Sunday, December 28

Check this out...

Wednesday, December 24

merry christmas eve!

weston and i are in our own apartment tonight starting our own traditions for christmas. we will be driving to visit family tomorrow afternoon once we are finished with our christmas morning here.

in celebration, i made dinner! weston requested funeral potatoes, ham, rolls, and a cherry pie. i called my mom a few times, but i made this from scratch!

beforeafter

here is our table - all set. we actually got to use our china.
it's the first time it's really been out of the box and washed. it was fun to use it finally.
here is kate in her new christmas pajamas. i think these are so adorable and classic. but so is kate :)

she gave us an early christmas present tonight by showing off and walking! she has been taking 3-4 steps ever since thanksgiving, but tonight she walked up and down the hallway like she was born doing it :)

after dinner, we watched the nativity movie the church sent out a few years ago and then went for a drive to look at everyone's christmas lights. up next is harry potter and the goblet of fire and then bedtime. hopefully santa knows where to find us!

merry christmas to everyone and christmas gift to anyone in my family!

Sunday, December 21

a christmas miracle

so not only did i bake this week, i made a FABULOUS dinner. seriously, it was amazing. i was so excited, i think my exact words were "dude! it's like we're freaking eating at my mom's!" how embarrasing :) on the menu: roast beef, mashed (smashed if you ask weston) potatoes, peas, GRAVY, and freshly baked rolls. i used the old crock pot for the roast and let it cook most of the day, made gravy from the drippings (first time and i was so excited that i didn't have blood clots! inside colton family joke), made the potatoes, baked the rolls, steamed the peas, and set a beautiful table.

kate is patiently waiting for dinner to start

i know this is like any old day for probably every single one of you out there, but for me it's pretty much a first. sure, i have been known to occasionally make dinner, but it's never been a REAL MEAL like this. i am pretty excited about it and kind of can't wait to cook our christmas eve feast!

kate with her full tummy, don't worry if you think she looks like a boy here - i kind of do :)

gingerbread lane

i made gingerbread! can you believe i BAKED? so i wanted to be festive this year and do a christmas "activity." i made the dough on friday, baked on saturday, and we made the houses and decorated tonight (all the while keeping a clean kitchen - it's totally easier to clean while you work . . . who knew?) :)

it was a little interesting when the pieces didn't quite fit together and some improvising had to be done. i was a little worried that my roof pieces were too thick and would be too heavy, but after propping and letting the icing dry, they cemented in pretty well.

here is our little gingerbread neighborhood - it's a new subdivision, that's why there are only 2 houses so far :)my house is on the left and weston's utilitarian model is on the right. he told me nobody could see his because he's a visual arts major and he should have been more creative or something :)

now what are we going to do with them? the gingerbread tastes amazing, but who wants to eat it with all that icing and candy? not me! not weston, either :)

Friday, December 19

a question

are my pictures as dark on your computers as they are on my work computer?

at home, when i post, the pictures are all bright and full of color - but when i get to a different computer (like at work) they are so dark. like in the hat post from yesterday, i can hardly tell kate's hat is red.

is anyone else seeing such dark pictures on my blog?

Thursday, December 18

temple square 2008

last weekend, we needed to go to salt lake so weston could pick something up from pictureline and he told me to dress warm. he surprised me (and kate) by taking us to see the lights at temple square. we didn't do this last year so i was really excited to go and, of course, for kate to see all the lights for the first time.

naturally, kate was more interested in all the people she could see and all the smiles she could give and get in return. this girl is a ham. she did so well and stayed warm and toasty the whole night.

will she leave this one on?

so i made kate a new hat. she hates having a hat on but with not much hair to speak of, she kind of has to have one on. and so the struggle continues. we try to show her how we all wear hats and that she should leave hers on because we are all leaving ours on, but to no avail. i knew i needed to find a hat with straps or velcro or snaps or something. so we looked and looked. everything we have seen this year either has a face on it . . . (we're not so much into the character clothing - we also know it's going to be a losing battle once she realizes you can get clothes with elmo/princesses/etc. on them but we're avoiding it as long as we can) . . . so as i was saying, every hat either has a face on it or has 2 pom poms on top, neither of which we are fond of.

so, since i am trying to be like my mom and one day hope to be able to make shoes (that's for you, mama), i decided i could probably manage making kate a hat. we went to temple square last weekend to look at the christmas lights and i saw the cutest little red knit beanie with ear muffs and straps. it called to me :) so i tried duplicating it but minus the pom on top - i love this pixie looking hat. my little kate looking all elfin :)

it looks pretty cute in the pictures, but it's MUCH cuter in real life :)
i owe a HUGE shout out to kristi - you taught me how to crochet in like 7th grade when we made some kind of ear warmer . . . was that for mr. woolsey's class? anyway, you taught me how and i haven't picked up a crochet hook since - you must have been a STELLAR teacher for it to stick all these years :)

Monday, December 8

Kate...again

This sweater was Erin's when she was a baby. The photo above is Erin (to avoid any confusion). Kate spent most of the day looking like this...hood up and all.

This is from the Photography Dept. opening social last September. I just wanted to post it because Kate is so cute, even if my eyes are a little crazy.

Friday, December 5

flashback/flashdance friday?

i've seen people do flashback friday posts and they always looked like fun. after posting some HS pictures the other day, i got nostalgic and dug through some more. here is a smattering of pictures of weston and myself "through the years". it's kind of embarrassing that we went to so many dances together :) how did we wait for 8 years before getting married? :) if you make it to the end of this post, you should get a prize! :)


sweethearts dance, 1997 prom, 1997girl's day, 1997
my graduation, 1997cascade springs, 1997homecoming, 1997sadie hawkins, 1997
sweethearts dance, 1998prom, 1998weston's graduation, 1998cascade springs, 1998
san diego, 2001
engagement photo, 2004my 26th birthday, 2005

Sunday, November 30

i think she's starting to look like me

kate will do this pose/expression completely - head to the side, stare at some spot, just the pleasant expression
she TOTALLY has the "cottle scowl" - look at the furrowed brow. the cottle scowl exhibits itself in times of frustration, anger, or extreme concentration
i think we have the same eyes - when she smiles they turn into half-moons like this

okay, she still TOTALLY looks like weston, but there is more of me all the time :)

high school tag

1. Did you date someone in high school? sure did - married one of them

2. What kind of car did you drive? my parent's car - plymouth acclaim
3. Did you pass your driver's license test the first time? no :) i missed 1 too many questions
4. Were you a party animal? nope
5. Were you considered a flirt? nope
6.Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? band for 1 year
7. Were you a nerd? nope
8. Were you on any varsity teams? drill team
9. Did you ever get suspended or expelled? nope - got kicked out of mr. banks' spanish class a time or 2
10. Can you still sing your fight song? never could
11. Who were your favorite teachers? mrs. roberts, mr. orr, mr. hamblin
12. Where did you sit at lunch? it varied - the market, home, wendy's house, the hallways, outside . . .
13. School mascot: rams
14. School colors: red and white
15. Did you go to homecoming and who with? i was only 16 for my senior year homecoming - i can't remember who i went with??? oh, kevin ames
16. If you could go back and do it again, would you? there are definitely a lot of fond memories, but i wouldn't want to live through it all again, for sure :)
17. What do you remember most about graduation? that we weren't supposed to throw our hats - so naturally, i did, skipping down the aisle when it was all over, having bright green toenail polish on
18. Where did you go on Senior Skip Day? i don't completely remember ... but it was most likely lagoon
19. Were you in any clubs? yeah, quite a few. i created the sshs snowboarding club - it's my legacy :) spanish club, young conservatives, national honor society, blah blah blah
20. Have you gained weight since then? yep
21. Who was your prom date? keith ward, then 2 years with weston
22. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? already went
23. Did you have a job while in high school? yeah baby - lotsa motsa - best job ever
24. Worst class? geometry
25. Favorite class? any class with weston :) haha. health with coach roberts

i tag: sarah, kristi, brynn, jill, michelle, natalie, and rachel

thanksgiving 2008

this thanksgiving was spent with the coltons. weston and i drove to monroe tuesday night for an early start to the holiday. we spent that evening with weston's parents and installed a new computer for his mom.

wednesday, weston and my dad got in an early round of golf - my dad shot par. maybe one day i can shoot 15 over par :) my mom and i spent most of the day visiting, shopping, and visiting some more. that evening, weston's mom and dad treated us to a one-on-one dinner.

thursday morning, i got up early and my mom helped me make rolls and scalloped carrots to take to thanksgiving. it was so fun to go out to the garden and dig fresh carrots - i half expected bugs bunny to pop out! they tasted amazing. we had dinner with weston's entire immediate family and our brothers-in-law invited their parents to come. that night, we went to the gunnison movie theater (about a 40 minute drive) to watch twilight - the boys even went and i think had an okay time! the movie was good overall, but man the cheese factor was high! i hope i didn't just make enemies of half of my bloglist :)

friday, weston had to get up and get back to orem for work - black friday. i spent the day with my parents and my mom and i put up her christmas tree that night.

i came back home to utah county saturday morning and weston and i went out to eat that night at texas roadhouse. i can't believe the week is already gone, but i also can't believe that last sunday was really just last sunday - it feels like it's been 2 weeks since then!

we had a wonderful holiday and spent time with fabulous family. we are blessed and very thankful.
we hope you all had a great holiday weekend!