Fiercest Chocolate Cake of the Seven Seas!

Tyler wanted a Pirate theme for his Birthday Party

We pieced together ideas we saw online.

Sharks attacking the boat.

Barrels of Rum, Cannon Balls, and a Treasure Chest.

Placement of the candles made the cannons seem more realistic.

Dr. Henry "Indiana"Jones Jr.

Our boys love Indiana Jones.
When pretending, they sometimes argue about who is Indiana Jones.
To help keep the peace:
One get to be "Indiana Jones"
One gets to be "Doctor Jones"
And one gets to be "Junior"

Here are three hats that are often declared to be:
Indiana Jones' Hat

Happy New Year!

Here we all are (Emily's Family) at temple square. It was bitter cold, but lots of fun! From our family to yours Happy New Year!

Winter Fun

Daddy is pretty fun to have around especially when he is in a silly mood.

Houdini

On Christmas Eve, Emily put Noah down for a nap in his crib
while Tyler, Isaak and I finished the Igloo.
To Emily's astonishment,
Noah came out of his room all by himself.
I suggested we lower the mattress of his crib to the lowest level.
That didn't stop him.
I sat in his room with a camera and his pacifier (as bait)
to see if I could discover how he was escaping.
His secret is revealed in the video below.
(I'm not sure what we're going to do now)

Christmas Time

We had a wonderful Christmas

Emily put up two trees this year:
One for the Boys,
and one for our family.

The Boys' tree worked great as a decoy for little hands.
At one point, the knocked their tree completely over,
but the family tree remained beautiful the whole time.

We also built a gingerbread house a few weeks ago.
It was a hectic project. The boys were more interested in
eating the candy than using it to decorate the house.


Although the house lasted until Christmas,
there was obvious damage
from little fingers of hungry boys.

We didn't get very much snow this year
until about a week before Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, the boys helped me build an Igloo.
It is big enough for me to lay down in,
and tall enough for Tyler to stand up in.

Here's a video of it too.

We tried to help the boys understand
the true meaning of Christmas.
We had them put on a Nativity Play with
their cousins from Emily's family.


Tyler and Isaak doubled as Shepherds and Wise Men.


Noah played Joseph, and his cousin Jade was Mary.

All the kids did a good job of
reverently acting out this beautiful scene.

Turkey Day

Emily put on her first Thanksgiving Dinner Yesterday, and it turned out great!
The turkey turned out good, and was done on time - despite the roaster over blowing a breaker at one point. We invited the local Jackson clan, and had to borrow some tables and chairs to accommodate everyone. We had good food and a good time.
(As you might notice - Grandpa and Becca enjoyed their seats at the end of the table nearest the TV, so they could watch football while they ate!)

I've heard that there is something in Turkey that makes you tired. Judging from the pictures below, I think that there is something in Stephanie's baby George that enhances that effect.

George and Grandpa Jackson

George and Carlos

First Lost Tooth

Tyler Lost His First Tooth!

I was a little surprised when Tyler complained that his tooth was "clicking." It turned out that the clicking was his loose tooth shifting positions and rubbing against his top teeth when he bit down. I waited to pull until Tyler didn't complain about it hurting when it wiggled. I used my dad's trick of using dental floss to tie a slip not around the tooth, counted to 3, and pulled both ends of the dental floss tight. Tyler was very brave, and excited when he woke up the next morning to find 50 cents from the Tooth Fairy. It's kind of funny when he smiles, because the gap from his missing tooth almost lines up with the gap between his to front teeth.

Fall Fun

The boys had their first opportunity to play in the leaves recently.

Compare to Last Year

Pumpkins and Bum-kins

We grew some pumpkins in our garden. One pumpkin started growing in the middle of the chain-link fence. We called it our Bum-kin for reasons you can guess.

Other Jack-O-Lanterns

Halloween

Halloween got pass over on our blog because Spencer's wedding cam right after it. Emily didn't want to go back and do a late Halloween post, so I'm doing it.

Tyler had fun dressing up for school

We took the boys to our ward's Trunk-Or-Treat

Noah had everybody smitten by his cuteness

I dressed up for work, and won a Home Depot gift card for "Most Creative Costume"

Our Jackson 5

Fun Wedding Moments

Sisters

We are happy to have Emily as a new part of our family. I now have three sisters!

Reception Flowers

I found out it was hard to be both in the wedding party and do the flowers. But we made it ....barely. The reception was beautiful and I was excited that the bride liked everything!

Spencer and Emily's Wedding

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This is what we got all dressed up for! My little brother married.......can't believe it!

How can you not love this photo? Here is Rex and Noah dressed for the temple. They are so cute. I see more of Rex in Noah everyday. I like to tease him and call Noah "mini Rex".

The boys have missed aunt Amber since her move to Vegas. They are pen pals most of the time, but have really enjoyed their time with her since she came to visit for the wedding.