Jackson's Tagged

1. What is something mom always says to you?
"Say good things"

2. What makes mom happy?
"Jackson" & "when I am being good"

3. What makes mom sad?
"When I'm grumpy"

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
"When you tickle me"

5. What was your mom like as a child?
"A laughing girl"

6. How old is your mom?
"22. I forgot how many you are."

7. How tall is your mom?
"So tall"

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
"To play with me"

9. What does your mom do when you are not around?
"Doesn't play & not be happy"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
"Being nice"

11. What is your mom really good at?
"playing, finger painting, not kicking, your pretty good at everything"

12. What is your mom not so good at?
"Not drawing dragons on pictures"
(although I have never tried, apparently he knows my limits)

13. What does your mom do for her job?
"Be nice about taking care of me"

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
"guacamole"
( I didn't know that)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
"That you are always nice and good to me"

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
"Nobody. Your my mom."

17. What do you and your mom do together?
"paint, play and play trains and cars"

18. How are you and your mom the same?
"Because we got made from Jesus"

19. How are you and your mom different?
"Because we got made different, silly"

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
"You hug me and kiss me and read me stories and do all kinds of stuff with me"

Newport Trip

A few weeks ago, the Marriott's were kind enough to invite us along on a family vacation out to Newport Beach with them. It was so nice to be able to get away for a whole week! We had a great time and did lots of fun things. One of which, was take a TON of pictures! Kelly, however, would not constitute this as "fun." What can I say ... with Marnee, a professional photographer on the trip, and me (someone who just really likes to take pictures) ... what were we supposed to do!?! In the end, I think we took well over 2,000 images. I think it's going to take me some time to actually go through them all, but as soon as I do, I will share more. Maybe I can see why Kelly was a bit annoyed, but we are bound to have a few good ones in there and that will be totally worth it. For now, here are a few from some of our beach pictures.

Thanks Marnee for our family photos. The kids may not have been too fond of the beach that first day we took pictures, but you would really never know. They definitely warmed up to it all by the end of the trip. Better late than never!

.. and yes, Grace is actually screaming like crazy in the above picture.

Family Pictures

Kelly's really good friends from college, Casey and Melanie, came to visit us a few weekends ago. We had a great time and even had the opportunity to get some family pictures taken by Casey. He did an amazing job and we had a very exciting time (but that will be explained in a separate post). The kids did a great job and it was especially easy when Casey is so entertaining when he is taking pictures. Thanks Casey for the great pictures, the fun memories, and all the help!!!!

Fun at the Park

We love having a park so close to home. It's so nice to be able to head down for a few minutes and not feel like we have to stay forever or commit a whole day to it. We usually take our lunch down and then stay and play for just a little bit. Grace doesn't eat, she just runs off to discover new things immediately. Her most recent discovery is that her legs are finally long enough to climb up the stairs. This means trouble for me because now I actually have to constantly follow her around as she is a bit fearless and still forgets about the whole "depth perception" issue. She used to be content just standing at the bottom of the slide trying to figure out a way to climb up (with no luck)! Those were the days! Oh well! Jackson loves every bit of this park. He just goes crazy and never seems to stop! Gotta love all the sound effects that boys make when they are playing though. Especially when pretending to drive.

*this is Grace discovering her new found freedom at the park. I think she is pretty proud of herself!

Our Sunday Bests

I love it when my family is all dressed up for church. I especially love it when Kelly gets them dressed while I am still getting ready. Mostly because, they always come running into my bathroom to show off how they look. Whether that's what they are really trying to do or not, I still love it! Gracie loves to wear her church shoes in my bathroom so she can hear them tap around when she dances and twirls. Jackson loves for me to tell him how handsome he looks and for him to tell me how he got dressed all by himself ... "except for my belt, because that is still too hard!"

Family Photos

I finally broke down and had family photos taken this year. It is on the TOP of my list of least favorite things to do. I love taking pictures of my kids or having pictures taken of my kids, but I never want to be in the action. I'm happier behind it! I guess all the peer pressure finally got to me. Here are a few of the best (a.k.a - most like our family). They truly capture what it is like to take our family pictures. Maybe this is another reason why I hate having them taken. I do have to admit, that they are pretty funny though!