eighteen - a smokin' hot age

my only cousin on my mom's side turns 18 today! i'm super mad because i forgot to call him - so i'm up late and decided to write this post about him.

i remember the exact moment when i found out that i was going to have a cousin. i was 13 - a spoiled little princess - i was an only child and the only grandchild. gary and robin adopted colton when i was in 8th grade he was days old. truly i didn't know how to handle the fact that i was now going to have to share my grandparents - i think that was my first thought. oh how i wish i could tell you how i was wise beyond my years in 8th grade and overflowed with joy of the fact that i was blessed to have a cousin. now i have enough excitement that i have a cousin like colton to last a lifetime. the joy started the moment i meet him for the first time. i've always been good with kiddos and have always loved babies - so when we had a little one in the family and i got to spend lots of time with him before they moved to nacogdoches, texas then new iberia, la and then edina, mn but they are moving back soon!

18 things i love about colton:

1. he's my favorite cousin - i'm the closest to colton and have more of a connection with him because we are both laid back, relaxed and easy going people.

2. his sense of humor - he has a great sense of humor that i love to be around. he can do great imitations and he likes the same comedies and same dry sense of humor that i do.

3. he has a huge smile

4. likes to laugh. here's a specific memory...when he was a little guy in louisiana i remember making him laugh at the hospital during easter [i think i was in high school]. he was in his "barn" and cut his arm open on a nail and had to go get stitches. i wanted to go with him and i remember finding medical supplies in the room...maybe tape... and taping up my nose and eyes to make him laugh. anyways, he's always quick to laugh.

5. he is a talented, talented, talented musician. i love to watch him play his guitar.

6. he can sing. he has a deep, dry, melodious voice which i think is great as a singer-songwriter musician or for singing ballads. my musical talent stopped at the recorder in 5th grade so don't think this comment has any musical intellect. i do like to listen to him sing.

7. he gives good hugs

8. he talks to me when i ask him questions about his life and doesn't roll his eyes at my questions. rolling eyes is definitely a thing teenagers pick up so i know he does it but just not to me. his answers are honest. i specifically recall driving with him to a dinner that our granny and papa wanted to treat us to and i asked some personal questions and he never hesitated with the truth.

9. his cool sense of style - gotta love the checkered board shoes with holes - especially if they are your most comfortable pair of shoes! i like them - they are black and white - what other colors are there to wear?

10. he has some awesome hair! long or short it's a great head of hair.

11. i like our sing-a-longs at the ranch. whether it's gary singing some old country song or papa singing in czech to colton strumming his guitar - it's fun, entertaining and relaxing. i'll even sing with my horrible voice. i truly wish i had a great voice where i could belt out some songs while colton plays his guitar. i don't have a chance.

12. i never would have listened to the music he listens to on my own. he has a great classic taste for "old rock and roll" [again music intellect = low to nil]. but he doesn't like the music of today - rap and everything else that i'm sure he doesn't consider music. so he has opened my eyes up to what is good in music. i know he wouldn't like my work out tunes: shoop by salt and pepa, it's getting hot in here, moulin rouge, yeah, in da club, hey ya, etc - songs that increase my rate on the elliptical machine is what i look for.

13. he is creative [obviously - have you been reading]

14. he's good with our kiddos...especially jackson. he's patient with jackson and he'll take him on the gator at the ranch, ask him questions [sometimes just to hear jackson's funny answers] and he never seems as if he has something better to do than spend time with jackson. thankfully with jackson's energy you won't get tired of doing one activity with him because he's off to a new activity after a couple of minutes so colton gets jackson in a couple minutes here and there.

15. our fun trip from minnesota to texas in 1999 in a car. lots of memories - but he was shorter than me at that time - he towers over me today. he was super young and super fun. i'm sure if we had that trip to do again this year it would be more fulfilling and more quality - 8 years makes a huge difference from 10 years old to 18 years old.

16. he has a heart that likes to help. a couple of summers ago he went to mexico for a missions trip and really enjoyed doing that. it was wonderful to see him enjoying that. i hope my kiddos enjoy that when they are his age.

17. although we are 13 years apart...i feel as if it's not a huge difference in age and that it's more like 3 years apart. i can spend time with him, talk to him, hang out and relax with him. age doesn't seem to be a big factor in our relationship. he's also pretty mature for his age, in my eyes.

18. he's moving back to texas [well...his family is and he's graduating high school in minnesota in the spring...hopefully he comes back here also...i'm 99% sure that's the plan]

too tired to post pictures...i'll do that tomorrow.