Family Reunion 2007

I want to write about this before it's so old, I've forgotten the details. This past September, my immediate family (brothers and sisters, their spouses and kids, my parents, and my grandmother) had a fabulous family reunion. We met in Emerald Isle, North Carolina and it had been almost two years since we had all been together. The location was prime. It was beautiful and awesome but truly, for me the best part was just being together!

Thanks to the generosity of Mom and Dad we stayed in this fancy pad right on the ocean. It was our 7 bedroom, 8 bathroom, 6 balconied, 2 kitchen retreat with a pool and a hot tub. Talk about luxury. But the truth of it was, we couldn't have fit in anything smaller. There were 28 people and one dog.



Sadly for us, Dan and I were only able to be there for the last half of the week. And after being there a few days, it really made me sad for the part that we missed.

We played on the ocean a lot. The forecast kept predicting rain, yet somehow we avoided it for the majority of everyday. Ava was in love with the ocean. We arrived just in time for a family picture on the beach. That meant that Ava would go to the actual beach for the first time in her little life in her picture clothes and not be able to get in. Talk about torture for a little girl. She made it through the pictures but kept saying, "want get in pease" over and over. When the pictures were over we let her get in. She thought the waves were so cool.

Mom had to hold her hands or she might have just run right in.

In the morning, it was so nice to go out on the balcony.

Dad and Daughter

Me and Ava

Chris and Noah

The kids had fun playing on the beach and in the ocean. Actually I think everyone did! After the kids went to bed we'd play cards and eat candy. And we took turns on the Wii. My nephew, Brayden, was the master and showed us how it was done!

Ava, excited about the waves

Ava and Marin

Luke relaxed on the beach too!



Mom took Ava down to the beach and they found this huge shell.

She was thrilled!

This is one of my favorite pictures of some of the girl cousins. During our stay Ava learned all about princesses as "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" was always on a TV somewhere in the house. When I look at this picture I just think these are my little niece princesses.

Marin, Sara, and Sofia

We celebrated Mimi's 80th birthday. We all went around the room and told something we remembered or loved about her. It was a special night because she is such a special lady. There's nobody sweeter than my Mimi.

Oliver was so interested in Luke. He asked A LOT of questions. "Is he hungry?", "why is he crying?", "how long will he sleep?", "what is he doing under there?" (as i nursed him under a blanket), "what will be his first word?"
It was funny that a little boy would be so enthralled by a baby. He is a cool kid!

Sofia, Oliver, and Luke

Oliver and Sofia are lucky because now they have a new baby at their house. Their little brother Santiago was born November 2, 2007. I don't worry at all because I know Oliver will be looking out for his baby brother!



Ava and her cousin Sara are just 6 months apart. It was fun to watch them interact. At one point they sat on their rocking chairs and chatted on the porch like a couple of old ladies.

Ava and Sara

The 2 Elises

So, Mom and Dad, Mimi, Bret, Christina, Rebecca, Elise, Sara, Chandra, Paul, Brayden, Kieran, Torin, Eavan, Roan, Marin, Dallin, Ian, Cristina, Oliver, Sofia, Leah, Chris, Noah, Dan, Ava, and Luke, thanks for being my family and coming on this trip. I love you all so much! I wish we could be together always! And I'll tell you all what I tell Ava, "Don't forget I love you!"

Mom and Dad, thanks for making this wonderful trip happen. I bet you can't help but look at all of us and think about how it all started with just the two of you, 40 years ago.

Sunday Sermon

Sunday Sermon is a misleading term. I just like alliteration. This isn't really a sermon, they never are. It's more just for me to remember some of the spiritual happenings in our life.

There is a day that sticks in my memory as the "banana peel" day. It was shortly after Ava started potty training and it was as if she had entered this totally new mindset that she can do ANYTHING. And I mean that in a good way. It was like a tangible change I could see in her as she was aware of her own autonomy. And some psychologist I studied in college said this was bound to happen, because she is 2 after all.

I gave her a banana that I had started to peel just a little. I wasn't really thinking about it. Then I heard her say, "I peels my owns nana, Mommy!" And she had. She was so excited. I kid you not that I heard that same phrase no less than 40 times that day. And then all of the sudden she was asking to do all kinds of things. And she would use this phrasing, "Teach me". Like "teach me how my buckles, mommy" (Asking me to teach her how to do the buckles in her car seat). Everything was "Teach me..." And she would add on "I peels my owns nana", like if she could do that, she could do anything.

Anyway, that day was precious to me and I don't know if my lame explanation really illustrates it. But it was a milestone in my mind. I'm just a mushy mom, I know. But then earlier this week, Luke was sad in the car as we were driving. I was singing to him, and went through my usual repertoire. Then I thought I should sing some hymns. I did "I am a child of God" and then I did "Teach me to walk in the Light".

When I was telling Dan about this, he said, "You cried, didn't you?" Umm, Yes, because I am a mushy mom. It was as I sang those words "Teach me..." that I thought of the banana peel day. I thought of Ava and how she wants to learn and grow. And I thought about my job as her mother, to teach her ABC's and her 123's but also to teach her to "walk in the light".

And oh, miss Ava has discovered her nostrils this week. She was snuffing and wiggling her nose and said she needed to blow it. I held out the tissue and waited cause she really is not too great of a blower but would you believe it, she blew and a 2 inch long piece of ramen noodle came out. We had a little talk about not sticking stuff up your nose and I forgot all about it. Then a few days later I come home and Dan tells me that she asked him to blow her nose, she couldn't do it, and then a few minutes later she sneezed out a big old piece of cheese. Then he had a talk with her. Then I had another talk with her. Each time she politely agreed that was a no-no. But tonight, I watched her as she almost put a small piece of popcorn up there! It was almost subconscious, I think. But I'm now afraid to leave her and her food alone in the same room!



Dan has orchestrated this event the last 2 weeks at our house. Sunday-Night-Popcorn-on-a -Blanket-in-the-Living-Room.



Pretty fun, huh? At least Ava thinks so.

Blue Blooded

There has been a lot of talk on here about Ava and Luke, but not much about Dan. So today I'm going to change all that.



Last night, as you may know was the BYU vs. TCU football game. It was a big day because Dan hadn't seen a game in quite some time. BYU has gotten themselves into some big mess with the stupid "Mountain" network. This makes Dan SO angry. And Dan doesn't get too angry about too many things. Since we've moved away from the Beehive State, he has been able to order most of the games on the internet except now it's even hard to do that.

And let me send it out to the universe-No one loves BYU football like Dan. He spends a lot of his free time on this website. It is the fountain of knowledge for all things BYU sports related and sometimes not sports related. You can learn a lot of stuff from Cougarboard.

He will do anything to see or hear the games. Including bootlegging video in ways that are "probably" legal (according to some Cougarboarders).

He wears blue for every game in our living room or office, when he has to watch on the computer.


He was thrilled when I found this BYU baby hat on a trip to our local Dollar Store back in College Station. Pretty random and obviously I had to get it.





I am not exaggerating when I say that he does not sleep well the night before a game. He wakes up early too, to read all the pre-game chatter and stays up late to listen to the bozos who call into the radio station after the game.


In years past his mood for a week was entirely dependent on the outcome of a game. I've since convinced him that he should "be happy on the inside" and not allow outside sources determine how he feels.


This post on Ashley's blog got us talking about our childhood diaries. Mine contained the usual "he likes me...I like him..." stuff and he said without even cracking a smile (because he wasn't joking), "yeah, mine had that stuff too. Actually, I think I really only wrote down BYU football scores."

Like father, like son

He can tell you scores from BYU games from when he was 8 or something. And he remembers who made a great play or who screwed up.

I love Dan! I love that he loves BYU football almost as much as he loves me. And I love that we share our wedding anniversary with the Las Vegas bowl. He promises that if BYU is in that game, he won't even watch it until the next day. What a sweetie!



Greater love hath no fan than this. Go Cougars!

puppy love

Yesterday, my friend Val was in a sad state. Her kiddos came to our house while she went to get her back checked out at the urgent care. And it was during their visit I was able to capture this cute encounter with the camera.



Lainey is just 13 months old and she was very interested in Luke. She liked to blow raspberries at him and pile toys on him and his chair. And I believe that Luke was just as enamored with her.



I swear those boys start so young. Even the littlest guys can pick out a pretty girl! Can you tell Lainey likes the camera? She hammed it up as soon as I got it out.



Luke wasn't the only one enjoying himself. Ava was thrilled that Jorgie and Quentin were here. They came in with me to get her after her nap. They had arrived while she was asleep so she didn't know they would be here. When she saw us all walk in she jumped up and said, "Boo! Here I am!"

And then when Dan got home from work and found them here, all lined up watching Dora,




Ava just said, "Look, Dad, my 'bends' (friends) here". And Corbin better watch out because I heard from a little bird that Quentin thinks Ava is "tute" (cute).

Feel better, Val!!

...and the little one said

...Roll Over!


A few weeks ago I left Luke on the floor after I changed his diaper. And here is how I found him when I came back a few minutes later.



I knew it wouldn't be long before he made it all the way to his tummy. He has rolled over a few times from his tummy to his back, but it has always looked like an accident because his head was too heavy.

Yesterday he learned his new trick! Right before his nap he just rolled right over- Back- to- tummy!




I kind of thought it was a fluke like his tummy-to-back rolling. But once he woke up and I set him down, he immediately rolled to his tummy. And then I flipped him back, and he rolled over again. And again! Then I went to get the video camera to capture the moment.




I rolled him back to his back and of course, you guessed it, he just stared at me. No rolling over. I tried to persuade him, get him started, I even begged. But there was no convincing him. He just looked at me and smiled.




This is pretty exciting for us. Ava never rolled. Maybe not never, since she's almost two and a half and she can obviously roll over. But as a small baby, she never did. I remember at her 6 month well check the doctor said, "And she rolls over, right?". Nope. She could sit up like nobody's business and had since she was 5 months old, but she was not the rolling type.


Luke, on the other hand, is the type. Way to go Luke!

Sunday Sickies, Snuggle, and Sermon

I don't have pictures for this post and as you read on, I'm sure you will appreciate it. Well, maybe one picture. We went to the zoo yesterday and that is a different post for a different day. But Ava was worn out and didn't take that great of a nap. Later that evening, I was at the store and Dan was home with the kids. Apparently Ava had quite a bit of candy. And she was complaining that her foot hurt. She did wear her new shoes to the zoo and walked a lot. But by last night, she would/could not walk at all. I was pretty concerned but planned to let her sleep on it and see how things were this morning. But this morning we woke up to an even more unpleasant surprise than a sore foot. She threw up in the night and slept in it. Hence the no pictures. Congealed hot dog and ketchup were all over her bed and crusted in her hair! This was actually our first vomit experience. And lucky for me it was the weekend and Dan was home because I don't "do" throw up. He got her cleaned up and I threw all her bedding in the wash. I did have to step in however, when Dan wanted to cut the throw up out of her hair. So today she had a high fever, wasn't eating well and was gimping around on her sore foot. She was a sad sight and she acted as I imagine she felt-Yucky. By this evening, her foot was feeling better and she was happy to lay and watch Finding Nemo on the couch. Tomorrow is a new day and while I'm pretty sure now it wasn't just a candy overdose (because of the fever and such) hopefully she'll just continue to feel better.

Sunday morning snuggle

Luke and I went to church by ourselves today. It was fast and testimony meeting. I have not been in a ward where so many people get up to bear their testimonies. It's literally a race and a member of the bishopric always has to get up and say "nobody else come up here, we're already ten minutes over and we'll only hear from the 12 people who are already up on the stand". He says it nicer than that though.

And another thing about our ward- the priests who bless the sacrament have been instructed that they should take at least 60 seconds to say the sacrament prayer. And I have to say that it really makes a huge difference. For those who know that prayer by heart, to hear it so slow really allows you to think about what's being said. The priest today messed up 3 times so I got to think about it a lot.

Among the testimonies was a convert of 7 months, Sister Chavez. She had a wonderful spirit about her and as she talked you could feel how much she loved the gospel and knew it was true. She shared how she is the only member in her family and how hard that can be. She talked about how she was running late for church today and she just prayed and prayed on her drive that she could make it in time to take the sacrament. It was a reminder to me how important the sacrament can be for us. And sometimes it takes someone who has lived without it to remind me of it's importance. Well, she ended by saying that she opened the door to the foyer and heard the sacrament prayer just beginning and thanked Heavenly Father that she could get there in time.

And then the last testimony was by James, a senior in high school who works at HEB, who I see every Saturday without fail when I do my grocery shopping. He is a sweet and outgoing boy who has a great testimony.He always shakes my hand and says, "Hi, Sister Colton!" He got up and said "I know the church is true because Josh had to say the sacrament prayer 3 times today so Sister Chavez could take the sacrament. "I chuckled along with most of the congregation and then I got goosebumps as I realized how true this was. And I was very impressed with James for making that connection. I know Heavenly Father knows who we are and what we need and desire as individuals. He hears our prayers and He answers them, too.

Happy Halloween

"HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" That's what Ava said when she got up from her nap yesterday afternoon and I told her it was time to put on her costume. She walked around saying to most people she saw, "Dis my poodle skirt!" She was SO excited.




Yeah, yeah, wasn't she a poodle skirt girl last year? Yes, she was and the skirt still fit, and we moved so nobody who saw us last year would see us this year... so why change a good thing?

Which way to the Sock Hop?

Luke was a dalmatian. I guess he was excited too or maybe he just wondered why I was putting eyeliner on his nose.

Me and my Puppy

We stopped at a few of our neighbor's houses before heading to the church for Trunk-or Treat. The model home for the neighborhood is 2 houses down and, Joe, the guy who sold us our house, came outside with candy for Ava. He gave her a chocolate eyeball. And as she walked down the street she said, "I show Mama Ninda dis my iceball." So Grandma Linda, here is Ava's iceball. She really wanted you to see it!



At the church there were a few games and booths and of course the trunk or treating. Ava enjoyed this clown.



Luke enjoyed everyone "oohing" and "aahing" over him.





Ava pretty much wanted to sit down at every car and eat the candy that was put in her bag.
She did manage to make it back to our car before settling down.





Dan and I were a little nervous about the candy situation because she has inherited her mother's sweet tooth. But her favorite thing from last night was this glow stick she got (it was glowing purple but the camera flash made it not show up). In fact, the first thing she asked for this morning was not candy, she said "where's my stick?".


All in all, a fun night for everyone! Happy Halloween!