Happy 3rd Birthday John!

Last night we celebrated John's 3rd birthday. There are days where I'm surprised he even made it this far. Here is a video of John right after he got up from nap, which conversely also explains Kelsey's hair, showing just how excited this little man was for his birthday party.

Here is that cake John was so excited about. I have to admit Linda, Macher, and I had a great time making this cake.

John had a blast playing with all of his friend and cousins. He even went up stairs and broke out his Superman cape!

And, of course, the presents!

I don't think this birthday could have gone any better. Everyone had a great time!

Look At That Little Train!

We went as a family this past Friday to see the model train expo at Thanksgiving Point. There were trains of all sizes, little N scale, regular ol' HO scale, and even a 1.6" scale that can be ridden by a full size adult! The kids has a blast looking at all the different trains and watching them speed around the tracks, and in and out of tunnels.

As a special attraction the model railroad club that sponsored the even had set up a very large Geo Trax set for the kids to play with. John had a wonderful time playing with the train and driving it around the track. His cousins have a smaller set that John has wanted to play with for awhile, but has little opportunity to do so. So, this was a very special treat for him. Kelsey enjoyed herself as well, but was less impressed with the Geo Trax set.

A Real Opportunity To Own a Masterpiece

Unlike other schemes or offers you may have seen in the past, this is a genuine chance to own your very own John Colloton original. This is not a gimmick.

Simply send John a few presents to help him celebrate his 3rd birthday and we will send you a John Colloton original "Thank You" card complete with a special "thank you" note inscribed on the reverse side.

Never before has there been an opportunity of such magnitude. So send, ship, or deliver your gift today to receive one of these limited edition masterpieces.

Hang it on the wall, stored it in the closet, safeguard it in the desk...whatever you like. These paintings are sure to brighten up any locker, shoe box, or scrapbook.

Family Photos

We have been meaning to take family photos for a while now, but wanted to wait until Rebekah came in order to have a picture of the entire family. Just this last week my Director at work told me about a place he had gone and was very impressed with, Portrait Innovations.

They took multiple shots of just about everything. They even suggested we bring a change of clothes to the shoot in order to get some formal and some casual shots.

John had a great time, and absolutely loved the experience. And, the photographers loved John. Check out our little John John Man striking a pose and showing some personality for the camera.

Kelsey was not as interested in having her picture taken. She would much rather have played with the Legos, or the teddy bears they had around the office. Luckily it's hard to take a bad picture of a little girl this cute.

It being Rebekah's first time infront of the camera she wasn't quite able to grasp the concepts of: smiling on command, standing still, being happy, not fussing, etc, etc, etc. You see what I mean?

Even with our challenges we still managed to pull off some wonderful shots. For those family members who have been "chomping at the bit" to update their year old rendition of our family with a new and improved version, your wait should be over here in just a few weeks. For the meantime I hope this "appetizer", of sorts, is enough to appease you.

Bekah's Blessing Day

Today was momentous in that we started a new time for church for the year. We start at 0900 and the kids did fairly well transitioning from 1300 to 0900. They came home and took GREAT naps!

But it was also the first time in a long time that Shawn got to sit with the family! It was wonderful having him around to help with the kids. It got to be a little difficult wrangling three kids by myself.

We also got to share the blessing of Rebekah today. She looked so pretty in her new white dress that Macher made for her. She didn't scream at all during the blessing. In fact, she slept right through it...which helps those of us listening to the blessing have the ability to hear what's being said! Shawn did a beautiful job and we had members of the Bishopric there and our home teacher, Bro. Haupt. Family was unable to come because of other obligations...or sickness. We missed you guys and hope you are all well! Thanks for all of your love and support!

Grand Unveiling of the Colloton Family Art Gallery

Today I got the bright idea to let the kids do a little finger painting. John had done this once or twice before, but this was Kelsey's first crack at getting her hands dirty. I taped down some bristol, which is the heaviest paper I have that I'm willing to let the kids finger paint on, put some bibs on them and let them go at it.

Kelsey needed just a bit of a nudge to get going so I drew a yellow sphere on her paper. John jumped right in, but only after first declaring that "Blue is for boys."

After the mess was cleaned up and the children cleaned off I had another bright idea. A family back home in Illinois that I had come to know through my membership in the LDS church had their kids art in frames by their front door. Not only did it really give some amazing life to the place, but it made the children feel extra special. Linda and I had talked about doing this for sometime, and today was the day. We went to Megalo-mart (read:Wal-Mart) and picked up some nice frames.

The result is the newly opened Colloton Family Art Gallery.

Kelsey's Piece:

Untitled: Finger-paint on Bristol, 9" x 12", 2007

John's Piece:

Untitled: Finger-paint on Bristol, 9" x 12", 2007

Daddy's Contribution:

Digital reproduction of :
Figure Study: Jessica, NuPastel on Canson White, 18" x 24", 2007

Mommy's Contribution:

Never Enough Chefs In the Kitchen.

Linda, as a special treat, picked up some French bread and pesto mix from the store. Unfortunately we didn't have the needed ingredients to make a truly killer pesto pizza (read: no chicken or spinach laying around). So we improvised.

I made some sauce and garlic butter. But the true chefs of the night were John and Kelsey who both were able, with a little help from the head chef, to create their own French bread pizzas.

We tried to get some good pictures of the whole process. But, the most difficult by far was to co-ordinate John and Kelsey. Getting these two to look at the camera and smile together, at the exact same time. Is difficult to say the least.

First we would get John to look at the camera.

Then Kelsey would do as we ask and John would go back to working on his edible masterpiece.

But, with a little "Daddy Persuasion", we got the intended result.

A New Year, A New Calling

As the title states. I have a new calling. I have been serving as the 2nd counselor in our ward's Bishopric since 1 January 2006. Just this past Sunday I was released from that calling and it was announced that Both Linda and Myself will now serve in a C.E.S. (Church Educational System) Calling as Institute Teachers. We do not have full details yet, nor have we been set apart, however we should have more information later on this week.

I truly enjoyed serving in the ward Bishopric. It was there that I learned fully the joy found in serving. Granted I had my difficult times with everything else I have to pack into my schedule, and lack of administrative knowledge. However through the blessings of our Heavenly Father I was able to do some good and learn quite a bit.

I'm grateful for those that I was able to work with in my previous calling and all that they were able to teach me. I've had some wonderful experiences and am looking forward to the experiences and lessons that I will have the opportunity to have in my next calling. I can't speak for Linda, but I'm really excited to teach.

Relevant Links:
www.lds.org
www.mormon.org
www.ldsces.org

The Air Museum with the Airheads

The day after Christmas, we decided to take a family trip up to Hill Air Force Base in Ogden. Helen's family (Linda's sister) and Shawn's mom accompanied us and it was loads of fun for everyone to see the big airplanes! John needs to grow a little bigger before he can fit in that pilot's seat!



John was especially excited over the rocket ships (which happen to be nuclear bombs!) and Kelsey just liked the idea of running around between the different groups. We got to see lots of stuff from the early days of flight, up to the Blackbird (SR-71). And poor Bekah slept right through it all. ;-)

Christmas Day

We spent Christmas Day with Linda and Shawn's moms...who both happen to be named "Susan"...and I think we tired them out a bit. Poor Grandma's.

John and Kelsey were excited over their gifts. Bekah wasn't as impressed, but that's to be expected for a two week old baby. She's not impressed with much of anything...even the new pacifier and holder she got. But John loved his airplanes and Kelsey loved her new baby stroller.

We dressed the kids in some of their new Christmas outfits. Bekah looked especially cute in her Christmas cookie outfit..thanks, Grams! John and Kelsey liked their new house robes. Linda and Shawn enjoyed their gifts as well...thanks, to all who sent presents or family updates! We really appreciate hearing from you!