Can you believe Celeste just had a baby?! She is so beautiful. I hope I handle pregnancy and child labor like she does.
Congratulations Si'i and Celeste! You make beautiful children!!!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Ezra Tauteoli Fiefia
Meet my newest nephew, Ezra! He was born yesterday morning at 8:04 and is such a sweet little thing. I just love him to death already.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
A Sunday Afternoon
James hasn't played his guitar much since we got back from our summer adventure. Oh how I've missed it. I'm sure you can see why.
We just couldn't let that beautiful early fall weather go to waste.
I hope your Sunday was as inspiring as ours.
We just couldn't let that beautiful early fall weather go to waste.
I hope your Sunday was as inspiring as ours.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
James: The Triathlete
I should have posted this back in April, so that shows how behind I am. I just couldn't let this event go undocumented.
James did his first Sprint Triathlon on April 24, 2010. I am so proud of him! He had so much fun doing it that Triathlons may very well become his addiction. I trained hard with James for about 5 months, but pulled a muscle in my lower back just 4 days before the event. I was so disappointed. The only good thing about not doing the triathlon was that I got to cheer my guy on.
Number 298- In my opinion the hottest guy in the event
Getting into the water- it was freezing outside! I was complaining and I was fully clothed.
Nice stroke...
Transition area for the bike- if he had been more efficient a this he probably could have cut another 2 minutes off his overall time.
Finish Line! There was an amazing atmosphere at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, UT.
He was so pumped up at the finish line that I think he could have done the whole thing again without a problem. I was his water girl :)
James finished 5th out of 14 in his age group with a time of 1:25:37. He is amazing!
I can't wait until we get to do a triathlon together. Fingers crossed that the Summit Athletic Club Triathlon on October 16th pans out!
James did his first Sprint Triathlon on April 24, 2010. I am so proud of him! He had so much fun doing it that Triathlons may very well become his addiction. I trained hard with James for about 5 months, but pulled a muscle in my lower back just 4 days before the event. I was so disappointed. The only good thing about not doing the triathlon was that I got to cheer my guy on.
Number 298- In my opinion the hottest guy in the event
Getting into the water- it was freezing outside! I was complaining and I was fully clothed.
Nice stroke...
Transition area for the bike- if he had been more efficient a this he probably could have cut another 2 minutes off his overall time.
Finish Line! There was an amazing atmosphere at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, UT.
He was so pumped up at the finish line that I think he could have done the whole thing again without a problem. I was his water girl :)
James finished 5th out of 14 in his age group with a time of 1:25:37. He is amazing!I can't wait until we get to do a triathlon together. Fingers crossed that the Summit Athletic Club Triathlon on October 16th pans out!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Our Wedding Video
I have had some requests to see our wedding video, so here is the link, but it only shows middle part of the video. You can also see other videos done by our talented friends at KANDM Wedding Videography. They are the absolute best!!!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Happy Birthday Mary Berry
I thought one of my best friends in the whole world deserved a post of her own for her birthday. I met Mary Elizabeth Wright Brearton in a fitness for life class my freshman year of college. It was the luckiest tardy I ever had because I ended up sitting next to the best girl in the class. We quickly became "best friends" even though some people said you can't be "best friends" with someone you haven't known that long.
Mary is one of the coolest, funniest, best girls I've ever known. She is talented in so many ways including writing letters, obsessive photography, being the life of any party, 80's music trivia, hiking, biking to work, she has mastered the art of "roughing it with style", making everyone feel special, dressing up in costumes, journal writing, and being an amazing friend.
The best thing about Mary is that no matter how long we are apart, when we finally get together again it is like no time has passed at all. Mary was the most consistent writer while I was on my mission and I'm pretty sure she got to know my companions better than I did! She has been like a sister to me for the past 7 years. We've seen each other through break ups, family troubles, birthdays, holidays, moves, missions, weddings and anniversaries. I can't wait to be there for the next 50 years! I love you Mare Bear!
Here are some of my favorite pictures of Mary(I had to narrow it down from about 1,000):
Mary and I at my wedding. Her husband, Klint, was doing our wedding video (which was amazing...) so I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I would have liked, but I was so happy she was there.
Our sweet catalog photo shoot at the cabin in Cedar City, UT
Dressed up as Poison Ivy and Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The best costumes of our lives- The Spice Girls! Mary was one hot Ginger
Our Christmas card photo shoot after we got back from Kauai (matching sweaters included)
When we dressed up in grass skirts and leis and went to Kalapaki beach. We were pretending to speak in a different language for fear of people discovering that we actually lived there.
Pics for the Del Sol news letter. I'm pretty sure this was our best one! I'm not sure why we are always wearing matching shirts :)
Our first Sunday in Kauai together
Those "misty mountains" were a favorite topic of ours
Ridiculous poses on the sun station were a common occurrence at Del Sol, Kauai. This girl is flexible!I love you my Beautiful Mary Darling! I hope you had a Happy Birthday.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Favorite moments in Edmonton
Riding my bike downtown Edmonton
Reading at McKinley Park by the river
Running on the path by the river
Grilling just about everything in sight including corn, pork, steak, chicken, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc.
Tahitian dancing, pilates, yoga and crochet with my new gal pals
Shopping at the West Edmonton Mall and seeing the Lemurs!
Reading at McKinley Park by the river
Running on the path by the river
Grilling just about everything in sight including corn, pork, steak, chicken, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc.
Tahitian dancing, pilates, yoga and crochet with my new gal pals
Shopping at the West Edmonton Mall and seeing the Lemurs!
The Canadian Adventure Begins
I am back! So I guess you could say that my extended vacation this summer included blogging. I have a LOT to write about since James and I had quite the adventure over the past few months. It will probably take me a couple of weeks to update everything and then I'll let you know what we're up to now.
It all started at the end of April when we left the warm and sunny land of Utah to go to Canada to sell security systems for Pinnacle Security. We had a beautiful drive up with just a little bit of rain. I had never driven through most of Idaho or Montana, and I couldn't believe how absolutely breathtaking it was. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, so I guess we'll just have to do that drive again!
We arrived at the Canadian border at about 10:30pm. Now to back track a little bit, James' manager told us we should take the non-direct route through Glacier National Park and Cardston, Alberta because of the long lines and the friendliness of the border patrol. Let me just say right now, that was our first mistake.
When we pulled up to talk to the man on duty there, he first chewed us out for not doing our research because immigration left at 6:00pm. Then he told us it was pointless for us to even try because we couldn't be traveling together due to the type of work visa we had. Needless to say, I was slightly distraught. He softened a bit by the end of our conversation though and let us through the border just for the night so we could get gas and find a motel. Apparently there was a storm coming in.
We were lucky enough to see the temple all lit up when we arrived in Cardston. It brought me so much peace and made me feel at home. We were not so lucky in our choice of motel rooms however. Since everything was closed except for the gas station, we had to take what we could get. Let's just say that I slept in my clothes with my hood over my head and socks on because the room was SO bad...
The pictures really don't do it justice!
We awoke the next morning to at least 2 feet of snow and no power. We were worried that if we didn't get back to the border patrol we would have problems with our visas, so we set out in the storm to drive the 15 km back.
Within just a few miles we were in a white out that was so bad we couldn't see 5 feet in front of our car. We tried to take it slow, but with so little visibility we missed a turn in the road and ended up in a snow drift on the side of the road. I was positive no one would ever find us and we would die out in the cold in Canada!
Then this big guy came to our rescue!
I was so grateful to see him! Unfortunately, in the process of pulling us out, he went off the road and got stuck in the snow. I didn't think that was possible! Since our visibility was still so low, we didn't dare to try to drive back on our own. Luckily, a good Samaritan who knew the road really well came by and led us back to town safely.
I was never so happy to see a seedy hotel room in my life! With no power, we loaded up on junk food from the gas station, since everything else was closed, and settled in for a long stay. We played games, read books, talked and slept. It was actually really nice to not have all of the distractions for a while. At about 11:00 that evening the power came back on.
This is a picture of the same road the next morning. Unfortunately, when we got back to the border, their computers were still down, so they told us we would have to go to the border east of where we were (the one we should have gone to in the first place). The told us the best way to get there, so we set off.
After about an hour on the road, we found that the road was blocked because a semi got stuck. I had never seen snow cause such destruction. Most of the wooden poles on the side of the road were shredded and fences were destroyed.
Finally after an extra 2 1/2 hours we arrived at the other border, where they promptly gave us our clearance to go through to Edmonton!
Our 14 hour drive turned into 24 hours on the road. When we arrived in Edmonton, I was ecstatic to see our apartment. Wasn't it beautiful?
The "test kitchen" where I cooked A LOT in the 6 weeks we were there...
Living room with a sweet flat screen TV and balcony (with a grill!)
The bathroom... ah the soaker tub!
We loved our apartment, and Edmonton turned out to be a really cool city. I'll write more on that later. We were so blessed to get to Edmonton safely. I know the Lord was watching over us as we traveled. The experience really strengthened my faith and reminded me that we are all in God's care.
It all started at the end of April when we left the warm and sunny land of Utah to go to Canada to sell security systems for Pinnacle Security. We had a beautiful drive up with just a little bit of rain. I had never driven through most of Idaho or Montana, and I couldn't believe how absolutely breathtaking it was. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, so I guess we'll just have to do that drive again!
We arrived at the Canadian border at about 10:30pm. Now to back track a little bit, James' manager told us we should take the non-direct route through Glacier National Park and Cardston, Alberta because of the long lines and the friendliness of the border patrol. Let me just say right now, that was our first mistake.
When we pulled up to talk to the man on duty there, he first chewed us out for not doing our research because immigration left at 6:00pm. Then he told us it was pointless for us to even try because we couldn't be traveling together due to the type of work visa we had. Needless to say, I was slightly distraught. He softened a bit by the end of our conversation though and let us through the border just for the night so we could get gas and find a motel. Apparently there was a storm coming in.
We were lucky enough to see the temple all lit up when we arrived in Cardston. It brought me so much peace and made me feel at home. We were not so lucky in our choice of motel rooms however. Since everything was closed except for the gas station, we had to take what we could get. Let's just say that I slept in my clothes with my hood over my head and socks on because the room was SO bad...
The pictures really don't do it justice!We awoke the next morning to at least 2 feet of snow and no power. We were worried that if we didn't get back to the border patrol we would have problems with our visas, so we set out in the storm to drive the 15 km back.
Within just a few miles we were in a white out that was so bad we couldn't see 5 feet in front of our car. We tried to take it slow, but with so little visibility we missed a turn in the road and ended up in a snow drift on the side of the road. I was positive no one would ever find us and we would die out in the cold in Canada!
Then this big guy came to our rescue!
I was so grateful to see him! Unfortunately, in the process of pulling us out, he went off the road and got stuck in the snow. I didn't think that was possible! Since our visibility was still so low, we didn't dare to try to drive back on our own. Luckily, a good Samaritan who knew the road really well came by and led us back to town safely.I was never so happy to see a seedy hotel room in my life! With no power, we loaded up on junk food from the gas station, since everything else was closed, and settled in for a long stay. We played games, read books, talked and slept. It was actually really nice to not have all of the distractions for a while. At about 11:00 that evening the power came back on.
This is a picture of the same road the next morning. Unfortunately, when we got back to the border, their computers were still down, so they told us we would have to go to the border east of where we were (the one we should have gone to in the first place). The told us the best way to get there, so we set off.
After about an hour on the road, we found that the road was blocked because a semi got stuck. I had never seen snow cause such destruction. Most of the wooden poles on the side of the road were shredded and fences were destroyed.
Finally after an extra 2 1/2 hours we arrived at the other border, where they promptly gave us our clearance to go through to Edmonton!
Our 14 hour drive turned into 24 hours on the road. When we arrived in Edmonton, I was ecstatic to see our apartment. Wasn't it beautiful?
The "test kitchen" where I cooked A LOT in the 6 weeks we were there...
Living room with a sweet flat screen TV and balcony (with a grill!)
The bathroom... ah the soaker tub!We loved our apartment, and Edmonton turned out to be a really cool city. I'll write more on that later. We were so blessed to get to Edmonton safely. I know the Lord was watching over us as we traveled. The experience really strengthened my faith and reminded me that we are all in God's care.
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