Brother & Sister

Here's Kate again!
We just can't get enough of her... mostly can't get over how perfect she is!
I'm pretty sure Jackson doesn't remember that his was his first... it's been put away for quite a while now...
He just loves to point out the "lights, lights, lights" to his little sister, show her the butterflies and bring little toys closer so that she can reach them. It's pretty cute! He gets really excited when she actually makes contact with one of the objects hanging down.

Kate: Pre-Halloween

The kids' costumes came in the mail today and I was pretty excited to try them on to make sure they fit (and that they were cute!) Kate is a little lamb in case you can't tell. There wasn't much to choose from in her size for a girl... anyway, I'm pretty sure she's not overly excited about wearing a Halloween costume. Hopefully, I'll get some better pictures on October 31st.
Just a random picture of our beautiful little girl!

Helping mom make dinner

Jackson is saying "cheeeeese" as you can see
Jackson just LOVES to "help" with anything and everything that we will let him... even things that we'd prefer him not to help with. He's growing up WAY too quickly!

Visiting friends

We stayed with Tiffany and Mike Friday night after our reunion because it was close and we wanted to help them unpack a little. Tiffany and I spent a good portion of the day Saturday getting her kitchen out of boxes and organized. Then Parker, the kids and I headed up to Salt Lake City in the late afternoon so that he could go to the Priesthood session at the Conference Center with Steve Jones again. (He got to go last year because Steve got tickets from President Hinckley's daughter--their neighbor. They ended up sitting 6 rows from the front directly in front of the podium.) Parker had another great experience. It was a short visit as we left early Sunday to make our long journey home, but fun to visit. Thanks for your generosity Tiffany, Mike, Steve & Maurine!! We love you guys!

Mission Reunion, Oct. 2008

President Platt, Sister Platt, Jackson (21 mos), Brooklynn, Parker, & Baby Kate (7 weeks)
Maren Larsen (my mission "daughter"... she was the 4th Sister I trained during my mission)... she was recently married and doesn't she look good?!

Jackson with his friend Madi

This is Jackson's friend Madi who he met last year at our mission reunion. It was fun to go again this year and see some old friends, companions, and mission president and wife. Jackson seemed to have a great time and was such a good sport considering he didn't go to bed until WAY past his bedtime the night before, then spent 9 1/2 hours in the car and we went straight to the church for our reunion. Pretty good for a 21 month old!



What a handsome little boy!!!

Kate... and with cousin Chloe

Here are some more of my beautiful little girl... who has been smiling at me on a regular basis now! I LOVE it! She has the most beautiful smile... I just need to work on getting it on camera more often!

Cousins: Chloe (left) and Kate (right)

6:45am

Apparently, Maddie does just fine in a "big kid" bed and at some point decided that she wanted it to herself. Jackson came into our bed around 5:30am, but I don't think that's when he was squished out of his bed... when Maddie woke up she said (still half-asleep), "Jackson right there", pointing on the carpet parallel the side of the bed. This tells me that at some point Jackson was probably sleeping on the floor next to the bed. Tiffany and I wished we would have had a video camera in there to record what really happened... especially since Jackson began closest to the wall.

11:42pm

They actually fell asleep! We were AMAZED!! After we closed the door and said goodnight, we didn't hear another sound from Jackson's bedroom. They actually fell asleep... although it looks like the light is on, it's not... it's just my camera flash.

Notice how Maddie is already starting to take over the bed...

Finally in bed... but together??

Maddie hasn't transitioned to her big girl bed yet because Tiffany wanted to wait until after they moved. We didn't think they would even stay in Jackson little toddler bed, but wondered how Maddie would do in it, so we encouraged them to jump in bed and acted as though we were putting them to bed. (They are a little competitive, so usually when one is doing something, the other wants to do it too.)
They were so excited! (They're always excited/crazy when they're together.)
Anyway, they barely fit, but cuddled right up in bed.

Another Bath

COUSINS!!!
Jackson had taken a bath about 2 hours before Maddie arrived, but she really wanted to take a bath with Jackson, so he jumped in again. This boy could live in the bathtub!

Kate & Jackson waiting for cousins...

Tiffany and Mike were supposed to arrive at our house this afternoon sometime on their way down to Utah... they're moving. This is us waiting for them.

Kate's smiles

Nap in the hallway??

I put Jackson down for his afternoon nap and went to take one myself. I thought I heard him walking around in the hallway, so I waited a few minutes because sometimes he'll come out and then go back to his bed. After a while I didn't hear anything and assumed he had gone back in to lay down. About 45 minutes later, this is what I found. Pretty cute! Just like his Dad, he can sleep about anywhere if he is tired enough.

Jackson - 20 mos, 30 lbs!!

Jackson is the cutest little boy in the whole world!! And what a little ham! He is also the reason my arms stay toned... he's not officially a toddler yet and already weighs 30 pounds. Luckily, he is still in the 90th percentile for height... very proportionate, but definitely SOLID!!
Jackson still loves stuffed animals (he has his favorites and is VERY attached) and any type of ball. He loves cars, trucks (especially big ones, and gets extra excited if they make loud noises), tractors, dogs, birds... any animal actually. He loves to be tickled... I think that's kind of funny.

Baby Kate - 5 weeks old, 11.5 pounds

We are having so much fun with our Baby Kate. Jackson loves her to pieces too! I thought I would take a few more pictures before we pack everything up to head back home... then school will begin and life will get crazier for a while!