Our life in the Valley of the Sun!

Thursday, July 05, 2007

4th of July Festivities!

We can both say that this was by far the hottest Fourth of July we have ever experienced. We survived 116 degree weather all day, and at night let's just say it didn't cool off much! But we had fun with the Russell's and some of their friends!

HAPPY!

CUTE FAMILY!

Ahhhh! A Little R&R!

Life doesn't get much better than this!

Monday, July 02, 2007

Bubbles, Bubbles, and More Bubbles!

Nothin' like a bubble bath to end a long day!

MMMM....tasty!

Not so much!

Fun In the Sun!

What do you do in 112 degree weather? Play in the water of course! Today we got all lathered up with sunscreen and went to the splash pad at Espee Park! It was so much fun.

Jackson looks longingly at all the kids who could run

around free and bare chested! He was really jealous of all the kids who had their shirts off and weren't wearing hats!! Too bad for him his mother is compulsive and wouldn't allow him to even think about taking off that hat and shirt!! Poor kid!! He'll always be the black sheep! (Or the really really white one! ha ha ha!) The important thing here is that he didn't get burned.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Basketball Anyone?

During a strenuous game of basketball Jackson had to take time to:

Pick up a rock.....

Find the moon...(another one of his obsessions)

Analyze the strange substance on the basketball court.....

Squat and rest a minute.......

And touch the pretty flowers!

Action Shots!

Preparing for the NBA!

Exchange of the Basketballs!

Let's trade!

Nothin' Like a Game of "Go Bageball!"

Jackson is obsessed with basketball! One of the things we hear all day long is "go bageball" (thats bag-e-ball!) And he is always so excited when it becomes cool enough to actually go out and play! He is getting quite good!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Old Friends

I came across these pictures of my girls and couldn't resist putting them on my blog! They are so grown up now! This is Elena, she's such a cutie!!

Then there is Jessica and Madison! Oh the fun we had when we were together!

New Friends

Today we got to play with Emma and Lauren Russell. For those of you who went to high school with me they would be Ryan Russell's little girls! They were so much fun! Emma (4) LOVES the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and so I was April O'Neil all day and she was Donatello, while Jackson was Raphael and Lauren (1) was Michealangelo.

Lauren played a good Michealangelo she knew just how to defeat the evil Shredder!

These two got along really well. They had fun shutting the door on each other and then laughing hysterically when they opened it again.

They are deep in conversation here!! Jackson had some very interesting points to make. She was listening intently.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Well, Matt enjoyed a nice Father's Day. He woke up to breakfast in bed, complete with fresh squeezed orange juice, and we ended the day with his favorite meal, a roast with potatoes and carrots. And to top it all of, homemade rocky road shakes! I don't know if you can tell, but Jackson really enjoyed the shakes!

This one we got him to look at the camera, the other ones, not so much!

I made the mistake of turning on the fan right before taking the picture and lost Jackson's attention!

Man, he loves that fan!

Saturday, June 16, 2007

At the Pool!

Jackson's new hobby is swimming! He tries to go every night with his dad. They have fun, and he is getting closer to putting his whole face in the water.

There are so many things to watch at the pool! All of the little kids are so interesting!

And this is my belly!

Oh, man I am so tired! Swimming takes a lot out of a little guy!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

ARIZONA

Well, we have been in Mesa for almost a month now! But we haven't forgotten Syracuse!! Jackson wears his Syracuse gear loud and proud! We love it here, we stay inside for most of the day, but around 6 or 7 every night Jackson and Matt go swimming. That time is Jackson's favorite part of the day. Jackson and I have also been to Boise twice now since moving to Mesa! It sure is nice to be closer to family!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Last Day With Kate

Well, today was the last day with Kate. We went outside for about a minute, and then it got too hard to manage two one year olds! I don't know how people with multiples do it!!

Check out the socks! Jackson's favorite thing to do is run up the hill in front of our apartment and then turn around and run down as fast as he can, only to run right into his mom!!

One last hug! We will miss you Katie-Kate!

Hugs!

Jackson loves his mommy! And his mommy loves him!!

On Sunday, Jackson was playing outside with a bunch of kids at a barbque and he went face first into the pavement! It looked a lot worse in person than it does in this picture! However, luckily you can't even tell now!

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Pictures in the Park

Today was such a beautiful day and it is our last week with Kate, so we decided to meet Kate and her mom for lunch and then pictures in the park. We had so much fun! Kate and Jackson could not get enough of the flowers everywhere! They had fun running around and chasing each other. We are so sad that we will not get to play with Kate for much longer!! We have grown to love it when she comes over and we will miss her friendship! Good thing we took lots and lots of pictures!

SAY WHAT???

-We go into the family bathroom at the airport. There is a couch, a toilet, and a shower. Jackson walks in and says "Hey mom, this looks like the master bedroom!"
-We were trying to find the cup that we were using for Jack's juice. (I had forgotten that he had gotten mad earlier and had thrown it under a table). I kept asking him where it was and he finally stopped looking, put his finger on his temple and said, "hmmm, lets stop and think!"
-We were at the park and a dog was running around without an owner. Finally, the dog disappeared between the trees on the other side of the park. Jack asked, "Where did the dog go?" I said, "I don't know where do you think it went?" "Oh, he is eating in the forest" (the grove of trees where the dog ran to) I say, "what is he eating in the forest?" Jack answers, "Pie!"
-Jackson NEVER talks in his Sunbeams class at church, but today when the teacher asked if anyone had anything new to tell them he said, "My dad is the best!" So cute!
-I want to be a fireman when I grow up and drive a fire truck with daddy!"
-We are waiting for the maintenance man to come over and fix our door. I tell Jackson that his name is Anthony. The doorbell rings and in walks a very tall, nice, black man. Jackson says, "Is that ebony?" I am thinking, "What the heck?" Then I realize he is saying, "Anthony". From that point on I am praying that he won't say anything embarrassing!
-We are sitting on my bed watching a movie. Jack has been laying on his hand for a while now. He changes positions and throws his hand in my face and says, "Mommy, my hand is crusty!" "Your hand is crusty? "Yes." Then I say," Do you mean tingling?" He says, "Yes, my hand is tingling!" We prefer crusty!
-I ask Jack where his dad is, he says, "At work!" I say, "What does daddy do at work?" Jackson says, "He puts bad guys in jail, in dark dark caves with monsters!" (Last part is said with a deep growl voice!!)
-Jackson says to Charlie (in a high pitched silly voice) "Hey there little one, where did you come from? The hospity?"
-I am in my room making my bed, Charlie is in his bouncy chair in the living room with Jackson. Charlie starts to fuss and cry a little and Jackson says, "Tharlie, I am busy, I am eating my oatmeal, I can't hold you right now!"
-A picture of our old Explorer came up on the computer and Jackson saw it and said,"Mom, is that Mafews (Matthews) car?"
-We are out to lunch with a guy Matt knows, and his baby. Jackson turns to me, points to the baby and says, "Hey mom, is that Hannah Montana?" How the heck does he know about Hannah Montana???
-"I wanna watch the Jesus movie.....you know, the one about Heavenly Father. It's really cool." (I have no idea what movie he is talking about!)
-Jackson and I are having a conversation about how he is a big boy and big boys go potty in the toilet and not in their diapers. After which he asks, "Mommy, do grills (girls) pee?"
-Jackson LOVES to read the Children's Book of Mormon, and has come to know that the Lamanites were the "bad guys". And this his how the conversation went:" Daddy, did you put bad guys in jail today?" (Matt is a prosecutor). Matt says, "Yes, I did." Jack says, "You put the Lamanites in jail?"
-As I was looking at pics of Charlie in the hospital Jackson came up and said, "Oh, there's Charlie" and it was quickly followed by a very mad face and "Mom, you leaved me!"I think he is still harboring resentment that I left him to go to the hospital to have Charlie!
-We go into the family bathroom at the airport. There is a couch, a toilet, and a shower. Jackson walks in and says "Hey mom, this looks like the master bedroom!"