"Where da basketball hooop? Where it go?"

So we took Jackson to his first hockey game on sunday night. The frist thing he said when he went into the US Airways center was... "Where da basketball hooop? Where it go?" It is funny how someone so young associates events with places. He knew that is where we go to watch the Suns play and was totally confused. But it didn't take long for daddy to explain what hockey was and Jackson was totally into it. Here are some of the pictures!! PS He had also gotten another haircut!! Please note that I DID NOT CUT HIS HAIR!!! We did go back to the hairdresser to have her fix the crooked cut!

Like any sporting event, Jackson loved the mascot! He could find the "bird" anywhere in the buidling! As we were leaving the "bird" was right by us and Jackson wasn't even scared about seeing him or giving him a high five!!

My Little Man..Ok he isn't so little anymore.

Well Jackson is growing like a weed and he totally is BALL CRAZY!!! This kids will do anything for you to go outside and "Shoot Da Ball" with him. He also enjoys climbing all over his 8 in 1 climber. However this is done with a minium of 1 ball in his hand.

So this weekend it was absolutely georgeous in Mesa! We hit 75 by Sunday and I was in heaven. So we ventured out as a family to enjoy the day. We headed over to a new development and played on the new play structures. It was nice to have them all to ourselves. Jackson loves climbing all over them. But as you can image, they had a basketball court so that is where the kid headed. He ran up and down that court it was so funny. He also gets so serious when he is there that it just makes me laugh. So anyways, I took some really neat pictures of him while Jamie was holding him up.

Jackson loves to follow Taylor around. They both have a good time together regardless of what Tyalor says. She loves to dote on him every chance she gets!!

Then Taylor spotted this hummingbird and Jamie captured some really cool pictures of it sitting in the tree.

Well I hope you enjoy my photos! Have a wonderful day!

"Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise." Psalm 66:1-2

Taylor's Sweet 16

So Taylor....She is going to be 16 soon. So to ensure I am ready for this big event I have done a ticker!



So as you can see.... 2 months 1 week 4 days until the big day! Now if you are reading this 2 days from now note the above will have changed...LOL

So we have begun to plan our big day. Taylor had many ideas of what she would like to do for the big day, but not all were that cost effective. I mean come on, she does want presents right??? So we have agreed on Amazing Jakes. Which is a cool fun place with an all you can eat buffet, laser tag, arcade games, and all that other fun stuff that kids just LOVE!!!! But this too is not cheep at all. We are talking $15.99 a kid!!! I mean come on people do people not realize that in ..........


I mean I will be unemployed!!! But I figured since the last three years I have gotten away with not very big parties that we could do this. So 14 kids later, 15 with her, plus 4 other adults and 1 Mr. Jackson we are talking 20 people. $319.80 PLUS Tax later! But you know a girl only turns 16 once so I have agreed. But I mean come on!!! $320!!!!! Now I have asked her mother to help. But I am not going to count on that until the monies are in hand. I am sure she will help out, so don't get me wrong, but I mean $320!!!!

So to be more frugal, I have asked Taylor to make her own invites. So I am saving at least $20 there. That has to be worth something! LOL

But in the end we have one happy girl and hopefully we will have a fun party. I will have to post pictures of Taylor's creative invites. She is a good card maker and really has a talent for doing that. I will try and add that to my list of tasks!!

So stay tuned for more Birthday updates!!

Wow! I did it!!

Can you believe that I, Jennifer Mae Hines, has actually figured out something on my Blog site?? I mean what am I saying, I am so web savy that I am an expert! NOT!!!!

Anyways, I am very happy to say that I was able to add my little college at the top! I am very excited about it!


Happy are those who trust in the Lord! Proverbs 16:20

Vacation and Catch Up!

Well this may be a long post. So go grab a cup of coffee, a donut and sit back, relax and enjoy our Blog!

Well last week we headed out Aberdeen SD. We arrived on Thursday when it was -40. Yes that is not a typo. We were glad to have finely arrived after a long night in the ariport. Shall I elaborate? Good glad you would like to hear.

So we landed in MPLS and all was good. WE had checked into hotels before we left and I was CONFIDENT that I could find a REASONABLE hotel for us to spend the night. But a bazillion phone calls later there was no such luck. The average room would be $120 and for 5 hours I was JUST NOT GOING to spend that!! So off to pick up our bag, have the US AIR folks lock them up and hunker down in the airport. We foudn our place to sleep and we settled in. Well a young man, who shall remain nameless, decided that he was ready to explore and be UP!! While the rest of us wanted to get at least a few hours of shut eye. Well FINELY at 3 am that little stinker fell asleep. So mama got some shut eye then too.

We then woke up with the kinks in our necks and headed off to collect our bags and check into our flight to Aberdeen. All looked well and we should be on the plane no probelm. We ended up arriving at about 10:45 to the above -40 degrees. So we gather our bags and load up the van and head out.

Friday I spent part of my day buying supplies for the big PARTY!! Jackson you know was turning 2. I picked up everything I needed and we headed back to nan's. But wait. Another funny story. Would you like me to elbaorate? Good I am so glad!!

So checking out in Wal-Mart and I get RAMMED by somthing. I see out of the corner of my eye that is was a DORA 4 wheeler. You know one of those cars the kids drive. I am thinking to myself, who is NOT watching there kid! My goodness can't they see I have a cart full of STUFF!!! Well the boy who was ridining, again shall remain nameless along with his father. Purely to protect them. He had gotten on this DORA thing and had a foot on the gas and one leg in the air as if he just wanted to sit on it. But ub known to him the side he placed his foot was the GAS so he ran into his mama!! NOTE TO SELF: Don't EVER buy one of those.

So Saturday was the big party day. My family had arrived the night before and I was anxious to get over there and say hi. So Jamie, Jack and I bundled up and went over to the super 8 to see them. We ate some waffles and headed out. By the afternoon I had picked up the balloons and headed to the hotel.

We got all set up and we were ready for our guests to arrive! Jackson cake was SO TOTALLY AWESOME!!! It was a nemo cake that my sister Chris made. She TOTALLY out did herself and it was the best stinkin cake EVER!!! I have like a bazillion pictures and those will just have to be posted later. So we swam and opened up presents and really just had a good time hanging out with family. Poor Jackson was exhausted.

Sunday we said goodbye to my family and simply hung out. The rest of our trip was just relaxing, sleeping in and EATING WAY TOOOO MUCH!!! I did enjoy one night out with my sister in law Shanda and we had a great time. $20 can buy you A LOT of Limo and cokes. I got hit on my some dude in his hunting gear and one other strange dude. Made for a good laugh for us.

But we have now returned to the wonderful warm AZ weather. I will take this over the -25 we left on Tuesday. So it was back to work for me..

Speaking of work. I only have 60 more days left after today. (this does include the weekends folks) so I am anxious to be done and close this work chapter of my life. Its been one rollercoaster ride but I have met some WONDERFUL people along the way. I have been looking for a new job, but nothing that fits me has popped up. But I KNOW that HE has it allplanned out for me. So I shall not worry about it. My path has already been decided. So I will see what happens.

I willpost pictures of the party as soon as I dump my cards from the camera. I hope everyone is well. I am not quite sure if anyone even reads this, but I certainly enjoy writing it.

PS: Please lift up my friend Sharon. She is recovering from an illness and could use your prayers.

Rest in his Hands,
Jenny

Upcoming Trip

Yes because we are completly crazy we are going North for our vacation!! LOL We are headed to Aberdeen for Jackson's birthday. It should be so much to see all of Jamie's family. I have not been back to Aberdeen since we moved to AZ almost 3 years ago. So I am excited.

Other than that things are steady eddie. I have trained in my replacements at work, attempting to get my scrapping organized and become more active my my BizEmoms networking group.

That is my quick update!!!

Jenny

Thoughts on 2007....

Ok so I took this from Mama's on a Play date blog. Thought it was cool!! So Enjoy!

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?

Hmmm….I am not sure… Nothing comes to mind.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don’t believe I kept my resolution. This year my goal is to keep up on my 1 year bible reading. So far I am one day ahead.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes, my sister Sarah. She had a very cute bundle of Joy, Alex Glen. My best friend Jane became a foster mother to Kori.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My Uncles partner for many years, Brandy. She died in Jan of last year.

5. What countries did you visit?

I went to Boston over the 4th. No countries in 2007.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?

More Scrapbooking time.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Jackson’s first birthday. We had so much fun with family in town to celebrate his big day.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I got to go to 2, yes I said TWO Celebrate events. (this is a HUGE scrapbooing event. Yes this was my biggest thing!)

9. What was your biggest failure?

Missing out on time with my family.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Hmmm….I didn’t really buy anything that was “fun”. Maybe it would be …yep, nothing comes to mind.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Taylor – For the most part after Springboard she has done fairly well. Still not 100% but better than she was before..

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Oh, I would rather not say. This is a very public blog. :)

14. Where did most of your money go?

Jackson! The Munchie is expensive for sure!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Heading to MN for my Celebrate scrapping event!!

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?

The group Tree 63. Christian band. I am totally addicted.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder?

Much happier. Very content.

b) thinner or fatter?

I think maybe just a wee bit thinner…..

c) richer or poorer?

I wouldn't say richer by any means, but financially doing better.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Cooked and scrapbooked more!

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Driving to work.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Christmas Eve was at home with just the four of us. .

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?

A little more with him each and every day.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

The Office and Hero's.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

While there are certainly people that make me nuts, I can't think of anyone I would use the word hate on.

24. What was the best book you read?

Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evonvich.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Tree 63

26. What did you want and get?

More college prints of my little man and family.

27. What did you want and not get?

Balance in my life.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

The Borne Ultimatum. I have seen it now about 10 times and LOVE IT every time I watch it!

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

32—Sad thing is I can’t even remember….

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Chasing Jackson Around.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?

What fashion concept? This is why Annette and I are going shopping on Saturday!

32. What kept you sane?

Jackson. He makes me laugh on the worst of days.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I don’t’ really care about celebrities…

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Not Sure... Childhood Cancer Awareness. The Lack of Support for the Loneliness road Campaign.

35. Who did you miss?

My Grandma Sophie.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Mr. Alex Glen my Nephew.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.

I shouldn’t try and do things all myself ( Even though I think I can). Don’t be too serious, it can only make you miserable sometimes…

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I don’t know if it is a quote…But my thought is that even when you are having the what you think is the worst time of your life. Your family will be there to support and understand. They are always there, even when you think you are alone.