SLC - DAY 3

Sunday morning was church! Lily found a new one that she wanted to try so we headed of to Southeast Baptist, or something like that. It was very contemporary. I knew a couple of the songs, thanks to Crossroads church out here in Vancouver, WA. The pastor was in the middle of a series called Men, Women, Boys & Girls... and "Boys will be Boys" was the topic for Sunday. He was pretty good, but I think I'm just spoiled with Pastor Martin and Mt. Olivet... and it's hard for other churches to compare! BUT... all 3 of us were impressed with being greeted in the parking lot with an umbrella to cover us from the rain!! Well, I was pleased... I was under the umbrella. The 2 fools... that's right, I said fools... behind me weren't walking fast enough to get under it. End of story. But as you can probably guess, the story differs according to the story-teller.

After church we hunted down a Starbucks, which is NOT that easy in SLC. They're definitely not on every corner like here in the NW! We ended up in the Nordstrom Rack where I scored BIG time with 2 prs. of 7 jeans!! *cha-ching* I've been saving my gift card from Christmas and it came in super-handy, let me tell ya!! After that we headed back to the house to watch Lily cook, we chowed down on some stir fry and headed to Wally World to pick up a volleyball and then to the park to test our skills! Conclusion: we have no skills, but we'll blame it on the cold and that ball was too dang hard!

Who are these people?

Kamia, Malachi & Me

Super Star Alexie

Kamia & I

Sione

Me, Andee & Lil

Andee & Lil

Lil & Eli

Eli & Alexie

Kamia

Alexie & I

Malachi

Malachi, Sione & Eli

Lil & I

We chilled back at the house for awhile and then headed to Carol & Vita's around 10pm for some banana splits and a movie. Cat & I tried to hit Sonic one more time, but they closed early. Nuts. Oh well, A&W was just as tasty! Thanks Cat!!!!

Joshua

Havea & Cat

Sarah & Leilani

Havea

Lil & Joshua

Movie time!

Me & Kamia

On our way home after the movie, we got news that Dad was in pain and needed to go to the hospital. Ben had already picked them up by the time we got there, so Lani, Lil, Alexie, Kamia, Andee and I stayed at the house while Cat and Carol headed to the hospital. The Bible says where 2 or more or gathered, He is there... so Lily called us together and we prayed for awhile and fell asleep together in the living room. Well, that is until Lily started grinding her teeth... dang her. Come to find out, Dad has an infection where his dialysis is hooked up but from the inside, so they're keeping him until Thursday. So for all you praying folks... lift him up, please! Lani graduates on Friday, so he needs to make it home for that!!!!

SLC - DAY 2

Me, Alexie & Kamia

It had been in the 90's forever in SLC, pools were open, "It's been HOT" they said... so we came to town with our short skirts, halter tops and flip flops... and apparently we brought the cold, crappy Oregon rain, as well. Dang it! Oh well. Saturday morning is a blur... I can't really tell ya for sure what we did, but my guess would be roll out of bed, play with kids and chase Lily around the house. But that's just my guess. We did eventually get out of the house and head downtown for a movie with Kamia and Alexie. We watched "Stick It"... your basic teeny-bopper movie about gymnastics, which was pretty good for a teen flick! As tears were in my eyes for some lame reason, I'm sure... I caught Lily reaching for her eyes. Hoping to catch her in a once in a lifetime moment of weakness, I quickly asked her if she was crying. She, of course, laughed out loud and said no. Dang it!

Sione

Lil, Havea & Alexie

Kamia & Sione

Tables are so overrated...
Benzo, Malachi, Lil & Alexie

Havea

i.heart.sonic!

After the movie, we headed to Carol & Tevita's house to say HI, then caravaned to Sonic and then home to get ready for a night out with the girls!! We all went to Sarah's apartment to chill before heading downtown to Cat's friend's bar, Lumpy's. I was in heaven... big screens with sports EVERYWHERE!!

Introducing Masina... Cat & Lil's friend from high school!

Work it!

Me, Sarah & Lil

Sarah & Carol

Lil & Cat

Carol, Masina & I

Andee, Lil, Masina & I

After dancing the night away, we were off to find food at Village Inn and then to bed to rest our aching feet!! But here's a sidenote for those of you who thought Lily was all nice and sweet... words to the wise... don't mess with her "Shot gun!" at 3am!

So there.

P-town visits Salt Lake City!!

Andee and I took off this past Friday and flew out to SLC to visit Lil and the fam for an extended Memorial Day weekend!! We had a great time, and hopefully you have a few minutes, b/c you're about to have a TON of pics to look at!!! We got into town around 1:30pm and Leilani and Sara picked us up, took us to SONIC and then we chilled at the house for a bit before heading to the park for Sarah's b-day BBQ. Lily finally met us there when she got off work and we chilled there for a few hours, chattin', playing b-ball and grubbin' on some killer BBQ chicken and crab/shrimp salad!! DANG Samoans know how to BBQ!!! After it cooled down, we headed back to the house to chill with the fam and let the kids entertain us!! They would play football in the front yard all night long if you let them!!! Kamia is the oldest of all the grandchildren and mark my words... she will be the first woman in the NFL... and NOT just as a kicker!!!

Isaiah & Mason

Aren't we cute?!

Lani & Sarah

The girls... Cat, Lil, Sarah, Carol & Leilani

SLC + Oregon

Nephi, Carol, Havea, Mom, Caprisse, Matt & Lil

Kamia & Havea

Kamia v. EVERYONE!

Havea, Lil & Joshua

Eli & Lil

Spy glasses... never leave home without them!

Kamia & I

Benzo & Kamia

Lona, Benzo, Ben & Joshua

Benzo, Sione & Malachi

Gun show courtesy of Benzo

Me, Malachi & Sione

And that, my friends... was just DAY 1!! :-)

Pillar & P.O.D.

SO... the concert was supposed to be on Saturday, 5/20 @ 7pm. However, one of the buses broke down so they rescheduled it for Monday, which worked perfectly because Violet couldn't make it on Saturday, but was able to go with me on Monday!! I didn't want to see the first 2 bands because they were too heavy metal for me, so we ran some errands, grabbed some food and headed to the venue around 8pm... just as Pillar was leaving the stage!! WHAT THE HECK!!!! Come to find out, they started the show at 5:45pm. Who does that!?!? I was so pissed. Luckily, P.O.D. is one of my new favorites so I was still excited to see them, but completely bummed about missing Pillar. I can't make it to Creation Fest this summer, so this was my only chance to hear them this year. Suck.


During P.O.D.'s set, I spotted Rob on the side of the stage, so we made our way over and got his attention and got to chat for a bit until he had to go back on stage for the last song. We hung out after the concert with the fellas, and Rob introduced us to some of the P.O.D. guys, which I was stoked about!! We got to meet Wuv (drummer), Traa (bass) and Matisyahu (special guest on tour). I was pretty excited!!

Since the concert got over so early and they didn't have to get back on the road until 1:30am, we went kareoking! (not sure how to spell it, but you know what I'm trying to say!) Lily and I took them a couple years ago and we had a blast, so I couldn't wait to see what would unfold this time! There were a few more people in there this time, but our group dominated the stage, of course!! Last time, Rob forced Lily and I to sing, but this time Violet and I got lucky... thank goodness!! By the time Rob noticed we hadn't been on stage yet, it was time to go!! Ah nuts!! :-)

It was fun seeing and catching up with the guys again!! It's not very often that folks from home make it out to the Pacific NW, so it's always nice to have friends out in my neck of the woods... even if it's only for a few hours!! OOhh... and check it out... all four of the guys' wives are expecting!! Fun times for the Pillar crew!!! And even though I didn't get to see them perform at the Roseland, the after-hours concert was just as entertaining, I'm sure!! :-)

I.heart.MatKearney

Mat Kearney rocks! And so does Portland, for that matter! I love live music... and there's so many flippin' opportunities to catch cool shows in awesome venues!! I've seen SO many great shows in the past 6 yrs... from Dr. Dre and Snoop to James Taylor. Well, this particular night, Violet and I caught Mat Kearney at the Aladdin. It was good times!!! Check out his site down below... Nothing Left To Lose and Undeniable are my favorites!!

http://www.myspace.com/matkearney