MERRY CHRISTMAS from The Colson's!

Yeah, I really don't have an excuse for not sending out a family picture/Christmas Letter this year and I always vow that I'll do a better job next year! So, I will do a better job next year. For now, this is what y'all get! a blog Christmas letter!

For those of you who have kept up with our blog since we had Caleb, you pretty much know what has gone with him this year. I just can't say enough how grateful we are to have him in our home. He has been such a blessing in our lives. We are also grateful that Caleb has been a healthy and happy baby. Other than getting the cyst on his eye removed and a few colds/ear infections, Caleb has stayed very healthy. He has the BEST personality, and other than those times when he gets told no (it's quite the experience), minds his momma and daddy pretty well! We are excited for when Caleb will start using more words and sentences and when we can FINALLY reason with him (although, we can a little bit now!) I'll say it a thousand times, WE LOVE OUR BOY!

I, when I'm not being a mom, am still teaching 2nd grade here in Katy. I have the BEST class full of kiddos this year! They love to learn and I love seeing them everyday. I am really excited about his upcoming year because I get to work with groups of second graders for our International Festival and our annual 2nd grade play! I LOVE being creative with these kids and seeing my visions come to life with them. My 2nd grade team members just let me do my thing, but of course, they give their ideas and we work together for some fun performances! I am currently teaching some of our girls the Hukilau Hula for our international festival. I am also going to be up on stage with them doing the dance (which my bro Mike has already asked if it will be videotaped for Blackmailing purposes!) No reason to blackmail, because it's going to be GOOD!!! For those of you who thought that I might be a little too uncoordinated...I can do this one! I also just got a new calling at church as the Mia Maid advisor and am so EXCITED to work with the Young Women! I'll miss the Primary, but I think I was ready for something new!

Adam is still working on his Doctorate Degree at Rice University. He will be receiving his Masters Degree from Rice this January and of course will continue on with the Doctorate. Adam is working very hard in his research and is looking forward to the end! We are still not quite sure where we will go from here, but I'm sure it will be somewhere fun and exciting! Adam's favorite time of the day (other than being stuck in the Houston traffic...NOT) is coming home to play with Caleb. On the weekends, Adam gets to do some of the things with Caleb that he might've missed out on during the week like baths, feeding Caleb, and of course, changing diapers! Adam is a great dad and works hard for our family!

We are excited to be able to travel up north on Saturday to spend a week with my family and a week with Ad's family! This is our favorite time of year and we thank our Heavenly Father everyday for the many blessings that he has bestowed on our small family. We are thankful for the opportunity that we have to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and for the reminder to keep Him in our hearts as we serve and give to one another this holiday season. We hope that y'all have a Merry Christmas and a healthy and Happy New Year!

Love, Adam, Jenna, and Caleb Colson


Here are some pics from earlier in the week...a mom of one of the kiddos, from where Caleb is babysat, made this shirt for him!

Can we say haircut?? Only one more week!


Santa...are you behind the couch?


Are you in this plastic knife?


Are you in my book?


Are you in my toy box?


Where are you Santa?? We'll see ya soon!

There aren't ANY snow plows in Houston...

but we DID get some snow!!! Yesterday was the first time in a decade that Houston has seen snow! Of course it only lasted for a few hours and then we got COLD!!! I was at school when it all started and got to experience my students seeing snow for the first time in their lives!! Can you believe it! Ask me if we got any work done? Not really! The district also called a 1/2 day and we were all sent home! Mostly because no one knows how to drive in snow/icy conditions and they wanted to make sure that everyone make it home safely! Yesterday was dubbed a "Winter Blast" and Ad and I were cracking up because being from Idaho/Utah, these Houstonians don't know what a Winter Blast is!!!! Even though we're back up to the somewhat warmer temps. today I am SOOOOOOOOO EXXXCCCIIITTTEEEDDD to travel north 2 weeks from today!!!! We have had a fun week!


As I was writing this on my car, a bunch of the teachers were telling me to "don't ruin the snow!"


As you can see from the snow accumulation on my car it certainly was a blizzard down here! I was also dying at the tips the teachers were giving each other about how to get the snow off of their cars!


When we got home from Janet's, Caleb and I went out and took a little walk through the snow! We don't have ANY snow clothes for Caleb and actually, Janet let me borrow this coat for Caleb for when we go up North! She actually bought it for her grandson at a garage sale and he isn't big enough for it yet, so I get to use it!! She did the same thing for me last year, when she let us borrow a snow suit for Caleb to wear! It works out PERFECT because then I don't have to spend tons of money on things Caleb will only wear a few times!! SCORE!




Caleb did have fun walking around, but his pants and shoes were soaked and it started to get really chilly!




Sorry for the picture of the picture and the big flash spot, but I just had to share our experience with Santa today! As you can see I am in the picture with Caleb (that wasn't my original plan) and I don't feel that I need to expound on any story! You can probably guess what happened!
We LOVE Santa!

After the Santa Claus debacle...I'm wondering what Caleb is thinking right now!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009!

For Thanksgiving this year, Adam's parents came down to see us We had a lot of fun with them! They got to spend Tuesday with Caleb and then they were stuck with me for the rest of the week! I had Wednesday thru Friday off from school which was so NICE!! We made Thanksgiving dinner together, ate some good food, watched some good movies (Ad took me to see New Moon) and just had fun spending time with each other! We always LOVE when family comes to visit! Thanks Nana and Papa for EVERYTHING! These pics were taken from our post Thanksgiving walk...Jeff took these from his phone! They turned out pretty good, so of course I had to post! Enjoy!


Caleb got to wear the monkey on his back while he walked with us! There were a lot of bike riders out today! Caleb ran more than he walked...this is a pic of him trying to keep up with Nana and Dad!


A view from the front...how fun!


Caleb taking a little break from all of that tough walking!


A group pic...thanks Jeff for being our photographer!


Here are just a few extra pics from today...we got Caleb some new jammies and these were his choice tonight! He is loving closing the door on us lately so here is a little peek from around it!


We decided to put the Christmas tree up on our little desk/nook this year! It actually looks pretty nice there and there is a place for our stockings! We've really had to be creative with our Christmas trees since we don't have a ton of room to work with!


A few more jammie pics...


We're excited to see our families in a few weeks! It's going to be a great holiday season!

We're thankful for...the Doctor!

Well, Caleb decided that this week should be the week that he needs to get sick! I actually have been getting over a cold that really hit me hard in my throat and chest. I'm not sure if Caleb caught what I had or of this was something totally different. The thing with Caleb is he never acts like he is sick, so when I picked him up from janet's on Thursday afternoon, he looked so sick...his eyes were watering, his nose was running and he just snuggled! Caleb NEVER snuggles so I figured it was time to take him in! Caleb also has a horrible gag reflex and when he gets really upset, he gags and throws up...that night he woke up really upset and lost his dinner! Adam and I both took half days on Friday and Ad took Caleb to the doctor. He had a small fever, an eye infection, and an ear infection. He didn't have the flu (which I was happy about) but really needed to rest! I feel bad because he really doesn't show the signs until his body shuts down and then he gets everything!! Oh Well! He started feeling better and running around Friday night and we have him on antibiotics for him for the next little while! This starts me into what I am thankful for this week...a healthy and happy family! We truly are going to celebrate our health this upcoming week and hope that y'all have a Happy Thanksgiving!


This is completely off the subject, but the weather is getting a little cooler (where I don't have to put Caleb in shorts every day!) and I picked him up a few long sleeved shirts and pants! I just had to take some pics!


It DOES hurt being so handsome...that's why he has red eyes!


My little Texan...helping out his momma!


Being my shy cowboy!


Now my cheesy grin cowboy!!! I am THANKFUL for this boy!

I'm Crafty...

at least I try to be!! I was invited by Caleb's babysitter to their ward's "Super Saturday" craft day at the church...she sent me some pics of the crafts that we could choose from and i decided to make three of the crafts. It was so much fun to go and make some fun things for our home! I haven't done things like this FOREVER!! It really puts you in the mood to do more fun, cute things, but for now we probably wouldn't have all of the room for everything!


The first thing i made...wait...that was a while ago!!! Caleb kept following me around saying "cheese" while I was taking pics!


My family home evening board. I need to get some black and white pics for the small blocks...i totally learned how to put vinyl on things!! Of course I learned the hard way by almost putting this on backwards, but figured out how to do it!!!


Fun Family blocks!


What they look like on our little book/toy case!


My decorative Christmas Tree...I'll put this outside our door!!

I can only hope I did my Momma proud!!!!!

Not Much to Blog About...

It's been a crazy busy week, we haven't pulled out the camera and taken pics at all!! I thought I would take a few this morning before we left for church because I've been getting ragged on recently because in all of Caleb's pictures he has just been in his onesie!!! My mom keeps telling me that he is going to be so embarrassed when he looks back on this and only sees himself in a onesie...all i have to say about it is that we live for comfort in the Colson household and if it's the onesie Caleb wants, it's the onesie he gets!!!! (it's really not Caleb's choice, it's mine!) Come on y'all...we don't get the coldest weather here in Houston either! It is pretty hilarious to see him in all of his pictures in all of those white onesies! Believe me, you'll keep seeing him in those until the day he completely grows out of them!!! (I wonder where Caleb gets his stubbornness from??) We're looking forward to another busy, busy week...I am starting my Parent Teacher Conferences this week along with our first field trip on Friday! Ad is still working hard on his research/experiments, but our favorite part of the day is when we all are home together as a family. It's been a great weekend!!!


Here Tracie...you better take this pic, print it, and frame it, because you won't see much more of Caleb in a complete clothing ensemble!!!!


Caleb likes to hang out with his Dad while he is getting ready...a pic by the toilet was the only time I could get him to look at the camera!!


He does look good all dressed up if I do say so myself!


A little peek of the onesie...what can I say...my boy LOVES to layer!!!

Two Happy's...Halloween and Birthday!!!

This is one of my favorite times of the year because it's fall and in Houston that means that our weather is at a high of 80 degrees instead of 105 degrees, plus the humidity is getting lower! It's also time for Halloween which has just gotten exciting again because we have Caleb, AND Adam celebrates his Birthday! We have had an exciting week of pumpkin carving, trunk or treating, and birthday "cup"cake eating and we have enjoyed every bit of it! I've posted a bunch of pics, so enjoy!

Pumpkin Carving...


We decided that we were going to carve pumpkins this year and see how Caleb would do. For those of you who know our son, he is kind of a baby that doesn't like weird things on his hands (i.e. this summer at Bear Lake he had a hard time with the sand...didn't love it) Anyway, we had perfect pumpkin carving conditions with it being so close to bedtime and all and Caleb wasn't a fan of the pumpkin guts. He looked so offended that i put his hand into the gooey stuff. He was then trying to eat the pumpkin goo off of the pumpkin scraper and about hurled! It was pretty funny to watch. Ad had his pumpkin carved in like 5 minutes and of course the camera ran out of batteries before I could take pics...so this is what we have...Caleb carving his little pumpkin!


By the way...that is a regular 20 pound pumpkin...Caleb is the giant!!!!



Happy Halloween!!!

This year Adam went as the Brawny man from the paper towels and I went as a mom/teacher! Next year will be our year with Caleb understanding a little more what Halloween is all about!


What a stud!!


We went to church this year to take Caleb Trunk or Treating...Caleb was a tiger this year and looked sooo cute! We took a lot of pics of our little man!


Caleb was actually interested in sitting in the back of the trunk and reading his Elmo book. He actually wouldn't go walk around with me until I brought it with us!! He's a stubborn one!










Caleb actually has been getting over a cold and would not let me put on his little black nose and whiskers...again STUBBORN!!! He looks cute without!




Caleb's candy haul...he actually doesn't eat a lot of candy so we didn't go to a lot of the trunks...Ad and I didn't want to end up eating it!!!! I'm sure next year will be very different!


Having fun on Halloween Night!!!









Adam's 29th Birthday!

We spent the whole weekend celebrating Ad's birthday starting off by going to one of his fav restaurants in Houston for fajitas...yes friends that's Pappasitos I'm talking about! If you ever come to Houston, you need to go there because they're really good! We gave Adam and early Halloween/Birthday present yesterday and then made him wait until after dinner for his birthday cupcakes and to open presents! I'm glad that we were able to spend so much time and have fun together as a family this weekend!


The classic birthday cake, presents, Caleb picture!


Caleb had just woken up from his nap and was having a few post nap grumps...I seem to remember a picture of myself making this same face at one of my brothers birthdays! Classic!!


Adam is not really a cake person and usually asks for a pie for his birthday! Because of this, I try to be more creative in what I get him for his birthday treat! This year was gourmet cupcakes from a cup bakery in town called Ohh La La! This cupcake is the peach melba...vanilla cake with fresh peaches baked in with rasberry buttercream frosting, sprinkled with sugar and a rasberry on top! DELICIOUS!!!!!!! Happy Birthday Babe!!!!!