Adios 2006

I told you my wife was awesome! She set up my new page and for a small fee she can make your page look just as good. Just kidding.

A New year is just around the corner, what's mind boggling is where did the last one go. There are so many things that happened this past year that I'm thankful for, so i decided to highlight and share a few with you.

Celebrated 3 years of marriage.
Cameron celebrated his 2nd birthday.
Built new friendships.
Started small group with a great bunch of people.
Dedicated Emersen Kate Kaya.

And the greatest thing to happen to me this year is the birth of my Beautiful son Riley James Faiai on July 24th 2006.

Box of Chocolates?!

Whew! What a week... It has been one full of anticipation of my son Riley's Pre-op appointment on Friday December 29th. In the wait, there was a lot of prayer support. Thank you to all who've been praying and thinking about us. It really means a lot to us, so much so I'm going to be selfish and ask for more as we've entered the thick of it all. I believe one of the greatest things that anyone could ask for in times such as this, is support and love from their "Community"of friends and family.

I've been thinking about soo much lately, and the one thing that i can't seem to shake is the fact that "Life should be savored" Maybe my good friend Tom Hanks was right in Forrest Gump when he said "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get." Whatever kind of chocolate you get or whatever life deals to you, i'm finding out, it's worth savoring. I never knew that in my box of chocolates or goodies that i would get such and amazing wife, nor did i know that i would be the father of the two greatest gifts in my life, Cameron and Riley!! How
COOL is that!

However there are somethings that come in the same box of those goodies that your not very fond of. Riley's surgery is one of those things that I've gotten. And to be totally honest with you it's a piece of life that I'm not very fond of right now. As SUCKY as it is, it's still a part of my life that i must savor. I can't control the outcome of the surgery, however what i can control is how i choose to savor every sweet moment with him.

There is a lot of life to live in every single one of us, young and old alike. So we should savor it because it comes from the Lord. Psalm 34:8 says to "Taste and see that the LORD is good." What a cool verse to live by.

So to sum it all up here some.....

Final thoughts:

"Take an inventory of your box", what have you passed up on, you know what i'm talking about. We've all opened a box of Sees candies and have gone straight for the familiar candy. What deserves a second look, or a first look.

"Find out what your missing out on" What doesn't look so good on the outside shouldn't discourage you from looking on the inside. A lot of times blessings are disguised.

Lastly...."What are you waiting for?" Don't wait any longer to love people and celebrate your kids and do something for someone other than yourself. The list is eternal you fill in the blank _____________.

Happy New Year!

Well, I honestly feel a little rusty and out of sync. I haven't blogged in over a month, it's not that there was nothing worth blogging about, it's just that life has been soo busy and so fast lately, there has been really no time to sit down and talk or i mean write...wait i meant push buttons. So i decided to wake up early enough on this fine morning to blog.

Have you ever been in love with someone that you would absolutely do anything for them. Even if it was something so crazy that only you would have the guts to take on any challenge set before you to show your love. Well yesterday i felt one of those moments.

My wife I and drove up to Santa Monica for a 2:00 p.m. Doctor's appointment for our son, Riley. We got there a little early to kind of check the place out and fill out paperwork. Very soon after we turned in our paperwork we got called to the back to see the Head Surgeon for Riley's surgery, Dr. Henry Kawamoto. He sat down with us for a while and briefed us on what exactly is going to take place and what his role is going to be during the surgery. Then, we walked over to another room to snap photos of Riley. After the pictures and a breif assessment of Riley's health, we were "good to go!" and on our way home!

A little "SELF" took place yesterday as we were walking out of that building. In my mind i thought to myself " you mean I drove over 2 hours for you to ask me questions I could have asked over the phone" , "I drove 2 hours for you to take pictures of my sons head that I could have taken myself and and sent to you in an email. UGGGHH!I was a little frustrated.

As we're riding down the elevator though, my son starts to make cooing sounds and cracks one of those irresistible smiles that melts your heart. I started to well up with tears in my eyes because that was THE moment I realized that I'm sooo madly in love with this precious little boy that i would do absolutely ANYTHING for him and that i would drive a million miles to see any Doctor anywhere.

I couldn't help but compare this feeling to the way GOD feels about us.During this Christmas season we're reminded of a GOD who sent us a Savior named Jesus because he was deeply in love with you and me. CRAZY huh?!

Finish the sentence

I don't know.......
I talk........to whoever wants to and likes to talk to me.
I love.........Chick-fil-a and Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies.
My best friend..........Is watching over me.
My first real kiss.........Sloppy.
I hate it when people........jump to conclusions.
Love is.......Indescribable.
Somewhere, someone is thinking.........about something.
I'll always...........love the color blue
The last time I cried was because..........I had a moment with my sons that i wish my Dad was around to see.
My cell phone............is great tool.
When I wake up in the morning..........i make my son Cameron a bowl of Cereal (Honeycomb) to be exact.
Before I go to sleep at night..........mentally recap the day and plan ahead for tomorrow.
Right now I'm thinking about.........Christmas eve services.
Babies are............are the COOLEST and life changing!
Today I .................Lead worship for Real Life.
Tonight I will............go to bed late.
Tomorrow I will.........spend the night at my in-laws.
I really want.................some really cool sweater vests, you know the dressy kind.

Whoever's reading this.....consider yourself tagged!

Alone anyone??

Well we're about a month and a half away from our son Riley's surgery, and honestly have to say that i have mixed feeling about it all as we get closer to the day. A part of me is wishing that we had more time and the other part of me just kind of wants to get it over with. Everytime i hold him i pray that God would just heal him so that we don't have to go through all that stuff. I realize though that God has our best interest in mind and that he was in control of all of this.

A good friend of mine reminded me of something a few months ago, we were talking about life and the things that are dealt to us sometimes. He said that "Life is not meant to be done alone" a phrase i've always known and heard so many times. However for some reason this time when i heard it, it clicked. Maybe it was because of our circumstances that we're going through.

I'm a HUGE community guy. I LOVE people, ALL people. I think the worst thing that can ever happen to anybody is to feel joy and sorrow alone. On my wife's blog is the story of our son Riley's journey and ever since it's been up, there has been a flood of support from everywhere, people we've never seen or met, but because they've experienced some similar events in there own lives they're spreading the love and support they've felt from others.

Life is Beautiful and should be shared with everyone. Each and everyone of us has the ability to speak into each others lives and make this place we call earth a better place to live. Yeah we have differences and dislikes but through all of that is the common thread called LOVE.

So here's the walk-away of this post.... Spread LOVE, like it's a fast spreading disease!

Wow! I'm part of this blogging community and I honestly have to say that we are sucking right now as far as blogs go. My friend Tara was complaining one night when we were at dinner with her husband Rod and their kids Rhett and Emersen. She said that she was disappointed with me and quite honestly I was kind of disappointed with myself. Initially when I started to blog I said to myself that I was going to try to blog twice a day, not the case though. I've been so busy with LIFE lately like so many of my blogging community have been. I feel a little rusty so I think that I'm going to get back into the swing of things slowly and do a new Top Ten list of my new favorite things. This list is totally different from the my other FAVORITE's list. Here it is, you should really try these things out and I believe that some of these will make your list too : )

10. Kirkland drinking water (Absolutely refreshing and inexpensive too!)
9. Starbucks coffee beans (SUMATRA)
8. Rachel Ray knives (Don't have any yet, but if my mother in law is reading this, you can find them on foodtv.com)
7. Trader Joe's orange chicken (Enough to share with everyone...ROD)
6. Black cherry-vanilla diet Pepsi (Not Rum and Coke)
5. Rice (It honestly goes with anything especially SPAM)
4. Really good salt and pepper shakers (You know the ones you have to turn, mother in law these are great stocking stuffers)
3. Chocolate shake from Chick-Fil-A (Probably the best shake in the world)
2. Chicken fettucini from Costco (Remember everything at Costco is good)
1. LnL Hawaiian barbeque (Chicken Katsu Plate extra rice no salad)
1. Sam the cooking guy (Don't miss him he's on channel 4SD)
It's my list i can have two #1's.

Anyhow i'll get back in the swing of things!

What matters most...

Last night we had a little scare with our little son Riley and we had to take him to the doctors. For more info on Riley check out my wife's Blog. He has a little bump on his head and it was kind of freaking us out especially because he's going to have surgery soon. So the evening went a little something like this......we get to the hospital about 6:40 p.m. and check in because our appointment is at 7.

When we get there, it's pretty busy so we're thinking that this is probably going to be a couple of hours. Not the case... after we sit in the waiting area for about 15 minutes, Riley’s name gets called and we head back to the room to wait for five more minutes. Finally the doctor comes in and greets us and washes his hands. He then asks why were here to see him and we explain to him our situation, without looking at him or touching him he says that we have nothing to worry about.

I started to get a little frustrated on the inside thinking "dude we just paid 30 freaking dollars for something that the nurse could've told us over the phone" He sad "yeah it's normal for kids in Riley’s situation to have something like that". I was bummed a little and so was my wife. But then I thought to myself as I was buckling my son back into his seat, "what am I complaining about", "what's the big deal" isn't he worth it? How can I be so dumb to let something like 30 bucks bother me about my sons visit. He's o.k. and that should be the only thing that I should be worried about. No matter what the cost, he's worth it.

It reminded me of our staff blitz that we had earlier that afternoon, we had a competition to see who could post up and put out the most flyers around our community for our Family fall festival. There were prizes for the winning teams and so being the competitors that we are, my friend and I went all out. We left our parking lot with tires screeching, cutting people off on the road I mean we were going for it and nothing was going to hold us back.

Enter GOD:

Something came over me and jacked up my emotions. I was delivering some flyers to a smoke shop of all places and as I walked out I felt God saying "Steve, is it about the prizes or is it about the lost lives and the eternities at stake". I don't if you've ever had those moments where GOD slaps you upside the head to wake you up from being so self-centered. That was one of those moments for me.

It's really not about 30 bucks or 300 bucks, it's about a GOD who wants us to love one another, reach out and love lost people. It's about us letting people know that there is something Life-Changing and eternal in LIFE found in HIM. I heard someone say once that "We have never locked eyes with someone who didn't matter to God."

Ladies night out.....

Tonight my wife and some of her park friends went out to celebrate her and one of the other gals birthdays. I got to hang out with my boys which i absolutely LOVE and cherish. I really dig it when she hangs out with her friends from the "Park" they seem to have a good time everytime they're together. I really appreciate them and love them for that.

Around here, at least in our home we celebrate birthdays more than the actual day, it's more like "Happy Birthmonth" or "Happy Birthweek" It's always tough around my wifes birthday because she's not very picky and she likes all sorts of things and I never really know what to get her. This year was a "here's some money, go and get what you want" kind of year. Which was easy and effortless but really bummed me out because i always feel like a jerk afterwards because it didn't have a memorable or sentimental tie to her birthday. So i thought that the only other way that i can express my love and appreciation of her was to blog about her and the top ten things i love about her.

Let's get it started:

10. She loves my Soy sauce chicken ( I have to admit, it is pretty dang good....thanks to KIkkoman)
9. She loves music and loves to write and sing songs. (How cool is that to have a wife who serenades you, lucky me)
8. She watches sportscenter with me (yeah, you heard me SPORTSCENTER)
7. We love the same t.v. shows like "Lost" and "The nine".
6. She loves our families.
5. She writes really good blogs.
4. I love the fact that she makes me better and strives to see me be the best at what God has called me to be.
3. I love watching her with my boys, singing songs with them and singing songs about them.
2. I love our intimate times together where we hug each other and cuddle on the couch to watch her absolute favorite show "Judge Judy"
1. I love that she loves me unconditionally and in between the seasons that we go through she remains constant.

I was doing a little cleaning around the house today and came across letters that we used to write each other. Two shoe boxes full of cards and letters. There were moments in reading some of them, i found myself getting teary eyed because of the dreams of being together and sharing our life and love forever, was no longer just in those letters, but a dream that we're living out now. I can't believe that God has blessed me with such beautiful and passionate wife and mom to grow old with. I would write a song about growing old with her but my buddy Adam beat me to the punch!

Oute alofa ia te oe!

"What's love got to do with it"

There is a show on Channel 4 called "Sam, the cooking guy" It's become one of my favorite shows. I love this guy for a bunch of reasons. First off he's a great cook, second he's different from all of the other cooking shows (he's real), and last but not least the number one reason i dig this guy, he's SIMPLE. He uses frozen chicken (which we have a lot of) and all sorts of basic things that majority of us have in our refridgerator and creates kick-ass meals (oops can i say that in blog land?) Oh well, i'm just calling it like it is.

My good buddy JT loves Everday Italian on FOODTV, i think he likes the host more than the show though. Anyhow my boy loves to cook and he kind of reminds me of Sam. There is this special sauce that he has sent to him every once in a while from his homeland that'll make an ordinary ham and turkey sandwich into one the most desirable things ever. BTW thanks for the sauce.

O.k. O.k. here is my point, growing up I remembered my famaily not having a lot of money. My Father back in the days made 4.55 an hour and that was good. Hold up..... isn't it crazy that our parents worked harder than we do and made less, we work less but make more now. CRAZY huh! Back to my point, we never knew what our meals would look like for supper or what they would taste like. All we knew is that everytime we bit into whatever we were having for dinner we tasted LOVE. My parents figured out a way to create great and tasty meals out of close to nothing. We never knew nor felt any of their frustration for not having enough food or being tight on money. The only thing we knew is that every meal was made with LOVE, the best ingredient of all.

I'm learning that it's not really that important what you put on the table to eat, but what kind of love created that meal. You see, Jack in the box and places like that bail us out and rob us too many times of the experience and creativity that we have in your own kitchens to create meals made with love. I can't wait unitl my boys are able to help me cook. What's better than 1 Faiai in the kitchen, 3 Faiai's in the Kitchen. My son Cameron makes me feel like i'm the best cook in the world because he eats anything and everything i give him. (Almost anything)

Take a night out of your busy week and look deep into those pantrys and set it all out. You'll be amazed at what you can create, cook and make taste good with all of the junk you've had in there for years. Your kids don't have to know what you're making all they need to really know is that you're making it with Love.

Bon Appetit!

ESPN, it's more than just sports.

I recently discovered that a couple somewhere just had a baby and that they named their baby ESPN, but that's not it, there are a total of 3 other couples who share that honor of naming their kid after one the greatest gifts from GOD to man. A friend of mine has a kid who was in the habit of calling everyone he came in contact with names like "chicken", "apple sauce" how cool is that. What if you did really name your kid "Apple sauce" Gwyneth Paltrow did. Well her daughter's name is "Apple", close enough.

I have two awesome sons who have pretty cool names or at least i think they are. I sometimes wonder if we were to have another baby what cool name we would give to him/her. I think i'm going to have my friends son name our kid, i mean come on "chicken", "apple sauce" the kid is brilliant. Anyways enough of that talk it's too early to be thinking about that.

I gotta go now and flip through some channels and see what kind of cool names i can store in my memory bank, but after an hour of ESPN of course.

Slow snail......

Every once in a while my wife likes to walk to church from our apartment. It's become one of things that she loves to do on a weekly basis. So i woke yesterday morning and said to her " I think i'm going to walk to work today" and she looked at me with surprise in her eyes and said to me "You should, it's really fun" So being pumped up from my wifes pep talk, i went for it. As i was leaving the parking lot of our complex i wanted to listen to some tunes so i scrolled down my ipod nano to find some songs to listen to on my walk. The first song i came across was the song "Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin (one of my favorites of all time) the gals that i sing with would say that i say that about every song. Anyways, i started my journey to work and found myself breathing hard and sweating after the first block, with no extra clothes to change to when i got to work i slowed down and paced myself. It's funny when you slow down how much more you're able to soak in things. After convincing myself that it wasn't a race. I started to enjoy the song i was listening to. I was able to really take in the lyrics of the song and all of creation that was around me. I put the song on repeat and it played like 6 times on my way to work. My walk became more than a walk, it became a time to pray and reflect on the greatness of GOD and how there is so much more around us that we miss because we don't slow down. I was reminded of those "slow down, it's our neighborhood" signs. but more personal like "slow down, it's your life" take time to enjoy it! I think i'm going to trade in the "Lamborghini" way of doing life, for more of a "Toyota Corolla" way. Whatever kind of car, I learned that morning that God has created so much more for me to enjoy. ENJOY IT!

Here is a extra bonus for reading my blog- One of Camerons first books ever is a book called "Slow Snail". His grandma bought it for him about a year ago and it's still his favorite. It's about the hurry of life and how we should slow down and enjoy it.

Slow Snail

Slow snail was in no hurry,
Though all around him bugs would scurry
"You're soo slow- your in the way!"
all the busy bugs would say.
Slow snail stopped, and with a smile said
"Take it easy for a while."
"Why, i could sit here for an hour,
enjoing the beauty of the flower!"
"And anyway," said Slow tapping on his shell....
"If you had your house on you back,you'd be slow as well!"

See you later.......

Riley my other favorite son has just turned 10 weeks old. He doesn't quite know his ABC's yet but i'm sure when he's ready his older brother will be able to walk him through it. He is however starting to coo and smile alot, only after a full tummy though, like father like son. I'm so blessed that he's ours and that GOD would entrust jacked up people like us with such a precious gift. I think he and I already have a special bond going, like when he's tired he likes his daddy to rock him to sleep in mommy's chair. I guess he likes the sound of my heart beating or just the comfort and warmth of being nestled in my arms, whatever it is, it's pretty special to me. Every once in a while i wonder if i was like that with my dad. If he and i had a special bond together when i was a baby, I wonder if he sang songs to me to put me to sleep, or if he made those funny little faces and those weird sounds with his mouth that i make to Riley now. Every now and then i ask my mom questions about my dad and about the years when we were babies. She would always tell me that i was his favorite out of the 8 of us kids. As cool as that may be I find myself struggling with that statement sometimes. Because if that were true, he would of stuck around to Meet and embrace my beautiful wife. He would been there when both of my precious sons were born. He would've been here to guide me as the father figure that i still need and so earnestly long for. AUGH!!.........SOO frustrating!!....... But then there's a gentle knock at the door of my heart. Something comes over me and serves as a reminder after i experience these feelings. It's the voice of A GOD who loves me more than anything. He gently whispers to me "I'm here for you" He reminds me "I was there when you married your lovely wife", "i was there when your sons were born" and "i've taken over the role of being that father figure that you need". Oh yeah Steve and by the way.... Don't forget that your Father was there too. Had he not been there you wouldn't have known me. Though you may not remember your days as a baby, be reminded that He was there when "you experienced your first broken heart", "He was there at your football games cheering you on winning or losing", and most importantly "He was there when you gave your heart to me and accepted me as your Lord and Savior"... He was there!...and so was I. I guess GOD has me feel this way sometimes to remind me of powerful and sovereign he really is. It just sucks somtimes because I MISS HIM soooo much. There is not a day that goes by that i don't think of him and how life would be so much easier with him around. However i know that he's in a better place now and that it's not good-bye but i'll see you later.


Oh yeah... Dad if you're listening or checking out this blog.... Thank you for showing me what a life fully surrendered to GOD looks like. I Love and miss you!

In memory of Suitulaga L. Faiai (1932-1997)

ABCDEFG.........QRSTUVWXYZ

Cameron, the first of my favorite sons just turned 2 on September 10th and he's on this hot streak of speaking full sentences and singing songs. One of the songs is the classic "ABC's" hence the title of this blog. However in the midst of singing he forgets 9 letters "H through P". So as a parent i encourage him to sing it again and with a little help he gets it right. It's truly one of the coolest things i've ever heard in my life. I swear i could listen to him recite his ABC's all day, o.k. maybe not all day but a good part of it. So i thought in tribute to my son that i would use the letters "H-P" to describe my feelings about him.

H- Heroic
I- Intelligent
J- Joy
K- Keeper
L- Loving
M- Masterpiece
N- Non-refundable
O- Outstanding
P- Perfection

To KPBS and the Makers of "Sesame Street" I'm available!

Top Ten favorite things

I recently purchased a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and it was like a crap shoot because you know when you buy something that you think is going to work and it doesn't, you kind of feel liked you've been cheated and lied to. This is not the case for the Magic Eraser. This sponge like cleaning thing is AWESOME, it literally cleans everything, EVERYTHING!!. So much so it has inspired me to create a Top Ten list of my favorite things.

10. Chik-fil-A Chicken Sandwiches (Even the cows love them)
9. Cuisinart Grind and Brew (Can you smell it)
8. Lever 2000 body wash with vaseline (Fresh feeling every time)
7. Caffiene Free Diet Pepsi (Simply Refreshing)
6. Costco (Everything in that place is awesome)
5. DVR (Better than Tivo)
4. Oster rice cooker (Trusted by all Sushi joints)
3. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (It's better than David Blaine)
2. Angel soft double roll toilet paper (Feel the comfort)

Drum roll Please!!!!!!!!

1. T5 taylor guitar (Sounds of Heaven on Earth)

Step off OPRAH!