Gripe to Gratitude

Lose tagged me! The tag says I need to tell something I gripe about and then say why I'm grateful for it...Because of Thanksgiving I want to also list other things that I am just grateful for. Here goes!

1. My gripe is socks randomly placed through out the house! Our animals find them and store them places..then the socks of this "individual" slowly disappear. Guess who? My dear sweet Emil! :) But boy do I get bothered by cleaning up socks... But, it comes with loving and being married to the man I never could dream up! So I should LOVE cleaning up his dirty socks!



2. I am grateful for Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, I know where I would be w/o the knowledge I have of Him... I am so thankful to be where I am now instead! He has given me my life.



3. I am grateful for Naimah! I miss her every day.. Especially during the Holidays. I love her desperately. I am thankful for all that she continues to teach me. Who knew? I'm her mother, but she's the teacher! :)















4. I am SO thankful for my mother. She has given her life, love, and positive learning to me. I owe so much to her.. Here she is, holding my late grandma's hand and this picture just says a great deal about her. Love you mommy!




5. I am grateful for a BIG loving family! My extended and immediate. I just love them!

6. I am thankful for doggy's and all animals..but mostly dogs! I almost turn into a different person around them.. Like some people do around babies. haha!!

7. I am very, very grateful for good friends. I have so many..they've improved my life. I couldn't possibly name them all..but you know who you are..! I love ya!

...Am I only grateful for 7 things? No way man!! I feel so blessed! But this is where I stop..and now it's, Bonny, Kimber Uluave, Ashley, Kimber Furr, Kendra Uluave, Jenna, and Keri Allred's turn to explain a gripe you have and turn it into a gratitude! Then list 6 other things your grateful for. Don't be shy now, give us the goods! :)

Family Pictures

We've been SO busy! In the midst of all the craziness I was able to put together some Bridal Shower invitations for my sister. She is getting married in 2 weeks!!! WOW! I'm excited for her!


We have some VERY good friends Boyd & Alyson, and they're sweet 5 kiddos. They are our neighbors that had to move recently..and we often mention them in our posts.. Well, we've been needing to get some family pictures taken, but I've been on the search for something special. Something that can symbolizes Naimah, but doesn't really replace her. Something that will mean a lot to us and our children to come. I mentioned this to Alyson and she offered to help me in our search. She found something! A perfect, white teddy bear that even has a birth certificate!






We really think the bear is a great fit for us.





These are precious...





Oh how we LOVE to laugh!!







We had FunZA and love our little bear. I really think that it will be a wonderful thing for our family and felt Naimah close to us during our little "photo shoot". I guess that means, she approves. :)

Fun, Sweet and A Milestone

Two of my nephews visited 2 weeks ago. Jacob and Matthew! We had loads of fun and just enjoyed the weekend with them here. Then my AWESOME sister and her two little girls also came to visit.
She lives overseas and made a lot of sacrifices to be here and support our family. She just does it w/o question. I look up to her.

Esther is just saying, "Hi Caroline!"




Eve having fun on the playground.

They weren't sure about the dogs at first but warmed up to them fast.They are just adorable!


We had Eve and Brad over for dinner and they had made the funnest desert! Rainbow layered jell-O..yummy! We used a cookie cutter to make a "Jell-O Man". Yippy for creativity.




I bought a shoe shelf and...it fell over! Haha! I just had to take a pic.







We all carved pumpkins togeth and made a mess that was TOTALLY worth it!

Halloween was the best! I really think I am beginning to enjoy this holiday. Some parts about it are just too much, but overall it's just a lot of fun! Emil was a bad egg..! LOL!




I decided to be a Groovin' chic from the 70's.

Kingston was a frog and Hoku was a little hula dancer! They looked adorable of course!









We had a party with friends that night complete with Karaoke, food, craZY sAucE, and good times to log away in the mem's! (a.k.a. memories)


Emil's brother BJ and his wife Amara had a baby boy August 22..but he wasn't due until late October! They named him, Alamoti Siotame Lavaki or AJ for short. He was blessed last weekend. He has been through SO much, and his parents have been right by his side. He's pulled through and was given an AMAZING blessing through his great grand daddy. He's 11lbs already! We are so thankful to have been there to support them and we love them so much.

We stayed with Emil's sister Lose and her son KJ really, really LOVES our dogs! He wanted to sleep with them, feed them, and just do EVERYTHING they did! It really makes Emil and I happy to see how good Kingston and Hoku are with children. We're so proud!

We had the chance to visit some very close friends of ours on Sunday after AJ's baby blessing. During that visit I was able to reach a milestone. I just knew that Merceydez had to be the first baby I should hold since Naimah passed away last August. What a blessing it has been to become so very close to her and her sweet parents. It was an honor to hold her. She has been very sick but pulling through like the rock she is! This picture is such a milestone stone for Merceydez and I. A great milestone. I care VERY much about them and they're heart ache. We have been and seem to continue to be tied together with common threads. During it all, I have looked up to their strength and testimony while it has brightened mine. We love you Nic, Ashley, & Merceydez!!