Christmas Joy!

Twas the Night before Christmas...

On Christmas Eve we gathered all the girls together for a little pre-Christmas photo-op. We had intended on having matching PJS for everyone...but I bargained shopped too much and never actually bought, and then it was Christmas Eve! So instead, they had matching hairstyles. Kea said that they had Reggae hair!

"Peace on Earth, Good will towards... your sister!" A rare, but oh so sweet moment!

There! Now that tree is not so bare! This has to be my favorite moment of the year, Children nestled in there beds, Santa's visit complete, twinkling lights, soft christmas music in the background, big anticipation,.. I love it!

Christmas Morning Fun!

Nani, Kea, and Samara sorting through their stockings. I love how Santa always remembers the basics...panties, toothbrushes, socks, but saves plenty of room for fun.

Sweet Samara loves animals, even stuffed ones.

And how did she get so sweet? Why candy of course! Samara is our Candy girl for sure!

Kea with her little push along puppy. He broke, but she decided she wants to go to Chuck E Cheese with her return money instead of getting a new one. We were not short on animals this year... our total coming up to 4 dogs, 1 kitty, and a cute horse.

Nani with her little remote doggy. We really want a real dog, but until we have a yard this will just have to do. In fact Kea asked Santa for a real dog, but Nani quickly corrected her and let her know that Santa doesn't make doggies...God does!

Samara and her very own little rocking horse, referred to as "eehheehehe"

Tino teaching Samara how to take care of her new little kitty...

Samara, having a much better idea as to where to put the 'imu'. (Inu is tongan for drink, and Samara speaks a language all of her own.)

And he says he doesn't like animals. (heehee!)

Me opening my warm and cozy house socks...a must in any cold place. Santa would know that though, living in the North Pole and all!

Tino took the girls in the back and played games for about an hour while I was cooking for Christmas dinner. Everything was so peaceful I started wondering what was going on! They were all peacefully playing, and Tino was quite happy too...(notice the ipod?)

Christmas Dinner!

At 3:00 we travelled up to Tino's sister's place in Herriman. We met with the Naiatas, Haveas, and Daniel Eliaba. Good food and a lot of fun!

Starting fom the top left and going clockwise, Tonu, Dallin, Clayton, Dustin, Kea, Nani, Drason, Mina, Tricia, and Peter...most of the Utah Hopoate family grandchildren.

Samara and Daniel Eliaba, or Baba as Samara calls him.

The favorite 'white elephant' gift, a deck of cards. It provided hours of fun for all of the grown-ups, but Tino and Katie 'took it all' as they one the last few games of trumps...I think that is what it is called?

All the children snuggled in to watch a movie, as the parents keep right on playing! (seated on left Keauhea, middle Sondra, right Tino.

We had a lovely, fun, peaceful, Merry Christmas, and hope the very same for all of you.

The Christmas fun keeps right on coming!

Since we have lived in Utah...(which is approaching 5 years now!) , we have had a tradition of heading up to Salt Lake City to see the lights at Temple Square. It is always so beautiful, and uplifting. This year we met our friends, Malu and Briony Fakatou and their two children, Teisa and Alisi. The girl's loved running around together, and we enjoyed catching up with old friends from good old BYU-Hawaii.

We got to the temple just minutes before the visitor's center closed. Luckily we were able to still go inside and see the Christus statue, as the girl's REALLY wanted to see it. Kea even whispered ..."is it real mommy?" This is Teisa, Kea, Nani, and little Alisi. It makes me happy to give my children a chance to really see the true purpose of Christmas and to feel the sweet spirit that exhists in holy places like Temple Square.

This is Nani and Teisa with a friend of Cody's from the MTC, Sister Nock. It was fun to run into someone who we had a connection with...even if it is a tiny one. That is one of the greatest things about the gospel. It really does make the world so small.

Another family shot of the temple from the other side. :) We hope all of you have a chance to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ and the love He has for all of us.

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HO HO HOPOATE'S and the MERRY CRIPPEN'S

This past Saturday My family and my brother, Chris' family were able to welcome in the Christmas season by attending our stake's 'Living Nativity', a beautiful performance held in the Provo Tabernacle. I was really touched to see the people portraying the Bethlehem scene. My favorite part was when the wisemen came to see the little Jesus and found him sitting on his mother's lap...chubby legs and all. It was so easy to imagine that He really was this small child, and yet he grew to be our Savior. I loved it. Afterwards we went out to see the animals that would have been there when the Savior was born, and were very surprised to see a live Camel! After visiting with the animals for a loooong while (my kids are animal lovers...I wonder where they got that from?), we walked Provo Center Street and looked at the candy windows. Some of them are soooo amazing!


Nani, Ryan and Samara getting 'up close and personal' with the Camel.



Nani a little amazed!

Josh and David petting the Camels hump... in case you couldn't tell.

My brother Chris and his youngest son Tyler. Tyler thought it was really neat...but wasn't so sure about touching it.

Samara got to ride a donkey of a native Bethlehemian. She was not ready to get off. My children go to the Thanksgiving Point Farm often, and love to ride the ponies there. She was waiting to be taken on a ride in circles for awhile!

Kea wanted to go for a ride as well. The girl with the cell phone is ruining the ambiance a bit, dont you think?

Josh, Ryan, Spencer, David, Jeff, and my 'oh so happy' hubby Tino, checking out the candy windows on Center Street.

Do you see how big and older looking my baby is! Samara made 18 months in November.

Here we Are!

I recently noticed that I am not blogged yet...Here I am! This was a pretty funny day. I got Nani ready for school and sent her on her way. I then showered and dressed myself, and bathed the girls and dressed them. When I got to the doctor's office that morning, the nurses commented on our matching shirts. Unintentionally I had dressed us all in the same color. I laughed a little, but was quite surprised to see Nani get off the bus sporting the SAME color shirt. We decided to document the event and post it for all to see. It was a very bright day, so my cheapo camara couldn't handle it too well. So...what color is your brain thinking in today?

Go BYU........yikes.

The boys on game day. I guess this is what 'BYU BLUES' look like. Luckily for me, it is all about the food and fun...and not the football. My sister Angie and her family came in from California that day, and so we decided to all get together for the game. We had the Southwick 7, the Crippen 9, and the Hopoate 5 all over to our 'cozy' condo! We had a lot of fun, even if the cougars lost...badly.

Thankful for our Family!

What a great Thanksgiving we were able to have this year. I was a bit sad since I wasn't able to head home and be with the family...but my frown 'quickly turned upside down' as much of my family was able to come to Utah. We first got to see our little Canadian family...Justin and Zach Low, (Aimee was home 'baking' - she is pregnant with twinners!) Then Angie and the Southwick gang showed up for a little pre-Thanksgiving fun, and a Feast with the Crippen side of the Family. We spent actual Thanksgiving with Tino's sisters and brothers living here in Utah. There was good food and good times.

The cousins reconnecting. Nani, Kea, and Samara thought Zach was one of the greatest things ever!

Nani and Zach cuddling up to watch some cartoons.

For our Pre-Thanksgiving meal we decided to have a Mexican Fiesta. Not very traditional, I know...but very yummy. How much turkey can a person eat anyway. We ended with a little pumpkin pie, and some wild music and dancing by the ever talented cousins.

Another cousin get-together at a BYU woman's basketball game. Kea was quite impressed that girls play basketball...I guess I need a little less princess and a lot more sport stuff around here.

I just love this picture of Brenna, Kea, and Reagan with their oranges. Brenna taught Kea a new way to eat an orange. It looks a lot harder, but must be more fun!

And finally, our actual Hopoate Thanksgiving family dinner. We all went to Sondra's home in Orem and ate delicious food, played fun games and just 'talked story.' We had such a great Holiday, and are truly looking forward to the next one...CHRISTMAS!!!

Our UTAH Halloween fun.

Does this happen elsewhere? The mall, which is a block from our home is a HOT SPOT on Halloween night. When the night is freezing...it is great. This Halloween gave us some beautiful, mild weather...too bad all our activities were inside. After getting our girls all dolled up, we headed to the mall for a bit. We then crossed the street to attend our ward halloween party at our church. (Remind me why we have a car again?!?!)

Fairy princess Kea...I think even her panties were purple :)


The mall scene

Pretty Princess Aurora Nani

Nani and Kea taking a well deserved cupcake break after walking the 'cake walk' for like 15 minutes. That is one thing my girl's got from me. . . Determination and Drive. Or wait, than again maybe they just got my sweet tooth. (hee hee)

TRADITION! Every year Tino paints his face in some way. The girls just love it and look at the past year's picture over and over and over again. This year he really didn't want to since we were going to be in the bright light, but he still did it just for his girls. . . and then quickly wiped it off before we headed out. What a great Daddy.

Little miss Mela Bella as a cute pumpkin. I had really wanted to make her something all of her own, but decided to simplify. She is already such a cutie...what more could I have done! (a mother's biased opinion)

Hi. Is posting like math...cause I'm just not Gett'n it! :(

Pumpkin Time!

Peek-a-boo! Samara is peeking out from behind a pumpkin that weighs more than she does! One of my favorite things about Halloween is the carving...however our family is just a bit too young for that so we decided to try something new this year. . .

It's Mr. Pumpkin Head! This was a very fun, very easy, and very clean way to 'carve' a pumpkin. Kea had a very cute little face, but while Nani perfected her's, Kea decided not to conform to the norm and created a MONSTER of a pumpkin. We all had a great time...Our's never quite got carved. I guess it will just be our Autumn Pumpkin and I will store up my ideas for next year. :)