puanoe manuia patterson

our newest addition to our family came to us wednesday, june 1, 2011 at 9am. she came out just perfect:) she looks much like her sisters and they, along with their older brother, just love her to pieces! we're so thrilled she's finally here with us and we're grateful to everyone who has helped us in any way as we're getting settled with this little girl. we are so blessed and fortunate to have wonderful people around us who give so much of themselves. thank you! and a special thank you to my beautiful mother in law, dixie patterson, who came to stay with us and helped tremendously with everything including: housework, children, cooking, cleaning, children, babies, chauffeuring,...the list goes on. she's an angel-literally. we couldn't have done it without her help and love. thank you mom, we love you. and thank you puanoe for being part of our family. we love you.

today

nani: mom, do you know who one of my favorite people in the whole world is?
me: who, nani?
nani: GRANDMA & GRANDPA!
me: yes, i should've known...they're one of my favorite people too!

countdown...

37 weeks pregnant and i'm soooooo feeling it! visited my dr. on monday when he informed me that he's "concerned" about this "pretty good sized" angioma on my placenta-ok. so, an ultrasound next tues. and a visit with him on wed. morning, will determine whether or not this baby girl will be greeting us as soon as next week via induction. unless of course, my water breaks before then-i won't mind if she's anxious to see us sooner:)

that easter morn

yesterday we celebrated easter with all it's traditions. we had our easter egghunt/picnic dinner on saturday up at oak glen and it was fabulous! we had good food, good friends, and a mighty good egghunt. the kids all had fun...and lots of candy! before going to bed, mason talked with the kids about the true meaning of easter. although egghunts, easter bunny, and candy are all fun, it's not the real reason why we celebrate easter. we then read in the bible the account of jesus' death & resurrection. i love these moments when we have the opportunity to teach & testify to our children of jesus christ! i don't think we can have too many of these moments either. our good bishop commented in sacrament meeting yesterday, on how we as latter day saints, should be just like nephi in the book of mormon..."we talk of christ,we rejoice in christ,we preach of christ,we prophecy of christ...that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." i absolutely love this verse. as a mother, this is what i want to accomplish. this is what i know to be true and what i strive to teach my own children. how thankful i am each day, for that easter morn so long ago, when the savior of the world,fulfilled what he said he would do, for me & for you! he lives and i love him with all my heart.

10 years

no title. no date. a poem from mason.

She was the most beautiful thing I had layed my eyes on
Her hair was long and dark like in my dreams
The best my 14 year old heart had ever seen
So I was convinced that she was what I wanted
Because her heart was pure and full of love
And so I tried with all my might to have her
But never could
I was convinced she was sent from somewhere above

But you can't force someone to love you
You can't make them understand
You can hope and pray that they feel the same
And one day you will walk and hold their hand

As the time passed my love just grew
Till the time had come to ask her out
So I went and picked a rose from my garden
Got into my friend's car and drove to her house
I was so afraid I could not think
To me this was just like a fairy tale
And all my confidence began to leave me
She was my princess and I was just a frog about to fail

Well the story hasn't changed much from the beginning
She is now a woman and I'm a man
So I sit silently around and I still wish she
Wanted me to hold her hand
But it is plain that love may never be between us
I wish with all my heart I was her man.


Mason's mom found this poem in the trashcan. She can't remember when but she took it out, read it, and thought she ought to save it. She gave it to me sometime during our engagement(a very long 5 weeks)and I read it and cried, just as I'm doing now. I'm glad she kept it and I'm even more glad to say that yes, I suppose Mason couldn't make me understand or force me to love him. I did that on my own, it just took me a while...12 years I suppose. But I did and it's the best decision I've ever made. I am my best because Mason loves me. We've made this rich life together along with our beautiful children and so often I feel like Ammon(in the Book of Mormon), I can't say the smallest part which I feel. Next to my relationship with my Savior, Mason is my greatest blessing. Happy 10th Anniversary honey. I love you.

sila bethany, 7

sila celebrated her 7th year of life...actually it's more like 1 and 3/4-she's a leap year baby. and boy, has she been doing lots of leaping! sila came to us 3 weeks early. her projected due date was march 20, 2004. mason & i walked, shopped ontario mills mall on sat. feb. 28th. i remember going to bed that night thinking,"wouldn't it be weird if i went into labor tomorrow because of all this walking!" 6 o'clock the next morning(which was sunday) my water broke:) i got in the shower,mason went to his early church meeting and came back in time to take mese & i to church...yes, church-not the hospital. i figured i wasn't feeling any pain so why not go to church! we got there and i told dixie(mason's mom) that my water broke 3 hrs. ago-i guess that's why she had that shocked/surprised/what are you doing here look on her face. needless to say, after some urging from dixie to call my dr., i did, then mason & i took off to the the hospital where later(around 5:35pm, oscars were on) sila bethany patterson would grace us with her presence. she did have the umbilical chord around her neck but that didn't stop her from getting to us! she's here. she's smart.she's feisty. she's independent. she's kind. she's headstrong. she's a leader. she's tenderhearted. and i love her with all of me. mason & i are so blessed to have her in our family. we love you sila girl. happy number 7:)

1 week to 10 years

and so, this journey is slowing coming to an end(it has been almost 10 weeks of posting this stuff). i've got another letter to share with you, so here it is.

entry#9 January 19, 1996

Dear Melina,
How's it? Me, I'm just chillin.(one of his fave words) Sounds like you're pretty excited about goin on a mission. That's cool! Me, I am startin to get excited to get off. Dec 7 marks one year-half way point.(no, he's not anxious!)
I love it here in Brive.I see lots of castles, chateaus and cool stuff. The work is tuff(did i mention mason's a master speller?:) but p-day is the bomb!(said only in true mason fashion)
Some crazy sisters don't take their p-day-what knuckleheads!(i concur)France is way too cool not to see everything. I love working in such a cool place. Anyway, much love and tell your punk brother to write.
Love,
Mason

what can i say? not much has changed...with his spelling:)