Long time gone...

Kalani had a wonderful holiday season that involved lots of snow and lots of family. What could be better for a boy's first Christmas!

Kalani at Six Months

Kalani is a Steelers Fan

Monkey Kalani Loves Crawling

Bitsy at a Masquerade Ball

I loved Coaching sooo much! We had an awesome season. This was one of my favorite things I have ever done. We won our last game and ended up 6-2-1.

This just in

Greg's team won their football game tonight! I'm so proud of him. They have done so well this year. Their record is 5-2-1. The win tonight was against one of the hardest team's in the district. Last year this group of boy's record was 3-7 so they've really made a lot of improvement. He's way busy with his coaching, but it's a lot of fun for him so I'm glad he's doing it. I love watching his games, and especially seeing him with the kids. He really has a gift.

Ft. Worth

A few weeks ago my mom, Kalani, and I took Amy to Ft. Worth. We stayed for a few days and had such a fun time. We were able to eat lunch at Jack and Katie's school, which was really fun. Especially after being a teacher, I love to go to elementary schools to see what they are doing. This was by far the neatest school I've been to. I'm so impressed with the way it seems the school is run. I give kudos to Leanne for enrolling Jack and Katie there. They defintely seem to do things right. The last thing we did was meet up with Katie on her field trip to the zoo. It was so much fun. I don't know who had more fun at the zoo, Kalani or me. We both loved it. That is the neatest zoo ever. Leanne's cooking definitely needs to be mentioned as well! She can cook. I got the recipe for basically everything that she made. So yummy!

My boys first halloween

Kalani got his first Hallween card from his "Ghoulma and Ghoulpa Reber" so fun
We went to the branch's Trunk or Treat last night. Kalani was a dancing monkey and I was an organ grinder ( I learned that what the guy is called who owns the monkey and says dance monkey dance) It was really fun and Kalani looked so cute.

On a scale from one to ten

Argggh!Loves his toes

On a scale from one to ten, being a mom is definitely a 10 10 10 (a thirty then?) I don't know but I really love it. I was thinking today how lucky I am that I get to stay home and spend every waking moment with my boy. It is wonderful. I think a lot about how I just want him to be my baby forever, how much I like holding him, listening to him make raspberries, and talking to himself in the car seat. I love watching him discover new things, play with his toes, even his face when he cries is so cute. But then I remember how much I love kids when they get older too, when they can talk and say funny things and play games. I'm really excited. Being a mom and wife is the best thing ever. I love it.

Just so you know...

Kalani reminds me of a dog. Don't judge. It's just that he is always on the ground crawling around, panting, and chewing on things. He follows me around when I'm walking. I mean he's at my heels all the time and I almost step on him. (which I absolutely LOVE because it makes me feel so special and loved) He also chews on things. Well, not his "chew toys" ...like a dog, he chews on things dogs chew on like shoes. He will actually come and stick my shoe in his mouth while it's still on my feet. When I try to get him to come to me I get down close to the ground and motion to him asking him to come here, but then I usually stop because it feels like I'm trying to get a dog to come to me. He works as a great paper shredder while I'm working in my dad's office, I just throw him a little paper and he's entertained for hours, errr well minutes. I think it's mainly the panting though... as I type he is by my side panting just like a little puppy dog. My little loyal companion. I love him so much. We have lots of fun together. Well, we're off to Dad's football game. They are now 2-1-1. Hopefully that 2 will change to a 3 tonight!

Funny boy...

5:00 pm......Kalani ia crawling around on the floor playing with his toys. I hear a thump and look down to see if he's okay. He's dead asleep in the middle of the floor. He wakes up fifteen minutes later and starts playing around like nothing ever happened.

5:00 am.......Greg wakes up to Kalani hovering over him, breathing in his face. Kalani says dada rares back his fist and punches Greg square in the face.

I love this boy. He is so funny.

Memories

Greg and I first became good friends when we went with a big group of people to the island of Kauai. It is the most beautiful place with friendly people and amazing sites. Besides Oahu, it is definitely my favorite island. We hiked the Na Pali coast trail which is a twenty-two mile round trip hike in two days. It was some of the most beautiful scenery that I have ever seen. Beautiful waterfalls, cliffs that drop off straight into the ocean, I can't even begin to describe the beauty in words. I loved it.
We also had a great time running around the island with Greg as our tour guide. (FYI: Greg is the funnest person ever to go on vacation with. He finds all the best places to go.) He took us to blow holes, fun beaches, and good restaurants to eat at. On my birthday he found this swimming hole that had two waterfalls and a tree swing to jump off of and I started to fall in love. It was so memorable.
Anyways, much to my delight, Greg's uncle, Scott, and Greg are starting a vacation rental company there. They are managing some absolutely beautiful homes. Even if your not planning a vacation there soon, go check out their website at http://www.kauaiislandrentals.us/. It is fun to see the pictures, and would be good for the site to get a few more visitors. If you are planning on vacationing there soon, I'm jealous, and make in inquiry about the homes. Happy looking!

Oh and by the way....

Kalani is about two seconds from crawling. We went to a family party at Happy and Papa's and he pushed up on his hands and knees and scoots. Not a full crawl yet but so close. Exciting, but sad too! He getting to be so big. I'll put video up soon.

Go Daddy Go!

Greg, hard at work.

Kalani is an avid supporter.

Football games have started and we are having fun going to support Greg's team. Kalani and I went to the first game of the junior high boy's season to watch Greg's team in action. They did very well. Greg is loving coaching. It is really fun to go and cheer on his team.

Adventures of a growing boy

Kalani playing very seriously with Giraffe

Smilely boy. He loves peek-a-boo

Love.

Our new toy. Kalani and I LOVE it. Greg's not so sure.

Time is flying by as usual around our house. Greg is crazy busy with school, seminary, football, and being in the branch presidency. It's been a huge change from having the exact same schedules when I was working, then having him around all the time in the summer, to WORK WORK AND MORE WORK, but we take advantage of all the time that we do get to spend with him.
Meanwhile.... Kalani and I have been having all kinds of adventures. Last weekend, Greg had a football game in El Paso which is four hours away so Kalani and I hitched a ride with my mom to Lubbock where we went garage selling and to the Science Spectrum. We had so much fun. I found some wonderful gems garage selling; my favorite item is pictured above. A jogging stroller/bike trailer. Kalani and I both love it. We run all over town on either a jog or just running errands. Kalani stares at everything and I like that I can fit all kinds of things inside. It is wonderful. I also bought two bikes. The Science Spectrum was AMAZING. I love it with all my heart. I think that every child should have at least one chance to go. It was so much fun. Actually, a little too much fun for me. I got so excited and overwhelmed by all the fun that we were having that I got dizzy and had a headache. I guess we just don't get that kind of excitement in Kermit.
Kalani is just developing so quickly. He is now four and a half months. He smiles and laughs all the time, especially when someone comes around and he wants picked up. My mom calls him the master manipulator because we can never say no when he gets that grin on his face. He loves to stare at people, especially Greg. When Greg comes home for lunch, Kalani doesn't take his eyes off of him. It is so funny. The other day Kalani did a backbend over his Bumbo becuase Greg walked behind him. It is so cute. He sure does love his daddy.
Physically he is chaning so quickly. He is rolling over both ways like crazy. He has also started to crawl a bit. He's not up on his hands and knees yet, but between his kicking feet and pushy arms he somehow manages to move around fairly well. He is still loving swimming and has now started paddling with his arms as well as kicking his feet.
He is also having fun with his toys and lately has been having a bit of a serious tone when he starts to play. He really gets into moving things around and making it work. His best toy friend is Giraffe who hangs off of his car seat. They have been pals for a while now. Every once in a while they have a little tiff, but they are always friends in the end. Suffice it to say, we are having LOADS of fun with our little man.

South Padre Island Texas

After visiting the Tesimales in Carolina and Virginia, we met up with the Bells at South Padre Island in Texas. We spent about a week there enjoying the family and the beach. Kalani LOVES the water! He has been swimming since he was one month old and has yet to cry in the water. We love that about him... he is a FEESH! At South Padre we took him for his first surf session. We had so much fun with him out there. Tons of beach goers came up to see the lil baby in the water.

Believe it or not... Texas has waves. The last two days of our visit at South Padre we were graced with a swell. The waves were about 3 to 5 feet with occasional lil barrels. We went out body surfing and even rented a board from a local shop. They only had longboards, so we rented the shortest board.. an 8'5" Timpone epoxy single fin. It was actually a decent board apart from the firey red floppy tourist fin attached. We found the local surf spot next to the jetty on the southside where we spent the entire last day. The surf was suprisingly good. So good that what seemed like every surfer in South Texas showed up (about 50). Luckily the wave was like Huntington and could be caught at about every block. It was a fun trip.

Teachers Love the Summertime!

The Carolina Tesimale's

Kalani has learned to smile and blow bubbles. We love it!

Next stop... Sleep through the night?!

Jeremy would make a wonderful addition to the Samoan soccer team.
YouTube them. They Suck!!

Greg built this lil' mountain of sand at the beach.

Corbin and "Maximus". The bowling ball that Nana and Papa bought him for his BDay.

No spoon too big for Koen and his passion for yogurt.

Cali at the lake. Sporting her new b-e-a-utiful haircut.


Corbin, Rylan, and Brody at the BMX track.

Brody's first time tubing SOLO!

Brody doing what he loves. 4 years old and never used his brakes.
Even jumped a few tabletops and charged the burms.


Cute dad and baby at the beach.

We are having a blast in South Carolina with Greg's brother, Jeremy, and his family. We have blown up a stack of fireworks, BBQ'd, gone bowling, to the lake and the beach, the park, the swimming pool, BMX biking, tennis and basketball tournaments, and lots more. Kalani is doing wonderful. He's just been going with the flow and sleeping pretty well at night since we are wearing him out so much. I think his favorite activity (besides sleeping) is definitely swimming. Greg even took him body surfing in the ocean. It was kind of scary, but he had fun. Next stop is Virginia to see Greg's parents. We'll have to see how the rest of our driving goes. Kalani did pretty good for the twenty hours over here, but he pretty much hates his car seat now. We'll just keep our fingers crossed. Oh and thanks to Jesse and Leanne again for Kalani's cute swimming trunks. We've been using them almost everyday.

Kalani's Baby Blessing

We had a lot of fun in the short amount of time that Becky, James, and Rylan were able to come out. We had a grand tour of Kermit, and then of course the main event: the baby blessing. Kalani recieved a beautiful blessing from Greg. He is lucky to have such a good daddy.

Our new BFF

Kalani's dead frog pose. I love watching him sleep like this. He is so funny.

My favorite. Kalani's big stretches. He fights to get his arms out of the swaddle and it's fun to watch.

We have spent the last 5 weeks getting to know little Kalani. We are having so much fun. Greg loves to give him baths and my favorite thing is to watch his stretches. We love snuggling and laugh at all of his funny quirks. He likes to sleep with little frog legs and flexing his muscles. I can't believe how quickly the last five weeks have gone. He's already a month old!

He's Here!

Kalani Talama Tesimale joined our family on Sunday, April 19 at 2:46 pm. The labor and delivery went very well. He came in weighing 7lbs 6oz and 20 in long.We've been having a lot of fun and learning even more. We are extremely grateful for this new treasure in our life.

A little longer than expected...

Greg and I have been trying to decide where we were planning on going after the school year was over. When we moved out here, we planned to be here until about June, then head back hopefully to Hawaii, or wherever we felt we should be. Kermit wasn't really part of that plan. The Lord had other plans for us however. We started to throw around the idea of staying in Kermit for a little longer so that Greg could get his teaching certificate. He has found that he really loves teaching. It has been neat for me to see what a talent that Greg has for it. Anyways, amidst that consideration, Greg got called to be the second counselor in the branch presidency. We knew we had gotten the final answer to our prayers about where we were supposed to be, and we have decided to stay in Kermit for another year.
Greg is taking a little break from West Texas for the week however. It is spring break for us this week so he took off to Hawaii for some fun. Originally, he was going to try and look for jobs when he was out there, but now it's just a fun-filled vacation/birthday present. I'm so excited for him, but must admit I'm a little, (okay a LOT jealous). I miss Hawaii so much, butI'm gonna miss him even more.

It's getting closer!

This was me at 23 weeks, I'm much larger now :)

Well seeing as we haven't posted in forever, no one has really been able to see how big I'm getting with this little guy growing inside me! I've gotten much larger since this picture, but this was the last time we loaded pictures on our computer. I'll try to post a more current one soon. We love him so much, and are excited for him to come, but we're also hoping he comes out when he's supposed to. I want the little man to be healthy for one thing, plus, being pregnant has not been this hard ordeal that I had thought it might be. I guess i didn't really know what to expect but I certainly didn't expect pregnancy to be as wonderful as it has been. I have been blessed in that the little man has been healthy, I didn't swell up like a balloon, just mainly my belly has gotten big, I haven't been sick very much at all, and I've pretty much been able to maintain the activities that I did before I was pregnant. We like to go swim laps at the pool that is close by and that has really helped a lot I think. I do get backaches and things sometimes, and the little kindergartners at school have given me every virus and bacteria possible, but overall, I don't have any complaints about pregnancy. I've liked it a lot. People are always so nice when you are pregnant too. Everyone keeps telling me that soon I'll be ready for him to come out, but for now, I'm just happy that he's with me hanging out, growing healthy and strong. I'm at 34 weeks right now, so if I change my mind, I'll keep you posted.

"I will NEVER live in WEST TEXAS!"

The Kermit Texas water tower. The town was named after Kermit Roosevelt but celebrated for the FROG?

Correction... 5716 and a half.

I once told Bitsy that "I will NEVER live in WEST TEXAS!"... Yet here we are. After finishing the summer with Pinnacle Security, we decided to move to Kermit so that Bitsy could get her Teaching Certificate before the lil' baby comes. It is a good opportunity. So we are here for the school year- a.k.a. 10 months and counting down. We enjoy it here though... hanging with the Bells, watching Texas football (which shadows in comparison to Cali ball- maybe), working as teachers (Bitsy-kindergarten, Greg-7th grade Math), going to the gym, playing tennis, and watching lots and lots of movies. After the school year we plan to move back to the 'Rock'.