My Growing Family

A week ago, I moved out of the house for probably the last time, with the exception of some down time just before and after my mission. My family is growing so much and Sunday night was the first time we have all been together since the babies. It was wonderful having everyone together. I love Sunday dinners with my family. Here are some pics of the youngest members who, between the 3 of them, demand all of our attention, and we're only too happy to give it to them! Anthony (Tino)

Victoria (Tori)

Ethan

Happy Birthday, Ethan!!

Very early this morning, my sister-in-law, Cari (Michael's wife), gave birth to a beautiful little baby boy named Ethan Robert Jackson! He is so cute and is opposite of his older brother, Anthony, in looks...dark hair, longer face, darker skin... Anyway, I will post pictures once I get some. Michael and Cari are supposed to be updating their blog soon anyway...they said they would about 10 hours ago but I would assume they're a little preoccupied. :) I clocked out of work early today to work on a baby blanket and burp cloth set that I was making for Ethan and finished it later this afternoon. It is dark blue with little teddy bears and baseball bats on it...perfect for any son of Michael's :)

No classes + Beautiful sunshine = 1 Wonderful Summer!

After much debate with...my inner self...I dropped my summer classes and decided to give myself a break before hitting this fall and winter full force leading up to my mission. As of yet, I still consider it the best decision I ever made. Because I dropped my classes, I've gone to Arches National Park, river rafting, four-wheeling in WY, slip 'n sliding, canoeing, boating/wakeboarding, and lots of movies and late night ice cream chats. My ward in American Fork does so many cool activities. Summer is so wonderful and here are just a few pictures of all the adventures I've gone on...


Above are some pictures from our family 4th of July BBQ with the Greens and Hunts. That's my nephew, Anthony, and my mom is holding Victoria, my new little niece.


My friend, Katherine, and I drove down to Moab to visit our friend Natalie (I went to China with these 2 girls). Natalie is a river guide down there so she took us rafting and then we went to Arches and it was BEAUTIFUL!



My ward hiked the Y for FHE one night! I passed out once on the way up and once on the Y but I made it! :)



We went boating for FHE another night (Everyone in our bishopric owns a boat...). That's me and my friends in AF. They're awesome. Oh yeah, and I took a shot at wakeboarding again...something I haven't done since I was 16...and I got up on the first try! However, there are no pictures because my friends didn't know how to work my camera... :) That second picture is me experimenting with my camera.



Another FHE activity! We got a huge slip 'n slide that could fit about 5 people at once...maybe more. Anyway, some of the boys covered it with dish soap so it was a nice slick ride! That's me in the middle...

For a ward activity, we drove up to our bishop's cabin in Star Valley, WY, and had an overnighter. All the members of our bishopric own four-wheelers (as well as boats...I think it's a requirement or something!). Anyway, so we went driving around up into the hills and then had dutch oven cobblers and night games. Woohoo!

Can I just say again that I LOVE SUMMER!!!

my summer thus far

So, it's been a while since I last wrote...in fact, an entire term has come and gone, with finals today and tomorrow. I took a bowling class, which was incredibly awesome! My high score for the term was 225!!! I got a print-out for evidence. :) I also took a beginning organ class and can now play 3 hymns on the organ if I'm ever called upon to do so...Redeemer of Israel, How Gentle God's Commands, and Father in Heaven, We Do Believe. Yay! And I took a class called history of psychology...I hated it and will be SO glad tomorrow at 2pm when I never have to see it again. :)

Oh yeah, I have a new niece! My sister-in-law, Megan, had a beautiful baby girl on May 22, named Victoria Eugenia Jackson. So Chris and Megan are parents! She is so cute and tiny!

I have also been keeping myself busy with HOBY! I can't get enough of it! In case any of you don't know, it's a leadership conference for high school sophomores held in every state for one kid from each school in that state. I attended as a sophomore and have stayed really involved with it. I'm now on the corporate board for Utah's site. Anyway, I love it and just try to give back as much as I possibly can. I think high school kids have so much potential that people just give up on too easily. So we had Utah's seminar in early May and it was amazing! Then I got an email from Colorado asking if anybody could please make it out for their seminar because they were short facilitators (adult in charge of a small group of 8-10 kids). I jumped at the chance and it was held last weekend in Denver. It was such a cool experience and I made so many cool friends and memories. One day, we took the kids on a field trip into downtown Denver and got to tour the state capitol building, then we ran into the governor on our way out so he stopped and talked to us for a bit, we did a service project up in the Rocky Mountains; it was just all a really great experience!

DONE!!!!!...for now. :)

So, my last 2 days have been entirely consumed by graduation ceremonies, parties, etc for my mom and my brother, Michael. Yes, my mom graduated after 30 years and she was ecstatic about it! We found out after the fact that Mom and Michael could have walked together, but alas, we went to 2 convocations...one of them being for the Marriott School, which is a whole bunch of business guys with no sense of humor...and over 1000 names to read. Nobody was getting any applause because it was just so long and boring. So Michael, wanting to spice up the ceremony a bit (he walked a little over halfway into the name-reading), decided to cross out his middle names on the little card he was to hand to the announcer. All of a sudden, we hear "Michael Jackson," and the crowd started laughing, then clapped because they felt bad for laughing at his name...so he got quite a bit of applause and everyone kind of tuned in again to what was going on. The whole rest of it, I spent playing tetris on my phone...singlemost wise purchase I have ever made. :)


Anyway, now I have about 3 days break before spring term starts. But I'm trying to take some more fun classes so it's not complete drudgery for the next 2 months. I'm doing voice lessons, bowling, beginning organ, and history of psychology (no, I do not consider that last one fun, just in case you were wondering...) :) But at least I'm going shopping with Kiley next week!

Slowly eliminating this semester from existence...

As the semester approaches its end, this becomes my least favorite building on campus...

First Post...

So, I don't even really know who will read this blog...or what I will write on it to encourage people to read! My life really isn't that exciting, my family lives close by, and they don't use blogspot anyway! :) But hey, here is a picture of me and my nephew, Anthony (Tino), on Easter. He's getting so big and loves the attention...he'll have a bit of an adjustment once his little brother and cousin are born this summer! (Yes, Megan is pregnant with a girl and Cari is pregnant with a boy!)

Ok, well, life at BYU is coming to a close for this semester...and it is busy as heck right now! I have a lot of stuff due but am trying to keep my social life alive mainly for the purpose of keeping me sane! Of course, I'm not even sure why I'm looking forward to this semester ending so much considering I'm taking a full load spring and summer, then straight back into another fall/winter round again! Yay! Oh yeah, and did I mention the fact that I'm also going to try to triple my hours at work too? Somebody please stop me!

General Conference this weekend was AMAZING! I got to attend the Saturday afternoon session (the BYU combined choirs sang but there were not enough choir seats for all of us so I was not randomly selected to sing...however, I was given complimentary tickets!) I went with my friend Stephanie, also in choir but not singing, and we sat in the 4th row! I have never been closer to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency in my life! It was so wonderful. I had it confirmed to me numerous times throughout the weekend that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of God called for our day and time. I love him and the words he spoke. I especially loved it when he asked us to pray for him. That really struck me. I love the opportunity I have to actively participate in the Gospel openly in my daily life. All the time I was watching Conference, I kept thinking back to my circumstances just 6 months ago as I listend to October Conference, sitting on our beds in China, laptops getting the live audio stream at midnight and 4am, having to keep our doors and windows closed. I am so appreciative of the situations I am blessed with now. I had taken it all so for granted before I went to China, then I got there and it was like Heavenly Father was saying to me, "See all that you had living in the US? Why did you never thank me for it?" Well, I'm grateful now! I love this Gospel and all the strength it gives to me in my daily life. I love that we have a living prophet today who speaks to us and is God's mouthpiece on the earth!