Notre Dame

A week ago my family and myself decided to drive out to South Bend, Indiana to attend Ryker's football game @ Notre Dame University. {Paige didn't make the long drive being prego and all.} It was a long drive. about 24 hours one way, give or take a few hours {Thank you Nebraska winds!}

 The drive was a WHOLE lot of this...

(Yes, I took a picture of the road... what else was I supposed to do?)

We did rent a cush minivan with SIRUS Radio and a DVD player and what not so at least we were as comfortable as one can be on such a drive.

 Had to stop by Lake Michiagan

  Campus was awesome

The game was great. They almost pulled out a huge upset on the road against the #5 team in the country. HUGE deal!

The Boy of Fall

Football has begun!

Last night, we finally were able to see Ryker playing in a BYU uniform on the field. My younger brother started at Left Tackle for a Division I school.

I couldn't be more proud of his athletic/educational achievements. There is just something about waking up the next morning and seeing your brother as a lead blocker on ESPN highlights that just makes your heart swell. 

For those of you that don't know what to look for. Big guy, a big number 72 on his shirt and the name R. Mathews on the back.

We started the day with a good ol' fashioned tailgate party.

At the beginning of the game, during warm ups, family can go down on the field and watch warm ups. #72 is Tyke.

The boys

This is a panoramic shot of the field from our seats. White out turned out pretty good.

The game we very well... We won 30 - 6. Ryker played very well for his first DI start. Didn't miss a down. 

Long time no blog

So much has happened since I last blogged. We can all thank Brooke O'Gwin for convincing me to blog again. Hopefully I can make a habit of it.

Where to start? There is so much to cover in the last two years. For times sake, I may just do a picture timeline.

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*WARNING!* 

*Timeline may or may not be in chronological order.*

*Just deal with it please*

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First and foremost. We are still madly in love!

After my mission I was working at Mr Mac

And for the church

Drew and I are still in love. Deal with it!

Forced into a new car by means of breakage on the part of my old one.

Got my associates degree, still working hard on my bachelors.

My wonderful wife is pregnant! A baby girl and we couldn't be more excited!

Yup... I had fun once we found out we were having a baby. 

I needed to find a full time job other than Mr. Mac (although I loved it there, needed more hours with a bimba on the way.) That is when my wonderful sister introduced me to Mozy. That is who I now work for. Mon - Fri 40 hours a week. (Its a big boy job.) 

We went to Green River/Moab with my family this summer.  

That is my brother Chris and I way up there. 

Sam, Chris, and myself before jumping into the water

Lots of hiking was involved

But in the end, it was an amazing family trip and we had a lot of fun. Paige was a trooper and did most of the hiking even though she was super tired and not feeling super well. Gotta love a woman with heart.

That is all!

-Colton

1 MONTH!

well folks... time is ticking away. we are down the the 1 month mark. the day is really coming. i am about to make the woman of my dreams my wife and i couldn't be happier or more excited for this event to take place. this will be one of the most important things i do in life and i can't believe it is finally here. ok... well not quite yet.. but almost. let me just tell you about the woman i am to marry.

Her name is Paige Nicole White and she was born on December 8th, 1988. She grew up mostly in St. George but moved her just before her ninth grade year. We meet the summer between our sophomore and junior year of high school and she began to demonstrate many of the attributes that i now know was why i was so attracted to her. she is a very intelligent person (very opposite of me this is true, that's why i need her by my side. ;) she is very loving and selfless. in fact, while i was away on my mission she took a whole semester off of school and spent a couple months in Chile working in an orphanage. she is incredible. she completes me in ways that i am still figuring out. for example... she is very good with details when i am very much a "get'r'done quick and good enough to pass" kind of guy. she keeps me on my toes and makes me pay attention to some detail, and if i miss some, she picks it up. perfect. right? she is very giving and is good at compromising, but also doesn't give in too easily if she wants something. My bride-to-be is obviously very pretty and gentle on the eyes. very pretty blue eyes with thick, dark, curly hair. (im a sucker for curly) I could go on and on but i wont. suffice it to say, i love her... with all that i am. i am meant to be with her, i just know it. i also know that God had to have SOMETHING to do with all this cause there is no way i could of landed one like her on my own. Life, even though stressful at times, will be so much better going through it with her. the end.
--Colton out

One Hit Wonder.... SWEET!

I saw this late last night and thought it was... interesting... to say the least. enjoy! :D

Growing Pains (Thanks Phe... ;)

By popular demand I have returned to my blog and posted yet another blurb about my take on the flavor of life.

I have found that there is one incredible aspect of life that is undeniably the most pleasant and painful concept known to man. It's times like these that we learn from our mistakes and gain extremely useful knowledge and life skills. Progression is often described as "bitter-sweet" because as we grow up we are forced to leave our comfortable environment and enter into a new frontier. By progression I mean the concept of growing up, getting older, moving on, taking on new challenges and learning new skills.

From my experience, these changes in our life are often scary and at times even unwanted. however, I have found that they are always beneficial in one way or another. In my life I have had a few of these "life changes experiences" one right after another. I have been growing up lately and its been happening fast.

I left on my mission in November of 2007 and I was in for the ride of my life. I was on my own in a foreign country learning how to get along with people and do my job. I was also expected to learn another language (something I have never even attempted to do before). It was easily the hardest thing I have yet done but also the most rewarding. I grew up in ways beyond explanation. I learned to love, study, support, and think for myself. I learned to micromanage different aspects of my own life from finances to love to my spiritual progression. These lessons are priceless and will be applicable for the duration of my life and further, through the lessons I will teach my children and will be carried on through them.

Now, I have been home just over six months and I am still growing up. I am still making mistakes and learning. I am currently engaged to be married on the 2nd of July, 2010 and I hope I can explain my feelings about this without making it sound like I am not excited. I am so very excited. I have been lucky enough to have won the heart of the love of my life. Paige and I have been through many of these experiences of which I have spoken in this post but, as with each and every one of us and our personal stories, these experiences have made us stronger. As the wedding draws nearer, I am slowly realizing the amount of "growing up" that will be required of me once I have a beautiful wife at my side. This scares me. I know I will be able to do it and that I will learn a great deal but that fear still looms.

The moral of this post is simple. When life gives you lemons... Make lemonade. Look for the good in every situation cause it always exists, I promise. And when you wouldn't catogorize something as a lemon (like my wedding), be excited and confidant that you can accomplish the task before you. keep your knees down and your chin up. all will be well.

Colton

Last Week of School!

Well, here it goes... the last week of my first semester at college. I feel pretty good about most of my classes except math and bio. if i pass them with a "C" ill be pretty stoked.

I have a very busy week or two coming up but the most exciting thing that is going to happen is... you ready for this... Paige is moving home!!!!!!!! ya, it may seem trivial, but it will be so nice having her only a 7 min drive from my front door to hers again. although this might make it alittle harder to finish strong on the semester but lets face it, its been hard to do that since she said "duh... of course!" ;)

i really have no idea what i am supposed to write on this blog thingy still but i felt like writing something, somewhere, so i choose here. so i will just keep writing...

we finally choose a temple... Draper! :D i am pretty excited. everytime i pass it now i say to myself, "that's going to be 'our temple' and i can't wait."

i got the moped out today and was super excited about it. no, i mean WAY excited... i finally convinced Paige to ride on it with me only to discover... it had a flat tire... so i parked it and need to fix it this week... i was so super sad. (still am kind of sad.)

my parents have been out of town and i have been spending a lot of time with Paige's family and im loving it. went to rugby game, ate some sweet hamburgers... talked a good amount of wedding, looked at pictures, played Wii and Foosball, watched movies... just had an overall good time.

i really am enjoying life right now... for the most part. there still are, and always will be, the little stresses in life. You know... the ones that you feel like you should be able to control but then you are presented with them and you react differently then you had imagined. You then begin to question how you reacted and what you can do to remedy the situation, if its even salvageable. A few of these sources of inpredicted stress are (but not limited too:) School... end of year projects and finals. Work... Do i take a second job this summer even if i will be irritable and tired all summer long while taking a couple classes too? just stuff like that. life is like a box of chocolates... full of great flavors that often times catch you off guard. well, i feel like this is it for this post. have a super and a happy... and till next time (which, with my track record could be a month or two)
Colton