Lose's Wedding/A Time for change

A couple of weeks ago my cousin Losehina got married in the Mesa, AZ temple. Anuanu and I were in her line so we went down a week early to help her get everything together. Lose is my first cousin. Our mother's are sisters so we've been close all our lives. It was so much fun to see my cousin get married in the temple and to see her so happy! I have TONS of first cousins on my mom's side(like most polynesians, I'm sure) and most of them are girls, so there's never a dull moment when we all get together. Here's a couple pictures from the wedding.

Stuart and Losehina Aetonu

Lose with her bridesmaids

Lose's older sister Finau passed away back in 2001 at the age of 17. She was my closest friend and cousin. So we decided to visit her grave with the wedding party to take pictures. It really was bittersweet for all of us.

Anuanu and me with our nieces Meleseini and Sala and our nephew Sekope.

My sisters

My family just missing Jared(man, I guess I really am short right? hahaha)

So as you might be able to see from the pictures, I also decided to chop my hair off. A couple nights before I left to AZ I had what I like to refer to as a "Revelation" that I needed to cut my hair. I had taken my hair down to braid when I was watching Semisi one night and he looked at me like I was a stranger! He was fascinated by this new and exciting substance that had suddenly sprouted from my head. He was touching it and laughing as if he'd never seen hair before! At least not on me. And then the thought occurred to me that I had pretty much had my hair in a bun since the day he was born. That was when I decided that I would chop it off. I figured if I cut it short enough to where I couldn't manage a bun, that I would make more of an effort to actually style it. And being short it would be alot EASIER to style. So I did it. It's never been this short in my life, but I figure it's just hair; it'll grow back right? And I feel like I look a little more like a mom and more my age. I like it. I might even think about going a little shorter...gasp...maybe not. haha

My Funny Valentine/ Happy Birthday to Me!

So every year as February rolls around most are reminded of the festivities of Valentine's day that are looming just around the corner. Most women look forward to it and men probably dread it. Growing up, I always wanted to be special on my birthday, February 14 and I couldn't stand that every other girl around me seemed to be just as special, or at least treated that way, on MY birthday. I hated it. As the years rolled by, I began to target my bitterness at the holiday itself. Eventually I began HATING valentine's day and every hint of it. I hated that I had to plan my birthday dinner weeks, sometimes months in advance. I hated that when we would eat out, all sorts of women around me were getting roses and candles and all I would get was an embarrassing rendition of "happy birthday" that only seemed to annoy everyone else in the room. Lately though, I've come to terms with it. I guess of all the holidays to have your birthday on, it could be worse. Lucky for my husband, that two dates in one to remember...and he actually tried to sell me the idea of getting married on February 14 just so he would only have to remember one date in all. Of course I couldn't make it that easy on him...so we ended up getting married on July 7...7/7/07...as if thats not easy enough to remember right? But I've learned to love valentine's day. And if anything, it's two in one, so Manase tries to make it even that much more special. So I get twice as much on my birthday and twice as much for valentine's. I guess I'll take it. :)

So this year I turned 24(bleck). Manase woke up with Semisi so I could sleep in, which is the best present I could ask for. I LOVE my sleep. He had arranged for my sister Anu to babysit Semisi for the weekend and we packed our things and drove out to Park City. Manase had arranged for us to stay in a suite in Park City for two nights at the Yarrow Resort. When we got there we went to dinner at a yummy Italian(my fave) restaraunt on Main Street. Our room had a kitchenette so we stopped at the store and got snacks like hot chocolate and french bread, etc. The next day we went to the outlets they have out there...Manase got two new pairs of shoes from Nike(an early birthday present for him, his birthday is on the 28th) and Manase bought me a Coach purse to add to my collection and I love it!! That night we ate Sushi(my other fave) and went to a movie.

All in all I had an INCREDIBLE birthday and Valentine's. Thank goodness for my amazing sister for babysitting. I enjoyed the break but I did miss my baby Semisi way too much. I'm way too blessed...I think I must have done something right somewhere along the line to be surrounded by so much love. :)

And Semisi managed to get a present too! It was more of a present for Mommy and Daddy though...nice distraction. (sorry there aren't any pictures, I seemed to have misplaced my camera charger)

Playing Catch-up

So I've REALLY been lagging on the whole blogging thing lately, as most everyone else has as well so I don't feel so bad. There are lots of reasons for that...a huge one being that I'm just really lazy about taking pictures and putting them on my computer. My camera is full of pictures from the past few months...I just hate playing the whole catch up game. But probably the BIGGEST reason for my laziness would have to be the unexpected surprise Manase and I received last month.
Yep...we're pregnant...AGAIN. Around mid-December I was on my birth control but one day woke up feeling a little "different". I remember actually telling Manase that I felt like I might be pregnant so just to be safe, I stopped taking my bc and after a couple days of denial, I finally took a test..which turned out positive. So four tests and a month later, I've decided to finally come out with it, which is what I've been hesitant to do because announcing it would somehow make it "real". Granted, we are glad to be expecting yet another blessing into our family...but I can't help but be a little embarrassed at how close my kids will be, and concerned about our financial situation. Lately I've had to really rely on my faith that if we do our part, the Lord will provide. My biggest problem is that I feel like my Semisi didn't get enough time with us, or to be the golden child. But on the other hand, I'm glad he'll have a little brother or sister close to his age. I'm due on September 11,2009 so I figured at least they will be more than a year apart, which I teased my brother about because his girls are five days short of being a year apart...hahaha. But yes, there's another little Tonga in the making...next football season shoud be interesting....hahaha. Last time Manase played at BYU we had no kids and he's coming back with two...lol. Anyways, I don't remember being this sick with Semisi, so at this point I'm just ready for the sucky part to be over already....three weeks of hell to go...and counting...

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my beautiful mom's birthday and even though she probably won't see this I just wanted to take a minute to just express my love and appreciation for this extraordinary woman. She truly is the ultimate example of everything I want to be one day. She's so talented and giving...and though she has her own unique way of showing it, a VERY loving woman. She's such an incredible mother and I can only wish that I can someday be even half the mother/grandmother/daughter/wife/sister that she is. She's also my best friend, I can talk to her about anything and I know she'll always tell me exactly how it is, even if it's the last thing I might want to hear, but I guess that's what Mom's are supposed to do. I'm finding it so difficult to put into words all the emotions floating around in my head right now...so I guess I'll just leave it at that....Happy Birthday Mommy! I love you so much! Here's to many more years to come!

Christmas Pictures

Semisi had a photo shoot with his cousins Sela and Sinalei. He seemes to be the only one of the three who wanted to cooperate so we got some really good pictures of him. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Picking out a Tree

Hangin' with Uncle Duke

My niece Sinalei

Picking out a tree!

Mom and Son

My niece Princess Sela

With Grandma

Semisi playing with his cousin Sinalei

My family has a tradition of going to the tree farm the day after Thanksgiving. We pick out a tree and come back later to pick it up. While we were home we got to go to the tree farm with family. I guess they had picked out the tree earlier so we just went with them to pick it up. We cleaned it and decorated it. It was fun family time!

Family Photos

Grandpa Michael and Michael Semisi

hey...better late than never!! In my defense, all the pictures from the weekend are on my parents' computer in OC and I can't post a blog about family pictures without the family pictures! So obviously we went to my parents' place in Southern California for the holiday. It was good fun, Dad's home cooking is still my favorite! We took the long drive down there for the holiday and my mom had also scheduled our family portraits...which we were all completely depressed by, considering the CONSIDERABLE weight gain on the part of at least half the members of our family. Let's just say that our last family portrait was 3 grandkids, 2 spouses, 6 years, and ??? pounds ago! I think it's obvious that I personally preferred we airbrush the spouses and babies into the old "skinny" pictures. lol So here they are...and I WOULD post the last portrait...but then the difference would be even more obvious! no way jose....so here goes..don't be too cruel.

Our Little Family

My Rogers Family

Our Entire Family!

The Rogers' Girls

The Rogers' Guys

Grandparents and Grandbabies

My brother Jared, his wife Kristen, and Sela and Sinalei

So as usual, being home with my family was too short...and I miss them too much! I can't wait until we move back home..or until Jared and the girls move here to Utah in June. We're way too dependent on each other. hahaha Growing up, we were just a little sheltered. I have nothing but incredible memories with my brothers and sisters growing up. We're all super ridiculous homebodies but it's nice that we all have that in common, I guess. Growing up, the only friends we were allowed to play with at home were each other. I hated it then, but I love it now. We're all best friends and spend most of our time together sitting at home and laughing our tails off! I have more inside jokes with my siblings than all of my friends combined. Love 'em!