this weekend

I havent been remembering to take alot of pictures lately and no pictures means I have nothing to blog about. So I'm glad I got some cute ones this weekend.

On Saturday morning we went to the Highland HS track. We've been going alot lately..Steven plays bball while Bastien plays in the sand next to him and I take the babies around in the stroller on the track. Yesterday it was my 3rd time running 2 miles straight. I go at a pretty slow pace (it takes me 24 mins everytime) but I'm excited for this small accomplishment and I owe it all to Sione doing that half marathon in December. Before that I couldnt run 3 minutes without stopping. After seeing Sione's pace in that 1/2 marathon I couldnt look at running the same way. So I've been slowly building my endurance up..who knows maybe I might have the guts to run a half marathon someday. ("Whoa..Dream big!" -i love that part on Juno)

We bought a van a few weeks ago, it's an astro van that was in great condition and had the sweet wood upgrades haha! (gladiator style baby) it's got mood lights and everything. The best part is that we dont have payments on it! We love it!

Dont be hatin if you see us cruisin in our pimped out astro.

Bastien and his booger rash. When do they learn not to wipe their boogies across their face?!

We went to the park on Saturday for my nephew Grant's 12th birthday. I cant believe my first little nephew is a deacon! Check out my sisters blog and see the awesome cake Mary made for Grant. She keeps getting better at it.

The babies loved walking everywhere. They will love it when we actually have a backyard. Embry's an adventurous little boy. I'm gonna have to remember to keep an extra eye out for him. He's really fast,too.

Embry taking off and Steven running after him...

little monster!

My sisters best friend Dendi (She's the black teams-Dane's sister from the Biggest Loser! ..small world huh?) and her family were at the party..it was nice to see her since she's moving to Texas next month! I bet she and Brandi are way excited to live near eachother again! I remember feeling that way when Ana moved back to AZ

Bastien and Lana..they are the cutest. They are 6 weeks apart in age and they always stick together. They may fight sometimes but they mostly love eachother:) Bastien always asks if Lana will be at Grandmas when we go there.

Sorry for the picture overload.

pouty lip

I found this picture on my camera. I'm trying to figure out how Steven had the camera at the exact moment of Embry's pouty lip? I'm thinking it was a planned scenario...what a meanie! Isnt that the saddest little face you ever saw?

little monkeys

They're cute when we lift them up near the tree outside our apartment. They both laugh and close their eyes when they feel the leaves touch them.

Read this

It's an interview with Mandi (who just got eliminated last Tuesday) I love that she helped clear up some of what was going on. I'm tired of reading bad stuff about my family so I think I'm done reading the message boards at NBC.com. It used to be fun reading the positive stuff people would say about SIone and Filipe. But it has blown way out of proportion and it's not fair because the whole story wasnt shown. I love how Sione and Filipe dont even care about any of the rude criticism and just let it roll of their backs...but this is just me being annoyed at it all. Anyways,

Here are the highlights if you dont wanna read the whole article.

Kramer added later that she thought the rift between Fam and Michaels -- which led to the cousins returning to Bob and training with him for their last chance workouts -- had developed before Michaels didn't work out Fam when they were shown in the gym together on Tuesday's broadcast. She added that conversations with Black team member Tara Costa, a 23-year-old finance manager and former model from New York, NY, had revealed that there was so much bad blood between the two that Michaels may have had an ulterior motive for not personally working Fam out in the gym.

"I think she did it intentionally, and that's only because that whole week and that week before, I used to talk with Tara and Jillian [said] at some point that she wanted to get rid of Filipe," Kramer told reporters. "And so I think [Filipe] heard word of that and that's what made him so mad in the first place."

"If anyone there's playing a game it's Jillian the most, and I think that it sucks to say that, but she really made him feel like an outsider," she added.

Kramer also said that while she did not know if Fam had done anything specifically to upset Michaels, she suggested did have a tendency to have "her favorites" and go to greater lengths to help them succeed.

"I really think she wanted Tara to be [there] for the long haul and she was just trying to eliminate anyone that was going to get in her way."

"BL 7 gone wild!"

One thing that has kinda bothered me so far is how they portray Sione as this very serious sullen person. Tonights episode I noticed a couple split second parts where they cut off Sione starting to do something funny....and I wanted to see the rest of it! I love Filipe to death..but he's not the only "funny" one of the 2. Sione is hilarious and I just wish they would show how he is most of the time. As for all the drama with Jillian, they will never show all the details involved because they didnt get it all on film. I dont want to explain or go into detail on this public blog But there was definitely some behind the scenes stuff that gives more reason to why they were so fed up with Jillian. I would have left to go train with Bob, too. Anyways, Sione and Filipe are great guys, we all know that! I cant wait for next weeks episode! They will be coming home for a week (they wont say but it was for Christmas) and it was defintely emotional seeing how much they had changed! They filmed for days that week: at the homecoming party (which was actually my Aunt's wedding reception) and at my parents house alllllll day looong...ANd at their suprise at home challenge! (That was a fun day! I wish I brought my camera) They interviewed my parents and my older brother Vuna so we'll see what actually ends up on the episode. They even recorded Embry playing outside (one of the producers kept saying how beautiful the twins were..of course!) but I bet they will only show a few seconds of all that filming! I will write more about it next week! Here are the only pics I remembered to take the day they came home! We joked about how Sione looks like Sayid from Lost!

Mary drew big heads of Sione and Filipe, and we glued them on sticks. I was at Americopy making copies of them and the guy asked me what they were for and after telling him (Mary had drawn their heads as fat people..look at the pic below) the guy said (pointing to Sione's pic) "He looks alot like you" I was like "Gee, thanks... I hope not" It was a character drawing! and he's all "No..it's the lips" yeah nice save buddy..you just told me I looked like one of those huge head character drawings! K thanks see ya.

Jasper's 1st haircut and random pictures...

Before

After

I'm still getting used to it. I dont like my boys hair cut too short and Steven cut it pretty dang short. It'll be perfect in a month. There is no way he is getting near Embry's frizzy curls. I love them, I cant wait for there to be a whole head of them!

This is last Sunday after we got back from Tucson we just took it easy bc we were pretty pooped from the weekend. The babies were napping and I was in my room reading. It was quiet in the living room and I came out and thought this was a cute picture. Steven was reading and Bastien was sitting by him playing with Steven's itouch. This pic doesnt really show, but Bastiens face was a mess this weekend! He ran into an ocotillo tree thorn, bumped faces with Evan, bumped something unknown again, and his lips and whole left cheek was chapped because he kept wiping his boogers across his face....gross. And he has a nice little habit of sucking on his shirt.

This is about 4pm everyday when daddy gets home from work.

just transfering pics from my moms comp...

to my my computer..

Episode 8 part 1

Tonights episode wasnt dramatic at all! So Sione was totally pissed he didnt win and lost Bob as a trainer. To us it may seem like it's not that big of a deal to switch trainers. But over there you are in a bubble. Away from any contact from home, spouse, away from your kids. All you have is your trainer and your team mates. And the the relationship and bond you've created. And for everything to turn upside down like that. Especially when you trust and count on your trainer as much as I know that Sione and Filipe did.. I think they were in a state of shock when everything changed. So of course there was alot of venting on their end, because no one likes change when things were really good before. I had heard that Bob cried but I was still suprised to see how hard he took it. It was understandable because you can tell he had a great bond with his team. But, I was very giggly at this part.. because of the sad violin music, the cheesy song they played and how nbc defintely played it up as sappy as they could! Oh, and Sione's.."Uhhhhhhh..no" about Mandi suggesting they all quit. It was cool how he spoke up and kept everyone going! When he was home that month in October, at my parent's house we watched the episode of last season where everyone decided to quit hiking during that 14 hour challenge and take a nap. We thought that was pretty lame. When Mandi was talking about suggesting that to everyone, I knew Sione wouldnt go for it. Oh-by the way it was a wrap for filming at BL last Saturday and we saw Filipe on Monday and he looks awesome! Sione and Filipe both do! Too bad I cant post some pics! If you're lucky..you might run into one of them at the store or something and get to see them before the finale:)

Also I've been reading the NBC forums and there has been alot of trash talk about Bob and his contestants getting so upset about the switch. And I just checcked the board again and saw a few people sticking up for them..I couldnt have said it better myself! Here's what they said:

"A lot of people seem to be upset with the contestants, but I understand where they are coming from. My heart broke for Bob and his team last night, I think they have formed a really tight bond and it was obvious from the way they all were last night. I don't think it's just about having someone to tell you to do one more, or pushing in the gym, but it's about what their trainer has meant to them on a personal level and how they have invested not just their bodies, but their hearts and souls into that bond as well. Many past contestants talk about how close they were with their trainers in a relationship that continues to this day, and I don't think it's out of line for them to be hurt and sad over the change they didn't think would ever have to come. It just seemed like Bob's team was really close, at least they appeared closer than I've ever seen Bob with his past teams before.I'm sure they'll get used to it, but I'm not going to get down on them for being extremely upset that first day/week or whatever. And I don't blame Sione in particular for how upset he was, it has to weigh on his mind that not only was he one jump away from keeping Bob, but because of the coin toss, Tara would have gotten to stay with Laura and keep her trainer anyway. I don't think Sione was just upset over losing Bob, he seems like a really caring and genuine guy, and he probably feels like he hurt Filipe too by missing it by just and inch."

Then in response to this someone wrote:

"Very well said! I don't understand why so many people seem so upset with Bob's and the contestants breakdown last night. We're not there. We don't know what's it's like for these contestants. They are away from their families, work out 6 hours a day, and become VERY dependant on their trainers, so I can see how switching trainers would be so upsetting. They will adjust to their new trainers, just as Bob and Jillian will adjust to their new teams. Bob was obviously more attached to this group of individuals than he has been in past seasons, and I can see why. In my opinion, this is the best group of contestants they have ever had on the show. There's not one of them that I don't like. They all have such big hearts and are there for the right reasons, which is something I can't say about the contestants from last season. So, try to not be quite so hard on them. Afterall, they are the ones living the experience and we are just watching on our TVs."

Grateful

It's been a year since one of the scariest day of my life. The day I thought my 2 week old baby was dying in front of me. There wasnt alot of communication from the time they did the EKG to him being run to the emergency room. SO I'm thinking he's having a heart attack. But luckily SVT is the type of thing that can be helped immediately with the right treatment. The thing I'm so thankful for is his pediatrician and the fact that he caught it in enough time since it can really wear out a newborns heart. I'm also very grateful that his heart looked perfect in the ultrasound and he's never had an episode since. He stopped his medication at 6 months and the doctor said that there is a possibility that it can come back when he's older and is active and plays sports or whatever. But it's easier to see the symptoms when they are older because they can tell you something is wrong. Jasper just seemed like a very good baby and a great sleeper! I would have to wake him up to eat, he'd eat then fall back asleep. Looking back that was lethargy and that is a symptom. But thats why its so scary with newborns, only a pediatrician couldve caught it.

Jasper is such a sweet little spirit and I cant imagine my life without him!

-He's so lovey and sweet to me all the time. When I hold him I can definitely count on him resting his head on my chest. Which I love cause Bastien was not a cuddler whatsoever. And Embry is too busy these days for mushy stuff.

-I love how he points to things and says "Hassa" (What's that) in a cute little whisper.

-He is going to be the peacemaker, I can tell. I can count on one hand the times I've seen him take a toy away from his brothers and he still loves Bastien and smiles at him even though Jasper seems to be the one who gets picked on by Bastien all day.

-He's got such a sensitive little heart:) His pouty lip makes me melt and He doesnt like being talked to sternly and he is very good at listening to mommy (for now) when I tell him no or ask him to hand me something. If I say no to Embry, he laughs! Which is still really cute, for now.

-I would say if one gets more attention, it's Embry. Especially with the Tongans:) Because of his big eyes and more polynesian features..Embry has more of an outgoing personality in public also. Jasper will cry if he realizes one of the 4 adults in his comfort circle are not within a 1 foot radius. (Me, Steven, My mom or my sister Ana) But Jasper such a pretty boy with his big lips and angel face! I'm going to have to keep those girls at a distance until after his mission for sure:)

Time Traveler's wife

I'm reading this book right now, I'm about halfway through.

So far, I love it! It's a very interesting story and definitely a page turner. (if you can look past some F bombs) Before i started reading I knew that Eric Bana plays the main character, Henry in the upcoming movie. I usually have a really hard time picturing the actor that plays the character if they make a movie about a book. But Eric Bana is perfect as Henry. And he just happens to be insanely BEAUTIFUL so it's not that hard.

Rachel Mcadams is a good Clare, too. I cant wait for the movie but for now I better go finish the book!

Henry and 6 year old Clare.

UPDATE: So I finished it last week. I dont really recommend it I guess..The story was AMAZING! But I was annoyed with how the author thought she was being really cool with adding all the swearing and dirty parts. Also the author wanted to seem like she knew her music and books and thought it would be fun to list the 50 book titles and authors that were laying in his apartment. Also theres a part where she name drops seriously like 50 band and album names! Someone wanted us to know that they are educated with their literature and obsessed with old school Punk. Anyways, aside from some annoying parts I cant lie, I honestly Loved it. So I guess I'm evil (right mom?) for being able to look past all the bad parts.

Healthier Sweet Pork recipe

I LoVE the Sweet Pork salad at Cafe Rio or Costa Vida (they both taste the same to me). But I'm pretty sure there is about 1000 or more calories in it. I found this recipe from Picky Palate for sweet pork salad and tried it a couple months ago and it was really good ! (The homeade creamy cilantro-lime dressing recipe is the best!) But I've been wanting to make it lately and modified it in a healthier (less calories) way.

Here it is if you want to try it!

2-4 lb center cut Pork center cut loin roast

(there's a big difference in calories/fat betweeen the center cut and the normal loin roast)

1 1/2 cups of Diet-coke

(not exactly healthier, but zero calories!)

salt, pepper and garlic salt

cook in a crock pot on fast for 5-6 hours or slow for 8-10, drain juices when done and shred in pieces with fork.

Bring to a Boil in saucepan:

1 cup diet coke

1 cup ketchup

stir it and after it comes to a boil, pour mixture into drained, shredded pork and mix!

Easy, huh? It still tastes yummy even with the diet coke! There are no calories from the coke and that cup of ketchup divided into all that pork probably only equals 20-30 calories per serving.

So with the ketchup, for a 4 oz serving of the sweet pork (use food scale) there is only 160 calories, 3 g of fat per serving !

Put it over a bed of romaine lettuce and that is some yummy salad! I didnt even need any dressing! You can add black beans, shredded cheese and tomatoes, etc for toppings, if you want to fatten it up.

Here's the link..If you want to make the dressing from the original version at picky palate

Date night

Steven and I have been able to have quite a few date nights these past few months. We're just making up for those months we were chained to the house. :) Also Steven's dad told us he and Donna want to watch the kids once a month....sWeeT!! Tonight we saw this movie and it was really Good! And ScArY! I wont say much about it cause I dont want to ruin it for you, but I definitely recommend it!

Emily Browning is a great actress. I think Steven is secretly in love with her. He still thinks she wouldve been a better Bella. Hey, Bella might've actually smiled if she played her!

Sione's Back!

My favorite episode so far! I watched not knowing the outcome of the weigh in for the at home contestants.. but I honestly knew Sione would pull a big number because he worked his butt off when he was here back in October. And I knew he was strict with his calorie counting cause he talked me into the bodybugg while he was here. And he won immunity! I dont think they should ever do that again in future seasons though bc a week was obviously not enough time to help them at home the way the ranch does. That was hilarious when Bob said "Tongans can jump!" You can see the start of Bob's love for Sione in this episode. :) I was DYinG laughing when Bob told Sione to get on Shannon's back and she said "Look how sweaty he is" and then Sione's face killed me when he first got on her back. I cant wait for everyone to get to know Sione better throughout the show. So, Joelle. I've been so confused about her. First I thought she was lazy and crazy, and then I started to like her and feel sorry for her because she seemed to be a such good sport the week after her whole team voted for her to go home. Now I am back to she is just crazy. It was perfect how Shannon said when she opens her mouth she talks like she's not on this planet. I still kinda feel bad for her but it seems any embarrasment she has on the scale, she brings it on herself. One thing that bothered me was Aubrey getting mad at Joelle like that. It seemed a little hypocritical since she had only lost 2 pounds in a month. 5 kids at home or not. I can lose 2 pounds in a month eating cookies every other night! jk ..Anyways, I just didnt think it was Aubrey's place to chastise her. I felt so bad for how much Carla wanted to be there. They should let her be on next season! She seems to have such a cool personality, I wish she couldve stayed..