Happy Holidays!!!!!

We didn't get around to sending out Christmas cards this season, but did attempt to take some pictures. We figured a blog/email card would suffice this year. :) We are very happy, healthy, and grateful for all we have. It has been an eventful year with our little 1 year old. We are so grateful to have Jackson in our lives. We love all of our friends and family and cherish the time and memories we have with you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Chistmas Morning...

Jackson knew something was up on Christmas when mom started the morning out screaming "Jackson its Christmas, Santa came"! We went down stairs and he went straight to the presents. He had a hard time continuing after a few presents because he wanted to play with his new toys....basically a tantrum started while we forced him to open more gifts. (note to self - he only needs 2 or 3 gifts) :)Jackson opening some presents while holding his first present. :)

Jackson with his favorite toy of the day....his vacuum! He loves vacuum's, everytime we see one he screams "bac". He pushed it around the whole day....and screamed if he ever had to leave it. It had to sit next to his high chair while he ate breakfast.

Our traditional present of a Christmas story from dad.

We had a wonderful Christmas and are so grateful for all we have. We loved seeing family and friends and will always treasure the time we get to spend with them.

Christmas Eve at the Burgons

We had a wonderful time on Christmas Eve at Jeremys mom's house. It was so fun to see Jackson interact with all of his cousins. He seemed so much older as I had never seen him really "play" with other kids. I don't think I've ever seen him have so much fun and so sad to go home at the end of the night.

Wrestling with his cousins. Out of focus, but you get the idea.Jackson opening presents from Grandma Burgon. He got his favorite show cars!

Jackson in his new beanie that his cousin Adrianna made. She made it red & blue for our split household. :)

Jackson checking out his new truck.

All the grandkids on the Burgon side in their new jammies from grandma Thelma. Jackson loved hanging out with his cousins. I think we'll drop him off more often to play with them. :)

Scared of Santa!!!!

We took Jackson to see Santa tonight and he was terrified. We thought he would do okay because he was waving at him the whole time we were in line. Once I tried to put him on Santa's lap he freaked out. Which I guess I would too if my mom was handing me over to some old man with a huge white beard (and this Santa wasn't too friendly, he just sat there). Within seconds he had full on tears streaming down his face.....poor kid is now traumatized! :) I guess there's next year to do it again!

Temple Square Lights

We went on a "holidate" with Jeremy's friends last weekend. They have done this date since they were in high school -- go to Training Table for dinner, and then the lights afterward. The boys knew how to get their dates to snuggle up to them by taking them out in the cold. :) Now all of Jeremy's friends are married and most of them now have kids. It was fun to see Jackson in awe at all of the lights. He loved running around once we let him out of the stroller. I don't think the kid even noticed how cold it was......I sure did!Our little family at Temple Square!

Jackson with his little buddy Braxton (BB and Lauren Beisinger's little boy)

Jackson all bundled up and loving being outside.

Jeremy and Jackson in front of the famous red tree.

The boys loving the lights on the water (also where Jackson dropped his glove in)

The Burgons in front of the tree of lights! We love the spirit of Temple Square and are grateful for all of those that go to all the work of putting up the lights.

Cutest little man...

A "little man" our boy did look like last Sunday. My sister gave us this suit, and we got many compliments including "He looks so grown up" and "I didn't even know they made suits that small". We love hand-me-downs!!!! :) thanks Eckels!

Showing great-grandma Coleman his new suit!

Giving his half smirk-smile. Dad says, its the he knows he looks pimp look. :)

Jackson's First Snow Day

After the snow storm last week, we went outside to help Dad shovel the walks and Jackson was in heaven. It was a good day just being able to go outside for Jax, but being able to play in and eat the snow made it an exceptional fun memory. Jax helping dad push the shovel.Without us prompting him, he went over picked up some snow and stuck it in his mouth. He loved being able to eat it and not have us telling him NO. Although we did have to caution him with the brown and yellow snow several times... :)

Normally being a mamma's boy, Jax was especially drawn to his dad for the rest of the day. He worried if dad wasn't in sight he might be shoveling without him. Its fun to see my boys bond in their manly ways. :)

So sad (and mad) to come in. I think the tantrum lasted at least ten minutes. Jax is definitely passionate about what he likes and wants.

Halloween Parties...

We went to some of our best friends (The Hansens) Halloween party last Sunday, and then our ward party this week. Both parties were so much fun. Our little monkey kept us busy chasing him around. He seemed to love his costume and even kept the hat on the whole time. I loved watching him walk around waddling his little bum and tail (unfortuntatley not captured in these picutres). Halloween is definitely much more fun with kids.

Can you get any cuter??? We don't think so.... :)
Jax taking rides in the cauldron that "was" full of Halloween presents until he emptied it out. He was not too happy once the rides were over.

Our happy family....

Updates...

I posted a bunch of pics over the last couple months. I'm a little slow, but at least I got some updates in here. Most of the pictures are of our little Jackson.

Utah games

Okay, just so my brothers will still claim me as their sister, I need to be clear and state that I am a BYU fan. I will always bleed blue, and cheer for the cougars (especially when they play Utah). But in order to have peace in our home I have decided to support my husband's obsession of the Runnin' Utes. He has these dreams of our family outings to all of the Utah games, and our kids in red going to EVERY, and I mean every game! The day of this game I had a very neutral shirt on (blue of course) :). My husband was very disappointed in me that I couldn't even wear red to support the family...so I gave in. I just thought I would put a disclaimer out there before my family saw these pictures. This was all for my husband...... Hopefully this compromise will make it easier when I put our little girls in cute BYU cheer outfits. :)

Last day of summer

We took Jackson to the splash park a few weeks ago. It was pretty much the last day of this heat wave we had this summer. Jackson was freezing but didn't care as he was having SO much fun.

Jackson had so much fun (as did Jeremy) playing in the water. So sad we won't be playing here for a long, long, time. Can you tell I'm excited for winter. :)

Family trip to Teasdale...

Where is Teasdale you say? I thought the same thing during the planning of this trip, and even questioned what exactly we were going to do there. :) Torrey and Teasdale are in central, southern utah near Capital Reef. It was a very pretty small town, and a very beautiful drive. We went with Jeremy's family (his mom and grandma grew up there), for just a weekend. It was a fun time spent with family. We ate, played at the pond, ate, went on walks, ate, saw where grandma Thelma grew up til she was 5, ate some more, and then saw some history sites. Jackson did fabulously well in the car sleeping, and then watching his favorite show "Cars" (thank goodness for portable DVD players). It was a fun little vacation for our family and I enjoyed spending more time with Jeremy's mom and brothers and sisters. Jeremy and Jackson on the deck of the cabin after a walk. Aren't they cute boys....like father like son.

Jackson and mom......its too dark to see the pretty pond behind us, but it was there. Uncle Blake caught a fish, as well as Jackson's cousin Brinley who is 3. We ate the fish the next week and it was pretty good.

Jackson is already an intense student. Look at him taking notes! :) This was a little school house that was only big enough to hold 10-15 students. That's my kind of class size.
Family picture on the bridge by the old school house and barn in Torrey. Aren't we cute in our matching camo...

Jackson in the zone on the drive home... He was watching his "Cars" show just before falling asleep. :)

Two Days at the zoo..

So I took Jackson to the zoo with grandma, aunt Angie, aunt Alison, and his Eckel cousins. He absolutely loved seeing all the fun animals.Jackson on the train with his favorite Aunt Angie. He wanted to go to her more than mom this day, which was a nice break for mom.One of my favorite pictures of Jax. This was his first time seeing the Elephant!

Jackson at the lion drinking fountain with his wonderful Eckel cousins. He sure loved spending time with them this summer.

Jackson got a second day at the zoo with Dad(I had to work), grandma Burgon, Becky & Blake, Bret & Andrea, and his cousins Brinley and Sydney. He had a great time although it was one of the busiest and hottest days at the zoo.Jackson and Dad watching the Black Bears. Don't you love his Hawaiian shirt (thanks Becky & Blake) :)

Jackson with his uncle Blake, whom he loves to play with very much.

He loved the elephant so much he wouldn't stop looking at it even for a picture! Dad sure looks cute though!!!

A few months ago at Lagoon

This summer we went to Lagoon with my mom, dad, sister Alison, and her kids. Jackson was very hot, but the boats made the whole day worth it for him.

Waving hi to dad, and wishing he was here with us. Can't you tell it was over 100 degrees.Jackson absolutely loved the boats and threw a tantrum went the ride was over and he had to get off. Luckily the line wasn't too long before he could have another ride.

He was tuckered out by the end of the day, and he usually never falls asleep in his stroller, but this day was an exception.

It was such a fun day to spend with Grandma, aunt Alison, and his cousins. Jackson loved having his Eckel cousins here for the summer and was sad to see them go back home.

The Freedom Writers...

So its been a long time since I've watched a movie and been truely inspired. I love when a person is overwhelmed with passion for something. Nothing seems to move me more. Tonight I watched Freedom Writers and found myself wanting and yearning for Mrs. G's passion. I don't know if its because I was a teacher for 4 years or if I just want to believe in "something" so much. I'm grateful for people that make good, clean movies first of all; and also for people that remind me to live with passion and inspire me to find what I'm meant to do. It's truly amazing what one person can do.

Mom's Birthday Boy

Jackson's first birthday party was a huge success. He loved every minute, especially the part where he got tons of presents. He was a little overwhelmed by all the people, and stuff to play with, but it was a lot of fun. It was such a mom moment to see him so excited. I had fun with his little basketball cake too. We gave him a small basketball hoop (dad's request) and so we made it a basketball themed party.

Jumped on the Blogging Bandwagon

Ok, so after going to Seattle with all of my girlfriends from college, I decided to try this blogging thing out. It is super easy and I'm excited to use it as a family journal and a way to keep connected to friends.