Great NEWS from KARE11 news station

My sister-n-law and neice were interviewed yesterday. My sister-n-law, April, was released from the burn unit and moved to the rehabilitation center. Here is the address to watch the video. April you are a survivor!!!

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=529327&catid=14

Piano Festival

Alana and Masina with their groups at the Piano Festival today. They were playing on a piano team of five members. It was really fun to watch. The video doesn't do it justice!

We couldn't upload the videos, but here is the link for youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD_wYULXPn0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD9v1dU3si4

THANK YOU

Thank you for your calls and prayers. We really appreciate you all. I am so glad to have such a great network of friends.

Thanks!

Our Summer Loss . . . A Happy Reunion on the Other Side

Half of our family in this picture went home this summer - Zach, Roger and Brad (the three on the right).

This picture was taken last summer when my dad, Eric and nephew, Chris,and deceased loved ones went to Africa with Choice Humanitarian building a foundation for a school.

Dad you were inspired to take the boys on this great trip. I am so glad you all had those three weeks to spend time together. What wonderful memories you and Eric have.

JUST ONE LIFETIME wouldn't be enough for us

Last month, on July 14, we buried my brother, Brad. Right before the funeral I insisted that the family that was at the house take some pictures in the backyard. I commented that "we just never know . . ."

Till We Meet Again

Roger, Karen's older brother (left picture) and his son Zach (right), were killed this past Sunday in a plane crash as they were heading to Guatemala on a Choice Humanitarian mission.



Please remember my dear wife and her family at this time in your thoughts and prayers. Rest in peace my brothers and until we meet again....

Much alofa's,

Miti

Coupons!

I need to update our blog desperately. I will eventually get up to date even with photos.

I need to save money on groceries and I am trying to get into coupon clipping and sale watching. If you all have any pointers I would greatly appreciate them.

Side note: Today we went to Sam's for milk and picked up some meat and dairy products. Alana was so surprised at the total - $88. She said, "For that?!" I tried to explain to her that it costs a lot of money to run a household.

Anyway, it would be great to be able to save money on perishables.

Tagged Again!

. . . or the kids come home from school

5 things on my “to do” list
• laundry
• clean house
• make phone calls
• plan activity days
• swimming for FHE

5 things on my long term “to do “ list
• be debt free – including our house
• lose some extra padding
• re-organize closets and rooms
• paint the office
• stain kitchen table and stools




5 sweets I enjoy . . .
• sonic slush/float
• mini cherry cheesecake - cooked in cupcake liners
• carmel apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
• carmel popcorn
• anything with carmel or cream cheese



3 books I have read today
• alana’s poetry project
• ensign
• book of mormon



current book I am reading
• the last lecture-
I actually haven’t started but it is our book club reading











places I’ve lived
littleton, co
laie, hi
castle rock, co
greeley, co
las vegas, nv

I tag: Tina M, Rachel O, Rachel G, Melissa K.

Tagged!

A- Attached or Single? – definitely attached
B- Best Friend? – Miti, I can always count on him.
C- Cake or Pie? – definitely store bought cake
D- Day of Choice? – Thursday – pre-weekend day
E- Essential item? – gum
F- Favorite color? – pink or is it green?
G- Gummy bears or Worms? – can’t decide – neither
H- Hometown? – Littleton
I- Favorite Indulgence? – pedicure and a sonic drink
J- January or July? – july because it is my b-day month
K- Kids? – four – 2 girls, 2 boys and we are done!
L- Life isn’t complete without? – my fam
M- Marriage Date? – December 27th
N- Number of Brothers and Sisters? – 5 bros. & 3 sis.
O- Oranges or Apples? – apples with carmel- does that count?
P- Phobias or Fears? – scared of mice and rats
Q- Quote? – My “crutch” word . . . “Do you know what I mean?”
R- Reason to Smile? – the sun is shining
S- Season of Choice? – fall – not too hot not too cold
T- Tag Ten People? – Miranda, Kollen, Brigette, Sara, Stephanie, Brooke,
Diane, Jamie, Cami, Ashley, Tina . . . anyone?
U- Unknown Fact about Me? – I use to have a little case of OCD – germs
V- Vegetable? – greens – edemame, spinach, romaine, broccoli . . .
W- Worst Habit? – talking on the phone
X- X-Ray? – Yes, dental and crushed ankle on tramp when little.
Y- Your Favorite Food? – too many to choose
Z- Zodiac Sign? - cancer

Goodbye for Now

On July 9th I lost another brother. He is my third brother to leave this life early. Bradley Owen Jensen was two years older than me.

I am so blessed to have the gospel knowledge in my life. I think that I take this knowledge for granted. It is engrained in my soul and in my childrens'. It is only when you come across others who don't have this knowledge that you realize how blessed you are.

Scott died 22 years ago and Brian passed away two years ago. I am happy to know that my three brothers are there together working out their salvation. I am glad to have known Brad. I have learned from his life - his loving, giving, caring spirit. Goodbye for now, until we meet again.

Love you Brad!!!

Blog Raider

Some of you may have noticed the recent color change in our blog. Well, one day I pulled up the blog and noticed that someone had changed the template. (who else, but Miti). So, I quickly went to customize to change it back. I don't know if I just didn't want to spend the time on it, or just too darn lazy, it is yellow and some other funky colors now instead of what we had before. Someday I will get around to it.
We are enjoying the weather here in Vegas. Hasn't been too hot yet. Really! I think we have hit 110 a couple of times, but still not unbearable. The girls went back on track this week and will be in school until August. We had fun on track break. Now they are missing out on summer fun! The boys and I went to the pool today. Water, friends, food and fun! What more can you ask for. I need to post a picture of our brown berry - Tana. Boy the kids tan so great. We will make sure the girls get a swim in every now and then afterschool.
Take care everyone!!! I hope that you are all having a wonderful summer!

Sunday Night

Hey, it is Sunday night, Father's Day. I just want to send a shout out to all the fathers out there. I am so grateful for my good husband. I am very blessed in my marriage.
I just checked my blog and saw all these comments. We do our blog to keep in contact with those that we don't get to see often. But, an added bonus to blogs, or at least in my opinion, is that we have so much support from family and friends through comments. We are able to have that support that we as women need - and we don't have to spend a lot of money on long distance calls or time - which is harder to come by - to keep up with all these wonderful relationships. I want to say thank you to all my blogging buddies. Love ya!

Blogs!

Hey! I just wanted to drop a note and say that I am so grateful for blogs. It is such a small world in the church, but also in cyberspace. It is so fun to get to see pictures of friends and their families and to keep up with what is going on in their lives. I am not as good at posting as many of you know, but we all do what we can. Go blogs!

Long Drive Home from Colorado

When we are on road trips, I am always in hurry. You get gas, food, use the restrooms, walk around and let's get back in the car. Miti is more relaxed. "Oh look, there is Eagle Canyon. Let's stop and walk around and take a picture."

Opposites attract. Eh!?

Estes Park, Colorado

My family has gone to Estes Park for Memorial Weekend for over 15 years. For years, Miti and I design the shirts for the reunion. When we go out as a fam everyone notices our large group with our matching shirts.





Tana with his cousins, Chris and David.



Alana and Masina with their cousins, Mary and Haley.


Got an itchy eye, bud?

The "Old Neighborhood"

While we were in Colorado, we stopped at the old house. The kids were so excited. They wanted to go to the door and ask for a tour. I told them that wasn't really kosher.

Looking at the picture now, brings back great memories of living in Greeley. We loved that house and we loved all the friends we made in Greeley. We lived there for 5 years. Tana was born a week after we moved in. How time flies.

School Assembly

Alana and Masina and their friend Maddy at the school assembly receiving awards for their grades. In Vegas, the kids get letter grade report cards. Alana was disappointed that she got one "B." Oh well! Maybe next trimester Alana.

YUM! YUM!

Tavita loves to suck on his hands and feet! Yummy!

Piano Time!

Alana and Masina take piano lessons. This spring they took a theory exam at UNLV. They passed their theory so they were asked to come back and play four songs from each of the periods (ie. classical) in front of a judge. We were so excited that they passed their level.

Masina is a free spirit and really doesn't want to take formal lessons, but she sure was excited when she got a certificate and a trophy. Hope this helps her keep on chugging along with piano.

Bath Time!

Tavita and Tana in their first bath together.

Mother's Day

Our kids and their cousins in Grandma and Grandpa Pula's room.



Miti, Auntie Siuta, Brother Lio, Grandma Pula & Nephew Tyrone.

Mother's Day Weekend

Before we left to Cali, Miti surprised me with these beautiful flowers. He always makes sure that I feel loved on holidays. He is really a wonderful man.




We went to California for Mother's Day. This is only the second time Miti has been with his mom on Mother's Day since his childhood. Grandma loves to play with her grandchildren. She was thrilled when she found out that his middle name is "AMIO" which was her grandfather's name.

Family Picture Time!

Miti wanted to get a family picture to frame for his mom for Mother's Day. We forgot how hard it is to take a candid picture with a baby. Oh well, we tried.

The baby is obsessed with sucking on his hands. We had a hard time keeping his hands out of his mouth and getting him to look up at the camera. The sun was peeking over our shoulders. She wanted her picture taken too! Life goes on, eh? Family pictures are so fun to look at later and reflect on how small the kids used to be.

Thanks Suzanne for taking the pics.

School Luau Carnival

The kids had a blast especially Tana. He won three goldfish and Masina got one. We made them give them away to other kids before we left so that the fish would have a good home. I hate bringing the fish home and they die before the week or sometimes the day is over.




Tana is growing up. He had such a good time going around to all of the booths and playing the games. He really enjoyed all of the prizes he won too! I don't think he has quite gotten over giving up the goldfish though. Oh well. He also did the cake walk at least 20 times and never won, but he was such a good sport.


Tana is such a boy! He loves to tease and annoy his sisters.
Masina loves having her picture taken.

ALLERGY ALERT

Anybody who knows Miti, knows that he is ALLERGIC to gross smells and spit up. Well you know with kids and especially babies - these are of the norm. Yesterday afternoon I fed Tavita and came downstairs. I found Miti napping on the couch. I laid the baby on his chest and turned to walk away. I heard this muffled, "Karen". I turned around and found Miti struggling to talk and breath with milk throw up all over his face. Apparently, he had picked up the baby to sit him on his chest and the baby spit up on his face.
I quickly got a blanket to clean off his face including his mouth and nostrils. I was really proud of Miti for not "freaking out" because of his ALLERGIC reaction. Then I said, "I really wish you could have held that pose for a minute longer so I could have taken a picture for the blog.
Wish I could have showed you, but it was too funny I had to blog it even without a picture.

The Pula Tribe

State Farm Picnic/Luau

Miti was asked to put together a little show for his work picnic. Moli in our ward taught our girls and her daughter a dance. Moli and her friends' children also. You guys all missed quite a solo number from Miti. I should have taped it to show ya. Thanks Moli for your help.

We brought along Maddy Norr. We enjoyed the day and got alot of sun.

Tavita is Growing Up!

Tavita is already 3 months old. The time is going by too fast and we are trying to treasure each moment before the baby stage is over. We love you baby!

Good Friends are Wonderful!

Angie Myers flew to Las Vegas on Monday for a little R & R. I don't know how much rest and relaxation we got, but we sure had a great time. She brought Sydney and their new addition, Ryan. We were on the go most of the time. We visited the Hoover Dam and M&M World and did other "touristy" things. We did a little shopping and, of course, we had carmel popcorn during our closing ceremonies the night before she left. We miss our good friends back in Colorado.

Life is Good!

Having a baby the fourth time around and with our youngest being five - has been wonderful. I think I am a more relaxed and comfortable mother to an infant now then I was ten years ago. The kids are such a big help too! As always Miti is such a good father to our infants. When he comes home for lunch he can't wait to hold him. He stares at him and speaks Samoan to him. All of the kids are so gentle to him. Tavita is loved and is such a blessing to our family.

Since having the baby, we have been to visit Miti's family in California twice. Lina, my mother-n-law loves him. We caught them snuggling together sleeping in her bedroom. She is so proud that he has her Grandfather's name, Amio. I don't know if she cares too much about his first name, but she is so excited that he is Amio.

Masina - Cheese!

One of Masina's favorite things to do is take pictures and videos of herself on our camera or on my phone. Generally I will have at least ten pictures of the same pose.

Miti out of Town

Miti went to Illinois for training for two weeks. While he was gone he went to Nauvoo. It was cold and snowing, but he had a great trip seeing the town and the temple.

While Miti was gone the kids were off track. We had a whole list of things that the kids wanted to do on their break. One of them was to climb the little mountain at the park in our community. We did it five times. On this day we ate our lunch up there. I carried the baby in a front pack. It kind of felt like I was pregnant again.

Bathroom Headache

When Tavita was six days old, I noticed a few drips of water coming from the bathroom upstairs into the kitchen. Needless to say we had a leak in the master bathroom. This old process of remediation and remodeling took 7 weeks. It was kind of a pain in the buns because the workers would come as early as 7 in the morning. I had to start my days very early - not to mention how tired I was from night feedings.

Five days of this process entailed three large fans blowing hot air so that it would dry out the bathroom. It felt like we were sleeping in the back of an airplane. The baby was two feet away from me in a baby moses basket and sometimes I couldn't hear him crying.

One afternoon, I fell asleep on the coach amidst all demolition noise. I was wakened by the remediation team telling me that they were leaving for the day. I sat up and had to wipe the drool off my face. Lovely eh? But, we made it through and now I really appreciate my working bathroom. FYI - The leak came from a nick in the drain pipe of the shower.