Halloween 2008!

Halloween 2008 began with Jackson and I heading off to preschool where we did a costume parade for all the parents and grandparents who wanted to come. Jackson thought this was a very weird concept and mostly just seemed confused.
Here we are in my classroom before school started:

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We were tigers of course.

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Here he is with his on again/off again girlfriend, Bella. Some days they push each other and fight. Other days they hold hands and hug a lot. Sometimes Jackson won't go into his classroom with out Bella. Sounds like a typical relationship, I guess.

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Here they are during the parade in full costume and looking very serious.

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Here is Jackson's adorable class and his preschool teachers!

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And a bit of a close-up of my favorite tiger!
That night we went to Floyd to spend Halloween with Jackson's Great Granny. She has close to 300 trick or treaters (not even exaggerating a little bit- it's insane!) and she needed some help. Jackson's Nana came to help too. We took Jackson out around the neighborhood and he LOVED it! He kept yelling "More houses! More Candies! Trick or Treat!" to Alan and I. He didn't mind going back to Granny's though because he loved opening the door and putting candy in the kids' bags. It was a wonderful night for all of us!

Weekend Getaway...

Okay, so I haven't been blogging consistently but you have to admit that once a month is better than every 3 or 4 months, right!? Right! October has been a busy month! It's also been a little bit uncomfortable since I found out I'm due May 25th with baby #2 (YAY!!!!) and morning sickness has been pretty challenging. So I'll use that as my excuse for a complete lack of picture taking!
One fun thing that happened in October was a weekend away for Alan and I. My mom and dad (and Liz and Becky) came and stayed with Jackson for the weekend and Alan and I were able to sleep in and relax with one another while in Richmond for my friend Bekah's wedding. Bekah is one of my favorite friends who I did Summer Staff with at a Young Life camp called Rockbridge back in 2001. She read scripture at our wedding and has taken part in some very fun reunions over the last 7 years with our other Summer Staff friends, Karen and Katie. Karen wasn't able to make the wedding which was sad. But Katie and I went and dragged along our husbands who hadn't ever met. We determined that they were meant to be bff like she and I are. We think it worked, but we're not 100%. :)

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Beautiful Bekah and Garrett!

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My Darling Katie!

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My even MORE Darling husband (sorry, Katie!)!

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Group shot (taken by Naomi Ruth Sutton)!

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The three of us girls (taken by Naomi Ruth Sutton).

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My wonderful parents who not only took great care of Jackson that weekend but they also completely made over our front and back yards which now look so beautiful!

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Adorable Liz and Jackson. He loves his aunties. And I think he might have had the best weekend of all. He did not want to see his Gigi and Gpa leave.

Oktoberfest

Jackson and I went to stay with my parents for a long weekend and it was AWESOME! Perfect weather and wonderful family time (like always)! We made it in time for Montclair's annual Oktoberfest which is a big all day festival with beer, bratwurst, dancing, music, and fun things for kids all day down at Dolphin Beach. Jackson was starting to feel sick that day (the beginning of a yucky viral infection which resulted in a double ear infection- Booo!!) so he wasn't his usual enthusiastic self but he still had some fun moments!
Here he is on the toddler obstacle course and moon bounce:

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He really liked that until this punk kid pushed him over and made him cry.
And THIS was the most entertaining part for mom and I- Jackson's first pony ride. He couldn't stay in the middle of the saddle and the very frustrated cowboy cut his ride in half and informed me that Jackson has "balance problems":

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And here is Jackson snuggling with his Gigi while Mom and I watched some very cute old people dancing German dances!

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Jackson's First Day of Preschool...

I had been looking into preschools for Jackson this fall and found a cute, Christian one that I really liked! They were looking for a teacher and I decided to put my elementary education degree to good use! I get to teach across the hallway from Jackson in one of the older classes and I peek in on him from time to time and usually see him smiling and playing!

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To say that Jackson loves preschool would be a tremendous understatement. He walks around the house on the days we don't go saying "church school, PLEASE Mama!!" He tells me stories about his friends at school. He gets to finger paint, play on the playground, reads books, learns songs and bible stories. He has music class, chapel, gym, cooking class, and field trips! And somehow this is all fit into 9-1 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays!

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Jackson also moved to a "Big Boy" bed. It's actually a toddler bed, so it's not THAT big, but he likes it a lot. Jackson is one of very few two year olds I know who says "Nap, please!" at nap time and who goes to bed very easily at night after two songs, one book and a prayer. He'll usually say "See ya. Peace!" as we walk out of his room at night.

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What a summer!!

Okay, okay. I KNOW it's been 4 months since I've blogged. It HAS been one of those summers, though! We moved from NC (goodbye lake house, goodbye pool, goodbye boondocks- HELLO civilization!) back to Radford, VA. Jackson and I (and sometimes Alan) spent three weeks with my parents enjoying their very warm hospitality and all the fun that Lake Montclair offers! =) During that time we spent many days at Dolphin Beach (where Becky was lifeguarding...following in my footsteps ;-)) swimming and meeting new friends. Becky graduated high school so my Grandma and Grandpa B came out and Jackson got to be reacquainted with his great grandparents! My cousin Kelsey, whom I hadn't seen in 6 years came for a visit and it went way too quickly. Jackson and I got to catch up with Katie and Caleb and they came to visit us at the lake and then we joined them for a great day at the zoo. I was able to catch up with my long lost friends (Ashley and Kari and Maryam- my three bffs during my high school days). I went to WMZQfest (an all day country concert) and a Dave Matthews Band concert (fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine! =)) with them! I got to spend a lot of time with my parents and my sisters which is ALWAYS my favorite thing to do. Alan, Jackson, and I spent an awesome week at Virginia Beach with my in-laws and that was definitely one of the highlights of our summer! We put our house on the market (for sale by owner) and sold it in just two weeks and made a great profit! We house-hunted in Roanoke and within a week, we found an adorable 1927 Bungalow in a really cool neighborhood close to downtown. Alan officiated two weddings this summer for two of our favorite couples- Cassie and Andy and then Curtis and Laura. Jackson was a ring bearer in Curtis and Laura's wedding and loved it! Alan and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary and the next day we moved into our new house and did lots of painting, started remodeling the kitchen (we're still in the process) and began unpacking. Later that week, Jackson turned two and we had a wonderful birthday party with LOTS of family and some friends. It was a firetruck theme and he had a jumping moon bounce which he loved. Alan turned the big 3-0 and I got him tickets to see the Redskins/Cowboys game later this fall which he's very excited about since he's an avid Cowboys fan. It has been a very busy and very full summer. We love our new home and love Roanoke! We are excited about our new church and about reconnecting with our friends who live here! We feel so blessed and definitely feel like God's hand has been in all the details that got us to this point. And now for a LOT of pictures. Please feel free to skip to my next entry if you would like since this is basically going to be a photo album. I plan to start blogging again! I've just been dreading this "catch up" blog so I've been putting it off. So if you want to read all the captions, you can suck it up and go through them. If you don't, skip right on ahead! I'll try to update with the most recent stuff in the next couple of days!

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How's that for picture overload!?! I'll put Jackson's birthday party pics, first day of preschool pics, and a few other recent ones on a separate blog soon!