Jolly ol' weekend

What a great weekend the Ta'ase family had! It started off Friday night with the ward Christmas party. It was different in that, instead of coming in nice church attire we were asked to dress as if we were in Jesus' time. The first few pix in the slideshow are my attempt at that look. It was fun though. Each family brought their own blankets to sit on (in the cultural hall), and they had "tents" set up as a bakery, meat shop, fruits and nuts shop, and there were others but I can't remember what they called them. Anyway it was very relaxing and the food was simple but GOOD! The kids really loved dressing up and running around with their friends. For those of you that don't live in AZ, I should tell you that it rained all Friday night. We LOVED it until we had to pack all the kids into and out of the car in the rain. There were a few slips and falls but it was fun.

Saturday morning the kids all woke up real early because they knew we had a full day of Christmas shopping for presents, a tree, and a visit to see the temple lights. Fasi went to school to study for finals all morning so it was pretty lax. My sister, Tasi, came over to the house with our nephews Gene-boy and Nu'u to play. When Fasi got home around 3 he was of course hungry and so we decided to all go out for pizza. I was so happy to go out for a meal rather than cook one up at home...plus I knew once lunch was over we would start our Christmas shopping. Lunch was yummy! We ate at the Barro's near our home and although everyone was full and kind of tired I made them all say good-bye to Tasi and their cousins and headed off to the mall.

I wanted to hit up as many Lane Bryant's as I could to use that awesome coupon, and so at the first mall, only I got out. Fas and the kids were too full and tired still so they waited in the car. When I got to LB it was packed! They had a huge sale going on that stated everything in the store was 40 percent off. I grabbed some jewelry for my sister's and niece in Samoa and then waited in line. Of course the line I stepped into was the shortest but the customer at the counter had 3 different transactions,and 2 returns with a lost receipt, etc. It took forever!! The one customer standing in front of me who was next in line, kept turning to me and rolling her eyes...to show me how irritated she was with that customer. I said something like "looks like we stepped into the wrong line", and she fervently nodded her head in agreement. The woman with all the transactions and returns turned her head and said very snidely and loudly "yeah, IT HAPPENS! We all get in a wrong line every once in a while but we just DEAL WITH IT." I was like....HOLD UP....are you talking to me? LOL! So we exchanged a few words (I promise nothing too mean) and then I got into the 1 other line that had 4 people, now 5 with me in it. By the time I got to the register the snide remark lady had just got done checking out, so I was happy that I decided to change lines. Anywho, as we drove to the next mall I told Fasi about the LB sale and he asked me why I didn't get anything else, besides the jewelry. So, when we got to Fiesta Mall we all got out, Fasi took the boys and he told me to go ahead and get whatever I wanted at LB. Again, I was like...HOLD UP...for reals? YEAAAA!! He didn't have to tell me twice! I took the girls and headed for my shopping spree. I got $312 worth of clothes and jewelry, but with the sale and coupon I only spent $180. LOVED IT! I thanked Fasi about 20 times for giving me the freedom to do that and then we headed off to see the temple lights.

*Oh and just in case anyones wondering why I was so excited to go shopping for myself, it's because the last time I did that was in 2005. I've put off shopping for so long because I don't want to buy clothes in this size, BUT I'm also sick of looking HOMEY and DINGY in my sweats and Fasi's sweaters. So, I've come to terms with my body...for now...and I love that I now have options in my wardrobe!! SWEEET!

Ok, so off to the temple lights we went. It was soooo cold! I think it was the coldest night yet for this winter. Good thing I had grabbed all the kids christmas blankets before we left the house. We all enjoyed the Christmas lights. A lot of that had to do with how excited we were for Sunni-girl. She LOVED em! After making the full round, we jumped back into the car and headed off to Target for a Taase Christmas tradition. Every year we all pick out one new ornament for ourselves and then one family ornament. We put our names and the year on the one we picked out and then whoever is spending Christmas in the Taase home gets their name put on the family ornament. Our very first Taase Christmas ornament is dated 2002 and there are 4 names on it...Fasi, Tafi, Silia and Apolo. Love that! So after Target we headed out for the other part of the Taase Christmas tradition, which was picking out a Christmas tree at Home Depot. By the time we got the tree and then got home it was after 10. The kids were cold and tired but still wanted decorate the tree. We have church at 9 am so I assured them that Sunday after church, the tree would still be there and we'd decorate it then. Fas and I actually stayed up til after 3 that night. He needed to study for finals and wanted me to stay up with him so I did.

With the little sleep I got that night, I was surprised and pleased that the kids and I made it to church on time (Fasi and Puka stayed home....they were still sleeping when we left). After church, the kids ran upstairs and changed faster than they ever have and we trimmed the tree! It was such a process but it was fun. So now it really feels like Christmas in our home (and smells like it too). The kids are so happy and truthfully, isn't that all that matters!? LOVE IT!