Happy First Birthday, John!!!

John is one!!! We had a wonderful birthday and party celebrating the joy this little guy has brought into our lives.

On his actual birthday, I made his favorite breakfast (Cream of Wheat), indulged in all of his favorite games, and at night, opened presents. My cousin Daniel and his family are visiting the States from their JAG post in Germany, and they happened to be visiting that night, which made the present opening that much more fun! My cousin Niels and his family joined in as well, so John was surrounded by fun adults and cousins. John was most excited about a bag, a card, and a box, so the cousins' excitement over presents helped pull John's attention to the actual gifts!

Most exciting gift: the box for the Little Tikes basketball set. The ball inside is very exciting as well, but this box, with pictures of kids playing basketball, will likely be around for awhile.

Matt and I also gave John a mini pool, which is really tiny, but cousin Josh provided endless entertainment for John with his impressive splashing.

Added bonus: We were able to meet the newest addition to the Dan and Holly Colton clan, Bradley David. My dad, the elder Bradley Colton, especially loved meeting this unbelievably easy-going, always content baby. Dad was in town for a business meeting, so he joined us Friday and Saturday before heading home to DC.

On Saturday, we gathered friends for a birthday party at a local park. Dad manned the grill, many friends contributed with delicious sides, and I made red velvet cake with chocolate chips and buttercream frosting. We threw up a fun tablecloth and little banner, and it was a party!

John with his baby friends, Claire, Harper, and David, and their awesome mommas.

The weather was hot, but tolerable, and John loved cruising around the grass.

Who needs fancy toys when all a boy really needs is a good stick?

The "smash" cake: Before

During (John started out hesitant about the sticky frosting)

After (He loved the red velvet cake!)

Conveniently, there was a kiddy fountain park right next to us, so after stripping John and wiping him down, he rinsed off in the fountain. This may have been the highlight of the whole party. He LOVED the water!

Here are a few more pictures.

Overall, it was a very fun celebration of our little one-year-old. MANY thanks to everyone who contributed: My dad for all of his help and for grilling delicious burgers, Mimi and Lincoln for the cake recipe and the portable high chair with ingenious plastic wrapping, and all of our friends for their food contributions, love, and support. John is so blessed to have such a great support group already! Happy, happy birthday, John!!!

D.C., Lyndsay's Wedding

June is full of weddings! The second weekend in June, my high school and family friend Lyndsay McDougal married her beau, James, in Maryland. A fortunate turn of events (Matt being admitted to a prestigious but intensive, whole-weekend training and my dad no longer needing a flight for a cancelled half-marathon) enabled me to join in on celebrating Lyndsay! I always love visiting Maryland, and I just thank my lucky stars that John is a happy traveler.

The wedding was wonderful! Lyndsay was SO happy, just glowing during her sealing in the DC temple. The reception had a fantastic, can't-stay-in-your-seat band, and it was so fun to run into many friends from high school and BYU. Definitely one fun party!

Maryland friends Devon and Jen

It was also really fun to overlap with Scott and Britt, who were in Maryland for the past month while Scott took the MCAT and turned in his med school apps. It was great to catch up and spend time together, and I was able to hear them both give talks in church. They are now finally able to relax on their honeymoon!

We also overlapped with Thomas taking the ACT and Aunt Jeri coming in to visit for the week. John enjoyed the attention from all the adoring family, and he loved showing off his latest locomotor abilities.
I can't believe my little boy is turning ONE tomorrow!!! What an amazing year it has been.

Phoenix, Kasia's Wedding

Five years ago, my parents moved to Scottsdale, AZ. When visiting them in their new home, I scheduled a random hair cut and highlight. The hair stylist I was booked with turned out to be one of the most enjoyable, talkative, fun stylists I've ever met. She was fascinated with me being a 21-year-old "baby" who was daring to get married so young. She was so inquisitive and dug deep in asking me to explain any motivation based on my faith. Turns out she loved watching BYU-TV, and she flat-out asked me to bring her a Book of Mormon. Next haircut, her first question was, "Did you bring me my book?" We continued to dive into lengthy and soulful discussions on faith during our sporadic haircut appointments, and she reached out to learn more about the Mormon church through interacting with many other awesome LDS women, including my mom and sister. Three years ago, she decided she wanted to be baptized, a few months ago, during a stay with my parents in D.C., her darling boyfriend proposed, and last month, she married him in the San Diego LDS Temple. When I first met her, she was struggling with finding depth in her relationship with her boyfriend at the time, and it was amazing to see her just sparkle with pure joy at her reception!

Jane drove down from Provo and joined us for the road trip to Phoenix. John LOVES his Aunt Jane, who truly has a knack for making him laugh.

Love this girl.

Laughing at our spunky photographer :)

John was such a good sport! We started eating dinner at 8:30 pm... (yes, he is in his pajamas during dinner).

Saturday, we enjoyed overlapping with my cousin Jenna and her adorable kids, Jacob and Abbie. We all stayed at my uncle's house in Mesa, and had fun swimming, eating, and relaxing before driving back to Vegas late Saturday night. Before taking off, we wanted to stop at two essential Mesa spots:

Mesa Temple, where Matt and I were married almost FIVE years ago!

Yodipity (delicious frozen yogurt chain started by some of our best friends in dental school, Mimi and Lincoln)

It was a quick but very fun trip!

Memorial Weekend and Baby Drew

Memorial Day weekend, we were able to fit in a few fun visits.

First, we drove down to Kingman to meet the newest member of the Alleman family, Drew Wade. I am so excited that John has a boy cousin so close in age! It was amazing to hold little three-week-old Drew after being so accustomed to my (at the time) 11-month-old "baby". I love those precious, sleeping newborns! Drew was so adorable that I was almost convinced I needed another newborn, but upon being reminded of the strenuous schedule of frequent nursing and little sleep, I think I can hold off until John is a bit older :) It was so fun to visit with the Kingman crew and Matt's parents. Wade and Steph always treat us to delicious food and fun conversation, and it was exciting to see the speedy addition to their beautiful Southwest home.

We drove back to Vegas Saturday night, then hopped back in the car Sunday morning to meet two of Matt's friends from Russia in Mesquite. Irina and Lena are two very kind, impressive sisters who Matt was able to teach and baptize on his mission. They both have since served missions, and Irina is teaching at the MTC in Provo, UT. Lena came to the states to visit her sister, and they were on a weekend excursion to Zion National Park. It is so rare to be within an hour or two of Russian friends, so we decided to meet half way in Mesquite. The LDS church is such an integral part of these girls' lives and happiness; Matt is always excited when the people he served in Russia are doing so well.

We finished off the weekend with a patriotic barbeque with friends in Vegas. It was a fun and full weekend!

Walking!

John is walking! He started over a month ago, and now is to the point where he'll just walk off into other rooms. Here is a clip I made a few weeks ago, but am just now getting up... I am catching up on blogs; more posts to come.