James, Tiare and Caleb Kelly. How we came to be!

We met when we were 16 and were friends who occasionally dated until we really started dating in November of 2007.

Tiare graduated from BYU in December 2006 and is currently teaching kindergarten at Twin Peaks Elementary.

James graduated in accounting from the University of Utah in May of 2011, and is currently working in the accounting department for Enterprise.

We were married in the Salt Lake Temple on July 18, 2008.

We had Caleb Scott Auali'i on September 14, 2009

We're expecting baby boy #2 on April 6, 2012

and we are continuing our amazing journey through life!



Sunday, January 8, 2012

2011 New Years Resolution: Blog More

I can't believe 2012 is already here! This ought to be an incredible year, considering 12 has been my lucky number since I can remember . . . . so let the fun begin!

This past year was full of so many exciting adventures. I wanted to write a quick post to help remind me of all the wonderful moments that have happened since June, my last blog update (sad, I know).

We were so excited for "SUMMER OF 2011"!!!!! James graduated in May and quit Costco, and I always have summers off because I'm a teacher. This was going to be our summer of boating, swimming, beaches, camping, family, tanning, playing, hiking . . . . It was our first summer together that I wasn't pregnant, we didn't have a newborn, and neither of us were working. Here's a quick glimpse of some of what we did.


After I finished my Praxis Test for teaching, and James took the GMAT, we were ready to jump start our summer of fun with the Banks Family Reunion, up at the new cabin in Huntsville (June 26th - July 5th). It's crazy how big my family has gotten, and we're only increasing in numbers, with two newborns and two on the way.


We were so excited that my dad decided to buy a boat, and we loved tubing, wakeboarding, and watching others ski (not me). Caleb especially loved being out on the boat, playing in the sand, and going on the tube.


It was a blast spending the 4th of July in Huntsville. The town had a really cute parade, then we had a bbq, and at night we watched the 2 fireworks shows from the cabin, since it has such a beautiful view of the entire valley.


We took Caleb to Wheeler Farm with Auntie Ro Ro, Cody, and Makayla. We milked a cow, road on the tractors, and fed the ducks wheat . . . well, Caleb fed himself the wheat.


On the weekend of July 8th, we went up to the cabin with some of my friends. It is always so much fun spending time with my girlies and their families. We had incredible water all day, Alan wakeboarded and tubed for the first time, and the next day we were all super burned and sore, but it was well worth it!


Although camping isn't really my thing, the Kellys all LOVE camping (except for maybe Megan). They go camping somewhere in the Unitahs for their annual trip. Although I'm always a bit reluctant at the beginning, I always enjoy it a lot more than expected; especially this year. Caleb was at a fun age, where he loved exploring and was sleeping through the night. Although, it made mommy a little anxious, worrying that he was going to fall into the fire or wander off and get attacked by some wild creature. I loved the camp ground this year, even though it was quite a bit further. There was a beautiful waterfall (caused from lake water flowing over the dam) we could see and hear right from the campsite. It drowned out any other noise, to the point where we didn't even need to use Caleb's noise machine. We had a blast hiking, playing games, and just relaxing and chatting.



We had our 3rd year anniversary on the 18th, where we ate at Olive Garden, went to the new Harry Potter movie on the DBox seats (my favorite), came home and packed for Hawaii!!!!! We decided that this was the summer to go to Hawaii, especially since Caleb only flew for free for a couple more months, we both had our summer off, and I wasn't pregnant (well, at least I didn't know I was pregnant). We stayed for a couple of weeks with my sister Tiffany, and it was incredible!! Caleb had so much fun playing with his cousins. It was the best; as soon as Caleb was up in the morning, James and Josh would come grab him and play with him until we were ready to get up. Here are pictures of some of the fun things we did in Kauai.


We LOVED going to the beach and playing . . . especially Caleb. You'll notice at the beginning we had him all covered up, and with a life jacket on, which Tiffany totally made fun of me for. However, towards the end he was in just swimsuit bottoms.


Miniature golfing was great, although I probably chased Caleb more than I golfed.


LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Hanalei Farmers Market. This place has the best smoothies, food, pineapple, coconuts, apple bananas . . . pretty much everything!


We got to watch "Soul Surfer" at Hanalei Park, and met the real Bethany Hamilton! She is so inspirational! It was also fun spending time with the McGrath family, who I got to know when I lived with Tiff, during the summer like 5 years ago.


We all had so much fun surfing at grandpas beach with Mike. Even Caleb caught a wave with Mike. I'd like to think that I'd be a surfer chick if we lived out there :)


Mike also took us sailing through Hanalei Bay. It was a blast!!


We were so sad to be leaving beautiful Kauai. If I could live anywhere in the world (other than Daybreak, te he) it would hands down be Kauai!!

Some other fun things that we did were snorkeling, hiking to Queens Bath, eating at the St. Regis new tapas restaurant for free, going to Poipu where Chris got us rooms to stay in (so nice of them), going to the Colburn's luau, eating at Bubbas, eating an ahi tuna wrap from the Kilauea fish market, running with Tiff, James did a lot of paddle boarding with Tiff, getting the flu (all 3 of us . . . not so fun), and especially spending some quality time with my awesome sister and her incredible family! I love the Spencers!!!!


I found out I was pregnant on August 5th!! Turns out I got pregnant either right before Kauai, or in Kauai. I'd like to think though that I conceived on Kauai. We are so excited to be having baby boy #2, who is due on April 6th!! We still don't really know what we'll name him, although I really like Zachary and Elliott right now.


We watched Cody and Makayla for a couple of days while Ro and Ryan went to Aruba. We went to Kennecott and saw the "UP" house for a fun adventure.


Since Caleb is obsessed with "Taws" we decided to have a "Cars" theme for his 2nd birthday party!!! James took it upon himself to make the cake from scratch. I was completely skeptical, considering he'd never made a cake in his life, and watching a couple of episodes of "Cake Boss" didn't make him an expert . . . or so I thought. Turns out that James is LITERALLY a "Jack of all trades." He made this cake from scratch, and everyone was completely impressed! It really made the party!


Since our immediate family is huge, we decided this year to just have our immediate family, and Caleb's cousins come to his party. We had pizza, watched the BYU game, and Caleb was spoiled by all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He received some fun cars stuff, including cars geotrax, a cars motorcycle, and a cars tent. We also had a race car pinata at the party. It was a blast! Oh, and if you look closely, you'll notice that Caleb's shirt says "Big Brother" on it. That's how we announced that I was pregnant to our family. It was hilarious how it took some people so long to get the hint. The first one was Grandma Kelly, and I won't repeat what she said, but it was really funny!





We went to the state fair with grandma and grandpa Banks on Caleb's birthday where he rode a "Choo Choo" and a "Horsey" for the first time!


Nicole invited me to go to the Real Game and One Republic concert on September 17th, and even though I had fought hard to get my dad's tickets to the BYU vs U of U game that same night, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Real and One Republic. I'm so glad I chose the Real game, because not only was it a ton of fun hanging out with Nicole and Real won; but the BYU game was a total bust.


One of my very favorite fall activities, that we've been doing since Caleb was only a month old, is going on the witch scavenger hunt at Gardner Village. We went with Auntie Kamber and Dalloway, and had so much fun. Caleb LOVES Dalloway, and they're really cute when they play together.


One of my other favorite fall activities is Corn Bellys. It's literally a magical fall land, full of rides, play grounds, corn mazes, jumping pillows, tractor rides, food, and fun!


Caleb was a dragon for Halloween this year, and I'm really sad that I don't have a picture with James and I in our costumes. James was a knight, and I was a princess. I love doing family themed costumes, which we can only do while Caleb is young and isn't embarrassed by it. We had the fun Kelly family halloween party, my friend party at Lisa's house, James' work had a party for families, and on Halloween we went trick or treating just in our neighborhood with Maya and the Morton girls.


Caleb had his very first dentist appointment with Dr. Barney on November 10th, and I was so worried he was just going to do terrible. Luckily, he proved me wrong and did awesome. I think it partly had to do with the fact that "Cars 2" was playing on the tv. His teeth looked great though, and I'm just still hoping that he has daddy's teeth and not mine.


I took Caleb on his 2nd ever zoo excursion with Aunty Kamber and Dalloway. He loved the monkeys, elephants, tiger, giraffes, and his favorite was the train ride.


Caleb also had fun on his very first merry go round ride, at the zoo!


A great Christmas activity that we did was going to the Grand America to see their Christmas Windows. It was the cutest thing. There were around 20 windows. We had to follow each window, which told a story of a penguin. Each window also had a hidden star which we had to find and write down. At the end, we took the paper to a toy shop to get stickers, then to their bakery to get one of the best cookies I have ever tried! Grandma and Grandpa Banks also came with us.


This year we went on the Polar Express with Ro's family, Troys' family, and Ryan's sister's family. Since Rochelle lives in Heber, she got the tickets for half off, and Caleb was free this year!! We all got together for dinner first, and then went to the train ride. Caleb is obsessed with "choo choos" right now, so he loved it from the get go. They also fed us hot chocolate, cookies, we sang Christmas songs, told jokes, and then when we got to the "North Pole", Santa got on the train and met with all of the boys and girls! It was a great experience!


This was sadly the only Santa/Caleb picture I took this year. Caleb was cool with Santa, until I tried to get him to hold Caleb. . . baby steps I guess!


It wouldn't be Christmas without the Banks family Christmas pajamas, and of course Caleb loves his "Tars" pajamas and only wants to wear them to bed.

I'm really bummed that I didn't get any good pictures of Caleb on Christmas this year :( He was sooo excited when he woke up in the morning. He was jumping up and down in his crib yelling "choo choo". I didn't think he'd remember that I told him he'd get a train for christmas. He ran downstairs, and immediately started playing with his choo choo train on the train table from grandma and grandpa. We didn't spoil him too bad this year, but we gave him "Kung Fu Panda 2", a bible quiet book, a dinosaur book, and a bubble machine. That night we went to the Moses' house for Christmas with the Kelly family. We had the annual silly string fight, had yummy turkey and Vicki's awesome cinnamon rolls, opened presents, and played games. From Megan we got a really cute frame, with a K and circles behind it. Caleb got some books, puzzles, stacking blocks, little people nativity set, felt #s that Michelle Kelly made, etc. It was such a fun Christmas (other than the fact I was sick), and I'm so excited to have 2 little ones next year!

To end 2011, we spent New Years eve in Huntsville with Troy's family, Ro's family, Trevor and Kamber, and a couple of Troy's friends. We ate, did fireworks, played games and hung out. On New Years Day we went to the Moses' where we ate and played games. The next day, James didn't have work so we went to the dino museum at Thanksgiving Point, and Caleb thought it was so cool!

Some other big things to happen in the past 6 months is in October, James got a job in the accounting department of Enterprise Car Rentals. Trevor gave him the heads up about the position, and we're so happy he got this job. There's a lot of room to grow, and it's a great, steady 8 to 5 job. Unfortunately, that meant we'd need to get a replacement babysitter, since daddy was now working full time. It's worked out perfectly where I put him down for a nap at 12, then leave the monitor with Auntie Nicole. Caleb wakes up between 2 and 3, and then plays with "Cole", picks up Maya from school with her, and then I get home around 4:15. I'm so lucky that Nicole is able to watch Caleb, and Caleb absolutely loves her and Maya. Nicole also had a new baby on Christmas Eve, named Ethan Makai, and he's super cute!

Here is my Caleb update:

*Caleb's 2 great loves right now are "choo choos" and dinosaurs, which he calls "roars". He loves any clothes, shows, books, pictures, anything dealing with those 2 things. He also still loves Cars, and especially enjoys watching "Cars 2" on mommy's iphone.

*Caleb is now loving nursery (after 6 months, lol). His nursery leaders even say how he's really good in nursery, plays well with others, helps clean up, and listens . . . they must be doing something there that I'm not :)

*Caleb is talking a lot more now, and the words he says are hilarious. My favorite word he says is instead of saying "grandma", he smacks his lips together, because that's what Grandma Banks always did when she saw him. No matter what she tries, she can't change it. It cracks me up. He's very good at associating sounds for words, so he know all of the animal sounds, but not all of the animal names, he does a sound for rocket "Peew", witch "he he he he he", santa "ho ho", car "vroom", sleep "honk shoo", etc. My other favorite words that he says are "copcor" for popcorn, "boo-ka ka" for booger, and "wa-tee" for water.

*Caleb loves the ipad, my iphone, and now mario kart on the wii. I'm amazed at how this little boy knows how to work electronics.

*Caleb is a great eater, and will eat just about anything. Breakfast is his favortie meal, and he can eat 3 eggs, a piece of toast, a smoothie, and fruit, and still have room for more. He loves "sou" cereal, juice, oranges, grapes, strawberries (pretty much any fruit), pb and banana with honey sandwiches, chicken sandwiches with cucumber, avocado, and lettuce, salad (especially Zupas), spaghetti, mac and cheese, quesedillas, tacos, chicken nuggets, etc.

*I'm loving Caleb's sleep schedule, which is about 9:00-9:00 at night, and then a nap from 12-3. I'm getting spoiled right now, because since I teach in the afternoons, I get to sleep in with him.

*Caleb loves babies, and will pat my tummy saying, "Bebe"

*Caleb loves his cousins, especially Maya, Wesley,Cody,James, and Josh. He also loves it when Kamber and Dalloway come over. He seriously freaks out.

*Caleb is seriously the happiest little guy, and gets excited about everything. He jumps up and down in place and flaps his arms when he's excited, and it's the cutest thing. I can't say no to it . . . he usually does it when he wants chocolate, or as Caleb calls it, "Chaco".

*I tried potty training Caleb over Thanksgiving break, and the first 2 days he did great, and pooped in the potty. Unfortunately, it went down hill from there, where he pooped on the carpet/blanket multiple times, and I even stepped in poop. He's just not quite ready.

*Caleb is beginning to throw temper tantrums about what to wear. He loves his monkey boots, and hates coats. He also has specific pajamas that he has to wear (dinosaur and car pajamas) and freaks out if I don't put them on. Man, I thought that boys weren't supposed to care what they wear. . . . especially at age 2!

*Caleb LOVES going to the movies. I took him to "Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chipwrecked" and he was cracking me up the entire time. He'd scream, cheer, dance, say "Oh no" and "cool" the entire time.

"Caleb's favorite word is probably "cool". He says it about everything.

*Caleb knows the #'s 2, 1, and 8; the color blue; and the letter C.

I apologize for having the absolute longest post ever, but I guess that's just what happens when my posts are few and far between.

By the time I post next, I will probably have baby #2 . . . . yikes!! Wish me luck :)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

My Biannual Blog Update :)



On May 31st, we went to Hogle Zoo for our annual, Kindergarten fieldtrip! It was a perfect trip! The weather was perfect, I only had 22 kids to worry about (not 55 like 2 years ago), I wasn't prego, and no kids were lost . . . . phew!



Happy Birthday to Mrs. Kelly!! I walked into my room the day before my birthday, when much to my surprise, it was all decked out for my birthday! The lunch lady, Michelle, drew my name as her birthday buddy, and went ALL out! There were cute signs, and streamers all over the classroom, and each seat had a different plastic instrument for the students to play while they sang happy birthday. She also gave me a huge gift bag full of scrapbooking stuff, and put bags full of 5 different kinds of cookies in the faculty room for all of the staff to eat! Michelle was so incredibly nice and thoughtful to do that for me! It really made my birthday special!
As well, for my birthday, my mom made me crepes and yummy fruit for my breakfast in bed, and then my parents took me and James out to CPK and to Thor for my birthday! What a fun day!



Our Kindergarten round up was on May 6th this year and it was a success!! Everything went smoother than we could have hoped for! I was so proud of all of my cute students for singing their little hearts out!



Hooray!!!! James graduated with his Bachelor's in accounting from the U of U on May 6, 2011! I was so excited, maybe even more excited than my own graduation, probably because this means we can go on with our lives . . . . well, he'll be going onto more schooling, but it's a big milestone :) My dad ordered some BEAUTIFUL leis from Hawaii, and all of the Polynesian kids were jealous, he he! Both of our parents, Scotty, Michelle, Kamber, Ro and her family were all at the ceremony, and of course my dad brought the fog horns! I think those have been to over 10 graduations! They were incredibly loud, and Vicky held hers for the longest time! It was hilarious! After we had a BBQ at my parent's place and Trent and his girls, Emily, David and Michelle, Grandma and Grandpa Brown, and Trevor all joined us for that!



Caleb's first Easter basket! I saw this cute, felt, monkey basket at Target and couldn't resist. In his basket was candy, pez, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, a light up easter egg, and some other fun stuff.



This Easter was so much fun, since Caleb could actually pick up eggs himself! It was funny though, he'd pick up the egg and then just throw like a ball, lol! Maybe next year he'll really catch on.



James was looking outside and saw lightening strike this huge tree! There were wood splinters ALL over the yard, and the wood shot out so hard that it broke some of my parents window's in their room and the exercise room!



Over my Spring Break, we took Caleb to the Children's Museum. I took him when he was about 7 months old, and I felt it was a bit pointless, but now he loves it!! He had a blast with the balls and the water area!



We had a blast going up to Huntsville with my sister Rochelle's family! Caleb loves his cousins!


My Caleb Update:

*Caleb LOVES movies. His favorites include: Cars, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Barnyard, Finding Nemo, and Happy Feet. He's really good at taking out movies, putting them in the DVD player, watching them for a few minutes, then taking them out, putting them back in their correct case, and then putting in a new movie. It's a tad annoying, but impressive!

*Caleb would live outside if I let him. We have to lock all of the doors in the house, including the garage, because he'll find an open door and bolt. He loves to play in his car, jump on the trampoline, go in the playhouse and laugh at us from the window, and play in the sand box. Whenever I bring him back inside, he throws a tantrum.

*Caleb is not transitioning well into nursery. He'll cling to James or I whenever we go on, to the point where if I even stand up, he freaks out. He has major separation anxiety, and it's a bit frustrating.

*Caleb is on an amazing sleep schedule right now! He'll go to bed at about 8:30 and wake up at around 9:30-10:00. It's perfect, because both James and I are night owls, so we don't get to bed until about 2 most nights!

*When Caleb is happy, he'll do this hilarious dance where he runs in place and squeals. I love it!

*He's been saying a few more words, but not many. I'm a little worried that his speech isn't quite where it should be, but since he's only 20 months old, we're just hoping it clicks one day and he'll be spouting off full sentences :)

*Caleb enjoys going into grandpa's office, demanding that grandpa puts him on his lap. He will then just chill there, watching bizarre action movies while grandpa pops chocolate into his mouth.

*Caleb likes most food! He especially loves grandma's green drink!

*Caleb loves being hit by pillows and tackled!

I can't believe he's almost 2! He's the absolute delight our lives and we feel so lucky to be his parents!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Winter fun has just begun 2010!



A family pic at the reception at the old meeting house. Such a fun, beautiful night!!



Caleb LOVES his cousin Josh! Josh can make him laugh like no one else. I so wish that Tiffany's family lived closer. I can't blame them though, I would totally live in Kauai if we could afford it.



Cute nieces/nephews pic, but where's Caleb? Oh yeah, that's right throwing a fit, ha ha! Smart kid, it was frigid outside, and gave James an excuse to stay in, lol!



Such a happy, beautiful couple!!! My entire family is so ecstatic to have Kamber officially be a part of the family!! Now all 8 Banks kids are married :)



We love to go up to my parent's new cabin in Huntsville. I was a little skeptical at first, but it's turned into a really fun getaway. It's only an hour away, and it's got a gorgeous view!



Caleb looked so stinkin cute in all of his snow clothes. I can't get over his cheezy smile, either! He's such a poser for pictures, ha ha, I wonder who he got that from ;)



It's a blast to have 2 Christmases now. Caleb was definitely spoiled by his awesome granparents, aunts and uncles.



He was loving trying to ride on his giraffe!



Caleb was SO much fun this Christmas! He ran to the tree, automatically sat in his chair, mauled the giraffe, and started trying to open presents!! He was so happy, and made me super excited for Christmases to come!



Aw, gotta love the Christmas Eve pjs!!! I wear mine ALL of the time!



Caleb's very first hair cut on Christmas eve! I thought it was time to get rid of the mullet. His Aunty Kamber did a great job. We gave him a sucker, put on baby einstein and he did surprisingly really well!



Another tradition that every other Utah family has . . . . the lights on temple square! It was a perfect night, except for the crazy crowds. As well, it was fun seeing all of James' family and the Brown side. Grandma Kelly even brought yummy hot chocolate and donuts!



Man, I wish Caleb loved Santa! Both years now, he's been throwing a fit in the pictures. I can't blame the kid though, but still. This Santa was a little weird. He wouldn't take Caleb if he was crying, made James sit on his lap with Caleb, and gave us a 5 minute lecture about safety zones and kids. I was thinking in my head, "It's a 20 second picture, give me a break. He's 1 and will be over it in a second."



Kicking off the Christmas season right . . . . Festival of Trees! And yes, you better believe that's a Twilight tree! It was a little sad this year though, because I couldn't get over all of the trees dedicated to little kids that passed away, and the one made for my friend's dad, really got to me as well. They were all so beautiful, though!


So I began blogging once I had Caleb, so that I can have memories of him, and it's been like a family journal. I've decided to make an "All About Caleb" list at the end of each blog, so that I can remember the fun little milestones and quirks that he has. Since this is my first one, it's gonna be LONG :)

ALL ABOUT CALEB
*Caleb loves to give kisses! He'll make a sound with his mouth that sounds like a kiss and keeps his mouth wide open as he's doing it. He even just started to kiss all of the baby pictures in his books! It cracks me up!
*Caleb loves to climb on everything! This kid has no fear, which makes mommy on edge all of the time. He'll climb up on the bar stools, couches, on things in the pantry (to get to treats, te he), on his car, our 4 foot high bed, and will even move boxes and all sorts of things to give him a little extra lift!
*Caleb is very adventurous and fast. It's been a little hard living at my parent's house, because it's not very baby proof, and there are a lot of places to hide and things to get into (and he will get into them).
*Caleb loves babies and kids. He'll give hugs to kids and just adores his cousin Maya, and always goes up to the apartment looking for her. He even says her name like, "Aya!"
*Caleb makes the silliest sounds. He has this fake laugh that he must've gotten from Grandpa Banks, and it cracks me up. He's such a boy in all of his grunts and growls, and watch out for that scream of his. It seriously causes permanent ear damage!
*Caleb has become a total "Daddy's Boy"! Although I love it, it makes me a little sad, because it started when I had to go back to work. He freaks out any time James even picks up a coat or shoe, because he thinks that he's leaving. However, when mommy leaves, he blows me a kiss and waves bye. Even though I'm happy about it, I just wish he loved me as much. I'm the one that was pregnant with him for 9 months, went through labor, nursing, and woke up with him all night for the first year of his life. Oh well, our girl will just love me more :)
*Caleb loves to sleep every night and cuddle with Mr. Owl and his elephant blankie.
*Caleb is a great eater! He will even eat broccoli and seaweed strips!
*Caleb was completely weaned on December 23rd. It was a real bitter sweet for me, because even though I was relieved not to have to nurse, I miss the bonding time with him, and it made me realize just how fast he's growing up.
*Caleb loves to do somersaults, spin, and dance!
*Caleb LOVES bath time!! He plays with his bath boats, and loves to stick things in the fishy spout. After bath time, he loves his "Run around nakie time!"
*Caleb really likes to read books. His favorite book is probably "Baby Boo!"
*Caleb can turn on the blue ray player, tv, work the controller, play with our phones . . . . pretty much anything electronic. He really is his father's son.
*Caleb likes to play with balls, and to have me throw his beach ball on his head to bounce it off.
*Caleb's words are: mama, dada, bath, eat, grandma (maema), Maya (aya), ball, baby (bebe), Jesus (he thinks any picture is Jesus), no, and a few other random ones.
*Caleb HATES having his diaper changed. All I have to say is the word "Diaper" and he runs and hides and throws a fit the entire time.
*Caleb has consistently been off the charts for height and sometimes weight. When he came out, he had huge hands and feet, so we thought he might be big, but we had no idea how big. At his 15 month appointment he weighed 30 pounds (97th percentile), and was in like the 105th-110th percentile for height. He's been wearing 2T clothes since he turned 1. We have no idea where he got it from, because we both have small families, but at least he's proportionate :)
*For a week straight, Caleb has been sleeping from about 8:30-9:30. AMAZING!!!
*Caleb is a fun, happy, sweet, and cute little boy! He's growing up so fast, and I just feel so lucky to have him in my life!