What happened to lazy summer days?

Holy crazy summer!  It seems like for the last few weeks, we have done nothing but run, run, run!  Not that I'm complaining.  We've had a lot of fun this summer, but I am READY to do some relaxing before we get back into the schedule that the school year is bound to bring.  The next few posts are catch up posts from our crazy summer days.  OK - so there are a lot of posts, so if you want to see everything we've been doing lately, you'll have to look at the last two pages! :)

Happy Birthday Bryson!

Bryson's birthday was right in the middle of the dance festival (among other things).  So throwing him a birthday party was no small feat!  He really really really wanted a party though, so party we did!  15 boys came and played water games.  It was a huge squirt gun fight by the time it was over! :)  The weather cooperated and a storm started brewing right as the party was getting over.

Mom and Mel came for the party!  Thanks for your help!  I have the best family!

Exterminator - two boys were "it" with the water guns.  Everybody else were ants and the beach towels were ant hills where the ants were brought for "rescue"

Let's be honest - the presents were Bryson's favorite part of the party. :)

Water Limbo

Dance Festival 2010

We hosted musicians from Thailand this week.  They were very kind and respectful people and we really enjoyed getting to know them.  Kho and Tul stayed with us and didn't really love our food, but ate it.  Jenika adored them and was so sad when they left.  We took some of them on a short horse ride and they loved it.  We got to see some of the Thai culture and even learned a few words.........I don't know how long I will remember them though.  They are not easy words to pronounce!

The Thai team sang Happy Birthday to Bryson in Thai!

Koh on Jay Golden.  Ye Haw!

Thai chicken and some other things...I wrote down the name somewhere, but I can't find it now.  Doesn't it look delicious? 

Sierra danced in the pre-show Fri. and Sat. nights

I think we are all so tired, that we are giddy.  This was after Sat. night's performance.

Head, Heart, Hands, Health

We spent a lot of time this summer doing 4-H projects.  In fact, we spent so much time on them that we forgot to take pictures!  Here are the results:  Sierra got blue ribbons on sewing, the style review, crocheting, scrap booking, 4-H camp, and flip-flop making.  Bryson got a blue ribbon for wilderness.  Jenika got a blue ribbon for her cloverbud projects.  We are so proud of the kids, and are planning to start earlier next year so that we aren't cramming the week (or the night) before the fair! :)

We went to Bear Lake with my family in July.  We rented a house next to a modle-T body shop.  It wasn't quite camping, but it was a lot less work!  It was so much fun that we think that we might just have to make it an annual event.   We took family pictures, ate good food, played a lot of hearts, got sunburned at the lake and went through the caves.  Here are a few pics of the lake! :)

Football in the lake was a blast, but Griffin's team had an unfair advantage! :)

Bryson and Russel loved getting buried in the sand.

Sierra went in search of a bathroom while we were all in the water.  She told Grandpa where she went, be nobody knew that she went the bathroom that was clear on the other side of the beach.  We (especially me) were all frantic until Shawn found her walking back from the bathroom.  I was so relieved to see her with him.  

The kids were all so proud of their sandtopia!

SWIM CAMP!

In July, we spent a week at Green Canyon Swim camp with our neighbors the Loves!  We stayed in our awesome ghetto trailer and the kids had 60 min. swimming lessons twice a day.  They learned a lot due mainly to the time that they spent in the pool.  By the end of the week, the older two could tread water and swim across the pool.  The facilities weren't the best, but we don't require a lot, and we all had a blast!

Hi!  My name is Jo...............

Teton Dam Site

Shawn came up to visit on Tuesday night!

He took Millie home - She was a little noisy for our camp! :)

Cutler was too young for lessons this year.  It's a good thing we brought his bike!

Jenika was like a little fish!  She loved swimming!

Sierra and Whitney had so much fun together!

What a goof!

The girls - ready for bed.  The slept pretty hard after swimming so hard!

Some random summer fun

 Our neighbor has some pasture ground that he isn't using, so we brought some of my parent's and one of our horses up to our house for the summer.  We don't really have a barn or anything to keep equipment in or tie them up to, but the kids have had fun riding.

It isn't rare to have wind in Rigby, it's pretty much a given, but to have a day of steady, not too strong wind - the kind for flying kites, is a real treat.  So we had fun one day with some kites! :)

Jenika could barly hang on to the string the kite was so high!

One day, I was busy doing yard work.  Dinner time was fast approaching, so I asked Bryson to go inside, put some water and hot dogs in a pan and put them on the stove.  This is what I found when I got inside.   

One hot day, the kids played water baseball.  It started with a few kids, but after a few minutes, it turned into a pretty good crowd.

Cutler didn't really play the game, but he loved the slip and slide!  Another day, it wasn't so warm, and the boys filled up tubs w/ warm water.  Cutler used it as his personal hot tub.

HoPe oF AMeRica

Our children are the Hope of America.  Throughout the month of June, I was privileged to help with a children's choir organized to educate the youth about our country's history and the foundations that our country was built upon.  In addition to the choir's main performance, we rode in a the Rigby Stampede parade, performed at the Constitutional Tribute, and performed at the Menan Days Celebration It was a wonderful experience; our children loved participating in it and so did I. We made some good friends, learned a lot, and felt like we were able to contribute to a very worthwhile cause!  I can't wait for next year!

Blessing and Baptism

In July, Spencer (Rus and Diana's) was baptized and Camdon (Rob and Keli's) was blessed on the same weekend.  We drove up to SLC on Friday night, stayed in Whit's apt. (Thanks Whit and Griff) went to the baptism on Sat.  Followed by a picnic at the church, a trip to the SLC DI, and a tour of Hill Air Force Museum.  Then we stayed in a hotel that night and watched fire works from the hotel window with Chinese take out.  It was GREAT and very relaxing.  Sunday we went to the blessing followed by another picnic, and left for home.  It was a perfect get-a-way and a reminder to me of how important the Priesthood is.  I am so grateful that we have it in our home.

Butterfly

One Sunday in June, we came home from church and found this on our front door.

Jenika especially loved the butterfly and kept it in our garage for a few weeks.  I was amazed that it lived.  We think that it may have broken its wing.  It disappeared one day and we're not sure what happened, but we prefer to think that she flew away.

Baseball

Bryson and Jenika played baseball this year.  That kept us at the park every night in June.  Bryson showed tremendous improvement over last year and his games were so much fun to watch.  He played on the Rays and they ended the season undefeated (but who's counting?)   He caught a few fly balls and even hit a home run!  Go Bryson!!!

Jenika wasn't much a baseball player, but she looked cute on the field!  She was pretty fun to watch, even though the most action we saw were a few dandelions.  

Cooper's Baby Blessing

Cooper Luke was blessed on June 6.  We took a loooong drive down to Utah on Saturday morning and got lost trying to get through all of the fun Utah construction.  We spent some good quality family time in the car though and loved getting together with the Jackson clan for dinner Sat. night and church and a picnic the next morning in Nephi.  Cooper is adorable and it's so fun to watch Casey and Luke as parents.

School's out for the Summer!

School was officially out for the summer on May 28, and the kids had planned an "end of the school year party" for that Friday night complete with a movie on the house and night games, but with the "Spring" weather they had to postpone to the next week, and then the next....This weekend we just said, "Rain or Shine" the show must go on!  We ended up playing most of the games inside and watching the movie in the house instead of on the house, but I think that the kids had fun.  I was so busy, I forgot to take pictures!

Fifth Grade

I got a call from Mrs. Thurber, principal at South Fork Elementary, on the 2nd to last day of school.  She asked if I would be interested in teaching fifth grade next year.  I am very excited to be teaching in the same school as my kids.  Fifth grade will be a new challenge for me after student teaching in first, but I am up to the challenge and I have the summer to prepare!  My classroom is brand new... so I am yard sale shopping this summer too for books and fun things for my classroom.  If any of you know of any retiring teachers looking to unload, let me know! :)

Prom!!!

Shawn managed to make himself the envy of all the wives and the enemy of all the husbands in our ward a few weeks ago.  Saturday, he took Bryson out to the wood supply store to get a few things.  He called me from the road and told me that he needed some information that was in an envelope on his nightstand.  When I opened it, I found the first clue of a treasure hunt that he had written just for me....He sent me all around the house inside and out. (I was giggling the whole time that I was searching)  The last clue was a very sweet love note and a wrapped gift box.  I opened it to find an elegent black dress and an ivatation to the Second Chance Prom that night.  He had gotten a babysitter and everything.  Here are a few pictures from our date:

                          Yes, that's a limo.  Jason rented it for the night.  It was my first time in    limo!  Thanks Jason! This is everyone we went to the dance with - a bunch of people from Shawn's office.  It was really fun, and we were both exhasted at the end of the night.  Thanks Shawn for a date that I will remember always!  I love you!

Cooper Luke Jackson

I know that I'm late, but Casey had her baby on April 26.  He is beautiful!  Welcome to Earth Cooper!

Dance Recital

Sierra, Bryson, and Jenika had their spring dance recital on April 23.  They all did great and looked so good. Jenika did a cute cha-cha and a swing (I think).  Sierra and Bryson did a beautiful waltz and a swing.  End of the year recitals always remind me that the year of lessons and work was worth it, and that someday, they might be really good (like the older kids who were amazing).  I will post better pictures when they get their recital pictures back.

Scriptures tonight

I know that I have a lot of catching up to do, but I wanted to write about tonight's scripture study.  It looked like this:  Cutler was giggling continuously at Dad (he was tickling him and pretending to be asleep), Jenika was thumbing through the Book of Mormon looking for words that she could read, Bryson was laughing at himself because he had discovered that he could make his armpit "fart", Sierra was trying to impress us all by her speed reading of the chapter, and I was wondering....is anybody getting anything out of this?  And then, I thought....."There is no place that I would rather be right now...It just doesn't get any better than this. :)"

For now....

I've been subbing two or three times a week for the last little while, and have enjoyed it, especially when I teach where my kids go to school. I have been learning a lot, and am really getting exited for when I have my own classroom. Thursday night, the secretary of the school where I student taught called me and asked me to sub for a 4th grade teacher who was 8 mo. pregnant and went in for a regular check up that night, ended up having her baby. She asked me to sub for the next day and for the rest of the year.  So - for now, I am teaching full time. She wasn't expecting to be out of school so soon, so I am doing lesson plans and everything. This will be a real test of my competence as a teacher and of my ability to keep up with things at home.  So - wish me luck! I'll definitely need it! :)

Glasses

Shawn took Sierra and Bryson to the eye doctor with him Monday. Here are the results:

Shawn - eyes are progressively getting worse, but correction can be purchased, and he is colorblind (who knew?)
Sierra - has an astigmatism in one eye and is farsighted in the other, also correctable for a small fee
Bryson - Colorblind (like father, like son)

Utah again

I can't share pictures because the camera was left on the kitchen counter this weekend, so I will just have to paint you a picture of our weekend.  We went to SLC to watch Griffin play in the Utah Spring scrimmage.  We went up the night before and stayed at the Country Inn and Suites.  We love that hotel and Mel's father - in-law manages it and always makes us feel like family.  Racheal got to come and spend the night w/ Sierra again and they LOVE getting together.  Sat. morning, Shawn took over life guard duty at the hotel pool while Mel and I went to see Casey in Nephi, and then we regrouped at the game. 

I hear that Griffin played an awesome game and caught every pass that they threw to him.  (I stood in the line for snow cones for most of the game - That was Jenika's evil plan to get out of watching the second half)  He even made a touchdown of about 50 yards!  We all cheered like crazy when he did that, and somebody turned around to me and said, "Do you know this is just a practice game?"   After the game, the players gave autographs, and then we had lunch with the team and their families.  It was very cool and we are so excited for Griff!  Go Utes!

I am so grateful for my family and the ties that pull us together.  Even though we are separated by a few miles, we are very close at heart and have such great fun when we get together.  In a long time when this life is over, I think that Heaven is going to be a blast! :)

Easter and Spring Break

Spring Break was at a perfect time on the canedar, but the weather wasn't very springy. We got out Wed, Thur, and Frid, and the next Monday after Easter. It was a perfect weekend for General Conference, and I loved it all. Easter was very fun and the Easter Bunny left some friends . The kids aboslutly love them. Mel and Jo and kids and my parents and grandma and grandpa James came over for Easter dinner and to watch General Conference.  Tuesday, we woke up to 5 or 6 inches of snow and a phone call from the school that it was canceled! How great was that!!! :) We made bunny trails and doughnuts and played card games all day. Nothing like a day off after 6 days off in a row!

Here is a picture of the kids before the hunt

Cutler was so excited to hunt for eggs!

Kids with the bunnies


The bunny trails - it was a neighborhood effort, but the trails were gone with the snow in two or three days.