Birthday FUN!

Sat. night we CeLEbRaTeD 3 Birthday's!!!

{Dad~Dave~Chaz}

We ate dinner at the Mandarin...

Went bOwLiNg... {I got the highest score!!!}

and ate coconut cake & lemon meringue pie :)

{It was such a FuN night!}

LOu's CoCoNUt caKe

I have made this

cAkE twice in the

past 2 wEeKs!

{you have to try it!}

1 white cake mix
1 1/2 c. milk

8 oz. Cool Whip

1/2 c. sugar

2 c. coconut

Prepare the white cake mix as instructed on package for 9 x 13-inch pan. Combine 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup coconut, in a saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 minute. Cool cake 15 minutes, poke holes through cake with a long tined fork. Spoon coconut mixture over warm cake. Cool completely. Fold 1/2 cup coconut into thawed 8 ounces Cool Whip. Spread over cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup coconut. Chill overnight very important. Refrigerate any unused cake.

{it is sO gOoD!!!}

The Amazing Shrinking PIZZA!

So I thought I'd be really domestic lastnight and make "homemade" pizza...This is how it looked when I pulled it out of the oven...hahaha :) It tasted yummy though!

{P.S. I really can cook..I swear!}

Nursery

The nursery is coming along...
{The crib looks white in the pictures but it's cream and so darling!}
{This cute bedding was custom made by a woman in Idaho}

{Thanks to my sister-in -law for spotting this swing at a garage sale..only $10!}{We got this changing table for free and it was in pretty bad shape.
Amazing what a little paint can do!}

{His closet is starting to fill up!}

{Lilly thinks this is her new room}

Catch Up...

I cannot believe how much time has gone by since my last post! So much has been going on. Our holiday's were so much fun! We had a such a great time spending time together and having fun with our families. I'm always sad when the holiday's are over, but I am so excited for this new year and all the EXCITING things that await our family in 2009!!!

We had a great time celebrating Dave's 26th birthday on Jan. 7th! We went out to eat and to a movie. I am so bad at remembering to take a camera along with me, so sorry for the lack of pictures. There should be no excuse because my parents gave us an awesome video camera for Christmas which is super tiny - so as soon as Dave teaches me how to use it I will take it everywhere I go!

Dave is doing great at his new job at the University of Phoenix as a Corporate Education Liaison. He really enjoys it and his job has been such a blessing to us. He starts school on Jan. 19!! He's a little bit nervous, but I know that he will do great. I am still working full time at the Standard Examiner as a National Advertising Rep. My last day will be March 27th. I have been there almost 2 years. I love my job and the people I work with, so it will be sad to leave. However it will be such a blessing to be able to stay at home with our baby (we will need to get our satellite TV back for sure!!!).

I am now 27 weeks along! Time is seriously flying by. Our little guy will be here before we know it. I have been busy getting his nursery all ready for him and shopping up a storm! I swear I come home with something new for him almost everyday. (Dave is thrilled about that!) We are just so excited for him to come and we only have a few more months to wait!

winter coat

Lilly sporting her winter coat..so cute!

Halloween Party!

Thanks to the Powell's for throwing such a fun party!!

HaPpY hAlLoWeEn!!!

HUSBAND TAG!

-Tagged by Tiff
1. Where did you meet your husband? At his softball game in Harrisville-I came to watch with a friend. I thought he was the cutest guy on the team and we ended up meeting after the game :)
2. How long did you date before you got married? 6 months
3. How long have you been married? 1 year and 9 months
4. What does he do that surprises you? He surprises me almost everyday with sweet little things like making the bed, cooking dinner, etc. He is so thoughtful!
5. What is your favorite feature of his? His green eyes, smile and his big strong arms :)
6. What is your favorite quality? Seriously there are too many to list! But I love how NICE he is to EVERYONE.
7. Does he have a nick name for you? Mine baby - lol!
8. What is his favorite food? Tacos & Pizza
9. What is his favorite sport? That's a hard one...he loves all sports!!
10. When and where was your first kiss? 1 week after we started dating at my parents house :)
11. Favorite thing to do as a couple? I just LOVE to be with him...doesn't matter what we do-we always have a good time together.
12. Do you have children? A baby boy due in April!
13. Does he have any hidden talents? Yes-but that's why they're hidden...they're a secret!
14. How old is he? 25
15. Who said I love you first? He did
16. What is his favorite music? He likes all different types of music
17. What do you admire most about him? Everything! He is such a wonderful guy, I don't know how I got so lucky!?!
18. What is his favorite color? Red
19. Will he read this? Probably not
20. Who do you tag? Anyone who wants to :)

IT'S A BOY!!!!

Time to get a life....

So today we cancelled our satellite tv....I know!!! What are we thinking, right? Trust me, I'm asking myself that question right now! Dave and I were talking the other day about how we spend WAAAAAY too much time in front of the boob tube. So we thought it would be "fun" to see how long we can go without our beloved tv shows. (Ok, I really didn't think it would happen when I agreed to it...until Dave called me at work this morning and said he had done it!!!) WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?? Sniff...sniff...sniff. Okay, seriously, I am kind of interested to see how different things are going to be now. I mean, it's not like we spend all our time watching tv-but quite a bit. How much time do you guys spend zoning out to your fav shows? We all probably spend a little too much time. Now, I'm not suggesting that you should follow our example and cancel your sattelite tv too (you'd be super cool if you did though, j/k :) I'll keep you all updated on how this little experiment plays out...I"m looking forward to spending more "quality" time together with Dave...and who knows, maybe we'll pick up a new hobby or something :) How long do you think we'll last!?!?!
P.S. We'll be saving an extra $75/mo!

tagged!

My Top 8:

8 Favorite TV shows: In no particular order
1. Studio 5
2. The Hills
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. Dr. Phil
5. Survivor
6. The Office
7. Anything on the Food Network
8. The Price is Right :)
(Thank goodness for DVR!)

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Red Iguana
2. Maddox
3. Olive Garden
4. California Pizza Kitchen
5. Spaghetti Factory
6. Tuscany
7. Wild Mushroom
8. The Roof

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. It snowed
2. Shopped at Target
3. Got a RedBox (Alvin & the Chipmunks-lol!)
4. Gave Lilly a bath
5. Took a nap
6. Made caramel apples
7. Did some laundry
8. Painted my nails

8 things to look forward to:
1. Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas
2. My next doctor's appt. (we'll find out if it's a boy or a girl!!!)
3. Dave starting his new job on Oct. 27th
4. Decorating a nursery!
5. Girls night w/ my friend Emily
6. Super Saturday
7. Carving our pumpkins
8. BYU/Utah game

8 things I love about Fall:
1. Cooler weather
2. Changing leaves
3. Fall clothes/boots
4. Halloween & Thanksgiving
5. Football games
6. Pumpkin bread (Old Grist Mill has the best!)
7. Homemade chili/soups
8. Caramel apples

8 things in my wish list:
1. New clothes/shoes
2. iphone
3. A day at the spa
4. Vacation somewhere tropical
5. Indoor grill
6. Baby furniture
7. Fall/Christmas decor
8. New Wallet

8 people I'm tagging:
1. Brooke
2. Alicia
3. Katie
4. Leah
5. Jyl
6. Aimee
7. Alison
8. Anyone else who wants to :)

family picture

sick

.....and that about says it all!

It's Official-I'm Pregnant!

For those of you left in the world who havn't heard: Dave and I are gonna have a BABY!! It has been sooo hard to keep this to ourselves {we tried for a day or two and gave up!}. So I might as well just put it all out there! We are so excited and couldn't be HAPPIER! I had my first doctor's appointment yesterday where I had my first ultrasound. Dave and I got to see our little baby for the first time and heard the heartbeat :) It was amazing! So you're probably wondering..."where is the baby in the picture???" It's super teeny weeny right now-6.3mm to be exact or the size of a grape. It was a much clearer picture on the ultrasound monitor. We were able to see the baby moving around and saw his/her little heart pumping away. My doctor said that I will be having an utlrasound at each one of my appointments! My next appt. is in a month~I'll be 12 weeks. Our baby is due April 15, 2009!

cry baby

Sad day in the Jackson home today. We had to say goodbye to our cute little kitty...and I can't stop bawling my eyes out. Twice at work I had to hurry to the restroom to cry. I'm such a baby. I wish we could have kept him, but it just wouldn't have worked out. I'm so sad :(

breaking dawn

I finally bought my copy lastnight...
so far so good!

CUTE Kitty

Well, Lilly is no longer an only child :) Let me tell you how big of a sucker I am! As most of you know, I work in the classifieds dept. at a newspaper. I've worked there for over a year and have probably placed like a hundred ads for free kittens. Not once have I ever had the desire to ever get one....until yesterday! Dave is not a fan of cats (AT ALL!!). I don't know what came over me yesterday, but this is what I came home with....YIKES! It is soo dang cute, but it's hard to get used to the idea of being a cat owner. Lilly has been in heaven! She LOVES the kitty. I think she thinks she's the mom. It's so funny and cute to watch them play. Dave is not happy with me at all...OOPS! I'm having a garage sale tomorrow and just to make Dave feel better I told him that we'll try to find the kitty a good home (hope I'm not too attatched by then). Dave will hardly touch the kitty and won't let me name it :( Soo mean! I guess we'll just have to see what happens.......stay tuned!

24th of July

Girl's Camp

This past week was my ward's girls camp. I was gone Tuesday-Friday. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad that I could go. The girls in my ward are really cute and I had a lot of fun with them. It is totally different going to girl's camp as a leader-so much more work than I thought! It was definitely worth it though :o)

Up until I left for camp Dave and I had never spent a night apart from one another-so it was kind of hard to be away for so long. {I missed him so much!} When I got home he had cleaned the entire house and had beautiful flowers for me!!! {I HAVE THE WORLD'S BEST HUSBAND!!!!}

HEAVEN - Don't Miss it for the World!

Friday was our ward's Youth Conference. Our theme was "Heaven-Don't Miss it for the World". It was an all day adventure that started at 6:30am and lasted until mindnight! Although it was a very long day-it was a lot of fun! {Especially because Dave got to come along too!!!} We met at the church {EARLY} for breakfast and then started our day off miniature golfing at Toads {I scored 2 holes in 1-woohoo!}, then we went on a tour at the Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake. The tour was so awesome! If you havn't been there-you need to go! It is so amazing to me how wonderful our church is, how much members do, and how much we help the less fortunate all around the world! It was a real eye opener for me, and I left with a feeling that I can do SO much better! After that we picked up lunch at Subway and then headed to the Hogle Zoo :) It always seems like, in years past, whenever I go to the zoo that the animals are either sleeping, hiding, or just not there. But this time ALL the animals were out and pretty active. It was really fun to see. My favorites were the cute penguins, the monkeys and the "Ghost of the Bayou" {the albino gator}. We spent several hours there and even rode the train. After the zoo we toured the Conference Center dowtown. What an amazing structure! I have been in the building several times before, but had never been on a tour. Again, something that is a must if you havn't. After the tour we watched the Joseph Smith movie at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. I love that movie! It was neat to see how the youth reacted to seeing it {most for the first time}. You cannot watch that film without being totally overcome with the spirit! After the movie we had reserved a room in the Temple Square's visitor's center where we had a guest speaker who spoke to the youth about our theme and what they need to do to make it to the Celestial Kingdom. The youth also had a chance to share their testimonies. We finally finished up the day with dinner at the Macaroni Grill. I think it was a huge success and that everyone had a really a good time. I know that I did-and I am so glad that I got to spend the entire day with my best friend!

***At the zoo we were watching this gorilla walk around for awhile with this empty gatorade bottle in his mouth.

Dave: "Wouldn't it be crazy if he filled the bottle up with water and drank it?"

Me: "Honey, I don't think gorilla's are that smart!"

Well, no later than 30 seconds after Dave said that, look what the gorilla did:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?

4th of July Fun :)

pedicures

I LOVE treating myself to professional pedicures at a spa! But $$$ is tight, so lastnight I gave myself a pedicure (which is not nearly as fun!). Lilly sat right by my side the entire time. She was so curious about what I was doing. (It was so cute!) When I finished up my pedicure, I thought it would be cute to give Lilly a little pedicure of her own....The look on Dave's face was PRICELESS when I showed him our matching hot pink nails! Haha-I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm crazy!! :o)