Blessing day...late post

Kymani Mosese Powelson Purcell

We blessed our little man on August 5th. Oh what an amazing day!!! We had an ie faitage made for him and he looked SO handsome in it. We blessed him in our Samoan ward and man was it a full house that day. 2 baby blessings and a missionary homecoming.
The whole week leading up to Kymani's blessing I was kind of nervous for Benson. I didn't see him going over the material or semi reciting what he should be saying in the blessing. Obviously after the beginning of the blessing it all comes from the spirit, but to tell you the truth I thought my husband might freeze up. (I'm awful I know!) So when Sunday rolled around I had never seen my husband so nervous, I kept asking him if he was okay, and if he was mad at me. He just kept saying no I'm just nervous! We then were asked by the Bishop if we could come talk to him. That made me semi nervous because I know this is awful too but I thought he may ask us to speak in sacrament ( I don't do well with public speaking). When we arrived to the chapel we met with Bishop and he just wanted to welcome us to the ward....whew!!! We weren't asked to speak...not yet anyway!
Alot of my side of the family came to the sacrament meeting and Benson's immediate family attended as well. I sat there just feeding Kymani so he wouldn't squack during the blessing and kept saying little prayers so that he would sit nice and quiet for his daddy. When Benson and Kymani's time came, I also said a little prayer to comfort my husband. As the men all gathered in the circle I took little notes so I could write down in his baby book of what his daddy would be blessing him with. To my surprise my husband did not stutter, flub or pause. He gave such and amazing blessing!!! Kymani was such an angel and didn't make a peep!!! Once he was done and raised baby so the ward could see him, I had never seen Bense so relieved!!! I was so proud of him, he did a million times better than I thought he would. I was then told later by the men in the circle that he was smiling the entire time, and that melted my heart knowing he with the veil being so thin that he felt the spirit and it made Kymani happy :)
After sacrament meeting we then had a family eating. My family kept coming over to me and saying thank you for inviting them, and that they really enjoyed attending the Samoan ward. They wanted to make it their regular ward hahaha.
All in all I have a testimony of this gospel and I know it's true with all of my being. People wonder how do I know? I know because I feel it, it is so overwhelming to me. I can just feel that it is so right with in my heart. I've seen things happen that I know that could not have been possible with out my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for those men who honor their priesthood, and cherish it. I am grateful that I grew up with such a strong priesthood holder in my home (my father), and having a brother who served a full-time mission. I now have an amazing husband that keeps himself worthy of his priesthood and I'm grateful he was able to bless our son. I would definitely not be the individual I am today with out the guidance and direction from the gospel. I know that if you are ever in doubt..ask...ask your Heavenly Father and he will answer you. Maybe not right when you want him to, and it may not be right away, but you will get an answer.  I know my prayers are heard and answered, my son is living proof of a prayer answered.

I now say these things in the name of thy son Jesus Christ Amen.

Fit to Pregnant to Fit again....journey on!!!!

So it's been a month of watching what I eat and tracking every bit of it. I've planned out healthy meals that add up to about 1200 to 1400 calories a day. Weight has always been an issue for me. I gain it very easily and as a woman its very frustrating. So I've had to buckle down and focus on losing this baby weight. I try and get to the gym when I have someone to watch baby, but if not I take Kymani and my Roxy dog on a good long nightly walk. I remember taking my first walk a week after having Kymani and I Could tell that I was going to work real hard to get into shape. So far I've lost 10lbs (since my meal planning and work outs) and I was able to get my fat jeans zipped up...doesn't mean they looked good but hey they were zipped! Everything feels soft...so I am lifting weights to get my muscle back. I will look at this whole experience as a lesson for future pregnancies... Just because it's hard for me to get back to my normal self. As you can tell I'm a bit obsessed with my physical self but if that's what keeps me from letting myself go then that's how it's going to be. Though Kymani being my first and having the epidural I feel I have manage to heal quickly. I was up and moving with in an hour or two of having him and back to work a week and a half later. I am able to run a 8 minute mile and I'm feeling really good. I just wish it was a bit easier to get to the gym. I just feel that I need to come home and put baby to sleep before I am able to go to anything else, and well sometimes baby doesn't go down until 11:30-midnight. So I am at the gym really late at night, I have found I really like going late due to it being COMPLETELY EMPTY. I don't like working out in front of others...especially when I want to try new machines, and all the guys aren't hogging the free weights. We are planning on going to Hawaii in December so my ultimate goal is to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight and look good in a swimsuit. I've got a long way to go but in the end it is worth it!!! All is well with baby and daddy :) and the journey continues on! :)

Laptop went MIA...

So... about a month ago my laptop of 5 years went MIA. I was really sad and still have to extract all my photos and memory from it but now I got a pretty new toy to play on. Anyways so that is why I have not updated in such a long time.  So much I need to update it going to be long week!!!

THE FAMILY UPDATE:

Benson is returning to school this coming week. His last day at the State Hospital was last week on the 17th, and I can tell he is really relieved to not have to work full time and he is able to focus on school full time. He is getting very excited to go back and I am so excited for him. I am glad he has the desire to return to school.We have just been running around this week trying to get him ready for school. It's been nice having him home all week so I am able to leave baby with him and not have to find a baby sitter.
Now that school has started my mom has returned to work and my last minute baby sitter is no longer. I could depend on her last minute to be able to take baby anytime I needed. I will miss that until next summer :(
Can I just tell you that I am SO grateful for the family support Bense and I have, and how they take care of us! Benson's parents and family are always SO willing to take baby and watch him while I work. I don't know what I would have done with out the support and love that is shown to us everyday.
I am still working as an aesthetician instructor and I LOVE IT!!! I'm so grateful this job opportunity opened up for me and it is going so well. My students are great and I am doing what I love. I myself am constantly learning from my students and it is just an amazing environment.

Last week our sweet Alo family (Glo, Kaeo, and baby Jethro) made their way back to Hawaii so Kaeo can return to school. We spent their last days just hanging out, joking around, and spending quality time with them. The morning of their departure we all drove to the airport and said our goodbyes. It was very bitter sweet and we will miss them. But it just encouraged Benson and I to return this coming December to visit them and go back to Hawaii.

Our sweet beloved Adelyn and Avery turn the big number 1!!! Oh my goodness I can't believe it. They are the sweetest little souls and I cannot get enough of them. They are beautiful and have so much character. Unfortunately I had to work so I was not able to attend their birthday party, but Benson took pictures and told me all about it. I am so happy I have such adorable little nieces!!!

That is just for our little family update. I will be posting more often now that I have a computer to work on :) I'm glad to be back!!! Happy reading everyone!!!