So long...Farewell..

Our cute little niece Zoe. She loves hanging out with Grandpa Milar, she stuck by his side through out the whole party.



These are my BFF's with their Hubbys (Susiane and Jon and Alithie and Levi) Thanks so much for throwing us a great farewell party. I can't wait to put this picture in my "you make my heart smile" frame that I recieved as a gift from Alithie.



Special thanks to my big brother for sacrificing sleep to help us move. He helped us for a couple hours before he had to work at 7:00pm and he returned at 7:00am to help us move the rest of our stuff before our farewell party. Also thanks to all our siblings/in-laws for helping us pack and load the moving truck.



During my childhood, I spent nearly every weekend with these girls. We'd dance to Vili Manilli and the Jet's. It's crazy that we're all adults now.





Grandma Mele, she was so sad to see us go she wouldn't let go of me.



Grandma Milar was just as sad, look at Grandpa Milar. He finds humor in everything, he's such a fun Grandpa.





My huge Tongan family (..this wasn't even all of us). Thanks for comming everyone, I love getting together with family.







Friends and Family...





More friends and family...



I was so stressed about cleaning our apartment, reality didn't hit me until we started driving to West Virgina. I cried for most of the morning, we will miss everyone so much. We look forward to visiting (I'd like to come home to meet the new baby arrivals, Mele Stewart due: August, Stacy Cazeau due: November and Alithie Rock due: November...we'll see if we could make it this Christmas. If not, we do have a web cam:)

Our Busy life!

The past two weeks have been crazy busy. I was asked to organize our ward/neighborhood's first annual 5k run. Members of the ward referred to me as a professional runner so I felt extremal pressure to make sure the race ran smoothly. I mapped out the run, ordered the bibs and the metals.
I knew that the number of runners would be relatively small because it was our first race so I tried to convince everyone I knew to run it.16 runners registered, I was so happy that there was more than Steve and Jim running.




Jim also ran a 10k earlier that morning. Everyone in the race was so impressed by his running abilities. He was injured and still managed to come in second place.



Although Steve has muscular built, he had never run a race before. I always tell him that he doesn't work for his muscles...they are inherited from our hardworking ancestors. Why didn't I inherit such a nice built? Here he is with my mom. He's wearing all my running gear. Don't worry, I only asked for my hydration belt and i-pod back.



Meanwhile, we have been trying to get a renter for our apartment. I've been posting our apartment on KSL and Craig's list at least every other day. Our apartment agreement is lame because we had to pay the whole months rent unless we get a renter before we leave. Next time I'll read the lease agreement more thoroughly, if we had known that we would have to pay $625 for only 11 days, we would have left on June
30th!
I'm really glad I'm not a manager, I've had a lot of weird folks ask strange questions and walk through our apartment.



This past week was also my last week at work as a Housing Counselor for Community Development Corporation of Utah. I was ready to be done but I didn't think I'd get emotional. Some people think I'm emotionless...call Spock because it is somewhat true. I was given a farewell card and it was quiet touching because in it listed all the things I had done to contribute to CDC. I actually felt like I played an important role...so yeah, it was a tearful ride home in the privacy of my car.

This week we've just packing like robots, I purchased plenty of bubble wrap to make sure nothing breaks. I'm a bit OCD about the way I pack, I like things organized and I really think it's driving my husband nuts. If he could, he would grab a whole drawer, dump it in a box and call it good. Doesn't fly with me so our packing has been slow and steady rather than rushed. It's hard to believe that at this time next week, we'll be in West Virgina. Wish us luck.

2 years of blissfull happiness!

Yesterday we celebrated our second anniversary. Sometimes I feel like Derek and I have just met, it's hard to believe that we have been married for 2 years! I love celebrating our anniversary, we reminise about everything good in our lives. This year has been an amazing year, we both agree that we have have been so blessed this year. Derek will be starting Medical School this fall and we are so excited.



This picture was taken on our second date...I was already so in love:)This picture was taken by one of my friends at the Goapele Concert.

Sibling Camp Trip 2009

Yes, that's snow. We were freezing when we arrived to the top of the mountain.





We look forward to our camp trip all year, last year we started the tradition because it was inexpensive and we had so much fun bonding with our siblings. This year we were determined despite the rain storms. We pitched our tents with extra tarps and slept through the rain on Wednesday night. The following day the weather was great, we rented four wheelers and enjoyed them all day...I personally think the great weather was an answere to our prayers. We had so much climbing the mountain and splashing through the mud puddles.



Skofeild had so much fun chasing the four wheelers. He loves to camp!



My sister Christina cooking us yummy skones for breakfast...my mom obviously didn't want to take a picture so early in the morning.





My mom is so funny, she kept saying that she wouldn't go though the river but once she did, she couldn't stop. Notice my poor sister Loni's face, dosn't she look terrified?



We decided to cut the trip a little short due to all the rain. Overall, we had a great time we hope we can make it back to Utaht for the next camp trip next year.

Derek turned 28 today just six days after I turned 27. According to Astrologists’ we are...Adaptable, versatile, communicative, witty, intellectual, eloquent, youthful and lively. Hurray for us, we’re a great match. I consider my self blessed to have Derek in my life, we are happily in love. I’m not going to get all sentimental…that’s just not me. I figure I’d share something silly instead.

Does anyone remember the fabric padded, laced photo albums we typically make in 2th or 3rd grade? I can’t remember how young we were but it’s really fun read what was written when we were so young. My album was white with blue polka dots. Skofeid, our puppy decided he didn’t like the smell; he destroyed it just two days after my husband convinced me to bring it home from my dad’s house. The album is a biography of you and your family.

My album is painfully embarrassing, I didn’t know how to spell and the stories I told seemed so bogus. Reading it makes me think ‘Dang, where the heck were my parents and why didn’t they help me?’ My album is disorganized; some pages are type written with a type writer while other pages were written in cursive. I found one page that was type written but I guest the ink ran out so the rest of it is written in my sloppy cursive.


In contrast, Derek’s album is perfect in every way. I guess he liked polka dots too because his album is red with white dots, it is nicely trimmed with white lace and two ribbons to tie it shut. Inside you will find that each page has neat cursive writing and each picture is properly labeled. His spelling and punctuation was excellent (I guess it helps to have native English speaking parents to help right? LOL).

Anyhow, I love, love reading Derek’s album. He wrote sweet things about his mother and father and funny things about his brother. His writing was simple, honest and positive; I find so much humor in reading it. Here is an excerpt from Derek’s personal essay on himself, written while he was in elementary:
“When I was one and a half I always have a pacifier. I had one in each hand and one in my mouth. If I lost one or someone took it away I would cry until I got it back. Once I lost one I had to have my dad go and buy me one at the store.”



Captions written Derek himself when he was a child “I loved my rapers they were fun”



“Me on my own first birthday with a nice hat”

Derek has several pictures of himself as a baby with a pacifier in at least one hand and one in his mouth. He was such a cute kid and he has become a very handsome adult. Happy Birthday Honey



Picture taken today, we love playing Mario Cart it is so addicting!

My Birthday

Happy Birthday me...I turned 27 yesterday, I woke up thinking 'I'm 27 and I still don't have children'. I shared the thought with my husband and he chuckled (I'm sure he's tired of my baby hungryness). In my mind I imagined that I'd have at least one child by now. I'm excited to experience parenthood, I know we have a puppy but it's not the same...wait I guess I can't really compare a puppy vs child because I don't have both to know the difference. I figure everthing will happen at the right timing. For now, I'll enjoy my husband all to myself.
I've had such a great birthday, my bestfriends went all out for me. On Saturday I ran 10 miles and then headed to Susiane's for a full body, deep tissue massage. Words can't explain how great that felt. We ate and caught up on life while we each recieved our 1 hr massage. Later we went out for pedicures, I never had one before and I was so excited. It was such a relaxing day, I'm going to miss hanging out with my girls.



I can't wait to show off my toes in sandals when my feet look this good:)




Thanks for the great Saturday and the birthday gifts girls! Also, thanks for the special post Susiane.

My husband of coarse was sweet as could be. He took the day off not knowing that I didn't. He made me breakfast in bed, brought me flowers to work and surprised me dinner at a yummy restraunt and gifts at home.




This picture on the box is misleading...it's just perfume everyone!

Graduation

My twin sisters Shenia and Shikura graduated from high school on May 22, 2009. We drove to Georgia to attend their graduation with my brother and his family. It was a fun short trip, we rotated between 4 drivers so it wasn't too bad, not mention the money we saved. We enjoyed spending time with family, we met up with all my dad's brothers and their families, a rare occastion for my dad's side of the family.





In Georgia, leis are unheard of. Everyone stared as we put the leis on my sisters. When my sisters explained to their friends that their siblings were half Tongan, they had never heard of Tonga. My sisters tried to explain, Polynesian culture and they responded, "isn't Polynesian a sauce?". I made these money leis for my sisters and they loved them.





Speaking of Graduation, a few weeks earlier Braxten finished his first year in pre-school. He requested a money lei after he saw the leis I made for Nia and Kura. Here he is with Siloni and I.



Two years ago on May 2007, I became the first college graduate of the Cazeau and Fevaleaki family. My parents didn't realize how much it would take to send me to college, my grandma Nativa secretly paid my housing while the government paid for tuition and books my first 3 years of college. When I returned home from my mission, I applied for financial aid but my application was denied. My parents made too much money it was great for them, sad for me. I took out several loans to cover my last two years of school. I don't regret it because the loans included a semester abroad. As of May 15th 2009 I have PAID MY LOANS IN FULL! I worked two jobs for the majority of this year in order to do so. I'm glad thats over with, my goal was to pay it off in one year but it was impossible with all the unexpected medical bills we had our first year of marriage. Now it's time to pay off our car...I'm still looking for a job in West Virgina, hopefully I find one soon.