True Love is Friendship on Fire.

Well, the honeymoon's over! I am officially Mrs. Wright (and although I've changed my driver's license and social security, I am still signing my checks "Carli Clawson"! Ugh! One more annoying thing girls have to do that guys DON'T!). Yet life is, well, "just wright"!

Rio loves his daddy. His new favorite song to sing is "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home." He's been waiting for this for 3 years. It's awesome. :)

Ryan and I are closing on a house on July 15th! HOORAY!!! We are so excited. We are getting a great deal on the cutest house. Now we just need some furniture to move into it... It will feel great to have our very own home. I can't wait!

Ryan gets some kind of reward reimbursements or something from his insurance for life-changing events, such as

*getting married (check)
*buying a home (check)
*adopting a child (check)
*having a child (ch...hmmm...maybe we'll hold off on this one for a bit???)

Lucky for him (someone who actually really struggles with change), he will experience every one of these within just a few months! Haha! And everybody told him I would change his life! He didn't realize they meant that literally! :)

Here are a few (you know-- **FEW** --wink, wink) of my favorite wedding pictures:









































True love is friendship on FIRE...

This 'n' That

So. It's been a while. I have been SOooooo crazy-busy with my master's coursework, my teaching evaluation, wedding/life planning,

---oh, btw, we are getting married on Friday, May 29th!---

quilting, and being a mommy that I seriously have been avoiding my blog! So I am just going to post a few pics of what's been happening, as I really don't have time to write much right now.... (Brace yourself for the MOTHER of all long blog posts!) :)

HIPPITY-HOP...
We took Rio to the Easter egg hunt in Wales. He loved it. He had so many eggs in his bucket that he started helping another little boy pick up eggs to put in his bucket. It was pretty cute. Notice the gloves he refuses to take off--even to sleep. Also, check out the Easter Bunny who lives in MY town (and doubles as Santa Claus at Christmastime!). Did YOU get a sweet picture of your family with him? Hmmmm??? I think NOT!






(Note: I wasn't kidding about Rio sleeping in his gloves.)



FEELING A LITTLE WICKED...
My mom got us tickets to Wicked for Christmas, and I've counted down the months until the show. It was phenomenal. I know you are all green with envy.





FELIZ CUMPLEANOS, MAMA!
It was my mom's birthday last weekend, so we all got together at P.F. Chang's for dinner. Repeat after me, people: LEH-TUSS-RAPS. Yum! Delicious! Mouth-watering! Toothsome! Delectable! Spicy! The best part about this place, of course, is that you get to eat like 10 different dishes because everyone orders something different and then passes them around to everyone else! It was so good to have all of the family together (except my little brother, who ditched us!) I have the best family ever.


Dad, Mom, Whitney, Isi, Malakai, Rio, Ryan, Me, Coleby, Breanna, & Chesni





WHAT IN THE DEVIL HAS GOTTEN INTO ME?!
A bunch of friends from Nephi started a sort of quilting club. We are going to meet monthly and each of us will plan a project for the month. This first month, we all brought our own fabric for a "Strawberry Shortcake" Quilt. I sewed the entire thing this weekend, and I LOVE IT! And I just went back to my favorite fabric shop today and bought the fabric for my next project. Heaven help me.






Yummy Strawberry Shortcake to go with our "Strawberry Shortcake" quilt pattern! Thanks, Connie & SueAnn!


THERE IS BEAUTY ALL AROUND...
Rio and I escaped life for a couple of days. It was a spur of the moment trip, where we just packed up and drove to Zion National Park! It was such a memorable trip; I will NEVER forget it. According to Rio, we stayed in the "Hotel California!" He got to do what he does best: get filthy and climb on rocks (or anything climbable). He talked to a friendly squirrel about the hantavirus. We had a picnic surrounded by the out-of-this-world beautiful red rock formations. We went swimming in the Hotel California pool.

It really felt as if the universe just

stopped

for me and Rio those two days.

How I wish that happened more often.













I LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY MORE THAN ANYTHING.

It's a Love Story--Baby, just say YES!!!

I'M ENGAGED!! First things first:




Ryan asked me to marry him on my birthday! It actually turned out to be a funny story because the entire time, I thought he was breaking up with me...

Ryan and I met my first year teaching in Nephi. He coaches football there, and saw my picture in the paper. He started bugging his coach buddies, who knew me, to hook us up. We dated off and on for the last couple of years, and I would always just tell people that he was my best friend, and that "I didn't like him like that..." (Even though those entire 2 years, my mom and Whitney always told me there was a total spark between me and him, and they accused us of flirting like crazy?)

Although we always stayed in touch, we had only dated here and there. But in November, I confessed to one of my best friends, Jalena, that Ryan was CONSTANTLY on my mind lately. She is also good friends with him, and told me to just go out with him again to see how I felt, and I seriously thank her for listening to me and telling me I wasn't completely crazy! Anyway, since in my eyes all that time, we would never be anything more than best friends, we didn't move past that until about November, when I just could NOT stop thinking about him. I can't explain what had happened, but all I can say is that we went out once, and EVERYTHING was suddenly different between us... I knew I wanted to marry him after that one date!


Since then, I had been growing VERY impatient with him, I had finally told him that our relationship needed to go one way or the other. So he totally played off of that when he proposed to me.

Rio and I had just taken off for 2 days to Zion National Park (post to come), and when I got back on Tuesday, the night of my birthday, he came over to see me. He acted really preoccupied--like something was weighing on his mind. I had done a lot of thinking while I was gone, too. So he just asked if I wanted to go for a ride for a minute. He kept rubbing his forehead like he does when he's mad or frustrated, so I totally thought he was going to break up with me. He drove up to the mouth of the canyon, not knowing where he was even going, and I was like, "Are you going to like murder me, and dump my body in the river?" When he stopped the car, I was just like, "Alright, so what's going on? Just say it, Ryan."

(Ryan, playing up the frustration): "Well, Carli, I've done a lot of thinking over the past 2 days while you and Rio were gone, and I just don't think I can keep going on like this with you."

(Me, with a lot of sass, thinking he was saying he wanted to end it): "Yeah, well I did a lot of thinking while I was gone, too, and I can't do this anymore either."

(Ryan): "This just isn't fair to you or to Rio, or to me."

(Me): "Yeah, I know. That's what I've been telling you all along."

(Ryan, looking out his window, and rubbing his head): "And I really didn't want to do this to you on your birthday, but..."

(Me, in a very bratty tone): "Oh, don't worry about my birthday--It's FINE."

At this point, he opened his door and started getting out, and I snapped at him a couple of times to "Just get back in the car and take me home." He walked around to my side and opened the door and was like, "Carli, I'm sorry I've been so stupid and have put you through all this by dragging my feet for so long--"

To which I hastily retorted, "Oh, it's FINE. Don't be sorry. I"M sorry. It's half my fault for hanging on so long, when this obviously wasn't what you really wanted anyway."

THEN......

He got down on his knee and pulled out the ring and finished "--and I'm not dragging my feet anymore. I've known what I wanted for a really long time, and I've just been too stupid to do this. I want to be with you forever. And I want to be Rio's dad. Will you marry me?"

(Crickets chirping. My jaw coming unhinged.)

YEP. I was pretty much SHOCKED!!! I thought he was at one extreme, breaking up with me, and he totally played it up and then proposed to me! It was quite the unexpected twist! But needless to say, I said YES!! (There is also a possibility that I could have said something about throwing the damn ring into the river next to the car because I couldn't believe he had just done that to me...?)

When we got back home, and I showed Rio (he had no clue what Ryan giving me a ring meant), Ryan picked him up and took him upstairs and asked him, "Rio, do you and your mommy want to come and live with me?" Rio instantly said "Yeah!" It was exactly what I've been waiting for for almost 3 years.



So we don't have details nailed down quite yet, but we're thinking the first of June, when I'm out of school? I'll keep everyone posted! YAY!!!!!!!!!

Rio-isms

Rio says the funniest things every single day. I love it. He is crazy-intelligent-with-a-freaky-memory, and people are always shocked when I tell them he is only 2 because of his vocabulary, his diction & articulation, and just the whole way he talks and acts. It's obvious he's around adults most of the time...

Anyway, I want to share the joy in some of the things he says and does that crack me up daily:

*We had some fake teeth still out from Halloween--you know, the crooked, yellow, redneck bucky-beaver teeth. I put them in one day and started talking to Rio to see what he would do. He just backed away from me, clearly disgusted, and was like, "Eeww! See, Mommy! Your teeth are rotten cuz you didn't brush 'em!" Hey, maybe it was a good object lesson for him?

*He picked up saying, "I'm good" to mean "No, thanks" (i.e. Do you want a drink? - No, I'm good...). Well, then he started adding "too" in there for some reason, so it became "I'm too good." A friend babysitting him was feeding all the kids hotdogs for lunch, and asked Rio if he wanted one. He's usually simply too busy to want to stop and eat, so of course his reply was, "Umm... I'm too good." Needless to say, she thought he was just a 2-year-old hotdog snob. Could I interest you in some escargot or caviar instead, sir?

*I have introduced him to the wonder of Oreos and milk. He loves it, but started getting impatient with me for his next cookie. (I do remember, as a little girl, thinking that it took FOREVER to get the cookie soggy. Now I realize it's only like a 5-second dunk. Hmmm.) Finally, he goes, "Ugh! That's e-NOUGH, Mommy!!" when he couldn't stand the wait any longer. I remember that anticipation, little buddy.

*Beware of a "rhinoctopus!" They are very dangerous and mysterious creatures. Have you ever seen a "rhinoctopus?" Rio has.

*Rio is my little streaker. As a pre-bath warm-up routine every night, he runs around the house with nothing on, and laughs hysterically when I act shocked and shriek, "AAAGGHH!! You're a NAKED BOY!" A few days ago, several of Reggie's friends were staying the night, and I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. I stripped down to change into my PJ's, and Rio screams, "AAAGGHH!! You're a NAKED GIRL!" and busts up laughing. My mom comes over and knocks on the door, and is like, "Uhhh, WHAT was that?..." I was mortified.

*Ok, to any mothers of little boys out there: What do you teach your son to call his...you know...? Because some of the things Rio has come up with are pretty original. And also pretty embarrassing. (I'll spare you actual quotes on this one. HaHa!) Help? I actually think this just comes natural to a man. Women simply do not have this innate desire to name their body parts. I speak fluent Venusian, and I don't know that I'll ever learn Martian. Enough said.

Love, Us

Merry Christmas!



I know I haven't posted in a while, so here are just a few fun things that have gone on lately:

We went to the BYU bowl game in Vegas this weekend. Although BYU lost :( , Coleby (#41) played a great game and it was still a fantastic trip! My very best friend, Ryan Wright, came with us, and we really had so much fun together. Let's see, highlights of the trip: shopping, the BYU fireside, seeing a wack-a-doo trying to direct traffic on the strip in nothing but a black women's swimsuit with yellow fishnets on over his hairy legs and an earpiece taped to his ear (there you go, girlfriend!), Ry took me out for crab--my first time ever, Rio yammied all over himself and the back seat on the way home (with NO WARNING!). Oh, man. Ry and I have some great memories together. I can tell him anything, and he always makes me laugh so hard. We always have a blast no matter what we do. I LOVE being with him!



My sister-in-law, Bre, and I doin' a little Christmas shopping...



Whitney had her baby last month! She and Isi named him Malakai Isimeeli Filimoeatu. He was born on November 15th and weighed 7 lbs. Oh man, he is so dang cute... and makes me want another one! They'll just have to share him with me for a while... :)