Season Premier!
Last night was the season premier of one of my all time favorites:
Yes, I still watch that show and have watched it for 15, FIFTEEN years!!! Most people can't believe that I have stuck with it for all these years. There has been some great years and some years that have not been so great but I don't think I have ever missed an episode! I remember when I was in Utah for Thanksgiving in 1999. We hurried home from my grandma's house on Thanksgiving Day to watch nurse Carol Hathaway have her twins! That's one dedicated fan! I started watching ER when we still lived in Provo, UT and Jon was finishing up his Masters. When you think about THAT, that's a long time to watch a TV show. We moved to Holland, MI for Jon's first job in January. We lived with Jon's brother and sister-in-law for a few months while we were building our first home. Temple and I clicked fast (who doesn't love her) and we soon found out that we both loved ER. We have watched many an episode together most of them were when she would be doing my nails. So yesterday I called her and invited her over for the Season Premier!We laughed but mostly cried during the episode because Dr. Pratt died! Temple said "This can't be happening!" and then she said "none of this is happening because it's just a TV show" which made us both laugh! We have shared many fun ER times together and are looking forward to a great season. Many of the old FAVS are coming back Dr. Carter, Luka, and Dr. Mark Greene (how's that going to happen I'm not sure b/c he died in season 8). I want to see hotty Dr. Ross (George Clooney) make an appearance but the word on the street is he's not interested! It will be a fun year but what will I do with my Thursday night's?

Champoeg Half

Last Saturday was my half-marathon run at Champoeg State Park. I was excited and nervous at the same time. I ended up going with my friend Allison Allen. I met her when we lived in Michigan 12 years ago. Our husbands work together now and she recently moved to the NW a year ago. She has done other events like this so since this was my "First"one I was just following her lead. This was us before the race:

And this was us after the race with big smiles knowing that we were done! I was very happy to have completed the race within my goal of under 2 hours and 10 minutes. I finished in 2:09:40! I just barely made it! I don't even consider myself a runner and sometimes don't even like to run so this was a big accomplishment for me. My coaches (Ali & Stacey) couldn't run with me that day but they both helped me tremendously! They were my running partners, nutritionists, and most of all my great friends! A big thanks goes to them for helping me meet my goal. One of them said you will either love it or never want to do another one again. After finishing I was definitely tired but I'm already looking forward to the next one!

Looking Forward To Something!

My entire life I have thrived on having something to look forward to! It didn't matter what it was the start of a new school year, a vacation, Christmas holiday, or even a ballet recital. I have continued this obsession into my adult life. This year of 2008 I have had many things to look forward to like: vacation with my sweet husband, meeting my niece for the first time this summer, traveling to NYC with Morgan, and most recently Brooklyn's Baptism. Now that all those wondrous events are over I have been feeling somewhat depressed. I have thought this past week "I have nothing to look forward to anymore!" I have even communicated this to my husband, sister, and mom! It finally hit me just today that I do have something to look forward to even this week!

Spending one-on-one time with Brinley while Maddie's at pre-school:

Today we went on a bike ride to the Maplecrest Trail. I picked blackberries for her to eat and she told me that it was her best bike ride ever!

Watching Mason while he's doing his Safety Patrol Duties.

Cooler temperatures and my favorite season of all, FALL!

Morgan's first day of Pointe Class.

My half marathon on Saturday. (I'm more looking forward to it being over!)

My favorite TV show that starts tonight!

I still have no idea when I will see my family again, not sure of our holiday plans, and have no vacations in the future, but I am grateful for all the little things that I can look forward to each and every week!

Back to School

All five are in school this year! Maddie's first day was today and I cried after dropping her off. All the kids enjoyed their first week and are excited for the new school year!

Brooklyn's Baptism

Brooklyn was Baptized last Sunday with three other kids in our ward. It was a very exciting time for her. Two of her friends Elizabeth and Faith were also baptized. She was a little nervous once she went into the font but then she looked up and was happy when she saw all her family and friends. Jon and I both can't believe that another one of our children is Baptized. It doesn't seem that long ago that Morgan was Baptized. We are blessed to have such great parents that support us and are willing to come to such special occasions!

We are all proud of Brooklyn and the choice she made to be baptized!

I just wanted to write down eight great things about Brooklyn!

1. She is my best helper! She's always wanting to help sweep, clean the windows, and cook with mom.

2. She's a great big sister to Maddie! Lately Maddie has been playing house with Brooklyn and she calls her Mom, Brooklyn informed me that she's the FAKE mommy and I'm still her REAL mommy!

3. Mason and her have this love/hate relationship (not really). He's constantly teasing her and inturn her feelings get hurt. But in the evening they love to read together and sometimes even sleep together.

4. She loves to ride her bike, play tag, and is enjoying her first year of soccer!

5. She's is quite an artist! She's always coloring and drawing. When my parents were here she made a book for my mom of all her drawings. My mom was thrilled to be able to take it back to CO with her!

6. She's very independent and quite responsible for an eight year old. Sometimes she gets lost in the suffle b/c there's Morgan the oldest, then Mason the only boy, Brooklyn, then Brinley/Maddie that are constantly needing me! Brooklyn just knows how to hold her own!

7. She loves to play Barbies, pretend school, Polly Pockets, American Girl Dolls, and her new thing is listening to her new Ipod Shuffle.

8. Brooklyn has been telling people (her teachers at school, some friends) that her name is Brooke. I loved the name Brooklyn long before I even was pregnant with her so I'm still telling people that her name is Brooklyn!

We are blessed to have Brooklyn in our family and are sad that she's growing up so fast!

Cougar Football

The BYU Cougars were in Seattle WA yesterday to play the Washington Huskies. We decided to purchase tickets through the BYU-Alumni association in June and take Morgan, Mason, and Brooklyn to the game.

It was an awesome game! The game was close the entire time. Those are the kind of games that I love to watch! We scored with 3 minutes left in the game to give the cougars a 28-21 lead but then WA came back to score their final touchdown with only 3 seconds on the game clock. Jake Locker (the WA QB) was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for tossing the ball in the air. This moved them 15 yards back for the xtra point kick. The BYU defense blocked the kick giving the cougars an exciting finish and winning 28-27. I took a picture of the score board showing only 1 second left on the clock!

It was so, so FUN! The BYU fans were going crazy! And there were many of them! Jon and I couldn't believe how many BYU fans were there! We had a great time and loved cheering for our favorite school! GO COUGARS!

Back to School Bday Bash!

Monday was Brooklyn's eighth birthday. We celebrated with the family on Monday and today she had her friend party. I thought a "Back to School" themed party would be fun since school starts tomorrow! At the last minute I decided to throw her a party not knowing what we were even going to do at this party! I quickly made Apple invites before we went out of town and got them delivered. I found many ideas on line for back to school parties that were cute. I printed off a few ideas and then Morgan pretty much planned the rest! She was a BIG help but she loved it! She printed out the girls school Schedule which included homeroom, PE, Snack time, Art class, and Recess! Our Bonus room was converted into a school. Morgan had them do a word search and coloring while everyone was arriving. During PE they had a fun relay with two different teams. They had to wake up, get dressed, pack their lunches, backpack and then run to school. They loved it and wanted to keep on racing! For Art they each decorated their own pencil jar with markers, crayons, and stickers.

Their favorite time of the day was recess where they played outside on the trampoline! We finished off the party with cake, ice cream and presents. I made this apple cake with the help of Morgan. I was so proud of myself because Jon usually makes all the BDay cakes. Their favorite part of the cake were the gummy worms.

Their party favors were just in a brown paper lunch sack. I filled them with Back to School supplies that I found on sale, a real apple, and some fun Back to School items from the Target $1 section!

Brooklyn was excited to have all her best friends at the party! She has so many great girls her age! All of these girls live in the neighborhood, go to our ward, and attend the same school!

I'm so glad that we pulled off another successful party! One of the girls told her mom "Mom it was just like school but even BETTER!" Happy Birthday Brooklyn!

End of Summer Blues!

Everyone at the Jackson household is sad for our fun summer to be over! These are the 10 things I will miss about summer:

1. The Sun and Warmer Weather!

2. Bare feet and Flip Flops!


3. Wholesome Recreational Activities with the Family!

4. Staying up Late and Sleeping In!

5. Fresh Veggies from our Garden!



6. No Set Schedule!

7. Sheridans Razzle Dazzle Sundaes!

8. My pretty Flowers! 9. Barbeque's!

10. And Running around in Swim Suits all Day!

Lake Billy Chinook

Lake Billy Chinook!

We had a fabulous time camping last week at Billy Chinook! Jon even said that he thinks it was his best camping trip EVER! Which is a big deal since we have been camping at least once sometimes twice every summer for the past ten years! We had great weather, great location, great company, and many great memories!