Happy 2nd Birthday, Jackson! Jan. 9, 2010

So, Jackson's birthday was celebrated twice this year--I guess he turned two and got two birthday parties. Because we had so much family down for the window dedication, we did a small celebration at that time. For his "real" birthday, we decided to keep the party much smaller and a little simpler than last year's because of all we've had going on this winter--we were nearly partied out!

I let Jackson choose between a couple of ideas and he chose a "Mickey cake". I made him a Mickey cake and we bought some balloons and pretty much called it good. We also didn't invite all of our friends and their kids this year, we just invited a few and kept it mostly family. It was really fun though, and Jackson had a great time!

The morning of his birthday, we gave him the present we got him--an outdoor patio table of his own, complete with striped umbrella!

Here is the cake I made Jackson this year--


We turned his new table into a little gift table:

I guess with this being Jackson's second birthday and all, he just wasn't as excited as he was last year!
Now, finally, it's playtime! Enough with the ceremonial singing and blowing out of the candle and all...let's just have fun!

Jackson and Zane were both loving this activity!


Papa Mill (great-grandpa Miller), the golf pro, showing Jackson how it's done!

Happy Birthday, Jackson, I can't believe it's been two years! You can do so much--you are talking a ton, you love reading as much as ever (he can now read "Old Hat, New Hat" almost by himself), you are super-active and so coordinated for a toddler! You are so imaginative and creative, and we all love watching you play! I can't wait to see what this year will bring!

It was nice to have a low

Well, this past weekend was a really special weekend for my Jones side of the family. My Grandpa Jones passed away a few years ago, and he and my grandma were longtime members of the Hollister Presbyterian Church (well, my grandma still is). The Hollister church is a super-cute, old-fashioned white church with tall windows all along both sides of the sanctuary. They have, in the past few years, begun changing out the regular windows for stained-glass windows that are in memory of church members. There is a local artist who does the stained glass windows, and she is just amazing. Well, my grandpa wanted a stained glass window dedicated to his family for the church, so after he passed away, the family decided to have one done as a memorial to him. The family decided to base the design of the glass on a painting my Great-grandma Hanson had done of the aspen trees in the South Hills in the fall (the Jones family settled the foothills area and have always loved the beauty of the South Hills). Well, the window turned out absolutely gorgeous, and the dedication was on Sunday, January 3rd. All of my dad's siblings and their families were here except for my Aunt Martha and her kids (they live in South Dakota, so they couldn't make it) and my cousin, Rosanna. It was such a neat weekend. We packed a lot of special moments in.

Friday night, we decided to have an early birthday party for Jackson since almost everyone on that side of the family was here. Jackson will be two on Jan. 9th. My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Rex had just celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, so we thought that should be part of the celebration as well. We also had to do a little bit more Christmas gift exchanging, since some of the family missed Christmas, but was here for the window dedication. So, needless to say, Friday night was chaotic and busy, but super-fun.

Kathy and Rex

Jackson blowing out 2 candles!

Then, Saturday, we all decided to go skiing. Thirteen people on my Dad's side of the family all went!

Emma, Bria, Jake, Carl, Keith, Dad, Mom, Kathy, Teresa, Derek, Shawn, Trevor, and me

It was so neat to see all my dad's siblings skiing together except for one--they were all saying they didn't think they had ever all skied together.

Uncle Carl, Uncle Keith, my Dad, Aunt Kathy, and Aunt Teresa

The day was so gorgeous--there was fresh snow (perfect snow, might I add), beautiful sunshine, and fun company! We wrapped up the day with a trip to Maxi's Pizza for some post-skiing dinner, and the non-skiers of the bunch were able to join us there.

Sunday, of course, was so special. We all went to church with my Grandma in Hollister, where the window was dedicated. My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Rex, along with my cousins Derek, Bria, and Emma, all did special music together, which was neat, because I've never seen them all perform together. It was great seeing some of the local community friends and neighbors I (as well as my whole family and even Jake) grew up with. It was such a special and meaningful service, and as I sat there beneath the new window, I kept picturing my Grandpa sitting there with us. I will have to get pictures of the window from my mom and post them later. Anyhow, it was such a neat weekend and I will treasure the new memories, as well as the old ones of my grandpa, who was so special and so well-loved by his family, his neighbors, and his friends.

Christmas 2009

Jackson made Christmas cards and ornaments for some family members. The ornaments were made by cupping his hand (painted white) around the bottom of the ornament and then I painted each finger to look like snowmen. They turned out super-cute!


Christmas Eve, we crammed two traditions in! We started out at the Webb Family Christmas Eve party. Grandma Webb, Jake's parents, Hannah, Brady and Kylie, Maga and Papa, and Christy, Brent, and Sophie were all there. We had a lot of fun. Jackson loves playing with his cousin, "Pophie" (Sophie). He also has a blast with Aunt Hannah and Uncle Brady. Great-Grandma Webb spoiled Jackson with her favorite, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (apparently this is one of Jackson's favorites too!). He was sticky, but cute! We snacked on appetizers and opened gifts and had a lot of laughs. (Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post of this, since my sister-in-law captured all the memories and I don't have a copy right now, but we did have a wonderful time!)

Then, it was off to Grandma and Grandpa Miller's house. Grandma and Megan made delicious shrimp (this has been a tradition on that side of the family since my mom was a little girl) and my mom brought a to-die-for prime rib. Grandpa had a toasty fire going and we all enjoyed a new tradition for that family this year--we drew names for gifts. Things were definitely simpler that way, and we had an awesome time. Afterwards, we watched Jackson trying to figure out his new toy, the Zippity (which is like an interactive game hooked up to the tv with a mat and a giant joystick--it's all educational and interactive).

Actually, Jackson sat and smirked at us as we all tried to figure out the Zippity (it said ages 3 and up, but I'm not so sure...). Aunt Patti and I were "dancing" on the mat with our hands and finally, we had Megan try it. It was pretty funny.

Go Megan! (Note Jackson in the background--hehe)

After we all grew tired of the toddler game challenging our adult brains, we decided to head upstairs and relax.

Grandma brought out the marshmallows and s'more stuff and a few decided to toast marshamallows.

"Papa Mill" and Jackson making s'mores-YUM!

We had a really nice evening. Jackson got to put on his new Christmas pajamas (another tradition) and he was especially excited about the pockets (a sort of obsession of his!). We wrapped the night up and headed home so Santa could come!




Speaking of Santa, we already are having "belief" issues with Jackson regarding Santa Claus. It all started with Jake and his work Christmas party. Jake was asked to be the Santa for the party, but the coordinator also said she wanted me and Jackson to go so that she could buy our family dinner. Well, previously, Jackson had sat on Santa's lap and was FREAKED OUT. So, I didn't think we would survive an entire night and dinner with Santa. I told Jackson we were going to Daddy's Christmas party and that Daddy was PRETENDING to be Santa for the night. I explained to him that Daddy was dressing up in a COSTUME just as Jackson dressed up on Halloween. Well, since then, every time Jackson saw a Santa he would say "Santa, Daddy". Uh-oh. We would tell Jackson, no that's not Daddy, that's really Santa, but to no avail. Finally at the mall, with Jake along, we pointed out Santa so Jackson would see that Daddy and Santa were not one and the same. Jackson pointed to Santa and said, "Santa! Man." Oh dear...

So, onto Christmas day. We had a fantastic morning with just our little family at home. Jackson discovered his "Santa" gift right away (a four-wheeler) and loved it. He loved it so much, in fact, that he decided not to bother with any other presents. We pretty much had to force him into opening the rest :).

I fixed a yummy breakfast and we had such a nice morning. Then, it was off to mom and dad's for Christmas dinner with the Jones'!

I went to snap a "self-taker" and Jake grabbed me and picked me up!

Once again, my mom outdid herself with a scrumptious meal and the company was great. Jackson got a train set from my parents and, as it seems to go with toys, it took several adult "engineers" to construct the track. Jackson loved it, however, and could not be torn away from it.

Jackson was showing Grandma Jones the pages in the calendar I made for her.

Then, we hit the road once again to head to Jake's parents' house. We had a great time sharing gifts with them and Jackson was super-excited about his new "hooge" dumptruck and loader. He actually ended up delivering all the other presents with his dump truck.

We had a great visit.

Christmas with a toddler is super fun and exciting! But I never grow tired of the simple traditions of spending time with family and celebrating Christ's birth.

Christmas Goodies

So Christmas this year, as usual, was crazy, but wonderful. One of the first things we did, after getting back from our ski trip was have a baking day. My mom, my cousin Megan, and I all spent the 23rd baking and making homemade chocolates. We put them all together in goody plates to deliver to neighbors, family, and friends. I love this tradition, but usually we split up some of the tasks into more than one day. This year, we did not do that, and we started baking at 9:00 in the morning and didn't finish until after 6:00 in the evening. We were all pretty tired, and Megan and I decided we are not very talented at chocolate candy making! :) Jackson even helped a little, by making spice cookies with little miniature cookie cutters-they turned out super-cute and he enjoyed it. We did get a bit of a break as my aunt and uncle and cousins stopped by on their way home from the ski trip, so that was nice--thanks Keith, Shawn, Trevor, Bria and Derek! You kept us sane!

Grand Times at Grand Targhee

Well, things have been very busy for the Webb family the last couple of weeks. I was super-busy finishing the last week of school before the break, making last-minute touches on gifts, and getting ready for our ski trip. So, needless to say, I haven't updated my blog in quite awhile.

So this year for our annual ski trip, we got to head over to the Tetons to ski at Grand Targhee. My parents, my cousin, Derek, and my Uncle Keith and Aunt Shawn, and my cousins Trevor and Bria were all there also. We had a great time. There wasn't a ton of snow, but the snow that was there was absolutely perfect. We stayed in a gorgeous lodge at the resort village, so we basically skied in and skied out. NO DRIVING, which was so awesome! We were all staying nearby, so we could hang out as much as we wanted.

(Here are Jackson and Jake at the entrance to the resort--so fun!)

This was the lodge we stayed in.


Our favorite hang-out spot (well, other than the actual slopes, of course!


We skied (well Jake snowboarded), swam, went hot tubbing, played games, visited, and enjoyed watching Jackson sledding and...SKIING FOR THE FIRST TIME! He did amazing well and we were so proud to see him enjoying the sport and being such a little trooper. In fact, he was a little trooper the entire trip. I don't think he ever cried, got bored, or even threw a toddler tantrum. The entire time the rest of us were playing games or visiting, Jackson would just entertain himself and run around and play--no maintenance and such a wonderful imagination! Here are some highlights:

Here he is--not even two and on skis for the first time! Go Jackson!

Note: the ski tickets are nearly bigger than he is!


The swimming pool and hot tub area (the swimming pool was 87 degrees and the hot tub was 105. It felt so lovely after a long day of skiing--and of course, our little fish, Jackson, quite enjoyed the pool, since he isn't able to go in hot tubs yet. It was nice that they had the pool heated and opened.)

My dad and Jake relaxing.

Enjoying Warren Miller ski videos...they were all glued to the laptop screen.

Jackson cozyin up with Uncle Keith-they look deep in conversation, don't they?

I thought this picture was so cute for some reason. We were sharing a cinnamon roll at the little coffee shop, waiting for the others.

I told Jackson to say "cheese" and he did and the picture actually turned out so cute!


The group--Jake and Jackson in front, then Bria, my dad, my mom, Uncle Keith, Aunt Shawn, Trevor, and Derek. Fun times!


All in all, everyone had an AMAZING time and we were so blessed to be able to do this trip.

Holiday Weekend Happenings

We had such a fun and memorable weekend this past weekend. Jackson and I had a relaxing and fun day at home on Wednesday, building "tents" out of chairs and blankets (even though he has a perfectly nice tent in his room). He wanted to read in the "tent", play with his blocks in there, and drive his bus and truck in there. I was having a great time just being with my son, so it was the perfect day.

The following day, of course, was Thanksgiving. Jake went to work early, but was home by eleven so we could go over to my mom's early to help get Thanksgiving dinner ready. This year my mom decided to have her side of the family over, and we had a great day! The dinner, of course, was incredible, and Grandma Miller (Nana Mill, as Jackson would say) baked the most delicious pies. Following dinner, we played a fun game of Hoopla and enjoyed making fun of Jake's artistic skills (or lack thereof--we love you Jake!).

Friday was the Christmas season kick-off with Christmas in the Nighttime Skies. This is an event that has become a tradition since I've known Jake (he actually proposed to me there a few years ago--it was so beautiful!). For the donation of a toy, you get to have a yummy chili/baked potato dinner and a fantastic fireworks display! While waiting for the fireworks, they have huge bonfires to hang out near and stay toasty. Our friend, Maria, and her two beautiful daughters, Tonia and Aide (ToniaDay as Jackson calls them--all one name for both of them) joined us, as well as Michelle, my best friend, and Keshia, Bram, and their adorable little baby, Zane (more friends of our's). When we got there, we happened to camp out at the same campfire as my sister-in-law, Hannah, and her friend--we had so much fun! We decided to take Jackson to see Santa for his first time (he screamed and said "Santa scarey"), but we got an adorable picture! The night was gorgeous and the company was the best!

Saturday was the annual Christmas Tree Outing! We went during the afternoon and it was sooooo sunny and gorgeous, with a brand-new layer of snow on the ground. Picture Perfect! My parents went along, as did Michelle. It was Michelle's first time having her own real tree, so it was super-exciting! She found a wonderful tree, as did Jake and I. We had to joke around that my parents' tree was the Griswold Family Christmas Tree, because my mom thought it was so perfect and my dad swore that it was "way too big". All in all, we were all very happy with our finds and loaded them up. Jackson had fantastic time playing in the snow and getting tons of rides in his sled. He's definitely not afraid of speed!!! He had a couple of crashes, but nothing major. When we got home, we put up the tree and decorated and had everyone over for a chili dinner. What a great day!

It was the perfect kick-off for the Christmas season! I'm so excited for this month and the traditions we share as a family. I'm so thankful that Jake and I celebrate the true reason for Christmas year-round, but so enjoy special Christmas memories each year during this time! I will leave you all now with the fun image of my almost-two-year-old son trying to sing Jingle Bells while shaking his own little set of jingle bells and bopping up and down to the song--precious and unforgettable! I love you all and hope you experience the true joys of Christ in anticipation of Christmas.

Recent quotes from a 21-Month-Old

A few funnies from Jackson lately:

1. Mommy: "Jackson, are you a boy or a girl?"
Jackson: "Girl!"
Mommy: "Nooooo, Jackson, are you a boy or a girl?"
Jackson: "A kid!" and he grins and looks extremely proud of himself for answering in such a safe way.

2. Mommy: "Jackson, where are Mommy's keys?"
Jackson (as he looks around the house): "Mmmm...Papa!"
Mommy: "Papa didn't take my keys, Jackson, he's not even here. Where are my keys?"
Jackson (again--looking around the house): "Mmmmm...DAD!"
Daddy: "Hey, I get blamed for enough around here, I don't need to get blamed for something you did too, buddy."
He has learned the art of blame way too young.

3. One night Jackson was standing on a kitchen chair, which he had pulled up near the refrigerator, and was looking at all the pictures I have on the front of the fridge. He was pointing at the people and naming everyone he knew while I stood next to him at the stove, cooking. Pretty soon Jackson points at my cousin Derek and says, "Dake" (which is how he says Derek) and I said, "Yep, that's Derek!" Then Jackson puts his fingers on his forehead and, looking back at Derek's picture, says "Dake, hair, mess". Derek had curly, kind of shaggy hair at the time and Jackson apparently thought his hair was a mess in the picture. (Sorry Derek--we all know you have cool hair, but evidently Jackson has not developed a sense of style yet.)

4. This afternoon I decided to have my parents and my grandmother over for dinner, so I asked Jackson if he wanted to call Nana and ask them over for dinner. Of course he did, so I dialed and spoke with my mom a minute and told her Jackson wanted to tell her something. I gave the phone to Jackson and whispered, "Say 'come eat here Nana'" and Jackson yells into the phone, "EAT!!!" Mom made her reply and I whispered, "Say 'eat here Nana" and Jackson says, "EAT NANA EAT!" Apparently my mom figured it out and said, "Oh you want Nana to eat with you tonight?" to which Jackson replied, "Nana, Papa" and I whispered, "Tell them "six o'clock". He told my mom "six" and she figured it out and they showed up. He speaks like a telegram, but he gets the point across. (And he obviously gets very excited about eating!)