Jackson's 4th Birthday!

This year with Jackson's birthday being on a Tuesday and Grandma Kay only in town on the weekend, his birthday started Sunday night. We started with an ice cream cake at Nana's house after dinner from Grandma Kay. My mom picked this cake up as a surprise to us all so all the pictures I took were with my camera phone since I didn't have my good camera with me. That didn't stop Jackson though from loving his Hot-Wheels cake!

Jackson celebrated Monday night on a date with Nana. Luckily Nate and I were invited along as Jackson had a special date to "Build a Bear". He had no idea what to expect just from us explaining what we were going to do, but once he got to the store he was so excited. He knew exactly what he wanted. He went straight to the bunny, then to the football uniform and added all the accessories later like his underwear and cleats. He even got 2 sounds put inside (one being the star wars theme song and the other was a recorded message from Nana) and a heart beat.

Next, he had to be so patient as he waited in line to fill up the bunny with the stuffing.

 What I am sure felt like forever to Jackson, was only a couple minute wait until it was his turn to help press the pedal as his bunny came to life.

My favorite part was when Jackson got to put the heart into the bunny just because the worker was so cute to come up with a fun story and actions for him to do with the heart to make his bunny real.

She asked him to touch the heart to his head so his bunny was smart, touch the heart to his knee so his bunny would always "need" him,  touch it to his armpit so he doesn't stink, touch it to his ear so he will always listen, touch it to his tummy so he is never hungry, rub it between his hands so he is always warm, give it a kiss and put it inside!

It was love at first sight for Jackson! The first thing he did when bunny was done getting sewn up was give him one big hug.

The next step was getting him dressed,

and then giving him a name and birth certificate.

 Meet "Rabbit". Jackson is very creative, I know! The next morning he called him "Rabbit Racer" but that didn't last long and the name that has stuck is "Rabbit". What a fun idea Nana! By far one of his favorite birthday highlights.

After build-a-bear, we had dinner at Olive Garden. Jackson was unsettled the whole time we were eating knowing his bunny was out in the car and that we were leaving him alone too long. But finally we finished dinner and Jackson and Rabbit were reunited and he was satisfied and ready to go home to get Andersen. (Jackson asked for brother to go to a babysitter so it was all about him for his birthday date) Thanks Chelsea for watching Andersen so Nate and I could double with Jackson and Nana for his birthday. What a fun night!

The next day, Tuesday March 29th, was Jackson's real birthday. We spent most of the day getting ready for his party and his few guests we invited.

Jackson has loved his super heroes for months now and only asked for more costumes for his birthday presents, so I thought it was very fitting to have a super hero birthday party to go along with his obsession. We started the party with pizza, chips,and fruit for dinner with "Hulk" juice to drink followed by presents. He got spoiled like usual from family and friends. Some of his favorites were his dart gun, basketball, Batman car, mini skate board ramp and especially his costumes. As soon as his presents were all opened he instantly stripped down to put on his costumes. All of his guests were lucky enough to see this pose as well! (If you look close he even has super hero underwear on! This kid is obsessed with any Marvel character)

Andersen had to do exactly what brother was doing and took his shirt off too. If he could figure out how to take off his pants those would have come off as well!

First he tried on Iron Man,

and then Optimus Prime. Lucky for Jackson his cousin Rustin brought Batman to join him in dressing up in costumes. This was definitely one of the cutest Batman's I have seen in a long time!

 To end the party we had cake and ice cream, sang Happy Birthday and Jackson got to do his favorite thing... blow out the candles!

 And then everyone went home. Jackson loved having his friends over and wished he could have invited more.

Andersen wasn't sure what to think of all the guests at our house and not having the attention be all about him but as long as he had his Nana he was a happy camper! 

 After all our friends and family left Jackson played with all his new toys and counted all his birthday money multiple times and made sure they were all lined up perfectly straight on the floor. He thinks he is the richest kid around with $9!

We love you so much Jackson and can't believe you are already 4 years old! Time is flying by but I am loving the stage you are in. You keep me company all day while Dad is at work and make me laugh all the time with the funniest things you come up with and say. You have the cutest smile and you are so sweet to your brother when you want to be. I can't believe I only have one more year with you until you go to Kindergarten. Man, am I going to miss you during the day but I know you will love going to school and you will be a great student because you love to learn. What would Dad and I do without you! Hope you had a happy 4th birthday! 

We love you Bum Bum!

Jackson's latest funnies...

I can't believe Jackson turns 4 a week from today! Time is starting to go by so fast the older he gets especially because he is learning so much and becoming so independent. I know I say it all the time but he gets funnier every day I think. He is always trying to do what Nate and I are doing. I guess he has watched me hang up the laundry way too much because this is what I saw when I came into his room one day after I told him to clean up his room. He took all these dirty clothes out of his laundry basket and even hung up his shorts on hangers. It is a constant battle to get Jackson to wear anything besides these shorts and t-shirts so he thought if he hung them up that he was doing the laundry and they were all clean to wear again. (and No I don't hang up his shorts if you are wondering).

 This band aid story is hilarious! At first glance you would think this band aid was for a bloody nose or the zit on his nose... but no! His nose was bleeding from the scab he created by first picking his nose too much. Then Jackson picked that same scab later during one of his picking episodes and it was bleeding pretty good. Nate and I can be softies when it comes to our kids getting hurt but when it has to do with him bleeding because of his habits of picking his nose or biting his fingernails we go all out! Nate had the idea to put a band-aid on it and I acted upon it. Jackson was excited at first until he realized the joke was on him! After he knew we were joking he started to cry and ripped the band-aid off... that's when the soft side of parenting came back into play and the joke was over. Sorry Jacks, but the picture was too good not to get!

 This kid loves Cheetos!! He'd eat the whole big bag if I'd let him. Well Nana is famous now for having the little bags of chips that she lets the boys take as we leave her house. It seems like we are always leaving at night and I don't want Jackson eating his chips that late so I have him save them until the next day. This incident was the day after and I let him eat them as a snack and told him he could get them out of the pantry but to make sure he was at the table. It was too quiet so as I walked into the kitchen this is what I saw. Jackson in total meditation staring out the back window enjoying his Cheetos- foot propped up on the table and everything. Even take notice of how he laid his blanket on the back of the chair! I took this picture without him even knowing I was there and once the camera flash went off he was totally caught off guard confirming to me his state of deep thought.

 This isn't anything too out of the norm for Jackson but just another one of his creative outfits as we were about to go play outside on one of our recent warm days we have been able to enjoy finally. Darth Vader is a new addition to his rotation of his 5 favorite t-shirts, the boots are a great choice to ride bikes with but my favorite is his candy necklace for an added accessory!

 This isn't a funny story but just a picture to remind me how smart this little guy is! Jackson is always finding numbers and letters in the silliest things. This picture was taken as he was eating an apple the other day. He made the number 8 all by himself and was so excited to show me.

Another fun Mommy pay day has been the recent phone calls or comments I have gotten from Jackson's primary teachers or leaders. They always have the nicest and most positive things to say about him participating in class... like he is so good at saying the prayer and volunteering to help out or even answering the questions with the right answers... and not just the typical primary answers either. I would like to take credit for the knowledge he has but the older he gets and the more in depth his answers and testimony gets on things that I haven't even talked to him about reconfirms to me that he was born with it or he is doing great at soaking up everything his awesome primary teachers are teaching him. 

Jacks we love you so much! Even though you act out and whine about almost everything we are so proud of you! You are such a smart kid and we love your desire to learn new things. For the most part you are such a good big brother to Andersen and I love watching you give him random hugs and kisses throughout the day. You are always making me and Dad laugh with your funny sayings, but yet you are so mature for your age that we can have conversations with you that most 4 year olds (in a week) would never have with their parents. Thanks for being my little buddy and still wanting to cuddle with me. I hope some of these things you are doing during this stage of life lasts forever because I know I am going to miss your 3 year stage like crazy.

Tubing with the Christensen's

A few weeks ago I saw a good deal for 1/2 off passes to go tubing at Solder Hollow in Midway and I couldn't pass it up. Lucky for us some of our neighbors wanted to join us for a fun family outing. Last Friday we met up there for the 4-6 pm session. After signing forms, getting our tags (that they don't even check), and getting these munchkins all bundle up we were ready for some tubing!

 Because the little boys under age 3 couldn't go on the hill us moms stayed at the bottom to play while the dads took the boys for their first run. Andersen didn't know what to think of it all, but Parker loved every second of Alison spinning him around on the tube and playing in the snow.

 I wasn't sure what Jackson would think of the hill since he tends to be really cautious with EVERYTHING especially things relating to speed and down hill just like his mom.

Once he got to the bottom all worries were gone because he was smiling from ear to ear and the first thing he said was "Lets do it again!" Round 2 us moms took the boys down the hill. I was so excited to see Jackson's reaction.

 I think the ride up the hill lasts longer than the ride down. Here is the ride up.

 Here we are ready to go down...

 and here is Jackson's cute face on the ride down! If only you could here the WAHOO he was screaming the whole way down!

We continued with round 3 and 4 switching back and forth. Come Round 5 Andersen was content with Daddy so Nate let me take the last run for the night with Jackson while the Christensen's dared to take the whole family and hope they wouldn't notice Parker not being technically old enough to ride. Parker handled it like and champ and no one even knew.

 What a fun two hours that went by so fast! It was perfect weather with good company. We finished the night at the Dairy Keen in Heber for dinner and then came back home for the night. Thanks Christensens!

I don't get why my boys think feminine hygiene products are more fun to play with than their own toys. Its a daily battle to keep Andersen away from these while I am getting ready but finally one day I let him have them so I could get ready faster. He was so excited that he finally succeeded in his goal of snatching the pack of pads from the cupboard that he ran away laughing hysterically. I couldn't help but follow the little thief with the camera to capture him in all his glory. 

Can you see the excited through this cheeser smile?

As the excitement wore off he got more brave and the mischief kicked in. He loved dumping them all over the floor.

He was so proud of himself!

And then the sweet little Andersen comes out and he starts cleaning up his own mess.

Counting my blessings...

It was Thursday evening of March 3rd that I got a message from my mom telling me my dad just survived a pulmonary embolism and was in the hospital. I instantly had a reality check and was counting my blessings that my Dad was still around. I was in shock thinking he had such a close call with death, but happy that he listened to his body and reacted accordingly so he could receive the necessary medical attention. My dad was in the hospital until Saturday doing multiple chest x-rays, multiple blood draws for testing and inhaling extra oxygen to compensate for the lack of oxygen from the blood clots. After much thought of what I should do for a visit, I decided to go out Sunday morning. I knew I would have the kids and the added volume could interfere with him being able to relax, but I all I wanted to do was see him in person rather than hear updates over the phone. He spent most of our visit there laying in bed, but it didn't matter to me and the boys because it was just nice to be there and know he was ok. While we were visiting my parents we got to briefly celebrate my Mom's birthday as well. 2 days later I was back on the road to come home but I was happy to see my dad improving in strength and spirit. Never has a visit to Colorado been more meaningful because after being that close to losing my Dad I was grateful I got the opportunity to give him a hug and let him know how much my family and I loved him. I would be one sad and lost little girl had I lost my Dad last week.

A week later, test results are in and my dad will be on coumadin for life due to a blood disorder. He has an abundance of factor VIII meaning his blood clots too much and if he doesn't make the blood thinner through medication he could be in a repeat situation. Thank goodness this was only a scare and not the real thing because now he knows what he needs to do. I couldn't imagine losing him and never knowing what caused this all. We love you Dad and I am hoping we have many more years to tell you that. Thanks for being such a great Dad and Grandpa!

Meet Sister Michaelis

In 2002, almost  9 years ago, I met this cute girl the first few weeks I was down in Cedar City for my freshman year of College at SUU. She was serving as a Sister Missionary in our area. Long story short, and a few meetings and interviews later, I was on my way to get baptized during Christmas break. We instantly connected and I felt like she was a great friend! While I was home for the break, she got transferred up towards Provo and I didn't get to talk to her much after that. I was so sad she was gone! Over the years, she was so good to call every once in awhile to keep in touch. Thanks to Facebook and her twin sister living in Lehi, we got to finally reunite last week. I was anxious to see her again, but once we were together it felt just like old times minus the missionary badge. She is such an amazing person to me and I am grateful our lives crossed paths all those years ago.

Not only am I grateful for her friendship, but without her service and truly caring about me as a person and not just the baptism, I feel like I wouldn't have all these other wonderful blessings in my life. Here are just a few big ones and I am sure there are many more to come!

Nate and our Temple Marriage

Amazing in-laws

Jackson

Andersen

There are a lot more girls than this now, but I just love this picture and I love serving these young women!

Thank you Sister Michaelis for blessing my life forever!