's getting there. After the party we all went home. My parents and I have a tradition of opening our presents at midnight. So, we decided to do it again this year. I got some nice jewelry from my mom, and Chris got a revolving tie rack. After we opened presents we all went to sleep. When Kilika woke up he saw all the presents and wanted to open them, so I woke up my parents and Chris and we watched Kilika open his gifts. He got pajamas, "Go Diego Go" dvd's, croc shoes, two puzzles, a bunch of books and a bike. He is getting good on the bike, he won't let anyone touch it! He can turn the bike in the right direction...but still doesn't know how to peddle...we'll just have to wait until he is ready. It was a nice Christmas this year. Hope you all enjoyed yourself too.

Kilika and I have been in Georgia for the past 4 weeks. We are here visiting my sister and her family. Here are some pictures that have been taken...there isn't much, but with 4 little rugrats it's hard to concentrate on anything but making sure they survive the day...

These pictures were taken this past weekend, we went to Lake Lanier for my sisters work party. In the pictures are my nephew, Eric; niece's, Ma'ila (3) and Keala (baby), Kilika, and my sister.





There are more that was taken during Thanksgiving but I need to find them, then I will post the pictures up.