It's Official!

We are now the proud parents of a Teenager!

Morgan turned 13 yesterday! She's a very responsible and good girl. I can't believe that she's a teenager and that we are old enough to have one. I know that I'm getting old when Monique told me that I was old enough to be Zac Efron's (Troy from HSM 3) MOTHER! I was telling her how cute he was in the new movie.

Halloween FHE

For Family Home Evening we had a fun Halloween Dinner! Morgan has been wanting to use our new Halloween plates and serve this dinner for weeks! With a BUSY week ahead of us (homework projects, Morg's Bday, & the holiday) we decided to have our fun "kid" dinner last night. We served warm soup with cheese shaped into a leaf:

Hot Dogs wrapped in bread stick dough to resemble Mummies:

Witches Fingers and orange jello:

And yummy homemade Root beer!We invited our friends the McKagues over for dinner. I told them that it wouldn't be a gourmet meal but we would have fun! Jon's idea was to serve Fondue for dessert! It turned out soooo good. We all got filled up on chocolate and carmel fondue!Even Madelyn loved the fondue. Her favorite was the chocolate dipped strawberries, pineapple, bananas, and marshmallows!A fun time was had by ALL! (Sorry about the blurry pictures I realized today that some one's little fingers found my camera lens!)

Twilight Fan!

For the past couple of years I have heard much about the Twilight Books but never read them. I've seen the movie trailer, heard about the midnight book releases and read blog posts of people obsessed with Edward! I often thought to myself what's with all this Twilight Madness! WELL...last weekend Morgan brought the book home from her English class. She was reading it and so I thought I would read it also. Monday morning arrived and she took the book back to school. I needed to have my own copy! I was hooked! I quickly got on the phone and called two friends for their copy of the book. I actually stopped by to pick them up that morning! I haven't been able to put it down all week! A few times last week I even climbed into my bed after putting Maddie down for her nap and read the whole time she was sleeping! One afternoon Morgan came home from school and was giving me some attitude! She finally admitted to me that she was jealous that I could read at home while she was busy at school. She was also mad that I was almost finished with the book! I am now into book two New Moon. The best thing about getting on Twilight bandwagon this late in the game is that I can read one right after another! I don't have to wait until another one is released and the movie is opening up next month! Jon said he has never seen me so crazy about reading a book! I never read and my sister even calls me her Non-Reading Sister! It has been fun and now I can say that I too am a Twilight Fan!

Quirks!

I have now been tagged for the second time to list my six quirks! I guess I better finally follow up on these.
1. I have a problem with doing things sometimes. For example, I will begin to wash dishes, then get distracted and begin to fold laundry, before finishing either of those things some child of mine will then ask me to read some school paper, or sign a planner! UGH! I feel like I can never finish the first thing that I started.
2. I have to have my OWN space when I sleep!!! No one can be touching or snuggling me. I don't even like my own hair to be in my face. I'm so glad we have a king sized bed now because I don't even like it when Jon's close to me.
3. I am a claustrophobic person. I think I inherited this from my mother. I don't really like to ride on elevators fearing that one day I will get stuck on one. I don't like small tents to sleep in when camping. And when flying on airplanes I hate it when my ears get plugged up and I can get them to pop! I've decided that it's because of my phobia. So I am constantly chewing gum while trying to pop my ears and freaking out b/c they are not popping!
4. I hate to get ready for bed. I find the whole process long and annoying. Jon can just brush, floss and be done within 3 minutes! I on the other hand have to first take out my contacts, take off the makeup, then put on 3 different moisturizers to help with my aging skin, brush, floss, use the restroom, put on my chap stick, and lotion up my hands (sometimes feet when they're bad in the summer)!!! I then have to get a drink right before I actually fall asleep! By the time I have done all of this there have been several times in our married life that Jon's already asleep!
5. Since I don't own a scale in my home I have to find other ways to gauge if I have gained weight or not. I do frequent Stacey's scale about once a month to keep me in check, but the other days I just try on certain clothes. I have these pair of Silver jeans that now are fraying, and have holes but I keep them around to "try on" to see if I can still fit into them. I know if they are tight in the butt I need to get my butt out of bed to go running!
6. I can't stand all the backpacks, school papers, shoes, jackets, coats being left everywhere! We specifically had built into our house individual cubbies for all the kids! They use them most of the time b/c I make them but often I find all those things strung(is that a word) all over the hallway, kitchen table, kitchen floor and sometimes right in front of their cubbies!

I now want to tag my sister Monique (you might have already done this), my sister-in-law Jalynn, Amy Morgan, Amy Lopez, Stephanie, Christy.

A Week in Review!

Another week has quickly past us by and sometimes I can't even remember what I did yesterday! Here are some of this week's highlights.

Monday I worked in the yard and planted my beautiful mums we purchased at Costco.

Tuesday I went to Brinley's first field trip to the Pumpkin Patch! She had a great time picking out her pumpkin and at the last minute decided on this white one.

Wednesday I was entertaining kids all day since it was an early release day!

Thursday Brinley and I ran errands while Maddie was at school. She helped me pick out this cute "Boo" sign and the candy of course.

Friday evening my friend Jana dropped off her girls for the weekend. So I have been entertaining seven kids all weekend! They actually just played constantly with my children. It was fun to have them and we "almost" made it to church on time today!

Saturday we listened to the BYU Cougar football game. We all wear our BYU attire on football game days. Although Madelyn wears her BYU cheerleader outfit every chance she can get.

Jon and I also started to watch a movie last night in our bedroom. It was awesome because he projected it onto our ceiling. We are finishing the movie tonight but with a few visitors!

Have a great "NEW" week tomorrow!!!

Becoming Self-Reliant

This year we have raised our food storage game. It really started almost a year ago when Jon was asked to give a talk in the adult session of Stake Conference. His topic was, FOOD STORAGE. He didn't want to stand up there and tell people to be prepared with their food storage and not be prepared himself. So we purchased these Emergency Food Supply buckets from Costco that we had been eyeing for quite some time.We then for sure had a three month food supply but wanted to work towards a full year supply.

There were three things we have done this year to help accomplish this goal.

1. We purchased 800 pounds of wheat and a grinder. Jon was very excited about this! Morgan, Mason, Jon and I sealed the wheat in Mylar bags with our own iron in our garage one evening! We now have 17 full buckets of wheat in our pantry!2. Canning has been a fun family activity this summer and fall. We purchased 3 flats of strawberries and picked raspberries from the Reids home. We love homemade jam at the Jackson house and have several bags of berries frozen! B & B happily helped Jon do all the strawberries. I was not so happy to help because we were going on a big road trip the very next day. Just last week I bought 5 boxes of pears so this weekend was spent canning! With one box left we have already have 60 jars of pears. I need to go and buy more jars tomorrow because I have run out!

3. Last weekend we FINALLY set up our Canned Food Rotation System that Jon's parents gave us last year for Christmas. We love it and want to have it filled by the end of the year. We figure once we have this filled we will basically have a year supply of food including the food in our pantry. We're very thrilled to have accomplished so much in a year's time.

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!

Push to the End!

Last week was jammed pack with end of the summer activities! We will be camping all next week so I had to finish so many things this week. I went shopping three different times in Portland for school clothes. One time I even took all FIVE kids with me. We only made it to one store.

I had friends over to play and Morgan had a sleepover with cousins. I went to the late night movie with some friends to see Mama Mia on Wednesday night. The very next night Jon, my friend Julie, and I went to see Phantom of the Opera!

Morgan went to the dentist, I took Mason shopping for school supplies, and we all went out to lunch with some friends to Costa Vita! YUM my first time! We finished up swimming lessons for Maddie and Brinley.

Mason and Morgan both got new hair cuts for the new school year. Morgan wouldn't pose for this picture because her hair didn't look good!
We also hiked around Round Lake with some friends, Brooklyn went to a B-day party, went to Target 3x (twice in one day), worked out every day, had soccer practice, mutual, and stayed up late nightly to watch the Olympics! WHEW! No wonder why I'm so pooped! We will be gone all next week camping at Lake Billy Chinook! When we get home I'll be looking forward to Brooklyn's eighth birthday, the first day of school, my parents arrival for Brooklyn's Baptism, and the BYU vs. Washington game in Seattle!