Spider - Thing?!

Micah and his best buds were playing last week at our house. They found some of Micah's costumes and decided to play in them. They were going for a spiderman theme I guess. They looked so cute,  I had to take a picture and share. The two other boys  are Luke and Ty. Randy laughed when he saw the picture and pointed out that it was 2 spidermans and a spider-thing! Get it. (LOL)

Carnival Fun

Yesterday the kids' school, Canyon Ridge, had a carnival. It was fun. We weren't sure if we were going to make it, with the 1 million and 1 things we have to do before we leave. We were able to squeeze it in. After Saturday morning chores, a quick trip to Target for curtains, we headed over to the school. The day was warm, but had a nice breeze going. As soon as we got there, we let the two older kids just go and be on their own. While standing in line for food, we hear an announcement that "Mr. Dean (the kids' school principal), has been dunked!". Later we found out that it was our sweet Leigh who did that. Poor Mr. Dean. Later, after I had left for a baptism, Micah was able to dunk the vice Principal, Mr. West. Maybe we need to look at some softball or baseball for these kids. There was food, games, rides and prizes. That red thing that Leigh is in is called the Tumbleweed. Need I explain more how it works. I refused to let her have any lunch before she went on that thing. The kids had fun. I'm glad we were able to take time out and let me them enjoy that. 

If you look at the pictures of the dunk tank, there are homes behind it. That's our neighborhood, just a little FYI for those of you who've never been here.  It's so nice to be that close to the school. The picture with the mom in the blue shirt is Lori Webb and her son TJ. She's the mom of the boys that my boys play with all the time. She's such a fun person!

Later that day, we had a visit from Uncle Paul (my dad's brother and his wife Suzie). He drove out to get our van to fix the a/c. Good thing it's only March. It was a nice little visit. I was put on-call for work that night (YES!), and we all watched "The Bee Movie". The kids liked it, Randy and I weren't so crazy about it. 

Running Group Social

Tonight, Randy and I went to a little gathering with friends. These are some of the ladies that I meet with at 5:15am to go running. It has been great running with them. All of them (except me), trained and did a 1/2 marathon in February. Guess what my excuse was? It was too cold to go running. I draw the line when it the temp drops below 50 degrees. They did a great job doing that (wohoo!). Now that it's warmer, I'm out there running with them now. I'm going to have to form a running group when we get to Hawaii. It was a fun gathering. We all brought our spouses and good food. We ate, talked and laughed. After eating too much, we called it a night and returned home. 

Lori and Susan Natalie and Amy

2nd Tag

Okay, so this is the 2nd tag. Here goes:

1. What is your Hubby's name? Randy Yoshimi Sasaki

2. How long have your been married? On April 26th, it will be 12 years.

3. How long did you date? On and off for 1 yr and 7 mo., engaged for 5 months.

4.How old is he? He will be 40 this year.

5. Who eats more? It depends on the day. Usually Randy though.

6. Who said I Love you First? Randy did, I even remember it. 

7. Who is taller? He is by 1 inch.

8. Who sings better? He does. 

9. Who is smarter? math and science is my thing, Randy is the creative one, as well as the "life-smart" person. 

10. Who temper is worse? That just depends on the day. It could be me or him. That's why we have our motto, "That why there's two." In case the other's temper is flaring up. Hopefully there won't be a day when both our tempers get out of hand, there won't be anyone to calm us.

11. Who does the laundry? Me, I finally have my system in place so I don't mind it as much.

12. Who does the dishes? Mostly me, but if I'm at work, he will get it done. I take it back, he does them when I'm home as well. The kids help put away.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.

14. Who pays the bills?I am the keeper of the bills.

15. Who mows the lawn? Randy does, because he likes it. I used to do it when I was a teenager.

16. Who cooks dinner? It's me. Randy's good at leftovers (hehe). If it's quick, he'll make dinner.

17. Who drives when together? If it's just around town, Randy. When it's road trips, I do. He's the better navigator, that's why I'm the driver, but I don't mind  because we can get there on my time (quicker).

18. Who is more stubborn? Me. I just need time to think and humble myself and then I see reason.

19. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Randy, which is what I love about him. It's something that I've learned to do when I'm at fault.

20. Whose parents do we visit most? It would be his parents. Even though both sets of parents are across the ocean, his are closer. After we move to Hawaii, it will definitely be his.

21. Who Proposed? Randy did. It was very romantic and on my birthday. We went out to dinner, then we went to Turtle Bay Resort and walked over by the glass chapel they have on this small cliff that overlooks the ocean. We sat on the bench they had out there and asked me to marry him. When I said yes, he said, "Are you sure?" He doesn't remember that. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Sorry had to share.

22. Who has more friends? I do. I have a lot friends here that are more than just acquaintances, which is one reason why it was so hard to decide to move to Hawaii (and I mean that).

23. Who has more siblings? Randy does, 1 brother and 3 sisters, he beats me by one sister.

24. Who wears the pants in the family?We both do. That's why there's two.
*************************************
10 years ago....
I was pregnant with Tyler and just starting Nursing school. We were living in the extension behind Randy's parent's house in Mililani, HI. I was getting into the end of my pregnancy. 

5 things on my to do list today...The day is done so I will list tomorrow's stuff. I have to change my hair appt., change a doctor's appt,, get quotes for car insurance, go to an appt, and if I'm lucky, play volleyball. 

What I would do if I were suddenly a Millionaire...Oooh, I daydream about this with my siblings. I would of course pay all our debts, starting with the house. Get a home in Hawaii. Fly all my family to New Zealand for a family reunion, fly all of Randy's family for a trip to Japan (I want to eat their food there).

Three bad Habits...worrying, getting distracted, forgetting laundry in the washer after it's been washed (but I'm fixing that one). 

Six places I have lived...Laie, HI / Hauula, HI / Mililani, HI / Liahona, TONGA / Flagstaff, AZ / Surprise, AZ

5 jobs I have had...Graduation Clerk @ BYUH REGISTRAR'S OFFICE, Testing Proctor @ BYUH TESTING CENTER, Tutor for children @ WIZ KIDS' LEARNING CTR, Dancer @ POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER, and an RN @ many hospitals. The best one I love is a mom (but I wouldn't call it job, although it is a lot of work). 

5 things people don't know about me....#1I love music, I love iTunes and downloading music, #2 -I'm very competitive, although I try not to show it, #3 -I want to learn to play the violin  #4 -Even though I appear laid back, I do stress (just ask Randy), & #5 -Ummm, I would love to teach a spinning class. It's addicting!

I tag....everyone who reads my blog! I love to read these things even though I feel mine are so boring. Come on girls! :o) Pick one or do both.

Double Tagged

I was reading my friend Jessica C.'s blog and got tagged. I've seen this on other blogs, but wasn't sure how it worked. Now I do. Keep reading and you'll find out at the end of the blog. Actually, I'll just tag you know just in case you decide not to read the post. Here goes. The first one is A to Z:

A - Attached or single: attached
B - Best friend: Randy
C - Cake or pie: I love the single sliced choclate layered cake they sell at safeway. My 2nd choice is always apple pie a la mode. Mmmmmmm.
D - Day of choice: Saturday. I love being able to do things with my family.
E - Essential items: cell phone (I feel naked without it), my palm (it's my brain), and lip gloss. :)
F- Favorite color: I love deep shades of color like red, blue, green, etc.
G - Gummy bears or worms: gummy bears w/ li hing powder

H - Hometown: Liahona, Tonga
I - Indulgence(s): Getting my hair done by Stacey Ortiz (I just feel so glamourous when I walk out of there). 
J - January or July: January. I love starting something new, especially the new year, plus I always feel like I can breathe after the whirlwind of Halloween, Thanksgiving, 2 birthdays, Christmas and New Year's Eve (exhale).
K- Kids: Leigh (10), Tyler (8), Kara (7), Micah (4).
L- Life is incomplete without: family
M- Marriage date: 4-27-96
N- Number of siblings: 2 sisters, 1 brother
O - Oranges or apples: Apples
P- Phobias or fears: Not being prepared or ready for something.
Q - Quotes: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" Eleanor Roosevelt.

R - Reason to smile: When my husband gives me a kiss (I know, sappy, but true).

S- Season of choice: Fall...after living in Flagstaff and seeing the colors change, and the air is cool but not too cold, oh I just love it. 

T - Tag three friends: Kathy H., Melissa E., and Karen R. You all know who you are.

U - Unknown fact about me: I'm very competitive. I have to reign myself in when I play volleyball (that doesn't mean I'm good at it. I just want to be).

V - Very favorite store: Kohl's and Target

W - Worst habit: Getting distracted while on the computer.

X - X-ray or ultrasound: Ultrasound. I don't feel mutated when I'm done.

Y - Your favorite food: It's like the colors question, you have to be specific because I have very many different types of favorites.

Z - Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Remember if I mentioned your name in my tag you have to copy and paste this in a post on your blog and then change the answers to suit you.

Easter Sunday

We celebrated Easter today. I was up early this morning hiding the eggs. One day, I'll be a little more prepared and have the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday instead of Sunday. The kids get the same number of eggs to collect along with a chocolate bunny. One small chocolate bunny. I see the big solid ones at the store and I just can't get myself to buy one for my kids. I think of the dentist bill and cringe. With that said, however, after church I was so hungry today and Kara was given one of those chocolate bunnies today and I wanted her to open it up and give me half. Good thing I didn't go hungry to the store yesterday. After a small lunch, we colored Easter Eggs. It took all of 20 minutes. When we came home from church, there was a bunny in our front yard just nibbling on our grass. The kids all thought that was neat, especially being Easter and all. Then while we were doing the eggs, we spotted two bunnies in our backyard just hopping around. Randy jokingly said, "It's a Easter miracle." (LOL).  We ended the day with a little Easter meal, you know the typical: ham, rolls, rice (ok, maybe not so typical), and veggies, with ice-cream to follow. HAPPY EASTER!!!

Luau --- Arizona Style

Our ward had a luau, combined with another ward in our stake. It was fun. We had the shredded pork that was baked in an 'umu. There was chicken, lomi lomi without the salmon, fried rice, fruit, veggies, and even POI! They were serving them in these tiny cups, which was not enough for Randy. Randy went back up to the food table with a bowl and had them give him a good serving of poi (we didn't feel bad because no one was really eating it). Afterwards, we had the polynesian entertainment, which inlcuded Leigh and I dancing. We just did one number. It was fun. Leigh did very well, especially considering she learned the dance in a week and a half. They had a Tongan family that did a whole Polynesian show. It was fun to see the familiar polynesian faces. I even met up with an old ward member from Tonga. Napua 'Alatini. She and I were Merrie Miss girls together (lol. Wow, I'm dating myself now), and my mom was our teacher. I didn't realize she was even living in Surprise. Her kids, along with her nieces and nephews danced in that Polynesian Show. All the ward members had fun watching and participating. It's getting us more and more excited to go back to Hawaii. We can't wait! The video is of Leigh and I dancing. Check back later, we'll try and redo the video that had other dancing that involved other members of ward. Oh, and yes, I am aware now that I was not really smiling during my performance. I know, I do it all the time. I always think I'm smiling until I see a video of it. One day I'll remember, either that or someone's got to yell it at me while I'm dancing.

A 4 y.o. in charge of FHE Lesson

This past Monday (3/17/08), Micah was in charge of the lesson. We try to let the kids do their own thing for their assignments with FHE so that they feel that they are really participating. Well, Micah decided that we were going to make bug cages. Why? He doesn't know himself. Then I reminded him that we really didn't have anything to build a bug cage out of, and instead suggested taking some of my dispensible containers and using those for a bug hunt. He was all for that. When he made his announcement at FHE of what we were doing, everyone just looked at him, then me, to verify if this information was true. I smiled big and said, "Yup! Get a jacket". We were losing daylight and it was cold outside. 

So the pictures are of the kids out back looking for bugs. I think because of the sudden cold weather, there were no bugs to be found. So we tried in the front yard. Needless to say, it was a reluctant hunt. Finally, I suggested that we go inside (because I was freezing), and draw a picture of our favorite bug. Micah was a little disappointed we couldn't find any bugs and decided that that was a good idea as well. It was fun, just sitting around drawing bugs. I should have taken a picture of them. It's funny to see what are the priorities of a 4 y.o. when it comes to our spiritual well-being. After all, bugs were created by our Heavenly Father as well.

Happy St. Patrick's Day (it was yesterday)

This is a family tradition that we do every year in our family, eat (what I guess is) Irish food. Is this right Jessica? We always have Corned Beef, Irish soda bread, red potatoes, and something with cabbage. Although, this year I forgot to do something with the cabbage, so it's sitting in my fridge. I might do something else with it tomorrow. This kids love corned beef. And in case you are wondering, no we don't have a drop of Irish in us, but we like to eat their food :) (oh gosh, now I'm doing those dang smiley faces). Yeah, no Irish, but it's fun to learn about other countries and peoples. Tyler learned a lot today in school from his teacher who has been to Ireland. She's a red head, she could be Irish. He shared all the things he had learned at dinner  last night. 

Here are some pictures of other things we did yesterday. After many days of trying to detangle hair and a couple of gallons of conditioner, we decided to chop the girls' hair. It was an agreed consensus to do it between the girls and I. And who doesn't love to get their haircut? The girls both LOVE their hair cuts. Just a plain and simple straight cut, but shorter and more manageable. Thank you Shelby for doing that for me!

P.S. Okay, after typing this up, I was on Shannen's blog and she says that corned beef is not an Irish food. Whatever. We eat it anyway for St. Patrick's day. See what we know. Haha! I guess that's like everyone here making Hawaiian Haystacks at Luau's. There, we're even (LOL).

Our Travels

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

A couple of our friends have this on their blogs and theirs are much more impressive. As you can see, we tend to stay in the corner. I'm sure my siblings have covered more ground than our family has. One day we'll go past Arizona. I added an international one as well. Unfortunately, some of the other countries are very tiny and hard to see that we have been to those places. They are little red dots in the South Pacific Ocean. We need to go to bigger countries I guess (LOL).
I guess the map is too wide, but it cuts off Japan and New Zealand, Tonga, the two Samoas, basically, all the international places we've been to.



create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

Phew . . . What a Day!

Today was busy, but fun! We all got ready in the morning and headed out the door to enjoy the annual Aloha Festival that they have here in AZ. This is our way of holding on to our Hawaii roots. When we first moved to Phoenix, we joined the Akana Ohana Halau and Leigh and I danced for two festivals with them. It was a lot of fun and a great experience for Leigh. Last year, we were out of town for it and this year we did not have time to do it. So we went purely to enjoy the things that they had to offer at the festival ------ FOOD! (lol) Nah, we do enjoy the polynesian entertainment, hearing the pidgin' being  spoken all around us, and next to eating the food, we love bumping into old friends and catching up. This year we bumped into the Foliaki's and my cousin Rachel Niu. While Leigh, Kara, and Randy watched the entertainment, the boys and I went to stand in line for some ono kine food. This year, I was determined to stand in the long line for the Aloha Kitchen to get some of their food, the manapua in particular. After standing in the line for 30 mins, they ran out of manapua (NOOOOOOO!). With a big sigh, I ordered three lunch plates of teri chicken, teri beef and kalua pig. The food was good!! The fact that I will be in Hawaii in a couple months makes me not so sad that I didn't get any manapua. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a white bun (different from a dinner roll), with red char siu meat (it's a chinese-type of food you find in Hawaii) inside of it. After lunch, we went and picked up some shave-ice. We always put the works on it, azuki beans, li-hing powder and sweet cream on top with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. YUM! We walked around, did some crafts, visited the booth that sells crack seed (no, it is not a seed to grow crack) another local hawaii goody we eat. We looked at the time and headed home. 

We got home with a 45 min break. We picked ourselves up again and headed towards the White Tanks. We were invited to come help celebrate Bro. Ellsworth's 60th birthday (great family friend and our dentist). The kids had fun playing with Sara's kids. We enjoyed visiting with all the family there, including my own brother Joe Niu, who flew in to town. My brother lived with the Ellsworths for 3 years of high school. When our family moved down here, they just adopted us into their tribe as well. We had BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs and all the fixings. It was windy and got colder as the sun was setting. They built a fire. I was so afraid that one of the kids was going to fall in. Luckily we managed to leave with all four children unscathed . . . the marks they did acquire there were washable. We roasted marshmallows and made smores. At the end, we sang Happy Birthday and had this great yellow cake with whip cream in the middle and strawberries. No, I was not counting my weight watcher points the whole day.  Didn't feel guilty either. We headed home around 8pm.

We were half-way home when Micah passed out. The picture just says it all.

P.S. My brother is single by the way and he goes to BYU Provo. That's him in the picture with me. 

P.P.S. Spring break day 4 & 5 were spent with Randy, fixing up things around the house that always gets put on the back burner.  I know you were all dying to know that.

Spring Break Day 2 & 3

Day 2  -  Not much happened on our 2nd day of our break. The kids did chores and then all went over to play with friends except Kara. She stayed and hung out with mom. She got inventive and decided to try out the slip-n-slide Grandma Jena had gotten them years ago (before the grass). There are some pictures of her enjoying herself. The rest of the kids all came home and joined her.


Day 3  -  Today the kids and I went to Anthem, AZ, to the Daisy Railroad Park. It is a beautiful park. We drove up there, picked up some lunch from good 'ole Subway and had a picnic there. Then the kids played on the huge playground equipment that they had. The slides were two stories high. It was kind of hot and we walked around looking at the ducks in the pond. They have a miniature train that you can ride, but wouldn't you know it, the train operates on Th, F, S and Sun, and today is WEDNESDAY. We'll have to go back on another day to try the train out. It has such great landscaping, great for taking pictures. After the park, we headed over to their Outlet Mall they had there. We did some window shopping and got some ice-cream. It was a fairly quiet drive home. The kids said they had a lot of fun. Randy came home and they told him all about it at dinner.

Spring Break - Day 1

Today is the first day of Spring Break for the kids. I don't know about everyone else, but I actually am happy when the kids aren't in school (for 1 week). It's a lot of work to get them ready and out the door. I do enjoy having them around as well. This morning we went down to the orthodontist for one last check on Leigh's retainer and the progress of Tyler's teeth. Leigh's doing good. Tyler's check-up had some issues that I'm trying to figure out how to deal with. One more thing to add to the stress plate.  Otherwise the kids are doing great. After coming home this morning, we worked on some chores, then the older kids had friends over. Leigh had McKayla over (a good friend in the ward). Together, they made some pizza for us, the dough and everything. They made a pepperoni pizza and a BBQ chicken one. Both were good but we didn't eat until 3pm. That may have been dinner as well. Tyler has a friend from school over. 

Leigh and I are supposed to be performing a hula at our ward luau on March 22nd. It is going to be combined with another ward, who has a Tongan family in their ward and will be performing as well. This should be fun. The menu is NOT Hawaiian Haystacks! It looks like some sort of real hawaiian food. We shall see. I think I saw on the flyer that there will be a roasted pig (or something to that affect). I will be glad to eat local food again when we get back to Hawaii. So will Randy, he misses the poi and poke! Anyhow, Leigh and I were trying to practice today. It will be a cute dance, we will post a video of it. 

Not much else to say. We are making some progress with our move. Randy is going to be down in Hawaii by April 21st and the rest of us, as soon as the house gets rented. Hopefully soon! We are in the process of getting it ready. SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT!!!! 

End of Basketball Season

Today was Tyler's last game for the basketball season. He had great coaches and teammates. Tyler learned so much and enjoys playing the game. Hopefully, we can keep up the skills he learned. I'm sure his daddy will help with that. After the last game, we all drove up to Anthem, AZ, where Tyler's coach lives for a post-season party. It was fun. We had it at the Anthem Rec Center (same place I did the Triathlon). The kids got to rock climb, eat pizza & cake, play arcade games and swim. They are all tired out including myself. We are ending the day with a movie, Shrek the 3rd. Here's some pictures from the days events. In case you're wondering, Micah is not being choked.

Our 1st Pinewood Derby

Last night, Tyler participated in his 1st Pinewood Derby. It was a blast. I myself had never been to one before. Before we get to that, we'll back it up a bit. Waaaay bit. When Randy was of age, he won the Pinewood Derby for his ward one year. In Hawaii, they have a state Pinewood Derby. Randy came 7th in the state. So, needless to say, we do not (I found out) mess around when it comes to Pinewood Derby (lol). Just kidding, Randy is not a character from that movie "Down & Derby", in fact, he was very patient with Tyler and worked on the car with him almost every night after work for 2 weeks. Tyler drew up the designs and Randy helped cut the wood and showed Tyler what to do. After much sanding, trips to Michael's, and a couple of paint jobs, the car was finished.

The whole family was excited for Tyler. Everyone's cars were great! It was neat to see all the different designs. Of course our favorite (other than Tyler's), was Tyler's main man Dalton Webb's with his "Wii Remote Car" that he did all by himself.



The first couple of races Tyler won, then he lost a couple and won a couple. It was very exciting to see the races even if your kid wasn't racing.

The ward had a little concession stand that Leigh and her friends manned. We had a great time. In the end, Tyler didn't place, but had fun anyway. Dalton's block car the "Wii Remote" tied for second, GO DALTON! We went home and celebrated the fun night with ice-cream (like we needed it). Can't wait for next year's. Sorry about the weird type-setting. I tried to fix it, but couldn't figure out how to do it. Enjoy the video (they are, of course, all of Tyler's winnings. Haha.)!Take note of the sound effects Randy added.

Grandma's Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

Today is my mom's birthday. Technically, it is on March 5th, but with them living in NZ, with the time difference, it is today. We all love you and miss you grandma!

Love Sasaki Family!!!!