It's all about Family

My brother Joel and his family surprised us by coming up to UT from TX for Thanksgiving! They all met Jackson for the first time

Jackson loved all the attention

 They all wanted a turn holding him

Sadie and Jackson

Emma and Sadie. I thought I had a pic of Emma holding J, but I missed it!

Isaac and Jackson

Sarah

Ethan

Joel

All the boys

 Then we headed over to my sister Neeley's

Bayley (niece) must have mentioned Jackson's double chin, he's quite sensitive about it

We love having more family in town.  The families that weren't there were definitely missed!

Color Me Mine Update

here's the finished product

We had a lot of fun, and the new bowl is served as a delicious candy bowl when we visit grandmas=D

Big Goal(s)

In high school I played for our school's soccer team and LOVED the conditioning aspect of practice. (I know I'm a weirdy).  On a typical day, after practice, I would go home and usually run 3 more miles around the neighborhood just because I liked to. I never thought anything of it until I couldn't run anymore.  My freshman year of college I had a major stress fracture that prevented me from running for 6 months.  Within that 6 months I didn't know what to do with myself.  So, I did what any normal person would do, stop working out because I didn't feel comfortable doing anything else and sit on the couch and eat bon bons (no wait it was no bakes, remember Cort, Shay, Liz, and Amanda?)

How I manage to look like a boy that just crawled out of garbage? talent. I know. (it's marshmallows fyi)

After my stress fracture was healed, I started running again with my roommate Amanda, and loved it.  I ran my first 10k on the 4th of July 2009.  My goal was to run a half marathon soon after, but never did.

 wait, I thought we said prom pose...

Fast forward to now. . .Jackson is 3.5 months old now, and I'm getting trying to get my groove back. I want to run the Utah Valley Half Marathon in June. THAT IS MY BIG GOAL for this year.
This is going to consist of several mini goals.  So, take this as a warning, you may be hearing a lot about my runs  walks for the next FOREVER.
Today I ran my first 3 miles. Blah, I have never felt so crappy after a run. I guess a whole package of Oreos isn't good fuel...hmm who woulda thunk? 

The red creme gets me every time

Color Me Mine

Last year for my MIL's birthday(?) we got her a coupon for Color Me Mine.  Well this past week she decided to cash it in.  She had a really cute idea to have all the kids and the babies do their own hand/foot print art. We all met up and got to it. . .

The babies. . .

I thought Jackson would love the paint on his feet, but I was wrong. He still did a good job

Josh stopped by on his lunch break

We had a lot of fun. I'll have to take a picture of the finish product and update you all!

Grateful for Sisters

I have 3 awesome sisters.  We've always been really close, and we always have a good time together laughing about 'that time Bree jumped on the coffee table making mom scream, "Good night nurse!" what? What I love the most is they are always there to help me.  Two of them are older and always know how to help me through things.  My younger sister helps me too and can ALWAYS make me laugh, especially when I'm down.

Bree, Me, Neeley, Leah

I'm also fortunate enough to have 4 sister in-laws.  I love them all.  They all mean so much to me.  I'm the type of girl that needs 'girl time', and these awesome ladies always help me to achieve that.  Even if it's achieved via text, skype, or blog;D

My SIL Sarah on the far left. We always have a good time hanging out and catching up.

Old picture, but my SIL Jessica use to live with us, and I always love our talks

My SIL Alisha is always willing to be crazy with me ;D

SIL Whitney. We were pregnant together and we have a lot of fun with our cute boys!

I'm so grateful for all the women in my life.  The bonds I have with all my sisters is priceless.  Thanks for making my life easier girls. You are all the best!

Grateful

This Holiday Season I have a lot of goals. I thought I'd share a couple with you.
I want to be more grateful for the wonderful things I have been blessed with. One way I want to do this is by sharing something I'm grateful for on the blog either once a day/week (depending on time given).  I once attended a devotional by Elder Bednar and he mentioned that your morning prayers should be prayers of gratitude. So, I'm also working on better 'gratitude filled' morning prayers.
Today, I'm grateful for my cuddle buddy.

Although at times it can be tough to hold him ALL  the time and sleep with him. I'm so grateful that he likes to cuddle.  I love his little breath on my neck and his chubby arms grabbing my shirt.

Whitney Asay Photography

3 Month Update

I know all of my posts lately have been about Jackson, but let's be honest, he's pretty darn cute. Josh was looking at our photo library last night and noticed I have taken a picture of Jackson almost everyday he has lived. Obessed? Yes. Crazy? Probably.
Jackson is about 15lbs of pure joy, literally, this babe smiles so much. I love him!

I hope bib sayings are accurate, Josh and I are counting on that for our retirement...

He now wears 'big boy' outfits to church

what a stud

He can roll over (please excuse the annoying voice in the background, it was 7am nuff said)

Sorry it's not upright, annoying I know.
He sleeps 7 hours at night, but not in his own bed. He sleeps with me, but we're planning on sleep training him in a few weeks.  I'm nervous about it, but it will be worth it in the end.

And with that Jackson says farewell, he's leavin mom and dad and going to the bahamas

Happy Halloween!

Baby Jackson's first holiday was a total success! He was the BYU Cougar Mascot, Cosmo

At the Halloween Parade

With his cousin Tyler (parrot) getting ready for the parade

My sister Leah and her son Tyler

Ike (pirate) and his parrot

about to start walking in the parade

The parade was really fun, especially because we got to hang out with my sister and her kids.  At the end there were cookies and delicious treats, so that's always a bonus!

That night we went to Josh's parents and ate 'pumpkin pizza' and carved pumpkins.

We always have a good time with family=D

We also stopped by Josh's work . . .

Josh and I didn't dress up this year (I know we're lame) but I'm determined to be more creative next year, so stay tuned!