Family Pictures!!!

Before you start reprimanding me for not posting in too many months to say, I have a post to make up for it. On Saturday, my sister-in-law, Bethany Bown, took some family pictures for us. I am so excited with how they turned out. I put a sneak preview up here. You can see a few more on her photo blog at bethanybownphotography.blogspot.com. She is very talented! Thanks Beth. As a ps. I am still going to try to catch up on posting about things when I get around to it ;-)

Boring Mondays???

This post is to help Dallin's cousin, KC get through her boring Monday. She was quite upset that I have been such a slacker on the blogging world lately, so here is my attempt at changing that. I have now been out of school for almost two years now. It's weird to think about how things have changed. I really do miss some things about going to college. I miss the friendships, the learning, and feeling good after you get a long paper or project finished. I miss the stretching and growing that seem to be pretty constant while you're in school. One other thing I miss is....Spring Break. Luckily, Dallin is still in school, so I get to adopt his Spring Breaks too. This last week we went to Mesquite to escape from the cold weather and have a much needed break. Luckily, two of our cousins, Tyler and KC, and one of my best friends, Tycee were able to come with us. We had a great time. Here's a quick update about what we did.

We spent one day in Mesquite playing volleyball, racquetball and swimming at the rec center. It was nice and relaxing. Then we watched the BYU basketball game that night. It was a fun game to watch, even though the ending was less than ideal. I actually made a bracket for the tournament this year, so I have been infinitely more interested than last year. Too bad my bracket isn't shaping up to look too good. Oh well. I also didn't take many pictures that day. Oops.

We spent the next day in Las Vegas. We had a ton of fun at M&M World.

The Pinball Hall of Fame.

Coke World (This was called Tastes Around the World. It was drinks from all over the world. Most, but definitely not all, of them were really good.)

After we got back to Mesquite that night, we went bowling. I got the exact same score both games. It was pretty entertaining too.

The next day was our travel-back-home day. Luckily, there were some fun things along the way. In Spanish Fork, at the Hari Krishna temple they celebrate the Festival of Colors each year. I have seen lots of pictures and heard a lot about it, but never been. So we stopped there on the way home. Here is a before picture...

And some after pictures. Yes...we are covered with colored chalk. I'm not sure about the reasoning behind it, but you purchase colored chalk and everyone throws it at each other and in the air. Sounds crazy and it is...but it was also a lot of fun.

And here's a movie of the actual throwing of the colors. It is as crazy as it looks.

Then we stopped at my parents to shower and get cleaned up before we headed home. Thanks for the great food and the shower that has never felt so good. All in all, we had a great trip and a wonderful time. Thanks everyone who came and helped make it possible. I think Spring Break is going to have to continue even after our college days are done.

KC...I hope that helped you get through your Monday blues. :-)

The last one...for now

I promise this is the last video I will put up for now. This is just a sampling of the videos that you missed out on while blogger wouldn't work right for me. This is when Jackson was really young. It has actually made me really sad to watch some of these videos and to remember that Jackson isn't a baby anymore. He is a full grown toddler, an adorable one. I sure love my little boy! I have the best family in the world. Here is one of the most recent pictures. He likes to pretend to cook like mom does.

More videos for grandma

This one is a little older. I'm just glad the videos are actually working. Sorry for the overload. I just love my little guy.

Happiness is...

This...

I took this video back in December and came across it today. How can it not make you smile?

The best of times and the worst of times

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way...

-Charles Dickens

As I look back over the last year, this quote from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens comes to mind. In so many ways, this year has been fabulous. We have watched Jackson grow from a tiny little baby to the bumbling little toddler he is now. We have spent a year missing Steven, our brother, brother-in-law, friend and role model. We have had the hope that comes with a new job and a new apartment and city of residence. We have had the disappointments that come when things don't go according to "our plans". We have seen the hope that a new child and a new nephew can bring and the despair that comes when you pray and pray and ask for answers that just don't seem to come. I have sat and laughed and laughed at Jackson learning to crawl and walk and giggle or play with his Daddy and clap his hands. I have cried because sometimes things just seem to be too much. This last year has truly been the best of times and the worst of times.

Here are a few more details about my best and worst of times.

December 13, 2010 marked one year since anyone has seen my brother-in-law, Steven Koecher. We don't know what happened and unfortunately, we still don't have any answers. I think the lack of any kind of closure is the hardest part. My father-in-law said it best when he said, "We're stuck between hope and grief." There have been two "potential" sightings of Steven, but nothing that has ever been substantiated. I've spent the last month putting together a book of memories for Rolf and Deanne. I loved reading all of the wonderful memories that family and friends sent to me. The pictures reminded me of happier times. It's strange to believe that when those pictures were taken, we had no idea what life was about to throw at us.

The anniversary of Steven's disappearance was made more difficult by Josh Powell's accusations that Susan Powell and Steven ran away together to Brazil. As far as we know, there is no connection between them that the family or the police have been able to find. Go here to read Rolf Koecher's press release. The website http://forsteven.com/ is the official website that has any new information and background for those of you who don't know Steven. I just wish we had some answers. After having my own little boy, I cannot imagine the grief that Dallin's parents, Rolf and Deanne are going through. They have been such amazing examples of strenth and faith. I only wish there was more I could do. We miss you Steven.

Jackson is one of the bright spots in my life. I cannot believe that he is already one year old! He has grown up so fast. It feels like yesterday that we came home from the hospital with my tiny little baby. He keeps us busy and we are honestly loving every minute of it. After he took his first steps a few months ago, he decided that crawling was a lot more fun, and quicker, than walking. Just this last week he has started gaining confidence in himself as a walker. He gets a lot more bumps on the head and little bruises on his knees from falling, but he is a determined little guy. He gets so excited when he's walking to you and then gives you a big hug-which I have decided is the best thing in the world. Here are a few pictures of my little boy. We love you so much Jackson!

We threw a party for Jackson's first birthday in the middle of a blizzard (we didn't plan that part). It was fun to have some our families there to celebrate, as my cousin so aptly said, not that Jackson is one, but that we managed to keep him alive for a year. Jackson did a good job showing off for the family and opening his presents. Jackson loves balloons, so we made some balloon animals for table decorations. Before we took them to decorate, Jackson and Daddy had a pretty intense sword fight. It was so cute.

Jackson's favorite part of his party, by far, was eating his cupcake. I made a cake for the family and let Jackson have his own cupcake. We took his shirt off, because we have a lot of experience with how messy he can, and typically is, when he eats. It's a good thing too, because he promptly picked up his cupcake and stuck it, frosting side down, onto his chest. Then he got it in his mouth and really went to town. He also picked up some ice cream like he was holding a snowball and thought he was in heaven. It was fun to watch him enjoy himself. Such a cute, albeit messy, little boy.
Here are a few other pictures to update you one our life. This is mostly for grandparent's sake. Enjoy!

This was Jackson's first experience with Santa Claus. I think he liked him ;-)

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went to Evanston, Wyoming to cut down Christmas trees with Dallin's cousins. We made a day of it and had a great time. We found a great tree and are loving it here at home. Jackson has been surprisingly good about avoiding the tree and the gifts under it (knock on wood). I'm so excited for Christmas with our little man. Kids make almost everything more fun.

Jackson loved sledding!

Jackson also really liked playing in the leaves. Fall is such a beautiful time of year.

Jackson got snow clothes for his birthday. This was the first time he was able to get all bundled up and play in the snow. It was funny. Jackson just patted the snow and played. The face he is making in this picture cracks me up. What a ham.

Strictly speaking, we're still Aggies. Jackson just doesn't know it yet. ;-) He does have a USU shirt though...

I love my life, the good and the bad. What life would be complete without the good times and the bad. Without the harder times, how would re recognize the beautiful moments?

Happiness is...

I've decided to immitate Dallin's cousin, Stephanie, with a theme she had going a while ago on her blog. The theme is "Happiness is..." I've realized that there are so many things in my life that make me happy. A lot of these things are things that Jackson has taught me, or is continuing to teach me, or has reminded me of. So, here is my first installment in my own "Happiness is" collection.

Happiness is getting your driver's licence (or pretending you have it).

Remember how excited you were when you first turned 16 and went to the DMV with your mom to fill out the paperwork to get the long coveted driver's license. The freedom, the permission slip into the adult world, the coolness factor, and did I mention the freedom? I remember going to the DMV with my mom on my birthday and leaving feeling like I was on top of the world. I'm grateful that it will still be a while before Jackson get's his "real" driver's license and I'm the mom taking him. I'm also grateful for my tender moments when just riding in a toy car can give a little boy such complete joy. I want to be more like that. This is also one of my very favorite pictures of Jackson that I just had to share.