Daddy's Little Helper

I thought this was just so cute that I had to post it on here. CJ got out the shears to trim our tree and when Jackson saw this he started to tell me something that he wanted. I didn't know what he was saying, but he stood at the door wanting to go inside. I opened the door and he ran into his toy room and came back with his toy pliers. He was so excited that he had the same thing as Dad.  I couldn't help, but smile at my smart little boy. He knew they looked similar so they must be the same, right? CJ cut a branch and let Jackson use his pliers to help "trim" the tree. I just love this boy. He makes me smile everyday with the things he does. I love watching him learn and discover new things.  

My Dad's Birthday

It was my Dad's birthday on June 28. He would have turned 71 years old. I wanted to do something that we would be able to continue to do every year to celebrate him, but also to help Jackson remember him. He is so young and I am afraid he is going to forget his Papa. I have heard of people letting balloons go in remembrance of loved one on their birthdays and I thought that would be a good thing for us to start doing. In the morning, Jackson and I wrote Papa a little birthday note and I had Jackson color on it. I explained whose birthday it was and what we were going to do. Jackson was excited because he loves balloons. After we wrote our note then we went to Zurchers and picked out balloons.

My Dad was a farm boy so I thought the balloon with the horse would be really cute. Jackson actually picked it out for his balloon to keep and I knew my Dad would like it too.
Below is our birthday note inside the balloon.

We waited until CJ got home from work so he could be there too. I handed Jackson the balloons one at a time and he let them go into the sky. We said "Happy Birthday Papa!" and let them fly.

It was a hard morning, but the day got better. I knew my Dad wouldn't want us to be sad on this day, but tears were still shed. It was a simple way to remember my Dad, but special. I am very grateful for the time I was able to spend with him. We almost lost him when I was a senior in high school, but it wasn't his time. I was blessed with almost ten more years to spend with him. He was unable to attend my graduation, but he was there for my wedding and the birth of Jackson. It meant a lot to have him there for two very big and important events in my life.  He was able to see Jackson grow from newborn to two years old and that means a lot even though it was just a few short years.  He is still missed and always will be. Little things always remind me of him, but hopefully one day they will bring happiness instead of sadness. I love you Dad, Happy Birthday.

Aquarium!

Jen and the kids came up a week early for our reunion so that her older kids could go to EFY and other camps. While they were here, we decided to make a trip to the aquarium. The kids had so much fun and were so excited that they kept hurrying to the next exhibit! We had to tell them to slow down or else we would have been done in ten minutes. The kids loved all of it, but I think the otters and penguins were definitely the biggest hits. The otters were so cute playing together and it was fun watching the penguins jump in and out of the water. I didn't take very many pictures, but here are a few. 

Cute Jackson wanted to hold Hannah's hand while they walked and looked around at the animals.

West Fest!

Here are some pictures from West Fest. Jackson liked looking at the Firetruck, but cried when the firefighter lifted him up to sit in it. Even when CJ sat in it with him, he didn't like it. Silly boy! We walked around the booths and ate lunch there. Jackson had fun running around and seeing his Grandma Connie and his cousins, Cayman and Cooper. 

The kids were able to ride some of the carnival rides and Jackson liked most of them. The very first one was a little roller coaster and the worker wouldn't let CJ go with Jackson. So Jackson and Cooper sat next to each other and Jackson did not like it at first. He wasn't really crying, but you could tell that he was not enjoying himself at all. I felt so bad and almost told the worker to stop it because it kept going and going. It seemed like it lasted forever. We all cheered for him as they came by hoping to help him feel more comfortable. Cooper put his hand over Jackson's to help him, it was so sweet. Needless to say, he didn't want to go on it again. The kids had fun doing the other rides though. It was a fun day!

Toddler Bed!

Jackson has never tried crawling out of his crib so we were in no hurry to move him to a bigger bed. We have CJ's bunk beds from when he was little so we thought we would just put Jackson in those when he was ready. In our neighborhood, we have a swapping group on Facebook where people sell things and someone was selling this Cars toddler bed for $20. Total bargain! When my neighbor told me about it I called CJ and said we should buy it because Jackson LOVES Cars and I knew he would love this bed. We bought it and Jackson did love it. He just wanted to sit on it for a while. He didn't even want to play outside with his friends because he wanted to stay on his bed. It was so cute to watch him. When we brought it home all the neighbor kids were outside and saw it when we got it out of the car and followed us inside with it. That made Jackson even more excited that his friends thought his new bed was so cool. 

We moved the crib in front of the closet and put his new bed where the crib was. That first night was a success! He stayed in bed the whole night and in the morning he yelled for me when he was ready to get up. He wouldn't even get off of it until I came and got him. Awesome! The next day, he napped in it great and he continued to sleep in it with no problems. CJ and I were thinking this was the easiest transition ever!
It lasted a good three weeks. Then we went to Star Valley for my family reunion for two nights where he slept in a bed with me. When we got home, he wanted to sleep in his crib. We had moved the mattress from the crib to his bed, so we told him the mattress was on the Cars bed so he needed to sleep in his cool Cars bed! We were really trying to talk it up and get him excited about his bed again. He simply said,"Move it Mom." So we moved the mattress and he has been in the crib ever since. We left both beds in his room and got another mattress for the Cars bed. Now he can choose where he wants to sleep and I won't have to move anything around. Maybe one day he will decide his bed is cool again and want to sleep in it.

Park City Fun!

Our dear friends Ryan and Amber are moving to Tennessee and we are so sad. They were spending a couple days in Park City before they headed out so we decided to join them for one day. We went swimming at their hotel first and Jackson had so much fun. We had bought him a little boat to play with in the pool hoping that he would enjoy it more. He loved it and I think since CJ and I both had gotten in the pool with him, he thought that was fun. After swimming we rode the ski lift up the mountain to the Alpine Slide. Jackson loved the lift and loved the slide even more. At first he was a little nervous, but by the end he was saying,"Wee!" He asked to go again as soon as we got off. 

It was so fun to be with Ryan and Amber and the boys before they moved. We don't see them nearly enough and now they will be far away. Before we left for the evening, I took Jackson on the slide one more time. He was so excited.
Jackson looked so cute with his sunglasses on his head while we drove home.

That evening our neighbors had planned a movie night outside. Jackson thought it was so fun to watch a movie and eat popcorn outside. What fun friends we have!