Eternity

April 21, 2012 was the day that eternity began for our little family. I feel so privileged and honored to be part of the gospel and of Christ's true church. I cannot express my love and gratitude enough of the Savior. It was so wonderful to be able to seal myself and our little family to Josh. Small and private as it may have been, it was absolutely PERFECT. The presence was just amazing. My babies looked so beautiful in their white attire and they were just so wonderful. Baby Melena'a was sleeping, Gabriel and Gissela were both so good. It felt like everything just worked out perfectly!

We began with a morning session. We tried to do initiatory but they were so busy! I was able to do one name with Olga but Joshua and Jon weren't able to. When we got to the session my uncle joined us. Because my dad wasn't able to make it, I was so grateful that he was able to be there to represent him. After the session we had to wait a while for our kids and for our room and I was just so anxious the whole time! I had almost fallen asleep during the session because we hardly got any sleep the night before, but as time got closer I couldn't seem to sit still! I was just too excited!!

Our sealer was amazing. He explained the whole purpose of all the ordinances and never has it been so well explained and I now understand the meaning of all of them. He gave us such great advice. My favorite being, "Now the temple does not mean there will be no trials, it almost guarantees it. But it does provide the necessary protection, guidance and help that you will  need to be able to face them." And also, "this does end at just you (pointing to me) being sealed to him (pointing to Josh). It also seals you to Him (pointing up). It is a 3 part marriage." It gave me great comfort to know that regardless of the things Joshua and I will face, if we are faithful and keeping the sacred covenants we made, we will be guided and protected along the way. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for the opportunity to seal our family to Him. I'm a blessed beyond measure and I know that the only way to thank Him will be through my faithfulness. I hope that the day that I return I will be able to stand before Him blameless and unspotted from the world. Thank you to all those who joined us on our special day and for those who couldn't make it, we still love you all :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FATSO!

Also, before I forget, I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to the most irritating sibling in the world. To my first best friend, my favorite child, the kid I look up to Ofa Ki' Liahona Latu, Happy 21st Birthday bro :) I wish I was there to celebrate with you, but I'll be seeing you next week! A little something about this kid.

After we had Gabriel, a few short months after my family moved to Hawaii from Utah. Everyone except Ofa. Of course I had cousins and other relatives around but I didn't feel comfortable asking any of them to help me with my son. This guy, still in High school, playing football and with his studies he still managed to find time to watch my little man for an hour or two every day. Even after I had my Gissi he still helped me watch them BOTH. Of course his amazing GF at the time helped him watch, but my point is, idk many boys his age who would have done that EVERY SINGLE DAY, and I admire him for it. Fatso you're one of the best brothers I know, and I am lucky to have you as mine. I pray for you daily and I know that you'll go far. You've got a bright future ahead of you and I hope that you can remember that the Lord is ALWAYS on your side. Even when we're not doing everything were supposed to. That's what the plan of salvation is for and I hope that you can take advantage of it and do what's right. Happy birthday small dawg;) see you next week! OFA ATU!!!!!

The beginning...

I feel like there is SO much to blog about that I haven't been blogging about at all! So now I'm just going to play catch up with everything. First I'll start with Josh and I. How in the world does a health enthusiastic Latino from Utah end up with a fat eat errefang Tongan from Hawaii?? There is NO way that God didn't have a hand in our meeting. Ya Utah is pretty small world but I did not EVER mix with any type of "miko" like at all. It all started in 2008. I was new at UVU and he worked at the Multicultural Center, the MC. I couldn't help but notice that this miko was hanging out with the poly's. WTF? Not normal. (To me at least). So I decided to talk to him. I asked him for his name the next day, and as soon as he said it I forgot. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Oh hi, um.. what's your name?
Him: Josh
Me: I'm Lala, nice to meet you.
Him: Hi Lala.
Me: Oh sorry but I'm not good with names so sorry if I forget yours.
Him: If you do, I'll never talk to you again.
Me:(WTF???? jklfsoinkclhjwoijklhejiyhsoidhjfklankj??!!!)

And that's when I decided I didn't like him. At all. But as the story goes, I saw him again later that day, we exchanged numbers and the rest is history. We got married, have 3 kids and now we're in Hawaii. How things like that happen? Only God knows. I am grateful though, and I do love Josh. He is the most annoying person in the world! But that's only because I just don't want him or the rest of the world to know how crazy I am about him :) 

We were married on June 28, 2008. We went to Grand America for our "honeymoon" and a week later went to NYC, New York for a week. December 2, 2008 we were blessed with our first baby. 16 months later Gissela followed and by June 2011 we had our third child, Melena'a. We've had LOTS of trials and we've almost been divorced. (I think every couple goes through something similar. Especially nowadays.) We will be getting sealed next week in Utah and as hard as our journey has been, it has been worth it. Josh is an amazing man. I could go on and on about how wonderful he is. Even if he is my biggest pet peeve. I am lucky to be married to him and I wouldn't have it any other way. Don't get me wrong, we fight A LOT. We disagree A LOT. (He's freakin vegan raw and I'm like eat erefang.) But we work together and keep our love alive and our family going. "With God, nothing is impossible. But you, must learn to take His hand... Those who have ears to hear, will understand." I forgot the name of the song but if WE can do it, anyone can. No joke. But that's how we met and that was the beginning of our beginning.

Catch up.

So over the past year or so, a few things have happened.


1. We are now on the beautiful island of OAHU. I previously just wanted to come to have our 3rd child here with my family. Being away from them for so long I just wanted to come home and be with them for this baby. Josh was a bit stubborn about it, but it all worked out and we were supposed to just be here for the summer. Evidently, Josh has fallen in love with HI<3 and I think we will be here a little longer than I'd planned. It went from the summer, to just Christmas, to just graduation and now I'm not sure if we'll ever leave. We'll see though. For now I'll just enjoy the HILife and be happy with the sun :)




2. Baby number 3!!! We were blessed with a beautiful baby girl on June 13, 2011. Melena'a Vileti Kawailani Mana Gwyneth Garcia. She was 8lbs something oz I don't even remember and 20 inches. She is absolutely WONDERFUL and I just can't get enough of her. She reminds me so much of her siblings and sad enough I wish that I was "normal" when I had them so I could have enjoyed them as much as I enjoy her. She brings so much happiness to our family and to everyone else that meets her. She really is the happiest baby in the world and I just love it!! Now we have 3 beautiful children. Gabriel, who turned 3 in December; Gissela, who just turned 2 last week; and Mana, who is now almost 10 months old! They grow up so fast...


3. Lastly, Josh and I have just got our endowments and we will be getting sealed in the next few weeks :) We've come a LOOOOOOOOOONG way, and it sure was pretty rough. I'll probably blog about our trials and problems we faced a little later on but I am just grateful that we have been blessed with these amazing opportunities.

I think those are the most important events that have recently happened, life has had it's ups and downs but we've been able to weather the storm and pray that we will continue on in faith! I  have been so blessed and I'm just so happy to be here at this time. I'll be sure to keep updating regularly unlike before. All in all, life is beautiful.

Back to Blogging

It's been a LONG while since I've last blogged. I guess I got too excited and then life just got the best of me and I haven't done it since. But now that I've got my head on straight, life is a little more "organized" and I'm ready to be who I want to be, I think I'll give it another try. If all else fails, follow me on instagram @lalatu913 and twitter @heilala

Baby girl isn't a baby no more :(

My little Sela isn't a baby anymore!

She's a growing baby girl, and she drives me NUTS!! She's all over the floor, crawling on her hands and feet, snatching everything little things and putting it into her mouth, and boy does she have a temper. She's almost walking and I just can't believe a little over 9 months ago she came into this world! Time flies and I guess it's just hard to accept the fact that she's a "big girl" now. As soon as I get my photo bucket thing worked out I'll post more.

Fathers love...

I know I'm like 2 days late but I wanted to write a quick note about important fathers in my life.

The first is my own father, Fonua. If anyone knows my dad, he looks pretty scary. He's not like a huge massive guy, he's a short massive guy :) Anyway, if you don't know him he can be pretty scary. Especially if he's mad. Lol. But my dads a pretty nice guy. He looks like he's a mean guy but he's really sweet and extremely funny. He's a pround parent of 6 kids and he loves us so much. I know this by the way he raised me and by the way he keeps tryna steal my daughter :) jk. My dads pretty much the coolest guy ever and though we tend to but heads a lot, I couldn't ask for a better father ;) ofa lahi atu teti!

Next is my dearest husband Joshua :) Josh and I have been through a lot. At least I think so, he might not agree. But my point is that it hasn't been easy. Actually it's been the opposite. Our relationship went a lot quicker than expected. We've known each other for 2 1/2 years and we have 2 kids :) we've been married for almost 2 years, coming up next week :) and so everything gone pretty quick. What I can say for sure, is that Josh is an amazing father :) he's so good with our kids and you can tell he loves them sooooo much. He has so much patience, he loves to spend time with them and he doesn't like being away from them. He's definitely an amazing father to our children and I couldn't ask for a better one :) te quiero Joshua.

Last but definitely not the least is my Father in heaven. I've been so blessed it's not even funny! Not only does He constantly blessing me, but He continually guides me. I've never really had a relationship with my Father in heaven till recently. I always thought He was too big and important. I mean of course He is, but I never realized how much He does for me in my life. He wants me to succeed and pretty much does everything He can to get me there. I've been so ungrateful for the past years, maybe even my whaler life, but I want that to change. I want to change and to become a better person. I'm thankful for all of my blessings and am learning to be thankful for my trials. "I need thee every hour. Most gracious Lord. No tender voice like thine. Can peace afford. I need thee oh I need thee. Every hour I need thee oh bless mt now my Savior I come to thee."