Our Fun Filled Halloween!!!

We started out our day with these guys!!!

They invited us to hang out with them.....

kidding, my girls wish!

The girls have wanted to go see High School Musical 3. 

So today we headed to the District.

It was fun, the girls really enjoyed it. 

 The girls think Zac Effron is HOT!!

 A few days ago the commercial came on for 

the movie and Shanny said,

"Troy is Hot!" How funny that was coming 

out of my five year old mouth!

Ana found this poster and was trying to 

look up his nose!

This was the first time we have gone to the actual movie theatre in a long time.

We tried taking Tilisa and Shannan to the movies to see 

The Tigger Movie a few years ago.

We sat down and before the previews were over they were both ready to go.

So we have gone to the drive in for the last 3 or 4 years.

I am happy to say today we made it through the whole movie!!!

Loni and our little monkey Ana Finau!

He is such a great dad to take his girls to see the Wildcats!

The girls posing in front of the fountain.

After we got home from the movies my sister Stacy and 

my little nephew came to see us.

They had brought the girls some cute Halloween Cupcakes. 

My nephew Kamin was a skeleton or bones as he would say. 

He is such a cutie!!

This is my sister(Joe Dirt) and Kamin.

What a fun picture!

Tonight we had the kids come over for soup and bones!

The girls were going trick or treating with there cousins.

Here is Tilisa and her friend/cousin Calypso. 

They have been such great friends

since they were little babies. They have a lot of fun together!

Here is our little nephew Lutui the vampire!

What a cutie!

All the kids ready to go trick or treat. 

They came back with a whole

bucket full of candy and they were 

only gone about an hour!

We had a very fun Halloween being able to spend 

the whole day together!

We are thankful for our family 

for our nieces and nephews. 

We look forwardto the upcoming holidays 

to spend more time with our families!!

Thank You for a great Halloween.....We love you guys!

Much Love,

Trina

Trunk Or Treat!

Tonight the ward was having the Halloween trunk or treat. The girls were very excited because they have been begging to wear there costumes since we got them.

This year Tilisa was a witch, a good witch she says. Shannan was Cinderella, and Ana was Sleeping Bootie as she would say. My brother in-law took them tonight to the church, they were ready to go two hours before he came to pick them up. They couldn't wait!


Here are the girls with our niece and nephew Elenoa and Lutui.
Ana did not want to stand to close to the vampire, she thought he looked scary!!! I hope they had fun...I won't find out until the morning when I get home from work!

Happy Halloween!!!!
Trina

Mmmmm.....Turkey!

Sorry I could not resist. I love Thanksgiving not for the food but the memories I have. I will post more on Thanksgiving later, after we get past Halloween. I came across this picture as I was looking for cute place setting idea. I thought it was cute!

Lost In Translation!

So tonight me and the girls are sitting down to have FHE. Loni is now working the swing shift, so it was just me and the girls. So I was talking to the girls the importance of always telling the truth. I am giving them different scenarios, and then I thought of coarse the boy who cried wolf! So I start telling them the story realising I have no idea what I am talking about, I forgot the story!

So I am telling them of the boy sitting on the hill top and crying wolf, I told them the boy ended up getting eaten by the wolf! LOL! Well by this time my girls eyes were as big as baseballs. We opened it up for conversation and Tilisa and Shanny were asking tons of questions. I look at Ana and she is not saying anything which is odd for her, but you could see the wheels just turning. So finally we get done say our prayers and they were getting tucked in bed and Ana finally said, "Mom, wolves don't eat boys they eat big snakes!" I was laughing my guts out but I felt dumb because I forgot the story so of coarse I turned to google! This is the story just in case you have forgotten.

There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!"The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces."Don't cry 'wolf', shepherd boy," said the villagers, "when there's no wolf!" They went grumbling back down the hill.Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!" To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the wolf away.When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there is NO wolf!"But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more.Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!"But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come.At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him weeping."There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, "Wolf!" Why didn't you come?"An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village."We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," he said, putting his arm around the youth, "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!"
By this time I am like oh my goodness. So I walked into the girls room and told them to come in on my bed so I could tell them the real story!
I read them the story and Ana said, "see Mom I told you he didn't eat the boy!" Isn't she just a little smarty pants!
I just love my girls, I love them and all the sweet things they do and say!
Until next time.....make each day a good one!

Trina

I feel my Saviors Love...

All this week my heart has been so full that I felt I needed to write about what I am feeling. I wanted to share the love that I have for my Savior, Jesus Christ.
As a child and through my teenage years I always felt close to my Savior. I had no problems saying my prayers, reading my scriptures, bearing my testimony to others. I always had His spirit with me, I didn't feel like I ever had to ask, He was just always there with me. I never found myself in a situation that I could not handle. I never felt pressure to smoke or drink or to do things that I knew where wrong. I remember serving on the youth counsel of my stake and going to the different wards and bearing my testimony to the youth and knowing without a doubt everything I had said was true.....

Then one day I woke up and it was gone. I am not sure how it all happened, I just know that I could beg for the Spirit and still I could not feel the light of Christ in me. I felt like at this time in my life when I am suppose to raise my children and have the Spirit in our home I was coming up empty. I have felt many times that I was at the mercy of Him wanting things to be back the way they use to be. Many times crying just wanting Him to hear me......Heavenly Father are you really there?

I now can honestly say He is really there, I know he has heard each and everyone of my prayers. After ten years of struggling with my testimony and wondering of my self worth, I know He does hear me. I know that for every day for the past ten years He has been carrying me every step of the way. It's like in the poem Footprints in the sand.
My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you,During your times of trial and suffering,when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

I do know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ. I know that I am a daughter of God. I know that one day I will return to be with Him again. I am thankful for the past ten years that have made me a stronger person. I am sorry for the people that I have hurt along the way. I am thankful for my family that have stuck by my side and made me see that this brighter day was coming. I am thankful for my Heavenly father giving me my husband and my three girls that I need more than

anything else this life has to offer.

I will leave you with the words to one of my favorite songs,

that has helped me through many dark days.

Hold On, The light Will Come.
The message of this moment is so clear,

And as certain as the rising of the sun; If your world is filled with darkness, doubt and fear,

Just hold on, hold on, the light will come.

Everyone who's ever tried and failed.

Stands much taller when the victory's won.

And those who've been in darkness for a while,

Kneel much longer when the light has come.

It's a lesson everyone of us must learn;

That the answers never come without a fight.

And when it seems you've struggled far too long,

Just hold on, hold on there will be light.

Hold on, hold on; the light will come.

If you feel trapped inside a never ending night,

If you've forgotten how it feels to feel the light,

If you're half crazy thinking you're the only one

who's afraid the light will never really come,

Just hold on, hold on the light will come.

The message of this moment is so clear,

And as certain as the rising of the sun;

If your world is filled with darkness, doubt and fear,

Just hold on, hold on the light will come.

Thank you for listening, I wanted to shout from the roof tops,

I do feel my Saviors Love.

Trina

What do you do when you can't sleep?

Well here it is almost 4:00 am and I can't sleep. I have actually been awake since 12:47 am, but hey who is keeping track. My darling sister Andrea wanted the girls for a sleep over tonight. I think it's our first official night without the girls in a very long time. Maybe the house is to quiet, or maybe I am just use to checking on them a couple times a night....

whatever it is I can't sleep!

I know I am crazy, I should enjoy the peace while it lasts!

So here is to my cute babies that my thoughts of them are keeping me up tonight. So while I am up I thought I would post a few pictures for the week.

We went to Vegas this last weekend. We thought we would get a nice warm weekend, wrong.

It was cold. We went down to celebrate Shanny and our niece Daphne's birthday.

All Shanny wanted to do was swim. So we took them to the pool and let's just say it was a very quick dip in the pool!

Here is a picture of our little nephew Sinipata. I love him so much, don't you just want to pinch those cheeks!

This picture was actually from the last time we were in Vegas. As you can 

tell it's hard to get this rowdy bunch to take a group photo! Oh well we tried!

Here is one of our Sunday pictures. Sometimes I feel like Sunday is the only day we all look half way decent so we better get a picture while we can. Otherwise our posterity might think we were a bunch of hooligans! This picture says it all...can you tell who the trouble maker is?

I found this little project off another blog last year and I have loved this saying since I saw it in the Quilted Bear a few years ago with my mom. I love the fall. I love the the weather, I love the smells especially my pumpkin spice candle. I love being able to put all my warm blankets back on my bed and drinking cocoa to get warm.

I love the way these signs turned out.

The girls I made them for absolutely loved the way they turned out.

Thank you Heather for your creative ideas!

I love the saying because it applies from September to November!

Happy Fall-idays!!!

A few weeks ago we went to the zoo. It was actually Shanny and Ana's first time to the zoo.

They loved it. They took a ride on the carousel!

Here is Tilisa on her zebra.

Shanny standing by the snake. Can you tell by the picture she was scared to death, but still kept smiling! LOL! Oh my little Shanny!

Here are the three of them. They enjoyed the zoo very much. We wish there was more animals out that day. We didn't get to see the tigers or even many monkeys. But I am glad we got to enjoy the day together!

Happy Anniversary!!!

I just want to tell my Honey Bunny

Happy 8th Anniversary!

We were married on October 12th, 2000.

He truly is the love of my life. I am so thankful for him,

for the man that he is.

He is a remarkable husband and daddy!

Thank you for making these last eight years wonderful.

You have stuck by my side and helped me through

trials I thought would never end.

You have been my light,

my knight in shining armor!

We have made three of the greatest girls on this earth.

I love seeing you hug them and hold them.

They love you so much!

Shannan last week said, "my dad is a professional fixer."

When I asked what she was talking about

she said, "Daddy can fix anything."

I am thankful that you have instilled in them not to

give up and that anything is possible!

I look forward to the day that we can go to the

temple and be sealed as an eternal family.

I love you, thank you for all that you are!

Love You Always,

Trina

Pearly Gates!

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenck's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."
-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Thankful Thursday My Little Shanny

Happy Birthday Shannan!!! Tuesday Shannan turned five. I cannot believe how time has flown by. Shannan was born October 7, 2003. That was actually my due date because my doctor did not want me to go over like I did with Tilisa. I had to get started with all three of my girls so we checked into the hospital early morning about 4:00am. They got me started on the potussin(I hope that is right) right away. With Tilisa I had so much pain so I had begged my doctor not to make me feel anything. As the contractions got stronger and stronger my doc ordered my epidural and then I was in Heaven from then on. I did not feel anything compared to Tilisa. They actually had to tell me when I was having a contraction. Oh it was Awesome. As i was in labor Tilisa was in there the whole time mostly up my head, but at one point she went down by the doctor and she came back up and said, "Mommy what happen to your butt?" We all had to laugh. The rest of the time she kept wiping my head and rubbing my arm saying you can do it mom. She was ready for his little sister. At the end my doctor held up the placenta and Tilisa asked my dad what the doctor was cooking. I guess she thought it looked like a piece of meat!

Shanny was born at 4:48 pm and weighed 7lbs 4 oz and was 19 inches long. She had beautiful brown eyes and dark brown hair.  I could not believe that I had another baby girl. I was in love!

Here are a few random pictures of my little Shanny.

Shanny and Ana just waking up. Shanny is always so happy in the morning!

I have always loved her brown eyes. They are so expressive.

You know whether she is happy or sad just by her eyes! 

Shanny and Tilisa ready for church!

My little family and there strawberry shortcake glasses.

This a picture from Shannan's blessing day.

Me, My grandpa Powell, Shanny and my Mom Shannan.

My cute Shanny, Oh how I love her.

Playing in the back yard. 

Shannan always loves singing and playing the keyboard. 

This is her singing her little heart out!

Making goofy faces because she did not want to smile!

She still is cute!

This is after she got into the water colors!

She loves to paint, hey I am sure Picasso looked like this some days!

I am so thankful for My little Shannan. She brings so much joy into my life. It seems at those times when I wonder to myself if I am a good mom or doing everything that I can to make my kids happy and bring them up right. My Shanny always comes and gives me a hug and tells me she loves me. Shannan was obviously named after my mom. While I was still pregnant Loni had asked if we could name her after my mom. I am so grateful that I did because she reminds me so much of my mom. She can always make me laugh and she has the biggest heart of any little girl I have ever known. She brings so much happiness into our home. I am so thankful that my Heavenly Father gave her to me, I would be lost without her. I look forward to seeing her continue to grow and to see the person she will become. 

Shannan I love you so much! I hope you had a Happy Birthday!

You are one of my priceless treasures. 

I love you, I love you, I love you.

You will always be my little Shanny Wanny.

I am thankful that I am your Mommy!

Love Always,

Mom