Arama turns 12

 On the 12th of Jan,  Arama turned 12, yes my baby is now at that lovely age!  ARGHH!  He ordered a Minecraft cake which I was silly enough to agree to.  I hate working with fondant and so below was my attempt,  but from now on I will stick with my good old cake transfers as they are heaps less work and time to prepare.  This is what the offical Minecraft cake looks like,  I think the design is pretty boring to tell you the truth but anyway there you go!!!

Here are some of his friends below who came to his party (minus his fav cousins Tristan and Dahlin this year as they were still away).

They all went over to Mum (and Dads - I will always still say Mum and Dads),  for party food and a swim.  Prior to that they went to Timezone for a birthday party gaming hour.

In the pool having lots of fun,  and lots of noise too!  LOL




After their swim,  they went back to our home for a Minecraft gaming afternoon.  Oh my goodness they are all such addicts but hey it was his birthday and so what the heck.  My home was taken over that afternoon by zoned out boys.  Fun Fun Fun.  Happy Birthday my special little 12 year old,  you are so special to me and always will be.  You have taught me so much over the years and I know you will continue to do so as the days go by.  I love you so so dearly,  you are one special special spirit!

ARAMA RECEIVES THE PRIESTHOOD

Then the next day on the 13th of Jan  Arama received the Priesthood at church.

For those of you who are not of our faith, The priesthood is the power of God, which is given to man to act in His name. It is given to every worthy young man when they turn 12 to bless the lives of others.  It is here on the earth today. The blessings of the priesthood are available to everyone.  Please follow the link below to find out more.  This is a video of The Prophet of our church Thomas S Monson talking about the sacredness of the Priesthood.

Priesthood Power

Arama's  Dad gave him the Priesthood and Some of his special Uncles and cousins joined Keith in giving him this blessing.  It was a lovely simple blessing that he was really touched by.  His eyes were filled with tears as they all said Amen at the end of his blessing.  I love how Arama is always so receptive to spiritual things and how his heart is so so tender.  I know this will bless you Arama as you use your Priesthood power to serve and bless other people.  This photo below is of those who joined in his blessing.

So From left to right those who helped to bless him were: Uncle Aaron Hall (Keith's Bro), Kalem Hall, (Keiths Nephew),  Aki Hettig, Keith's Nephew who is Elletta's son (Keith's sister), Arama, Keith and Niwa in the middle, The bald man behind Niwa's head is Alan Nonoa a good friend,  Next to Niwa is Uncle John Hettig (Keith's sister Elletta's husband), Uncle Donovan Bickford (very close friend), Derek Walters inbetween John and Donovan,  a very close friend also.  Terry Keith's bro arrived late which was a shame as we really wanted him to be there but never mind  Kalem his son was there.  I don't know the name of bald headed man at the back left.  He was a friend of Johns who came with him.  But anyway he managed to get into this photo also.  LOL.

Right at the edge of the photo to the right you can see one of Aaron's twins,  Niwas favourite cousins.   Aki had just got off his mission from Tonga, thus the Tongan costume worn by him and his dad John.  That night we attended a little meeting to hear of Aki's mission experiences in Tonga,  WOW how amazing they were!  What an amazing church we are a part of.  Our young people have such special experiences on their missions,  I went to Sydney on my mission about 17 years ago but I will always always treasure the sacred experiences I had helping people in and out of the church. I also loved coming  to know my god and sharing that knowledge with others!  I would say that serving a mission was  one of the hardest but happiest times of my life!  I hope and pray that Arama will be blessed one day to have such an experience!  I am converted to the fact that it will stand you strong in the Faith for the rest of your life.  How blessed I feel to have had this opportunity.

Below are a few added to the pic, Myself,  Nanny Hall,  Aunty Leonie, in the orange dress to the left, (Aaron's wife) and Aunty Elletta by Nanny Hall (Keiths Sister).

After this we headed home to our house for Brownie and icecream, Sausages and bread and left over birthday treats!   This was all spontaneous! Oh how I love spontaneous events,  (it was like the loaves and the fishes we seemed to fix up enough food to cater for everyone in no time at all)!

WE BURY DADS ASHES

 On Wednesday the 9^th of Jan 2013 we went up to Snapper Rock as a family and buried dads ashes.  It was just Mum,  Aaron and Sharis and Ethan,  Me, Keith, Arama, Terina and Niwa and Terry (Dads best friend and Business partner). The only ones missing were Aunty Colleen, Uncle Ken,  Sarah and the rest of the family.

It was the most amazing weather and we had a lovely day.  

We got 10 Helium balloons, one for each of us and when we had finished Burying the ashes,  we all cut one balloon each and said something as we released it into the sky.  It was so impromptu and special.  We all said something and it was quite emotional and spiritual.  We got this all on video which I would like to edit and  put on my blog at a later time.  I Liked what Terry said “I will cut the string but will never cut the ties”,  Ethan said,  “I hope you are enjoying playing bowls in Heaven Poppa”,  Terina said “I love how you gave me money every Wednesday for Mini Muchie Markets at school Poppa”,  I said,  “Because of you Dad,  I will always try to ‘Reach for the Stars’,  Mum said "I think of you all the time Roddy",  Keith said “We will see you again someday Rod”,  I can’t remember everything everyone said but these are some of the words I remembered.

It was kind of cool how we just sat around informally chatting about our special Hero.

My special Arama contemplating.

Below:  These are Dads Cherry Tomatoes that have just turned red.

Mum Buried some with his box of ashes.  She also took some roses from

the garden that grew outside their bedroom window.

Below:  Arama wiping away his tears. My Darling 

Arama was so close to My Dad but Arama tells me

he isn't sad because he truely believes in the Plan that 

Familes can be together forever. 

Thank you Arama for being my strength!

I don't know where I would be without you!

I love you so much. xxx

Above:  Terry with Diesel his best friend who goes everywhere with him.

Below the kids with their new Surrogate Poppa.

Not that there will ever be another one that could ever measure 

up to my Greatest Hero Dad eva!

We all also had a turn at shoveling in some dirt on top of the ashes.   

The next few photos are of us all having a turn with the shovel.

 NIWA

 TERINA

 ARAMA

 MUM

ETHAN

 AARON

 ME

 TERRY

SHARIS

 KEITH

We truly loved our Dad and Poppa and Companion  (in mum’s case).   

I have had a special dream since dad has passed to let me know that he

is not too far away at all,  this has been very sacred and comforting for me.

However....  on this day I missed him dearly.  I got home and I just

cried and cried and cried.  Some days I just can't believe he has passed!

I miss you so much my dear Daddy,  I know you are not far away but that

doesn't stop me from missing you.

Please be patient while I grieve for you.

You are my inspiration and will always be a good reason for me

to try harder each day and to get up and keep going when I feel discouraged and low.

You always were one not to muck around and to just 'get the job done'  

so I won't waste too much

time crying but a little here and there won't hurt.

 YOU ARE FOREVER IN MY HEART!

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER  xxxx

TOOTHBRUSHES KISSING.

The other morning I was in the lounge and I heard Keith yell out from the bathroom,  “Who put my toothbrush on the rubbish bin YUCK”!  I then heard Niwa yell out, “They are kissing”!  I Wondered what the heck he was meaning.  I walked up to the bathroom and this is what I saw on top of the rubbish bin.

Thats my crazy boy!   He had got My tooth brush and Keith's tooth brush and had squashed the brissles together so they were 'kissing' so he said! Here are some more photos of the disturbed child below!

Keith says He thinks that was very creative of Niwa,  I say sexually perverted!!!!

 

ARGHHHHHHH!  

EVERYONE THINKS HE IS AN ANGEL 

BUT LITTLE DO THEY KNOW!

NANNY'S PRESENTS.

 I think it is crazy how the kids get rediculous amounts of presents on Christmas day.  So mum decided to come over on Boxing Day to give the kids some presents from her.  Here are some photos of the kids      getting pressies from her and giving her kisses etc.  Every year before now Dad has been the one who sits under the tree with his santa hat and hands out pressies.  So now mum has to take over that role.  Look at this photo below this must have been about 15 years ago even before my kids were born performing his 'Santa role' with his first grandchild Ethan.  So CUTE!

I think it is crazy how the kids get rediculous amounts of presents on Christmas day.  So mum decided to come over on Boxing Day to give the kids some presents from her.  Here are some photos of the kids      giving her kisses etc.