"A Very Special Thank You"

I was sorting through some mail and random papers that were on top of our night stand and I came across an invitation that Joshua brought home from school.  Since their school is always having fun little events for the kids (movie nights, spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts etc.) I didn't think much of it.  It was obviously already opened and even wrinkled by the time I saw it.  I almost tossed it out with all of the other stuff that I was putting in the trash can.  But then I noticed Siua's name written on it so I opened it. 

To many, it's probably not that big of a deal.  To Siua even, it's nothing major.  But I think it's pretty cool.  Not the actual invite or the fact that they're having a "Tea" to honor volunteers.  I think it's cool that Siua did enough volunteering to earn his very own special invitation.  Shoot, I didn't get one and I went on a few fieldtrips myself! LOL I need to be clear, I didn't even know that he volunteered to help most of the time.  I usually found out after he had already scheduled the time off for a field trip or actually completed whatever it was he volunteered to do.  He simply made the effort, on his own, to take part in these activities that help our boys and their peers.  It's not uncommon for people to volunteer.  I know that.  But seeing Siua transition from the man he was when we first got married to the awesome dad he's become is pretty cool. 

Siua's cousin Sio, who is a regular at our house, said it best.  During a long car ride he and Siua took to the city with Mackenzie one afternoon, Luvie started to fuss and cry.  After turning up the music didn't work, Siua turned off the radio and started to sing a Barney song with Luvie.  I couldn't help but to start cracking up while Sio told the story.  Picturing Siua singing a Barney song.  That, Sio said, is when he realized that Siua was "father of the year".  LOL He was with his boy, in a car with rims and beat, singing Barney songs with his toddler loud and proud.  It's the little things that Siua does to prove to our kids that there isn't anyone in the world more important to him than they are.  For THAT alone, he deserves "A Very Special Thank You".  I can't wait until my kids are old enough to realize how very lucky they are. 

"Real" Peach Cobbler

We get missionary visits at home pretty regularly.  It's been that way for years.  It's especially nice right now while Mark is out on his mission.  Just hoping that someone in PI is being nice and welcoming to our little brother the same way we are for the elders here. 

For the past seven months, we've been lucky enough to have Elder Brignone over several different times including Thanksgiving dinner.  He's cracked jokes with us and let us (mostly me) give him a hard time over a few things from time to time.  He always has his bag of tootsie rolls on hand for the kids to devour while he's there.  A pretty cool missionary.  Strict, by the book and very blunt, but still cool. 

One weekend I happened to be making a peach cobbler for a few people and called the missionaries over to pick one up.  It was the peach cobbler recipe that my mom had learned from her gma and we've been making it for as long as I can remember.  It's so simple and soooo good! I gave the elders a whole cobbler and sent them on their way. 

The next time they visited Brignone joked "hey the peach CAKE you gave us was delicious".  Oh he SO knows me! LOL Clowning is a regular thing in our home and I knew he was opening the floodgates.  ;-) "Did you say peach CAKE?" I asked.  He proceeded to tell me that the dough on the peach cobbler was so thick that there's no way we could say it was a cobbler.  The cobbler his mom makes (also with a biscuit dough) is an ACTUAL cobbler and not a cake. 

I know the rule.  We ALL know the rule.  NO ONE can make ANYTHING as good as your mom.  EVEN if it does taste REALLY good, you never say it's better than moms.  NEVER.  ;-) So I gave it to him, can't compete with a moms recipe.  But since then, it's been a running joke.  So much so, that I finally told him I wanted to try this "real" cobbler that he was raving about. 

So I sent his mom Kerstin an email along with a picture of her son in our home and asked her for the recipe.  She was SO nice and gave us what is also her gmas recipe. One that they have been making for years in their family.  Don't you just love that? Needless to say, the Brignones Peach Blueberry Cobbler was good.  Like REALLY good! It has more fruit than the one we make, but I think that's because the cobbler we make has changed over time to accommodate the taste buds of our Tongan side.  You know, more of the sweet bread and less of the fruit that traditional peach cobblers have.  Whatever the case, we have a keeper! Elder Brignone was able to taste test the cobbler I made from his mothers recipe and gave it the seal of approval.

I'm so glad that we were able to meet Elder Brignone and get to know him.  Not just for the great peach cobbler but also for the great example of what a good missionary is. 

The Brignone Peach Blueberry Cobbler

Sweet Biscuit Topping :
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tea salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4-1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
additional milk and sugar, optional

Mix flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt together.  Cut in 1/2 cup butter until crumbly and (like cornmeal).  In a small bowl, mix eggs and 1/4 cup milk until well blended.  Stir milk/egg mixture into flour mixture until blended together.  Add additional milk a little at a time, only if needed to make a stiff dough. On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to 1/2 thick. Fold in half and roll again to 1/2 inch thick. Using 2 inch cookie/biscuit cutter cut out shapes (circles, ovals, hearts, or diamonds all work well).  Set aside to place on top of hot fruit mixture.

Fruit Mixture:
3- 15 oz (6 cups) cans sliced peaches (no sugar added, or canned in fruit juice)
2 cups blueberries (1 pint), fresh or frozen
4 Tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 425F. Drain the peaches and reserve juice from 2 cans of fruit (approximately 1 cup).  Put peaches in a 3 qt saucepan with 1/2 cup reserved juice (about the same amount as in 1 can of the peaches) Mix cornstarch into remaining 1/2 cup peach juice.  Stir into peaches in the pan. Bring to boiling over medium heat (stir occasionally so it doesn't stick). Cook 1-2 minutes or until juice is clear. Remove from heat and add blueberries (if using frozen blueberries leave on warm burner for a few minutes until mixture is hot again).  Pour into 13x9 (2 1/2 quart) pan. Top with sweet biscuits (directions below). Brush biscuits lightly with milk just to moisten (if desired) and sprinkle biscuits with 2 teaspoons of sugar. Bake at 425F for 10-20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and fruit mixture is bubbling around edges.

Pillow Talk...

Gone are the days when EVERYTHING was lovey dovey and super sweet. While Siua and I still do small things to show love and affection, it's definitely a different spin on what we started out with when we got married almost 10 years ago.

Last night, after a long (and sometimes frustrating) day I finally laid down and told Siua "you were annoying today". We're often brutally honest that way. He didn't do anything particularly irritating but I was so caught up in my own frustration that any little random thing could translate into something big. Imagine my surprise when his response was "really? For the WHOLE day? You're never THAT annoying to me". I felt bad. In his own little sweet ways, Siua continues to make me feel so special. YES I realize that all he said was that I'm "not THAT annoying" but after 3 kids and so many years, that's a big deal! Especially because I know how truly annoying I can be. LOL

I've been lucky enough to be blessed with the most amazing husband. He allows me to be my (annoying) self and embraces me anyway. I couldn't do half of what I enjoy doing without his support. Often times it calls for me to be away from him and the kids during week long trips to girls camp or youth conference and he still continues to remain positive. I'm completely against PDA because I think it can be super cheeeeeezzzyyy but I have to give credit where it's due and he deserves ALL of the credit. <3

Gratitude

I've blogged about my little brother Marky Bo and how he is going to leave for the MTC in February. What I haven't mentioned is that my cousin Osi Tupou'ata (George) is also going to leave for the MTC just a week after Mark. He has been called to serve in Brazil. For the past month Osi and Mark have been prepping together while also helping each other to stay on the "straight and narrow" until February. I imagine it's a pretty hard thing for a 19 or 20 year old guy to do. Thank goodness they have each other!

Since they've been riding around and taking care of their daily "errands" they also have the exciting task of dropping me off and picking me up from work every day. It's during these sometimes 40-50 minute rides that we have the chance to talk about all of the things they are dealing with while preparing to leave home for two years. Often times they are making mental lists of things they need to buy or do. Yesterday they decided to create a "bucket list" of things they want to experience before they leave home. When I can, I try to help them cross things off of those lists. Every once in a while it's a serious conversation about what is going to be expected of them and how much hard work it's going to be.

It was a Facebook wall post from Osi yesterday that made me start to think about gratitude. He left a simple message that spoke volumes to me. His post read -

"Just wanted to take time out of my busy schedule to thank you big mama for everything that you've been doing for me I really appreciate it and I know I don't say thank you all the time so here's me sayin' it for all the ones I missed! THANKS ANE! Love ya thanks again."

While it was SUPER nice, it wasn't the actual message that struck a cord with me. It was the fact that I really didn't think I had done anything extraordinary for him. After thinking about it I realized that not only was he thanking me for all the little random things that I did for him over the past couple of weeks, he was thanking me because he knows that I would do anything I can to help him. It's easy to thank someone for small things. Actually, It's easy to thank ANYONE for small things! But you've reached a new level of gratitude for someone when you feel as if you are deeply grateful for having him/her in your life for more than just the tangible things they have to offer.

There are so many people who I am truly grateful for. And like Osi mentioned, I don't thank any of them enough. I've learned that I need to make a more conscious effort to try and show my gratitude to those who I have been blessed to know and love. So THANK YOU Osi for your positive spirit and unwavering dedication to what you know is right. I couldn't be more grateful for the sacrifice from you and all of my brothers who are working in the mission field or preparing to go. I'm even more grateful for the example you are all setting for my boys and our younger cousins.

3 more months to knock out the Pre-mission bucket list!!! Let's see if y'all can make it happen! Just don't forget # 3. ;-)