family Archives

Fam in jammies, a Christmas Eve photo journal

Jan 1, 2020 | Photo Diaries

Christmas Eve 2019

We wore our matching jammies, listened to Christmas tunes, prepped a huge feast, and gathered together around the dinner table for Christmas Eve.

Beyond the lights, the decorations, the music, and the presents, it’s FAMILY that makes this day so special to me.

Some random thoughts and gratitudes about this:

My brother drove in from Flagstaff in a crazy near blizzard, and he just graduated from college AND just started a new job immediately after graduating so it was so so good to have him with us.

I haven’t spent a Christmas with my siblings and parents all together like this in I think 5 years.

My sister’s in-laws are my family too.

This was also my first holiday spent with my nephew and niece, and I feel like Christmas is way more festive with little kids! They made me feel like a kid again too.

And having my fiance there too, it’s like having my whole heart in one place all together.

We actually opened all the presents under the tree before 9pm on Christmas Eve! It started with “only one present after dinner” rule and then of course, we lose our restraints and soon the kids are stacking up their presents to open and everyone is laughing and having the best time. Merry Christmas from me and my family to you and yours!

Thank you for being a part of my journey.

xo

Fam in Jammies, Christmas Eve Photo Journal - NERELLE

Beach camping American Samoa | Nerelle.com

Sunset picnic at the park in Raiatea

Oct 19, 2019 | Moments

Our first night in Raiatea. We had just flown in, got a car rental, checked in to our homestay, got groceries at the market, then stopped at this nearby park and ate our grocery store dinner on the rocks watching the sailboats and canoes go by, in front of little motus and a darkening sky.

Aunty Files: Isaac Turns 4

Jul 24, 2018 | Lifestyle

My nephew’s at the age where he’s really excited for his birthday. He was so excited when I visited, the first thing he said to me was “Aunty Relly! It’s almost my birthday!”

Grandma Elaine and Grandpa Noni had just flown into town and we waited until almost midnight to sing happy birthday to him. His birthday party wasn’t until the weekend and my parents were going to miss the party, so my sister baked some homemade cookie butter cupcakes so our whole family could be together to celebrate his actual birthday. He was so ecstatic – he sang the happy birthday song with us and blew out his candles with a big smile.

Sailing in Oxnard, California

Jul 23, 2018 | Travel

Last week was some of my most relaxed days over the last year. We were in the cozy town of Oxnard, California for Ian’s family reunion. We would sleep in, walk barefoot to Silver Strand beach barely a block away, and lounged all day until the big family dinner every night, followed by game night. Such bliss.

This particular day strayed just a bit from the routine though.

Rick chartered a 34-foot Hunter style sailboat called the SV Emmanuel. We were all so pumped! We started at the Channel Islands Harbor marina and took two trips – a short one for the kids just to the breakwater, and another longer trip with the adults for several hours. Rick and Ian took the helms and Chris helped open the sail and jib as we sailed out of the marina. Then I got to steer us into deeper waters for the next few hours! Uncle Bob and Ian helped me learn how to recognize the wind and then use the compass to keep a specific direction. Once I got the hang of it, it made so much sense. We sailed pretty far but had to head back by evening for dinner and I tried to park the boat in the marina but let Rick take over after my first failed attempt. Looks like I’ll need some extra practice… so we’re going sailing again tomorrow! This time in Redondo Beach!

Until next time

xo, Relly

Aunty Files: Babysitting

Jul 19, 2018 | Lifestyle

My entire week in Arizona was mostly spent babysitting these cuties. It was a sweet departure from my last visits in May when I could only stay for a day each time. My nephew is now a little older so he always remembers his Aunty Relly, but my niece is already shy so it takes a while for her to warm up to me. After babysitting her for about a week, I hope the next time I visit she’s yelling Aunty Relly too.

Took some photos for the Aunty Files.

x

Aunty Files: Merbaby and Friends

May 25, 2018 | Journal, Lifestyle

I think it’s important to gift my niece and nephew with things that are meaningful and memorable. My niece just turned 1 last month, and I have no idea what toys or clothes she already has. As her only aunt (read favorite aunt) I want to get her cute things!So when I saw that Lexi Lizama from MeAndMyMerbaby.com reopened her Etsy shop, I messaged her right away for a custom order.

Lexi is a Pacific Islander like myself and–inspired by her adventures with her sweet daughter Aaliyah–she makes the most adorable merbaby dolls and sea friends from soft colorful felt and hand stitched detailing.

Lexi is super sweet. She was super helpful and sent me a custom Etsy link for my order. At only $30 for both the custom merbaby and seahorse, and the fact that she was able to make and ship my order within just a few days, it was all so worth it! I placed the order while I was on a trip to the Dominican Republic and was so excited when I got to Arizona and found that the order had arrived! Just in time too since I only had a couple of days with my niece before I was to return to American Samoa.

My order was wrapped in white tissue paper and twine. She also included my message “To my sweet little merbabe Rachel”.

My nephew helped his baby sister open her present and let her rip off the tissue to reveal her merbaby.

I requested a merbaby with light brown skin (for my little asian pacific islander niece) and braided black hair. I wanted this merbaby to have a friend and asked for the seahorse plush in complementing colors.

My sister noticed the special details right away, like the twinkle of the merbaby’s eye, and the secured stitching at the end of her braided hair to prevent from unbraiding and flyaways.

My niece is an observer, so she held it skeptically at first. I imagine her thinking to herself: what is this… it’s soft but it doesn’t smell like mom… oh but it looks like her… ok I like it!

I really like the size of these plush merbabies too. It was larger than I expected, which is nice so Rachel can hug them for warmth and comfort while she’s still tiny, and she can still hug them as she gets older.

This merbaby and seahorse plush was the perfect gift for Rachel’s belated birthday. It has all the elements of what makes a gift from an aunt so special, and it felt great to support a small business and artsy friend! I hope my niece goes on many adventures with her merbaby friends.

Check out @MeandMyMerbaby on their website, instagram, and etsy!

*This is not a sponsored post!

Diary of an Aunty: Summer 2018

May 25, 2018 | Journal, Lifestyle

Oh my goodness time flies and these cuties just get cuter! I am so incredibly blessed to have the chance to go and visit my nephew and niece every year.

It always feels like eons waiting for summer to come around and my bank account is weak but when I’m hanging out with them and we’re bonding over a fish book that Ian picked out a couple years ago and my nephew’s super excited to read it for us… It just feels so good.

Also my tiny 3-year old nephew who barely spoke the last time I saw him showed me a photo of his class playing with puzzles and I asked him if he was able to solve the puzzle – he straight up said to me “it wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t easy”. What??? Who taught you that kind of reasoning in response to a very simple question?! You’re 3!! How do I even respond to that?? I’m just “aunting” real hard here heheh.

My 1-year old niece is also too adorable for words. She’s different from Isaac: she doesn’t (yet) like people as much as Isaac did when he was that age, gives you a skeptical look when you try to pick her up, she is a total mama’s girl, and she has a hilarious toothy smile when she laughs. But she’s also super observant, gives the best kiss we when you say besos, and makes my heart melt when she’s reaching for her blankie in her sleep.

The two of them together, they’re just the perfect little kids in my eyes. Isaac’s always talking about his little sister with affection, always tries to make her smile, shares his toys with her and is patient with her when she hogs the toys. Rachel is learning lots from her big brother. She laughs every time he makes a funny face for her, or when he runs around and does something silly, she plays with him even if it’s trucks or puzzles.

I forget sometimes that these tiny humans came out of my sister’s womb. It’s nuts to me. We were that age once, my sister, me, and my baby brother. We were best friends and confidants, with some headaches in between. All these little moments make me so happy.

Family Photos on Christmas Day

Dec 28, 2017 | Lifestyle

My little family has grown so much in the last few years. I met my boyfriend, he brought home a stray kitten he named Officer Scruffles, and more recently we’ve adopted our favorite pup Yodi. We’re head over ~~heels~~ paws in love with our unlikely family of drifters.

Christmas Day was sheer perfection. Read more about what we did in my post here.

We took some family photos doing what we love – hanging out in the ocean!

Yodi is a natural in the water. She grew up here at Coconut Point so she’s always swimming whenever we go out. And in case you didn’t know, Officer Scruffles does in fact swim. Photo or it didn’t happen? If you want to see him in action, check out my Instagram video here, where he jumps into the ocean for a swim.

Manuia Le Kerisimasi from our family to yours!

It was so fun to just hang out with my furry family under the sun.

Ian paddled out with Officer on the kayak

I took the stand up paddle board and Yodi swam

Ian jumped into the cool blue water

While I hung out with Officer on the flotilla

A curious Officer going back and forth between the SUP and kayak

Another family photo in action!

The brave Scruffles. Officer Scruffles.

Saw a shark(!!!) for the first time in the water (not pictured). And a bunch of sea turtles <3

Ian took this rad shot of us all heading home

Moffman and the Officer kayak surfing in the small waves!

JOURNAL 6/52: (Christmas) Best Thing That Happened This Week

Dec 28, 2017 | Journal, Lifestyle

It’s the week between two of my favorite holidays – Christmas and New Year – so it’s only natural that the best thing that happened this week was Christmas Day. It was just a perfect day. Breakfast on the balcony (my fave). And our last day of advent gifts. Bittersweet because it’s been so fun to give and get little thoughtful gifts daily!

And I just want to share… YOU GUYS, I got a BCD! It was hilarious – we opened our envelope of clues and I could not for the life of me figure out where my gift was. Ian gave me a hint. I could see it from where I was standing. I scanned the entire house and still nothing. Ian started laughing harder and I followed his eyes OUTSIDE – and finally laid my eyes on a gift FLOATING in the lagoon! I ran out and saw my gift was atop a boogie board tied up to a nearby mangrove. I kind of already knew what it was, and I was beyond thrilled when I tore it open right then and there. A shiny new BCD that fit perfectly! We already made plans to go SUPing so next week, I’m starting 2018 off with a scuba dive!

We joined our friends and neighbors for a community brunch. Ian made baby back ribs, mmm! Then we all gathered on the beach for a group photo to be shared with fam and friends near and far.

And probably the best part of the day was out on the water. I wanted to take a ‘family photo’ and since our pets are known for their love of the ocean, we grabbed our SUP and kayak and took Yodi and Officer Scruffles out for a swim. We hung out just beyond the reef. I saw a shark for the first time in the wild!!! A friendly black tip reef shark, so no biggie really, but it still made my heart pump. And swam with a bunch of sea turtles. Like I said, it was perfect.

Here’s a sneak peek of our family photos, (and you can find the rest of them by clicking here).

Thank you Louise for helping take these photos!

And while I’m writing this, I want to give a shout out to the Man with the plan, the Reason for the season, Jesus Christ. Thank you for your life that gave me mine. And thanks for another beautiful day.

SESSIONS: Cummings Family

Nov 29, 2017 | Photography

Who doesn’t love cute family photos? I haven’t done a family session in a while, so I was excited to get a request from Faafua for to take photos of her beautiful family, as a Christmas gift for her husband Joey.

We met up at Sliding Rock just after 5pm last Saturday and the sun was still about 10 degrees from falling below the horizon. It was a quick session filled with smiles and giggles as baby Alava would run around and stick her toes in the little tide pools.

One of my favorite bits of this session was taking photos of their oldest daughter Tia. She is a beautiful young girl and adorably shy in front of the camera. I asked her to smile and she gave a timid grin. So the awesome father that Joey is, he jumped beside her, and wrapped the garland around him to mimic her pose with silly faces. Her eyes lit up and her smile brightened as I clicked away and LOL’d with Fua at the hilarious scene.

I love the genuine interaction when families get together, and seeing their expressions and their body language when I’m not asking them to pose – those are the moments I love to capture.

And just before sunset, I snapped a few photos of the beautiful and strong Faafua. She’s one of those cool moms who loves her family fiercely and unconditionally. And she’s a heck of a baker too! Thank you Fua for allowing me to be a part of this special memory. Your family is so blessed to have you.

Travel that I need

Aug 11, 2017 | Travel

What a dream it has been to travel to new places! It’s always so exciting to have something to look forward to, and right now I’m looking forward to Bali in just a few more days.

I am currently at my sister’s place in Arizona, visiting with my niece and nephew for the week. They grow up so fast, it’s a constant reminder whenever I see them again of time that passes quickly, and all that’s changed in between.

This week has been very relaxing. I told myself that I would spend my time in Arizona working on things that I didn’t have time for (or bandwidth for) in American Samoa, but instead I’m forced to put my technology down and play with my nephew–he loves to bring books for me to read with him–or pick up my baby niece, who loves to be carried. It’s not every day that I’m surrounded by these adorable human beings!

And since I’m on a hardcore budget, I’ve been really good at not spending money. I almost opened up a new credit card just for this trip, but I think I’m just gonna make do with my current balance and hopefully it’s enough to last (and pay the bills)! I’m eating at home, eating leftovers, window shopping, watching netflix, playing in the pool, and just today went to a $5 baseball game.

This isn’t how I normally travel. I usually like to go places and see new things. But right now this is just what I need.

Sessions: The Lelauti Family

Mar 6, 2017 | Photography

Monique is a Coconut Point OG. I’ve known Monique since high school, and I think the last time we saw each other was our high school graduation day. We were both considered “cool nerds” and graduated co-valedictorian. We left the island right after for college in the states. Fast forward seven years later… now Monique is married to her high school sweetheart Pae, and have two adorable little boys, with a baby girl on the way! Pae is in the military so they’ve had to move a lot (they’re currently on the move again to Alaska), but are back on island for a couple of weeks to be with family after Monique’s grandmother’s passing. As for the kids, they love “Papa’s beach” and gladly cooperated on our session once their feet touched the sand. It was a bit of a last minute thing, but I knew I wanted to take Monique’s family photos before she left. We didn’t plan out any specific details, except the location of course had to be at her family’s beach at Coconut Point. It’s an awesome spot. It was a little overcast, but otherwise a beautiful day for photos at the beach. Here are some of my favorite photos from our session.

Since 2005. I know such a moepi lol but oh well, when God blesses you better answer 😉 The first time my dad let me go bike riding in front of the village, this guy lured me with his shyness. First date at Bruno’s circus. First kiss at June’s store

. And lots of sneaking behind my dad’s back

love you dad. Broke his heart more than once during our dating days, yet he always remained faithful the one from the start. I was undeserving of his love and have done some things God and I are not proud of, but I’ve prayed long and hard for His mercy upon my life. It wasn’t until after I got a taste of my own karma when He finally decided to answer. Not with someone else, but another chance, a fresh new start with the very first guy I fell in love with. It was in 2011… when we thought we were better off on our own separate ways, we met up again in Hawaii. I was visiting family on college break and he was there for a rugby trip. What seemed to have completely fallen apart, fell right back in place at that moment. We were inseparable ever since. Our love grew stronger than ever… had Abelson, got married (2013), Pae joined the military, I graduated from college, and now enjoying life with our babies. We couldn’t be any happier

And we owe it all to our good Lord. Ps. I share this in hopes at least one can take a lesson or two from this perfectly imperfect journey of ours… here’s to love

Monique Lelauti

Abelson Paepaeoali’i Lelauti

❤

Our firstborn. My little Cougar. Abelson was born in Pullman, WA, when I was a senior at WSU. He is our happy child. The comedian of the family. Lover of animals and everything- Cars, Dinotrux, & PJ Masks, to name a few. Bold, daring, adventurous, very hyper, picky-eater, fia fa’ali’i at times. With a lot of learning to do. His first name is a combination of my father, Apelu, and my only brother, Emerson’s names. And to my surprise, one of the main buildings where I used to take classes when I was pregnant with him, is named Abelson as well. Middle name after his dad and uncle from his Lavata’i side. Now 4 years old and is an amazing big brother to Tau and a daddy’s boy to the fullest! 😏 He is impatiently awaiting the arrival of his baby sister “Mia” (idek where he got that name from 🤣 and trust, that will not be her name 😆). He’s even gone through tutorials on how to carry baby sister 101 haha He lights up our day with the silly things he does/says. Definitely takes after his dad. We love you, Abelson. May God bless and guide you in all the days of your life!

Monique Lelauti

Ali’itau IronMike Lelauti

❤

Our second baby boy. My VBAC baby. Baby Maui lol. Tau was born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, our very first military duty station. Lord knew Abelson was annoying to other kids so He blessed him with Tau. 😂 Following my emergency c-section with Abelson, to be honest, I was scared to have another child, but God’s blessing through Tau I held on to my faith and finally got to experience the gift of natural birth. Tau is named after Pae’s brother’s son Tau, Toa’s twin brother, whom our Lord called at birth. (RIL Tau💝). We gave him the middle name, IronMike, as a reminder of his birthplace (Home of the Airborne and Special Forces) as well as his father’s service to our country as a paratrooper. Tau is different from Abelson in many ways. He looooves food, is always serious, very cranky, and has selective hearing haha! But nonetheless, he is truly a blessing! And we love everything about him. God bless you my precious little boy!

Monique Lelauti

Nerelle Que you truly have eyes for photography, thank you for the maternity shots. They all turned out beautiful! If anyone’s looking for a professional shoot of any kind, I highly recommend my talented friend Nerelle Que! She’s so much fun to work with and will not disappoint.

-Monique Lelauti