The Dreaded Come Back

It's pretty intimidating trying to catch up on over 10+ posts including organizing and editing the photos to go along with it. I've contemplated the easiest route for this dreaded (not really dreaded) comeback and so I figured the easiest thing to do is to start right where I left off! Easier said than done.

It wasn't quite June yet but I didn't want to leave this post out. On May 25th Verona decided she wanted to have an Oprah Finale Party! I don't actually watch Oprah and I thought it was almost silly when she told me about it. Funny thing is, I realized (after watching parts of the finale) how many people LOVE Oprah and it's no surprise that they find her both motivating and inspirational. Of course, I would be lying if I didn't say that my main focus in going was to enjoy the absolutely delicious food that accompanies every Sagato gathering. Ü We indulged in flaky chicken & spinach croissants, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, chicken & shrimp Carbonara, walnut craisin coleslaw, Parmesan bread sticks, chips, mini turtle cheesecakes, chocolate covered strawberries and one of Verona's "favorite things"-cookies from Paradise Bakery & Cafe. Ü In between Oprah's motivational speaking we talked, laughed and enjoyed each others company. Ü Thanks for the sharing your Oprahlove with us Verona!
June was a fun and exciting month for us. We took another trip back home to California during the first week of June to celebrate Summer! Fred went a few days ahead of us for business so he was anxiously awaiting our arrival. I'm always a bit of a nervous wreck when we fly and I know it stems from my mom's fear of flying. Lol But flying is always worth the headache when we get to go back home again.

We celebrated Madysen's 5th birthday that weekend and took our families to John's Incredible Pizza.
I can't believe how fast Madysen is growing up. It's always a bittersweet moment when kids get older but we're so thankful that we were chosen to be parents to this sweet little girl. She's still the gentle, sensitive, tender-hearted girl we've always knows her to be. She's full of love for her family and friends and she's genuine in all the things she says and does. Oh...and still a girly-girl. Ü

We went to dinner as a family on one of the weeknights and had Korean BBQ. It was a first for me and I loved it! :) It was fun cooking our own meats at our table and the short ribs were so yummy!
The next weekend there we celebrated the first birthday of our absolutely ADORABLE niece, Chloe. We took the kids to the Aquarium on Friday and they were really excited-it being their first time! They were able to touch jellyfish, starfish and pet some of the stingrays. There were so many exhibits to see and the girls were amazed by some of the sea creatures they saw. Chloe took a nap in the middle of our excursions but she was quite entertained when she wasn't sleeping. :) We stopped by the gift shop before we left and the girls picked out a few souvenirs to take home. Our nephew Hadyn was at school and we were pretty bummed that we couldn't check him out so the girls made sure to grab him something as well. They're so thoughtful. :) After the aquarium we all met up with our older sister, Chrystel and her family, and enjoyed some delicious eats before heading back home. Ü
On Saturday we had a barbeque to celebrate Chloe's birthday again because everyone was off. :) It was a bonus having our Hunt & Lupeamanu families in town for the weekend as well! We all gathered at mom's house and dove right into her always-delicious cooking. The birthday menu consisted of barbequed chicken & hot dogs, potato salad, shrimp & crab ceviche, corned beef spinach, rice and chop suey. We stuffed ourselves to capacity and if that wasn't enough...we sang "Happy Birthday" to Chloe and cut into one of our most favorite cakes-Dobash from King's Hawaiian Bakery. Stopping at that Restaurant/Bakery is a must whenever we're in town. :) The kids burned off some of their food by playing outside while the adults lounged around and enjoyed each others company. We helped Chloe open some of her gifts and she was so stinkin' cute trying to rummage through all of the tissue paper. We love this little niece of ours so much. She's been an incredible addition to our extended family and we miss her immensely when we're apart. Her laugh is infectious and her smile will reel you in. She's full of joy and we're so happy that we could be there for her special day. Happy 1st Birthday Chloe!
A few days after Chloe's birthday, we did a photo shoot to celebrate her first year! We originally planned to do a beach shoot but we had so many things going on so we decided to go somewhere local. We headed over to a park and took a few quick photos because it got chilly really fast after we left the house. Chloe wasn't very happy with some of the places we sat her at, but I was thrilled to grab a couple of super cute shots of her!
On our last weekend night before leaving, we decided to go bowling as a family. I have many fond memories going bowling as a family because there was a time where we went every single weekend! Mom is a great bowler and we all enjoy the fun of trying to get a strike. The kids had their own lane with bumpers to try and make hitting the pins a little easier. Macho Man Hadyn was adamant that he didn't need it. Lol I can't even remember what the score was but I think it was a tie between Mom and Peter. :) Or was it Mom & Sherman? Either way, we all had fun being together as a family. We grabbed some pizza afterward and headed home. Thanks for a great evening Mom!
Once we were back in Utah, we settled in quickly and got back into the swing of things. Fred had some of his family visiting from Hawaii as well so it was fun spending time with them. I did a photo shoot for his nephew and niece and I must say it was a bit difficult trying to take pictures of an infant. :) We tried to do a few indoor shots with the limited resources that we had and it didn't work out very well because Baby Wade was a bit cranky. Ü After he finished eating, we decided to forgo the indoor shots and head outdoors before it got too dark. It was a much better setting for him and I was able to get some pretty awesome shots of Tiara & Baby Wade. Ü
Last year we attended our first Taylorsville Dayzz festival and since we enjoyed it so much, we made sure that we had it on our calendar to attend again this year. Fred was actually off this time around so that pretty much doubled our excitement. :) We packed up some of our picnic goodies and supplies and headed over to the park to get a nice little spot under the shade. We checked out some of the shows on the main stage and took the girls on a few of the carnival rides. We took the girls to the carnival on opening night the day before and they went on pretty much all of the rides. Mady enjoyed being able to go on some of the "big kid" rides and it was a bit of an eye opener (again) realizing how much she has grown...both of our girls in fact! We scanned all of the booths and scored some free knick knacks for the kids. And what's a picnic if you're not going to partially spend all day eating? Lol We had turkey bacon & avocado sandwiches, musubis, fruits, cookies, chips and a bunch of other goodies. Of course that didn't stop Fred from wanting to try some of the foods that the booths had to offer. The girls enjoyed some shave ice and we had a go at some fry bread and Khalua pork. Ü We enjoyed the company of some of our friends and family, played a few games and tossed the volleyball around while we waited for the fireworks show to start. The show was really great last year so we had the same expectations this year around. The show finally started and it did not disappoint! It was a great way to end June and an even better start for July.

July is one of the best months during the Summer and it always starts off with a bang! No pun intended. Ü The city of West Jordan has an Independence Festival during the weekend of the 4th of July so Fred and I took the girls and our niece Xandri to a "Movie In The Park". We got to the park early and took the girls on a few of the carnival rides, got their faces painted, and grabbed some food. They set up a huge inflatable movie screen in the middle of a big field and everyone laid their blankets down and huddled together to watch the feature film which was "How To Train Your Dragon". The girls bought some popcorn and sweets and watched most of the movie. They got a little antsy towards the end (and Fred too Ü) so we headed home early to our own little movie night in the comfort of our living room. Not such a bad turnout after all. Ü

Fred had to work again for the 4th of July this year so the girls and I decided we wouldn't let it put a damper on our festivities! We watched fireworks on the 4th of July at the WJ Independence Day Festival last year and it wasn't a very good one. We opted to give it one more shot. The girls and I went to the park with Kathy a few hours before the show started to set up our tent and chairs. We got our funnel cake fix (which wasn't very good unfortunately) and munched on some musubi's while we waited. A few rounds of tossing the volleyball around and relaxing under a blue sky was a great way to pass the time. The fireworks show started right on time and it was amazing!! It was a huge improvement from the previous year and we were glad we chanced it. We're so grateful for the men and women who have sacrificed their lives and time for the freedoms that we all enjoy and we salute them!
July is full of birthdays for our family! Happy Birthday wishes to Uncle Sherman, Cousin Lynne, to our beautiful Mom, Uncle Sam and Aunty Chrystel! We couldn't celebrate with most of them because they live in CA but they were all in our thoughts on their special days.

We headed back home to CA...again! Unbeknownst to Chrystel, Sherman had been planning a surprise party for her for her 30th Birthday. We had been going back and forth to CA so often the whole year that our arrival didn't seem suspicious to her at all. Her best friend Verona came into town too to join in the fun! The surprise party was set for Sat July 23rd and it was really hard for him to keep all of the planning a secret because my sister knows everything! Ü The really hard part came the day of the party when everyone at my mom's house was cooking. Keeping her away from the house was really hard because...we're always there! I drove her around to a couple of stores to do some shopping before we headed back home. By that time, the food preparation was done and had been delivered to the party location already. Sherman devised a plan that we would all be attending someone else's party that day (at the same location as her party, of course). The bad thing was that she really didn't want go! We left the house ahead of her and hid in one of the rooms. When Sherman finally brought her to the hall...she was red with surprise! It was a small intimate party with friends and family and it was perfect. The food was absolutely delicious and the cake...none other than her favorite Paradise Cake from King's Hawaiian. We raffled off some goodies & gift cards and played some pretty hilarious games. Our sister really enjoyed her surprise and we're so thankful that she has a sweet husband who cares and loves her as much as we do.

The rest of Summer was filled with many more random and memorable moments from sleep overs to get-togethers. Each of them reminders of the good times that we've enjoyed during these playful months.