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.

Lately....some fun pics :)

SO MUCH TO UPDATE!!! Let's start with Halloween... Here is Jackson's "deep sea angler" fish pumpkin--isn't it so fun????! We never got the chance to carve the others. Maybe they will be Thanksgiving pumpkins :)

Gutting the pumpkin (Jackson thought it was DISGUSTING. Note the guts all over the floor...)



Our little lion headed into his toy "den" at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

LOVE this shot from the back...awesome mane, huh? SO cute. Our sensitive lion liked smelling the fake flowers before Trick-or-Treating.

He had such a cute black nose with whiskers...yeah, didn't last too long. Sweet little guy.

A walk around Provo Temple this week. This is the face he pulls when he tries to smell plants and flowers. Silly guy!


Lovin' the dirt! Of course...



Cool view of the back of the temple.


Ok...lately EVERYTHING is a phone for Jackson. He holds anything he can up to his ear and jabbers "ya ya ya ya ya". Here is a toy remote as a phone...as well as my cell phone.


"Hello, anybody there?" Another phone call down the hall.

Just a cute cheese with all those teeth!

My jewelry also doubles as a phone...he is holding one of my necklaces to his ear.

Well clearly I have spent too much time on the computer because Jackson knows how much I hate when he picks his nose, and he keeps coming up to me laughing with both pointer fingers up his nose. I think someone needs some attention. The things he does for attention though! LOL.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy...

We had a VERY fun outing today to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy! Jackson loved seeing and imitating all the fish! His favorite part was the tide pool where he got to touch the stingrays. I couldn't believe how much he LOVED it, ha ha ha! We had to visit it multiple times. He also loved the adorable penguins. Check out some of these fun pictures! Hopefully we can go visit again soon with some cousins!

One of the best parts of the day, however, was when we were able to visit Matt at work for a few minutes and go to lunch. :) The Aquarium is right by his work! Yay!

The SHARK tank! :S

Jackson and Jonathan having a man-to-man discussion about the fish. So cute!

The beloved tide pool. The stingrays would flap their fins along the side of the pool, and it sounded like clapping. So Jackson decided he would clap back at them. It was pretty funny.

Some cool sea frog thing...

A close-up of a penguin. Obviously. LOL

More penguins.

Some really pretty baby rays that were in the same tank as the frog thing.

"Mama, I love these fish!"

30 steps...

It's been a month!? Wow. I know it's not Thanksgiving yet...but I sure have a lot to be grateful for!

Jackson is walking!!!! It is so dang cute to watch him "waddle" with his arms outstretched around the house. Today he walked from the kitchen to the family room--about 30 steps--all by himself! He was so proud, and I was delighted as well. He was even able to turn a corner in the process. Yay Jackson!!! He is also saying all kinds of things: kitty, hot, hat, light, "datson" for himself, daddy, mama, buh bye, turtle, bath, uh oh, and water. He makes all kinds of animal noises, loves to swing, and can point to his eyes, nose, and ears. Matt just taught him "knuckles" and "five".

I am absolutely LOVING being home with sweet Jackson, and I owe all my wonderful days watching Jackson grow and learn to my sweet husband. Thank you for working SO incredibly hard for us Matt! I don't know how you stay sane with your 14 hour days... Thanks!!!

Another thing I am grateful for...my mom is DONE with radiation! YAY MOM!!!! She made it! Now she has to start an intensive therapy program for 5 years...ugh. Hang in there! We are proud of you!

Well, I have a bunch more to be grateful for...but there is a little buddy pulling my arm to take him to play the piano...so...this post will have to end here. :) Now let's just hope it isn't an entire month until the next post. Ha ha ha!

Pictures from Jackson's Party

We had a good time celebrating Jackson's party, thanks to all of you that were able to make it.

Jackson not so sure in these pictures what to do.

Trying to figure it out.

The awesome stuff Jen put together for his party.

A close up picture of the awesome cake that tasted AMAZING!!!