Three years and counting ...

Happy Anniversary to my man! You gotta love this picture. I was so stinking happy on my wedding day, I don't think my grin can get any bigger (which is saying something since I am known to have somewhat of a large mouth). It was a great day and what's even better is I love the man even more 3 years later. Seeing as my parents are celebrating their 30th in a few days, 3 years is obviously just the beginning but here's to many more. So in keeping with the "3" theme, here's 3 reasons why I love Evan...

1. He is so good to me. Admittedly, I am feisty, stubborn and have a tendency to think I'm right (in keeping with the Carleton women tradition - just ask my bro-in-law Logan) but Evan puts up with me better than anyone could. He is patient - something you need with me. :)

2. He is strong in the church and loves God. A few days ago, at dinner with our neighbors, they asked us some questions about the church. Evan is such an awesome scriptorian, he could keep up with all of the biblical scriptures our neighbor was asking about.

3. He is a great dad. I think I knew he would be in the first few weeks of our dating. I love how he is so hands on and how Colt is such a daddy's man. Evan's always taking Colton out into the backyard to 'help' him with the yard. Colt's in love with him and so am I.

Some Highlights

You gotta love the fact that we get high speed and it's August before I post again. But, to cut myself some slack, it has been a busy past couple of weeks so here are the highlights (and I'm officially the worst picture taker known to man so hopefully I can snag some that others took and post them later):

- Went down to San Antone for a week to see one of my best friends Heather get married. She, of course, looked beautiful and I could not be happier for her. So glad I got to make it to her big day. Side note: could have done without the picture of her and I skiing in her wedding video- she looks cute (she's the bride, that's the point) but I ski about as well as I do anything 'daring.'

- Hung with the fam while down in the great state of TX. We went to a BBQ place and let's be honest, that feels like home to me. Tons of meat, twangy music in the background, corn being the only thing close to a vegetable. Evan struggles with BBQ for the lack of veggies but I blame the Californian in him for that.

- Went to Girls Camp. Somehow, I'm still finding it hard to believe that I'm a leader now at camp. A leader, me? It doesn't feel that long ago that I was at hot, humid Camp Liahona. Me and the daddy longlegs. But here I am, 12 or so years later, with the other leaders rolling my eyes at the drama. Heaven knows I was NEVER part of any young women drama, ever. :)

High Speed Heaven!

I'm in absolute love! I just downloaded all of these pictures in 2 minutes! Who knew? Certainly not these Joneses. We entered the 21st century and have ourselves some high speed internet. Who knew that all of the pictures on your blogs weren't really blurry? Heaven. Moving on. What's that behind Evan you say? That's right folks. A beluga whale. Evan and I took a quick trip to San Antone and made it over to Sea World with my fam. My brother's cute girlfriend Valerie works with the animals there and took us all behind the scenes. So here's me (Mrs. Salt water and everything in it scares me) petting the whale. Do you call it petting? Thanks a ton Valerie!

And now for some Colton mania. My mom's only called daily asking for some picture updates. Here's Colt riding the merry-go-round at the zoo with his Poppa.

Below, he's having some Saturday fun with his Dad. Bless our little backyard. The grass is trying so hard to grow. We also snagged a little tryke (no idea how to spell that) at a garage sale and Colton is in love. Madly in love. And I'll admit that I'm vain. There were a few other cute pictures of this but I didn't want the whole world wide web seeing my dirty house. :) On a non-Colton note, is anyone else able to contain their excitement for Harry Potter 7 making its debut on Saturday? My husband thinks I'm nuts. So what if I want a wand and want to be BFF with Harry and company at Hogwarts?

A Few Shout Outs

Sad as it is, here's my glorious picture of my first garden produced strawberry! Now mind you, if I was a talented photographer (aka, Cristy...if you want some true talent, you need to check out her blog) this would be a beautiful, well-lit, well-documented picture but we'll have to settle for this blurry one. Who knew I could grow anything? I've had 2 tomato plants bite the dust and my thumb is not even remotely green. So let's celebrate my tiny baby of a strawberry.

Another well deserved shout out goes to Evan for an awesome birthday. A yummy Italian dinner and a surprise manicure and pedicure. He did awesome and made me feel like a birthday queen. I love you babe!

And last but definitely not least - a shout out to Chanel and Kristen for turning another "mother" birthday into a special day. Kids don't seem to care that it's your day. There's still diapers to change, mouths (in my case, one mouth) to feed, etc. Chanel showed up on my doorstep with breakfast (can you believe breakfast??) and then hosted a lunch with Kristen (who made a to-die-for cake). Nothing like some good ol' fashioned girl talk.

PS - for the devoted grandparents and aunts out there, some pictures of Colton to follow as soon as I get my hands on some high speed. I can't imagine that you'd rather see pics of Colt as opposed to this gorgeous strawberry. :)

Breckenridge Baby!

So after a brief hiatus, I'm back to give the update on Evan and I's trip to the mountains of Colorado. Over Memorial Day, my parents flew in to watch Colt and we were off (alone!) for a full 3 days. Those who know Evan and I know that while we may have the important things in common, that's just about it. So appropriately we had an "Evan day" and a "Rebecca day." Sidenote: One of my favorite stories is how Evan would always tell his buddies that if there was one thing he wanted in his wife, it was a skiier. And then he married me. A girl from the flattest place on earth and someone who believes in wearing a helmet when doing your homework. Moving on ... so on my day, I just really wanted a day where there was NO schedule (you moms will understand this). No bedtimes, feeding times, no 'times' basically. So we sleep in (which I really don't know how to do anymore) and hit Breckenridge. Do some shopping, some eating out, a couples massage in a spa and I'm a happy camper. Evan's day: the picture is us in our wetsuits about to hit the white water rapids on a narrow, rocky Colorado river. Sure, I'm smiling but inside my heart is about to pound right on out of my wetsuit. But I love my hubby and though it's Class 4 rapids (it only goes up to a 5 people!) and the water's going crazy because of all the snow melt, I hit the river. Most importanly, I SURVIVE the river. I'm the weak link getting bounced around in the the boat every time we hit a rapid, but we walk away from the freezing river with some good stories and better memories. I love Evan for this - for making me go past my limits and being better for it. I'll still wear my helmet during all those moments though, thanks.

One last note about the weekend. We stayed in a bed and breakfast and I was so excited to try something like this. So the owner is a woman who has a 2 year old boy and 1 year old boy and is due in 4 weeks with her 3rd boy. A busy woman, you could say, so the experience was ... frazzled. I'd take a hotel any day. I thought the breakfast would be the saving grace but to no avail. Sure, they were delicious but the portion sizes were disappointing to say the least. I don't know if she'd gotten the memo, but calories absolutely do not count on vacation so I'd like more than an egg flake. Overall though, it was a great time with the hubby - some much needed time to remember that we were husband and wife before mommy and daddy.

The Solution

I'm a little behind in posting this but the Saturday after my whole stuck in the snow episode, we got this. Ta-da! My beautiful, slightly used, 'I can handle you snow!' car! (Why I'm acting like my car can talk I'll never know.) So it might seem that it makes no sense to buy this car with summer almost here, no snow on the ground and gas prices gouging our eyes out but the price was right (Evan would probably beg to differ here - no price was really right for him) and I'm a salesperson's dream. The dealership was willing to take more than the elantra was worth and take a couple grand off of the tucson's price, but Evan was still wanting to walk. He's packing up the diaper bag and trying to usher me out of the salesman's office (I, of course, am saying, "But I'm in love! Don't make me go!") when the guy comes back with a final offer even my stalwart hubby can't refuse. Yea! And I say this to the Colorado winters ... bring on the snow baby! Okay, okay ... give me my lovely summer months first.

My Modern Day Pioneer Adventure

Just when you think I’m done blogging about my snow sob stories, I’m back on my soapbox ready for more. And yes, for those of you checking your calendars, it’s almost May. I’ve been really excited about Colton’s swim lessons starting today and so even though I woke up to snow, I religiously checked the roads outside my window all morning. When it came time to leave, I decided that since I’m in the back of the neighborhood and my street is usually the worst, the roads didn’t look that bad. I hop into my trusty, ‘low to the ground, I’ve got no 4 wheel drive,’ elantra and we’re on our way. Well, almost on our way. Mr. Plow Man had yet to make it through our neighborhood so two streets up, I get stuck. Somehow I manage to coast down the street I’m stuck on and settle next to a curb. Let’s preface the next part of the story with this: I am married to the only man on earth who could put up with me as a wife. I’m cold, stuck and frustrated as all get out so I call Evan. It’s not his fault the car’s stuck and that it’s snowing in late April, but it’s not one of my shining moments, so I let him know it might as well be. He sweetly tells me that he’ll leave work and come help me if I need him to. Let’s be honest, his mazda wouldn’t be able to fare much better but that’s beside the point. It’s the thought that counts. So I call Chanel and bottom line … she saves the day. She says she’s on her way and I’m thinking that she won’t be able to get this deep into the neighborhood. Here’s the pioneer part. I grab Colt and his car seat and start trudging through the snow. That’s not even the best part. I’m wearing flip flops. What the heck was I thinking?? Now is where you roll your eyes at the crazy Texan. Just because you’re going to the pool doesn’t mean you wear flip flops when there’s a blizzard outside! Lesson learned. So my toes are burning and my child is whimpering because of the snow pelting his face. And that’s when this modern-day pioneer sees her rescue wagon. Chanel’s sturdy van barrels down the road, whipping through the snow like it’s no big deal. Chanel is a true friend. She didn’t berate me for my choice of footwear and started the heat full blast on my pathetic feet. The van made it to and from swim lessons and now I’m at home, nice and warm, with some seriously increased respect for the real pioneers.

"I can do it!"

So, sure my 15 month old doesn't actually say those exact words but he pretty much lets me know that's exactly what he's thinking. No doubt my more experienced 'mom friends' are smiling knowingly and shaking their heads at my naivety. I just want to know what happened to my easy-going, laid-back kid? I'm not saying Colton is a terror by any stretch of the imagination (yet?) but admittedly I can be a control freak (just ask Evan) and all of a sudden my kid doesn't want to do what Mom says! Ahhh! Colton has always been a bottomless pit - the kid who would eat anything and everything. Evan and I would just laugh and shake at our heads at the 'other kids' who were thowing food on the ground and spitting out anything their parents offered. Karma right? That's my kid now. I discovered today at lunch that if I offer food to Colton he chews it up (faking me out mind you ... I'm thinking 1 for Mom, 0 for Colt) just so he can spit it out. Yum. The solution - here again smarter moms are wondering why I'm so slow ... let Colt have the control. Sure that means less in his mouth and more mess for me but at least he's eating. This mom thing has been such a learning experience for me. I think back to when Colton was still nestled inside of me, so well-behaved, and all of my grandiose plans for the little guy and the incredible mom I was going to be. I'm much less patient, creative ... to put it bluntly ... perfect than I wanted to be. But isn't that what it's all about? Looking back who knew that I could handle a colicky baby or catch Colt's throw up or patiently pick up the half eaten food all over my floor? Looking back, my patience has doubled - it's not to perfect proportions but it's growing. My creativity has grown - sure most of my ideas are stolen from more creative friends than I but you can't fault a girl for trying! So all in all, this mom thing is not at all what I imagined. I could not have barely begun to imagine how much I would love my child. There are no words to describe the feelings I have for my sweet baby. On second thoughts, I think much of what I'm learning is that he's not my baby anymore. I need to let him grow up and give the poor kid his own spoon!

Cruising in the Caribbean

I finally have myself some high speed internet and am ready to give you the rundown on our 7 day cruise to the Caribbean. To the left Evan and I in front of the ship ... do we look ready for some fun or what? To the bottom, Colt having the time of his life in our room with some bubbles. This was such an awesome vacation - it could bring this girl to tears knowing it's over. Moving on ... to quote Evan, the best excursion of the trip was actually making it TO the ship. Because of some psycho Houston traffic and thinking that the boat departed out of Galveston as opposed to Houston, we had 30 minutes to make it onto the ship and we were an hour away. Cruise ships don't wait. I have never in my life seen my parents drive like they did. Heavenly Father was looking down on us, as both cars were doing 80 in 30 mph zones. Rumor has it that my dad even took his car to the side on 2 wheels trying to make a turn. Evan was frantic (heck, all of our blood pressures were way past cardiac arrest levels) on the phone with the cruise line. He found out that they pulled the planks to the ship at 3:30 pm. All of us looked, with total despair mind you, at the clock. 3:26 pm. I don't think any of us wanted to believe that this vacation we had looked forward to for a whopping 2 years wouldn't happen. Providence prevailed and we screeched into the parking lot at 3:34 pm with the cruise ship attendees waving us frantically onto the ship. Let the vacation begin!

Can we say the food people? Get a load of the midnight chocolate buffet. Thanks to my bro-in-law Logan for these pictures. Who wouldn't want to document absolute melt in your mouth heaven on earth? Bless the wonderful chefs in the back who made this dream of mine come true. And I wish y'all could have seen Evan do some serious damage on this buffet. Six plates later and I was starting to wonder if he would ever come down from the sugar high.

Our first stop was Progreso, Mexico where the whole fam went on a Mayan Reality Tour. We saw the Mayan ruins (Below, Colton with his Nana and Poppa with the ruins in the background.) And Colt drove the tour bus ... or at least wanted to. We stopped in the city where these cute ladies fed us this yummy homemade lunch and these little kids danced a few traditional Mexican dances. Most embarrassing part of the trip: when one of the little boys asked me and my brother Adam to get up and dance. Umm - right ... I'm not exactly known for my Latin moves. Let's be honest - I'm not known for ANY moves. Thankfully I don't have a picture of that moment.

Here's Ashley, Heather and I getting ready to go snorkeling and dunebuggying (yeah, not a word) in Cozumel.

This was my favorite day. Cozumel ... can we say heaven anyone? My parents took Colt for the day and all of the 'kids' went on an excursion with a hilarious tour guide named Pancho. No, not the raingear. He told us if we tipped him 100 bucks or more, he'd give us his sister. Gotta love Pancho. Anyway, we drove these dunebuggies along the gorgeous coast line, stopped and snorkeled in the clearest water I've ever seen (and yes I even snorkeled.) Many of you know my aversion to the ocean - probably because I'm a frequent visitor of sharkattacks.com - but I was loving it. Well, 'my fingers clenched around Evan's arm' loving it. We hung out at this beach (above) where they had a homemade all you can eat (yea!) Mexican buffet. After my 10th empenada I was ready to do some laying out without worrying about Colton eating the sand. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Mother Nature Madness

So I think I'll put a disclaimer out there that I took a break from my blog hiatus to complain. I've been meaning to update the blog for forever - I even had plans to go to Evan's work to use his high speed today since I wanted to post more than one picture. So what's stopping me you ask? One word...snow. I think this has been the longest winter in history. Now I know that the eskimoes in Alaska (that's where they are right?) are rolling their eyes, but this morning looking out my window to find all that snow in my backyard as Mr. Weatherman assured us of more is too much for my wimpy self. I know there are many worse things in this world but today it's my blog and my time to just whine. And somewhere Evan is reading this wondering about his wife's mood and if it'll be safe to come home tonight. :) Here's a promise for a happier blog next time and pictures of our 7 days spent last week in the nice and toasty Caribbean. Oh and Evan ... it's safe sweetie.

My Boys

We went to the BYU vs Air Force basketball game last night and as sad as it is, this is was my only 'usable' picture. I took a couple blurry ones in the arena but Mr. Events Staff in the yellow vest scolded me for using my flash. It was a lot of fun - probably because we won and let's be honest...it's fun to have the other fans who were just mocking you silenced. I was thinking during the game that if I remind my dad (probably one of the biggest BYU fans ever) how much fun these games are and how close I am to a few of them, he might be tempted to move the fam out to Colorado. I can dream right? Colton did pretty well (and as you can see he was ready for bed the second half of the game - he's near exhaustion in this picture). He kept pointing to other people's food, leaning in to grab a bite. Our bottomless pit. He also kept clapping - normally when the other team did something right. Don't worry Dad, we'll teach him which team to cheer for.

Girl Scout Cookie Mania!

So I just had to blog about the elusive girl scout cookies. I cannot seem to find them ANYWHERE! Where are you girl scouts? I have my checkbook ready! Better yet, I have cash - I'll pay double! How hard is it to get my hands on some? I do have to thank my friend Kristen for bringing me over a box. I love her for it. But after eating those, one box just does not seem enough. Rumor on the street was that the girl scouts have been setting up shop right outside our local grocery store (via Chanel and Kristen - they swear they've seen them). So how sad is this ... I just strapped Colton in the car for a little drive to the grocery store. Chanel warned me to call King Soopers first to see if the girl scouts were out lest my blood pressure get too high but I ignored her good advice. I know you all can guess the end of my little story. No girl scouts. Do they see my little elantra and hide? Do they somehow sense that I quit girl scouts as a Brownie? Why did they not knock on my door? I would have been the sale of the century (and somewhere Evan's shaking his head wondering if I remember the word 'budget.') Don't worry...I'm not a quitter. I'm still on the look out. (And a note to my dear mom: I will not blog again unless it includes pictures of Colton.) I don't think she could take it.

The Day of Love

I decided to go out on a limb and actually blog about something other than Colton. And somewhere my mom sighs in disappointment when she realizes that means no pictures of her favorite subject. Here's my belated update on the day of love. Admittedly, Evan and I have had some rough February 14ths in the past. Mainly because I'm a girl and thought that my husband looked forward to Valentine's with the same anticipation I did. Like a kid on Christmas morning. Or like a Saturday of skiing in fresh powder. Right? With a whopping 2 1/2 years of marriage underneath my belt, I'm slowly starting to realize the enormous differences between man and wife. But Evan made sure that this year was different and I love him for it. I walked downstairs on Wednesday to these gorgeous flowers and twix scattered all over the house. Ummm...chocolate and flowers, what more can I girl ask for? I almost forgot - there was a card with my name inscribed on the front. Well, not really my name. It actually read, "Babecca." Too funny; so Evan. That's why he deserves a blog post all his own. Almost. Colton is eating paper so he's cutting my tribute to my husband short. You knew I couldn't really get through an entire post without mentioning the best gift Evan ever gave me.

He's growing up ...

I hope you can indulge a nostalgic mom for a moment. I can't help but think how much Colt has grown this past year so I started posting pictures of Colton and can't seem to stop. :) Here's another picture from tonight's festivities.


Colton took his first steps over Thanksgiving and he's been practicing his technique ever since. He definitely has better traction with his cool new "hiking" boots (like he's going to be hiking any time soon) courtesy of his Nana.




This is where he began exerting some of his new found independence. He decided he didn't like dinner and started throwing it every which way. Obviously, most of it landed back on him. He seems pretty upset about it doesn't he? :)

One year older...

...and I'm having a hard time not feeling nostalgic about it. Our little boy turned one today and it was hard for me to not think about how different December 28th was last year. Not that I would want to be reliving the 17 hours of labor but I just have a hard time believing that it's been a year since that amazing moment when Colton entered this world. In celebration I decided to introduce him to chocolate of course! Here's Colt manhandling his double chocolate cupcake. Gotta love him licking his fingers ... mmmm good!

Happy Halloween...

For Halloween, as Evan put it, Colt was a ... well, colt. I think Evan would have preferred to have him dress up as a ninja but with time running out, I bought the Wal-mart special. He was our little horse for the night. We just taught him to clap (and high 5) in time for last week's football game and that's just what his little 'hooves' are doing in this picture. And in the next picture. He was clapping all night (maybe he knew how excited his mom was for the candy.)





Colton was loving it while we were trick or treating. He loved all the people and especially the dogs that greeted us at the doorsteps as well. Here's the back of the costume (mane and all) as he races away from the camera.

Fabulous Fall Football

We went to the Air Force/BYU game in Colorado Springs on Saturday. A guy in our ward who works for Air Force was nice enough to give us free tickets to the game. It was Colt's first BYU football game and obviously he was pretty excited about it ... and obviously he got his mom's larger sized mouth. :) It was so fun to deck him all out in his BYU gear. Like father, like son. We had a huge blizzard last week that left our house with 16 inches. Luckily (especially for the Texan in me) it cleared up and was a gorgeous game day. I have decided that fall is my favorite season. The cool weather, clear blue skies and changing colors. The snow comes too quickly for my taste. Oh and BYU soundly spanked Air Force ... go cougs!

Colton's Latest Hobby

Evan caught Colton in action ... spitting (or blowing rasperries as some call it) has become his favorite past time. Notice his sweet smile seconds before he decides to stick out his tongue in preparation. If only I could figure out a way to show him that it's really not as great as it seems. He's always deciding to have an "attack" at the most appropriate times (sarcasm here.) Last week it was in Wal-mart about every 2 minutes and I could tell that the clerk and the people standing directly behind the shopping cart were starting to shield themselves. And I'm trying not to be a neglient mom - I'm covering his mouth with my hand, telling him 'no' in my sternest voice (which usually elicits a smile as opposed to any sort of remorse) and as soon as I uncover his mouth so I can unload the basket, he unleashes. Ahhh ... the joy of motherhood. I hoping it's just a phase ... right??

Logan & Ashley's Wedding - July 28, 2006

So this isn't the actual wedding ... it's a week before in front of the Denver temple where Ashley had just gotten her endowments out. Really just an awesome prelude to the big day a week later. And even more fun to have everyone in town visiting.

Here is the blushing bride and another star of the show. Colton just might have gotten as much attention as did the newly wedded couple. This is at the reception at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building after Ashley and Logan got married in the Salt Lake temple. Doesn't Ashley look great?

Last but not least, the three of us at the end of the party. Colton is in his signature picture pose - sucking his thumb. For the most part he did pretty well on the hectic wedding day and though some moms are anti the whole sucking thumb thing, Colton having his own built-in calming mechanism comes in handy. Overall, it was a great day and so fun to see the newlyweds so darn happy. I always get so nostalgic at weddings, wanting to relive our wedding day. Poor Evan - I'm always dragging him on the dance floor at receptions telling him that I wish we could do the wedding day over again (just the day, NOT the planning.) The funniest part is Evan's response to this which is always an emphatic "Heck no!" I think it's safe to say that the reception and everything that goes with it is definitely the bride's production.

Sleeping Colton - 7 months old

There's always something so sweet about a sleeping baby. That's why we have a ton of pictures of Colton napping. Here's the latest...

Durango, CO - July, 2006

This was Colton's first train ride. We were on a family vacation with Rebecca's family (there's Nana and Aunt Heather in the background). We spent the week camping, white water rafting, hanging out at the pool, rock wall climbing, alpine sliding, and seeing the sites of Durango.

A Day in Dowtown Denver

Here's Evan and Rebecca downtown. You can see Colton's stoller where he was sleeping. We had worn him totally out. We thought after a year of living in Denver it was time to see downtown. The best was the 16th street mall where there is a ton of eating and shopping. No complaints about Denver here - we're loving it!

Colton's First Day of Real Food

I finally broke down and fed Colton rice cereal about a week before he was six months old. He was SO ready for it. I guess the liquid diet just wasn't doing it for him anymore. I always have a hard time letting him move onto the next stage because he is growing up too fast! Our kid is a bottomless pit. 10 ounces of formula and 2 jars of baby food is standard!

Jones Camping Trip - Rocky Mountain National Park, June 2006

Here is Evan and Colton about to take Colton's first hike (see the resemblance?)

Evan carrying the precious cargo on the hike.

Colton in his backpack ready to go! Colton did a great job on the hike. He spent half of the time sleeping and the other half checking out the nature all around him. Granted it was a short hike. Had we gone longer, I'm sure he would have been sick of the backpack and let us hear about it. Overall, it was a successful trip - good preparation for the family reunion in Durango.

Our Little Family - Colorado Springs, CO - March, 2006

This is at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs - a gorgeous park that's free and open to the public. We took the trip down when Rebecca's sister Ashley and her future husband Logan were in town visiting.