Halloween, Hooray!, & Happiness

Wow, what a wonderful few months. This semester has been nonstop, Grant has been plowing through the semester (with great exhaustion!). The to-do list for all of us continues, but the end is in sight! Applications for PHD programs are nearing completion, and only 11 more school days until the semester is over. I think our whole family will have a sigh of relief when the Christmas Break comes around. But all in the middle of the craziness is my favorite time of year: Fall. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Christmas! It's a never-ending string of happiness amidst the busy-ness.

Here's what we've been up to:

*We celebrated Jackson's 1st birthday in October. He enjoyed every last crumb of the slice of cake we gave him (yikes), and he's taking his one year-old self in stride. He's walking around like a champ, acts like he's saying real sentences, points at EVERYTHING and "comments" on it, and he loves to tickle us and laugh.

*Jackson had his 1-year well baby check up, and we found out he was in the 0th percentile (yes, apparently that exists) for weight and height. So the doctor assigned him a diet of extremely high fat foods (basically smother butter on everything), and started him on whole milk. My paranoid-healthy-mom self was, and still is, a little nervous about drowning my child in butter. So we've decided to incorporate fat in a lot of other ways- cheeses, whole milk, peanut butter, etc. ( hoping to help our son continue to love fruits and vegetables naturally). In doing so, we've found success! He's gained 2 lbs in 4 weeks.

*We started our Halloween celebration by running in a 5k. I was dressed as a robber, and Jackson was dressed as a bag of money (see pictures). By the time the race started, it was about Jackson's nap time, and he was a little grumpy. While pushing him in the stroller, he straight up screamed for the first mile, and I finally called Grant, who came and got him, and I finished the race by myself. It was kind of pathetic (especially because my costume was lame without Jackson), but a fun attempt nevertheless. We then trick-or-treated at a few friends' doors. Jackson especially liked knocking on doors, and Grant & I ate the candy!

It's been a fun Fall through the craziness of it all!

Fancy dinner in Midvale with our friends the Karrens

BYU Homecoming game (Jackson actually lasted to the end of the 3rd quarter!)

Jaker's Pumpkin Patch. We went on a hayride and picked pumpkins!

Jackson' Birthday was a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" theme. I should've taken a picture before it was half eaten, but it was a blast!!!

Jackson eating his first slice of cake (loved it!)

Our little 1 year old!

The person Jackson was named after was able to come!

:)

One of Jackson's friends, Nathan

My parents came out for Jackson's birthday! We had lots of fun.

Nothing like getting a big truck to make a boy happy!

I also should've gotten a picture of this cake before it was devoured! Coconut cake.

A picture for every month Jackson has been alive. He doesn't even look like the same kid!

The boys playing with Jackson's new blocks

Oh just eating an apple!