Happy Halloween!

From our spooks to yours.

More to come later!

The rest of labor day weekend

The day after Halli's baptism, was still a pretty eventful day! We woke up early and headed off to my newest nephews baby blessing. We had a fun, family filled time this whole weekend!

I took some pictures of the expanding family, and some of the little girls running around. Brett's side of the family is alot like Kevin's, lots of girl cousins over there!

My sweet Halli, the newly baptised cutie pie!

Miss Lexie, she's a ball of spunk that one, and we absolutely adore her!

Lexie also has a new best friend in LaNea. These two just love each other and play so well together, I love it! You would never guess that LaNea is over a year younger than Lexie, she seems so much older!

Jill was great at entertaining all the little girls on the patio.

This is Brittany's neice, Summer.

And her other niece Carlee. She just came and stared at me forever, I got so many CUTE pictures of her, what a doll!

Cute LaNea, love all her curls!

The grandparents with the little family

Oh, did I forget to mention that along with everything else, it was Peyton's birthday that day? Yep, she turned 5!! How in the world did she get so old so quick? 

(there really are 5 candles there, one is just hidden. I promise, I can count!)

We didn't do too much for her actual birthday cause I was in the middle of planning a SPECTACULAR fifth birthday party for her. Seriously, maybe my favorite party ever, so much fun, and so perfect for our sweet fun girl!

We loved having grandma & Grandpa here for a short visit. It's always so much fun when they come, and we can't wait to see them again for christmas! Labor day was quieter than the rest of the weekend had been, and we spent some time relaxing and recovering from a busy, and fun filled weekend with the family.

The big day~Halli's Baptism!

On september 3rd, with almost her whole family {Even extended} Halli was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We had been preparing for this moment for quite some time. Teaching her about baptism, making a dress for her to wear, making a memory book for her of her day, sending out invites, and teaching her some more. But in the end, this is what really mattered. She looked beautiful, and so incredibly happy. I'm sure as a family we were all glowing that day and so full of joy at this momentous occasion in her life.

I am so incredibly grateful for my amazing husband and the priesthood he holds. I couldn't ask for a better dad, for these kids. He's such a wonderful examply to them. He loves this church and his Savior more than I can say, and our children know he does without a doubt. What better example could I ask for them than that?

We also got to share the day with our best friends, the Monsons. It was perfect. Perfect that these two who have been best friends since before they can really remember got to share such a memorable day together.

Because they were baptized the same day, we did almost everything together for the baptism, we took their pictures together for the invitations, Allie put together a little talk for both of them when they were confirmed, and we were able to get together with them for a dinner following the baptism. It just worked out so perfectly!

Sweet and tough. These two in a nutshell.

The baptism all went very well. I was asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost before the baptism. We do stake baptisms, so usually the parents don't get to give a talk, so I feel very lucky to have had the chance to do this. I was also shocked that I got a little choked up. I'm not usually really emotional, but there's just something about watching your children grow up and start making big decisions for themselves. Hopefully she can continue on the path she's on and keep making some great choices, isn't that what all parent's hope for? 

Kevin did great with the baptism and the confirmation, and Halli couldn't stop smiling all day. When we were getting her changed after the baptism, she kept telling me that she felt different, and clean. What a sweet girl. When she gets nervous or excited she can't stop talking, and she was for sure very talkative then. I just love her so much, and the amazing person she is. I couldn't ask for a better example for her siblings.

After it was all over, we headed over to our church building for a little dinner with both our families and the Monson families.

It was a great dinner, and a perfect ending to a very uplifting day.

Between the two families there were LOTS of kids running around, and the kids all had a blast playing together and eating yummy food and the best cupcakes!

Then we started trying to gather people/kids up for family photos. Talk about a serious feat to get that done!

We took TONS of pictures and actually had one where most of us werre looking at the camera. With 14 little kids, that's pretty amazing, even if some of us are making funny faces. like my kids.

But this is what most of the rest of them looked like.

It was acutally mostly the parents that messed this one up, dang us!:)

Then it was time for the Jackson side. By now my kids were wanting to be done. Can ya tell? Doesn't Halli look happy?

Peyton kept it interesting by trying to pose.

As Allie and I were talking after we had finished cleaning everything up, we just couldn't stop saying how perfect the day had gone. the spirit was so, so strong, and we were surrounded by our family and friends. Everything was just so wonderful and I am so grateful for everything I've been blessed with. I really wish I were a better writer and could put into words just how I felt that day, but it truly was perfect and I couldn't have asked for anything more for Halli.

Here's a little picture overload of some of the pictures I got of Halli and with her and Blake together. Such cute photogenic people these two are!

Labor Day weekemd with the family...the WHOLE family

Labor day weekend was quite eventful for our little family. Halli was getting baptized that weekend, so my parents came out a few days early, and we headed up to Austin to hang out at the lake with the family for a little mini vacation.

There has been a slight drought here in Texas this year, and by slight, I mean the worst drought in state history, ever. Because of this, there aren't to many people on the lake, cause most of the loading docks are inaccessable right now. Bad for them, YAY for us!

That weekend had the MOST amazing water ever, and almost no one else out on the water, it was awesome!

Kevin and Eric did a great job of showing us how it's done on the wakeboard.

Jill and LaNea had fun out there on the boat.

Kevin is getting good now that he get's to go wakeboarding a little more often.

Seriously, look at that water!

Catching some air!

JJ got some good lounging time in. Yeah right, like he knows how to do that!:) He did have a blast that weekend though.

For the little kids, we put up the waterslide, and they spent the majoiryt of the weekend there hanging out. It was perfect for them, and allowed the big kids to go on the boat without having to deal with the babies too much, fun for all!

Eric's getting ready for their addition later this year, and enjoying the company of little boys. Someday maybe he'll have one too. For now they seem to be following in our footsteps and adding more girls!

JJ loves the waterslide too.

The kids absolutely loved having my parents there. Some great uninterrupted time with grandma & grandpa, fun stuff!

The boys all loved to relax on the lawn, loving the view.

Halli was there that weekend too. I took a ton of pictures at a little beach, but unfortunately, I'm an airhead and showed up to the baptism with one memory card, and it was full of pictures from the lake. So, as sad as it was, those pictures had to go.:(  we had so much fun though, and love the weekends that we get to spend at the lake with our loved ones. It's the best ever!