Halloween 2007

We had a great Halloween! I took the kids to Hema's work in their costumes this morning. (Little Hema wishes he could go to work with his daddy every day.) My little cowboy on his horse trotted all around today. He was so pleased that he could knock on a door and say "trick or treat" and get candy! I have a feeling he isn't going to understand why it won't work tomorrow! Little Vela was the sweetest, most snuggly teddy bear ever. It was too cold to take her out trick or treating, so she & I handed out the candy.What a wonderful day!!

The kids!!

This weekend was great! Here are a few pictures of the kids from this weekend. Little Hema loves Vela so much and is constantly trying to kiss and "nuggle" her. They are the best!!!!

Peek a Boo Vela!!

We took Vela to Peek a Boo Photos to get her pictures done on Tuesday. She looked so sweet! We absolutely can't wait to get her pictures back in about 2 weeks! We also had photos taken of Little Hema and our family. We love Katie Moss!!! She is the best photographer ever!!

Vela on Sunday!

This is what our sweet little Vela wore to church for her first full Sunday. She is such an angel and was just as sweet as she looks!!

The kids this week!

Here are some pictures of our kids this week. We had Vela's first bath, a trip to the store which proved tricky in fitting the kids and purchases in the cart and a visit from Grandpa Katoa who had the flu last week and finally got to meet Vela on Sunday!

Hawkins Cousins Halloween Party

Brandon, Marilee and their kids hosted a Halloween party for the Hawkins cousins. It was so much fun to see all the kids dressed up. They had a creepy mad science lab, bobbing for apples, games and lots of yummy treats! Thanks Clarke family for the fun family night!!

More of Vela!

Happy Days!

The sweetest brother!

Our sweet little Hema is such a great brother to Vela. He loves to kiss and hold her. He gets up in the morning and comes into our room and asks to "nuggle" his sister. He is surprisingly sweet and soft with her. We are so proud of him and know they will be such great friends!

Vela 3 Days Old

The Most Amazing People!

We want to express our gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the many tender mercies he has blessed our family with. We wish to express our deepest love and respect to our birth parents for their selfless and loving choices that have brought us this beautiful baby girl. We love you! You are amazing!

Welcome Home!

Baby Vela Amelia

Here she is!! She was born this morning at 12:30 a.m.

8 lbs 2 oz and 19.5 inches long

Isn't she beautiful!!!
She will be coming home tomorrow morning.

Where is that baby????

So as you know, we are hoping to adopt a little girl right away. She is actually due today and we are dying! It is so hard to be patient when you want something so much! Please pray hard for this baby and especially for her birth mother and birth father. We love them and are so grateful for them. The next few days will be so difficult for them. Thanks for your support and prayers!!!!

Football Fanatic!

Little Hema loves football! He hasn't missed any of his uncle Sione's high school football games and loves to cheer for him. Hema can throw the football very well and we are still working on the catching. Hema has a great football stance and waits for Dad to say "Down...Set...Hut" before he takes off running or charges for a tackle. Hema loves to tackle! He wants to play "football...tackle" from the moment Dad gets home until it is time for nite-nite. He has tackled several of his friends now and has to be reigned in from time to time. Hema even likes to watch games on TV. If he see's any football on while we are surfing channels he begs for us to turn it back. Dad doesn't mind at all and Mom has been a sport through it all. Hema also found some child size football pads and helmet at Big 5 sports store while we were looking for shoes last week, unfortunately the smallest sizes were still too big. Luck thing Mom was there or little Hema would be geared for some serious tackling.

Conference at the Farm

This past Sunday our Hawkins family met together for breakfast and Conference. As tradition goes it's all about Mom's "Griddle Cakes". Mmmmm! This is the first time at the new farm house and it was awesome. The house is huge but the family is growing so fast we fill it up pretty good already. We all enjoyed the messages and the food was wonderful too. During lunch Grandma took all the grandkids out to her garden to choose a pumpkin from the patch. Some were huge and others tiny. Grandma even had to settle a dispute over a large one with the promise of the pick of the crop next year. Little Hema staked his claim quickly and ended up with an orange monster that Dad could barely manage. It is huge...well over a hundred pounds by my estimation!

Hema at the beach in Mexico

In August we went to Mexico with our Hawkins Family. This is Hema's first time to the beach and in the ocean.