One Year Old!

Taimalie Jimmer turned 1 on April 6th and we wanted to celebrate! Also that day David's cousin was married so we had a great time at the wedding and managed to squeeze in a little birthday celebration as well. It was full, fun, hectic day!

The morning started early with us driving up to the Salt Lake Temple for the wedding. The ceremony was  very nice and the boys loved hanging our with cousins until we came out to take pictures. I took some just of the birthday boy

 The couple was very happy with their union. They looked fantastic too! We were lucky to take pictures without rain, though it was a little chilly...

 Unfortunately, we were so anxious to get to the car and out of the cold that I left the diaper bag outside the temple where were taking pictures (don't worry it was later recovered). We went to Tucano's for a birthday lunch for TJ and stuffed our faces with Brazilian meat. Then zoomed back home for some present opening and cake eating. I was still wrapping presents when guests arrived, but we managed to have the house clean. Tai Jimmer was really excited to have his cousin, uncles, aunts, and grandparents at his home to help celebrate.

 Kai loved helping TJ open his presents and TJ loved all his new toys. Aunt Jenny took pictures while mom helped TJ with opening (making sure Kai didn't have all the fun).

 Kai picked this toy out for TJ so he was really happy to see him open it. Kai loves superheroes and TJ loves little people so this was the perfect gift :)

 Grandma Smith was able to join the party too over FaceTime (or Skype). We love technology. Grandma Smith got TJ a little people airplane so that he could fly to California and visit her :)

 TJ got his own phone and he was very happy with it. I love his facial expression. Its a great substitute to him playing with mom's iPhone. I already have to keep it away from the other child.

 He was very happy to see a cake. He wanted to touch the candle but I kept his hands away and helped him blow it out. I'm not sure if he made a wish, but my wish was to have many more years with this amazing kid! He is awesome!

 Finger lickin' good! He ate all the strawberries and cool whip and a goo chunk of the angel food cake. Earlier in the week he had a big piece of chocolate cake at Grandma's so he was definitely fulfilling his cake and icing quota.

 Grandma and Grandpa Fiso got TJ a push and ride ATV that looked very much like the one David used to ride. He loved sitting on it and pushing the buttons, but he hasn't quite got to the riding part.

 This is from later that night after we got home from the reception. He got to stay up late since it was his birthday. He is wearing pajamas he got from Uncle Tom and Aunt Jenny (Kai got some too and he calls them "Uncle Tom's PJs" haha). He loved pushing his new puppy around. His favorite thing is to hold him up by the tail, which I try to discourage because I don't' want the tail to fall off... oh well.

Later that night we enjoyed each other's company at the reception. We had a lovely time eating delicious food. We had a lot of fun spending time with each other and making new friends.

 Kai met a friend and he liked dancing with her... a lot. We had to take him away from the dance floor to keep him from pushing over a competing dance partner. It was hilarious! Then the lu'au got to dancing!

 Lots of David's family members participated as well as some of their friends. It was a delight to watch especially the interactions between the family members as they followed the music.

 I think the boys had a little too much fun with the Samoan slap dance. They had red spots on their chests from their exuberant slaps, but we loved the end pose. Kai said he wants to do that and I think it would be fun for him to learn.

 I think that Polynesian dances are so beautiful. I want to learn how to do them, but I fear I will not have the proper amount of grace. I love being a part of the culture though. It's so much fun!

 The haka is one of my favorites and the guys had a lot of fun with it. TJ kept staring at Justin dancing. I couldn't tell if he was fascinated or scared (probably both).

The night ended with the bride dancing her own dance to be the "lady of the night" and Justin honored her with his dancing and the rest of us honored them with cash! This is also known as the money dance :) Overall I think Tai Jimmer had a great first birthday!

It Takes Two

David and I are a team. I could not do this (life, family, everything) without him. Our marriage is really a partnership. We are both into sports and our family really is a team working together towards a common goal. I'm so glad that David and I have each other as co-coaches. It's not easy. We don't always agree, but because we do agree on the major issues we can work out the little things.

Mr. and Mrs. David Fiso

 It's fun to look back at our wedding (almost 5 years ago) and remember how naive we were. We thought we were in love and that we could conquer the world. The truth is we had only a glimpse of what real love was and we soon realized that we couldn't do anything without the Lord. So yes we are in love, deeper than ever before, and yes, we are capable of conquering the world (or the equivalent, raising a family) with the divine guidance of our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

So excited to start our life together!

 We still manage to have fun together. It helps that we share a lot of the same interests, most of those begin sports. We love basketball! We love spending time with family. We love being outside and taking advantage of the beautiful earth the Lord has created for us.

David and I after hiking Emerald Pools in Zions

I think it helps that we are both young at heart. We want to have fun with each other and with our family. We plan together. We tease each other and the our kids. Sometimes we can be too much like kids, but I try not to take life too seriously. I fail at this I know, but I can see that my life is much happier when I don't stress out or freak out over everything.

Disneyland - New Orleans Square

 We try to plan for the future with our schooling and work. Doing what we thought was best for our family. Looking back I sometimes think I was selfish with what I wanted to do, but the Lord has a way of humbling us. We couldn't predict how our plans would work out due to a sinking economy and a poor job market for me. Thankfully, David has kept a good, stable job. Graveyard can really suck sometimes and I can see the toll it's taking on us, David especially. However, there are some benefits to having David around during the day (even if he is sleeping). We are so grateful that he has kept the job. I am so grateful that he is willing to work so hard. He is amazing!

Enjoying the snow

 I think we do a really good job of making sure that we know we love each other. David is considerate and thoughtful. I do my best to be supportive and helpful. Even when I'm upset with him, I know he loves me and that helps me be upset for a shorter period of time. I would like to say that we never get upset with each other, but that's not realistic. Our differences can be good. When we overcome them we are stronger and closer together. We do kiss at least once a day and say I love you at least once a day. It's a nice little reminder. 

I'm usually trying to convince him to smile with me, this time I joined him in making a silly face.

 It can be hard to find time for just the two of you when you have kids to take care of, but it's important! We don't always get a traditional date night, but anything helps. A short pillow talk session, a late night or early morning movie-at-home, texts or emails if you have to, couple showers if you can. We like to keep some spice in our lives :)

Brotherly Love

 An important factor for us is that David and I are partners in parenting. David is the most amazing dad and my kids are still alive and psychologically balanced so I pass as a mom :) We are both doing our best to teach our kids what is right and to give them the love and nurturing they need. I am learning new lessons every day on how to be a better mother and I can see how hard David works at improving himself. We aren't perfect, but we're doing the best we can. I hope that's good enough.

David and Jesi

I love David! He is a wonderful person. He is my best friend, my true love, and my eternal companion. I am so blessed to have him. I know that it takes the two of us to make this thing work. So far we're doing pretty good. We are one incredible team! 

Basketball is Life

                    BASKETBALL                 BASKETBALL                    BASKETBALL

This is the Fiso family's favorite time of year. Basketball season. Even though the Mom isn't coaching this year, there is still plenty of basketball filling up our lives. We have high school basketball, church basketball, and of course college basketball. Here are some shots of the family while we watch Isaiah play for Orem High School.

David loves sharing his love of basketball with his boys, pass on the tradition to the next generation

The Mom has to come to some of the games straight from work, but I manage to have time to change into jeans

Kai likes to hang out with his uncles at the game

He also likes to lay around and be goofy. Sometimes he doesn't take his nap like he should before the game so he's loopy.

He is always happy to see his Grandma Fiso

Tai Jimmer likes to use the benches to walk along when they're empty

David and his new mohawk

Kai loves running around the open benches. This kid has so much energy.

This group of girls are a large part of my coaching legacy. I coached all but 6 girls on the Varsity squad.

I have loved using my Canon Rebel T2i for picture taking. I think it takes really great candid shots of the family. It also does a great job of taking action shots. Some of the pictures I took are good enough to share. I don't think Isaiah will mind me showing off his good moments.

This is Isaiah driving the lane and laying the ball up and in.

Another lay-up from Isaiah

Isaiah dribbling around the defense

Dribbling around the defense again, they can't keep up.

When Isaiah is done playing hard on the court, he takes time to play with his nephews before going to sit on the bench.

David and I also manage to go to a few BYU games. Some with the family and some on our own. We took the boys to a game earlier this month and they loved it. We moved to an area with a lot of empty seats so the boys could move around and get their energy out. Tai Jimmer even made new friends with some college girls sitting behind us who became his new biggest fans. It was a lot of fun.

David and I also went to a Jazz game with some friends. We went because Jimmer Fredette was playing with the Kings against the Jazz. David and I were heckled for cheering for Jimmer but we were not the only ones. The whole place was pretty split in half. Half rooting for the Jimmer and the other half against (David said those were all the Ute fans in the audience).

The church games are always fun and the boys have fun on the court in between games. During the games it can be difficult to keep the boys entertained, but we somehow manage to run the games and care for the children at the same time.

We also have Enoch's Junior Jazz games. Uncle Mike was Enoch's coach so it was a family event. During halftime David would school Kai on the court.

After all this basketball when we get home we do some more. The boys both have their basketball outfits and their own hoops. Kai thought he would teach Jimmer some moves on his "big boy" hoop. They had a lot of fun playing together (after they stopped hurting each other) TJ even made a basket with Kai's guidance.