(9) k2 graduates from byuh

in december, my nephew k2 graduated from byu-hawaii. wow! where has the time gone?! (k2 was born the summer before my senior year in high school)...

the graduate: k2


three generations (dad, brothers & their boys): k1, dad, e, k2, bro1, bro2


dad & k2


father (bro2) & son


brothers 1992: k2, uncle manu, k1
(wanted to throw this one in there--then & now)

brothers 2010: k1 & k2

us & the graduate

graduation luncheon

these are just a few of the pictures capturing some of the moments after the graduation ceremony. it was nice to see his maternal granny, who flew in from utah and his aunt and cousins, who we haven't seen in many years.

i know my mom and especially his two moms (his biological mom who passed away when he was a baby, and his mom who raised him) were smiling down upon him. below is a photo of k2, on the job, as part of his college experience. best wishes in whatever you choose to pursue next, kiddo!

k2 at work
(photos courtesy of k2)

(10) new home, old friends

okeedokee. i figured that if i kept editing my previous post, i'd be stuck on that one forever. instead, i thought i'd elaborate one-by-one, so i'd at least look like i'm making some sort of progress on this whole blogging thing. ;)

therefore, on to (10) "new home, old friends"...

new home
after 8 years of living in the same apartment, we had the opportunity to move into a house. the great thing for us, is that it is within the same ward boundaries--we are renting from a sister in our ward who is serving a mission. we feel truly blessed for this opportunity. for the first time ever, kahi has her own room, and we've been able to have more family and friends stop by and visit.

the first of our mainland family to stay with us: the vegas cousins with our girls

which brings me to...

old friends
this past year i've been able to cross paths with many wonderful people from my various stages in my life. among the first people to come and visit us in our new home were my school buddies leah, georges, & clinton.

alys, leah, georges, clinton

leah and i have been friends since kindergarten, georges joined us on "the hill" in fourth grade, and clinton in seventh grade. we'd been talking about getting together for a couple years now, and it finally happened. it was great to meet georges' better half and clinton's definitely best-er half and their kids.

in addition to seeing high school classmates at a relay for life event and college friends at the various temple re-dedication activities, i also got to meet up with my small-kid time buddy, maile, who ended up being a college bestie as well. it was great to have her and her family in our home, and having our kids hang out together too.

third-generation friendship: the washington cousins with our girls

i believe that people are placed in our paths for a reason--very grateful for who we have in our lives.

my top 10 in 2010

i'll attempt to elaborate on this post (copied & pasted from my fb) sometime in the near future. in the meantime, mahalo to my forever buddy maile for the inspiration to get back on the bandwagon. :)

my top 10 in 2010:

(1) sitting in the presence of the prophet in the celestial room

(2) celebrating mom's life w/dad, sibs&kids

(3) temple w/kimo&j3, keao&j5, & k1

(4) cultural celebration & open house

(5) new callings

(6) firstborn completes her yw personal progress

(7) weddings & babies

(8) elder sa'u-levi & hermana mills enter the mission field

(9) k2 graduates from byuh

(10) new home, old friends

summer 2009

so i've tried my hand at blogging for just over a year...and frankly, i'm not very good at it! we'll see if i can improve at posting more regularly...

just a quick update, this is what we've been up to for about the past 4 weeks:

most of dad t's posterity!

hope all's well with each of you...

great aloha walk

hubby, kahi, lua, and i took part in another great aloha run this morning... aside from a few blisters, i'm actually feeling better than i anticipated. as is the usual routine (our first gar was in 1997), we dropped off our littlest one at tutu & papa's house early in the morning, then drove down to the aloha stadium. we hopped on a shuttle that took us downtown, and we had our first encounter with the long line of port-a-potties... (the office building we usually go to was not allowing public access to their restrooms this year)... yes, even this is part of the whole experience... haha

by the time we made it to aloha tower, the masses were just beginning to move. my first order of business was making sure to pass by the usual spot where tutu, papa, & tolu sit and wait so they can wave at us and cheer us on. we were able to see them, and in fact, i got a hug from tolu and a honi from papa... (tutu was quite comfy in her walker/chair a ways back from the road we were on).

early on, i also saw officer matt lum, a buddy from our byu-hawaii days, and soon after, lua and i got roses from watanabe florists! they were handing them out for free! then, about three-quarters of the way, lua was thrilled to see lina girl, a classmate of mine from the third grade, up close and personal! lua gave her rose to lina and thought it was cool that pipi said hi to us too.

it was not too long after we figured out that lua's timing chip had fallen off of her shoe. we attempted to trace our steps back a little bit, but quickly surrendered to the impending fatigue and trudged forward. unfortunately she won't have an official ending time, but we began and ended together, so she'll at least know her finish time!

soon we got a call from kahi saying that she was done! a bit later we got a call from hubby saying he was done too! when lua & i finally walked across the finish line, we were greeted by my older brother, who was working as a first aid volunteer inside the stadium (not 'cause we needed first aid, but he happened to be posted right there!) we did our usual trek to collect water, bananas--and this year, donuts--and collect our "finisher" t-shirts. a relatively quick trip to our car, and we were on our way to pick up tolu and get home to rest!!!

i have to say that some of my favorite parts of the annual gar include seeing all the many volunteers--especially the school bands! just when i'm questioning myself as to why i'm doing this again, i hear a familiar tune or feel a fast beat and i'm re-energized. i also enjoy reading the backs of people's t-shirts... my favorite this year: "i'm with kaiser permanente...that's why you're reading the back of my shirt" (something like that). i also thought that one family was quite clever with their children's shirts stenciled like athletic jerseys complete with their family name emblazoned across the top and numbered by birth order--01 through 06... and of course mom & dad were rockin' their numbers--00--on the backs of their t-shirts as well.

another family bonding event over... i think i need another nap! :)

i hope they call me on a mission...

well, my nephew kalamaku gave his homecoming address this morning... he just returned from fiji this past thursday. he has matured quite a bit and is now officially the first of my father & mother's direct descendants to serve a full-time mission!

of course, i was doing fine listening to his talk until he spoke about the angels in our lives--both seen and unseen--and how he was assisted with dealing with his mom's passing from across the pacific. that's when i cried...along with a good number of other people in the congregation who have known ku since he was a tiny little boy and who were there last april when my sister-in-law passed away.

he's got a variation on a british accent...but he's acquired much more than that! we're grateful for his example and look forward to the coming years with him...

i like to look for rainbows, whenever there is rain...

we had our first stake child of record baptismal service this afternoon... i love these ladies! i am very grateful for the opportunity to serve with them. i know the Lord is mindful of me. i'm thankful that these ladies are a part of my life...

'cause you're his cheeseburger...his lovely cheeseburger...

~veggie tales...click on the link and check out the video if you've never heard the cheeseburger song before. it's actually an aiga tenney classic as (1) we listened to it repeatedly at our last reunion while driving from utah to california--AND BACK--yes, we had some of the 5 and under crowd in our van; and (2) the levis then brought the song to life during our family talent show. (niko's the car and byron's the cheeseburger connoiseur)...

*note: the video is not for the humoristically-challenged...

at any rate, i wanted a food-related title for this blog so i could highlight some of our favorite eating places from our two-week vacation--needless to say, we didn't have any cheeseburgers at the following family feasts:

we planned to attend the provo temple with dad while he was in town, but we misinterpreted the schedule, and the temple was still closed! we were all dressed up with nowhere else to go, so...we did what any other large polynesian family would do (with childcare still arranged for another couple of hours)--we figured we'd go out and eat instead! we ended up at one of our favorite family places...

dad, katinia, quentin, katryola, laura, kats, billy, mechelle, jake, alys, mike, anna

on yet another snowy day (we actually didn't have any other kind), we found ourselves here:

our grilled steak salad--katinia's suggestion...yum!

...and here we are on the day the snow really started coming down...it was our first time here:

kats, laura, mech, alys, jake, mike, billy

we got to go to this next restaurant two days in a row!!! one family member wanted to take us one day--then another family member wanted to take us the next day... how could we turn down an offer like that?!??

brazilian lemonade (with milk in it)

on day two of the relatively heavier snowfall, we ended up at the mall so the kids could get out and walk about. yes, it was snowing outside--but anytime is ice cream time! they weren't kidding when they advertised thick, thick shakes!!

chocolate, strawberry, and mint

we look forward to visiting these places again this summer when we go back for our next visit!!!

we are family!

in anticipation of our upcoming family reunion this summer, here are pictures of hubby & siblings--sort of in order... :) dad bill has 15 children, 44 grand-children, and 3 great-grandchildren so far ...most by birth, all by heart

samoa 2003--most of the kids & spouses

california 2006--almost everybody

looking forward to arizona 2009!

left to right: lauranntinia, katryola, mechelle, vai w/rayden, ralph, sa'ili, kathy (1), nikotemo, lynn, byron ; missing from picture: elder michael levi (pictured below)

all 8 of kathy & vai's kids together in front of the provo temple--just before elder levi left for the mtc and then the philippines:

byron, sa'ili, lauranntinia, michael, katryola, ralph, mechelle, nikotemo

william (2) lam sam tenney's gravesite...with the other williams


palota & anna

clockwise from top left:
rachel, palota, anna (3) w/dominic, marlon, kirsty, billy, nephi, jared
...there's also baby jenna, but can't seem to locate a picture of her just yet!


michael, laura, kathy, dad bill, quentin, katinia, mom ma'aola, billy, anna

asten, katinia (4), quentinia, gregson w/hudson, lewanda, quentin
...and their baby girl susana's gravesite below:



mechelle & billy

billy (5), james, eternity, mechelle, penina, little billy, selesitila, charity


michael & alyssa

lehua, alyssa, ana, michael (6), aulani


aunty peola, peterinia w/jacinta, pio, pj, falelua, laura (7), kathryn, ma'aola, dad bill
...and their oldest daughter, cynthia, now their guardian angel... (with family below):

front row:
pj, kathryn, katryola, grandma ma'aola w/lehua & liliana, ma'aola, aulani, peterinia
back row:
lauranntinia w/falelua, michael, nikotemo, mechelle, cynthia, sa'ili

ko'olina, john, kehau, welina, ailana, rommalynn, ivona (8), natahli


jilliam (9) and friend


valya, fiso (10) willanola

sefo (13), carlee and vee (11), jared

caylin
(vee & jared's baby)

moroni (12), ezra, sheridan, chandler

velma (14)

jacob (15)