June - Erana's 10th Birthday, Tyrell's 23rd

6/7/20

Hi Mina,

This week we left to Moab Wednesday morning at around 8:30am. We stopped for gas in Price then our first stop was the Dead Horse Point State Park visitors center. We looked around in it and Mum bought a t-shirt and Erana got a stuffed animal. I think she called it a jerboa but I just looked it up and it’s a Desert Kangaroo rat. We ate lunch we brought on a balcony at the back of the visitors center. It was a pretty hot day with some breeze and clouds to help keep cool. We walked around a trail at the visitors center that had some awesome views. We drove past the visitors center to the end of the road at Dead Horse point. You’ve been there a couple times as a kid. We took photos and walked around a bit. We stopped at the neck of the point to take photos then drove on to Canyonlands park, Island in the Sky area which is a few more miles down the road from Dead Horse Point State Park. It is a federal park and they haven’t opened their visitors center yet. We drove to the Grand View point and hiked a 2 mile trail. We did that one too back in 2007. It was a nice walk. We did a short walk to the Mesa arch after that then headed to our Hotel. Erana was looking forward to it. The kids thought it was a hotel room and were shocked that we had a nice new condo all to ourselves. We found it on Airbnb.com. The condo was called the Wandering Cow, unit 9A5. It had 3 rooms. Mum and I had the main one with it’s own bathroom, Jaxon and Tyrell were in their own room and the girls slept on a couch bed in front of a tv in the loft area. Everything was nice and clean. I had a hotel room booked with 3 beds but canceled it when I found that this whole Condo would only be $7 dollars more than the hotel room. Erana and Jaxon swam in the pool. Leila had her monthlies so she couldn’t and was disappointed. Mum went to the store to get food and brought home Dominoes pizza. We got up at 8am to try to be at the Delicate Arch trail early. We ended up starting the trail at 9:45am and by then it was already hot. There were no clouds like the day before. It was a busy trail with plenty of other people doing it. We rested about 5 minutes from the end up on this rock face area and Leila thought that was the end and started walking back. We waited and thought she was going back to go down an easy trail and catch up but she was on her way back to the car. Mum had to go find her and chase her down and gave her a growling. We took photos at the arch and rested a bit then made the walk back. We drove along the road to the end to see the views then stopped at the Sand Dune arch which was short. We went back to the Condo at about 2pm. Tyrell, Mum and I went to the pool while the kids chilled at the Condo. We went and ate dinner at the Moab Diner around 4:30pm. They close off every other table for social distancing still. We walked around the shops after and Mum got another t-shirt. She couldn’t make her mind up between 2 shirts in different stores close to each other. Then we got ice cream at the grocery store. We were glad to rest our feet at the end of the day. My phone says I did 14862 steps, 6.72 miles. We got up around 8am to eat then clean the place before we had to check out at 10am. There was a list of things to do before leaving stuck to the fridge that we followed. We went back to the Arches park and walked short trails. The Double arch and the Windows arches and the Tunnel arch. It was a hot day again but we had fun. We stopped at a little museum park thing too. It had a museum, a trail with life sized Dinosaurs, a 3D aquarium and a short 3d movie. I went in with the girls only. It was hot az walking that trail. The 3D aquarium was cool. You wear 3d glasses and look at large aquarium windows and the sea creatures from Dinosaur days come up to the window and swim past. The first one freaked out the girls and Erana screamed out loud. We left and stopped in Price and got Burger King for lunch and ate at a park then drove home and got back around 6pm. It was a fun short vacation. Saturday was Erana’s birthday. Mum and I took her to eat at Cafe Rios. We first tried Golden China but they weren’t fully functioning yet because of the Coronavirus rules for buffets. They only had the Mongolian Grill section open and Erana didn’t want to stay there. We had a small cake and she opened her presents. Still can’t believe it has been 10 years already since she was born. Sunday we had church at home and Talia was with us. We each bore our testimony. Later Gracie and Maya came to stay the night. We had Tres leches cake and sang happy birthday to her. Uncle Jody stayed and Uncle Scott and Auntie Heather were there too. That was a lot and hopefully not too boring to read. Keep working hard, your time is running out.

Love Dad and Mum xxx

6/14/20

Kia Ora!

Had cuzzies over for Erana’s Birthday which we celebrated on Sunday. Maya, Jonah, Uncle Jodi, Uncle Scott’s family, Gracie came we had Tres Leches and ice-cream. Leila and Jonah went and slept at Kage’s house and Maya and Gracie stayed here. They were here till Thursday! Went to the castle park with them had picnic’s there, Wendys and Pizza. The girls slept in everyday and had cereal for breaky. They played with pokemon and Ty-Beanie Boos and watched a lot of object shows on YouTube, bfdia, bfdi, bfb & anime insanity. Talia comes and stays now and then her and Jaxon hangout a lot. Did an errand for Primary making words for our collage and taking photos of leaders. Went to Kapahaka on Thursday at the park, Shaun Clarke was home from Oz he got laid off from Quantas due to Covid19. Friday the girls played at the Ferguson’s and so Dad and I went on a hike in Big Cottonwood Canyon ‘Mineral Fork Trail’. Dad is way fitter than I am and I was really slow and needed to stop and take a rest a lot. There was a little river flood in our trail so we had to be careful. It was a 9 mile hike but we only did about 4 miles cause of me saying lets be done! lol  Saturday the girls and I went with Aunty Heather to see Julia’s play she’s the lead in ‘West Side story’. She has really improved in her singing and acting she was awesome!!! 

Love Mum and Dad xxx

Hey Mina,

Nothing much has been going on in my life lately. I’m taking a couple classes this summer. I’m taking financial accounting and a health class. Dad and I went shooting with Uncle Jared this week, it was pretty fun! I also hung out with some of my old high school friends, we went out for pho and talked about a lot of deep doctrinal stuff haha. We went to Moab last week, it was actually a lot of fun, I can’t wait to go again. Anyways, I hope everything is going well for you. Love you !

Tyrell

Hello Mina,

This week I have been sleeping over at Kage’s house. It started on Sunday through Thursday. So I spent a lot of time with cousins. Jonah slept over at Kage’s until Thursday too. It was a fun week. We went to the “castle park” two times this week. On Friday, Erana and I biked to Suzy Ferguson’s house and we played the whole day. They have baby chicks. Suzy and I made zucchini bread and baked it in a sun oven. We ate burritos for dinner there. Then we went to the church building and played basketball. Yesterday, Aunty Heather picked Mom, Erana and I up to go to Julia’s play, West Side Story. She was Maria and she did a great job. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Leila XOXO

Hi Mina,

Gracie and Maya slept over for my birthday and before that we went to Moab and after that with May and Gracie and Johna oh Leila and Johna went to sleepover at Kage and drays house and then we had fun and did stuff went to the park and i cant think of anymore things the batteries going to die in 2 minutes bye. 

Bye Love Erana

May

5/3/20

Kia Ora Mina,
I've been working about 3-4hrs a day Mon-Thur. I applied to take the summer off offered by JetBlue to save money. Dad and I got some apollo burger combo's went to the park and did the holdouts from the kids, they were with their cuzzies lol. Last weekend Dad got the swamp cooler and the sprinklers all ready for the good weather. Loving the warm Spring weather where it’s just right and not too hot yet. Not much to write about these days. Utah did move into a Moderate level for the Lockdown which allows restaurant dine-in to open but with spacing between tables and other things like that. We had testimonies after our sacrament. Everyone in the family shared their testimony.
Love you! Mum and Dad XOX

Hello egg,
This week I hung out with Ceedrek and Talia. All we were doing was cruisin and eating food at McD’s or Betos. On Saturday I had them over to have a firepit. It was Ceedreks first time having a fire pit so he was new to things. He had his marshmallow on fire and the first thing he thinks of to put out the fire is to wave the stick around lol. But we told him to just blow it out. Talia gave me box braids and the next day she gave me cornrows. We were watching Dad’s move, The Thing while she was doing my hair. Dad’s move was boring, it wasn’t scary, Ceedrek fell asleep during it lol. But that’s all we have for today so hope you have a fun week.
Love, Jaxon XOXO

Hello Mina,
I babysat the Frandsen's grandchildren again and had Domino's pizza. Erana and I played with Dray on Friday cause Kage was with friends. Kage got his hair buzzed off weeks ago but didn't know until Friday. Yesterday, Erana and I played at Kage's again and we helped make paper bag lights to put in front of their house. Then the family, except Jaxon, came over to walk around and see other people's lights. I drew 2 bags, a fox and a tulip or lily I don't know what it's called. Kage seems more happy, I think it's Anna Morris XD. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!
Love, Leila XOXO

Hair cut!

5/10/20

Hello Mina,
Monday was wonderful! I practiced my piano and Tausala after. Then I read 3 chapters of the Bible. After the, I learned some Maori and memorized some of the Whakapapa that we have to memorize. I forgot to say that Cedrick and Talia came over while I was practicing Tausala. They had scriptures and prayer with us. Then I did split stretches with Mom, because we’re trying to learn the splits. Monday may not have sounded exciting, but I felt the Spirit with me the whole day. On Tuesday, Erana and I had piano practice. I exercised after school and then studied the Bible with Erana. Then I went to clean our neighbor’s house. When I got home, I studied the Bible on my own. I did split stretches with Mom after. I practiced my poi after freshening up. Then I studied the Book of Mormon before family scripture and prayer. I didn’t journal Wednesday and Thursday so I’m going to skip to Friday. I copy my journal to tell you what I do every week XD. Friday won’t be in order but oh well. Mom took Erana and I to Jonah’s house. Jonah and I played 2K20 and then we went outside and played basketball for a while. Then I think we played Minecraft. Then we played basketball again and then we watched Wonder. Yesterday, I had cereal, but then Uncle Jody made scrambled eggs and bacon so I had that, but then Aunty Monica made pancakes so I had that too XD. I had 3 breakfasts. After all the breakfasts, Jonah and I played some more Minecraft for a really long time. Then we went outside and passed the football around and played basketball afterward. When we were inside, Uncle Jody was making dinner, sloppy joe and mac & cheese. After having dinner, I played on their computer while Jonah was playing Fortnite with Dray. Dray wasn’t there he was just online. After playing on the computer, all the young adults were upstairs so I joined them in their games. We played a game called Sushi. Then we went outside around the firepit and had marshmallows. Keaton grabbed a balloon from inside and was playing with the helium. We were all like “Don’t do too much, it’s dangerous.” He had Louisa try it and apparently it was her first time. Keaton did it again after Louisa and it looked like he was having a seizure after he was done because his eyes were like rolling to the back of his head and he was shaking. He wasn’t responding to Ariana saying his name, but then he was like “What? I’m just rubbing my feet together.” and I was like “It looked like you were having a seizure.” and everyone was just laughing and joking about that. It was really funny. Today, Uncle Jody made eggs with beans for breakfast and it was delicious. Then we had church (at home of course) and it was very good. After church, we had sandwiches for lunch. After lunch, the whole family went to Grandma’s grave after dropping Erana and I at home, but then we joined later on with cookies, watermelon, veggies, and kool-aid. Then we went our separate ways. Talia’s family came over after we had dinner. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!
Love, Leila XOXO

Hi Mina,

This week was more of the same. Friday we went to Home Depot and bought some more plants. Mostly herbs to put into the holes in the walkway to the front door. Thyme, Oregano, and Chives. We planted strawberries in pots along the walkway too. They have given us quite a few so far. I got some and put them in Mum’s yogurt parfait for her Mothers Day breakfast. I made her breakfast in bed but it was pretty lame. She only wanted soft boiled eggs and toast but I made them hard, lol. Also the yogurt parfait. I got her some white chocolate coconut balls too and caramel coconut oreos. I tried to help some in the kitchen for dinner but she still ended up doing a lot. What an awesome Mother you have! Saturday we went on a road trip to Mirror Lake area. Tania and family stopped by the house and we followed them out there. Uncle Shaun was with them too. They were in their trailer home. The road to Mirror lake near the top isn’t open yet because of the COVID19 shutdowns but we pulled off into side areas a few times to go on short hikes before we got to the closed area. One hike the path was muddy and wet because it still had melting snow coming down and on the path in some spots. Another place we went to a bridge and to the river's edge. Jaxon walked up a fallen over dead tree to the bridge from below. I said don’t do it you’ll get all scratched up. Nek minnit, he’s near the top and he held onto a weak branch that broke and he stepped off into more dried tree branches and got all scratched up on his legs. Friday, Leila and Erana stayed at Uncle Jody’s and they came home Sunday when Uncle Jody’s family came to the cemetery. We met them there around 1:30pm. Uncle Jared and fam stopped by after too. Lately I’ve been learning all about the timeline of the Last Days events and the order of them and the signs of the Second Coming. It’s a much clearer picture now. I can share all I know sometime if you like. That's all for now.

Love Dad and Mum

 

5/17/20

Hello Mina,

Erana and I had piano on Tuesday. I’m practicing the bass guitar, guitar, and ukulele with an app now. I cleaned Joelle’s (condo #24) house on Tuesday too. I cleaned Tess’s house on Wednesday, and when I was heading home there was a motorcycle with a basket on the back. For some reason I was prompted to put one of my five dollar bills that I got paid into the basket. So I put it in the helmet that was in the basket. I hope no one steals it. I went to Walmart with Mom and she bought me a hot and spicy McChicken in the McDonald’s. She also bought fries and 3 pairs of shorts for me. Then we went to the McDonald’s next door and I bought myself a large strawberry shake. Then we went to Target. Oh! I forgot to mention that I’m working on playing Never Too Much by Luther Vandross on the bass. I learned all of Never Too Much, but now I just got to practice it. Today, we went to Talia’s house for dinner. Kage’s family came too. We then played at their park that was nearby. Then we walked around their lake. Dad, Mom, Tyrell, Erana, Uncle Scott, and Aunty Heather went to their homes while Jaxon, Kage, Dray, and I stayed at Talia’s. We went to their hammock park and set up 2 hammocks. We played with a random football that was on the field and then we played Bull Rush. Then we went back to the house and had s’mores. Ceedrick came over too. Uncle has a mat on the floor in the basement so I told Kage that he should do a backflip on it. I motivated him and he did it by himself, and he landed! I was so proud of him. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Leila XOXO

5/24/20

Kia Ora Mina, 

It was my first week of not working, I went walking with Heather in the mornings again. My legs and feet weren’t used to walking so much, I got blisters and tired legs. I then come home and pick the girls up and take them to the castle park and they run around the whole park. It took them 8mins the next day it took them 7mins. After the run we practice basketball or tennis. I did errands like take the ford to get lubed and emissions. Finished making Juju’s money lei’s. And set up Leila’s summer school classes and added Tyrell to the car insurance. On Friday I went hiking in the mountain's big cottonwood canyon. It was a beautiful day for a hike. I was kinda tired from my morning walk. Went to Yogurtland in Jordan Landing for a treat. Sunday had my first Bishop council mtg on Zoom, went well. 

Love Mum and Dad xxx

Hello Mina,

Mom, Erana, and I went to the Castle Park area on Monday. Erana and I ran around the whole thing until we were at the basketball court. Then we practiced lay-ups. We went to Taylor’s graduation party and ate and played outside. Mom, Erana, and I went to the Castle Park area again on Tuesday. But this time we practiced tennis after running. Erana and I had piano lessons after. Mom and I went to Dollar Tree and I bought myself some snacks. On Wednesday, we went to the Castle Park area again and practiced our lay-ups after running (jogging more like it). I then cleaned Tess’s house. Then I had to babysit the Frandsen grandkids. We went to the Castle Park area on Thursday and practiced tennis after jogging. Then we went to Walmart a while after going to the bank. Dad, Mom, Erana, and I went on a hike in the mountains on Friday. We had fun. Then we went to Yogurtland afterwards. Mom and I went to Walmart again. I started learning how to play No One by Alicia Keys on the piano. I know the chords, now I just have to practice singing along. On Sunday, Aunty Heather and Dray dropped by, then Uncle Jody dropped by to give us a whole bunch of hand-me-downs, then Talia dropped by. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Leila XOXO

5/31/20

Hi Mina,

On Memorial Day we ate a yummy buffet breakfast with cream cheese scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon and fry bread at Auntie Heather’s. Then we went over to the cemetery for a short while. Then we drove to the cemetery at the Avenues to visit Granda Hono and Nanny Jeans’ grave. It was a nice day, not too hot. The Baker family showed up, Uncle Geoff and Auntie Dolly, their kids Craig, Amy, Kimberly and Dana and some of their kids. Jaxon played his bag pipes at the grave site. They enjoyed that. We went and walked at Memorial Grove after. The last 3 days have been hot in the 90’s. Friday Tyrell and I went over to Uncle Jared’s so he could show us some methods to aim, load and reload our new guns.  We both bought AR-15s that he was selling. We also learned how to take them apart. We look forward to shooting them. This week I read a fascinating book called Visions of Glory about a guy who had 3 or 4 near death experiences and each time he learned about the Spirit World, Premortal life and his future life leading up to the Second Coming. Most of the stuff is Holy Cow! I’ll have to tell you all about it or you can just read it. I’ve got a clearer picture now with the timeline and the events and what order they happen leading up to the Second Coming. And the beginning of it all is not far away, within the next 10 years if not the next 5 years. I think it’s that close. Not the actual coming but stuff that gets it started where the Church of God will birth the Kingdom of God (Rev 12 jst, this wonder in Heaven, verse 1 was actually seen Sept 23, 2017). For our home church Mum gave a message about the Sabbath day and keeping it Holy and Leila gave one about “Fear not but Believe” by Elder Gong and I gave one about “Standing in Holy Places” and trying to make our home more Holy, one where we can hear the voice of the Lord. We ate dessert at Uncle Scott’s for Kage’s 15th birthday. He opened presents then we had an impromptu piano recital where everyone that knew a song played something. Well, hope we get to talk to you next week.

Love Dad and Mum xxx

Hello Mina,

I went to a couple stores with Mom throughout the week, and I would just buy myself a treat. Mom, Erana, and I also went to the Castle Park area to jog and practice tennis and basketball through the week also. On Memorial Monday, we went to Kage’s to have breakfast, then we (Kage’s family, us, and Talia) went to visit Grandma’s grave. We got free sodas, water, flags, and cookies there. After that, we went to Great Grandpa and Grandma’s grave. Aunty Dolly and Uncle Jeff’s family arrived too. Then Kage’s family, us, and Talia walked around Memorial Grove. Then we went back to Kage’s. Erana and I had piano lessons on Tuesday, and I cleaned. I cleaned on Wednesday. Mom, Jaxon, Erana, and I went to Kapa Haka on Thursday. It was at the park by the Rec. Center. There were cupcakes, cake, popsicles, and fry bread because it was someone’s birthday. Yesterday, Mom, Erana, and I went to another park where the Kapa Haka group was practicing their taiaha. There was food so we ate dinner there and played on the playground. Mom brought shrimp noodles and watermelon. We’re going to go to Kage’s today to celebrate his birthday. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Leila XOXO