Thanksgiving 2008

I want to dedicate this post to a reflection on the things in life that I am most thankful for. I am so thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so thankful for the knowledge and direction that it provides for me and my family in helping us in our journey through this life. I am so thankful to know that I have a heavenly father who loves me and who gave me the opportunity to come to this earth to learn and to grow. I am so thankful that I can be a wife and mother. I am so thankful for my husband. I love him so much and he is my very best friend... I can talk to him about anything at anytime and he is always there to listen. I am so thankful that he is so willing to help me with whatever I need help with... especially our boys. I am so thankful that he is willing and able to provide for our family so that I can spend most of my time at home with our boys. I am so thankful for the opportunity that heavenly father has given me to raise Jackson and Benton in this life. They are both such special precious spirits and I am so thankful for their healthy bodies and minds. Being their mommy teaches me so much... especially the meaning of unconditional love. I never fully realized how much our father in heaven loves us until I had children of my own. I am so thankful for such great parents who taught me the meaning of sacrifice. They made their children the most important thing in their life and I am so thankful for all of the love and understanding that they give me, and also for the guidance and direction that they provide me. I am thankful for the kindness that Morriah's parents always show me. I am thankful for my sister and our friendship and her sense of humor. I am thankful for my brother and the christlike example he has always provided for me and his cute sweet wife and her example of having a dedication to excellence in all areas of life. I am thankful for all of my extended family- I couldn't ask for better grandparents and I am glad that I have a close relationship with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I am thankful for education and the ability I have to support our family if anything ever happened to Morriah. I am thankful that I can continually learn and gain knowledge. I am thankful for my health. I am thankful to be able to see and hear and touch and smell. I am thankful to be able to laugh and play and run. I am thankful for nature and the change the four seasons bring to it. I am thankful for the sunshine and that I can wake up every day hearing Jackson say,"it is time to get up mom, the suns up." I am thankful for my calling in the young womens and the spiritual growth it has given me this past year. It has helped me to see and want to be the woman my father in heaven intends for me to be. I am thankful for all of my friends, old and new, and the things that I have learned and still learn from them every day. I am thankful to have so many great people to look up to in my life. Finally, I am thankful for thanksgiving and the chance it gives us to reflect on what we are most thankful for.

Pretending to be a dog...

So, this is just a quick little post about something that I found so totally gross but so totally funny at the same time. Jackson was outside swinging on his swings today and when I went to check on him he had his pants down and when I asked him what he was doing(because he has been known to just pull his pants down and pee when he is playing outside and I thought we had fixed that problem)he said,"Mom, I just pooped in the grass." When I asked him why he had pooped in the grass and told him that we don't poop in the grass he said,"but dogs do." I said,"Jackson honey that is right dogs poop in the grass but you are not a dog, you are a little boy and little boys always poop in the toilet." He said,"but I was just pretending to be a dog." How special the imagination of a child.

Benton...

Here are some recent pictures of Benton. I can't believe how fast he is growing. He is so much fun... he loves to play, and he has started to do this really deep belly laugh that is so cute. He loves his hands and feet(he is a little bit too fat to suck on them comfortably but he tries his hardest). He loves to grab and taste whatever he can get his hands on which is really typical of a 5 month old baby. He is trying to learn to role over from his back to his belly and he can almost sit up without help. He still really loves Jackson and Jackon really loves him. Jackson wanted me to take Benton to his playroom downstairs so that they could play together today... it was really cute. He loves eating solids and he has started to make eating motions with his mouth when he sees us eating. He just started sweet potatoes yesterday and he thought they were pretty yummy. He is such a great baby and the thing I love the most about Benton is that he always has a smile for me.

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Benton with his great grandma Vogt... who is a wonderful grandma.

Bentons thoughts... Maybe rolling to the side might help me hold on to my feet.

I got it :)

Benton is playing with his Aunt April.

Mom really used to good at some things...

I just got this picture from the couples Lake Powell trip that Mo and I went on in October. That is me at Lake Powell just 4 months after having Benton and I think it is pretty awesome. Sorry about the brag moment but because I am doing this blog for my boys as their little journals I wanted to add this picture so that when they look at this fifteen years from now when I am telling them about how their mom used to be a good water skier that they won't be able to say ,"ya right mom." :)

Jackson's Family Party

Sunday we had our families over for cake and ice cream to celebrate Jackson's 3rd birthday. It was finally time for Jackson to have his own cake, candles, and presents to open. He has been practicing on everyone elses birthdays this year, so he knew exactly what to do.
Jackson sneaking some frosting.

Here is the evidence.

He is so happy that he has his own Car's cake... he chose the one he wanted at Sam's club.

Sitting patiently as everyone sings happy birthday. Jackson loves lighted candles.

You probably noticed that there are more than three candles on his cake. The one in the middle is a big number 3. The bigger the fire the better as far as Jackson is concerned.

He wanted to play with every toy he unwrapped. Lightsabers were the present of the party. When people asked me what he wanted I told him that he really liked Star Wars. So, I guess what is a better Star Wars toy than a Lightsaber. He almost had 4.
We hope he had a great birthday this year- we love him so much!!!

California Vacation

We spent the past week in California for Jackson's 3rd Birthday. We had so much fun... it all started on Saturday morning at 5 o'clock. We thought that Jackson would sleep in the car but he was way too excited. We have been telling him that he is going to Disneyland for his 3rd birthday since just after his 2nd birthday so I think that he didn't want to go to sleep in fear that it wasn't actually time yet. He was awake and excited the whole way to the airport, and on the plane, and even at the rental car place. Both he and Benton did really great on the flight.

Boarding the plane... Jackson loves Bagels.

I was really happy that Benton was asleep.

Waiting for the rental car shuttle and still happy.

When we got to San Diego we checked into our hotel and spent our first day of vacation at the beach. It was a really nice day- a little bit too windy for Benton but for Jackson it was great. He loved playing in the waves, having mud throwing wars with his grandpa, and building sand castles.

Jackson thought it was so fun to run from the waves.

Jackson chasing his grandpa with mud... you can see how happy that makes him.

Splashing in the waves.

Just me and the two boys enjoying the ocean together.

We ate at Chevy's that night(my choice and my favorite) and went to Sea Port Village where Jackson and I rode the funnest Carousel I have ever been on. It was really so much fun that I wanted to ride it again. Sunday was Jackson's birthday and the first thing we did was open presents. He loves opening presents- what kid doesn't.

Happy Birthday Jackson.

After breakfast we spent the rest of the day at Sea World. Jackson loved the shows... especially the pets rule show. He liked looking at the Dolphins but he didn't want to get too close. He liked petting the Manta Rays but his favorite exhibit was probably the star fish pool. He loved looking at them and pulling them out of the water to pet even though that is against the rules.

Jackson made friends everywhere we went. The new killer whale exhibit is great!

The star fish exhibit.

At the end of the day he was exhausted. He fell asleep in the car before we even left the parking lot. Monday was our first Disneyland day. Both of our boys gave Mo and I a 5'clock wake up call every morning of the trip because of the time difference and the time change. So, we were ready to go in plenty of time because the park didn't open until 10 o'clock.

Waiting for the shuttle to Disneyland.

Disneyland really is the happiest place on earth.

Our first ride at Disneyland was the Jungle cruise. Jackson sat really close at first because he thought that all of the animals were real.

Our next ride was the Pirates of the Caribean (a family favorite). Jackson didn't like it- I had forgotten how dark it was, he actually covered his eyes for most of it. Then it was on to the Haunted Mansion which he really liked. For some reason he really likes Ghosts. Some of his favorite Disneyland rides were the Buzz Lightyear ride(Mo wouldn't admit it but I think it was one of his favorite rides too, he wanted to be a Level 7 and unfortunately he only made it to a Level 4... better luck next time), the carousel, the peter pan ride, and Mr. Toads wild ride. The ride he really didn't like was the Matterhorn. When he got done he said he only wanted to go on rides for small kids.

The Davy Crocket Island.

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters- we definitely rode this the most.

Jackson made sure to keep and eye on Buzz.

We spent Tuesday at Disneyland too. Our favorite thing Tuesday was the parade.

Jackson enjoying the parade.

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The carousel ride was one of Jackson's favorites.

Benton just hanging out-it wasn't a very exciting trip for him... he would have rather been sleeping.
They were both very busy days and it was nice to relax in the evening in the hotels hot tub. Benton even really enjoyed that- in fact, that was probably one of his favorite things. Wednesday we headed to Hunington Beach for some shopping and lunch and then to the airport for our flight home. The flight home was not as exciting as the flight there but that is how it always is. We were glad that Grandma and Grandpa Vogt and Aunt Sha could come with us. It was fun to have them and they were a lot of help. We have already decided that the next time we go to Disneyland will be for Benton's 3rd birthday. I think we will wait to tell Jackson this time 2 and 1/2 years is way too long to wait.

This is what we all wanted to do by the end of the trip.

Halloween

Passing out candy

Jackson wanted his mask on for every house.

That is the cutest little Yoda I have ever seen.

Jacksons school party.

My three boys :).

"It's just me". I have never thought that Darth Vader was cute until today.

I have always loved Halloween, not because I like to dress up in costume(I actually don't like that part very much) but because I like to see other people dressed up in costume. So, it is so fun to have two little boys that I can dress up in costumes and I don't have to worry about it. This year Jackson was Darth Vader and Benton was Yoda. Jackson has had a star wars obsession lately, I think it is because he likes to see them fight with their light sabers. He was so cute in his costume. To him Darth Vader is scary and so when he showed someone his costume he would put on his mask and do his heavy breathing for only a short time before he would pull it off and say, "it's just me" with a smile. He didn't want anyone to be scared. Benton didn't mind being Yoda... it was the perfect costume for a baby. He was so cute and cuddly. On Thursday I took the boys to the Island View Halloween Carnival. It was the first one I have been to after 3 years of working there and I have been missing out. The teachers really make it fun for the students. They all dress up- this years theme was holidays. I borrowed a nun costume from Joni and went as Good Friday(it wasn't that great). They had a donut on a string eating contest, pumpkin chucking, a cotton candy machine, and a dunking machine. The girls dunked Jen quite a few times... it was really funny. Thursday night was our ward Trunk or Treat which was totally great. I have always hated the idea of Trunk or Treat but that is probably because I have never been to one. It was so fun. Jackson loved it- he got so much candy and when he was done he helped me pass out candy from the trunk of our car. He loved passing out the candy. He didn't like when kids would grab one though- he wanted to make sure that he was the one that put the candy in their bags. I loved seeing all of the costumes of the kids in our ward. Friday was his school Halloween party at Joni's. The kids mostly just played while the moms sat around and talked. Jackson really loves going to school. Friday night we took the boys to visit their grandparents in their costumes. Great Grandma and Grandpa Vogt (Grandpa Bobs), Grandma and Grandpa Vogts (Grandpa Bushwa), and Grandma and Grandpa Palmers. We trick or treated at Trapper's Pointe. Jackson picked me out a mask to wear so I could have a costume too. It was the best spot that I have ever been for tricker treating... so many of the houses gave out big candy bars and one family had even made homemade donuts that they were passing out. It was a lot of walking though and Jackson asked if he could go back to where all of the cars were to get candy out of the trunks about half way through the neighborhood. He realized that he got a lot more candy in a much shorter amount of time at the trunk or treat. When we got back to my moms he had a lot of fun passing out candy for a while. I really think he liked that as much as getting candy. He was yelling out from their porch,"Come tricker treating here, I have some candy." What a fun holiday. Jackson keeps asking me when he gets to go tricker treating again.