A More Formal Introduction

My name is Jackson Henry James, and I am 9 months old!

I only weigh 16 pounds, but that doesn't stop me from being a big boy in this house.

Some of my favorite things are:

Foods: Squash with corn, Bananas, and let's face it, anything on Mommy's plate. I eat a lot of "big kid" foods, and am starting to not like my baby food anymore.

Toys: My monkey blaket, the new mailbox Mommy and Nolan picked out for me, my stacking cups, and anything in Mommy's kitchen that I can get my hands on.

I can maneuver my walker like you would not believe, sneeking in and out of the bedrooms, and I'm fast to! I can also clap and I'm somewhat of a dancer. I say "ma, ma, ma, ma" and "da, da, da, da." It excites Mommy and Daddy, but we all know I'm just making noise.

I can crawl to, all over the house, and I am in to EVERYTHING! I can even tell you how Mommy's plants taste, and how big of a mess it makes when I pull one over.

I pull myself up to a standing position on everything, and have even climbed out of my bed when Mommy didn't come to get me fast enough.

I want pretty much anything and everything in my brother's hands, except Nolan, I have learned not to take anything from Nolan. I have also learned to scream at my brothers when I have had enough.

I pretty much run the place, which is exactly how I intend to keep it. I almost always have a smile on my face and I laugh a lot, but lets face it, who wouldn't in this house. These people are NUTS!

Shark Bait....Ooooh, Ha, Ha (from Finding Nemo)

Because Jackson is now a crawling machine....Auntie Erica could not resist sewing him a shark fin. We seriously had kids for our own entertainment!

Emmett Richard...Then and Now

It's hard to believe that 7 years ago today we became parents. God blessed us with this little miracle, who has changed our lives for the better. He has taught us so much about who we are, and how to live our lives to the fullest. Every day with him has been an adventure. He has such an imagination and is so creative and artistic in everything he does. We look forward to what he does next and enjoy every minute we get to watch him grow into a handsome young man.

Enjoy looking back on Emmett's life.

We love you, Peanut, and Happy 7th Birthday!

Calling All Soldiers!

This year, to celebrate Emmett's 7th birthday, he chose to have an Army Sleepover.

We had a total blast and so did all the boys...11 for the day and 5 overnight.

It was an adventure!

Making his own cake!

The Mission:
We started the party with a scavenger hunt, or "missions."
Here are a few of the stations.

The Face Paint

The Bandanas

The Food and Water Rashions

The breaking down and cleaning of your guns.

Getting ready for training.

The Drill Sargent

Training Day!

Once they had all their gear, they had to go through

a training mission to prepare for the big fight.

A helmet and bullet proof vest to begin.

They were all so into this!

Over the trip wire.......through the tunnel...
...shoot the target...
...under the bridge...
Even Nolan had a blast!

...And then they had to run back to the beginning as fast as they could,

while Sy was timing them.

Then came an awesome game of Tug-O-War.

Followed by their final mission...

Full on war....
with the men for their goodie bags!

After we had pizza, cake, and presents, about half of the kids were picked up,

while the other half stayed then night (5 in all). I got the boys these amazing fort kits for

Christmas, so the entire livingroom became base camp.

They played the Wii, watched movies,

ate popcorn and stayed up until 3 a.m.

Thanks for the helmet, Sister...he wouldn't take it off all night!

And in true sleepover fashion,

the first 2 who fell asleep got their ankles tied together.

Such little pranksters!

What a great party and we are all thoroughly exhausted!

Klamath Bound

We had a much needed weekend away at Uncle Matt and Auntie Nicole's house.

Logan and Cameron were so nice to let us play with all their fun stuff.

Thank you guys, for such a wonderful weekend. We can't wait to do it again soon!

What, do I have something on my face?

~ Jackson loved the swings~

~Sweet Logan~
~Princess Cameron~