It's my 38th birthday, or it was two days ago at approximately 6:00 p.m. So, in honor of me, I'm going to share a story. This is really a take off a friends blog, who got the idea from somewhere else, so it's not really my idea. Don't think I am really all that clever.
Once upon a time there were 6 spirits standing in front of God in heaven. I was one of the six. God told us we were going to be siblings on earth and if we followed the rules we would be together for eternity. I looked at the 5 spirits next to me and I looked them up and down and backwards and forwards, and even sideways, wondering, "do I really want to be with these guys for eternity? Eternity is a mighty long time." God had yet to go wrong by me, so I figured he probably knew what he was doing when he put me together with the other 5. He told us we would be known as the Sanft children, and he instructed us to go on our way as soon it would be time for us to make our heavenly departure and head on down to the place called earth. He said he did not care what order we went, we could work that out among ourselves. Right then for a nano second, I think I questioned the fairness of God, thinking certainly God must have known I needed to be first, I was female, if there were to be 6 kids ascending on this Mother Sanft within 12 earthly years, and the first 4 within 6 years, this woman was going to need some help. Thankfully, only 3 of us cared who went first. We decided to let rock, paper, scissors decide our fate. Doran won, so he went first, I came in second, Ryan third, that is how our birth order was decided.
The story isn't really about them, it's about me, and my arrival to the place called earth. My earthly mother had a baby, and soon after that baby she found out she was pregnant with another baby. She miscarried that baby. Then right away she was with child again, this time it was me. Mind you, I followed Doran 18 months after is arrival. I simply knew I needed to get here and grow myself up so I could help this poor woman who soon would have a house full of babies. She did have 4 of us in 5 1/2 years. What in the world was she thinking? Or maybe it was us looking down and being all eager to get here, nevertheless, we arrived and she was glad I was here because I was helpful. I changed Kameron's cloth diapers and only stuck him with those giant pins a few times.
Back to the story being about me, so, mother Sanft was almost 9 months pregnant. She drank a lot of coke a cola while she was pregnant with me, so when the labor pains came she thought it was the caffeine at work. It was November 29, 1971, the day I would arrive. She had a doctor's appointment around noon. She left Doran with her bff and went to the appointment. At the appointment as the doctor checked her he said, "Mrs. Sanft you are in labor, you need to go straight to the hospital. I'll meet you there." She mentioned something about having to get Doran and some other nonsense, but doctor set her straight and off to the hospital she went in labor, driving herself. I assume my father arrived sometime before 6. Although, he worked long hours and rarely left a job unfinished, so it's possible he didn't show up until after his work day was done. I've never thought about asking. The excitement in the good ole days was not knowing the sex of the baby. They didn't know I was a girl until I came out. I screamed a lot, and was told I did until I was about 3 years old. I wasn't very happy about Ryan pretty much taking over the womb the minute I exited. I was named after my auntie Hara, (Shahara obviously.) I'm glad, I've always really loved her. My grandfather Sanft lived in Tonga and I read some letters he sent my mom or maybe my dad, he mentioned they should name me Moana. It was a good Tongan name. I wonder how or if my life would be different if I were named Moana. One of my close friends is named Moana. I call her Mo-town, she is beautiful and her name fits in a way it really wouldn't for me.
Sooner than I ever expected all 6 of us were here. Adam was 5 years old and the 5th child when my mom said she was pregnant with another baby. It had been 5 years, so I assumed she was done having babies. Doran was headed to high school and she would send Adam off to kindergarten, the way I look at it now that I am grown with 4 kids of my own, she almost had it made. We were all almost in school. I was 12 when Maile my one and only sister arrived. I waited for what seem like EVER for a sister, she was worth the wait, even if it meant I had to give up the joy I found in being the only girl. I loved taking care of her, and I was pretty good at taking care of babies by then.
My mom was pretty amazing, phenomenal really, she made us homemade fancy birthday cakes. She cooked breakfast and dinner every day of my life. We all ate together at the dinner table. I am sure even made us lunch, but as soon as we were sent off to elementary school we ate lunch at school, so I don't remember much about that. She made our holidays fantastic, with homemade Halloween costumes, and quilts for birthdays and funny looking pajamas for Christmas. She was and still is quite talented. We didn't have much money a lot of the time I was growing up, but I never really realized it. My parents were very good at improvising and going without for us. My dad worked very hard all the time I lived at home. He was gone a lot, though I never realized that much to, because when he was around he spent all his time playing with us. God sure did pick out a good set of parents for us. We had a very normal life, with family vacations, piano lessons, sports activities, and even my parents almost getting divorced over BYU football. Well, maybe not the last part, but to say my dad was a little obsessed with BYU football is not and still is not inaccurate.
Mom told me several times she wanted to have lots of children and she wanted us born close together so we would be friends. I wonder if she had that control or if we were all just eager to get down here once we were given the green light from God. One thing I do know for sure, her plan to have us 6 children get along well turned out o.k. We had our battles growing up, but my 5 siblings are easily the greatest siblings anyone could have. Living a life in eternity with them will be quite nice.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Happy Birthday to me
Posted by Shaharac at 9:44 AM 3 comments
Labels: Birthdays
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Marisa

Posted by Shaharac at 1:54 PM 2 comments
Labels: School
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Family Pictures









Posted by Shaharac at 9:22 PM 4 comments
Labels: family
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Lunch time
I can't bring myself to cut my little 'beast' golden locks. I dont' mind that people tell me he is such a beautiful little girl. They only think that because they haven't seen him in action. 5 minutes with this boy, and you know he is, indeed all boy.
Anyone I didn't send the diet coke story to, click here suzyg.com then scroll down to her 'just imagine' post. Love you Suz, told you I was sharing this with everyone I know!
Posted by Shaharac at 6:46 PM 1 comments
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Halloween
It's chicken, mixed veggies, dry ranch dressing
and butter. It takes about 10 min. from start to
finish and my kids LOVE it.
and when we got home, it may have been spiked,
she was bouncing off the walls.
"Marisa Mayhem"
I'll try to get a better picture on Friday.
She came up with this all on her own.
Posted by Shaharac at 8:34 AM 5 comments
Labels: Holidays
Monday, October 12, 2009
Monday
There was a twig down his shirt
Posted by Shaharac at 7:15 PM 4 comments
Labels: Fall
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Being Human
It's been a hard week, I've had Robby home from school all week with some sort of infection in his mouth. He has big open sores on his lips and inside his mouth. He was crying a lot everytime the ointment would wear off, and then we would re-apply. One day I was taking care of Miles, Rob was crying and I looked around the house and realized I was losing the battle of motherhood. I got Miles to sleep and sat down on the couch, Robby came to me with books that I didn't want to read, I told him to wait ten minutes. I don't think I slept more than 2 hours at a time last week. He said, "Mom, whats wrong? I said, "nothing, sometimes it's just hard being a mom." He relied with, "well Mom, sometimes it's hard being human, but I do it everyday." A lot of the humor in that conversation was his tone of voice. Truth be told, it was nice to have him home in the afternoons when Miles is usually sleeping. He is much better now, and hopefully will go back to school on Monday. He is sad, he missed his first field trip to a pumpkin patch, he misses his teacher and his friends.
Posted by Shaharac at 10:32 AM 3 comments
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
A very boastful blog about my wonderful kids
**WARNING** This will be one of those braggy my kids are so awesome blogs.
The Green dragons seems an appropriate name for that bright kelly green jersey these athletes wear. My little dragon was totally on fire yesterday. Hold on, back up with me, in May I signed the little guy up with all his friends from the hood. He showed little interest, he was a little more excited when he realized his cousin Isaac was going to be on his team. I literally picked him up out of bed for 2 weeks this summer and took him to soccer camp, he hated it. Then he was given the green jersey and everything changed. He never takes that shirt off. He doesn't understand why he can't wear it to school. (He wears a uniform) Anyhow, the first game I was shocked, he played pretty well, he seemed to grasp the concept, he ran where ever the ball was and he really had fun. The next few games he scored a goal or two in each game, and loved playing. Then last night, he scored 4 goals. It was so cool to see him enjoy this sport, and honestly the coolest part is how much endurance I notice he has. This is my kid who broke his femur in April. He was suppose to limping all summer, he limped for maybe a week. He inspires me, I see a lot of kids who get tired, and lay down and complain, and they are young so it's totally normal. I have said I believe Robby came out of me running and has not stopped. He plays with a determined face, and knows if his team is winning or losing. He doesn't get frustrated if they are behind, he just tries harder. I never thought him playing soccer would teach me so much. He is a special little boy, and I am so privileged to be his mother.
Moving on to my next boastful thoughts for everyone who reads this, we had parent teacher conferences this week. This year, Marisa finally moved to the A,B,C grading system. She has always been a bright student, but when I received her CRT and Iowa test scores I was amazed. She is brilliant. She is currently getting straight A's (no A-'s) and, she was invited to participate in the after school odyssey program, which is the academic gifted and talented program. I have issues with schools labeling programs gifted and talented, I think all kids are both gifted and talented, but that is for another post. She said to me last week "Mom, I could read Little Women every day." Her favorite books so far are Little Women, Diary of Anne Frank, Huck Finn and the American Girl books about Addie, oh, and she is currently reading Les Miserables. Her favorite subjects are math and science, she is collecting rocks, and comes home with pockets full of rocks and asks me what kinds of rocks I think they are. Ok, that's a lot of bragging for one kid. I didn't get to the whole she saves my life the weeks Tom is gone stuff.
At Maya's parent teacher conference she is getting all O's (outstanding) this really shocked me. I worked so hard with her this summer on basic sight reading and writing. She really struggled in kindergarten. She also had 31 kids in her class with only parent volunteers. Have I said how much I love their school? No, I haven't I LOVE NOAH WEBSTER ACADEMY! They are getting a private school education for no cost. She is also doing so well socially, she loves her teacher and has friends. She is raising her hand and participating. I am so proud of my little buggy. She started dance 2 weeks ago, and she has some serious rhythm, the girl can move!
It is so thrilling to have kids who are excited to go to school everyday. I remember fake sick days, they don't do that, in fact this week they had short days because of parent conferences and they were mad they had less time for certain subjects.
Ah, finally Miles, I don't have a lot of bragging about him, in fact I wonder each day if I will survive another day with him. Tonight he put a mylar helium filled balloon in our microwave, I came down to see him very animated with excitement at the firework display in our microwave. And, then there is the potty training...he knows how to use the toilet and does when HE wants to, he does it well when HE wants to, other times, he drops his pants and poops on my kitchen floor. I know he does it just to make me crazy, and it's working. He also has managed to test my plumbing skills. It is disturbing that sticking my hand, up to my arm down our toilets to retrieve items no longer makes me need to vomit.
My oh my the times he is cute and sweet which are many, he melts my heart. Really, his excitement over a balloon is unlike any enthusiasm I've ever seen, or when he wakes up from a nap and wants 'mommy to hold you.' He is the best at letting me read him books, and gets so excited over the stories. He loves story time at the library, and loves going to the park. So, when he is good, all the bad, naughty, gray hair causing behavior is so worth it. I really don't want him to grow up, and is it crazy I'm already anxious about him going to kindergarten? It's not for 3 more years.
Today I was able to take Braden to the BYU football game. He loves BYU football. I was raised on BYU football, again, another post. It was so much fun to be with just him. He is really turning into such a great young man. He is playing football at Lonepeak high school, and has never played football before, but he made the A team, he plays defensive line, and he is getting better each game. As he is getting older I see him really wanting to spend more time with Tom. Tom has always been such a great father to him, and I think Braden really sees and appreciates that. As I dropped him off tonight he said, "Thanks that was a really fun day." It was a great day for me.
They are great kids. We are lucky parents, they make us look good. If you are still reading, thanks, this one is for the printed blog I intend to have bound soon, I apologize for the whole my kids are the best kids on the planet theme, even though they are!
Posted by Shaharac at 1:46 PM 4 comments
Monday, September 14, 2009
Peaches
Posted by Shaharac at 1:44 PM 7 comments
Labels: Fall
Monday, September 7, 2009
Summer highlights
Posted by Shaharac at 12:02 AM 6 comments
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Posted by Shaharac at 8:42 PM 3 comments
Labels: family
Monday, August 24, 2009
How did this happen? No really, help me out.
Posted by Shaharac at 8:58 PM 4 comments
Labels: School
Friday, August 14, 2009
Robby and Maya
Robby is growing up, and it's making my slightly, a lot sick to my stomach. The way I can tell, he isn't saying those funny, witty things as often, or even asking nearly as many questions as he was even 6 months ago.
Posted by Shaharac at 12:41 PM 2 comments
Labels: Kid talk
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Friends, Family, good times
My lifetime BFF's rolled into to town this weekend. Moana has been living in Harlem New York for the past 10 years maybe a little longer, an amazing artist, and poet. She is the youngest sister of the 4 Niumeitolu sisters I grew up with. 'Amelia and Moana are sisters. 'Amelia is currently living near Los Angeles and just graduated from California State University Northridge. 'Ams is a film maker and incredibly talented. Leanna is living in SLC and finishing up her schooling at the University of Utah, she also does a lot of volunteer work for several organizations. They are truly powerful, strong, intelligent women. I love them.
So, these are some pictures of Friday night and Saturday morning. They left me on Saturday to go to my beloved Moab. I couldn't make the trip, something about not being single and having 4 kids. Someday.
Posted by Shaharac at 9:18 PM 2 comments
Labels: SUMMER
Sunday, July 26, 2009
California
I am taking the kids and going to Southern California tomorrow. We are going to visit Ryan and Flora's family. It doesn't really seem like our summer is complete with out a few beach trips with Ryan's family. Tom has to work 20 out the next 24 days. It sounds horrible, but I think he's only worked a few days the entire month of July. It has been so nice to have him around so much. Kind of like it use to be when he worked from our basement.
Anyway, I am hoping to survive the trip, driving is really the only thing I am worried about. I will post pictures and get caught up when we get back.
Posted by Shaharac at 6:08 PM 2 comments
Labels: Vacations


