First Halloween!

Parker brought Jackson up to campus because the girls in my class wanted to see his costume. They pretty much smothered him... but he likes it.

Then, that afternoon, we went downtown to trick or treat. The city blocks off a few of the main streets and all of the businesses give out candy.
It's kind of nice for the younger kids who are used to an earlier bedtime because you can go downtown early, while it's still light outside, then be home for other trick or treaters.

Halloween (continued)...

After trick or treating downtown, we stopped at our friends' house to see their new baby, Greg (only a couple of days old). We took pictures together of the boys' first Halloween.
Then, we went to the church. Families had signed up to decorate rooms. It was fun to go door-to-door (from classroom to classroom) and see how each one was decorated. It was also nice to be indoors because it was already freezing outside and we could let Jackson go ahead of us without worrying.

He was pretty darn cute in his little puppy costume. I thought this was an appropriate choice, since he LOVES puppies - live ones and stuffed. I think he had a great Halloween.

Just hangin' around

We were out walking today and stopped at a park to let Jackson swing for a while and the dogs run around. He was giggling and giggling until I got the camera. Then he got kind of serious.

I managed to get some cute ones, even though he wasn't showing his big, toothy grin. Jackson LOVES to swing. He didn't want to get out, but didn't throw a fit either. We have been pretty lucky with that so far... tomorrow is Halloween and Jackson will officially be 10 months old!

On the Go...

Jackson is trying so hard to walk. He pulls himself up onto everything and takes a few steps, but just doesn't have the confidence to walk across the room yet. Of course, Puppy goes everywhere with him. Usually, he puts Puppy's ears in his mouth, then he can use both of his hands for other things. It's pretty funny how attached he is to that little dog. Anyway, I don't think it will be much longer before he is walking alone. He is really getting more coordinated and balanced each day. It is so much fun to watch his progress!

Autumn photo shoot...

We (actually, I) finally got around to raking all of our leaves in the front yard... they were everywhere! I couldn't resist taking some fun Autumn pictures of Jackson with the leaves and our pumpkins. However, we had already carved all of our pumpkins. He quickly discovered that the lid was removeable... that was about the end of the photo shoot.
It was also SO funny to watch his face scrunch up when he felt the leaves... he's so funny about different/new textures! There are too many to narrow down (I always think they're all cute), so I'm going to have to add another post... (you can only put up to 5 pictures on each posting).

More Autumn Leaves and PB & J...

Here are some more... plus Jackson's favorite sandwich, (which my sister, Tiffany, thinks is hilarious because those are our initials... PB & J, Parker, Brooklynn, Jackson... ha, ha, ha... no, we didn't plan that).

Pictures on Campus

We were taking our usual walk today... we usually go through/across EOU campus to get to one of the neighborhood parks. I took some pictures of Jackson while we were there. I just love the Aspens! Anyway, I didn't do a great job of getting good angles, but Jackson was super smiley!

Wearing Daddy's Hat

Parker thinks it's so funny to put his dirty baseball hat on Jackson. Actually, Jackson thinks it's pretty funny too. Another photo combination to tell another story. We are getting excited for Jackson's first Halloween and are really enjoying the changing leaves outside!

Mommy's Cowboys

Jackson was all dressed up in his Wrangler 20X jeans, cowboy boots, Wrangler shirt, and hat. Of course, that's Parker's usual attire, so we took a "cowboy" picture together.

Giggling with Daddy

Jackson and Parker have such a good relationship. They love to be together. Parker can usually make Jackson laugh anytime. When he wants to play, Jackson says da, da, da. When he's tired or hungry or needs his diaper changed, etc. he says, ma, ma, ma. He has already determined the nurture vs. play characters. It's kind of funny because we both do 50% of everything, don't think Parker doesn't get his fair share of diaper changing! Anyway, these pictures just tell a great story & show Jackson's personality so well! (Parker was wiggling his belt like a snake over Jackson's lap and for some reason, he thought that was hilarious.)

Grandpa's 80th Birthday

I already wrote about the birthday get together, so here are some cute pictures of Jackson playing with Maddie, Uncle Christian, and some of Mommy's cousins.

Christian's Baptism

Christian finally turned 8 years old and was baptized this October. We were able to drive up for the weekend and share his special day. We had a lot of fun with family. All 8 of my Mom's siblings were together also... my Grandpa celebrated his 80th birthday that weekend as well. It was nice to talk with everyone and be together.

Mission Reunion & General Conference

We were lucky enough to be able to go to our Brasil Goiania Mission Reunion near our Mission President's home in Lindon, UT. We had so much fun visiting with mission companions and leaders.

We stayed at the Jones' house in Salt Lake City during our weekend visit. Jackson was so spoiled and had so much fun playing with the "big boys".

The most exciting part of the trip for Parker was going to the Priesthood Session at the Conference Center. The Jones' neighbors (President Hinckley's daughter) had some extra tickets and offered them up last minute. When they got into the Conference Center, the ushers just kept directing them further and further toward the front. They ended up being right in front of the Prophet and Apostles, a couple of rows from the very front. Parker said it was amazing to be that close while they listened to our leaders and fun to be in the Conference Center for the first time. (The ticket is a pretty nice momento... it says "Guest of the President".)