Summer Swimming

Summer comes around and we all dread the heat. It is our excuse to go to the pool or hit the nearby lake or beach (depending where you live). In our case though, cause we live in Utah, where there are no beach's, we have to settle for the near by pool. We could go to a lake, but we'd have to pack some food, grab some chairs, get the canopy, get the kids ready and the list goes on. Too much work into planning a lake day, when we could just go to the pool. Plus, all those scary stories of creepy things in the lakes on the discovery/animal channel has me thinking twice about swimming in the lake now days. Anyhoot, just thought I'd share some photos I took of my niece, Isabella and nephew, William in their swimming attire. These two love the water and it helps that their mother loves the water too. Next stop, water park!

Birthday BBQ for Sherwin Magalei

This is the beautiful cupcake cake that Siniva ordered for her husband. She went with the whole "Lion King" theme in tribute to the animal channel that he loves to watch.

As you could see, the birthday boy is BBQing while my husband, of course, is the taste tester! He's really good at it too... ;)

Leina and Alana with their Nana!

The party planner herself(Siniva) and her daughter Alana (the surprise spoiler) ... she gave him his gift before Niva could say "GO" ... lol

So, Alana loves to pose for pictures and I love to take pictures! I think we make a great team... lol! Hey, if anyone needs a child model, this is your girl! She loves the camera!

My favorite one I took of her!

This is my favorite shot of Leina, who can't stand still long enough for me to get in a good one of her, but I guess it's the ones' where you catch them off guard doing something totally adorable!

I love these patio lights that Niva put up. It was really romantic, okay, maybe not with family around!

On Wednesday, July 22nd, Siniva had a little family BBQ for her husband Sherwin. Sherwin turned 33 on Tuesday, July 21st, but decided he wanted to celebrate it on his day off with his family. We have Spencer and Sherwin's parents(my inlaws) here with us for the week, and so Sherwin, a.k.a. SHOLUV, wanted to just have it with the family.

So, Siniva(being the good wife that she is) planned a BBQ for her husband. She made her checklist of things she needed to do and get. 1. Get the chicken, burgers, hotdogs, buns, lettuce, tomato's etc. for the food... 2. Order the cupcakes for his birthday cake(best idea ever)... 3. Go buy his gift(s) that she thought he'd want and not need... and finally, make sure everything was ready on the patio for everyone to relax at. GOOD JOB NIVA!!! The one funny thing though is that the birthday boy had to BBQ, cause my husband and their dad weren't any help... lol, sorry Sho! ;)

The food was awesome and hanging with family was priceless.

Happy Birthday Mom

Okay, so my mom turned 58 yrs. old today! I just want to share a little bit about my mom with you.

My mother was Born, Tauaipolu Motu in 1951. She is the eldest child of my grandmother Lotu. My mother has 5 siblings, 4 sisters and 1 brother. She actually has a sister older then her, but my grandmother gave her up for adoption back in Samoa. My mom married my dad in 1971 in Malaela, Aleipata, Western Samoa. She had her 1st born (Robert Alapati) in Nov. 1972. Then in 1974 she had ME!, her most favorite, okay maybe Dicky's her fav... the baby of course. In 76 she had Ruby and in 77 she had Mackey(now known as Dicky...that's another story). My mom has done so much for our family while growing up. I always remember my mother working hard outside the home and even harder when she was at home( every time she came home from work). My mother did not like depending on the government (welfare) to help support our family. It's actually funny how she hates depending on the government, but she sure is quick to vote Democrat ... lol!!! She always stressed the importance of having an education, finishing school(graduating) and furthering our education. As much as my mom worked, she always seemed to find the time to be involved with our school activities and attending our parent conferences or back to school nights.

Now, I'm not saying that my mom is the perfect mother. She has faults as well, just like any other mother probably would, NO ONE IS PERFECT, right?! RIGHT! My mom, loves to speak her mind, those of you that know her (close family members), know that she doesn't hold back when she wants to say what she has to say. We've all felt that wrath(craziness) at one time or another in our lives. Anyway, we like to make fun and tell my mom that the older she gets the crazier she gets(that's not the good kind crazy... lol). She gets a laugh at it too and tells us she just gets wiser. That's my mom!

I know my mom probably won't get the chance to read this (unless, Robert opens this and lets her read it), but I just want her to know that I am truly grateful for her and all that she has taught me and done for me. There are many things throughout my life that she has helped me with. I love her with all my heart and there is no other mother I'd want to trade her for. She has certainly taught me how to be a strong polynesian women.

FLAT TIRE...!!!

Today was such a nice relaxing day to begin with. I took my husband to work this morning, came home and slept in for about another 2 to 3 hours. Woke up showered, cleaned up a little and then made my way over to the computer to get on my blog, facebook and myspace... these are my addictions! LOL...can't get enough of facebook and blogging!

Anyway, left to pick Spencer up at 1:50pm, cause he gets off at 2pm. Got home, relaxed and of course got on facebook again and did more editing on my blog. Watched the NBA draft with my husband, then took off at about 6:45pm to run some errands. My errands included: going to the bank atm, went to Smiths to get dinner stuff and sandwich stuff, then finally head over to the pharmacy to get some things for my husband. It was on my way home that the "FLAT TIRE" happened. Uggghhh!!!

I was so nervous when the wheel started to turn to its left on its own. Then I heard the tire/rim scrapping on the road. Luckily I wasn't too far from my house. I was in our neighborhood and so I pulled over on 400 east. The still small voice told me exactly when and where to pull over. Why, because as I was sitting in the car, talking to my husband on the phone to get someone to pick him up and come get me and change the tire, a really nice tongan guy knocked on my passenger window. He said he saw me and came out to see if I was okay...only in Utah, this would happen. Oh, and all I could think and say to myself was: "I know I ran over some nail or something from the stupid construction going on by the house and around our neighborhood". As my husband was try'n to find someone to help us out, the tongan guy ( his name is Viliami Pita) offered to drive me home and take my groceries. I had to make sure it was okay with my husband first, to have another man bring me home...LOL, he's funny like that! So, anyway, Viliami brought me and my groceries home.

A few minutes later brother Fano from our ward came by to pick up my husband so they could go back to our car and fix the flat. Thank goodness we have a ward member that lives just down the street from us.

I'm so grateful for the still small voice and the holy spirit that I have with me to guide me and help me through tough times. I'll tell you that I hate having that feeling of helplessness. I am however, grateful for members of the church who are willing to lend a helping hand. What a way to end my day... let's pray that it doesn't happen again.

My Daddy: HAPPY FATHERS DAY...ALAPATI IAKOPO "SAILI" PURCELL

My Dad: What can I not say about this man, who is my father, my hero, idol and much more. I wanted to give a little tribute to my father for this Fathers Day. I figured I write a little blog about him and all that he has done for our family. My father is the second youngest of 12 children. He was born in Malaela, Aleipata Upolu Samoa. His parents are Ropati and Faagalo Purcell. My father married my mom in 1971 and had their first child (Robert) in 1972. I came along 2 years later in January of 1974. For all of my 35 years of life, my dad has always worked hard to provide for our family. No matter how tired and sick he got, he always was working. I remember growing up as a little girl, when my dad was less active in the church(LDS Church). He would always come home with treats or toys for us.. we especially loved it during the fourth of July season when he'd come home with boxes of fireworks. Once my dad became active again in church, he was the greatest dad I could've ever asked for. He took our family to the Hawaii Temple and we were sealed as a family for Time and All Eternity! That was one of the best days of my life. Throughout my teenage years, he always reminded us of how important school was for us to complete and graduate. One of the greatest things I remember most about my dad while growing up was when he'd tell us that he didn't want to see us bring home a boyfriend till we were like 20 something. That stuck with me, cause I didn't take one home till I was 30 years old...LOL, you think I was traumatized?! NOT!
My dad is very passionate about our culture and I love that about him. I love that about him because, it keeps me in tune with my culture and I appreciate my culture because of the things he has taught me about our Samoan Heritage. I've learned thru him that being "afa tasi" (half breed) doesn't mean your "palagi" (white/caucasian)...it means you have the best of both worlds/cultures. Appreciate both your backgrounds and understand it. Do not be ashamed of your samoan side just because you are proud of your palagi side, vice versa.
My dad is a humble, loving, sometimes hardheaded (what samoan man isn't?) funny man. Some people may not like his strong personality at times, but he tends to grow on them once they get to know him. My brothers and sister and i love to hear my dad tell a story, cause he gives us a great laugh when he tries to tell it in English (FOB). I love my daddy and I thank Heavenly Father every day for blessing me with a man like him as my dad.
So, this Fathers Day, I want to tribute this Blog to him and tell him I LOVE YOU, DADDY...and HAPPY FATHERS DAY! I pray that he will continue to have many more strong, healthy years of life.

Temple Day

Spencer and I went to the Timpanogos Temple this morning to do a session(the Lords work). It wasn't a very nice morning, the rain was not helping. Anyway, our session was wonderful and I totally love this Temple. It is really beautiful outside and inside. Once our session was over and we were walking out to the lobby we noticed there were lots of people waiting for the rain to die down or go away. There were a few weddings going on, so the lobby was a little crowded with families. Those poor brides were having to take their pictures in the rain(when it wasn't pouring). So, Spencer goes to get the car while I wait for him up by the temple pick up area where it's dry. While waiting for him, I decide to pull out my camera and take a few pictures of the beautiful plants and flowers that were outside surrounding the temple. I've posted a few of these pictures below to show you how beautiful they are. If it weren't raining I think Spencer and I would've taken pictures outside of the temple too, but the rain killed it! Boo for the rain! Anyway, hope you like the pictures from my point of view.

FINAL DAYS OF VOLLEYBALL CAMP

Volleyball camp is finally over and I already miss it! The week seemed to have gone by too fast. Day 4 and 5 of Volleyball camp was basically review for the girls and playing different types of games. Our campers received their camp t-shirts today as well. Thanks to "Seti Matua" for the shirts. They look great! I look forward to next years volleyball camp and working with a new group of girls along with any returning campers. Thanks to my two assistant coaches, Amber Johnson and Melissa Nielsen for their wonderful job and hard work. Also, thanks to the Timpanogos Volleyball team for their assistance as well. Till next year...