"Happiness is not having what you want. It is wanting what you have."

                                                     Unknown

Carrie and I met July 4th 1991, in Chama, New Mexico. Carrie was working in a restaurant as a waitress and I flirted with her until she agreed to go out with me. Carrie was 18 years old and had just graduated high school. I was twenty and was living in New Mexico partying with my cousins. Carrie and I fell in love quickly and soon we were inseparable.

Carrie moved to Espanola N.M. to start college and I soon followed. I convinced my best friend Pat that he needed to live in the low rider capitol of the world and he came with me.

We had some wild adventures and a lot of fun during those years. We had problems with money, cars, love, the law and everything else but we always had a good time.

The years past and our friends moved on. Soon it was only me and Carrie living in a mobile home in the middle of a field. We lived a simple life, we worked during the week and spent time with my cousins on the weekends. Carrie's extended family did not like me much, and it became difficult for her. We struggled financially and in our relationship. Over time we learned that we could handle anything as long as we were together. These struggles strengthened our relationship.

In 1994 we moved back to Colorado to be near my family. Around this time we got our first dog, a long haired Chihuahua named Jack. Jack was a gift to us from my cousin Vincente and his wife Sheila. We practically begged for him because he had an eye injury and we wanted to help him out. (dogs don't live very long in the country). Jack had his surgery and became "One eye Jack" the son we never had.

Carrie and I had been together for over six years at this time and were fully committed to each other. We were a little superstitious about marriage because we knew that we had something special and we had heard the stories about getting that piece of paper. We talked about having children, when the time was right, but now was never the right time. I have my brother who had five kids of his own and we spent most of our time with them. When you have five nephews and nieces, who needs kids?

We were a little bored, we had Jack, a forty gallon fish tank full of creatures, had an iguana for one day (yuk) and eventually got three ferrets. We loved our ferrets a lot and they brought us a lot of joy. But they do stink and are a little bit wild. They drove Jack crazy! In hindsight I suppose that three ferrets and a one-eyed dog are not the best match.

In July of 1997 Carrie gave the news that every boyfriend dreads. She said she was pregnant. After she resuscitated me, we went to the doctor to be sure. The doctor told us that it was true and the adventure was about to begin.

This was a pretty good reason make it official and finally get married. We had a small ceremony surrounded by immediate family. The only thing missing was a haircut.

At first it did not seem real, Carrie wasn't putting on any weight and everything was pretty much the same as it was before. We gave the news to everyone and it was kind of fun, thinking of names for our child and buying things. I figure "this is going to be easy!"

Around the fifth month of the pregnancy, the extra pounds started to show. The nausea, morning sickness and moodiness began. Carrie did her best to comfort me but I was beginning to get scared. It began to sink in that I was going to be a father. I started worrying about things like the environment, crime, education, politics, money and worst of all, diapers!

What had we gotten ourselves into? My wife now outweighed me and I was watching pregnancy videos in my spare time! Things started going a little to fast. I found out that everybody and their sister was an expert in pregnancy and the same people would ask us over and over when the due date was. One guy told me that in his country, pregnant women drink beer for health reasons! Carrie seemed to be handling everything in her own calm way, but I was turning into a wreck.

My Dad had four boys, my brother had three boys. We watch football in our family while we eat. I pretty much knew that I was going to have a boy. I was already running through what I was going to tell my son about cars, women, football and life (not necessarily in that order). I noticed that when I watched shows like "Leave it to Beaver" , "Andy Griffith" and "Cosby Show" I was mentally taking notes on fatherly skills. I am ready for my son.

Carrie's due date was March 25th, 1998. In January she was diagnosed with preclampsia (chronic high blood pressure and swelling). She was eventually prescribed bed rest. Carrie handled every situation like a champ. I learned to respect women in a way that I never had before by watching my wife got through this. Times got tough emotionally and financially for a while but my family was very supportive. Especially my Mom and Dad.

 The Denver Broncos won the Super bowl!!

My Dad has been a season ticket holder since the sixties. We are a football family. When my Dad and I did not have anything else to talk about, we could talk about the Broncos. We lived and died with the Broncos. mostly died in the old days. The Super bowl loss in Pasadena was especially tough. My Dad gave me his ticket to that game. My two brothers my sister and I drove to Pasadena for that game.

It was an incredible experience. But it was the longest drive home in my life because we lost and like most Broncos fans I actually attached a large part of my self esteem to this team, right or wrong it is the truth. When the Broncos lost, I lost. I wore my Broncos jersey defiantly to school the days after Broncos losses and took the abuse.

That is how big the Broncos Super bowl was to me and my family. It was such an important part of my life that it actually is given these lines on this page. I still get teary eyed when I see the replays. I really did not enjoy the game like I thought I would because I had a lot on my mind at the time.

Our baby sucking her thumb.

March came around and Carrie was not getting much better. The baby was not gaining weight and the doctors were worried. A decision was made to induce labor two weeks early. We checked into the hospital and the doctors got everything started.

Carrie's labor started around nine at night. I tried to be helpful but all of the classes, training and videos seemed to be useless. It is strange to watch someone that you have known and lived with for years, go through so much pain. Somewhere in your mind you know that something good is going to happen, but the process is terrifying.

I felt useless, I wanted to take some of this pain for her, but couldn't do anything. I seemed to be in everyone's way. I walked with Carrie and talked with her, but she had to do this alone.

The contractions got worse after 2 am, we were exhausted because we had been up the night before also. We both fell asleep around three o'clock in the morning. We were up every little while for the contractions and the nurses but it did not seem as though it was going to happen any time soon.

Around six am I am awakened by a nurse. She said the baby is coming! I jumped out of my chair and almost fell trying to get to Carrie. I held her hand and started to encourage her. Her pain was incredible. I was half asleep and this did not seem real. I saw my babies face for the first time, a few more pushes and my daughter was born.