Tallahassee Take Me Away!

My little sister Toree was called to serve in the Florida, Tallahassee mission. She reports to the MTC on March 24th....that's less than 2 months away.

Mom & Dad knew she was preparing and working on her papers for the mission. They thought she still had a few dental appointments, so when this white envelope came in the mail this past Wednesday, they were SHOCKED, yet so happy! She's only our 2nd missionary to leave out of us 11 kids and it's been over 10 years since the last missionary, so it was beyond HAPPINESS! I love seeing my parents on cloud nine....I love even more that Toree has made this decision to serve.

This pic is right after Toree read her mission call, she was so choked up, so mom finished reading it. Yes, mom is holding a mic...hahaha! The house was PACKED so we had people around the whole house and wanted to be sure everyone could hear. But, I love this picture so much, look at how proud my dad is! I was so choked up myself and held myself away from Toree that night or I would've just LOST it! Meanwhile, everyone else got to hug her and take pics...here's our future missionary with Justin, Ala and Drew.

So, I've never told Toree this, but when she left home for college, it was quite hard for me. For the first few months, whenever she'd come visit and leave again, I cried in my own secrecy. If you know Toree and I, then you know our closeness and I seriously count her as one of my own.

Heavenly Father must know my struggle at this time and wants to be sure I'm prepared emotionally for when she leaves. I noticed this song playing almost every time I turned the radio on in the car or at work these past few days. I realized it was a message for me about Toree and serving the Lord. Well, that's how I take it anyway...and it has certainly comforted me. Toree's mission covers northern Florida and ALL of southern Alabama...she's gonna get some of that southern cookin'! Anyway, this song really clicked for me. It's by the Dixie Chicks called, "Cowboy take me away." I've got the lyrics below and replaced "Cowboy" with "Tallahassee." It may sound silly to anyone else, but to me, it makes perfect sense!

I said I wanna touch the earth, I wanna break it in my hands.

I wanna grow something wild and unruly.

I wanna sleep on the hard ground in the comfort of your arms,

On a pillow of blue bonnets in a blanket made of stars.

Oh it sounds good to me...I said Tallahassee take me away

Fly this girl as high as you can into the wild blue

Set me free oh I pray closer to heaven above and closer to you

Closer to you.

I wanna walk and not run, I wanna skip and not fall

I wanna look at the horizon, and not see a building standing tall

I wanna be the only one, for miles and miles

Except for maybe you, and your simple smile

Oh it sounds good to me, yes it sounds so good to me,

Tallahassee take me away, fly this girl as high as you can into the wild blue

Set me free, oh, I pray, closer to heaven above, and closer to you..

Closer to you

Toree's done so well living independently in Orem these past two years...and now Tallahassee gets her for 18 months....boy are they LUCKY!

I BELIEVE!!

I'd like to KISS the guy/gal who invented this great delicatessen! Had Sushi for the first time ever (unless my momma gave me some when I was little which I highly doubt!), but so many peeps talk so big about it and I was anxious! My amazing cousin/big bro, Siliva took me out for lunch this day and we headed to SUSHI YAH!

We met my other cousin, Travis there too and we did the "All You Can Eat"...later, I learned you'd be crazy not too. Then again, what poly WOULDN'T do "All You Can Eat" at any restraunt? LOL!

Anyway, these two fellahs, I consider some major sushi critiques, 'cause they are eating it all the time and have tried sushi at so many different places. They have ranked Sushi Yah the BEST of sushi in quality and price!

To "convert" me to their Sushi Crew, they had a certain order in the sushi's I tried...first up was the Las Vegas roll! I took my first bite....all I had to say was, "Hallelujah!! I BELIEVE!" It was better than Disneyland and Christmas combined!! I absolutely LOVED it....along with the Crystal Shrimp, Barney Rubble and all the rest that followed. Totally felt like a kid at the candy store!

I wondered why I held out so long from this heavenly gift! If you haven't tried sushi, I HIGHLY recommend you go to Suhi Yah for your firts time. If you tell me about it before you go, I'll make sure you take these two sushi missionaries...you will definitely be "converted" too...LOL!

Momma's Boy!

"When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child."

I wonder if every mother thinks the way I do.

When I was in my youth, I heard this story from my best friend's father whom I highly admire. The story has stuck with me since. Here's a quick version of the story.

He spoke of how he would drop off his kids each morning to school. They'd pull up to school, the kids would give him a hug and kiss to the cheek say their "I love yous" and they were off. As the years passed, he started to notice a change with his oldest son as he got older, the morning kiss became more of the father kissing his son's forehead and soon turned to a quick, "goodbye dad"...no kiss, no hug. The father was saddened, but knew his son was growing up and of course there are his son's friends who may be watching too, so he understood. From that point on, if ever he was with his son in front of his friends whether it was at school or home, this father was sure to keep his cool and not embarrass his boy.

Well, here I am...dropping my kids off each morning and starting to notice the same as this story the father shared. Beanie is in the 3rd grade and still loves to give her momma the kisses and hugs, the "I love yous" and runs to her friends...still, she'll turn around and wave at me again 'cause she knows I'm watching. How I love that! Then there's Ala who's now in the 5th grade, rushin' to get out of the car to be with his friends, as I remind him that I love him and get the mumbled, "you too." Hey, I admit, I'll take whatever I can still get! It makes me a bit sad. I have a hard time with it, but like I learned, it comes with the kids growing up and I need to understand it.

Today, on our way to school, Ala remembered he'd forgotten a book report at home. We were already running late, so I told him I'd drop them off first, then run home to pick up his report and return it. I did just that. I got to the school office and the secretary told me I could take Ala's book report to his class. As I walked down the hallway towards his classroom, the thoughts of seeing my son to hand him his report came to mind. I thought about how I'd say goodbye to him. Weird, I know...I really don't think any other parent worries about silly things like this, but I had to prep myself! I thought that maybe his teacher would just come to the door, then I could just wave at Ala and hand his teacher the report. Then I thought, what if Ala comes to the door to grab the report, I need to prep myself to just hand him his report, smile and say somethin' like, "there you go buddy!" then I am to walk away....no hugs, just keep it cool and don't make my son feel awkward.

I get to his classroom door and it's open. I spot Ala right away, but he's busily working. A kid sitting in the back recognizes me and yells, "Hey Ala! It's your mom!" Okay, so I know Ala's probably already humiliated that this kid says it out loud...I totally feel like the WHOLE class has turned their heads to watch him as he walks to the door. My heart feels like it's beating so hard at this moment! Ala comes to the door and just as I planned, I hand him his report saying, "There you go bud!" then I smile at him, smile at the kids staring at us, then I turn around to walk away. Just as I'm about to give myself props for keepin' my cool, I hear my son's voice, "Mom!" I turned around to look at him...he has his arms open and gives me a hug AND a kiss to the cheek then he says, "Thanks so much mom!" Automatically, I said, "Love you son!" He says, "Love you too mom!" As I turn to walk away, I can hear the same kid who yelled out my arrival mimic Ala saying in a teasing tone, "Love you too mommy!" I hear kids laughing then I hear my son say, "What? That's my mom!"

Driving to work I thought about this whole episode. *tears* Totally a heart-melting moment for me! Ala wasn't embarrassed at all of his momma...he actually sounded quite proud! The stressing work day didn't seem to phase me ONE BIT today! =) That's my boy! Momma's boy!

Kaufana Top TEN!

Happy New Years!
As each year comes and goes, I'm sure we all like to look back at the highlights even "lowlights," any accomplishments etc. We are indeed grateful to be here in 2010!

Here's the Kaufana TOP Ten of 2009!

It's brief, but you can find more info in older postings.

10. COMCAST- First year our family has ever had Cable! Not sure why we waited so long. Disney and Sports are the main attraction. It brings all our family over to watch the football games with us. We LOVE it!

9. We moved back to Vespa Drive! Recession has sure hit our family, but we think we made a good move and we are able to budget better. Basement construction continues...

8. Cougar Pride! We beat those YOOTS! 26-23 in OT. How could this NOT make our TOP TEN? LOVE IT! We bleed BLUE!

7. Ala and Bean were accepted and started at APA! Another great move for our family! AWESOME SCHOOL!

6. Ala got straight A’s! If you know Ala, then you know this is QUITE the ACCOMPLISHMENT! ...and even more... He out did BEANIE! Haha! I give a whole lotta credit to their new school.

5. Drew turned ONE! Looks like he's 4 years old though...haha! =) Currently he's 19 months, wearing 4T in clothes and quite the character! He's a BIG BOY!

4. CHAMPS! Alafoki got his very first "Football Championship" this year! The Granger Mighty-Mites went undefeated and beat West for the big trophy!

3. Beanie’s Baptism. Our lil' Princess turned 8 and was baptized this past summer by her daddy, then confirmed by her grandpa.

2. The Secret Santa- Pay It Forward experience! (see prior blog post for more info) Lord only knows how much this has impacted our family to see others needs, to sacrifice, to give even when we have little to give.

1. Welcoming Koloi! We thought Drew was some miracle baby after 7 years of not having any kids...then this past Feb, we found out another baby was on his way. Koloi Pule Kaufana was born Sept. 25, 2009. What a joy he is! Two babies in the house is certainly a challenge, but a FUN ONE and we are so blessed to have Koloi! I guess Drew needed a lil' friend to grow with. Heavenly Father knows best!