If Only Thanksgiving & Christmas could stay a lil' LONGER....

      Well hello there Stranger :) Wow... I'm pretty impressed of how big of a gap it was from the last time I was here w you!!! I am totally glad that I had THAT much patience & discipline to do so! I guess I was trying NOT to be an addict otherwise I'd lose the "high of writing" I get when I'm in the mood to write on here! Cause Lord knows I can talk & write FOREVER!!!

     As for the wonderful HOLIDAYS it was a great & memorable one for sure! I will try my best to keep it short & sweet for the sake of it & let my pictures speak for itself! I guess I will just write the "high-lights" of my wonderful Holiday Season! Although  the Holidays itself are always a highlight! It only happends once a yr so it's always an excitement when this time of the year comes strolling around :)

 THANKSGIVING My Nemani Five Family has the pleasure of celebrating (& eating) twice in the same day every year! Talk about Heaven right? Since I live with my in-laws, we always have a early Thanksgiving & then my Family over on Washington St  (which is nearly blocks away from where we live. We can even walk there if we wanted to!) So we greatfully get to spend it with both sides of the Family & we all get to see our families that day! Well, this year our dinners were going to start the same time! Which NEVER happends ;( Both dinner times were called at 5pm. Since my Hubby & I were done with our dishes that were made for dinner early, I wanted to go see my Mom & spend some time with her along w my kids! It was FREEZING that day!!! But I still wanted to go see her on Thnxgiving!!! So we went & my kids had a blast running all over the cemetary, singing for my Mom & my poor Hubby cleaned her stone with freezing cold water without me asking him. I know his hands were freezing & numb @ the same time! He even pulled all the tall grass so we can see her stone better. My lil' Rascals were a huge help despite of the cold & nasty weather! We did however get to see some deer that were VERY close to us!! It was really cool to see that. My kids were more scared & was begging me to go back to the van! LOL Before we left, we took pictures & said a closing prayer. I wonder what she's doing up there. I wish she were able to see my kids...I MISS HER SOOOO MUCH.....
               On our way home to Thanksgiving Dinner, my boys were KO! It's not really a far drive but because we have to go up on a 2 way hill street makes it seem that way. We finally approached Home & we were just about ready to start to get our grub on. Before we star ANY family eating, my father in law conducts & says his heartfelt message, then he calls on random people to share their message & THANKFULLY he hasn't picked on me yet! Then after everyones crying filled with love & joy they sing a song then we say opening prayer. For my Hubby's Family Get together eatings it usually consists of our house & 2 other families. Plus my hubby's 2 nephews (Tani & Toa) & we can't foget our long time family friend that used to always eat with them back in the day Mikey Martinez. The food was great. It's always your average unhealthy Tongan dishes, Lu pulu, Lu sipi,kuku, Ota ika (which me & my sisters LOVE thanks to our Mom who makes the best!!!)we can't forget our grand finale a huge roasted pig in the center of the table! Then we had other random dishes like pot salad, stuffing, corn & raspberry salad. The kids usually will have pizza, spaghetti & meatballs. And for desert we had the infamous chocolate cheesecake & some yummy banana cream pie that my Betty Crocker Sis Ane made( a new & improved recipe indeed!!) and why did my sis in law hide the pies during dinner? She's too cute! She wanted to save it for just 'our house' & made everyone else eat the cake. She's hilarious, you can tell her fave was that pie!!! After we stuffed our faces, we were all watching TV in the living room & cracking a lot of jokes. Then we get a surprise visit from Makoli. Before it got too late, my kids & I headed to my Dads house. My hubby had to stay back since Mikey, Koli & the boys were still there. Luckily everyone eas awake when I got there. I couldn't wait to try Anes new & improved choc pie which was a HIT!!! Everyone was kinda waking up from their nap, so I was @ the dinner table w some of the family enjoying my piece of pie! I wish I tried other deserts that Ane whipped up from scratch, but I LOVE what I love & I won't try anything new unless I'm 100% sure of it! So I just kept to what I liked ;) I'm sad to say that I didn't capture any picutres from Thanksgiving Dinner on Norton. They are just not the picture kinda people u would say. But I was glad I caught some from visiting with my Mom!!!

CHRISTMAS:    Just the word itself brings butterflies & a headache! LOL But all in all it's def THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!! We had an early start with Christmas setup this year. We got our fresh huge tree the first Sat of Decemeber. I lucked out when my boys left w their Dad to pick the tree out. Then afterwards we hooked up & went to Costco & bought brand new red & gold ornaments, wrapping paper, bows, gift tags, a pack of cute different designed ribbons & a pack of scotch tape. Then afterwards my Hubby & I went to Target to get xmas tree lights & 3 stocking holders. Then we went to Michaels to grab some cute Stockings, a huge Angel for our tree topper,some xmas decor & some white spray so we can make our tree white. My kids were thrilled as were putting the tree up, adding the lights & ornaments. But I think they were more thrilled when we were spraying the tree white! I just LOVE the smell of fresh xmas trees! I  am surprised how long the smell lasted!!! We then had to go to KMart & grab some icycle lights for outside, although we just bought some last year, we just have no idea where it is! So, we saved all the boxes so we can put the lights back in there when we  take them down! I grabbed a new bells wreath while we were there & some gold & red fat wired ribbon so we can add it to our tree.
     Every year for Christmas we have NEVER bought our kids anything for xmas! Ever since Isaiah was born our xmas list was huge from both sides of our family plus our list of  friends that we've been doing gift exchanges since our first kids. So we would know that once we do the exchange, my kids will get something back. And to Leka & I THAT was enough! For Leka & I, Christmas wasn't about spoiling our kids with mountains of gifts. But as the years came, the list somehow would get short. As more & more families started to have kids, people just stopped giving. It took me a while to stop giving to those families who I wouldnt get anything back from. But that's the whole point of Christmas right, GIVING. So I finally put an end to it last year & decided to splurge on the ones who mean most which were my younger siblings whom I never get anything for them in the past! And besides they are a HUGE help with my kiddies so why not pay it back right?
    This year was also different for my Dads house as well. We just picked names so that each kid will get  ONE gift (or a couple of little things added together. Depends on the Giver) instead of each family getting eachother's family's kids something. Not only was this better cost wise, but  it was better so you can focus on that ONE person instead of guessing on what every other kid wants. Well at least for me it was :)I am also ecstatic to say I started a new Nemani family tradition for the morning of Christmas. One of my really close friends, her & her family before they open gifts,they re-enact the Nativity Story before they open gifts. She's been doing that for the past three years every CHRISTmas morning. So I thought that was such an amazing & thoughtful idea! And a great way to get the kids involved & to know the TRUE meaning of CHRISTMAS!!!! So since my kids are still much younger than hers, I opted to take a different route & just read the story to them ALL together as a family. Then I asked my Mother in Law to say a few words about the story & she can add her input & whatsoever. So it turned out to be so cute. My Micah was anxious as soon as he heard his Grandma say "Jesus' Birthday" & so MIcah insisted to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus as soon as his Grandma was done. It was fun & yet rewarding to let the kids WHY we celebrate Christmas. I know they're still young & they probably are still confused, but I know once we do it every year we will start doing the play once they're old enough. We ended with Isaiah saying the closing prayer & then it all Hell broke loose! LOL Just kidding! Then the kiddies of course got to open gifts!! They were sooo antsy during the story & Grandma's talk. So I know they were lovin every minute of it!
     Leka & I decided to have a small brunch for the house as soon as we were done with gifts. So before I read the kids the story, I made 2 trays of  a breakfast casserole & then Leka finished making hash browns so I can get started. Oh & we can't forget our scrumptious cinnoman rolls!!! Ane had a new & improved dough that you can make anything from this dough. And cinnamon rolls was one of them. She has been making them I think every week twice a week of Decemeber or more. So I thought man, I should totally take advantage & learn HOW to make it while shes already making it anyways! So, we planned to make it 2xs! When I lived @ my Dad's house, Laura used to make it every yr for Christmas as part of Christmas tradition. So every yr I would always look forward to it! So thanks to the CINNAMON ROLLS CRAZE, I was so blessed & greatful to learn how to make them! So we had a couple of trays of cinnamon rolls for brunch as well. As soon as we were done opening gifts & taking pictures, we cleaned up & opened some of the kids simple toys. Our casserole wasn't finished baking yet, so then I wanted to go open gifts @ my Dad's house before our Christmas Dinner here on Norton. We went to my Dads in the crazy rain. Then the kiddies opened gifts upstairs w my sisters. Then I had to make the cream cheese icing for the rolls. It was good to see everyone on Chrsitmas. Although I see them everyday (literally!) It's just a blessing that I get to spend another Christmas with the ones I truly I HEART!!!! After we were there for a good hour, I wanted to hurry & get home so I can still clean up  a little bit. And we hadn't opened the kids' last BIG gift from Santa that my Sis in Law got for my kids. She got a huge entertainment center for them, a new TV & a lot of knick knacks to fill in the shleves. We had to cover it with 2 sheets so the kids wouldn't see it! Oh & I forgot to mention that the kids' highlight gift from my Dad & Lola was a NINTENDO WII!!! I know! Spoiled right? It was really nice & thoughtful of them to get it for the kids. But it all worked out because they also got one for the other house! So all the kids are happy & fair ;) So when we got home from my Dads, they all pulled the sheets off & they were sooo excited & thrilled & wanted to hurry & setup the Wii to play! Luckily the gamer boys Tani & Mo were there to setup the Wii! Otherwise it woulda literally took me hours to set it up! The Wii was also a red color too with a matching red controller! I guess it was the 25th anniversary for the Mario Brothers so they came out with a special color edition. Which reminds me, I need to add 2 more controllers to that so they can ALL play together. Isaiah seems to be the one more into it & tends to forget he has brothers sometimes! So I needa make it fair & make sure they all have a controller. And it'll be funner for them so they can play verse eachother instead of doing one player all the time. But then again, one player is better than none! So were greatful either way! Thank You Santa Lola & Fekita! ;) <3
     As soon as the kiddies were ready to play their Wii along with the other kids who came along, some of my friends came by so we can do gift exchanges. Luckily I made a lot of cinnamon rolls so I was able to send those out as well along with the gifts we gave out as well! I cleaned here & there & helped make some lu pulu, kuku & finishe the meatballs for the kids. I tried to snap some pictures, but I failed since my hands were tied. I think I got a couple of the food setup! LOL RIght before we ate. Then that was it. It was raining cats & dogs that day. Then Leka's friends came over so I wanted to go to my house since my house was seriously packed. So I left & spent some QT w my sisters watching Storage War on TLC & just talking. Then Hati wanted to come & play w my kids since he was bored. So I came back & he played for a lil while. I took some pictures of my kids' gifts that they recieved since I was bored.  And I was just thinking how blessed & spoiled these kids are! LOL I mean back when I was a kid, I would get lucky if I got ANYTHING! Nowadys, these kids are just spoiled!!! Or maybe it's just mine??? LOL
      But all in all, Christmas was Great! Oh & I can't forget I LOVED recieveing XMas cards in the mail too! So we got some of those! Not too much like last year, but greatful to still be thought of during the Holidays! I hope that you're CHRISTMAS  was just as wonderful as mine. Maybe better. I am just sooo greatful & at a loss for words for all the HF has done for me & my growing family. I know he looks passes my weakness & sees my heart. However, I know for MYSELF as a PERSON, I have a lot of work to work on myself! But I know with Faith, Perseverance &  Trust in HIM, I will & can get through ANYTHING!
    I look forward for the upcoming year of many more opportunites for my family, faith & business & I know it's all up to ME to make it happen!
I will    post pictures as soon as I upload them on a faster computer ;0)

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010 xoxoxoxo

PS Before I forget, in the past I had named ALL my Journals I have ever owned. SInce this is like my online Journal, I HAVE to name you! As the New Year approaches, I think I came up a name for you! Yes.. I'm gonna call you DREAM! My last Journal name was Destiny. So Dream it is! Oh! And every entry I always ended with a song that either I really really liked @ the time, or a song that just came out. So, since it being the Holidays, it's only natural to end it with a Christmas song! So my Holiday song for 2010 would be
 "All I Want for Chirstmas is You" Mariah Carey