Jackson: Full of Personality

Jackson's name really does mean "Full of personality!" Here are some fun stories I wanted to write down before I forgot.
What is that in his mouth you might ask... are those his teeth? I hope not! I would die if his teeth were that yellow, or actually orange! Nope, it's a nice piece of cheese, and he thought he was so funny. When I was helping him get dressed this morning, I asked him if he wanted to wear this shirt, and he got this excited look on his face, made his right hand in a fist, shot it up in the air, and said, "Yes, I will wear this shirt today" as though it was some victory! He is such a funny kid!!!!

Every time I have Jackson wear jeans lately he has an accident... why why why? He looks so cute in jeans, and I can't figure it out.. maybe it's the fact that he has to undo the zipper, or that he feels so stylish in them that he doesn't want to take them off even to go to the bathroom. Brian thinks he may have to wear sweats for the rest of his life.
* Now, 2 days later, he wanted some chocolate balls that my sisnlaw gave us from Switzerland. I told him he could have one, and save one for Grandpa. I forgot he had them, and looked over and saw both cheeks had grown. I said, "Jackson what are you eating" and then I remembered the chocolate...yep, both at one time.
*Today I had a mini reeses peanut butter cup on the counter for Brian, and I saw Jackson on his tippy toes trying to reach it. I told him he couldn't have it because it was for Daddy. He then said, "But I will just have a little bite!" Yeah right!

A couple of days ago I went to an activity day activity and for dessert they had the dirt pudding cups with worms in them. They had extras and the leaders told me to take some home to my kids. So, I gave them to Morgan & Jackson, then I had to leave. Brian told me later that when they were eating them after dinner this is the conversation he and Jackson had...
Brian: Eeww yuck, I don't want any of that.
Jackson: But it's good daddy.
Brian: No, it looks gross... eeww I don't want to eat dirt.
Jackson: Just take a little bite daddy, and think, mmmm this is yummy.

*This morning I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep. Morgan always comes in bright & cheery and full of energy, which isn't always good for someone like me who isn't a morning person, but great for Brian who is, anyway, Jackson always comes in and lays by me and cuddles with me for a little bit. This morning he wrapped his arms around my neck, gave me a hug, and kissed me on the forehead... What a sweet little boy! He is so much fun!

Indians & Pilgrims...and Gratitude

Morgan came home a couple of weeks ago with this cute little Indian outfit she had made at pre-school. She danced around the room and showed me how they had an Indian parade. Almost every day Morgan comes home with some craft she has made, and not always little crafts, but big & pretty crafts that we can never throw away, so our home is decorated with beautiful fall crafts.
Today when I went and picked up the kids, they all came out for a Pilgrim parade. They looked so cute with their little hats and collared shirt things... I don't know what they're called. Anyway, while Morgan was gone, my visiting teachers came over and the first thing my one visiting teacher said to me was,
"Well, what are you thankful for?" she must have been inspired, because it was exactly what I needed to hear. Yesterday afternoon, I had read something that got me kind of discouraged, and adding it to something I heard the other day, it made me even more discouraged, and my thoughts suddenly turned into, "I want...," and "why can't I have..." and "why do I have to..." and they were all thoughts about ME ME ME, and more Me's :) So, I knew that I wasn't being very grateful for the beautiful life that I have, so after thinking about it... Here is what I'm grateful for:

1. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that I can belong to His true gospel.
2. I'm grateful for Brian for how willing he is to always help me out, for how he tells me how I always look good, even when I have just woken up & how he is a great dad & friend to our kids. I could go on and on about him. I am so thankful to have him in my life.
3. I'm so grateful for my 3 little sweethearts, and for how they complete my life. I'm so grateful that they have good health & for how much joy they bring to my life.
4. I'm grateful for my Primary calling at church. I LOVE being around the little kids in Primary. I love the sweet & fun spirit they bring with them each week. I love how different each of them are, and how they are so fun to be around, and for how much I learn from them.
5. I'm grateful to have such a wonderful family, and for good parents who taught me the gospel, and raised me the way they did.
6. I'm grateful that Brian has a job, and that he is a hard worker.
7. I'm grateful for a nice home, food, and clothes.
8. I'm grateful for indoor plumbing... one of the girls in primary said this the other day
9. I'm grateful to have a prophet on the earth today who is led by our Savior.
10. I'm grateful for my neighborhood & ward... they are wonderful!
11. I'm grateful for all of my friends, and for the impact they have on my life.
12. I'm grateful for all of the examples that I am able to follow.

I am so grateful for all that I have. I am so blessed, and I know that Heavenly Father continues to bless me & my little family. I am so grateful for my life! I love my life, and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Here comes TROUBLE...

Our busy little bee has been crawling for the last 2 months, and she is moving quick. Hallie just turned 9 months old and is already crawling up the stairs!!! Morgan didn't start crawling until she was 11 months old, and Jackson didn't start until he was 9 months old, so Hallie is starting way to soon according to my schedule. She is so funny! She loves crawling after M & J in the hall. Yesterday, I was "working" on the computer and I thought, "oh, she can't crawl up the stairs yet" but then I thought I should go and check on her, and sure enough, she was 4 stairs up, and kept going. I'm sure this little chick will be walking by her birthday. I'm looking so forward to our Christmas tree falling down this year. :) But of course I wouldn't trade it for anything. She is such a sweet & fun baby, and is growing up way to fast.
The cute diaper bum...
Caught in the act with Morgan and Jackson cheering her on.

My brother got married!!!!!

Cameron & Rachelle got married this past Saturday in the Salt Lake Temple. It was such a neat experience, and they looked so happy! I love seeing how happy my brother is with her. They make such a cute couple. We had a full day. They got married at 11:40, and then we had lunch at a Brazilian grill called Tucanos. It was delicious, and we ate soooo much! Then we drove up north for a reception in Rachelle's hometown. We got home at 11:30... it was a long day, but so worth it. Cameron & Rachelle are sjo perfect for each other, and we're so excited to have her as part of the family. So, here are the rest of the pictures from the day. Enjoy!

Cameron & Rachelle's Reception

Me and my sweet girl. Morgan was so excited when Jen showed her the dress. She put it on and kept saying, "Mommy, can I go and show Daddy?" She kept twirling and dancing all night. She was so sweet and helpful. Hallie slept during the whole reception... it was so nice!
Morgan and her cousing Madeline kept twirling around.
Morgan & Jackson admiring the cake. The cake was absolutly gorgeous!!! Sadly though, on Saturday night our family found out the it had a funny licorace taste to it when it was supposed to taste like chocolate. Maybe it was just for looking at, and we weren't supposed to eat it. :)
Oh, aren't we cute! :)

The Reception

Here is the whole family at the reception. My sister Jen (with the 3 girls) made all of the little girls dresses. She is amazing! I think I can barely sew on a button. :) The reception was nice & enjoyable... other than when Jackson and Morgan ran into each other and Morgan's mouth started bleeding... but what do you expect when you have a sugar-high son because of the table full of yummy cakes and cheesecakes, and everyone is giving Jackson his own new slice, not knowing that he has already had 2 whole slices, and he kept eating off random ones too. eeeewwww someone should have been watching that kid. :) Thank goodness he fell right asleep when we got in the car. Our 2 hour drive home was very enjoyable. All 3 kids were asleep. :)
The siblings
The brother-in-laws. The tall guy next to my brother is Cameron's best man Rob.
Brian looked SOOOOOO good in his tux! I don't think "good" really even really describes how he looked... let me just tell you... He looked hot! :)

The Best Part of the Day

To me, the whole day was wonderful, magical, and amazing. It was so much fun, & such a neat day. However, when I look back at the whole day, my favorite part was the temple. I loved being in there with Brian, my parents, & siblings & other family members as we watched my brother kneel across the alter with Rachelle. They are perfect for each other, and it reminded me of my own wedding day & how excited I was to be in the temple marrying Brian. It was such a neat experience. The one thing that really stuck out to me that the sealer said something to the effect that Christ is like the chandelier, and as we look out towards the mirrors, we can see it go on forever, with the light right by us, but as soon as we turn off that light, we loose our path. My bishop shared a thought with all of us yesterday in ward council and he quoted 2 Nephi 28:30... it says that we will recieve line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, and as long as we are open to the counsel of the Lord, we will gain wisdom, but as soon as we say "I've had enough" that is when we loose that which we have. It was such a neat weekend, and I feel that I learned a lot, especially even more, about what this life is really about.
My cute little family outside the temple. Thank goodness for 3 aunts that kept ALL 7 grandchildren entertained. We might have to hire babysitters to come with us when Kaylie gets married, as I'm sure there will be 20 grandchildren by then. :)
Jackson was so excited to be outside,and this is what he did... RUN RUN RUN! He was so funny to watch. As soon as Cameron and Rachelle came out though he stopped and watched them. I hope this is something the kids always remember.
My sisters and I with our new sister.
(Kaylie, Carly, Brianna,Rachelle, Me, Jen, & Brittany)

Hong Kong...

So I have good news! No, we are not moving to Hong Kong... would that really be good news? :) I was looking online, and saw that someone recommened a company called Arts Cow to print pictures, I thought, why not try it out. The first 500 prints ( I think that many) of both 4 x 6 sizes and 5 x 7 pictures are free, so like 1000 prints totally free! All you pay for is the shipping. I actually tried it out, and I only ordered 40 prints for something I was working on and paid $3.00 on shipping, so they ended up being .07 cents each, and they were mailed right to me. I thought the quality was really good, and I'm really picky with my prints. I don't think I would order enlargements through them, but 5 x 7's and 4 x 6's look great, and they are printed on the nice fugi paper. Now, here is the catch... a week later after I ordered the pictures, (which isn't bad for shipping, )I recieved a nice package from HONG KONG!!!!! I looked at it, and was kind of confused... the name Arts Cow was printed all over it, and it even had little cow decorations that were kind of cute, but could it really come from HONG KONG???? I read all over the package, and it had come on a nice little airplane to America, right to my door, so now I have something from Hong Kong. :) Anyway, they offer tons and I mean TONS of free stuff when you sign up. They give you all this credit. I don't know how they make money, but I searched on the internet and couldn't find anything wrong with them, just people that had been pleased with their orders. As part of signing up they also give you credit for 3 photo books that are the 8 x8 size, and all you pay for is shipping. I'm thinking I'm going to try one for Christmas for Brian or the kids maybe. So, if you are interested in getting free prints (except for shipping) from Hong Kong, go here, or here... http://www.artscow.com/ and try them out. Enjoy!

Playing in the leaves

On Saturday Brian raked all of the leaves that had fallen on our yard from our neighbors tree. The kids were so excited to run through the leaves, and remembered doing it last year too. Brian & I even joined in the fun & raced the kids into the pile of leaves. In once picture, you only see Jackson & Morgan because Brian is under them completly covered by the leaves after he flew into the pile. In another picture, it's me and the kids running--notice our funny expressions. :) We had so much fun, and after all that hard work of Brian raking up the leaves and putting them in bags we woke up the next morning to a yard that looked like it hadn't even been raked. I guess we'll have to play in the leaves again. :)

Happy Halloween...

I asked Brian if he wanted to take the kids around this year, or if he wanted to stay home with Hallie. In the past years we have both gone out, but this year since Hallie is still little, we decided to have one of us stay home. I love going out, but told Brian I would stay home if he wanted to go. Brian loves staying home, but would go if he wanted me to. So, we both got what we wanted. Brian stayed home & ate the chocolate while I took the kids out to get more chocolate. :)
Now, let me give you a history of my families trick-or-treating past... my mom always made or came up with creative costumes for us to wear (which is not the case with me, notice how Morgan's hair is left over from the day before, I figured the hat would cover it, which of course came off after the 2nd house) anyway, back to my history... my mom would stay home with the little kids and my dad would RUN with us from house to house as fast as we could knocking down other little kids that got in our way... okay not really, but he would run with us. I remember going as fast as we could from house to house, and in Texas we would take our pillow cases and go to one of the nice & fancy neighborhoods and trick or treat there. I remember counting my candy at home, and I honestly remember counting one time 40 Reese's peanut butter cups, not the mini ones.. the regular ones. Just to give you an idea of how much candy we got. We would have the time of our lives running, laughing, & getting as much candy as we possibly could. Now, fast forward to last year, when I went trick or treating with Brian, Jeff (his brother) & Brittany (our sis-in-law) and their little girl. I'm thinking we are going to go fast and get tons of candy. As we start walking all of a sudden we are walking as if we are the turtle in the big race. Slow...slowing down...slower, one family starts to pass us, then another, then another. I'm having a panic attack... aaaahhh we're falling behind, they're going to beat us to the end, all the candy will be gone, what will I eat tonight? and so on. I desperatly try to move faster, encouraging them as we walk, my thoughts are "walk now, talk later, walk now, talk later" as I try to pace us. And still I feel as though I am walking with a bunch of Eeyore's, slow & steady, slow & steady. Well, after 2 hours or what felt like 20 to me, we finally get home. The kids have maybe 20 pieces of candy... they're happy, Brian's content, and me... I'm frustrated out of my mind! I almost put on my own costume, grabbed a pillowcase, and ran out the door to get some dignity on the night of Halloween and go and collect the candy my kids should have had... and people say I'm competitive... whatever! So, this year, I took the kids. We stayed ahead of all the other kids (no, we weren't running) we walked at a great pace & I even got a little bit exercise as after the 2nd house Jackson said, "Mom, I'm tired, will you carry me?" So of course I carried him so I wouldn't feel too guilty as I ate candybars later that night. :) We were done after about an hour, and the kids baskets were completly full... they were happy (but a little tired) and I was happy, Brian was happy, although a little sick from eating too much candy. ;) So lesson, learned... I think I'll always take the kids trick or treating. :) Oh, and Brittany, you know I love you. :)
Jackson doing his pose for the camera. This is how Batman fights!
I'm a mean old witch with my hat...aaahhhh... and I ride on my broomstick with my cat...meowwww... my nose is pointed and my chin is too, and you better watch out, or I might scare you.. boo! This is what Morgan has been singing for the past 2 weeks. I asked her why she was wearing a necklace, and she said because the wicked step mother wears a necklace in Cinderella. :)
Our cute & biggest little bumble bee. Hallie was a cute and crawling little bumble bee. All 3 kids have worn the costume, and the hat wouldn't even fit Hallie's head. :)

Let's Go Trick or Treating...

Here I am ready with my little witch,batman, & bee. I actually love taking the kids around.
Just look at the kids expressions in this picture. Morgan is trying to be a mean little witch, I have no idea what Jackson is doing, although, he does look like a bat ready to take off, and Hallie is a tired little bumble bee. :)
Hallie was so excited to try and get Morgan's candy.
This was for her costume, the shirt is a size 6, and was the only black shirt I could find when Morgan was a baby and wore the same outfit, but I love the tight little legs. :)