Birthday Surprises X3!

One week ago was my 40th birthday! It was a nice and relaxing day. I had breakfast in bed, a one hour massage, and lunch at one of my favorite restaurants with my favorite person, Jon! During the afternoon and evening several friends/family either stopped by or called to wish me well on this big birthday. After putting the kiddos to bed Jon was resting on our bed telling me that he was tired! He said is there anything good to watch on TV tonight? I said no but he told me turn it on so he wouldn't fall asleep. When I opened up our Armoire there sat a new TV for our room!

This was his first birthday surprise! I was so excited since we love to watch our favorite shows in bed late at night after everyone is asleep! Jon somehow snuck in the big TV box, removed the old/heavy TV by himself, and set up the new one when I was in the house! I stayed up late watching my new TV! The next day started like the others. After my morning workout and a few errands Jon called to ask what I was doing. I told him and he said that he was going to come home for lunch. Ten minutes later there was a knock at the door and when I opened it up my little Sister from NM was singing Happy Birthday to me!!! (Surprise #2) I was shocked and overcome with emotion. I immediately started to cry. I had been asking both her and Jon if Jon was secretly flying her up for my Birthday! They both denied it! And they were not lying because SHE planned this surprise and paid for her ticket! She said that she's been planning this for a year and has had her ticket for months! That afternoon we got pedicures together:We made homemade pizza & bread sticks and watched a chick flick in the evening! We had a packed Saturday the next day. We first went to the gym and Monique took one of my classes and then we went straight to Mason's BBall game. The rest of the afternoon we spent together shopping and eating lunch at Panera Bread (a favorite for both of us!) It was so fun to be together talking, laughing and just doing anything together! We got home just in time for dinner that Jon had made. We then rushed out the door to go to a movie (What I thought) Jon had told me that he locked his keys in his truck at work (he had to goto work on Saturday) and we needed to pick up his car there. Little did I know that he had planned a party for me and invited several of our friends! He set up a drive in movie. This was the screen, a large piece of white paper taped to the outside of the building.
As we turned into the parking lot there were 25 cars and they were all honking! His truck was set up in front with a movie being projected onto this screen. He had a FM Modulator so all you had to do was turn your car radio to a certain station and the audio was there. Everyone came out of their cars to wish me a Happy 40th Birthday!I was truly surprised! He worked so hard and long on this party! I had a great time! Many of my/our dearest friends' were there to make it a Special Night for me! Jon had all my favorite treats for the movie. Popcorn (of course), Reese's PB Cups, Hot Tamales, Hot Chocolate, and Carrot Cupcakes!
We then went back to our cars to watch a movie that he had made of my life! He got several pictures from my mom and then my sister scanned all of them in. Jon then took these pictures and several others and put them to music and made a movie of my life. It was so funny and sweet! I was in tears by the end! (I tried to upload the movie here but it didn't work!) I am so thankful to Jon for making this a night I will never forget!

On Sunday we went to church, relaxed, ate, and Monique and I even did a little crafting! Our weekend quickly ended and I had to say goodbye to my Best Friend early Monday morning!

We were both sad but had a fabulous time together! Thank you so, so, so much for making my 40th birthday special!

There were many others that gave me fun birthday gifts but here are some of my favorites! Jon gave me this popcorn machine! I LOVE IT!!!
It actually is still sitting on my counter and we just keep making popcorn! The girls' love it also and don't want us to put it away!
A friend of mine from the gym Lori made this darling hat! It says Fab Forty! She also made me a charm necklace with my initial, the number 40, and the word dream! She's way creative! We have been dancing all week to my MJ Thriller CD that Christy gave me!
Morgan, and Brooklyn made me this darling Happy Birthday Banner last week when I was at gymnastics with Brinley. They had it hung up when we got home to surprise me on my birthday!Thanks to everyone who made my birthday very special and one to remember! Hey I guess turning 40 is not that bad, and you know what they say "40 is the new 30"!!!

Birthday Favs at Forty!

As I have been contemplating my birthday post I have wondered what I should say! This being a new year, new decade, and forty years old I have decided to not be sad about this new age but instead I am going to "embrace it!" Last year a dear friend gave me this awesome gift filled with lotions, lip balm, and creams. It's titled Birthday Girl. On each of the items inside it has written on the bottles different philosophies. I am going to share with you the philosophy it has on the outside package!

Birthday Girl philosophy: be grateful to have been given one more day, let alone one more year. remember to dance in your nightgown, sing in the shower, ride a bike, and fly a kite. give those you love big kisses, huge hugs, and the words "i love you" often and always. nurture your body rather than starve your soul with fad dieting. spend time with the old and the weary to better appreciate your life. on your birthday, call your mother and father wherever they are to thank them for all that they have done for you, even if you think they haven't done enough. watch the move "life is beautiful" at least once a year. remember that you are not guaranteed tomorrow and that today s as good as it gets. thank god for every"thing" every "day", every moment!

I decided that I want to live this philosophy especially this "Big Birthday" year. I also wanted to share some of my favorites at this stage of my life! So this is my list of "Favs At Forty"!!! (In no particular order!)

1. Pajamas

2. Denver Broncos

3. The Jackson Five

4. Book of Mormon

5. Cleaning

6. Boating

7. Shopping

8. Mason's Bball Games

9. Bathrobes

10. Food

11. Friends

12. Brinley's Smile

13. Vacationing

14. Diet Dr. Pepper

15. Disneyland

16. Hosting Parties

17. Scrapbooking

18. Siblings/Parents

19. Teaching Aerobics

20. Going to Movies

21. BYU Cougars

22. Exercising

23. Colorado Mountains

24. Crafting

25. Hot Chocolate

26. Dancing

27. Extended Family

28. Slippers

29. Skiing

30. Caribbean Water

31. Popcorn

32. Roller Coasters

33. Little girls in Tutus

34. Morgan Dancing

35. LDS Church

36. Camping

37. Decorating

38. Playing Games

39. Fall

and

40. JON!

Sling Shot!

Brinley celebrated her 7th birthday yesterday, January 18! She was lucky that this year it fell on a holiday, thus no school! It worked out fabulous because we were able to have her friend party the same day! Brinley's cousin Cater (whose bday was only three days earlier, Jan 15) told his mom, "How come Brinley's bday is on a holiday and doesn't have to go to school?" We started the day with a Jackson bday fav, breakfast cooked by Dad!

She was very specific on her Breakfast: bacon, Orange Julius, toast, and an omelet with sausage, cheese, avocado, and cottage cheese. It turned out rather large and she only ate a third of it! She then opened her family gifts and played all morning! Brinley wanted to have a gymnastics party at the gym where she takes classes. The party was very affordable and I didn't have to do anything! The girls' had cake, ice cream and presents in the party room in the beginning!We then headed out into the Gym for the remaining hour to play!!! They all had a blast. I was trying to run around and get as many photos as possible. Each of the kids took turns jumping on trampolines, flipping into the foam pit, swinging on barstwisting on the trapeze, twirling in the triple swing

playing in the obstacle course, walking on the beams, and the rope zip line!

The best part was when Brinley was harnessed into the Sling Shot! It was crazy! Helen(the coach) pulled her back as far as the elastic bands would allow

and then she would just let her go and Brinley would go flying through the airShe was up high and I was a little nervous and I think she was also, but after one time she didn't want to stop, she loved it! A girl after my own heart! No fear!!!It was such a fun place for a party! I think they all had a great time! This is all of Brinley's friends and Helen the coach! Naomi Brown, Brinley, Coach Helen, Kennedy Cannon, Kennedy Lake, Sydney Morgan, and Jessica Bruning. Mason, Brooklyn and Maddie also came to the party but were having too much fun to be in the picture!

The rest of her day was spent playing with her new presents from her friends, going out to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes with the family, and a rousing game of Candy Land to end the evening! As I tucked her in last night, I snuggled with her and told her about the day when she was born. It was so fun and I love that she is still little enough to hold in my arms! We love you Brinley and hope you had a Happy Birthday!

At age Seven (this is mostly for my journaling purposes)

Brinley is my very spirited child! She can be quite dramatic at times! She always has a smile on her face and can light up the room with it. All day long school has been an adjustment. She gets tired and if she doesn't get enough sleep at night she can be grouchy! She's my diddle daddler. She constantly needs reminding in the morning to get her lunch made, make her bed, and to get dressed. Her and Maddie share a room and love it! They usually play very well together! Morgan, Mason, and Brooklyn all want to dance and flip her around because she is so flexible! Morgan especially loves to play gymnastics with her and always wants to know what she did in class that day. She played soccer in the fall but loves her gymnastics class! She has lost only two teeth and asks me constantly if she needs braces. She's still very small for her age and probably weighs under 40 pounds (I don't exactly know b/c I have no scale). Her and Madelyn share almost all their clothes except for pants. She is developing some good muscles since she started doing gymnastics two hours a week. Morgan said just last week, "I can't believe her muscles, it's not fair!" She is always showing Jon her "Rocks covered with Skin (her biceps)." She told Jon six months ago that his muscles looked like Rocks covered with Skin, so that's a big joke around the house now! Her two best buddies are Rachel Zundel and Kennedy Lake. She also loves to be with her sisters and is still Mason's Honey! Brinley likes to ride her bike, jump on the tramp, play Pollies, Strawberry Shortcake and with her new DS. Her favorite foods are still strawberries, kiwi, broccoli, salad, and Sun Chips! She's one of my best eaters and will always try anything! We just love our little Brinley Jean Jackson and can't believe that she is already Seven!

"A" Team!
Last Friday morning I went to Pacific Middle School Honor Roll Assembly. There were several students at the sixth grader assembly. But at the eighth grader assembly the number of students decreased significantly. I am very proud of both Mason and Morgan who BOTH earned 4.0 for their first trimester. They are both on the A Team! There were several 6th grader's that earned this recognition, but there were probably only 20 8th graders that earned 4.0's and Morgan was one of them! Way to go!!! Keep up the great work!

Christmas Break Week #2

Week number two of Christmas was fun even though everyone missed gma and gpa Baldwin. We had a SURPRISE little snowstorm roll through on Tuesday afternoon and evening! The kids were thrilled! Maddie was a little confused, she kept on saying "But it was suppose to snow on Christmas Day, Mom?" We played all evening in our yard. It stopped for a couple of hours and then started up again at 10 pm. I got Jon out of bed to come and play with the big kids. We all had a great time throwing snowballs at each other (this was Base for the kids, the back of Jon's truck)
and trying to make a snowman! By the morning it was melting and becoming slush. It's a good thing we played in it until midnight! The next day Temple and I took the crew Ice Skating. They loved it, but it was a little crowded and a little too hard for Maddie and Mark. Everyone skated while Temple and I tried to keep the little ones happy!

Thursday we had planned on taking everyone up to Mt. Hood to sled. We decided to go to a place called Little John. The weather was a little snowy getting up there which meant that it took us over two hours until we arrived. There we No One else there which was great! It was raining and the snow was VERY wet! We all went down several times! Jon said I even caught some serious air once! We made snow angels, tried to make a snow fort, and had a big snowball fight. We all got completely soaked and cold fast! We tried to warm up in the warming hutbut the kids' were done! We were there MAYBE an hour and a half!
We loaded everyone up after completely taking all the wet clothes off and headed back down the mountain! We were in the car for over four hours and sledding for less than two! Crazy! The things we do for our kids! The next day was New Years Day. I spent the entire day and evening taking Christmas down! It seemed to take forever this year and I was anxious to get it all done! We did however take a break from that and go to a fun Rose bowl party. Too bad the outcome was not what we wanted but it was still a great way to welcome in the New Year!