Best. Week. Ever.

I took some vacation time this past week to spend time with Colton. We had an amazing week! Wednesday Colton, Karlee and I went to Toy Story 3. This was Colton's first movie in a theatre and he did a really good job. He sat still the whole time and loved the popcorn. We all loved the movie too. It was the perfect ending to such a great story.

Thursday we got to spend the afternoon with our friends Jena and Aniston. The kids played in Aniston's pool, created art with sidewalk chart, ate a lot of fruit and played with all of Aniston's cool toys. It was fun to be able to catch up with Jena and here all about their recent cruise to Alaska.
Friday we spent most the day playing with Lucas and the twins. Margaret let us all come to her house and lounge around in the backyard while the two boys played. We also had a picnic lunch of Del Taco. Colton always loves getting together with Lucas. They have so much fun together! I always love getting together with Shamie, Margaret and Don. I love our conversations and how supportive they are of Colton and I. That night we got to go to Grandpa Lewis' and ride over to see the Taylorsville Days fireworks. Colton liked them but I think had we been much closer he would have had a different opinion.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed to the Taylorsville parade with Grandma and Grandpa Lewis and Karlee. Colton was good at grabbing the candy that was thrown to him and seemed to be enjoying it for the most part and then tragedy struck. While Karlee was holding him he puked all over himself and Karlee. It was really nasty and did NOT smell good. He then became our little "white trash baby" running around in only his diaper. The two SheriffsThis is my favorite picture because it just illustrates what I'm talking about. We were going to go to the carnival after but those plans changed since we had to go home for the two stinky people to shower.

That night we went to the West Jordan Demolition Derby. My cousin Cameron, who is seventeen, raced in it. He has done a few derbies last year and a few already this summer. During his heat he got hit once and had to pull his flag. We were way bummed but found out it was because his steering column had fallen out in his lap. Dang it! Well because these "city derbies" are kind of lame they ended up letting any car that could run in the final. That definitely worked on Cam's favor seeing as his car ran perfectly good. Well after a very EXCITING and intense championship heat my good old cousin WON! Yes a seventeen year old beat out all of the older drivers out there! We were so excited and I was shaking because it was so intense. He ended up winning $2700.00! He got the award for also being the most aggressive driver of the night. Now we can't wait for the Kamas Derby when both him and his brother Tyson will be in it.
Cameron is car 43

Celebrating his win! (he is the blond in the gray sweatshirt)This week has been amazing. I have watched my little boy grow in front of my own eyes. In just this week his vocabulary has honestly tripled. He is saying more and more words and can repeat almost anything you ask him to say. He is getting really good at saying please and thank you and can say all the colors when asked (my favorite is "lellow"). I am so grateful for the time I got to spend with him and am very sad to go back to work tomorrow. It was a well needed break as I was starting to feel very overwhelmed with life and was starting to be grumpy almost everyday. I feel refreshed and happy with how things are turning out in my life. Don't you just love when you feel like everything starts falling into place?!? This week reiterated to me how much I love my little boy and how much he means to me. I don't know where I would be in life without him (probably no where good) and I thank God daily for allowing me to be his mom.

Here Comes the Bride

Maria and Ryan finally got married Saturday June 19, 2010. They have been engaged for two years but Ryan has been in Iraq and in the Army. He finished his tour and was officially done with the Army in November. It was such a gorgeous day and was perfect for a wedding. I am so happy for the two of them and never seen Maria happier. He makes her a better person and the two of them are truly meant for each other. Maria was honestly the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. First Dance"The Coven"These are just two of the pictures of the photo session Suzanne and I had in front of the gorgeous waterfall. It was highly entertaining!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. James! I couldn't be happier for you guys!

The Zoo

Colton and I went to the zoo with some friends a couple weeks ago. This is the second time Colton has been this year since my dad took him one day when I was at work. Colton was great and loved looking at all the animals. He really wanted to get in the water with the penguins and go swimming. He loved the carousel (I was worried that he would freak when it started moving). The zoo was packed that day since it was the first nice Saturday we had this year.

Running back in forth of the cat window entertained them for quite a while. It was funny to watch.

This was last year. My bubbas is getting too big!!

We plan on going back at least one more time this. Hopefully it won't be quite as crowded and we can see the animals a little better!

Princess Maria

My very good friend Maria is getting married this Saturday the 19th. A couple weeks ago Brenda, Suzanne and I threw her a work bridal shower. Since Maria is definitely the princess of Bed Bath and Beyond that is the theme we went with. Brenda had so many amazing ideas and got really into it. I think it all turned out so amazing. We had a lot of fun sitting around talking and eating. I forget how much I love all these women and it is always nice to be able to get out of the work environment and spend time with them. Maria and JanetSuzanne and Kristen

The Bride and her family

Summer

We LOVE Summer!We LOVE playing outside!

We LOVE dirt!
We LOVE running through the sprinklers!

Most importantly we LOVE each other!

Doomed...

Colton has learned a new word.

NO

At first it was cute and made me laugh.

Not so much anymore...

Although he is still really cute!!

Memorial Day

We went to Washington to visit family over Memorial day. There are three new posts below. I am warning you there are A LOT of pictures and it is probably pretty boring but since I use this as my journal it had to be written.

Day One

We had to get up super early and leave the house by six a.m. to catch our flight out to Seattle. I was worried for over a week how Colton would do on the plane since he is so active but I had no need to worry. He was amazing the whole time! He was happy to sit on our laps, listen to music, look at books and dance.

We landed and had to wait for Uncle Trevor to arrive about 45 minutes later. Colton's entertainment was walking up the set of stairs and riding back down the escalator. I think we did this with him about 15 times before Trevor showed up. Colton went right to him and warmed up to him in no time. That made both Trevor and I very happy!

We then got to go see my step-brother's house in Tacoma. I have always heard how cold he kept his house but this was ridiculous. It was warmer to stand outside in the rain then it was to sit on his couch. Colton and I had to wrap up in a blanket to stop from shivering.

After freezing our butts off we finally got to go meet Jen and Lily. My step-brother Josh married Jen about a year ago and this is the first time I have met her. I instantly liked her! I really wished we lived closer to each other. Lily was also ADORABLE (see post below).

That night we went to Famous Dave's for dinner. There were thirteen of us all together so it was hard to talk to anyone but the people you were sitting right next to. Luckily I got to sit by "big" Trevor's girlfriend and her cute five month old. She was also so nice.

Colton was exhausted from all the traveling and not getting any good naps he started falling asleep in his high chair. Poor kid was exhausted! He never woke up again until the next morning at 5 a.m. :(

Lilian Faith

We finally got to meet my niece Lily in Washington this last weekend. Colton loved her and wanted to kiss her constantly. She was born on September 20, 2009 so exactly 364 days apart from Colton. They were fun together and I wish they could see each other and play together more often. She was wonderful the whole time I was around her. I never heard her cry once in three days. I wanted to sneak her on the plane with to me to bring her home but I don't think her parents would have liked me.

Day Two and Three

Since Colton had decided to go to be so early the night before he decided that 5 a.m. was an acceptable time to get up and start playing. Him and Grandma found a rainbow to look at out the window then he colored one on a piece of paper to show me since I wouldn't open my eyes to look at it. While we were waiting for all of us to get ready and for Grandpa to come pick us up (he stayed at "big" Trevor's house) Colton found entertainment. He found a pen and went and hid in the corner and after a minute I asked what he was doing and he proudly showed me his tattoos! He had pulled his pants up and socks down so he could ink himself up. While I was laying on the bed he lifted up my shirt and kept showing Aunt Karlee my tattoo and then his tattoo. This might be considered a "bad example" but I think it is kind of funny!

Ready for his shower

Grandpa really wanted to take Colton down to the harbor in Gig Harbor so he could see all the boats. Us, Josh, Jen, Lily and Travis all headed down there. It was a cute street with a bunch of shops and restaurants. It was kind of like Park City's main street but by the water. I held onto Colton tightly since he has proven that he can't be trusted not to just jump in the water! (see here) He liked looking at the crabs until a guy held one up to close to him then he got a disgusted look on his face. We walked around there and hung out in a cute coffee shop for a couple hours until it was time to meet up with the Trevor's to go to dinner.
Josh and Jen We went to the Southcenter Mall in Seattle to go to the Rainforest Cafe. First off this mall is HUGE! It has four levels and goes on and on. I think I saw about 8% of it and that took and hour. You would have to devote and entire day if you really wanted to do some shopping there. The restaurant was awesome. It had all sorts of moving animals and sounds going on throughout it. Colton loved the monkeys and elephants but was very hesitant of the huge lifelike alligator that snapped at you and the big snake slithering down from the ceiling. The food was great and it was fun to be able to spend the last night with just our family...all 11 of us!




Trevor, Travis and TrevorJust tried Ranch dressingLoooove this picture The whole family
After dinner we all headed back to the hotel and hung out in our room for a couple hours talking and spending time with Trevor. Colton performed the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "If Your Happy and You Know It" for everyone. Uncle Trevor was impressed with how smart Colton is which of course made me a happy momma

How I got to sleep both nights...I loved it :)
The next day we just had enough time to wake up and get packed up to get off to the airport. We said our final goodbyes to the Trevor's :( and headed out. Once again Colton was amazing on the flight. The flight attendant even gave him his own wings!

We can't wait to go back again and can't wait to see Lily again one day! Hopefully Josh and Jen can make it out to Utah soon like they want too!