Sipola

Well, we did our week long trips to Gunnison. We are so glad that is over. Braxton and Lia had practice Mon, Tues, Wed and then had the dance recital on Thurs, Fri and Sat. Talk about traveling! Anyways, the dance recitals went really well. They made Braxton change his mind about not dancing next year and he said that he wants to continue, just with ballroom. I just don't understand...I clogged my whole life and none of my kids want to do it. They love to ballroom dance though so I guess I won't complain. This week has been full of sports. Braxton had games on Tuesday and Wednesday. He did pretty good. Tonight we are going to watch Tevita play in the volleyball tournament. Last night Sipola asked me, "Mom, when are we going to watch daddy and Toni play volleyball?" I told her, "tomorrow night". So today this is how the conversation went..."Mommy, is today tomorrow?" I said, "Yes" and she said, "Mommy is today tomorrow night?" I said, "not yet" and she said, "will it be tomorrow night when the sun gets tired?" I just smiled and said, "Yes". She asked me why I was smiling and I told her because she was so cute! It seems like in all the hustle and bustle of life we sometimes forget to sit and really listen and see our kids for who they are. Sipola has not been the nicest 4 year old today and I have had to pray a lot for patience with her. It seemed like in the moment of her asking if the sun was going to get tired, I just forgot about all the stinker stuff and realized how much I love her. Even if the moment was just for a few short minutes, it happened and it made me smile and that is what Sipola does for people..she makes them smile!

Back from our trip

Well, we are back from our trip now. This might be a long post so bear with me. We left Wednesday night. We didn't know for sure if we were going to go but I had went somewhere and came home and Vita said, we are all packed and ready to go. Braxton had a baseball game so we went to that and then off to Seattle we went. We left Richfield at 7:00pm. We drove until 2am and then we stopped in Boise, Idaho to sleep. We got up on Thursday and left Idaho at 10am. We stopped in Oregon at a McDonalds to eat lunch. The kids were so excited at this McDonalds. Their play area was so nice and it had a car at the top of the slide! The kids enjoyed it but we didn't stay long because we wanted to get back on the road. We saw some really beautiful scenery. I was surprised at how long we had to drive by the Columbia River. I thought it was never going to end! There was one point where for about 10 minutes we looked to our left and there was nothing but trees and waterfalls. The kids enjoyed it so much! At about 4pm we had to cross the bridge from Oregon to Washington. This for me was not fun at all! I am so scared to drive on bridges that cross water. I kept telling Vita to hurry! We arrived at Spencer and Joy's house at about 4:30pm. Spencer and Tevita were missionary companions. (He is who we named our Spencer after). We had such a great time with them. Our kids had such a great time playing and have talked about playing with them ever since. Spencer and Joy live in a beautiful home on some really pretty land. Thank you guys for having us over. I wish it was more often and we didn't live so far away from each other. After we left, we enjoyed listening to a few missionary stories. I always love to hear these. Tevita is so happy when he talks about his mission, especially when the stories involve his favorite companions. Anyways, a few hours later we arrived in Seattle. We were so excited. Of course, it was dark so we couldn't see much but we were so happy to be there. We went to bed and woke up early the next morning. We went and picked up Viliami at the airport. We were excited that he was able to be there. Too bad his wife and kids didn't make it. Then we went to Tevita's auntie's house and visited. We spent the day there, me with the women, the kids with their cousins, and Vita helping cook. It was a fun day. I love listening to the women talk. They always have such a good time, I just wish I could understand more of what they are talking about!lol. I was so excited to see Ongo and Jackie. I haven't seen them for a long time and I missed them. Tevita got to see them last summer in Alaska but I didn't go so it had been awhile. We went to the dance Friday night. We were all so tired that Sipola fell asleep on her dad's knee. Mehi layed down on the floor and fell asleep. I don't know how they do that when the music is so loud but they did. The dance got over at midnight and then we went to get something to eat and head back to the hotel. Saturday morning we were supposed to be at the temple at 10am. We got there at about 10:04. It was so pretty. We took lots of pictures but I can't post them yet. Anyways, Tevita dropped us off so we could go in. Viliami was able to get in quick and I waited for Vita to get there so we could see what to do with the kids. The kids went in the waiting room with the cousins and then Vita and I showed our recommends. Vita had accidentally grabbed the wrong one and by the time he got his right one it was too late for us to go in. We felt really bad about that but Viliami said that it was a really nice ceremony. Anyways, we went back to the house and helped get ready and then off to the reception we went. We got to visit a lot with people at the reception. It started at 3 and Jackie and I took our kids and left at about 7:30pm. We went back to the hotel so the kids could swim. A few of the other cousins came over and the kids had so much fun swimming. At about 10:45 Ongo and Vita came and then Vita and I took the kids to get something to eat and then we went to bed. On Sunday we left the hotel at about 9:30am. We went to the house so we could say bye to everybody. Vita took Viliami to the airport so he could get home and then he came back and got us and off we went. I wish we could have spent more time with everybody but unfortunately we couldn't. We left Seattle at noon and arrived home at 3:45am. We drove the whole way and we were all tired when we got here. Vita didn't let me drive at all so he was pretty tired. So, here we are, back to life. We have dance lessons in Gunnison today, tomorrow, Wednesday. Then we have the dance review on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Then we are done with dance for the year. Braxton is counting down the days! We hope all is well with everybody and sorry about the long post!

Baby Boys

Tevita and I arrived at the hospital at 7:05am on Thursday. I got checked in and then headed to room 115, the same room Lia and Spencer were born (I don't want to deliver in this room ever again!!!). My nurse tried putting in the IV, she was unsuccessful. She had a different nurse, Blaine, come in and he was able to get it in. This was the worst pain of the day. Dr. Brown came in and we talked and then I received the medicine. They told me it would be a while before I would deliver the twins but I didn't realize it was going to be such a long wait. My grandpa and his wife came to visit at about 3:45pm. We had a really good visit with them and I was sitting up on the bed. When they left I layed back on the bed and I told Tevita that I thought my water broke. I called the nurse in and yep, it had broke. With this came some extreme tears from me. All I could think was that this is usually a very happy time in a mother's life but it wasn't happy at all for me. This meant that I would be loosing two of my kids and it hit me very hard. At 4:45pm our first son, Kafa, was delivered. He had a perfect little body. Every part of him was there, and when I say perfect, that is what I mean. He had all his fingers, all his toes, his ears, his nose, his mouth, etc. etc. The only problem was that he wasn't alive and he was so little. He fit on a napkin and Tevita and I just held him. This was such an emotional time for me. I thought I would deliver the next one pretty quick, but that was not the case. Our second son, Finau, was born at 7:50pm. He was bigger than Kafa. He had a bigger head, his tummy was bigger, and it was evident that twin to twin transfusion had taken place. He was definitely the stronger one that had taken the nutrients and blood. He was also perfect. Every part of him was there and he was a little bigger. We also held him on a napkin. The nurse made a little bed for them and that meant a lot to Tevita and I. After I had him, I got really nervous. I was bleeding really bad and I asked the nurse if I was ok. I was thankful for her honesty as she said, "No, this is not good. I'm not going to lie to you. We have to do something quick or it's not going to go good". She ran to call Dr. Brown and the OR crew and the ultrasound tech. The ultrasound showed that I had a rupture and also the placenta was still hanging on. I had to have an emergency D&C. I was so scared to go into surgery. My dad and Tevita gave me a wonderful blessing. Let me just say how thankful I am for the priesthood in my life and knowing that the priesthood in my family are worthy to give me a blessing at a second's notice. The blessing was so touching and off to surgery I went. The surgery went well and I was brought back to the room a little after 10pm. I have had so many emotions running through me but I think I am going to be ok. I know that Heavenly Father needed my sons to help him. I know they needed those perfect little bodies and didn't need to be put to the test. I know that all 3 of my sons are in Heaven with my mom and that comforts me. I know she is taking good care of all of them. Yes, I am so sorry that I didn't get to meet them and learn their personalities. Yes, I am sorry that they didn't get to play with their brother and sisters here. Yes, I am still crying whenever I talk about them, but I am ok. My family, friends, and especially my husband have helped me so much. We have learned so much through this experience. I feel so much closer to Tevita and the kids. Heather, if you are reading this, I want you to know how much I appreciate your friendship and help during this time. It meant so much to me that I didn't have to worry about my kids and I knew they were being loved while I wasn't with them. Dad, Aunt D, and Stacy, thank you so much for being there with us. It meant a lot to us and we can never thank you enough. Aunt D, I know you will know what I am talking about, so, thank you for being "my mom" during that time (you know what I am talking about). This is going on and on and I am sorry for how long it is. I just wanted you all to know of our experience and please know that we are going to be ok. Seeing our perfect little boys helped us a little to understand and we know we will be with them again. Thank you all for your prayers. We really do love and appreciate all of you!

Sad Times

Well, we are definitely having a very sad time here. We went to the doctor on Monday. Everything looked good at the appointment and then we had to go to the ultrasound. We were so excited to find out what the babies were. Well, the first picture we knew something was wrong. To make a long story short, we lost both babies. The doctor thinks it was twin to twin transfusion. What this means is that one baby takes all the nourishment, leaving one starving and one overloading causing congestive heart failure. We have to be at the hospital at 7:00am tomorrow morning to deliver the babies. Needless to say, this is a very difficult time and if it weren't for the gospel I for sure wouldn't make it through it. I am so thankful for all the love and support from my friends and family. I am sorry to all of you if I seem grouchy. I am trying to deal with this and be so strong but all I want to do is sit and cry. Tevita and I wanted these babies so much and it is heartbreaking that we won't have them until we return with them. The kids are being very strong. They are asking many questions and crying sometimes but they are being very brave about the whole thing. Braxton is trying to be really tough but I know it is hard for him. He has so many questions and we are just trying to answer them as best as possible. We are so thankful that we have been blessed with these 4 beautiful kids and hopefully we will make it through this grieving process. Family, please don't worry about us. We will be ok. I know you are all worried but we got through this before and we will get through it again. We are just thankful for our knowledge of the gospel. We love you all.