Happenings in the Latu Family

October was a busy month for many of the Latu children and their children...

October 14th little Miss Kristine Lavani Kaleipe'epoli Nau was born in Tonga to Sione's youngest sister Kahealani .

October 30th little Miss Mele Lineti Ku'uleimomi Moala was born in San Francisco to his middle sister Johnalene.

All babies and moms are doing well and those little girls are knock outs. Sooo cute!

Nanasi, daughter to Harvalene, Sione's oldest sister, graduated from High School the end of October. She had third highest grades in her class, little smarty!! Makes me wonder what she will end up doing with all of those"smarts".

on left with head held high

Cheese!!! Such a pretty smile.

Nanasi left and her proud momma Harvalene in the middle

Disneyland

After our day at California Adventure we slide on over to Disneyland for the day. I can't even put into words how Disney at Halloween time makes me feel inside, they do such an amazing job.
(as I sing) Loooove it!

We made the mistake of letting LaRee pick out her own ears - what a girlie girl! Look at that smile on her face, makes me think I'd do it again.

Lots of rides makes for one tired girl.

A sign of caution : little shifty eyes
I found it very cute that Tinkerbell and Whats-his-face wondered if LaRee's voice had been lost and that they wished her luck in finding it.

The icing on the cake: The Haunted Mansion

I love the things that make our girl, our girl, like throwing her blanket on her head as she falls asleep. Silly yet priceless to the parents that think the sun rises and sets with this little girl.

California Adventure

This is going to sound corny, but the Disney Parks hold a special place in our families hearts. We have made some real special memories there and this trip was no different. It just keeps getting better with time.

Some of our most memorable things this trip were:

• The Pixar Play Parade - they have got it going on, too cool!
• Bumper Cars - LaRee was having a, "I want to do it myself" moment, so the whole ride was with the wheel turned all the way to the right as we went around and round in circles.
• Mommy loves the caterpillar train ride because of all the over sized food (so sad) and the smell of animal crackers that wafts through the air.
• LaRee had been chatting about Snow White for forever and we saw her and she posed for a picture with us.
  
• LaRee remembered a few things from the last time we went (a year ago). Amazing!

Ya gotta love and mom and dad that are willing to look like a couple of goofs for their kiddo.

Note how happy LaRee is and how over it I was.

My two loves...awwww!

If your dad has to hold you up from falling over, you have gotten your moneys worth on that ride.

Family Vacation

Sione had vacation coming up Mid October and we chose to spend the first part in San Francisco since his dad was visiting from Tonga. We always try to see him while he is in the states. Days before we go LaRee starts, my cousins this and my cousins that. I am so grateful that they love each other so much, at least for the first day and a half, then someone tells on someone else and they decide that this is more fun then hugging and sharing.

Susana doing LaRee's hair and below is the better side of the final product.

I lucked out in the In-laws department, they are good, good people. Happy and humble and a joy to be around. I love every chance LaRee gets to spend with them and myself for that matter.
I have such happy memories of all my grandparents, I want that for LaRee as well.

Monday night we had family Home Evening with Rice Krispies as a treat (big hit) and since it was close to Halloween everyone got a pair of vampire teeth. mwahhhhhahaha!

My Fearless Girl

My neighbors friend stopped by with his motorcycle and I thought my girl was going to loose it with excitement.



What a natural.

LAX - End of the Road

True Friends through and through!!

While in Indio, Grandma Jackie was on a road trip of her own. Luckily we were able to fly back to Texas through LAX giving us a night spent at Julie's house (Becky's sister) where we saw Grandma Jackie and (drum roll, please) Julie's two boys, one of which is 6 months older then LaRee, that really does equal FUN. We were there less then 24 hours and we packed something into every waking minute.

We...

1. Went to the park to eat dinner and play, play, play!
   
2. Had "serve up your own" Frozen Yogurt at a she she shop with hot pink and neon green spoons. FABULOUS!
   
3. Played pirates, cowboys, fireman, tea party and watched "DinoTrain"
4. Ate the best homemade waffles in the world w/ fresh strawberries
5. Dug in the dirt n played house.

Good times!

Tea Set gift from Grandma Jackie - We played tea party most of the plane ride home. Thank you Grandma Jackie. We love it!

My hearts desire is that I can take this same picture, again, 14 years from now.
Wouldn't that be fun.

A Little Paradise in the Desert

Mz. Becky Jean the dancing queen came to San Diego, picked us up and drove us to the desert to Grandma Jackie's house, which to LaRee is as fun as any old amusement park. I have lived on and off with Becky for 15 years with makes me miss her terribly so it was nice to be back together cooking, chatting and trying on clothes like we were school girls again.

Cool things found at Grandma Jackie's house

• Bree, the fun loving pug
• A motorized car
• Sandbox
• Pirate ship pool
• A room full of toys
• A zebra backpack, which is now at our house.

This may look like a bunch of hair, but really, it's LaRee loven on Bree

Feeding the dog. Wish LaRee was equally excited about other types of chores.

Sunday morning while I was taking a shower LaRee had let out Bree and herself to a play in the sand.
and again after church

We decided pedicures would be a fun "girlie" thing to do and that proved to be true. LaRee got her fingers and toes painted. We walked in, picked colors and before I knew it, they had whisked LaRee away. For awhile all we could see was a smidgen of her hair sticking up over the chair and all of the sudden you see her little hand pop out and rest in front of the fan. It was the funniest thing. We could finally see her when they started on her toes and the whole time she had her business face on but the minute they were done her vain side kicked in and it was a lot of hand and foot modeling.