20 Things to Stop Doing

Got this email from my sister. I don't know where she got this from but I would like to share with you. Since the new year is quick approaching, I also thought it would be good read to make 2012 an amazing year!

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1. Stop holding grudges. – Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness.
2. Stop meaning what you don't say. – People can't read minds. Communicate regularly and effectively.
3. Stop making it all about you. – The world revolves around the sun, not you. Take a moment to acknowledge this truth on a regular basis.
4. Stop lying. – In the long-run the truth always reveals itself. Either you own up to your actions or your actions will ultimately own you.
5. Stop blaming. – Blaming others accomplishes nothing. Either you own your problems, or they will own you. Your choice. When you blame others for what you're going through, you deny responsibility – you give-up your power over that part of your life, and you annoy everyone around you in the process.
6. Stop doubting. – If you think that you can't achieve something, I have some news for you, you're probably right. But don't let your self-doubt interfere with other people's dreams. Remember, the one who says it can't be done should never interrupt the one doing it.
7. Stop interrupting. – Correcting someone when they're blatantly wrong is one thing, but always interjecting your opinions out of turn gets old fast. 
8. Stop being selfish. – You get what you put into a relationship. Nothing less, nothing more.

9. Stop judging. – Everyone is fighting their own unique war. You have no clue what they are going through, just like they have no clue what you're going through.

10. Stop gossiping. – Gossiping about others is a lose/lose situation. It hurts them, and then it hurts your reputation.
11. Stop making promises you can't keep. – Don't over-promise. Over-deliver on everything you do.
12. Stop being defensive. – Just because someone sees something differently than you doesn't mean either one of you is wrong. Keep an open mind. Open minds discover great things.
13. Stop comparing people to others. – No two people are alike. Everyone has their own strengths. We are only competing against our own selves.
14. Stop expecting people to be perfect. – 'Perfect' is the enemy of 'good.' And genuine 'goodness' is hard to find in this world. Don't overlook it.
15. Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – It's impossible. But making one person smile can change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world. So narrow your focus.
16. Stop screwing people over just because you can get away with it. – Just because you can get away with something doesn't mean you should do it. Think bigger. Do what you know in your heart is right.
17. Stop making mountains out of molehills. – People make mistakes. Crap happens. There's no reason to stress out yourself and everyone around you because of it. One way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: "Will this matter in one year's time?" If not, then it's not worth worrying about.
18. Stop being dramatic. – Stay out of other people's drama and don't needlessly create your own.
19. Stop giving out advice, and just listen. – Less advice is often the best advice. People don't need lots of advice, they need a listening ear and some positive reinforcement. What they want to know is already somewhere inside of them. They just need time to think, be and breathe, and continue to explore the undirected journeys that will eventually help them find their direction.

20. Stop complaining. – Instead, use your time and energy to do something about it.

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I know it's quite a list but I know there are some things on here I should stop doing. Let's just pick one or two we really want to stop doing every month and work on it!
No looking back at our mistakes or our past. Let's move forward!  

Here's to a new year! 

Hai-yah!

Aaron had a silly band on his head and an armband/wristband and started karate chopping and of course Raya ha to get in on the action! I asked him what he was doing and he said he was a "Power Ranger Samurai" and continued his chopping.
His faces are hilarious! My kids love to pose for the camera! Aaron was trying to do some breakdancing move or something.
They sure keep me entertained!

REWIND - Back from CA Trip in October

In the plane eating cookies my mom gave the kids.

They weren't on their best behavior but at least no one complained (to my face anyway).

Reunited with David at the Honolulu baggage claim. I got lost trying to get to the claim area.


I'm not going to explain, just know that I got really confused with the renovations that were happening at the airport.

Aaron & Raya 12.22.11

Aaron and Raya are so cute when they get along. I love how their arms are around each other. Of course Aaron has to make his faces and so Raya followed along :)

Raya has a ponytail!

Yay! I love that her hair is long enough for me to make into a ponytail! She is too cute and looks so much older than her 2 year old self!

Aaron's (school) pictures

Aaron drew the nativity in Sunbeams. His school picture from Bright Beginnings - Hauula.

I was gonna post his class picture but I probably should respect his classmate's privacy :)

Oh Christmas Tree...

We finally put our tree up!

I opened up our box of Christmas decorations and found that ants had made it their home and was breeding in it. Yuck! So Aaron and I went outside to clean out the ants. Bleh. I hate ants.

The middle of our tree's lights went out last year and I was given a string of lights from our neighbors and since I didn't check it until now, only half of the lights worked. I just wrapped the lights in the middle halfway since we didn't really need to see the side facing the window anyway...right?

Aaron was so excited to put up our tree and decorate it. He was such a great helper and he didn't even drop an ornament, it was me! I didn't catch it in time and it smashed into pieces all over the floor. 

Poor Raya was sick and slept like all day but she sure enjoyed seeing the finished product!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

Applebee's

After a long morning of taking pictures with my brother's wedding party, we decided that we had a couple hours before we had to get ready for the reception and since we hadn't had a chance to eat at Applebee's yet, we decided to go eat there! It was still fairly early so there was hardly anyone in the restaurant. 

I don't even remember what we ordered.

Overall, it was pretty good and we enjoyed ourselves. 

Luke & Charmaine's wedding reception

The kids were to walk in front of the line to the table and sit down but I was filming and couldn't & didn't grab them in time :)

Luke asked David to sing a sing at the reception and I must say he did fantastic.

People kept coming up to me to tell me what a great job he did and was surprised that I was his wife.

They were also surprised to find out that I was the groom's sister. Really? Luke, I think that maybe you should have introduced the family at the reception. I mean, at least explain to all the people at the reception you have an older sister and that's why she's all up in the business at the reception. I guess no one really knows I'm alive since I literally left 2 months after my family moved to Fremont and went to school in Hawaii and I've only been back 3 times since 2002. It's my own fault really that no one knows who I am. ANYWAY...I just had to keep explaining who I was and where I live now which is why the guests have never seen me before!

I was wearing Olivia's clothes and her heels. I wore them that morning for the wedding photo shoot and they hurt my feet but I figured I could handle so I wore them to the reception...bad idea. My feet were killing me and I ended up barefoot the rest of the time! I ended up helping with serving the food with Charmaine's older sister and helped with the cake serving. It was a good night and really glad my family was able to come see my brother get married!

Congratulations little brother! Charmaine, welcome to the family! 

Aaron is Four!

Aaron turned four on November 1st. I just realized after I did Raya's post that I didn't do one for Aaron. So here goes. 

Aaron likes to eat meat. He'll eat all his meat and then ask for more meat and the rice and veggies are still in the bowl. He loves chicken nuggets. He calls McDonald's, "Old McDonald's", but he's slowly getting it. He is really good at singing along to songs and make up the words as he goes along. He'll randomly start singing a song, any song. One time he started singing "Praise to the Man" since they learned that in Primary. He'll sing the songs he learned at pre-school. 

Speaking of pre-school, I love Bright Beginnings. They are amazing. Aaron knows all his letter and their sounds. He can write his name and other letters, some numbers, shapes and such as he learns them. He's on the 6th book and he's finally starting to sound more of the words out. Before he'll have just memorized how the book went. 

He loves to dance. When he hears "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO, he'll start shuffling. He's actually quite good at it. He'll start doing break dancing moves, where he learned that from, I haven't a clue but it's pretty cool and he can totally do the moves. He can do flips, hand stands and then flip over, or just stand on his hands/head for a little bit and then do something else. He gets really shy about it though when you ask him to do it again, especially in front of other people. 

He loves playing with his cars. 

He can be a really great brother to Raya. He's very helpful and he is very independent. There are times when he will ask for assistance but he can pretty much do a lot of things on his own. For example, he'll dress himself. As you can see in the bike picture, he's dressed to go swimming. We didn't go anywhere near a big body of water that day or since. Aaron loves to have fun, throw the football or basketball or any ball he can find and play catch. 

Aaron amazes us everyday with what he does and especially with what he says. He is a quick learner and is quick to imitate so we need to watch what we do and say around him. He's pretty sharp. 

He still acts like any other 4 year old but he's our awesome 4 year old.

We love you Aaron! 

Lil Bro's wedding photos at Oakland Temple

We met at Oakland Temple for the wedding photos. While we waited for our turn to take pictures with the bride and groom, we took some pictures of our own. 

Yes, I am wearing heels in this picture and by the end of the day, my feet were killing me! I liked how feminine I felt but at the end of the day, I don't need to wear heels. I'm never going to catch up to David! I like my flat footwear. Maybe one day I'll try heels again but for now, I'm good. :)

I like this picture of David and I. We look good!

My little brother is all grown up! 

Luke and Charmaine

I got this picture off of Facebook. Raya is super cute. I may or may not be biased in that opinion. 

I take horrible candid and posed crazy pictures. It's too ugly not to share!

I think Raya and Aaron were trying to shaka...well Aaron did, Raya...not so much :)

Waiting on the side while the bride and groom take their couple-y pictures.

My family with my sister and parents.

I like this picture. David's still looks good in this candid photo. Aaron was all ready for another shot and had his pose ready. Raya...I'm not sure what she was doing. Me...let's move on. 

My Aunty Joyce or Aunty 7 as we call her, took this picture of our family. Too bad neither of the kids are looking at the camera. Nonetheless, my new favorite family picture!

Here's Aunty 7 and Uncle 7. (Joyce and Richard)

The parents with the couple

I'm telling you, my whole family is photogenic, candid or not. Me? Not so much!

After we were done taking our pictures with the bride and groom, we left to get ready for the reception that afternoon. 

As soon as I get those photos with my brother and his wife, I'll post them up. Stay tuned!

Raya's TWO!

This was taken last week sometime. Raya's wearing her favorite Dora shirt...her only Dora shirt...which she happens to have on today...on her birthday. She loves pointing Dora on her shirt and saying "Dowah" a couple times, it's super cute.

Raya is awesome. 

Things she loves to do or say: 

doing whatever Aaron is doing, repeating everything that we say (she'll repeat my scoldings to Aaron!), she loves her little baby dolls, loves to eat (especially candy and can usually be bribed to stop crying with the promise of food), she says "pweas" and "tat too", asks for food and water, says "I want...." whatever she wants.

When she's looking for you, she'll go "Mommy, wheahyou?" and when she finds you, "Oh hereyouah", she loves to sing "I am a Child of God" and "Do as I'm Doing" by asking to sing "God" and "Following" and sings along. She loves to sing songs and makes up the words for it as best as she can. 

She is very mellow but she wants what she wants and fight for it, she'll beat up on Aaron when he makes her mad, she can be picky about what clothes she wears but usually she's ok.

She likes to brush her teeth, helps set the table for her and Aaron and is usually looking out for him.

She'll pretend her baby is "dying" (crying) and comfort it or point to where the sound of the baby is "dying". She is a pro on the iPod touch and my iPhone and loves to look through the pictures and videos over and over again. 

She loves going to Nursery on Sundays and this past Sunday she got so excited, she bounced/walked to class and then literally ran to class and didn't even look back! 

Raya loves to say "hi" and "bye" to everyone and waves to anyone she sees. 

Her hair is getting long enough for me to put in a ponytail or pigtails but when she's over it, she'll take it out by herself and lose the hair tie :)

There is so much more to say about her but this is all I can think of right now. 

Happy 2nd Birthday sassy girl!! We love you!

Setting Up For Luke's Wedding Reception

Helping set up for my brother's wedding reception at the Walnut Creek Building. I used to go there for seminary. So many memories. Anyway, Luke and Olivia decided to mess with Raya and put a mustache on her face. Pretty funny though...She's not really sad. I think she was just making a face. 

Here's the basic set up for the reception. Olivia took this photo. I believe this was in the middle of the setting up. They had pretty much all the Disney princesses and princes as their centerpieces.

I was outlining the names of the Disney princesses and princes with Olivia. 

I should've taken pictures of the reception AFTER we finished decorating or during the actual reception but I forgot that night and I was super busy during the reception. Just imagine it :)

Fenton's Ice Cream - Oakland, CA

David's uncle, Dean Davis, and his family took us to Fenton's Creamery & Restaurant in Oakland. It's on the corner somewhere but it's a cute little place. It's also the ice cream place that the old man (Frederickson?) and Russell (the Junior Wilderness Explorer) went to eat ice cream at the end of the movie "Up". Fenton's is also famous for it's ice cream.

They also had cool kiddie cups for the kids.


I made David pose next to the ice creams in the cooler.


David & Raya


Collin and Aaron watching the people make pies behind that glass window. They kept going back with all the other kids and saying hi to the workers.





Here is 4/5ths of the Davis family ordering their food. Yes, Fenton's has actual food besides their delicious desserts!




There's the 1/5th Davis next to Aaron.




David with Uncle Dean and 4/5th of the kids looking at a print of the scene in "Up" when they are eating Fenton's ice cream.



Our family eating a giant banana split! I forgot what it's called. Look, it's almost as big as Raya's head!




Here's a closeup of the sundae before we attacked it.




The after picture. It was sooo good! I wish I could go back and get some more! I don't even remember what flavors we got but if I remember I'll update this post. The ice cream is amazing!




TMI coming up...turn away now if you don't wanna know!

This is me being the klutz I am and closed a car door on my leg. I have a huge scar on my leg which now looks like a burn mark.