These pictures are totally out of order! I'm not a blogger expert yet so I can never figure out how to rearrange things once I get them on here. We just finished with a very busy week. Family came from Idaho and California for Thanksgiving. We had everyone here except Vanessa and her family. As carrying on with tradition (and keeping up with the Strasser family eating habits!) we had plenty of pies. I took a picture for proof. This year there were about 24 pies all in all. There are only 20 pictured here due to some early eaters. I was planning to make a traditional Tongan dessert but Joe says they don't have any! I still don't believe it so if any Utaatu family knows of a Tongan dessert or even one that we can pass as a Tongan dessert, please let me know! Once the crowd went home we got our Christmas tree. I really wanted something other than a Douglas Fir so we paid the big bucks and got this one. It cost us an arm and a leg despite it's small stature. Siosi had great fun helping us decorate it. She continues to decorate it and undecorate it all day long. This is going to be a problem for me!

For those who don't know Siosi is old enough for nursery now! Actually she just turned 19 months. The other day I was driving to an appointment and heard her singing in the back the nursery's clean up song. Now when we try to get her to clean up her toys we sing the song with her. She thinks its great fun.

Kalo is almost done peeling. It will be nice to have a baby with nice baby skin. She is always very hungry. I have to feed her all day. Her doctor told me to supplement with formula. She still eats all day! I'm hoping this is just a phase. Siosi loves Kalo. She tries to comfort her when she cries and is a great big sister. I just have to make sure she doesn't smash her head when she is kissing her! Kalo is smiling! She has such an angelic smile!

Joe is working hard at his job. We keep having more and more jobs come in despite the time of year! We know we are being blessed! We are trying to get enough money to get ourselves to Tonga to visit our family there.

Siosi was a bit scared. Not like her rocking horse at home!

Bath Time!

This is Kalo's first bath! I waited till her cord fell off so I could give her a real bath. These are the after bath pictures. Doesn't she look dashing in red?

Here is Siosi all ready to go to Grandma's house. I had been looking everywhere for these plastic boots so she could play outside and finally found some in her size!

Kalo out of focus.
These pictures are out of order. Sorry! Here is Kalo getting her bath. Her skin is peeling so bad that the water was pretty nasty looking when I was done bathing her.

I copied these pictures from my mom's camera. So here we have Joe with Kalo. Obviously the dates are all wrong! I had to put these pictures on too so I could copy them onto my computer.



The whole crew at the hospital. These are my brothers with their wives and children. Except Shawn. Luckily he isn't married.
Siosi at Grandma's with cousins Eliana and Kenzie
Painting pumpkins for Halloween at Grandma's.
Grandpa showed the girls how to paint their toes! What a mess!

Kah-low-lie-nay

There has been some confusion on how to pronounce Kalolaine's name so just to clarify, it is Kah-low-lie-nay!Here are a couple more pictures from the hospital.

Here are some more pictures!
Siosi loves to kiss Kalo!


One last hospital picture.

Kalolaine Gale 'Uta'atu!

Kalolaine has arrived! She was born Novemeber 7 at 6:06pm. I am so thrilled to finally have her with us. This pregnancy has been a breeze compared to the last and so was the labor. I didn't have to resort to any castor oil or other witches brew to start the labor. I came very close, however. The day before I had her I did a jog/walk to the church for our exercise class where I did laps around the gym. Then I did a jog/walk back home. I wasn't moving very fast for a normal person but for a big pregnant lady it was! I started into labor in the middle of the night and checked into the hospital by 1pm. I didn't think the labor pains were that bad until the car ride over. My mom drove me since Joe was working. He met us at the hospital. Luckily I had it all planned out and had packed extra clothes and things for him to take a shower at the hospital. So once we arrived, I began progressing very fast. I had an epidural soon after arrival and the rest was wonderful. I am such a fan of epidurals! It worked very well and didn't wear off this time. By 6:06 Kalo arrived! She is healthy and strong. Much larger than Siosi was. She was 8lbs 2oz and 19 1/2inches tall (Why do we say long?) So all in all this time around was a good experience. Un fortunaltely we have most of our pictures on my mom's camera. Joe only took these ones. This picture marks what I will be doing for the next 18 months (hopefully) with Kalo. It was the first time I changed her diaper!
Getting Kalo ready for her picture.
Siosi getting to know Kalo. She adores her. She always wants to hold her and give her uma (kisses). It is fun to watch them.
Here she is all ready to go home!

Baby Shower for Kalolaine

Here I am getting measured by Julene. Everyone had to guess how many T.P. squares around I was. Can you guess? Surprisingly enough almost everyone guessed right. OK I was a whopping 11 squares! Does that compare to what you measure? I hope not, if you aren't pregnant that is.
A very good friend of mine who I have know almost my whole life loves to spoil. She gave this rocking horse and the dress below among other things. Siosi goes wild on that horse. The thing makes neighing sounds and moves it's face and tail. Siosi yells at me to turn it on as she rides it. She rides so hard it seems as if she'll do a 360.
I'm going to have Siosi wear this dress for Christmas this year. Kalo will never know...
Here I am opening something...
Here I am thinking about what I opened. Or maybe I was thinking about all those toilet paper squares I was measured with.

These are the braves souls who lasted till the end of the shower. Some had to leave early. What a party! As of today I only have 12 days left till my due date. Hopefully I won't make it. I have officially found a nun costume for Halloween though. At least I have some incentive to not have the baby early. Also, I really would like to go trick or treating this year. It will be Siosi's first time! Who could miss that! The last time I went was with Sarah (girl pictured above to far left holding handsome babe) when we were seniors in high school. It would be nice to freshen up my skills again.

Fall Fun!

Saturday we followed our new tradition of going to the pumpkin patch and going through the corn maze. It was very fun this time since Siosi can walk. She ran like mad through it and ended up very muddy. We got to go on a tractor ride that takes you out to the corn fields and then at the end we got to pick out a pumpkin to take home. They have a little stand where you can pay for your pumpkin or fruit if you like. I ended up having to pay for more than just our pumpkin and indian corn. I found Siosi underneath the table eating an apple she found. So here is the first picture of Joe and Siosi on top of the world...or the haystack anyway.
Siosi on the haystack getting ready to jump. We really missed having Kylie, Peyton, Colton, and Bryce here this year. They had a blast on this haystack last year.
Joe with our pumpkin.
Yes, I'm still pregnant!
We made Siosi wear her halloween costume so we could take our Halloween pictures of her with the pumpkins. She looks a little like a devil but actually that is a lady bug costume!

Siosi with cousin Alyssa.
Oh, what love!