Merry Christmas

Wishing all our friends and family the merriest of Christmases! May your hearts and homes be touched by the wonder and joy of our Savior's birth.

And may 2011 bring blessings of comfort and Joy!!

So much to catch up on....

It's been forever since my last entry and so much has happened! I have photos, but if I wait to post them I will NEVER blog again :) So here's a run down on the excitement:

1. Karl was called to be a scout leader. He serves with the deacons and is looking forward to teaching them "scouty" stuff (admittedly, I don't know much about scouting-- Tenny is an Eagle Scout and my aunt and uncle are Silver Beavers, but apparently there is a lot more to scouting then that!). He is already talking about blowing up propane tanks.....scary....

2. We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary!! Yep, 2 years down! Karl made me dinner, gave me a pedicure, flowers, card, the works. We have so much fun together-- we laugh and laugh and laugh. I can't believe it has been two years, in some ways it feels like we've been together forever, then there are the moments where it feels like it was just yesterday we headed to the temple to be married for time and all eternity. Either way, I'm excited to know that we face the future together :)

3. Karl's little brother, Jerad, stretched his wings and flew the coop! He came to stay with us in May, after returning from his mission, and we've enjoyed having him as a roomie. We had fun with Jerad (mostly at his expense-- sorry Jerad!) and I know that Karl loved having a little brother to boss around, wrestle with and do boy stuff. Our home is quiet(er) now, and the food sure does last longer! ha ha ha!

4. Aniva and Tenny had birthdays.... no matter how old they get, they will ALWAYS be my little sister and baby brother! I've come to accept that they are adults, but I still see them and feel the need to look out for them and protect them. I think it is safe to say that they have the best laughs of all time-- Aniva has this contageous squirrel giggle and Tenny sounds just like my dad. Love them both to pieces.

5. And the biggest event since my last post was the birth of my beautiful new nephew.... Damian Alexander Green, 7 lb 1 oz, 19 inches of perfection. Congratulations to my beautiful sister, Aniva, and her husband, David, on their little bundle of joy!! Auntie Sia loves you Baby D! :)

*And congratulations to my bro-in-law, Adam, and his lovely wife, Lyn, on the birth of their own bundle of joy-- Daniel Adam O'Dell, a whopping 9 lb 4 oz healthy baby boy! So many babies to love!! Nephews all the way around :)

Labor Day Weekend

Karl and I decided to escape Vegas for a quick retreat and headed to Provo for the kick-off of the BYU 2010-2011 football season. We left Friday night and stayed in Cedar City with his sister, Elisa, where we also dropped off his mom for the weekend and then took off for Provo Saturday morning. It was great to be back at the Y.....

We got a great parking spot in Helaman Halls (I'm sure I wasn't supposed to park there, but oh well!) and then walked to the stadium.

Our seats were in the nosebleed section, but we didn't mind too much. The real killer was the HEAT! We had planned for cool weather...turns out it was 90 + degrees, and we were in direct sun for the game.

But the Cougars beat the Washington Huskies (23-17) and we were happy--even if we didn't have any Cougar gear to wear! Note to self, check the opposing team's colors BEFORE packing for the game! We ended up wearing black as we both had purple (WA colors) and even some red (Utah colors-- bad move!).

After spending Saturday in Provo we didn't have any real plans and decided to drive back down to Cedar to spend more time with the family. It was wonderful to enjoy Elisa and James' new home (so cute! Great job Elisa...and you too Brandy and McKenzie. All that painting paid off!) and to spend time with Brandy and handsome nephews Ethan and Gabriel. We usually only see them on holidays, so it was nice to spend time in their home and without the rush of holiday commitments.

Monday brought a family breakfast at IHOP and a trip to the Tai Pan store in St. George with Karl's Mom, Elisa and Brandy for some girl time. A quick drive home, with a stop to say "hi" to Pops and Lorraine in Overton, and we were back in the heat of Vegas in no time.

A great weekend to kick off the fall!

Getting older...

In a few short days I'll be having another birthday. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I don't really have an issue with getting older, per say, I just don't know how I feel about other people being younger then me.... I don't trust the younger ones....

Happy Birthday Karl!!

Today is my husband's 31st birthday!! We had a family birthday BBQ/Swim party for him on Saturday (pictures to come) but in the mean time I thought I'd post a few timeless things I love about Karl (or at least think are interesting!)....

#1: Karl LOVES LOVES LOVES animals. He loves to hunt them, rescue them, and lately-- borrow them to spend the night. He is truly an animal person. He loves animal planet, reading bear attack books and can spend hours and hours at Bass Pro Shop (admittedly, that is a pretty cool place, I just can't spend hours there!). He is an equal opportunity animal lover (except for Pugs, which I think are adorable--how can you not love a dog that ugly!!). One day I will concede to having a pet, but until then, he'll have to continue to borrow Tiki and Zoe (see below)-- oh, and he also loves those cowboy shirts with the snap buttons....I don't know what to say about that.....
#2: Karl's favorite food group is CEREAL! That's right, he can and will eat cereal at least once a day and can make anything into cereal...as evidenced by the mini-oreo cereal seen below! If he could find a way to make corndogs into some form of cereal he would be in heaven!!

#3-- Karl LOVES kids and kids LOVE him. I have never met a man, other then maybe Santa Claus, who can capture the attention and love of little kids more then Karl. When we go to church the little kids in front of us will just stare at him and smile...then just look at me and turn away, go figure! He is an amazing uncle and I can't wait to see him with our own kids one day. Here is "Wuncle Karel" with Baby Teni--- soooo cute! (He is also known as the human jungle gym as every kid wants to climb on him or get on his back or shoulders!)...

#4. Karl is my HERO. Without a doubt I love the fact that my husband is always willing to help a person in need. I have never heard him complain about helping someone-- and in fact he cannot see woman on the side of the road in distress and not help-- he said his Dad taught him that and I thank Pops for his great example. He is generous and compassionate in ways I wish I was, and truly embodies what all and Eagle Scout should be. He is a good priesthood holder and just shows you can be devastatingly handsome, have a wicked sense of humor, but still be a good man!

Happy Happy Birthday Karl Spencer O'Dell!!! May we celebrate many many many more birthdays together and with those we love!!!!

So much to catch up on, so little time

It has been quite a while since my last blog entry and so much has happened! For some reason I am hung up on the idea that I can't blog unless I have photos-- but given that it may be a while before I get some pics up I thought I'd do a quick highlight reel for the past few weeks (in no particular order). Here goes...

1. The Littlefields came to town! Our much anticipated family vacation came and was just as wonderful as we had hoped it would be! Guy was baptized (how can he be 8 already??) and Karl was a witness and assisted in his confirmation. After his baptism we had a great family swim party at Mom's house, which was followed up by a 4th of July BBQ at Mom's the next day. Their visit included a trip to the water park, the movies (Toy Story 3 and Airbender), birthday dinner at Red Robin, a sleepover at our house -- complete with homemade chocolate chip waffles, bowling, a stop by Atomic 7 with Teni for some allery-safe ice cream, swimming, swimming and more swimming. And to finish the trip off we headed to Disneyland and the beach. It was by far the funnest time I have ever had at Disneyland (and thank you, LaAna, for not purchasing the horrible "Grimace" Splash Mountain photo!). The beach was fun too, with Mom renting a mutli-person bicylce then making us ride in it to get her money's worth! Ah, what a great time, the highlight of our summer. Only problem is that no I miss them sooooo much!!

2. Father's day at the O'Dells in Overton: we had a great family gathering to celebrate Karl's Dad's birthday and Father's Day, complete with butter noodles and ham (an O'Dell family favorite). It was so nice to spend a Sunday afternoon together enjoying the company of family. It was an early b/day celebration for Pops as he left a few days later for a month in Alaska (lucky!).

3. Busted Bronco: Just as we were getting ready to put our '71 Bronco up for sale (but not before a few off-road rides), the Bronco was hit, Karl bonked his head pretty good, and now we're out of the running....what can I say, 2010 has been full of good intentions, but poor delivery. Hopefully the bronc will be ready to go in the near future.

4. New Roomie: Karl's little brother, Jerad, came home from his mission and will be staying with us until the end of the year. He's a sweet kid and we've had fun teaching him a bit more about the life of grown-ups (you know, the "real" world of work, bills and budgets!). Karl has enjoyed having a brother/slave around (sorry Jerad) and I've never met a better dishwasher! It has been fun having him in the house...though nothing makes you feel so old as a kid who graduated in 2008!

5. Baby "D": We're getting ready for the arrival of the newest Fau baby (ok, so it is technically a Green baby, but born to a Fau girl) in November and are busy getting the nursery ready. Aniva is such a great mommy and has everything planned (and I do mean everything!). We spent this past Saturday painting baby's room (I painted, Karl fixed my painting) and had so much fun. I can't wait to hold him and smell his new baby smell!

6. Primary teachers: I've learned so much from my primary kids lately that I think they are the teachers after all. Karl and I team teach the 10-11 year olds and we were teaching them the story of Samson. We had just read the scriptoral account and finished talking about how Samson prayed for strength to bring down the builidng upon his captors and I asked the children what they could learn from the story of Samson. Admittedly, I was expecting them to say something about keeping promises/covenants and being obedient and good, when one little girl answered and said the lesson she learned was that no matter what choices we make, if we pray to Heavenly Father he will always answer our prayers. Wow, of all the times I've read/heard the story of Samson I never really looked at that aspect of the story. What a great lesson to learn!

Hopefully I'll get some pictures up soon, but 'til then, the update will have to do!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

In honor of my Dad's birthday today-- he'd be 61-- I thought I'd post 6 (+1) things/memories about my Dad (I'd do 61 but that's a long list and, like my Dad, I'm too impatient!). Here goes:

1. One of the many memorable sayings Dad had was "The hand is quicker then the eye"-- translation: you never see it coming. This pretty much meant we should always be good or else watch out! You'd have to be a Fau kid, or see a Fau kid get hit with a hymn book in church, to appreciate this saying.

2. Dimples: My dad had the biggest dimples in the world and I remember he would always get this mischievous smile when he was hiding something and got caught--- like when my mom asked about the REAL price he paid for something, and not the significantly reduced amount he'd just told her.

3. He called every waiter in every Mexican restaurant "Jose." This was never done in a rude or mean way, just more like "Hey, Jose, can we get more water" type of way. After many groans of embarrassment we kids made a deal with Dad while eating at a Mexican restaurant-- we'd ask the waiter what his name was and if it WASN'T Jose he'd have to stop calling all waiters that, if it WAS Jose we'd never bring up the issue again. The waiter's name turned out to be......Jose.

4. Dad always gave the missionaries money. Whether he saw them at a fast food place (where he would always pick up their bill) or at a stop sign and they were at the cross-walk, Dad would always give them "ice cream" money. Dad was the embodiment of generosity.

5. He once threw a broom at a boy, and chased him down the street, who came to the front door and asked for LaAna. I don't think I've ever seen him get up from a deep sleep so quickly! I think Ana was only 11. Needless to say, no boys ever came to our door uninvited from that day forward!

6. Dad took the biggest "bites" ever-- when he asked for a bite of your ice cream you pretty much knew it was gone!

+1. Dad was a great man of faith. He was constantly listening to the Spirit. I remember the amazing blessings he'd give us-- his hands were so heavy on your head!! Dad never missed a moment to share his faith with his children.

Happy Happy Birthday Dad!!
Alofa,
Sisi

Spring is in the Air...

I love Spring! The weather warms up, the flowers bloom and life feels fresh and new. Here are a few photos of our spring fun...


What spring is complete without the Easter Bunny??? Uncle Chuck served as the Easter Bunny for our annual Hamilton Family Easter Picninc. We had fun celebrating the season with family...


A new family tradition for me is the Logandale fair. Karl's family has long attended the fair (his Dad lives in Overton) and so we've decided to make this our new family tradition. This year I talked Karl into ridding the mechanical bull. He lasted 8 seconds, but let's just say the bull wasn't exactly going full speed...

I was excited to see Mojave Max at the fair (what can I say, he reminds me of my turtle, Cisco). Karl and Mojave Max had a "throw down" at the baseball throw booth. Here's Karl talking trash to the shell....

Mojave Max went first. Not a bad throw...

Then Karl stepped up to the plate. Look at the concentration on that face! Karl threw better, but it was close (sad, I know). We had a great time at the fair, can't wait 'til next year!

And spring just wouldn't be spring without yard sales!! Aniva, Mom and I hit the mother of all yard sales in Green Valley--- it was a huge deal with several communities participating with maps to all the homes, etc. I was the chauffer while mom and Niva did all the damage (I'm glad I took the truck, we had the bed full by the time we were done!). Here's a picture of my two favorite bargain hunters....

Happy Spring!!

Colorado Bronco Trip....better late then never!

At the end of March Karl and I embarked on a journey to pick up a '71 Bronco in Breckenridge, Colorado (let's just say mapquest doesn't do justice to the distance of the drive! It probably didn't help that I felt the need to announce every exit and how many more we still needed to drive!). I say journey, because the word "trip" just doesn't seem to cover all the excitement we were able to squeeze into 48 hours (and by "excitement" I mean all the hours of endless driving on little to no sleep!). Here are a few highlights from the trip:

In Parawon we hit black ice on the exit bridge and slid into oncoming traffic only to be "bounced" back to our lane when the tire hit the side rail and blew out. Here was the damage (we're blessed, could have been worse!)...

After enlisting the help of some mechanics at the disel stop we replaced the tire but decided to get 2 hours of rest becuase there was a huge storm blocking the road to Colorado...

The road was clearer from Parowan through to Grand Junction....

And Grand Junction to the pass through the Rockies was beautiful....

Then came the snow storm that caused considerable delay, but we made it through....

And FINALLY, we got the Bronco loaded safely and were on our way home, just another 10 and 1/2 hours to go....

So, we made a roundtrip journey of 1,407.94 miles, give or take a few, and survived black ice, a blow out, a bent rim, a tire change, a trailor glitch, a blizzard, a tired Fau, flip flops in the snow, and about 4 hours sleep (total) in the back seat of the truck in less than 48 hours! What a journey! Next time we get an "investment" car, it's going to be from somewhere on the beach!!

Big Head Ted...

I come from a family of big heads... not big in a vanity sense, but big in a circumference sense. Having a big head is a longstanding Fau trait, if you knew my dad you knew he had a huge head (had to have his scuba hood made especially for him), my grandpa Fau had a big head (picture my dad but with white hair), my nephews have big heads (for the big brains they have...they are extremely intelligent.... not that I'm biased!) and I, of all my siblings, have a traditional Fau noggin’. However, I just figured my head was slightly large, and given my hair, it looked bigger then it was (despite a human bobble head joke from Eddie... it actually was a good joke, I'll give him that)... Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to have this conversation with my hubby:

Karl: Babe, you have a big head, right?

Sia: Yeah, I guess. My dad had a big head, it’s a Fau trait.

Karl: Can you stretch out my baseball hat? Just wear it a little while.

Yes, this was an actual conversation from the other night, which was followed by my husband wetting his baseball cap, so it would take shape better, and wedging what felt like a youth cap, onto my head.

What can I say, it is what it is, just call me Ted, Big head Ted that is....


*p.s. If you doubt that Fau's have big heads, just ask my mom, she loves telling the story of how she "gave birth to that head"

Valentine's Day...

is one of those holidays that I never could make up my mind if I liked or not. I've been more single then not on V-Day, so it was never a huge holiday for me in the romantic sense, however I've recently come to the conclusion that I really like Valentine's Day--- but not necessarily for the reasons most people do--the lovey sweetheart couple stuff (though I am a bit spoiled by Karl, see below). The reason I like Valentine's Day is that I get to be a kid again (if for only a few moments) on Valentine's Day. You see, my mom is the best mom ever and as the best mom ever she always makes her kids a special Valentine. It consists of the most delicious homemade heart shaped sugar cookies (one year we got cookies shaped like big lips), with pink frosting, all wrapped up with candies and a little treat-- this year it was cute V-Day socks. Now most moms stop this kinda stuff when their kids get married, but not my mom-- she gives you even more cookies to share!! I would have taken a picture of my Valentine gift but Karl picked it up and tore into it to eat some cookies before I could capture the cuteness.... boys, they just don't get it. Thanks mom for being my special Valentine for all these years-- and hopefully for many many many more to come!


Of course, how could I mention Valentine's Day without mentioning my handsome hunter! Karl is of the belief that V-day is a "girl" holiday, meaning the boy is to get stuff for the girl and the girl just enjoys it....and wanting to be a supportive wife I said "whatever you want dear" (yeah, so maybe it wasn't those exact words...it might have been more along the lines of "so, what romantic evening do you have planned that I've been looking forward to and will set the tone for 2010???? Just kidding, about the 'tone for 2010' part.). So, my romantic husband planned a candle lit dinner at home, had my wedding band engraved, flowers and.... here it comes ladies..... danced with me to a total of 4 slow songs in the candlelight!!! Thanks babe! Here's to many more romantic V-Days, at least until the kids come and then it's egg pan time! (Ask LaAna about the egg pan... gotta love Eddie! Lookin' forward to visiting them so he can use that egg pan for us!)

What's in a name....

I've always loved unique names (probably because I loved being the only Telesia/Sia in my class or group of friends) and I've always loved family names that have history and meaning (Telesia is my Grandma Fau's name, LaAna is named after my two aunts, Aniva means the Stars/Milky Way and Tenny is in honor of my dad). A person's name can have a profound affect on ones development of a sense of self, so when Karl's Dad set up accounts for Karl and I on the church's new family history program I was intrigued to see the names of our ancestors (and potential names for our future children-- this is NOT a pregnancy announcement) and wonder about the type of person they were. Here are a few names from our combined family tree.

Albeon (Karl)--- I bet he was cool, reminds me of Albus Dumbledore
Ursal (Karl)-- has a Walt Disney tone to it (hee hee)
Iva (Karl)--- I bet she was glamorous, reminds me of Ava Gardner
Otto Adolph (Karl)--- yeah, ok. Bet he has some stories.
Arclie (Sia)---she was French, makes this name cooler.
Emmaline (Sia)-- reminds me of Madeline...
Sanitoa (Sia)-- this is a popular name on the Fau side, I bet the original Sanitoa was beautiful

and then there is..... Lualuapuolenu'u (Sia).

I just found out for the first time in my life that Lualuapuolenu'u is the first name of my Grandpa Fau as recorded on his birth certificate (he always went by Tavete, which turns out to be his middle name!).

Hmmm, my Granpa Fau was a smart man....I think I would have gone by Tavete too :)

My own personal Twilight

Forget Team Edward or Team Jacob....

Hello Team Karl!!

(teeth courtesy of major jaw surgery and dental implants...)

Christmas 2009 rewind...

I love Christmas!! I love everything about the holiday season-- the lights, the chill in the air, the smell of goodies baking, listening to Christmas songs all day long, warms socks and hot chocolate with marshmallows and a candy cane, spending time with family and friends and giving gifts. I particularly love the glow of the Christmas tree-- it makes my home feel so warm and inviting and it reminds me of being a kid again. This year Karl and I had our first REAL Christmas tree, and it turned out to be a beautiful one ...

And you can't forget to hang the stockings! I love having lights everywhere, so I don't even have to turn on the normal lights...

Christmas morning came early--- okay, so not really. We actually slept in and were still in bed when my mom called at 9:3o to wish us a Merry Christmas. We figured we'd enjoy it while we can because once we start having kids Christmas mornings will start way to early!! Here's Karl Christmas morning, waiting for me to get done taking picutres so we can say prayer and open the presents...

We had a wonderful Christmas morning and enjoyed some beautiful gifts. And what Christmas would be complete without a shout out to our family in Oregon.... we miss you guys!! Go Ducks!!!

And in an attempt to be more crafty, I made Karl a NY Giants quilt for Christmas (more like I helped Aniva make Karl a quilt...thanks sis!). I also made him a body pillow...which turned out to be 1) extremely comfortable and 2) HUGE, too huge to fit in this picture!

After a great Christmas morning at home we packed up and went to my mom's house for Christmas dinner. In true Fau tradition we had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed some more gift giving. I love mom's face in this picture (cute guy in the background too!)....

Tenny and Karl hung back and watched the festivities (Hey Ana, that's Macayo's salsa on the counter! Yum!)

It was the first Christmas with my brother-in-law, David, and it was so wonderful to have him there. I am so happy that he has joined our family...

and I've never seen my littlest sis happier. Congrats on your first Christmas together as hubby and wife!!

We had a wonderful dinner and it was great to laugh and eat and laugh some more. I love this photo of my mom and Karl, it makes me laugh because I know that when we go places people think she is Karl's mom and not mine!!

We missed LaAna, Eddie and the boys, but they were there in spirit and I can't wait to see them this summer!

Later that night Karl and I went to his mom's house and had a wonderful time. I can kick myself because I forgot my camera/phone! We hung out with his sisters, Brandi, Elisa and Tiffanie, as well as his mom, aunt and nieces and nephews. It was a wonderful Christmas day!

*Christmas Eve we spent with Karl's dad and his family and we had a wonderful time. Thanks Aunt Linda for having us all over for Christmas Eve!!

Thanksgiving 2009....better late then never!

This past Thanksgiving we were blessed to spend it with Ana, Eddie and the boys in Forrest Grove, Oregon. I couldn't find my camera for most of the trip, so here's a few photos of what I was able to catch (check out Ana's blog for some good pictures of the trip!)

Here's Karl with Teni and Guy--- Teni had a Stuart Little game that he had everyone help him with (too bad for him Karl stinks at video games!)

Teni checking out the Black Friday ads with Uncle Karl.

What family gathering would be complete without someone getting teased...this time around it was some friends of Ana & Eddie. In anticipation of the upcoming Jazz-TrailBlazer game, we decorated some pro-Jazz posters (of course Eddie being a Jazz fan in Portland territory) and the guys got dressed up to go out and put up the Jazz posters....

Soon all the boys got in on the action..... good thing the Jazz won the game!

We had a great time in Oregon, I only wish we were able to stay longer. We got to visit the Portland Zoo and Ana, Niva and I did some sisterly bonding while Black Friday shopping (ok, so Ana and Niva bonded with hot chocolate and donuts in front of Target while I stood by myself in the rain for 2 hours outside Best Buy....but have you seen my nephews? They are soooo worth it!!)

So, in the spirit of missing my family in Oregon, Karl and I decided to celebrate Christmas with a piece of Oregon.......

Our first real Christmas tree together....courtesy of the green hills of Oregon!!!