Boom!

When we ask Kolton what he wants to do, his response is most often, "boom boom!" Then, when we go out shooting he tells us, "wowd (loud)" while covering his ears.  He loves to watch his daddy shoot.

So long, farewell

Our sweet friends the Haaks moved to Southern California, and we were very sad to see them go.  Xiana loves their little girl, and Kolton and their two-year-old are little partners in crime.  Not to mention, how sad it is for me to see Rachel leaving for new adventures   I know they'll do wonderfully wherever they go because that's simply how they are, but they will be missed! They had a little farewell party that was a blast, but bittersweet.  It was hard not to tear up as the kids played, and also not to imagine all the loved ones who have left imprints on my heart over the years.  All the people who've moved on to new social circles, but never fully left those they said farewell to.....It's actually a beautiful thing.  We get to be impacted and influenced by such a great variety of people... and we truly are never the same!

Another day, we met for playgroup at the park, and Kolton was thrilled to see a "buddy!" there.  He followed Dawson around all day and then went "night night" in a swing.  It was hysterical!

Circus!!!

We were very fortunate to be able to go to the circus because Ali managed to get free tickets for all the kids.  The kids were fortunate that a generous grandpa joined us enabling them to ride the elephant!!  Kolton was less than perfect, but the day wasn't!  We had a wonderful time.  We went to lunch afterwards and listened to the kid's chatter about their favorite things. I have found memories of the circus from when I was a little girl.  The timing was perfect, too, because Xiana had been begging us to take her to a circus when we got the text from Ali.  I swear, that little girl is doing something right.  She leads a charmed life!  The kids enjoyed cotton candy, jelly beans, and pretzels while watching the terrifying and amazing acts!  It was a fun-filled day!

The many faces of Kolton and outfits of Xiana

• Kolton has taken to calling all boys between the ages of 4 and 30 "buddy."  It started when we went to California... he began calling Logan, Jared, and Ammon buddy. It has since increased and was completely reinforced by a regular slew of cousins in the last few weeks.  It's darling actually, everywhere we go he calls out to some random boy, "buddy!"  At the restaurant he turned to Zachary and said, "share buddy."  Apparently his food wasn't there yet.  Now, every time he sees the Talbot family picture he points to Zachary and says, "buddy."
• His language is exploding which means we are entering the years of nonstop hilariousness.  At church one Sunday Kolton was looking inside Brian's ear and very loudly exclaiming, "ewwwww!" 
• He sings a ton of songs including "tinka tina witta sta" but none are quite as adorable as, "look down, look down and see" in his deepest voice.  Then when I sing, "and I am...." he emphatically finishes, "shavaaaa (Javier)." Seriously priceless.
• One day, after taking Xiana to school, I walked him to the park where he developed a fun I-have-all-of-mommmy's-attention-game.  It went a little something like this.  I was sitting at the bottom of a slide when he surprised me and came crashing into me.  I gasped, and he was delighted.  He followed with, "again" and "sit" on whichever slide he wanted to sneak attack me on.  It was pretty funny.
• One morning when I went to leave for school, I forgot my soda as apparently I often do because I came running back in and Kolton was sitting in his high chair.  As soon as he saw me he asked, "bubbles?" which is his word for soda.
• When he pretends to leave for work he says, "ba bye... wort....yater" (bye, work, later) then he comes tearing back and asks, "hug?"
• He has taken to swinging like Tarzan from swings when he can't convince me to push him.  He's a clever little thing.
• The other day at the park, after multiple melt downs, one of his many buddy's was pushing him in a swing.  He fell asleep and tool about a 30 minute siesta.  The next time we went to the park, he pointed at the swing and said, "night night."
• At that same park, there were big boys playing a game of baseball.  Kolton found a bat and dragged it up the hill. The sweet boys let him have a turn and helped him hit the ball.  He was utterly impressed screaming  "hit it! hit it!"  Later, he found another bat and repeated.  
• Whenever he gets hurt he tells us, "die die die!"
• He loves to say, "hola daddy" thanks to Xiana who loves teaching him to say new words.
• He's speaking in up to 5 word sentences now which is fun.  The other day he yelled up to Brian, "daddy, sissy funny bunny!"
• One night Brian gave his sister a blessing.  Kolton didn't skip a beat jumping right up on the chair commanding Brian, "head!"
• His favorite words right now are, "fight!" (with his tiny fists in the air ready to fight anybody and everybody) "cycle (motorcycle) hat (helmet), ride, fix it, hit it, broke it, bath, bummer, what the het (heck), side (outside) slide, swing" etc etc etc.  He talks all day and night and can now count by himself to 5 and with help to 20!
• He's still a handful, but he's a sweet little boy that makes our family much more exciting!

• Xiana continues to be her normal talkative self. She loves to play with Kolton and teach him all kinds of words and phrases.  Nothing cracks her up more than when he repeats a funny phrase or mimics what she deems a hilarious joke.
• The other day she told me, "I wish I had a wishing well!"
• She continues to be really into figures of speech which she loves using and explaining.  She often says things like, "let's hit the road" and " that scared the dickens out of me" followed with, "mommy, what are dickens?"
• She's excited to start Kindergarten this year and tells anyone who will listen.  
• She loves to jump on the trampoline and can easily do flips. 
• She is going to have her first dance recital in a few weeks and is thrilled to be a chipmunk.
• For my dad's birthday she independently made a card from each member of the family with all of our names clearly printed on them which was both thoughtful and smart!
• Ekco, Xiana, my mom and I had a girls day at the movies which was a lot of fun.  She is really grasping the jokes and concepts in movies making it more and more fun to watch them with her.
• She's learning how to do chores and her prayers, talks, and testimony are clearly being more thought out each time she says them.  I'm very proud of her and her sweet spirit and all she does.