Tis the Season....

So the season is offically upon us. Where do I start is always the question. Robert has done is part and our tree is up. I've begun my online shopping and so soon packages will be arriving. Both girls are home so it will be a bit tricky. Danielle has moved home and started a new job. Dayna has been home for the past couple of months preparing for her LSAT test. She will be moving back to Utah after Christmas.

Thanksgiving 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

Chocolate Raspberry Almond Cups - 150 made check

Potato Salad for 50 - check

4 pumpkin pies - check

Ham - Check (to go with the 4 turkeys someone else is bringing and the pork Chris is cooking)

Vegetable platter - check

Broccoli Cheese casserole - check

Bingo game - check

Bingo prizes - check :)

Thanksgiving

Wow can you believe it its Thanksgiving time already. I'm really excited about Thanksgiving this year because we are having a Barber Thanksgiving this year. All my cousins on my moms side of the family are attempting to gather and its really exciting. I'm not sure how many will actually make it but its a start. This will be the first time in over 25 years we are making an attempt to all get together. Sad though that all of our parents my mother and all of her siblings (but Aunt Cathy and Uncle Fred) are gone. So it will be kids gathering. I know our parents would have gotten such a kick out of this gathering. We (cousins) all have such fond memories of our childhood and all the fun we had as kids gathering for the holidays.

My grandmother Jane Barber was a true matriarch of the family. She made sure all of her sons and their families were together during the holidays it also helped that Grandmas birthday was near the Thanksgiving holiday so all were sure to gather.

I'm working on a special surprise to share with everyone and hopefully I can get my little project completed in time. It should be fun.

Twitter...hmm

I can't believe its been so long since I've blogged. Well yes I can so much going on. Work has become work. Yes more and more involvement. My work hours are increasing and I'm loosing more and more sleep. But that's another subject for another day.

OK so I've been thinking about this whole twitter thing. I was talking with my cousin Phyllis whom I love and adore and she was telling me that she was twitting. I thought wow if she can do it I certainly can but then really do i have anything to say that worth saying. Hmm

So I started looking up the twitter resources here is a good one:

Twictionary - twictionary.pbworks.com - get the scoop on all the twitter lingo from attwarction to typos.

I'll think about this for the next couple of weeks. Short to the point messages with 140 or less characters. hmm I've seen that commercial on TV with the parent that twitters and the kids complain about they know he's on the patio. Hope I don't end up like that. I'll have to give it much more thought.

Oh I googled my kids and guess what Dayna's twitter came up. I had no idea she was twittering but then again why wouldn't she.

Our trip to Auckland NZ August 2009

Girls home for the weekend

The girls were home for the weekend. How very exciting. Dayna is home to have surgery for an accident she had skateboarding in Utah. It is an out patient surgery to have pins put into her finger were she split the bone. The pictures are of the girls going to the OC Fair. We look forward to the fair every year because of all the fair food. YUM.

Happy 4th of July 2009

I made cupcakes for dessert to celebrate the 4th of July - they were so festive. We are BBQing with our friends the Manua's. Lots of good food.

A Happy Birthday indeed!

Had a great birthday this year. Spent the day with Robert. Went to the movies and saw Angels and Demons. Had dinner with girlfriends (Ruth, Phyllis and Funa) and ended the night with Ruth's Awesome trifle. First text of the day came from my brother which was really great followed by so many birthday text and messages on Facebook. The flowers above came from my friends at work. I am truly blessed to have a great family and awesome friends. Thanks everyone!

Dayna's graduation U of U 2009

Dayna is graduating this Friday from the University of Utah. She is an amazing girl. We are so proud of her because not only is she graduating but she did it in three years!

And did I mention she is a double major. Her majors are Interpersonal Communication, Speech Comm (The study of relationships and the study of speech patterns) and Sociology, with an emphasis in Criminology (ths study of culture and the study of criminals)

She will be taking her LSAT this fall and enter Law School the falling fall. All this and she is only 20. We are so proud of her.

Dayna's graduating and the Lei's have begun to arrive

Dayna is graduating on Friday from University of Utah. This package just arrived for her. My dear sweet cousin Phyllis made this and sent it for Dayna. I don't know if you can tell but it's a dollar lei made of $1 bills. This type of lei is very time consuming and very expensive to make. They typically use 100 one dollar bills. WOW that's a lot of loving there. :) Isn't it just amazing.

I had called Phyllis to ask her how to make one and she never did tell me well now I know why.

Too funny!

Ok So i'm sick today and stayed home from church because i did not feel well. So most of my day was spend catching up on sleep and working on my computer. I'm sitting here minding my own business while my mother inlaw is chatting away on the phone in the living room. I can't help but over hear her as she has a tendancy to speak very loudly on the phone. Kinda funny cause Robert and his dad have both asked her to go to her room because she does talk very loudly. At this time everyone has gone to another room as to not have to listen to her. So ok here is the funny part.

Her phone call dropped because she is on a cell phone. So after 10 minutes of her yelling HELLO, HELLO she starts talking to herself about "communication these days, they are listening in and recording". Finanlly the party she was speaking to rings back and she then spends the next 1/2 hour convincing the person that "she knows that all communication is recorded" and that is what causes the phone line to go down cause they are changing the tapes or something. I tell you I couldn't stop laughing I almost had to get up and walk away. Of all ths strange things I've heard from this women this one takes the cake. She really believes that "that communication these days is bad on these phones" But intereting enough it dosn't stop her from making her 20+ rounds of phone calls she makes daily . It totally cracks me up. Apparently the person she was talking with had enough of the conversation and continued to hang up but again maybe it was the government changing tapes during her conversations.....LOL

Easter Bunny Cake

I made this cake for YW's tonight. I don't think it came out very good. I've done better so I might just keep it at home or give it to one of our friends. Not sure. Oh well. Just thought I would show you what I did today besides work :) . Actually Robert helped me he frosted the cake and Eddie separated the M&M's.

Conference

Yesterday Robert and I sat in front of the computer and listened to Saturday Conference. I missed most of it but caught President Eyrings talk. His topic was living through adversity and being prepared for things. He talked about a family who's father he had spoken to recently had lost his job and yet he was not down when asked how he could be so cheerful he replied he had done all he could to prepare. His wife replied "we are full tithe payers, we will be fine".

This made me think a lot about where Robert and I are and "are we prepared"? I keep meaning to start our food supply and keep putting it off. I am going to make this a priority. But what really caught my attention with his talk is how we should look at things differently and know that we've done all we can and leave the rest to the lord.

This made me think a lot about Roberts parents being here with us and after the talk I realized this is where they should be for many reasons. I have many things I will work on and I will improve upon but mostly I will be prepared. I am thankful I have a home to share. I am thankful that Robert and I are able to help support family members if nothing else at least in spirit. I am thankful we are active members of the church and full tithe payers. I am thankful we are able to accept callings and do our best in serving the lord.

Being prepared...... wheres some paper I need to make a list....LOL

My world is changed forever

My world is changed forever. This past week my in-laws moved in. I have a lot of feelings/ emotions about this and am having a hard time coming to grips with this. My world is changed forever.

My husband and I come from very different backgrounds. The way our parents raised us is very different and their ideas of our roles in life are very different. My dad told me when he found out I was marrying a Samoan - Your life will be very different. It will not be yours. There are so many truths to this simple but short statement. My world is changed forever

Although I was never actually told they were moving in until the day before I knew it was coming. I found it very strange that it was a topic that was discussed but never discussed with me. I think that everyone knew that if I knew ahead of time things might be very different. I love my husband very much and feel terrible for the place he must be but My world is changed forever.

My home is more then just a home. Its something I worked hard for, something I've taken great pride in, something I've sacrificed for. It is a place I made sure my daughters would be free to come and go and feel good as though this is their home and a place they will always have. My world is changed forever.

Its Sunday morning and we are getting ready for church. Robert is giving our combined YM & YW lesson. He's giving it via power point and so i'm excited for him because he just learned how to use power point over the weekend. He always gives great lessons I think a lot of it is because he served a mission and he knows the scriptures very welll. Anyways the picture above is of the Tokoyo Temple. Robert and I attended a sunday meeting when we where there with my brother and dad on one of our trips. It was awesome. It took us several train transfers and a good mile or two walk but definately worth the effort. I was thinking today about that meeting and how although we didn't really understand the language the spirit was there. It was a really good feeling to sit in with the ward and know that no matter where you go in the world you can find a church house and take the sacrament. I'm so thankful that my family is active and seeks to take the sacrament every sunday.

Great Grand Father Kenison

This is a picture of my Great Grand Father Fredrick Kenison burial plot in Laie Hawaii. Jennifer was just there attending another family member funeral and took this picture. I'm amazed it is still standing. I wonder if someone over the years has redone the stone? Maybe not.

Publish Post

Things I like to do

So I was thinking about things I like to do and realized I spent alot of time doing things I don't really like to do but they are a part of my life. Like I really don't like to cook for big groups of people but lately with my church calling (YW'S) it seems we do a very lot of this. I don't like being away from my family. Currently I'm flying out every Monday to go to work and return home every Friday anyways you get the picture the list goes on and on. So today I'm wriing about something I like to do but don't get to do but once a year.

I absolutely love going to Broadway Plays. When I was sixteen I went to my first play and fell in love with it. Evita. Next I saw Phantom of the Opera. Cats was next I will have to admit I didn't care for this one. I would have to say that I don't really like Cats in real life so watching them prance around on stage did nothing for me other then I love to be at the theater. After Cats I think it was Les Meserable then Rent. One year Danielle and I were shopping in New York and we went to see Mamma Mia. It was in its first run. That was an awesome experience. A couple years after that My sister Jen her daughter Rianne, Danielle and I were in London and saw We Will Rock You. Again an awesome event. The last play I saw was Wicked in Los Angeles. Richard was visiting Dayna from England and both mentioned they wanted to see Wicked so I bought tickets for Jen, Richard, Dayna and I to go. At $200 a ticket it was worth it!