Jackson's One!

Jackson had a great first birthday party with lots of family and friends. He chose Elmo as his theme since Sesame Street is his favorite show and Elmo's world is his favorite segment. Makes sense. =)

Here he is on his real birthday at my mom and dad's house.

Here I am blowing out his candle (a little dramatically).

Getting ready to party...

Mingling with his Papa J and his Great Grandpa J.

His Elmo cake!

Trying out some of the food with his Aunties and Nana.

Jackson, Liz, Beck and I.

Party people.

Happy Birthday, Jackson!


Not quite sure what he thinks.

Mom and Dad showing him that he can touch the cake.

Trying it out.

Making progress.

Big bite.

That was good.

Present time!

His new giraffe from Auntie Anne and Uncle Danny.

Opening presents himself.

It took a long time because he had SO many presents!

Loving his new giraffe.

Auntie Megan, Sandy, and Papa J setting up Jackson's new playhouse from Gigi and Gpa.

All set up! Nana, Gigi, and Great Granny watching Jackson play.

So many new toys!

Inside his new play house with some new toys!

Sticking his face against the window.

Smokey came to the party and so did Matt and Mark.

Jackson and Gpa.

Catching Up

So, things have been CRAZY lately since we moved to North Carolina and have been super busy. Here are a few pics from California (I'll post more when I get them- my Dad has most of them). I spent almost two weeks in California seeing Lake Mammoth, Nevada City, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and Grass Valley! It was an awesome time with family and seeing so many beautiful sights!

My sisters and Jackson and I on the porch of our Lake Mammoth home.

A few of the Murphy cousins.

My family in front of Grandma and Grandpa Murphy's house in Grass Valley. Aren't we photogenic?

The view across the lake from where we were laying out. She had two baby cubs with her, too. Scary!

Jackson's silly face at Yosemite.

Jackson playing with his Liz and Beck at Auntie Lindy's house.

Mom and Dad at Yosemite.

Liz, Beck, and I swimming in Lake Tahoe. Brrr!

My sisters and I at Yosemite.


Jackson and Aunt Becky.

Think I got enough sister pics?

Jackson chilling in Reno!

Our picnic at the park...

*Thanks to my dad for providing me with a loaner camera until we get a new one!*
We love our local park and one of our favvorite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon is having a picnic there! Wanna see what it's like? I thought so, cause it's REALLY exciting! ;-)

First we ate on this blanket. Then Alan decided he wanted to nap but Jackson wasn't interested in that.

Here's Jackson waiting to play.

And there he is telling me that he won't let me take photos that close.

He wanted his Dad to hold him like this.

He also wanted to climb this tree, but Alan wouldn't let him.

Then we went swinging.

He loves that.

Then he acted like a monkey.

Then we decided to go down to see the river and he hitched a ride on his dad.

Snuggle.

Here he's getting ready to pull a Mike Tyson on Evander Holyfield. Don't bite ears!

Off to the river.

Almost there.

So pretty!

Jackson crawling away on all fours cause he hates the feel of grass.
The end! =)

More Lake Champion!

Here are some of the AMAZING people we got to know:


Here's Jackson with two of his new best friends, Tanner and Jesse on rodeo night!

Here he is with his girlfriend, Melissa. He had quite a few girlfriends that month. We're trying to help him work through his commitment issues.

Here's the fam on rodeo night.

Melissa, Michelle, and I. I miss them!

I so love these ladies. Me,Tracey,Melissa, and Mary at the county fair!

All the kids and I at the hoe down!

Jackson and I on 50's night. Please notice that his tat says "Mom". Totally his idea.

Liz and I.

The fam.

Alan, Steve Rawls, and the Slater twins (Ange and Jenn) on the night of the opera!
And I have a bunch more that I took on Liz's camera after mine died and I'll post those some other time !

Back from Lake Champion...

Sorry I didn't keep up on my blogging while I was at Lake Champion, but my camera ended up in the pool when the wind blew my jogging stroller into the pool. Booo. So, I don't have as many pictures as I wanted to. The good news is that Jackson wasn't in the stroller when it blew into the pool. Here's a few from the month we were gone:

A family picture. Alan decided family picture time was an awesome time to make weird faces.

See.

We love our baby.


Liz took enough pictures that I gave into the weird faces, too.


Auntie Liz, Jackson, and I. She worked her magic in the Moose Lodge while we were there. You should ask Liz how many pieces of french toast and sausage she can eat. It's impressive.

This is Liz and her friend, Michael. In the background you can see the bad, evil pool that killed my camera. Actually, I really enjoyed the pool and so did Jackson! =)


The Lake after a rain storm. I miss it so much! I could see the lake from our bedroom window!

Liz pondering the beauty of it all. =)

Jackson's preferred mode of transportation.