Life with the T's

Hello, friends. I almost said "peeps". Interesting. Not too much is new with us, but it's been a lil bit so I wanted to write a lil sumpin sumpin. I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving already! I love the holidays, but I AM MISSING SUMMER! It's gotten cold -- I don't have to wear a coat quite every day yet, but that is still plenty cold for me. This morning, my windsheild had frost/ice on it :( I say "frost/ice" because it was more than measley frost, but it wasn't icy enough that I had to get out and scrape it. Ten or fifteen swooshes of the wipers and about a quart of wiper fluid (yes, I am actually that lazy) and I was good to go. Joe is loving the cold and has been praying for snow. I wouldn't be surprised if his "praying" is literal: "Dear God, SNOWPLEASEILOVESNOW!!!" That's my silly husband.
Tomorrow, we are having the missionaries over for dinner for the first time as a family... I feel like I am like capital "O" capital "M" Officially Married now :) It will be a crazy day as I am for once going to homemaking as well. I am not one who really delights in the cooking and crafts, but maybe I will change. I think I would enjoy cooking more if I didn't work full time. That's a lie - I still probably wouldn't, but I would have more energy! :) I invited my mom to come along because the stuff they are doing is up her alley, so it should be good. JoeJoe kindly agreed to make his special spaghetti for dinner tomorrow to help ease the craziness of my night. What a guy, huh? I'm lucky in that I married a helpful guy :)
That's about all that's new in our daily grind. Hope all is well with you! We sure miss our far away friends and family. Be sure and leave us love notes as you read! We love them!!

Forget That Groundhog

I am ready for spring NOW! It has been an extremely cold and snowy winter in Kansas City. Neither one are something I care much for. I'm willing to put up with winter and I love that Kansas City has all four seasons (unlike in Rexburg where there are only two and winter stretches from about September through May or June and either involves huge quantities of snow, negative temperatures or both), but this much snow has gotten old! I demand springtime! So I am changing our blog background in protest. And encouragement. No more snowflakes. :)

Exciting News

Joe has a new brand new niece (His first one!) who was born this morning at 9:25 to Charlie and Amy Tulikihakau. She was 9lbs. 3 oz. Sounds like quite a healthy baby! It is traditional in Tongan culture for the sister of the first born baby in the family of the baby's father to name the baby (Sounds complicated, but it's not really!). Joe and Charlie's sister, Sekola, named the little one Lineti Mele Feinga Tulikihakau. She was named for their mother who passed away several years ago. Sekola was a stinker and wouldn't tell anyone what name she chose for the baby until little Lineti was here, but she chose a beautiful name. Here is a picture Joe sent me of him holding Lineti! I wish I could have been there, and I can't wait to meet her soon!

The picture isn't great quality -- it was taken with a cell phone -- but it is precious none the less! So tiny and perfect!
Meanwhile, here in Kansas we are in the middle of our THIRD snow storm in just two weeks. We don't usually get much snow, so this is crazy! The high on Friday is supposed to be -2! Yuck! Joe is somehow jealous. Who would think an island boy would be a snow bunny! He loved every minute of the snow when he lived in Provo, Utah where it snows all the time! I can't say that I'm a fan, myself. Too bad he isn't here to shovel it! :-) The back deck had snow on it that was about knee deep and we are supposed to be getting up to five inches more. It started snowing around noon and has been snowing steadily since. I got a call saying they were closing early at work today and that I wasn't needed today, so I got the day off. I was told to watch the news tonight to watch to see if I have work tomorrow. My sister has a snow day tomorrow, which  would have been her first day back from Christmas break. Winter is definitely in full effect in Kansas City! Oy! I help it all melts soon!

xoxo
Bren

Having a Good Attitude

I heard something great in church today I wanted to share. In Relief Society, a sister was giving the lesson on being positive and told this story:

There was a woman who had cancer and was losing her hair due to chemotherapy. She woke up one day and looked in the mirror and found that she has three hairs left. She smiled and said, "I'm going to braid my hair today!" She did and had a great day. The next day, she woke up and looked in the mirror. That day she had two hairs left. She smiled and said, "I'm going to part my hair in the middle today!" She did and had a great day. The next day, she woke up and looked in the mirror and only had one hair left. She smiled and said, "I'm going to wear my hair in a ponytail today!" She did and had a great day. The next day, she woke up and looked in the mirror and had no hair left. She smiled and said, "I don't have to do my hair today!"

I will have to be honest and say that if I had three hairs left, I would not be smiling nor would I braid my three hairs. I think I would have shaved it all off a long time ago and gotten a wig. (This shows my vanity: My wanting to  look like I have hair being strongly outweighed by how creepy I think wigs feel. And are in general. Same thing with fur. I don't know - It's a sensory thing.) I hope this story made you laugh. It was a great reminder to me to be positive even when things get tough. I hope you are all staying warm! And if you have warm weather, I am JEALOUS! It's FREEZING here in Kansas and won't stop snowing! It's beautiful though! (That's me being positive!)

xoxo
Bren

merry christmas

we want to wish all of our friends and family members a very merry christmas. we got a white christmas here in kansas city which doesn't happen often. i could probably count the ones i've seen here, but none specifically come to mind. it's so pretty out and so Christmas-y, thought it's supposed to reach blizzard status overnight and through out tomorrow. snow is beautiful, but i hope no one is stuck driving in dangerous conditions. joe and i are apart for the holidays unfortunately, but next year we will have a great first Christmas together as husband and wife :) we send our love out to all our loved ones out there. be safe and have a happy holiday.

xoxo
bren