Trip to Cornbelly Farms

Had a fun filled evening on Friday Oct. 22, 2010 with my nephew William, niece Isabella and sister in law Melissa. They met me at the Thanksgiving Point, Cornbelly Farms Pumpkin Patch. I actually got the idea to go here, by my sister in law (Spence's side) Siniva. I decided I wanted to take my niece and nephew and have some fun and take pictures with them. My sister in law Melissa was an added plus to have. The kids had a blast, jumping on big pillows, riding a cow train, sliding on a big slide, going into a princess club house, walking thru a corn maze and roasting marshmellows. We tried to get in as much activity as possible because they had to get back home by 8pm so my brother to get to work. It was a blast hanging out with my family. I love Fall and all the activities that come along with this season.

Infront of the little pumpkin cart as we were leaving.

Celebrating a Life!

The following Video Slideshow is one I made for the 1 year anniversary of my mothers passing. It's a short 11 minute slideshow of some family memories we had with her. We celebrated her life on Oct. 1st 2010 in Anaheim, CA, by having a little ceremony, dinner and dance in her honor. We had a great turn out and we had the opportunity to share memories with friends and family. I hope that you will enjoy watching this short slideshow because it was made with LOVE!

I'm truly grateful for the plan of salvation, knowing that I will be together again with my mother. Families truly are forever.

So Proud of MY LOVE

I am extremely proud of this wonderful man in my life. He has made a decision in his life (our lives together) to become a certified HEAVY machinery operator. I just knew that our 1 week, 45 minutes to an hour long drives (for his training) from American Fork, UT to Tooele, UT would be worth the blessings that would come later. My LOVE, Spencer is officially certified as a heavy machinery operator. I am grateful for his decision to better his skills and make our lives better.

Spencer is currently on a 4 week job with a company called "RockIt" based in Park City, UT. I can see the joy and pride in his eyes when he comes home from work everyday. I know that he is working hard to make sure that we don't have to live paycheck to paycheck every month and worry about bills. It's refreshing to see my husband work to make life better not only for me (cause I am his #1) but for the both of us.

As he continues to work at making a better life for us, I continue to smile at him and think to myself ... I am so proud of my LOVE and would not have wanted anyone else as my ETERNAL Companion.

If I could have one more chance ...

Lately, I've been missing my mothers presence in everything I do. I've been thinking of her a lot lately and missing the many wonderful things I remember about her. I miss her so much, that I just had to write down my thoughts and feelings of what I miss about my MOM. I didn't realize how much the little things she did and said would affect me in such a way. I hope in some mysterious way, she could read this and know how much I miss her...

1. I miss your smile

2. I miss your laugh

3. I miss your stories of your life growing up in Samoa

4. I miss your daily phone calls

5. I miss taking you to the hospital for your appointments

6. I miss listening to your arguements with dad

7. I miss your visits to Utah to see us

8. I miss that sparkle in your eye when you'd see your grandkids

9. I miss your complaints about your breast cancer

10. I miss your words of wisdom

11. I miss you telling me to "stop eating junk food"

12. I miss your opinions on "political" matters

13. I miss our disagreements

14. I miss hearing your voice

15. I miss listening to you sing soprano

16. I miss your strong minded opinions

17. I miss talking to you

18. I miss sitting with you

19. I miss hugging you

20. I just miss... having you here!!!

I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU MOM!!!

Happy 59th Birthday Dad

Today marks the 59th birthday for my father, Alapati Iakopo "Saili" Purcell. My father is a wonderful, loving, caring, strong, hard working family man. He was born in Malaela, Aleipata, Samoa. The home of the PURCELL clan. He was born of goodly parents: Ropati and Faagalo Purcell. My father is the eleventh child of twelve children. My father married my mom in 1971 and had their eldest child Robert in 1972. I followed in 1974, then Ruby in 1976 and Dicky in 1977.

There are not enough words to express how much I admire, love and cherish my dad. In my younger years of growing, I remember my dad always working hard for our family. He was at one time a hard headed, strong willed, hot tempered young father, during his drinking days (his ulavale days). I think however, after my grandfather set my dad straight, he gave up those ulavale(hot headed/bad) behaviors and took care of our family.

My dad will always be a great example to me as a man who worked so hard to keep food on the table and clothes on our backs. He was and is the backbone of our family. I wish him a very Happy Birthday and pray that he will continue to have many more birthdays to celebrate here on this earth, in this life. I love you dad and Manuia lou Aso Fanau!!!

Fall/Winter Photoshoot

Spencer and I decided to do a session/photoshoot this year for our christmas cards to family and friends. We contacted a friend that I met through my cousin Verlynn, named Alvin Aquin. I met Alvin at one of my nieces, Chrislynn (Spencer's side of family) wedding where Alvin was one of the photographers. I loved the way he worked with the wedding party and how beautiful his pictures came out. I called Alvin and asked him to do a photo session for us. He was more then happy to do it. As you could tell by the pictures, we had a blast. My husband, as some of you who know him, does not like to take pictures, but you would have never known that with the way he was posing for the camera this day. My husband even admitted to Alvin that he enjoyed the photo session. Alvin brought along his beautiful wife, Moana who was a great help in making sure my hair was in it's right place, and giving Alvin some suggesstions to what we could do. We had a great time with Alvin. If you're looking for someone to take your family photos or romance photos with your hunny, Alvin is your man. Just drop me a message and I'll give you his info.

Thanks a Bunch Alvin and Moana Aquin.

Koral Siona Arnold

Introducing my new niece and the new addition to a long line of "Purcells". This is the adorably beautiful, Koral Siona Arnold. Koral was born on November 10, 2009. She weighed 9lbs and 9oz and was 20" long. Yes, she is a big baby girl. I told her mother (my sister) that Koral took on all that samoan food she ate when she was in samoa, lol ... Welcome to the world Koral!