Vaitai Family Pictures 2008

I am so ELATED! This is the reason I got the Nikon! To capture the most fabulous images of my family. And if I can take these, ANYONE can. I set my cam to auto (no flash/ and auto flash), attached the 55-200mm lens, set the tripod then got happy snapping away. And what FUN we had! So for all you photo shop geniuses, these are "SOOC" (Straight-Out-Of-Camera), nothing-fancy-schmancy shots. What wonders photoshop would add. For sure tomorrow.











More of the group pics in prior post.



Papa and his baby girl, Eva. Boy is he going to miss her!



I don't know any mother and daughter who are as close to each other as these two are. You'd have to know them to understand. I can only imagine the heartache that Sa feels having her only daughter move thousands of miles away. I guess I somewhat understand the separation. Definitely sweet.





I LOVE these. If a picture paints a thousand words these pictures perfectly depict the journey that Line will be taking, leaving all her loved ones behind.



Hah! This makes me laugh. Bishop Vaitai and his dread-wearing prodigal son. Love the honesty in that. Maybe I'll enlarge this for Bishop's office. (hehehe!).





Here I'm trying to figure the "DOF" (Depth-of-field). I also wanted to capture my biggest and littlest baby. I sure do LOVE these two!

Vaitai Family Pictures 2008

Sibling Pix. "Yay!"... Vic's smiling!





"Wow, these two are SO puurrrrrr-dddeeeeeee!"





Learning it's OK to shoot off center.





Just a few outtakes.

I realize, I have a LOT to learn. Thanks Oms, I've read about 1/2 the manual... I'm so excited about this darn camera. I just might finish the rest this week. Then it's off to figure the whole photo shop thing er. I'm going from absolutely amateur AMATEUR photography experience to... well who knows where. We'll just have to see. Just goes to show, if I can do this than anyone can. Go on... grab a digital/ manual DSLR and join me on the journey-- It'll be fun!

Thanks family for daring to be the first subjects of my obsession. But, like I said earlier... you're the reason for this all!

A little superstition?!

"Mom... Hey, Mom!" Moe Moe yells. "Look at me!", he says as he tucks his head between his arms looking through his legs.

I laugh a little and think "Oh! how cute" then realize what they are doing. "No, no... you guys get up!", I hurriedly tell them. They eventually stand upright. The women around me know why I've suddenly become concerned and laugh then tease... "Man, Ma'ele... you know what that means, right?!" (a little laughter).

"Yeah, Yeah..." I say. I try to forget that I even saw that. But in the back of my mind I've always kindof believed in a little superstition.

In the Tongan culture, when a child does this it means you'll be expecting soon. It happened with my other three. BUT... since I've already declared that "I'm done!" giving birth, I realize how this superstitious act messes with my plan. Man, can't the kids just be on board with my declaration??? LOL.

And plus- I've only got one kid doing the half rollie pollie. Sarah's got two! Does that give her double the dose of fertility??? (JK Sarah! hehehe)

Hummmm... I guess we'll have to really see who's next?!

Anyhow, what's a little superstition anyway?!!

(btw- for those who bloglist, there are two more before this post! Happy Blogging!)

FUN in the SUN!!!

Salo's enjoying the sun. ROCK ON!? I LOVE YOU!? or is it SHAKA!?

O.K, side-note:
Am I retarded or am I the only one that doesn't put sunscreen on their kids. My kids don't burn, as in red- sensitive skin burn, they just get BLACK in the summer. I figured I did as a child, so I've never made a fuss. But looking at these pictures I realize just how dark they are.





Totally CALI SURFER BOYS! Salo and Isaac LOVED catching the waves at Bolsa Chica. Check out the above-the-cheek tan line, WHOA SALO!



My Missy Lu. Also another board surfing beach LOVER. Did I ever mention my kids are fish?!



The kids just LOVED having Uncle Tui with us. He dug the best sand pits, tackled the waves with them and played 'lifeguard'. And look at sweet Jada, just loving the attention. SO CUTE!



And you can't go to the beach without being buried (head and all) in the sand. Just looking at this pics makes me scared that he'll have a stream of sand in his eyes, nose or mouth if he moves a inch.



The boys taking a break from the waves to pose for some pics.



Jared and Emi just chillin'.



Moe and Jada. Wishing they could join the older kids in all the beach/ water fun. It's a good thing they had eachother. Moe would look around for Jada then call her to come and sit by him. It was TOO cute!! Love that he found a GREAT buddy!

Surf's Up!

Moe was SO EXCITED to be at the beach with all his cousins, aunts and uncles to celebrate his 2nd birthday. Even though he couldn't go in the water (eczema was acting up), he LOVED surfing the sand. Thanks Uncle Tui for the ride!

Happy Birthday Baby Moe Moe!

(Would've been a perfect (overcast) day to bring out the Nikon, but I was SO scared of getting sand in the lenses and body. Stinks. Maybe next time I'll be brave enough.)

Saying GOODBYE...

It's been about 6 months since they announced their move to Guam. It has been quite the process of watching them pack their belongings, rent out their home, ship off two vehicles, see Gussie off almost four months ago, welcome a beautiful baby girl and now in almost a week and a half, Jared's only sister will be leaving the U.S. to support her husband as he furthers his career in the hospitality industry. We are extremely excited for their family as they take this leap of faith and leave everything that their children have become accustomed to, to follow their dream. Although we know that life will continue, there are alot of traditions in our family, that we know won't be the same until they return, if they return. Or this might perhaps provide them with unlimited possibilities of exploring places we've only dreamed about.



Gussie we'll miss the WONDERFULLY DELICIOUS Christmas Eve dinners that you make. Who's gonna make your killer tamales with all that homemade goodness? and hook up the kids with the biggest x-mas pinata?



Line, we'll miss you at all of the kids functions and graduations and dinners and birthday's. You always been supportive of them 100%, rushing from work an hour away to make an awards assembly, grad. They always know that they can rely on you for anything, and so have we. You're the BEST Auntie!





Gussie, we'll miss the yearly birthday FIESTA'S (no, really a FIEEEESSSTTTAAAA!) that you hold for your girls !! The kids look forward to it every year.



And we'll definitely be missing the hotel rooms that you hook up for us when we want to run away from the desert. We've been spoiled by you! Thanks for it all!!!



We know that 'goodbye's' are hard for everyone. So when you're in Guam and homesick, hopefully we can keep this blog updated enough that you don't feel so far away. We will miss you dearly and pray for your safety as you are gone. And although you will be far away, we know that your ward family and our Heavenly Father will provide you with the comforting feeling that family can bring.

Hummm. Voice, Guitar, Piano, Drums?! Which do I choose?

So we've come around to the next Thankful Thursday. And I've fiddled around with a few things I might be thankful for and came to a certain thought. I absolutely LOVE music. From the time I was a little kid, I could remember belting out the songs of legends: Whitney, Natalie Cole, Aretha, Roberta, Gladys, Carpenters... Alot of oldies, and also the hip songs of the 80's and 90's. Great memories!!!

But, it wasn't until our family was asked to present a musical number in Sacrament Meeting that I realized what one of my talents might be. We sang "A Child's Prayer" (before it was printed in the CS book) and during practice the pianist (sweet Grandma Kit Meyers) stopped playing, looked at me and said, "Young lady. You have a beautiful voice!". Up until that time, all I'd ever heard was "STOP singing!" or "You're off key!" or "AGHHHHH... I'm gonna tell mom if you don't quit!". I quietly blushed as she complimented me, then felt a little relieved that all my practice wasn't going to waste. lol. Now as an adult I accept compliments quite the same way I did back then. Why? Because I know, I am an average gal. My musical abilities are not extraordinary. Amidst the dream of becoming an accomplished pianist, songstress, song writer, I've become acutely aware of my current position on the 'musically talented' spectrum. I also know with music, it takes fine tuning, and patience and LOVE. Love for the music, to get things just right. Oh! and practice, practice, practice. That of which, I have had NO time for. It saddens me, because in my dreams I only imagine myself walking off the stage at Carnegie Hall after completing amazing classical pieces of Mozart, Bach, Satie, Mendelssohn... and receiving a standing ovation. Yeah right!... beautiful thought but really not my dream. Maybe the one of my cousin Kalo. Who, I'm extremely jealous, has been able to live her life on that stage. Or even the YouTube Singer/Songwriter QUEEN, Leini. Their dreams, turned reality.

My dream has always been song. Never professionally, but enough to make a positive difference in those listening. I've loved singing in choirs. I love to hear awkward notes come together to form the most angelic sounds. Hearing a choir of hundreds come together to sound as ONE heavenly voice sends me into a frenzy of goosebumps and shivers. No, really it does. That's how music effects me. I love to sing in my car. My kids are used to hearing me yell "SING!" as I belt out the latest tune on the radio. I love that they could care less that they are off tune, or I am. I don't want them to have any hang-ups about sharing their talents.

I've always wanted to be well-rounded in the music world, easily moving from one instrument to another without skipping a beat. I've purposely placed in my living room a Baldwin acrosonic spinet, two acoustic guitars, a shelf of hawaiian instruments: uli uli, puili, ipu, kala'au, ili ili, 'Opio, Keiki and a child-size Toere drum... all with the intention of keeping the music diverse and multicultural. I'd add an electric guitar and kongo drums if I had.

I just LOVE music. I am grateful for all the music I've enjoyed thus far in my life. In the next few years, as the kids get older, I'll dedicate more time to honing in on their musical talents. I am grateful so-far for my talents in music. Although I am not where I would ultimately like to be, with a LOT of practice and patience and love I'll be able to finetune my skills as a songstress, pianist, writer to finally create a 'Lullaby's/ Primary Songs' CD for my children and one day grandchildren to enjoy. That is my dream.