Dance Recital!

 

In June Maddie had her end of the year dance recital with Evergreen Dance Academy.  She is my only child now that takes dance there. All of my girls have danced with this Studio over the years and she is the only one left there.  This year they performed the "Twelve Dancing Princesses" and Maddie's class was part of the Royal Court.

 

 

She loved being in the show! She loved the costumes, her bun in her hair, and her dance!  I just loved these shots I got during her dress rehearsal. That is the only time you can take pictures! Her facial expressions are priceless! 

 

 

 





 

In her class were some of her good friends from the neighborhood and the ward!  Shaylee Phelon, Kylie Cannon, and  Natalie Reid!

 

 

 

 

She is thrilled to be taking dance again this year.  She has Miss Kim for Ballet and Miss Jessica again for tap.  I love that she enjoys dancing and performing!

 

Basketball Season!

Mason finished his Basketball season a couple months ago. At one point he was on four different teams all at once. He loves this sport but I think he got a little burned out. He played on our ward church team, the school team, and two select teams (Jayhawks and Union Titans Select). He liked playing on all the teams but I think his favorite was his Pacific Middle School team. We loved going every T/TH to the Pacific Middle School games! 

He has played ball with some of these kids for several years!  They had a really great team and coach this year!  The team was undefeated the entire season!  They won every game home and away and were the district champions! 

The tournament was on a Saturday and they won every game to get them to the final championship game!  Unfortunately I think they got a little over confident and lost to their arch rivals "Shayla Middle School!" They ended their season on a very sad note!  They were all pretty bummed leaving that evening, but they accomplished alot this past season and had much to be proud of! 
They celebrated as a team a few weeks later with the team!  They had some great memories together!  We have loved watching Mason play this season wearing his favortie number 23!

 

Dance Team

Morgan ended her second year of dance team in March.  She has loved supporting her school by being on the Union Titans Dance Team.  This year they did three routines for their competition season.  In the "dance" category they split the team into JV and Varsity.  Morgan was in the Varsity dance called "Black Cat". This was Morgan's least favorite dance of the three and some of the other girls' felt the same way.  It was a challenging dance and they did fine but they never placed with this dance. 

 

 

Their "show" routine this year was Hairspray.  I thought it was such a cute routine.  The entire team loved this routine and it was their theme for the year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every time I saw this routine I would want to jump out of my seat and start dancing with them!  The crowd seemed to love it also.  Unfortunately, technically it wasn't as difficult as some of the other teams they competed against at the State competition therefore they didn't place.  But we still love the "You can't stop the beat" routine!

 

 

 

 

Their hip hop routine is usually the dance that they are the most competitive in. This year they brought in a choreographer from California to help them with this routine.  It was jam packed  from start to finish!

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the regular season they placed first and second at their competitions.  Therefore they had a good chance of placing at the State Competition in Yakima, WA.  The performance was amazing but they soon found out that the judges docked them for the brand names with the graffiti on their costumes.

 

With this deduction it took our girls' completing out of the running for a trophy.  They were all devastated and the tears were flowing! If it hadn't been for this costume deduction they would have placed 2nd or 3rd.  They ended up leaving the competition with their head held high knowing that they did their best!

 

 

At the end of the state competition before the awards the lights are turned off and it becomes a dance party!

 

Everyone on the teams and in the audience wears glow-in-the-dark paraphernalia.  It is very fun and everyone dances and sings! 

 

 

At the end of the season there is a team banquet.  This year Morgan was only one of two girls' that earned a 4.0!  She got a plaque with her name engraved on it to keep and she will also be on the team plaque that is kept at the school!  Morgan is a hard worker and she deserved this award!  Proud of all her accomplishments!

 







 

 

First Day of School!

Our First Day of School this year was on September 5!  Our school district for the past few years has been starting school before Labor Day, so this year they switched back to starting after!  I was very excited to have it start later since the weather is still so nice!  The kids were kind of dreading going to school since we had a busy summer, but when the day arrived they were ready to go back.   I was a little nervous because since we moved we had to get a boundary exception. I didn't think I had to do that since we are building our new house with the school boundaries, but at the very end of the summer I was filling out paperwork.  The girls' were nervous thinking they had to move schools but everything worked out great and they were able to start at their schools!!  I only have two now in elementary school! Maddie is in 2nd grade with Ms. Swiderek (Mas had her and he told Maddie that she was
his favorite teacher EVER at Harmony) 


Brinley is in Fourth Grade and has Mrs. Wright/Ms. Hannah


I have to drive these girls' to and from school since we don't live close anymore!  Luckily I carpool with a girl in my ward!  Boo Hoo to the days where the kids could walk or ride their bikes to school everyday!  Seriously miss that neighborhood!


Brooklyn started at Pacific Middle School.  She didn't seem that nervous and is having a good year so far.  She is such a easy going, awesome child! Who knew she would be like that since she's the "middle" child!!


Mason started HS at Union and Morgan is a Junior!  Crazy!  Mason seemed to have an easy transition to HS, I think since he has Morgan there to help him out.  They both have been doing great but are very busy with HW and activities!


Seminary started three days after school started.  Morg and Mas have to leave the house at 6:15 am to get there on time. This is a picture of them on the first day!



 I texted both of them and asked how their first day was.. Morgan's response was "It was soooo good :)" and Mason's was "It was alright."  I think last week Mas was pooped!  He went to bed by 9:00 pm every night.  Morgan on the other hand is now used to it and is getting to bed at her usual 11:00 pm. 
Every year I make them a special Back to School treat.  This year I made cupcakes with the gummy worms (Brinley's request). 


 They turned out great, but I had to borrow my neighbors muffin tins since I can't find them since the move!  AARG! 
The weather continues to be absolutely gorgeous!  This is what us North Westerners call Indian Summers! It has been hotter this month that it was this summer!  Crazy!  Love it though, we will soon have 9 months of rain!  My kids are getting ancy to wear new school clothes!   We are hoping for a fantastic school year!

 

Moving Day!

On July 20 we moved from our home NE 23rd Street.  We had lived on that street for a almost 10 years!      

We first lived at 17804 and then five years ago we moved across the street to 17803.  My heart was very saddened by this move.  We have had so many fabulous memories on this street! 

I had my last two children while living there, toddlers, and then four different first days' of Kindergarten. Walking to and from school, church, and friends' houses. Many Christmases, birthdays, and countless parties. We loved every minute of living there! Since we have been gone from the neighborhood my kids have mentioned how much they miss it!  I keep telling them that it will be worth it in a few months when we will be moving again, hopefully that will be our last!

 

Harmony Huskies!

 As another one of my children graduates from Elementary School I have to write a post about their amazing school Harmony Elementary!
All of my children have started at this school and three of them now have finished here as well, the latest being Brooklyn!
This is what I wished for as a child (mom don't get mad at me when you read this!!) I love the fact that my children have all been able to go to the same school!  I love that the teachers and principles know who we are!  I love that I feel so comfortable with many of the staff members and know them well.  I love that some of my children have had the same teachers and they recognize the "Jackson kids".  I just love everything about this school!   Harmony has an amazing staff and great programs!  Some of the things my girls did this year was Brooklyn participated in band as a fifth grader:



she also did Safety Patrol and had a fun end of the year celebration!


Brooklyn's teachers this year were Mrs. Tendler (fellow BYU grad and was also Mason's 5th grade teacher!) who taught reading and writing and Mr. Nadal who was amazing at Science and Math!







Brinley had Mrs. Brownlee:



We had never had her yet as a teacher so we didn't know much about her... but she was amazing with her kids and I loved going into her class!  They were always so well behaved and on task!  Brinley learned a lot from her and had a great year!  In third grade she participated in the cultural parade & potluck:
famous person presentations and in class plays:

Maddie had a fantastic year!  I was a little nervous for her because she is one of the youngest in her grade and a little on the timid side.  Her teacher Mr. Schiewe told me at her fall conference that he was a "little" worried about her the first week of school. But, by the time we had that conference in October she had grown so much already and by the end of the year she had done great!  Most of these huge improvements were because of her fantastic teacher:
Maddie also had a learning support teacher to help her with reading, Mrs. Baron:
She helped her excel in her reading and get her exactly where she needed to be by the end of the year! Some other fun things that Maddie did this year was breakfast club, field trips, music performance, hot air balloon launch:

and a fun field day with her class!



Harmony wouldn't be so great with out their principle Mary Horn!  She truly loves her school, the families, teachers, and of course the students!



At the end of the school year I always feel sooo emotional! I often have to fight back the tears, and this year was no exception!  Some of it is due to the fact that another year has flown by and my children are growing up so fast.  But mostly I think it's because I am sad that the year is over and they have to say goodbye to their great teachers!  This is why I truly love this school and cherish the memories we have made here!