Boys will be boys

Every year since the beginning of time there was one thing I could count on every year: the annual Orme Brothers Hike. My dad and uncles shed their CIO/Architect clothing and transformed into mountainmen. As each boy cousing hit the age of 11 they got to undergo the rite of passage into manhood and join on those hikes. Gathering the troops for this hike has gotten progressively more difficult as the cousins have become fathers themselves, had children, gotten jobs and all the other good stuff that comes  with getting old. This year things largely fizzled out but my dad wasn't going down without fighting so he put together a quick camping trip and got Junior, Jon, and Tyler to join in. Since it was a campout with day hikes rather than the usual strenuous backpacking trip I put in a plug to see if the age marker could be lowered so Brayden and Tavita could join. All graciously agreed and two weeks ago they loaded the cars and drove up to the beautiful mountains of AZ. And yes, there are beautiful, green, mountains here believe it or not. So what do the men do when away from the women? Well here ya go:

They had fires, fires and more fires

 Caught lots of snakes

 Kissed a few of them

 Dug around in the marshy grass for.....

 Crawdads!!!

 Opps, this slipped in out of order but they fished

 Gotta eat what ya catch!

 If you aren't gonna eat it, better release it back into the water!

 The got stuck in the rain and made a poor, wet, little boy hike back to camp

 Played "Chubby Bunny"

 When the uncles declared they could fit no more, Brayden and Vita made sure they got a few more in!

 Taking breaks was not allowed.

 Grandpa won two contest: 1. Chubby Bunny    2. Best faces caught on camera

 It's gonna explode!!!

 Back in ya go!

 VICTORY!!!!

Off course, it wouldn't be my dad if he let anything go to waste, so he roasted the remains. DISGUSTING!

They caught bugs

Went fishing

Saw a hawks nest

Went "cliff jumping". Brayden't comment after

coming out of the water:

"Camping is awesome!!!

Tavita is indeed jumping into the water,

 not standing in it.

Good shot Grandpa!

Lots of hiking!

 

Who says AZ isn't pretty?

What do the women do while the men are away?

We Shop!

Make silly faces!

Eat chocolate!

and though we enjoy our beds, we kinda

 wish we were here with them!

SOOOOO grateful that I have an awesome husband, dad, and brothers that help make such great memories for my kids.

Saying Goodbye

June 3, 2012 marks one of the sadddest, most tear filled days for our family. It was the day we said farewell to our lovely 1st home and our DEAR friends. There were tears all morning, the whole drive down to Arizona, all night, ahh heck, there are still tears from time to time now. The house represented so much of what shaped us into a family. We learned so much physically and emotionally from that house. We worked ourselves (and many others) to the bone to create something we came to cherish. It is where we watched our babies turn to little people, 1st words were spoken, 1st steps taken, 1st days of school, and countless other firsts. The walls were truly filled with laughter, chaos, and love. The doors were opened by countless little hands eager to join my kiddos in their own little world of endless imagination. Some of my favorite times in that home were when the walls were shaking from 10-15 kids running around We created lifelong friendships with people we have come to love as deeply as our own family. They acted as grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins to our children. The children were our kids best friends. The adults our best friends. We "shopped" in each others kitchens, stole tools out of each others garages, kept an eye on eachothers houses, celebrated each others triumphs and milemarkers and shouldered each other through hard times. The neighborhood was the definition of what a true neighborhood should be. We know we have made the right move but it is still VERY hard. I would give anything to have a good wall-shaking, floor-rattling, ear-piercing house full of kids again. We will always deeply cherish our time in Utah and hope that sometime soon we can be in a neighborhood at least half as cool! This picture defines two the two things I miss the most: 1. LOADS of kids (and all thier awesome parents. No this is not a party of any sort, just a typical day. 2. The beautiful view out our front window

The Monday before we left we got to have one last Memorial Day BBQ with all of our favorite people

Kalei with her pal "JetJet"

We all like John pretty well, but apparently he thinks differently of us!

The Shorts. These guys were as good as siblings (for some reason didn't get a picture of Jeremy, Jandi and little Mattson)

Showing their true colors

There's no telling how much trouble these 4 made together.

The other set of "siblings", the Halls

Again I failed to get Erin and Luke but we have a shot of Erin's arms when she graciously added Taiven.

Some of the neighborhood gang. Missing the Goods and many others.

Lil John, the boys idol!

Our dear friends the Mcilmoils.

With "Sister Beesey" The kids surrogate grandma, one of my best friends and mentor.

Our 1st home (and no, you will probably never get a good picture of the Shum family, accept it!)

The kids trying to figure out what in the world the movers thought they were doing with our stuff.

Many hours were spent in this tree at the local park.

Going for a final ride down the Beasley's driveway.

Went out for some ice cream with the Halls, Shorts, and Beasleys.

Brayden and Carson trying to figure out how they're going to conquer the world from long distance

We were lucky enough to catch Carson's baptism right before we left. What a neat experience.

After a heart-wrenching sacrament meeting, we hit the road and this is what it looked like most of the way down. The boys cried plenty too, they just put their tough faces on for the camera.

Lest you all thimk we're sitting around moping, here's some smiling face in front of our new house!

Presenting Taiven Lealofi Shum

I'm way past due on posting this (give me a break, I have a newborn, am in the process of moving, and my hubby is living in a different state) but it is nonetheless a very important and special event in our family. On March 28th, this handsome little guy joined us a few weeks back.

Of all our kids birth's Taiven's was definitely the most eventful of all. I went into deep detail in my personal journal so I'll try to keep it brief for all of you, but I'm horrible at that so it'll probably be long! Tuesday March 20th: Went in for my check-up was already dialated to a 3 (kinda freaked me out, worrying if Junior would make it for the birth) Had an induction scheduled for Aprl 4th (Tavita REALLY wanted him born on his birthday). Doctor then proceeded to tell me he was concerned because I had lost a pound and my stomach was measuring small. Thought it might be my placenta not fully functioning, wanted me to have a growth check ultra sound, if baby wasn't in at least 10th percentile, they would give Junior enough time to fly in then take the baby asap. (I was now totally and fully freaked otu) They then told me to come back on FRIDAY for my ultrasound. This lead to 4 days of extreme worry and lots of tears that my baby wasn't getting the nourishment he needed. If the baby ever went 10 minutes without moving I'd freak out thinking that he was in major distress or worse. I heard and read all sorts of horror stories about babies that died or nearly died as a result of the same condition. It was a HORRIBLE four days. Friday March 16th: Went in for growth-check. The tech took one look at me when I walked in and said she didn't see why the doctor was worried but checked me out anyway. Found out the baby was actually measuring a day ahead of schedule and his head had dropped. Thanks a lot Doc for making me go through misery for nothing! Next time you tell an expecting mother you are worried abouot their babies well being, send them in for an ultrasound THAT DAY! Next few days was spent scrambling to get ready for Junior's family to come, I had been too much of a basket case prior to even think about anything else. They came Monday evening which was wonderful. We hadn't seen them in 6 years and cousins got to meet for the first time (more on their trip later). All during Monday I kept feeling some pretty severe contractions but kept ignoring them hoping it was just Braxton Hicks. Tuesday March 27th: Went in for my weekly check and told them not to do an examination because I knew I was already progressing and didn't want them to trigger anything (had to hold on for 2 more days til Junior got here). Had an hour break and proceeded to a killer root canal. I had been trying to put it off hoping to do it after Taiven's arrival but both the dentist and the ob said not getting it done and risking the infection spreading to baby was more dangerous then getting it done so off I went. It took 2 1/2 hours (my tooth was "special" had and extra root and 2 extra canals all the roots were shaped like kickstands instead of straight down) with very little pain meds. Combine that with having to lay still on your back while 9 months preggo made for a VERY uncomfortable 2 1/2 hours. The endodontist kept having me take breaks and move around to make sure circulation wouldn't be cut off to baby. He said the whole ordeal was about as complicated as a root canal could get. I told him I don't do things any other way! Finally headed home to give Ross and Leanne (my incredible brother and sister in law) a break. Welcome to America, babysit my kids! Had an enjoyable remainder of the day hanging out getting to know their cute kids better. Spent the night planning out the rest of their trip. Had a lot of fun things planned, but little Taiven thought he'd mix things up a bit! Wednesday March 28th: Went to bed Tuesday night around midnight. Couldn't sleep due to the discomfort from my root canal. Then the indisgestion kicked in. Then around 2:00 am I started feeling contractions. Again kept ignoring them hoping they were Braxton Hicks (Junior was coming the next day, surely he could wait!) Contractions started getting more consistent. I was of very clear mind at this poing and was sure if I ate something the contractions would go away. Went down, ate a banana, and waited; and wouldn't you know, NOTHING! Those contractions just kept coming. So much for that plan. Finally at 5:20am I called Junior in tears to let him know I was in labor. My nerves were so shot at this poing I couldn't stop shaking (like horribly, could barely walk shaking). Took a shower, and it helped. Called my brothers Ryan and Tyler to come give me a blessing (SO grateful that I have priesthood holding brothers so close by). Junior called to say he found a flight and Jonathan was taking him to the airport. Woke up Leanne and Ross, yeah, you didn't watch my kids enough today, I'm now leaving them in your care indefinitely while I go have a baby. Aren't you glad you saved all that money to come tour America! They were saints about it and not only watched my kids but cleaned my house too! After the blessing I felt MUCH better and more at peace though still very on edge. Junior's Aunty Siiva offered to come sit with me unitl Junior got there. The two of us and Ryan loaded up in Ryan's car and we were off. By 6:45 I looked like this:

By 6:50 I looked like this:

That's right if you ever want an epidural FAST you just need to be a distraught basketcase explaining to the nurse that the man you have with you is in fact your brother not your husband and your husband is still in Arizona so they NEED to slow this labor down NOW! I had an epidural before I was even admitted! They told me the fact my water hadn't broken would be my saving grace. So long as that didn't happen, I just might be able to hold out (I have NEVER been so grateful my water doesn't brake on it's own, never has). They examined me once then said they weren't going to do anything more until Junior got there. Ryan then sped off to the hospital Aunty Siiva did a great job of keeping the conversation going so I could be as distracted as possible. At 9:40 one of the most beautiful sight I have ever seen came walking through the door:

I broke down in tears once again but they were tears of relief and gratitude. Despite all the family I had rallying around being so willing to help (and it was very much a joint effort by a lot of family as you can see) all I could think about was how much I wanted/needed Junior by my side. I needed his love, support and most of all I didn't want him to miss welcoming his little boy into the world. Now that Junior was there, I was geared up and ready to go. The doctor came in around 10:20 SHOCKED that Junior had made it. The fact that he was in the hospital room a mere 4hrs and 20min after getting a call from his frantic wife ws pretty impressive! Dr. Thorpe broke my water and things went pretty quick from there, made even more grateful my water didn't break on it's own because Junior would've missed it for sure. I think the epidural settled in my legs because they were COMPLETELY numb but I felt A LOT of pain and pressure during the final part of labor and the delivery (but hey, I didn't feel the shot they gave me in my leg post delivery one bit!). Dr. Reese came in 11:30 to deliver the baby, he too was shocked Junior was there. At 11:40 I started pushing and 3-4 mins (yeah, it was that fast) later Mr. Taiven Lealofi was here! If you can see that scale it says he was 7 lbs 8 oz (and that was coming 11 days early, so much for being in the 10th percentile!) and he was 18 in long. He was sooooo short. I loved when he was swaddled up because he looked so cute and compact.

Meeting my precious little boy for the 1st time (well 2nd, we hadn't gotten the camera out yet for the 1st. But it was my 1st time meeting him clean and recognizable!)

The birthing team sanz Dr. Reese, he had already left for another delivery!

See how cute and compact he looks!