Kallai is 18!

Kallai turned 18 just the other day.  Unfortunately, he spent his first day as an adult getting his wisdom teeth removed.  I thought maybe I could make up for scheduling surgery for him on his birthday by telling everyone all the great things that make up Kallai.  Here are 18 things about Kallai that make him an amazing person.

1.  The name Kallai has several meanings.  In Hawaiian, I have been told that when the ocean waves hit the rocks on shore, and a mist splashes up in the air, the sun shines through it and forms a rainbow.  That phenomenon is Kallai.  Another meaning (the one we were originally aware of) has something to do with resting by the light of campfire and singing.  My favorite meaning, however, is this.  Kallai means Lighthearted in Hebrew (or Yiddish?), this meaning describes Kallai perfectly.  Kallai has always been a source of fun and laughter in our family.  From his earliest years until today, his happiness, enthusiasm for life, and easy going nature have made him a joy to be around.  

2. Kallai has always been a bit of a free spirit.  This was especially true when he was three and four years old.  Kallai loved to play with friends, and he always wanted to be outside or at his friends’ houses.  Unfortunately, he didn’t quite get the concept of asking permission.  Any time I turned my back on him, he was out the door, and I would be searching through the neighborhood, yet again, trying to figure out where he had gone.  It was kind of a neighborhood joke, and was pretty embarrassing.  We finally ended up getting a home alarm system, specifically to alert me to when he was trying to sneak out of the door.  That was the only way I could keep track of him.

3.  As a young child, Kallai loved playing with toy guns.  Even if he couldn’t find a gun, he would pretend whatever toy he had was a gun.  He would screw up his face into a mask of mock rage, and pretend to shoot everything in sight.  When he was two years old, we went to our annual family Christmas Party.  Our parties were held in the church gym, and my grandma always had the young kids participate in a nativity play.  That year Kallai got to be a shepherd.  We got him into his costume, a towel on his head, and went to sit in the audience.  Somehow, Kallai found a nerf gun backstage, and proceeded to come out through the stage curtains and provide pre-show entertainment as he pretended to shoot everyone.  I tried to take the gun away, but he didn’t want to let it go.  My grandma told me to let him keep it.  Needless to say, the shepherd scene that year was a bit unorthodox.

4. Kallai has always loved playing and watching sports.  When he was young, we signed him up for soccer and basketball.  When he was on the field or court, he would get so excited watching the action going on around him, he would start to jump and dance around.  He often got so distracted with his excitement that he wouldn’t be ready when the ball came to him. David was his coach for many of the years he participated in these sports, and they enjoyed working and playing together.

5.  As Kallai got older, he decided to try his hand at football.  Again, David was one of his coaches.  Kallai found that he didn’t really enjoy playing football during his first season, but David convinced him to try it for another year.  During the second year, Kallai realized that he really didn’t like playing football, but we insisted that he finish out the season.  Mysteriously, Kallai started getting sick before every practice.  It took only a few times to realize there was a definite pattern.  We found out that Kallai had been making himself throw up in hopes of being kept home so he didn’t have to play.  Needless to say, there was no third season of football.

6.  One sport that Kallai especially loved was golf.  David took Kallai on many fun golf outings, and taught him to play well.  During Kallai’s junior and senior year of high school, Kallai participated on his school’s golf team.

7.  Kallai is very intelligent, and has done well in school, but David likes to say Kallai is sneaky smart.  His happy-go-lucky attitude might lead some to overlook his intelligence.  This attitude, combined with his free spirited nature led him to turn in exactly zero homework assignments during the first term of first grade.  I’m not sure why his teacher waited so long to alert me to the problem, but when she did, I was skeptical.  Of course he was turning in his homework.  Why wouldn’t he turn it in when we did it together every day after school?  It turned out that the teacher was very big on personal accountability, and required the students to remember to get it out of their backpack and turn it in without being reminded.  Kallai just never remembered.  Instead, he would pull it out of his backpack after school and stuff it under his sister’s bed.  Once I realized the problem, I would drive Kallai to school, hand him his completed homework, and remind him to hold it in his hands, and go straight in and put it in the homework box.  I even made him repeat the steps back to me.  Still, his homework only made it into the box about half the time.

8.  I had the privilege of being Kallai’s math teacher in 6^th grade.  I worked as an aide at his Charter school, and led a pre-algebra group under the direction of a teacher.  I also got to teach him much of the science curriculum that year.  He was a great student, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  To this day, when we are discussing a random math or science concept, I will say, “I taught you that first, back in 6^th grade.  Don’t you remember?”

9. In 5th and 6^th grade, Kallai science project placed in the top 10 in his school science fair.  He went on to district.  In 6th grade he also went on to regionals, where he won a 3^rd place trophy and a check for $10.  His science project researched which fabrics would be the best insulators in cold weather.  He wrapped glass jars in layers of different fabrics, from silk to leather, then filled them with hot water and measured the water temperature to determine which fabric held in the heat the best.  He found that polar fleece was the best insulator. He worked hard and was very excited to do so well.

10.  I take full responsibility for Kallai’s love of science.  (Just kidding)  But Kallai does love all things science.  After taking Honors Biology, he decided he wanted to be a biologist when he grew up.  The next year, he took AP Chemistry, and decided that chemistry was the field for him.  His senior year, he took AP Physics, and now he is enrolled at BYU as an applied physics major.  He is thinking he wants to be some kind of engineer, perhaps a bioengineer or chemical engineer, combining the different kinds of science that he loves.

11.  The single most common thing people, especially teachers, tell me about Kallai is how helpful he is.  He always looked for opportunities to help around the classroom, by putting up or taking down chairs, or helping in other ways to prepare the classroom for class.  His teachers also told me that he looked for opportunities to help his fellow students understand difficult concepts.  He tutored one friend in physics, and helped her go from failing to acing the class.  She actually achieved a better grade than he did.  I found the same to be true at home.  Whenever I needed help, he was quick to say, “Sure mom, I can do that.” 

12. When Kallai was little, he sucked his thumb.  While he sucked his thumb, he would reach up with his other hand to the top of his head, grab a lock of hair and twirl it around.  Unfortunately, he would keep twirling it until it got tight enough that some of his hairs would be pulled out.  Eventually, this led to a quarter sized bald patch on the crown of his head.  I tried to get him to stop sucking his thumb, but nothing worked.  I tried putting bitter tasting stuff on his thumb, but he just licked it off and went back to sucking his thumb and pulling out his hair. I tried to get him to at least stop pulling his hair, but to no avail. In desperation I decided to shave his head until the habit was broken.  Kallai sported a shaved head for about a year.

13.  Kallai is a heavy sleeper.  When he was younger, it was impossible to wake him up.  Waking him in the middle of the night or earlier in the morning than he was used to involved bright lights, shouting, shaking him, slapping his face (gently), and sometimes water.  Once we got him semi-consious, we would have to stay right by his side.  If left to his own devices, he would head back to bed or lay down on the floor where he was and fall back asleep.  Now that he’s older, it’s easier to wake him up, but he can sleep anywhere.  We have countless funny pictures of him sleeping in strange places and positions.

14. Kallai has an amazing singing voice, and he loves to sing.  He sang in Madrigals, his high school’s top choir. He also sang with our family in the ward choir.  He has a very high falsetto voice, and during choir practice he often sang along with the sopranos as they practiced their part.  Kallai took part in the play, Savior of the World twice.  Both times, he landed major roles, in part because of his singing.  When he was 10, he played the part of Nathan, the shepherd boy, in our Stake production, and had several beautiful solos.  As a young man of 16, he played the part of Joseph, Mary’s husband.  Many people told me they were touched by his performance.

15. Kallai and his sister, Taliah have been very close growing up.  They played, rough and tumble, as kids.  As teens, they were best friends, spending most of their time together.  They got along great, except when they didn’t.  But the hard feelings never lasted long, and they were back to being silly, joking around and singing together with in a short period of time.  They attended early morning seminary together, and had to leave the house by 5:30 a.m.  Their favorite thing was when I let Kallai drive my car to seminary.  Kallai’s seminary teacher told me that she could always tell when the Dresen’s entered the building, because they were always singing.  She was so happy to hear their lovely cheerful voices at that early hour each morning. 

16. One of Kallai’s favorite activities growing up was Boy Scouts.  He participated in Cub Scouts, and earned his Arrow of Light.  I had the privilege of being his Webelos Leader, and we had tons of fun doing science experiments, hikes, day camps, and other activities.  He also participated in Boy Scouts, and currently has his application in for his Eagle Scout rank advancement.  (He left it down to the wire, and will have to fly back from college for his board of review.)  His dad had the privilege of being his scout leader for a short time.  Kallai loved hiking and camping with his troop, and had the distinction of catching a fish on many campouts when no one else did.

We are proud of how Kallai has exemplified the Scout Oath and Motto in his life.

17.  Kallai is very adventurous when it comes to eating, and I don’t think I’ve every heard him say he doesn’t like something.  I will take a bite of something that is so spicy that it makes my eyes water; then I’ll give him some.  He will eat it, act unfazed, then say, “It’s good, but it’s not that hot.”  He loves to drink pickle juice.  His favorite food is sushi.

18.  Finally some favorites… His favorite color is silver.  Some of his favorite activities are golf, reading, running, singing, scouts, sleeping, dating, learning, playing ukulele, shooting, and winning.  He loves muscle cars, especially Ford, Mustangs.  He loves mountains, waterfalls, art, sculptures, guns, extreme sports, girls, sunsets and science.  His favorite bands are Secondhand Serenade, Switchfoot, Train, Imagine Dragons, and Rush.

We are proud of the man Kallai is becoming.  He is kind, responsible, helpful, intelligent, and fun.  We love having him around, and will miss him while he’s away at college and on his mission.  We can't wait to see what he accomplishes with his life.