Good Times, Good Friends, Good Memories...

Amber (Hoard) Hoffman & Angalee (Snell) Jackson

This whole blogging thing has been a great way for me to find some of my old friends. A few days ago, a friend of mine emailed me after finding my blog on someone else's blog. I asked her for Amber's info. because we had lost touch this past year and I didn't know how to find her. We found each other and Amber just happened to be in town from North Dakota, visiting her family in Utah. We met up at Cafe Rio and had a really long chat and some lunch. It was fun to actually talk in person. The last time we were together was at our 5 year high school reunion. We both missed our 10th so I guess this can count. It was great to catch up.

A hunting we will go

On Wednesday my mom came up to play and we were trying to figure out what to do with the kids. So, I suggested that we go up in the canyon and play "hunting." We got dressed up in our best attempt at hunting gear, ran to the dollar store to purchase our ammo, and stopped at Little Caesar's to pick up some dinner to take to Mueller Canyon (by the Bountiful Temple). When we got there, we found a shady spot by the stream to eat our dinner and made our big plan of how, where, and what we were going to hunt.

Here is Bryant, Mom, Cameron and Hallie getting ready for the big hunt.

Hallie is feeling official and showing us her badge.


Bryant is pointing at his target.


Here is Bryant's "big, white mountain bear" that he was getting ready to shoot. Hallie disagreed and called it a wolf.

Grandma is trying to show Hallie where the deer are... or the sasquatch or the Lock Ness Monster, or whatever it is she is trying to convince Hallie that is lurking in the forest.

When we had finished up our hunting trip, we ended up with a big white mountain bear, a few deer, a cheetah, some wolves, a badger, a moose and a squirrel. Quite the catch!

No more late nights

Today was Hallie's first day of school and I can't believe she is a big 1st grader.

She has been dreading school all summer long because she doesn't like all of the homework. I was a little worried until yesterday when she finally started to get excited.

This morning I woke up early to make her favorite breakfast-- waffles with whipcream and hot chocolate. She loved it and was actually excited to get dressed and do her hair (a task she normally dreads). I packed her first lunch with her favorite treat (Reese's Peanut Butter Cups) and a cute little note on her napkin.

When we pulled up to the parking lot she said that she was going to go in herself and I said, "What?" and she said, "Okay, you can come in, too."

I can't believe my baby girl is so big!

Sleepover

Hallie had her 1st sleepover ever on Monday night with Brooklyn. They were so excited. Monica dropped off Brooklyn after dance. We ordered pizza and had lots of junk food. We went to the Red Box earlier and Hallie picked out "Beverly Hills Chiuaua." I know-- very lame, but they loved it because they are obsessed with puppies. They played puppies afterward for a while until Mike told them it was time for bed (it was 9:30p.m.). I asked him what he was thinking-- this is a sleepover. You can't go to bed this early. There were lots of shrills and sqeals of joy. They played legos for another hour and then snuggled up in their sleeping bags in the family room. What a fun night! I can't wait to do it again.

late night legos


ready for bed

sleepover bliss

the aftermath

My Really Bad Day

Last Thursday was a really, really bad day. I felt yucky-- I hadn't washed my hair since Sunday; didn't exercise; ate junk; hadn't had any consistant sleep for several days; had grumpy, naughty kids and a teething, whiney baby with an ear infection that I didn't know about; had a sink full of dishes; about 10 loads of laundry to fold; a guilt complex about how I'd done nothing all day except discipline kids; etc...

So, I had told 2 of my friends in our ward who had just had babies that I would bring them dinner that night. I planned to make this yummy broccoli cheese soup and my favorite cinnamon rolls because they are a huge crowd pleaser, right? Well, I got out my huge stock pot and started the soup around 4:30 p.m. First you have to cook the vegies and then you add the cheese sauce. Anyway, it's a pretty long process, so while the soup was cooking I made the cinnamon rolls. I had Monica drop off Brooklyn and Joni so that my kids would have friends to occupy them, put on a movie, and assumed that Cameron would do great since he had just had a nap. However, much to my dismay, Hallie, Bryant, Brooklyn and Joni fought like cats and dogs, and Cameron cried and fussed the entire time I was preparing dinner. I strapped Cameron in his chair and shoveled food in his mouth to try to keep him happy while I mixed the cinnamon rolls, mixed the ingredients for the cheese sauce and yelled at the big kids to stop fighting. Imagine the horror when at 5:55 p.m. I am getting ready to dish up the soup that was supposed to be delivered at 6:00 p.m., and I notice that my creation is not the creamy, delicious consistancy of cheesy broccoli soup, but big chunks of cheesy goo and watery, yellowish liquid. I panicked. I tasted the soup to see if it was still edible, and it was, but it just looked so disgusting that I couldn't give it to someone who had made me gourmet lasagna when I had had my baby. So, I packed up the cinnamon rolls since they had survived the ordeal, and looked in the freezer. I found only 1 frozen pizza. I called Monica and begged for another. "I've got nothin,'" is all I heard and I hung up and frantically called everyone in the ward that I could call that would possibly lend me a frozen pizza. This calling process took much longer and was not as effective as it could have been had I had my cell phone, which I had misplaced the week before. Most of the people that I wanted to call were not on the ward list and the one's that were didn't answer.

Monica arrived shortly after and tried to help me brainstorm a solution to my problem. Finally, she was inspired and offered up the soup she had made for her family's dinner. Since Tom wasn't scheduled to be home from work that night, I offered up the rest of the cinnamon rolls for our kids to eat for dinner. Then I ran to her house, packed up the soup and dropped it off with the cinnamon rolls about 30 minutes late. I was done.

I came home to a HUGE mess. In all of my cooking and child caring, I had managed to totally destroy my kitchen, and the kids helped out with the living room and their bedroom. I put the kids to bed, of coarse with a huge fight, and sat on the couch to watch some tv to help numb my brain, and avoided doing dishes, laundry, showering, etc.

Mike showed up around 9:00 p.m. It was an early night for him. I was impressed. He happily did the dishes and cleaned up the messes before he went to play basketball. I was elated. I just didn't think I could do it and live to see another day. The tears flowed and Niagra Falls came crashing down. I have such a great husband.

The moral of the story is...

The Lord always knows what we need and how to help us in our times of trial. He knew that I had only one frozen pizza and he made up the difference for me by sending Monica to save me with her amazing homemade chicken noodle soup. He blessed me because I had done all I could and he knew that I couldn't do any more. He also knew that I just couldn't do one more thing that night so He miraculously sent my husband home from work to save my from my dishes.

Moral # 2...

It can always get worse.

And that brings me to the end of my story. That HUGE pile of dishes that Mike loaded into my dishwasher... well, it didn't actually get cleaned that night. We ended up doing them all by hand the next day because the dishwasher decided it had finally had enough. The dishwasher died.

Thank heavens we're in a rental and moving out in 3 weeks!

Fun with the Cousins

Occasionally I get the opportunity to have my sister's kids for a few days while her babysitters (in-laws) are out of town. The kids love having Cailyn and Gavin come to sleepover and we always try to make it really fun. A few weeks ago they were here. We went to the "rivers" fountains at Liberty Park and let them run around for a while. The kids always love it there.

Gavin, Hallie, Cailyn & Bryant

Little posers

Taking it easy

Gavin loves to splash!

Cute little diaper bums

Our little water baby

Cailyn is ready for her cover shot

Bryant basking in the sun

Whenever I have all of the kids together, I get all sorts of looks like, "You poor woman-- 5 kids under 6," or "What in the heck was she thinking?!" I am glad their not all mine. Although I love them all to death, I think I would be really crazy by now.

Party in the minivan!

Hot Summer Nights

Our summer days in the Jackson home consist of Mommy trying to find stuff for the kids to do; Daddy off to work every day, all day, and sometimes all night long (dang the accounting profession!); and living for the weekend when we can put the kids to bed at the Marchants', wherever they will fit (including closets), and party hard (basically stuffing our faces and playing games until the wee hours of the morning). This summer our best buds, the Greene's, came to visit from North Carolina. We only had one night to play but it was good to see them again. Can't wait for the annual Marchant, Jackson, John, & Greene Christmas party!

Levi & hungry little McKay

Jenny-- always making us something yummy

Tom & Monica enjoying the feast

Joni & Bryant's little dinner date in the backyard

Brooklyn, Hallie & Jackson planning something naughty (I just know it)

McKay & Cameron being little buddies

On the 24th of July we had a little celebration at the John's. We rented this blow-up water slide, had yummy food from the garden, and watched some fireworks, courtesy of the pyrotechnic experts-- Tom, Mike, and Brandon. Did I mention Tom almost had his face blown off? Yea, it was pretty exciting.

Mike & Brandon wishing they were smaller so they could play, too.

The BFF's are getting ready to race.

Joni Baloney cheesing it for the camera

Clara, what a cutie pie!

Bryant trying to make it up the ladder

Hallie and her big wedgy-- I think the suit is a little too small, don't you?

Looks like Brooklyn needs a new suit, too.

The amazing show (amazing because we didn't have to call an ambulance for Tom)

Playing Catch Up

We've had such a fun summer that I've decided to play a little catch up and share some of our adventures. In June, Mike's work decided that we needed a little break and sent us on a trip to Southern California. We decided that if we were going all that way, that we had to take a few more days and stop at Disneyland. We kept the trip a secret from the kids and told them on the morning of. They were so excited!

Bryant's reaction

Hallie's reaction

We stopped at Mike's Grandma LaRae's house in St. George on the way. We went to dinner, swimming, visited with family, and went to the quietest ward we've ever been to.

Bryant, Hallie & LaRae

Our second day of the trip, we didn't arrive in Anaheim until really, really late. So, the courtesy chocolate chip cookies were a yummy mid-night snack when we checked into the Double-Tree. The next day was the long-awaited trip to Disneyland.

In front of Sleeping Beauty's castle

Our favorite ride

Mike is such a kid.

The end of the day

The day after Disneyland, we decided to try out California Adventure. It was fun. Our favorite ride was California Soarin'. The kids also loved to see their favorite Disney characters.

Bryant and Lightning McQueen

Hallie and Mater


3D Bug's Life video



After California Adventure, we drove down to our awesome hotel in San Diego. It was so late when we got there so we went to bed right when we got there. In the morning we went straight out to the beach.

Hotel Del Coronado

Our hotel was right on the beach so in the morning we went out and took a few family pics before we played in the sand and the waves.

Hallie and Bryant sitting on the rocks during high tide acting like they're afraid they're going to get washed away.

Hallie is trying to figure out how to get the water into her bucket without going out too far.

When it was time to clean up, Bryant decided he would take the umbrella. But it took him away instead.

On our second day in San Diego, we went to Sea World.

Mike and the kids hiding in a cave in the artic exhibit.

Mom and Cameron

Bryant feeding the rays

Our favorite ride at Sea World-- we went on it about 10 times

Cameron wouldn't keep his hat on during the Shamu show, so we turned it inside out.

Cameron eating his messy lunch at the food court

Mike watching TV at the hotel after a long day of Sea World

The kids are all tuckered out.

Friday morning before we left to go home, we went out and played on the beach one last time. When we had finished adding to our huge collection of shells, we decided to let Cameron get a little messy in the mud.

Loving it!

Whose adorable kids are those?

It was an awesome trip and a much needed break from life as we know it. We had such a great time and made some fun memories.