Fun on the Farm

We had such a fun morning today visiting Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point.  We met Grandma, Grandpa & Dylan there for a fun outing--and the boys even got their first pony ride!  Just wanted to share some cute pics :)  They sure had fun feeding all the goats and sheep, and doing the cute kid activities at the Barnyard Boo!

On the Wagon Ride around the farm. 

LOVED LOVED LOVED the pony ride! 

Cute Grandpa even let Jackson feed one of the HUGE goats that kept jumping up on the fence to see us.

"A BUNCH" of FUN!

Well...I'm not quite sure where to really begin.  It's been SO SO long since our last post, and SO much has happened in the meantime!  We had an incredible summer filled with a wonderful wedding of Jason & Hillary and...a few days after Matt finished Spring term...a super fun trip to California with Kirie, Brian & Dylan!  We went to Disneyland, California Adventures, Universal Studios, the beach, San Diego Zoo, and Sea World.     SERIOUSLY, could we have had more fun?!  I doubt it!  On top of that, we got some GREAT news about 4 hours after we landed in Cali about Matt's job--he was promoted to Manager!  The past months have truly been "A BUNCH" of fun!  I have to use "a bunch" because lately if Jackson really likes something, he tells me he wants "a bunch". 

After our Disneyland trip, we came home to celebrate Jackson turning 2 with a big Mickey Mouse party :)  Other than that we have kind of just been pluggin' along.  We just celebrated Matt's birthday and another wonderful wedding.  We are so excited for darling Allie & Chris, and it was a blast to see so much family at the wedding, too!  Yes, we are still trying to sell our house, Matt is still crazy with school and work, I am preparing my students for our Halloween recital in a week, and Jackson is very busy helping me with anything he possibly can.  He is definitely our wonderful little singer, singing all day long :)  Such a sweetheart!  What shocked me the most was when he could sing the whole alphabet AND count to 20 before he even turned 2! 

 We are most excited right now for the "bunch" of fun ahead of us as we get ready for a little baby to join us in March!  In just a few weeks we find out whether this little baby is a boy or a girl...and we can hardly wait!  Jackson changes his mind daily on whether he wants a brother or sister...but lately he has been singing (to the Primary Children's song "Fun to Do" tune) "playing with brother is fun to do".   :)  So...we shall see! 

Skinny boy in a "HUT"

Lately if you ask Jackson to show you how skinny he is--- (and he is SKINNNNNNNY!!!!! finally 21 pounds...but 4th percentile for his weight, lol)--- this is what he does! He makes us laugh!

Jackson learned that it's fun to have a "HUT" made out of blankets to play in. He is so silly! Here are some fun shots of his play day in his hut. :)

Ok...this face is kind of scary, I know...but it's Jackson's FORCED smile. HA HA.

Discovering the train next to the hut...

WAY too close for comfort!

As many of you have probably already heard...we had quite an eventful evening Monday night. A little after 9:00 pm I was doing puzzles with Jackson before bed when we heard a bunch of sirens getting closer and closer. Living next to the Boulders...it's not uncommon to hear sirens daily. Between the drugs and fights and such, there is usually an incident or two a day over there... BUT, this time was different. Fire trucks and ambulances just kept on coming. TONS of them. When I looked out the window, they were right on the other side of the fence in our backyard. I rushed outside and was met with a wall of flames coming from the Boulder's complex next to us.

NO JOKE..these flames were 20 feet off the roof into the trees. All of my neighbors were outside. We stood there watching as the firefighters ran around the building yelling to get people out and shattering windows. I have never been that close to a house fire before. You could feel the heat. Watching all the flames and ash fly up into the trees, I kind of started to wonder if I needed to get ready to evacuate. If those huge trees caught on fire and came crashing down, our place would be next. I called Matt, who was on campus working on a group project, and he came rushing home. Thankfully the firefighters got the fire under control fairly quickly. Our backyard is still taped up with caution tape, and we can still hear the big trucks outside. Their huge light is shining right into our windows. I won't lie...I'm a little nervous to sleep tonight. There is some footage on the news about the fire...but not a lot of video of what it looked like at first. I was able to video a little...but was mostly just in shock with the huge flames. This video link is a pretty good depiction of what I was met with when I walked out of my front door. Our house is right on the other side, behind this burning building. I'm definitely "counting my many blessings" tonight! It was just TOO close...

Slight warning, I haven't listened to any audio on this clip...so not sure what it contains since it's a youtube video...

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciMCn0s3eg8

The Journey

I feel like most of the time in life I'm either on top of the mountain with everything going wonderful and all "fine and dandy"...or stuck in a nasty muddy valley. Everything is going really good, or everything is extremely difficult. Lately, in our house (despite the gazillion blessings we have been given, seriously) we've kind of been stuck in a big mud puddle in "the valley".

Being part of the Jenny Phillip's choir I get the amazing opportunity to sing at firesides all over. Although I have only performed locally so far, these firesides are INCREDIBLE. They are all about remembering the journey of life and your purpose here, and likening it to the pioneers. This last Sunday I was able to sing at another one of these firesides. Some lyrics really stood out to me. Even though we aren't pulling handcarts across the plains, the words have such an inspiring and hopeful message...especially when we're "stuck in mud puddles".

"Don't give up heart, don't give up hope. He will sustain those who walk His road. Just put one step in front of the other and it will be enough. He will hold you up."
Here is a clip of a video presentation with this song in the background. It's the same clip that is shown at the firesides: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UUuaZPXcp4

Here is another clip of part of the fireside (I know, somehow these ended up on youtube...? lol). But anyway, it is an absolutely remarkable story about a little girl named Bodil Mortensen who had incredible faith through tremendous trials. It's short, yet powerful...Hope you enjoy it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG1SxFL8xc4

FINALLY

Wow...every few months I am reminded of the fact that I am quite the terrible blogger. HA HA HA. Months and months later I am finally posting again! So many fun things have happened since our last post--Thanksgiving, Christmas, Steph's wedding...and so much more. I honestly don't know where to begin! But...here are some fun pics of "lately".

Jackson is almost 17 months!!!! (1 month 'til Nursery--and I'm going to be honest...I am NERVOUS! I'm going to try not to be one of those paranoid parents that hangs outside the door just in case, ha ha ha. I have a feeling it's gonna be more rough on ME than on HIM.)

Anyway...more quick Jackson updates--he SAYS everything, GETS INTO everything, loves to dance & play basketball with Daddy. He has a mouthful of teeth (actually, only 10), but hates to eat. He would rather drink milk all day long. This skinny little guy needs some bulk ha ha! He is so dang cute though--every day I think "I am SO lucky to have such a wonderful family and life!!!"

Ok...check these fun pics out...

My parents decided to start a tradition of making gingerbread houses...here are our creations. It was a really fun evening with the whole fam--minus Jason & Hillary who had to work dang it :(

Finally enjoying his 1 year old birthday cake--months later. Poor guy and his allergic reaction to cow's milk made it so we couldn't give him any birthday cake on his actual birthday.

Confession: we may have celebrated Christmas a bit early at our house. Jackson found his present. He could NOT wait...ha ha ha!

WEDDING!!!!! Yay! Here's a funny sibling pic, and then just one of the sisters. Steph was GORGEOUS!

At the reception...can I take this off yet, Mom!?!? He looked so dang cute! What a handsome guy.

A day with Aunt Kirie, Uncle Brian, baby D, Aunt Amy, and the grandparents at the Living Planet Aquarium--we love that place!

Sometimes I think Jackson is going to be a chef. He LOVES cooking with me--but only if he can sit on our puny counter! (I swear one of these times we are going to end up having an ER visit.)

Told ya, he LOVES milk!

Another one of his favorites: sitting on top of the piano with his teddy bear watching for birds. He flaps his hands and says "tweet" when they finally show up at the bird feeder.