Trouble with a capital "T"

8 years of fun!

We celebrated Jackson's 8th birthday this past weekend. Here is the birthday boy eating a birthday breakfast!

In the afternoon, we headed over to Bass Pro Shop for his party. We did archery, laser guns, and a scavenger hunt in the store. We packed in the fun!

Here are Jackson and some of his buddies, Jack and Will.

My mom and I made a target/bullseye cake. We had to change our original plan, which was going to be a fish. The pond was frozen over at Bass Pro, so we couldn't fish. So, we made this target. Honestly, it was a lot easier than the fish was going to be, so I was glad :)

In the archery gallery, just casually leaning on an African Lion....no big deal.......

The boys learned how to shoot a crossbow and it was powerful! The guy had to help each of them just hold it, it had so much force when it shot. Check out the concentration on Jackson' face.

I told the boys they had to pose for a "nice" picture without bunny ears or weird faces. Here it is....

A second later, I told them they could be silly.....they all acted like that lion was going to attack them.

And finally, cake time!! Jackson had a great time and we had so much fun watching him with his friends and just being a boy. I am so proud of him for so many reasons. He is such a great kid and is growing into such a thoughtful, interesting, awesome, young man! I told him, that no matter how old he is, he will always be my baby. He just smiles when I say that....I think he likes it :)

Christmas 2009 (mostly in pictures because I have a TON of them)

First stop.....Mom and Dad's in Kansas!
The g-parents and kids...ready to tear into the gifts
Auntie A and Jackson being silly
The LONG awaited Wii!! According to the boys, they were the only kids in Texas who didn't have one!
So happy!
Brooke got a bitty baby, but she just wanted to crawl into the box that it came in. So funny....
The boys in all their KU gear.
Uncle Ben with Brooke loving her bitty baby. Ben looks like a natural!
Second stop....Jason's parents in Leavenworth! The boys love the bunk beds that they sleep in there. G-pa reading them a story.
G-ma reading the boys a story the night before Christmas.
One morning, we opened the door and found a wall of snow! It was so cool...we made the boys stop and take pics. before plowing thru it.
1, 2, 3....run! They could barely get thru it because it was so thick!
G-ma and G-pa yard is the best for sledding.
Great grandparents from Idaho. We were so glad to see them. It was snowing so hard that we weren't sure if they could make the drive.
Here are some of the cousins with their grandparents.
Brooke loved the snow. She didn't seem to mind the cold.
Her first sled ride. She laughed and laughed and went down the hill probably 5 times!
Grandpa gave them a litte guidance on the sled or else Brooke would have ended up in the snow.
Almost every day, they have deer that come in their backyard. There were up to 7 of them at one time. Here is Drew helping to put down the corn after a snowfall.
After Christmas, Jackson got to go to a KU Basketball clinic. All the players were there and he got all their autographs and pictures with them.
He's pretty serious about basketball. Check out those skills!
We're back at home and decompressing after an awesome Christmas. We had such a great time with family and friends and the weather couldn't have been better. It was truly magical for the kids and that is so fun to see as a parent!