Oh Happy Day!!!

I am feeling extra happy today! Here are a few reasons why:

• I got the giveaway prize mailed out to Julie. They said it would be there by Monday!
• I booked my tickets to see Lion King at Capital Theatre in September. If you are interested in getting tickets before they go on sale to the public, HERE is the link with the code you need. We are taking Little Hema. I can't wait!!
• I haven't finished organizing the whole house, but I am loving what I've done so far. Especially the kitchen! I am also loving my menus being done for the next 5 weeks!!
• My sister Jessica is being induced tomorrow morning! Yeah for another nephew!!
• Vela has been such a cuddle bug lately. She just keeps coming over and giving me big hugs and kisses. She is so sweet! I can't get enough of her.
• Hema was the spotlight this week at preschool and he had so much fun. He loved his poster and wanted me to hang it on the kitchen wall today after school. He keeps telling me, "Thanks for making my poster mom, and for having 3 different batman pictures on it!" He is is getting so big.
• I made my sweet hubby a candy bar poster today. You know the kind you probably made for your boyfriend in jr high - I didn't have a boyfriend in jr high. I was a foot taller than all the boys in jr high. In fact, I was taller than most of my teachers in jr high - but that's another story. Hema has really missed having sweets around. Since I don't eat candy, I don't buy it. I thought it would be a fun surprise for him. He'll probably laugh at me - but I know he'll love the candy!
• I had a great phone conversation today with our friend Margaret.
• My new kitchen table came yesterday. The old one was still sturdy - although it was very ugly. I just couldn't justify buying a new one when mine still worked just fine. But I got such a screaming deal on the new one ($89) I couldn't resist saying bye bye to the old fake wood topped one that I bought used at a garage sale over 14 years ago.

Well there you have it! I am a happy girl - just pretty content in life right now. And now I am off to organize all the videos, dvds and other tv junk before Vela gets up from her nap.

We have a winner!!

I used random.org to choose a winner of the giveaway.

It chose number 1!! My cute cousin Julie!

(If I was computer savy, I would somehow copy and paste the page showing the number it chose - but I'm not so you'll just have to trust me.)

Congrats Julie! I will package it up and ship it out to you on Thursday! Hope you enjoy it! Thanks everyone for playing.

A Giveway & a Long Overdue Shout out to Ginnie J

Last fall I was reading nobiggie.net and really liked the pictures that Ginnie J took of Kami's family. She is very talented. There was a contest to win a free photo shoot and so I entered, thinking man it would be great to get our annual family pictures for free. And then I won. We took the pictures on a freezing cold day in late November. I liked Ginnie right off. She is adorable - so very funny. In fact you should totally check out her non photography blog too (there's a link on the photography blog at the top). She has a sense of humor that kills me! Anyway, I got the pictures back in December and hurried and sent out Christmas cards and printed some to hang in my house. They really are great. And then I was really lame. I never even posted a shout out to her. Sorry Ginnie! We love, love, love the pictures and think you are amazing! Thanks for making us look good!

Because I so loved winning something, I thought I'd pass the favor along to someone else. Of course it won't be an awesome photo shoot - but I hope it will be fun anyway. So here's the deal.

• I will post some of her pictures on here. You leave a comment of which you like the best and you are entered in the drawing for the giveaway.
• If you go to her website ginniejphotography.com and check out her cool pictures and leave her a comment and then leave me another saying you did that, you'll get a second entry.
• And just for fun if you want a third entry, go to nobiggie.net and leave a comment and then come back and comment again here. After all, I would never have won if I didn't read Kami's awesome blog!

Okay - now I am sure you are wondering what you can win. Last night as I shoved another bag into this in my pantry, I remembered that my cute sister in law Laura had made a sweet little bag holder a while back that I liked. So I skimmed a bunch of how-to blogs and pulled out some fabric that I had and made this: Much cuter than the Old Navy bag right? While I was at it, I made a second one for the giveaway. Only it is even cuter with thick ric rac instead of the red ribbon. Also included in the giveaway: This cute paper star lantern in red, a frame and a Phase 10 Dice game. Contest ends Monday January 25th at midnight. Okay, good luck!!

Sorry I Skipped the Tutu

My husband kindly brought to my attention last night that I didn't post the picture of Vela's new swimsuit with the tutu. I don't know about you. but I hate trying to add a photo towards the bottom of a post with lots of pictures. Sometimes they pictures will switch places so easily, sometimes I just sit here trying and get mad. Today, I decided I'll just do a little nothing post with the picture I missed. Enjoy!

Catching Up!

I decided I'd do one of my long posts rather than the mini ones I had thought of earlier. Might as well get caught up tonight. Here I go!

We had a great Christmas. One of the main reasons that I didn't post anything is because I hate to waste time on the computer when Hema is home. I usually post when Little Hema is at preschool and Vela is napping for when the kids are in bed and Hema is working late. I love that my hubby gets 2 weeks off for Christmas and with him home and most of my family in town, I didn't want to spend my free time on the computer.
Anyhow, here are some of the fun things we did over Christmas break.
The kids made build a bears for their birth families. Hema made a snow leopard for Katie and Vela made a cute black dog for Chelise and Leiana. The kids also made an animal for themselves. Hema chose a matching snow leopard to keep and Vela of course chose George - a monkey. She is pretty obsessed with all things monkey since she loves Curious George.
Hema got to see Katie and give her her Christmas gifts. It is always fun to be with Katie. We went to Iggy's and watched the end of the Utah bowl game. Katie is doing great and we just love her so much and are so grateful that she is willing to continue to share her life with us and more importantly with Little Hema! Vela's sweet birth momma Chelise is living in Vegas now so we just mailed the Christmas presents to her and Leiana (Vela's sister). We sure do love them too and are excited for her to move back in the next month or so so we can see them again.
We also had our Tongan branch Christmas party. It was really fun with dinner, Santa and a dance. Tina came and brought Joe and Ava and the Ahotaeiloas also came. We hadn't seen them for a while and it was really fun to catch up with them and see their cute kids. We keep trying to convince them to come out to our Tongan ward since they are in our boundaries. No luck so far!
We slept over at my parents on Christmas Eve like we usually do. Christmas Eve was so much fun. We had everyone there except Jessica and Marilee and their families. Jess couldn't come out because she is due to have another sweet baby boy in a about 10 days. Marilee and her family came a couple days after Christmas. It was fun to see the grand kids playing and having a great time. They really get along great and hardly fight at all. It was especially nice to see Porter and little Hema playing so well together. All of the grand kids love the new slippers they get from Grandma and Grandpa each Christmas. My mom also gave each of us a copy of the poetry she has written. She is so talented!
Here are the kids presents waiting to be opened. Little Hema loves his Leapster. This new boggle game has been such a hit. (No little pieces to lose!) Vela loved her presents, but pretty much wanted to mostly play with anything Hema had. They were really excited about the capes I made and have been wearing them around a lot. They also loved the new fishing poles they got from their dad. (Since Vela threw both her pole and Little Hema's in the lake last year). Why don't kids fishing poles float??Christmas Day we have a lot of fun at the Katoas. But honestly, we didn't take any pictures. Oh well. Hema's siblings who are single always spoil the kids rotten. I swear they got as many gifts from them as they did from us. They are too generous with our kids! Thanks guys!
We went swimming on a couple days after Christmas. This is Vela's new suit. Not a great picture, but how cute is the tutu on her?!?!
My niece Brynlee was in town for her 1st birthday and we got to go to her party. The kids loves the party hats.Our annual New Years Party was a lot more mellow than usual. My parents left early to check on grandpa. I took this picture around 10:00 - right before most everyone else went home. Which was fine because we were all pretty tired.On New Years Day we get together with the Katoa family. It is so much fun. I really couldn't have married into a nicer family. They are so loving and great. We sure do have fun together.Aunt Lote is always so great to play games with the kids and keep them busy.
I LOVE this picture of some of the little girls trying to be quiet and looking so bored listening to the grandpas talk.
Then my momma had a birthday on the 4th. We took her to eat a a Thai restaurant she loves. They food was good and we had a great time - even though Hema choked on a spring roll at the very end and vomited a ton. Sorry mom and sorry to the waiter who had to clean that up. Welcome to my life with a kid who is a serious barfer!
Here is a picture of Little Hema making pizza Hawkins style. The sauce goes on at the very end on top of all the rest of the toppings. Delicious!
Here's a group shot of my Primary kids the night of our stake dance.These are the couples that did the samba. Check out the ties and skirts we made.

Sort of blurry I know. The kids with my parents that night.Wow! I guess that pretty much covers it. I am now officially caught up on blogging. And to think that took less time than it is taking Hema to replace the garbage disposal. For some reason it broke last night. The garage door opener broke last week. I guess lot of things in houses last about 10 years since we moved in here 10 years ago in December.

So I fell off the Face of the Blogging World

Well, at least that's what it feels like. I haven't blogged in over a month. Yes, Hema even got sick of not seeing updates and wrote the last 3 posts. I guess I was just waiting for life to slow down a little - but realized this week as Hema was called as Young Men's President that it probably never will - so I better get back at it before I fall further behind. My goal is to post a bunch of little mini catch ups post as I go. Nothing overwhelming! We've been busy so there may be a bunch - feel free to skim through or even skip what you wish!

I have been busily sticking to my New Years Resolutions. I know for a lot of people New Years Resolutions are just little nagging goals that they hope to stick to for a few weeks or even a few months. But not for me. Several years ago I decided that I would no longer set goals that were vague or extreme or unlikely to be done. Really, why waste the effort. Now I take some time and seriously think through what specific things I really believe I can do for at least the whole year and only then do I resolve to do it. I don't set a bunch of goals. Just a few. Last year I resolved to eat no candy. Not even one tiny little sugar free life saver. I haven't eaten a single piece of candy since December of 2008. I decided to continue that one through this year too. I added another goal for better eating this year too. Something that a friend did last year. No fast food for me in 2010. I have to admit the only food I have been tempted by was Chickf-fil-a. But like I said - I don't make the goal unless I plan to keep it.

I set 2 other goals: To write in my journal weekly and to take a class on organization and use it to better organize and de-clutter my house. (I actually tried to set another goal: to adopt baby this year - but Hema talked me out of actually setting it as a goal since we really don't have control over getting a baby! But I am secretly still hoping to have that one happen this year!!!) The journal writing is going okay. I have to admit that I think some entries may be really short - but I guess that is better than nothing right? As far as the organization - I am loving that one! I am taking the House of Order classes that Marie Ricks teaches. Man are they good. I leave feeling empowered and with specific assignments of what to do and how to do it. Part of why I wanted to take the class is because often I found myself trying to organize stuff, but really I mostly seemed to just move my clutter from one place to another. I can finally say that there are a few specific parts of my house that I think are really organized! (By the way, we aren't talking about cleaning - I think my house has always been pretty clean. This is mostly about what is in what closet and drawer and room and so on.) Here is what I have done so far:

• Organized the laundry room.
• Hung hooks for the coats and bags by the back door.
• Cleaned out and organized the pantry.
• Put up shelves in the coat closet and organized all the games, kids games, puzzles, art stuff, and craft stuff in there. It is such a better use of the space than the few coats we stored in there!
• Cleaned out my side of the master closet (Hema's will be done tomorrow).
• Cleaned out most of the cupboards in the kitchen.
• Organized all of my recipes in a binder. Got rid of the old recipe box, about a hundred random papers with recipes on them and 18 cookbooks that I never used.
• Set up an office to store my binders, sort mail, and organize that part of life.
• Made my house cleaning box. A little box that helps keep all of the big and less frequently done cleaning jobs organized and done regularly.
• Started to organize the toy room. This one still needs some serious work - but needs to be finished when the kids are gone. Every old or broken toy I pull out to get rid of is suddenly their new favorite toy ever!

That was all from week one!! No wonder I haven't had time to blog! ;) I have gotten rid of so much stuff. It is amazing how much stuff I have accumulated over the past 10+ years in this house that I really don't need, want or use. My in-laws have appreciated the items we've passed along, I have sold stuff online, Taken stuff to DI and even traded some old dishes for a new scout shirt for my hubby (since he now needs a scout shirt). Pretty cool huh?? I'd post some before and after pictures, but honestly I don't want you to see how disorganized some of these areas were to start with!

Up this week: The rest of the kitchen cabinets and drawers, Hema's side of the closet and the filing cabinets!!! Hooray for New Years Resolutions!!!

Stake Primary Dance Performance

Hello everyone! Becky has been so busy she hasn't been able to update our blog for some time now. I thought I would do the honors this time around.
It has been about 6 months since our family moved to the Tongan Branch in Lehi. Last week our little branch was made a Ward. What a great day!

In the short time we have been in the Tongan ward we have been to more dances than we have ever been to in the 12 years of our marriage. Our kids love to dance.

The Primary kids were assigned to participate in the Stake activities leading up to our Stake conference this weekend. The primary from each ward in the stake presented a dance, skit or song for the entire stake. Becky, her counselors, and the primary leaders have worked tirelessly to prepare our children for the program. Of course the primary program was presented during...you guessed it...a stake dance! The kids worked really hard and it showed. They did awesome!

I tried to upload the video, but I guess it was too long and wouldn't upload. But it was great!

One of Becky's counselors chose the Samba and Capoeira for the performance. Becky loved it because she served her mission in Brazil. The primary kids had so much fun and the crowd really loved it! Little Hema was one of the Capoeira kids doing cartwheels in the middle of the circle. Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins came to support Becky and Hema. Thank you for coming.

A Wonderful Holiday

Happy New Years everyone! Our family had a wonderful Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with the Hawkins and Christmas day with the Katoa's. We love spending time with our families! The kids loved their roles in the Hawkins family "Nativity". This year little Hema was a shepard and little Vela was a cow.

Vela really enjoyed this chocolate cake at the Katoa family New Year party.

We wish all of you a wonderful 2010!