Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like CHRISTMAS ;)

So I totally been slacking on my blog -_- I been so busy with families coming in and having to clean and what not, that i completely had NO TIME to blog. BUT I finally got the chance, so here I am!! :) Any-who after Thanksgiving, my family and I were preparing our LOVELY "Fale" (Home) for families that are flying in for a special occasion. :) My cousin Dezi and my Beautiful Mother Dear are GRADUATING this Saturday from BYUH!!! YYYYYAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!! :) I can honestly say I am ssssssooooo PROUD of my MOMMY! She specifically told me "NOT TO TELL ANYONE!" bbuuttt "OH WELL" lol. Its such good news, why would I keep it to myself. My cousin Dezi is a year younger then me and her family is flying down for her GRAD. day. Of course no one knew about my mom, cause she didn't want to spread her good news. WHY?? I absolutely have NO CLUE. lol. But I told a couple people anyway, well just family...she wasn't to happy when I told her I shared her news with some family members who will be attending!! :) But she kinda sorta got over it. lol. My Grandma and cousin Ada flew in from Samoa last week, and my other cousin Iris (Ada's older sister) flew in from Atlanta couple nights ago, and just yesterday Dezi's family (my uncle, aunt and cousins) flew in from Colorado. They are staying at a condo in Turtle Bay, but my Gramz, Ada and Iris are staying with us, so our house is pretty full. I LOVE IT!! Its always nice to have family over, especially Grandparents :) Plus Nahleah is enjoying the company, waking up to lots of people in the house then the usual. lol. Plus she gets to spend some time with her great Nana :) Since they got here, we didn't really do much except some shopping, and preparing for the BIG DAY! :) The only sad thing is, they aint staying for Christmas, so we're trynna spend as much time as possible with the Family :)

Something else I'm super excited about is my D.I.Y Christmas tree. I posted some pictures below of my beautiful creation. lol. Special thanks to the Lye Family Blog for sharing the info. I LOVE my Christmas tree, its sitting in the living room right by the t.v for all to see and admire. lol. Also we had our pixie. My Uncle and his family (dad's brother) are joining us along with my three cousins and their families, I'm SUPER stoked about that. We haven't had Christmas together for a long time due to different work schedules and what not. So it will be like old times :) Our pixie this year is a little different, I had everyone write down their name and list THREE things they want for Christmas that is under TWENTY DOLLARS! hahaha...Who ever picks another persons name, has a choice of what to buy for that person, and there is only one rule "YOU HAVE TO SPEND THE ENTIRE TWENTY DOLLARS" lol. I wanted to do this because I figured it would be fun, and everyone will get what they want, they just won't know which one it is. lol (If that makes any sense) lol And some of the things they listed were too funny..So I'm super excited for this Saturday and for the Holidays. :) But that's pretty much it on the update. Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

My D.I.Y Christmas Tree :)

Made out of a Magazine and Christmas Decorative String :) I ripped pieces from the string and glued them on, took a while to get it to look full, but it was worth it. I LOVE IT..:) (you can still kinda see the magazine underneath) still good for a first try though : p

:)

-Ruta

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND!

 

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! :)

Everybody looks forward to THANKSGIVING FEAST, (Who doesn't?!) The yummy turkey, pies, and the celebration are all GREAT. However, I personally think Thanksgiving is incomplete without a moment of reflection. :) I am thankful for my Heavenly Father, the gospel, the power of the priesthood & repentance, the plan of salvation, my AMAZING fam(ily), my GORGEOUS friends, a shelter over our heads, for the yummy foods&drinks, and LIFE!! I have so much more I am so thankful and grateful for, but those are some of the ones that's at the top of my "long" list. :) 
My families Thanksgiving day started at home with my family. We had our feast around 12pm, after that we got ready and headed to town to meet up with hubbys family. We spent some time with late Papa Vivao for a bit with the rest of the family. It was nice to have all his siblings and their families there. After that we headed to Waianae to spend some time with his dad Papa Fonoti and the rest of the family :) We pretty much ate the whole day, cause we ate again in Waianae. lol. I swear I think I gained like 15 pounds. Thru out the day, the company was GREAT, and the food was DELISH! My family and I have three different Thanksgivings, haha its a lot of driving, but we LOVE it, and we wouldn't have it any other way! :) Our Thanksgiving was full of LAUGHTERS, LOVE, ONO FOOD, AND GREAT COMPANY! :) Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving with your loved ones!



GO BIG RED!!

After Thanksgiving Day, It was GAME DAY (Friday) in Red RaiderNation. It was Kahuku vs. Punahou for the 2011 State Championship. The entire week I been waiting for this day, lol..like no joke. "Thats how you know I'm a die hard Red Raider fan/alumni!" hahaha This game was pretty much the talk of the entire week, when it finally came, I made sure I had my Kahuku gear ready to go. lol. My husband is a Leilehua Alumni, sssoo of course he wasn't as excited as I was, but he was still a good sport about it. hahaha. Hubby had to work so he left to work in the morning, I had him take extra clothes so he can get ready at his aunts place in Halawa (didn't want to be late to the game) haha, Nahleah and I caught ride with my parentals. We left early, like around 3pm, and the game doesn't start til 7pm. lol "Again-->DIE HARD FANS!!" haha. We left early cause there was a tailgate party, so we got to eat and chill with friends&families, until the game started. :)

I met up with the husby and his little nephew moments before the game started, when we finally got inside the stadium, it was PACKED with RED. Luckily I had one of my girlies save us seats in the orange section (cause that's where all the action is at) lol. The game was sssooo GOOD, the boys played their hearts out. And the stands were shaking (LITERALLY) from all the Red Raider Fans jumping and cheering the ENTIRE game. I'm telling you there aint no other Community or School like this. I could feel the energy and the excitement from everyone else. Its a "you just have to be there to experience it" feeling. My husbands family came to watch too, so it was nice to have them there and WITNESS what we RED RAIDERS are capable of!!! :) haha Next thing I know they all doing the TOMAHAWK CHOP! hahaha..Any-who Kahuku Won and the drive home was TEN MEAN!..lol The parade started from Ka'awa, like for real, there were people on the side of the road cheering and honking for days. The parade lasted for a long time, cause when I finally went to sleep, I can still here people screaming and honking, and this was like 3 something in the A.M. lol My husband had sssooo much fun that he LOST his voice, bahhahaha. So much for the Mighty Mules. lol. So that's ONE more thing to be GRATEFUL and THANKFUL for...is to be a part of this AMAZING COMMUNITY, and to have graduated from the BEST HIGH SCHOOL EVER-->Kahuku High and Intermediate High School! :) This WIN was much needed after what had happened last year. After all the pain this community and school went thru, in the end WE CAME BACK ON TOP, and brought both the O.I.A title and STATES title back to where it belongs :) So basically this ENTIRE weekend it was nothing but HONKING and CHEERING, CELEBRATING OUR WELL EARNED WIN! I LOVE MY COMMUNITY!! WE TRULY ARE IN IT FOR LIFE! :) RRFL <3

 Red RaiderNation doing what they do BEST :)

Tailgating :)

Oh YEAAH *Recruits* lol :)

2011 O.I.A CHAMPS & STATE CHAMPS!! CHHEEEHHHOOOO :)

--Ruta

ONE Step CLOSER!

Planning is so EASY to do, but going about in fulfilling those plans is another story. I am HAPPY to say that today (Sunday), my husband (Justin Alalita Fonoti) finally got his MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOOD!! Yayyy! After all the preparing and interviews, he finally did it :) I am sssoo proud of him, and forever grateful for his LOVE & DETERMINATION. Before we got married, we've talked about ETERNITY, and now that we're married, ETERNITY became an everyday goal. It was hard at first, but with the LORD on our side, I know we could overcome the obstacles and challenges we would face.

Marriage is a challenge in itself, I've learned to be more PATIENT, UNDERSTANDING, and FORGIVING. I really didn't understand what i was really getting myself into, when I said "I DO". To me (back then) Marriage was just marrying the person you Love and want to be with for the rest of your life. I never really gave it much thought then just that. But til this day I have NO REGRETS whatsoever about our (or MY) decision. :) We been married now for two years, soon to be three, and we decided its TIME to make it ETERNITY. We been talking and thinking about it for quite some time now, but we never really put it in "ACTION". It was just "TALK". 

  My parents have been asking countless times, "When are you guys taking your family to the temple? You need to hurry up and do that!" And I would always brush it off, but deep down in my heart I knew I had to do just that. One night I couldn't go to sleep, it was weird, cause I was super tired, but I just couldn't close my eyes and go to sleep. All I could think about was my parents, and how they seem to have everything down. I kept asking myself "how do they do it?" "how do they juggle so much and still have time for church and their callings?" "why am I not like them?" "why can't I be more faithful and righteous?" and the questions go on. The next day, I emailed my mom (yes, we email each other even though we live and see each other everyday) lol. asking her all those questions I was thinking. She emailed me back saying "I do all this because of FAITH and LOVE for my Heavenly Father and my FAMILY"..I pretty much cried the entire time reading her email. That email changed my thoughts immediately after reading it. :) 

  With that, I talked to my husband about my experience and just shared my thoughts, and he too agreed. I told him we can't wait anymore, its NOW or NEVER, we need to do this not just for US, but for our growing DAUGHTER (and of course future kids) So lately we been working towards Eternity, its a slow process, but we're GETTING CLOSER!! I am Excited, Happy and Truly Thankful that we both came this far, and we continue to strive for our GOAL. With that said, I LOVE MY FAMILY AND MY HEAVENLY FATHER, Im forever GRATEFUL for the Plan of Salvation and of course the Teachings of the Gospel. I honestly don't know where I would be without it. **FAMILIES ARE ETERNITY**

-Ruta

BIRTHDAY/HALLOWEEN UPDATE

BIRTHDAY GIRL <3

Okay so I been behind on my posts, so i figured I would do an update on EVERYTHING, instead of posting like three different blogs in one day. haha. So lets starts with Nahleahs 2nd Birthday! Her birthday was on Oct. 14th (last month). My hubby was not here for 2nd bday, cause he was in Alaska for his cousins wedding. I wanted him to take her with him, but when I thought about, he's going to be busy with the wedding, and Nahleah doesn't go to just anybody. lol. So she stayed home with me. The night of her Birthday, we had cake & ice cream. I had my two besties come over to celebrate. (Jieni&Kerri) It wasn't anything BIG, just a little gathering with my family and friends :) Aunty Jieni made cupcakes, (Nahleahs FAVORITE!) Before we sang Happy Birthday, i Oovoo'd her daddy in Alaska! Once I got him on, we all sang Happy Birthday together, like 3 times (no joke) lol. It was really nice to have him on Oovoo cause even though he was far away, he still got to sing and see her blow her candle. :) After cake and ice cream and hot dogs *lol* we did our nails! The next day, my mom and I took her to the Disney Hotel that just opened. There we had breakfast with Mickey and friends :) Nahleah was sssssooooo EXCITED, it was just too cute! We got to take pictures with the characters, and the food was DELICIOUS! :) It was a GREAT ending to her Birthday, I know she LOVED every minute of it. Here are some pics of her Special Day! <3

Breakfast with MICKEY & FRIENDS :)

PERFECT ENDING <3

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Hope everyone had a GREAT&SAFE Halloween! :) This year is Nahleah's #3 Halloween. We started with the L9 Primary Trunk or Treat! It was FUN, seeing all the kids and some or the ADULTS in their Halloween costumes! :) Nahleah had fun, she didn't really get the concept of things, but when she realized what they were putting in her bucket (CANDY) she started getting the hang of things. lol. I think we went around the parking lot 3 times. lol. Then on Halloween night, we went Trick or Treating in town with my in-laws :) Dang Trick or Treating in town was pretty good, we had to dump Nahleahs basket like 4 to 5 times. lol. The area were we were at was nice, I think it was somewhere in Aiea. haha Im not good with locations in town, after all I am a Country girl. lol. Nahleah was a LADY BUG and my hubby was a RUGBY PLAYER. haha. I went as MYSELF :) We all had fun and so did my little Lady Bug! 

L9 Primary Trunk or Treat

Trick or Treating w/Family

--Ruta

Our Mother Daughter Adventure :)

So we just got back from our mother daughter adventure/vacation! We flew up to Arizona to visit family in Phoenix and Mesa. The flight was alright, due to the fact that it was only me and Nahleah traveling. It was my first experience in traveling alone with her. At first I thought "OMG its going to be a VERY long plane ride!" lol BUT she wasn't too bad. She slept the beginning of the flight, and awake the rest of the way. I tried my best to keep her happy, and it worked. lol. When we landed, I was like "Thank Goodness..ITS OVER, YESSSS!!" lol. We stayed with my aunt (moms little sister) and her family in Mesa. She's got three little girls, so you could already imagine, it was a slumber party every night for nahleah and the girls. lol. We got see the rest of the family, (my moms got a bunch of siblings living in the same area), so it was really nice to see everyone again. We stayed in Arizona for 5 days, then it was bye bye Arizona and HEELLLOO Utah!:)

FLIGHT TO ARIZONA

Having fun with the Medley girls :)

Flight to UTAH!! Slept the whole wayy :)

We flew to Utah cause we were meeting up with my parents. They were having a school reunion thing in Utah, plus we had family there that we have not seen for years! (Dads siblings and their families) The plan was my parents flew out to vegas from hawaii on Monday arrive in Vegas the next morning, then drive up in time to pick us up from the airport in Utah. "Yeah NO" lol. Their flight got delayed so we had my aunt (Dads Sister) pick us up. We stayed with her while my parentals stayed at a hotel. They wanted to be close to their reunion stuff, so they chose to stay there until Friday then they came and stayed with us at my aunts. Nahleah was shy for the first couple days, after that she was okay. I have not seen my dads side for quite some time, and it was ssooo GGOOODDD to reunite with them. :) We all had a great time in Utah. We got to go shopping, and we had a big family BBQ. And not to mention the CONFERENCE! I absolutely LOVED the prophets talk. After we watched the conference we left that sunday to drive to Eagle Mountain to go and stay with my uncle (moms brother). We stayed there our last night, then the next morning we started our long drive to Las Vegas. It was a 6 hour drive, my dad drived the whole way and OMG i seriously thought we weren't gonna make it...ALIVE. lol. He was speeding the whole way, my mom and i kept yelling "SLOW DOWN!!" lol. We were driving back to Vegas to catch our flight back to Hawaii. The flight wasn't until 6 pm. So we were ok on the time, since we left early that morning. We made sure Nahleah was kept occupied the entire ride. lol. We got there only to get lost looking for the rental car place to return the rental. SMH. "The driver (my dad) and the co-pilot (my mom) are FIRED!!" lol. My dad was following the g.p.s and my mom was following the signs telling my dad to go here and there, when the g.p.s is doing the same thing LOL...so we got lost. Lucky thing i was there, or we would have missed our flight. lol. We returned the car and caught a shuttle to the airport. And finally got our stuff checked in and made it to our gate with plenty of time to kill. I was so ready for the day to be over. lol. But all in all our trip was GREAT. I loved every bit of it, even the part where we got lost. lol. And I know Nahleah had a great time too. She got to visit three different states all at once :) But next time we will just stick to flying, NO MORE DRIVING! lol

The Family in Utah <3

Drive from Utah to Las Vegas

The Ending of an AMAZING VACATION :)

--Ruta

Our PRIDE & JOY

Introducing my MINI ME! 

Born: Oct. 14th, 2009

Weight: 8 pounds & 13 oz

Height: 21 in. 

Nahleah-Ruenita Lesalamasina Rusia Fonoti

I know this was a couple years ago, but i still felt the need to tell HER story :) Especially since i kinda sorta already told mine and hubby's story. So here it is, The day I found out i was expecting, is a day i will NEVER forget. My girl friends were the first to know, then Justin, then my parents. When I told Justin the news, his reaction was better then i thought.  lol. The pregnancy was a GROWING&LEARNING experience for me. It had its UPS&DOWNS. Growing up in the LDS church, this is a BIG NO NO. With my parents being the strong members they are in the teachings of the church, hearing this baby news was shocking & hard. If you are a member and is Polynesian, "you already know, how it goes". I'm not gonna sit here and tell you EVERYTHING was fine and happy go lucky, cause it wasn't at FIRST. Telling my parents the news was sssoo hard&scary, but it was something i had to do. So i did, I told my mom first, then my dad. I could honestly say that this was the FIRST time I saw my parents so HURT&HEARTBROKEN. :( But even with all that, they still helped me thru it all. I wasn't able to see Justin, cause he left to Arizona for college. So I was pretty much on my own, until he's done with school. As the days, months pass, things got a little easier, I went to my appointments on my own, sometimes with my friends or with my mom. When Justin finally finished school he flew back to Hula Land and finally saw me with my baby bump. haha I was already on my 3rd trimester, I think I was 8 months. When he came back, he was always there with me, taking me to my appointments, feeding me (lol) ALWAYS making sure I was ok & happy. A couple days later we told his side of the family the news, lol. Yeah, we didn't tell them the news, cause he wanted to be with me when he told them. They too were shocked&upset, but things were good after that. The day Baby girl finally came, is a day I will NEVER forget. I had contractions after our dinner date, it got worse when we got home, so he rushed me to Kapiolani with the rest of the family on their way. lol. I don't know how we got to the hospital so fast, but we did. They got me all ready. I was induced, cause my water didn't break, as soon as they did that, I started coming down with a fever, and babys heartbeat started dropping, so they rushed me to the E.R for emergency  C-SECTION. I chose my dad to be there, because it was his first grand baby and i wanted him there (sorry babe!) lol. I was sssooo high from the morphine they gave me, I couldn't really move..lol, I could see everything, but i was just in LALA LAND. They finally got her out, and i heard her CRY :) My dad cut her umbilical cord and walked out with her...YES HE LEFT ME IN THE E.R AND FOLLOWED THE DOCTOR OUT WITH BABY. lol. *thats what i get for picking him* lol It felt so GOOD to see everyone SMILE and LAUGH and BE HAPPY :) After she arrived, everything fell into place!! :)

"A baby will make LOVE STRONGER, DAYS SHORTER, NIGHTS LONGER, HOME HAPPIER, the PAST FORGOTTEN, and the FUTURE WORTH LIVING FOR"

NAME STORY:

Nahleah is a name I came up with. I liked the name Naia and Leah, but my parents didn't like any, so i put it together and came up with Nahleah. :) As for Ruenita, its a name my mom came up with when we were still looking for baby names. lol Its our names put together..RUta-bEN-rusIa-TAvita.. (my families first names) And because they wanted her to have that as her first name, i had no choice but to combine the names to make ONE LOOONNNGGG first name. lol (Nahleah-Ruenita) 

Her middle name is LESALAMASINA. Its my friends and my name put together, its also a "taupou name" But its..LEthe from my middle name, SALAseini is from Jieni's middle name, MAota is from Kerri's middle name, and last but not least is FogaSINA from Sina's first name! :) And RUSIA is my moms first name.

 (yes, she demanded that i name my first girl after her)*rolling eyes* lol And of course FONOTI for our lastname :)

Hope that wasn't too confusing. lol

 Kapiolani Medical Center

2 Days old <3

Nahleah is now 1 soon to be 2! Her terrible 2's started already!! SMH Time is flying by so fast, its crazy and sad. She already knows her ABC's and her 1,2,3's :) She catches on real quick, so we have to be careful at what we say around her, cause next thing you know, shes repeating everything your saying. lol. We try our best to teach her whats right from wrong, but sometimes SHE ends up teaching my husband and i a few things about being a parent. We learned so much from her, everyday its something new. <3 She LOVES playing with my makeup and hair products, we already know daddy is gonna be spending a lot of money when this one hits her teens lol *SMH* She also LOVES to DANCE & SING. :) She may look like me, but she has her daddy's talents and personality. Our little princess is a handful and there are times where we have "screaming in the pillow" moments lol, but we are so BLESSED and THANKFUL that Heavenly Father chose us to be her parents/family <3 We LOVE her to NO END!

--Ruta

Playing with lipstick&eyelashes ;p

Always SMILING :)

Happily M.A.R.R.I.E.D

MARRIAGE: The social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.

Laie Temple, Hi

  "I LOVE BEING MARRIED. ITS SO GREAT TO FINALLY FIND THAT ONE PERSON YOU WANT TO ANNOY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE." :p

We got married on March 20th 2010. It was a bittersweet moment for the both of us. It meant no more sleep overs or late night outings with the friends, but it was a NEW CHAPTER for the both of us :) Before i go on, let me take you back and tell u about how i found the LOVE of my life <3

It was December of 2008. I met him at a church function, (yes i know, who would've thought, right!!??) lol it was a singles outing, for my cousins ward. My cousin convinced me to go with him, so i did. The activity was bowling night, and there, HE first laid eyes on ME. hahaha, We didn't talk to each other that night, but we did ask other people who each other were. [If that makes any sense] So pretty much nothing was really said at the bowling activity, because he was too shy to approach me, AFTER he got my NAME WRONG..i guess he was trynna be slick and say "Hi Ruta" but instead he said "Hi Rita" and yes i corrected him and that was it, for that night. lol BUT he some how found me on facebook!! :p We exchanged numbers, and from there we dated and started a relationship that led to OUR BEAUTIFUL daughter & our AMAZING MARRIAGE.<3

 People have asked us so many times about how we met, and that's the story we would tell them. Its funny to look back and think man I never thought HE would be the ONE. :) Til this day i still tell him that. <3 I am VERY BLESSED & LUCKY to have him in my LIFE. We have had many ups and downs, but who doesn't? The first year of our marriage was challenging. They say the first year is always hard, and they weren't lying. lol. But TOGETHER we overcame those obstacles, and we learned from them.

Marriage takes teamwork, trust, honesty, effort, patience and lots and lots of LOVE with a pinch of UNDERSTANDING :) Oh and lets not forget Communication! That alone helps a lot too. Keeping things to yourself, will only drive you crazyy, trust me. lol. At first it was hard, but we learned to communicate and be more open to each others ideas&opinions. 

One of are biggest challenges was dealing with each others past. It took awhile for us to accept each others past and move on. It wasn't easy, but we did it. We say "YOUR PAST IS WHAT MADE YOU & IT LED YOU TO ME" :) and with that said we put the past in the past and moved on! Sometimes the BETTER comes after the WORST. Marriage is NOT easy, the trials and tribulations through your marriage is a test of how strong your love is for each other. And I'm happy to say that we are still going strong. :)Through thick and thin I absolutely positively LOVE LOVE LOVE my husband and I'm forever grateful to have him in my life! <3 this ones for you Justin Alalita Fonoti!! 
Thank You for EVERYTHING that you have done and continue to do for OUR little FAMILY :)

Thanks for reading & happy Monday to you all! 

--Ruta

 

Our Wedding Song <3

^^ Mr.&Mrs Fonoti :)^^

^^First FAM[ILY] Pic as the FONOTIS :)^^

^^The Ladies^^

^^The Gents^^

First Blog "The Intro"

I been wanting to start a blog for quite some time now, but i never got around to it. Until a couple days ago i discovered one of my besties had started her own, ssooo BIG thanks to her for INSPIRING & PUSHING me to finally start. =) 
Now where to begin. <3 My name is Ruta Fonoti. Born in Samoa, Raised in Hawaii. Graduated from the one and only Kahuku High, C/O 2007! Woop! Woop! :D Attended college in Vancouver, WA. After I finished there I came back home, and here I met my AH-MAY-ZING husband (Justin Fonoti). Then on Oct. 14th of 2009 we had a BEAUTIFUL daughter (Nahleah-Ruenita Fonoti):) That had to be the best day of our lives, well not really, cause i was in so much pain, but you know what i mean.:p Then on March 20th of 2010, we made it official :)Its been a year and five months and we are still going STRONG! <3 

We are currently living in Kahuku, soon moving to the SLUMS [WAIPAHU] haha *jokes* --> "I will talk about that on another post" lol But thats pretty much it.I hope i didn't bore you to death with my mini version of my life story. lol Thanks for reading and hope you all have a WONDERFUL week.
--Ruta

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