Earning His Keep and Bones

A few months ago Jackson got a modeling job. It was funny because we never intended to get him into modeling. I mentioned to my agent one day that I had 2 sons and she told me to send her pictures of the boys just in case any jobs came up for mothers and children. So I did, and within an hour my agent had called me back to tell me that Jackson had gotten a job! The client didn't even want me, they only wanted Jackson! The job was for a company that manufactures shirts and then sells them to retailers, so you won't be seeing him in any ads, but he worked for about an hour and got paid $440! His check came in the mail yesterday.

Now we are considering getting Jackson into more modeling/acting stuff. Luckily his mom has some connections. We are going to try and save his money for him, but unfortunately, we are struggling financially like everyone else (hence the ads on the right side of the page, go ahead and click on them, you know you want to Ryan). So we might have to borrow Jackson's money so that we can buy groceries. It's not too terrible to take your 3 year old's money, is it? I mean, he's gotta earn his keep, right?

Last week we noticed a dog on our back porch sadly staring at us through the window. Though I don't really like dogs, this one looked terribly skinny and scared, so I did what anyone with a heart would do, and I fed it. Of course the dog keeps coming back and I continue to feed him or her. He (or she) looks like an Italian greyhound, so someone probably paid good money for him. He is wearing a collar with no tag on it, so he must just be lost. He won't let us get close to him and he runs really fast, so we can't catch him. I think he has been abused, because he is terrified of people. My plan is to try and warm him up to us and then take him to the vet. We named him (or her) Bones.

Its kind of nice having a dog that requires so little attention. If only having a pet were always this easy.

The Boys

I was looking through my recent posts and much to my dismay, there is not much mention of our boys. So here is a post just for them.

You may have seen on the news that Georgia has been one of the primary targets for wet weather this past week or two. Well, luckily we have not washed away yet, but Jackson has been disappointed he hasn't been able to go outside and play much recently. So this evening we threw caution to the wind and let him go out in the rain and thunder (there was only a slight chance of electrocution by lightening). He thought it was great...for a few minutes. He jumped in puddles on the street and then ran around to the back of the house where he proceeded to jump in the pool of water that was our muddy backyard. Mud splashed allover his legs and that was when he called it quits. You can see the look of disgust on his face in the two pictures on the right. Jackson hates being dirty, most likely because his mom openly expresses how much she hates it when he gets dirty. I guess I've got to work on that, otherwise I might rob him of his boyhood.

Drake took his first few steps yesterday. Justin was getting tired of having a baby who was behind in reaching his developmental milestones, so he worked with Drake for about an hour last night. In the end Drake could take about six unsteady steps to the couch. Drake still prefers crawling today, and when we tried making him walk again it was as if last night's lesson never took place. He is still about at a six step maximum and he tries to sit down every few seconds. Hopefully he will have it down by Halloween so that he can go trick-or-treating.

As they get older we are definitely starting to see personality differences between our two boys. Drake loves to play with bats and balls and Jackson likes to play with rockets and trains. Drake screams when he doesn't get his way and Jackson asks nicely for things (when Jackson was too young to speak he would use sign language, something Drake refuses to pick up). Drake is a momma's boy and Jackson loves talking to everyone (he doesn't quite grasp the "don't talk to strangers" concept). The boys do have a few things in common though. They both like to wrestle their Dad, they love each other, and...

...at the end of a long day the both sleep like rocks, thank the heavens above. We love our crazy boys even despite the fact that their mom is constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

White Water, Camping, Modeling

Back on August 7th we dropped our kids off with some sitters and Justin and I went to White Water with some friends. It was the last Friday before school started so it was rather crowded, but we had a good time chatting while waiting in the excruciatingly long lines. Justin and I hadn't been there in at least 10 years and I remember it being a lot bigger and less gross. Either time has taken its toll on White Water, or my eyes are no longer fogged with childish whimsy. Perhaps both are true. Anyway, we went with Nicole and Jonny Wood, Nicole's sister Anna, and Rachel Shumway. The day went by quickly and so did the lining in my swimsuit bottom (for some reason I always burn holes in the butts of my swimsuits when I ride water slides). Anyway, we had a good time.

On August 14th we took Jackson camping with some friends (we left Drake with Grandma Cersey). We went with Brindi Ryan and Aiden, Nicole Jonny and Maggie, and Rachel Thayne and Jones. Now, I am not a big fan of camping. I don't really see the appeal of it, but Justin insists that I need to get used to this kind of thing since we have two boys. So, we packed up an entire SUV worth of camping gear for one night in the woods. We went to some property that Ryan's dad owns on Strom Thurmond lake. We got there around 7:30pm and it got dark faster than Justin and I could get all of our stuff set up. We cooked hot dogs over a camp fire and roasted marshmallows. After we put the kids to bed the adults played some high stakes poker (the winner got dinner at Chick-fil-a) until 3:00am in the community tent. I wasn't able to sleep at all, but the boys slept like rocks as usual. In the morning Justin and some of the others jumped off a dock into the lake a few times. I don't have pictures of that, but Brindi does. If you want you can check them out here.

I started modeling again a couple of months ago to make some extra money. So far I haven't made any money, but I have some cool new pictures. These first shots were taken by Tim Wedig and his wife, Andrea Laxton.

These next shots were taken by Rick Newby. I did 3 different looks with him and we even got the boys in some of the shots!

The D.R. Baby!!!

The Views

The Food

Some pretty, some not so pretty.

The Pools

The Beach

The Eating

The Dancing

The Horseback Riding

The Speedboat Driving

More Horseback Riding

More Eating

More Fun and Relaxation

We had a great time in the D.R. with Nicole and Jonny. We were sad when it ended, but we have high hopes for many more trips with good friends in the future.

Utah Trip July 8th -14th

We went out to Utah for my Great Grandmother's 100th birthday. We had a great time doing all kinds of things. The first night we were there we stayed with Uncle James in his bachelor pad. The boys love their cool Uncle James. He even let them play on his drum set! Thanks James for putting us up for a night!

Part of the time we stayed in Park City at the Westgate Resort at the Canyons. We met up with my good friend Sherri and her son, Daniel and her husband, Sam at the Alpine slide. Jackson and I rode down together. It took us a half an hour to get to the top on a ski lift and about 2 minutes to slide down. It was worth doing once. Jackson also liked riding the "buckets"/gondolas at our resort. We rode them in circles a couple of times for his enjoyment.

The boys met their Great Great Grandma Wilson who is now 100 years old and still going strong. I hope I got her longevity genes!

We hung out with my brother James and my good friend Liz, we went swimming, we went to BYU, we threw rocks in a river, we went to Squaw Peak (during the day with the boys, don't jump to conclusions). Nothing but good wholesome fun.

We went to temple square...

The guys went rock climbing. Jackson was all ready to go climbing too, but he had a little accident with Grandma Pearson and they both fell down and hurt themselves, so Jackson wasn't in the mood for climbing anymore. Justin traditionally lead climbed two different routes which he had never done before, but he did great and made it to the top of both of his climbs without any mishaps. After the boys came back down Jackson decided he was ready to climb a little, so Justin took him over to the rocks and helped him do a little climbing.

Here are some pictures that display the different personalities of our boys while traveling. As you can see Drake is a little demon and Jackson is an angel.

The boys barely slept the whole trip which means Justin and I barely slept the whole trip either. We had a good time though. Thanks to the Hursts for letting us stay with them the last 2 nights of our trip and thanks to our friends and family who took out the time to entertain us. We love you and hope to see you again soon!

Drake's 1st Birthday and Drake's 1st Haircut!

Drake turned 1 on June 18th! We had a party for him on Friday, June 19th at Bay Creek Park. Lots of friends and family came to celebrate our little man's first year of life. Aunt Jessica, Uncle Andy, Megan, Alexis, Aunt Jana, Anthony, Grandma, and Grandpa Cersey were all there. Nicole and Maggie, Brindi, Ryan, and Aiden, Rachel, Thayne, Jones, and Lacey, Danielle, Andy, Brooklyn, and London, Carey, Chris, and Boston were all there too. We are so blessed to have so many close friends and family members nearby!

Justin had just finished his P90X, so to show off he and Thayne had a pull-up contest on the playground. Thayne did 18 pull ups and Justin did 17 and 3/4. Practically a tie, but Justin says he was able to do 19 the next day so overall he wins right? I did 1 whole pull-up and Nicole did 2, so she won as usual.

Grandma Cersey made this awesome cake. It was 3 tiers of sports balls. Drake loves balls. We think he is going to be quite the little athlete. The baseball on top was Drake's own little cake, which he made a mess of. He was hesitant at first but he got the hang of it eventually. We had to hose him down afterwords.

Thanks to those who helped out and who came to Drake's party. Thanks also for the gifts. He loves them all!

Drake had his first haircut on June 23. I cut it myself and it was no easy task. He crawled all over the tub while I chased him with the clippers. It sounds like the plot of a horror movie but it turned out well in the end. Jackson took all of these perfect pictures while I cut Drake's hair. What talented boys I have!

 

Justin Turns 31 - Hilton Head - Braves Game

Justin turned 31 on May 31st. The night before his birthday we went to dinner with some friends at a restaurant that we like called Urban Flats. Brindi and Ryan came with baby Aiden and Nicole came with baby Maggie. Drake and I were there too, but we did not make it in the picture.

On Justin's birthday his Mom and sister, Jessica, made an amazing dinner for him. We had ziti, stuffed shells, rolls (my contribution, no one trusts me to actually cook anything of substance), salad, and corn on the cob. After dinner 31 candles were lit on Justin's brownie cake. Because Justin hates it when people blow at their candles and inevitably spit all over the cake, he used his arm to quickly waft out the candles. Typical Justin. He got a pair of white shorts from my parents (for the family photo that would be taken a few days later in Hilton Head in which we were to wear all white) and the rest of his gifts were cash, cash, and cash. He got exactly what he wanted. He used his money to buy himself a new computer.

Drake really likes corn on the cob.

On June 2nd my brother James came into town. We always love to see Uncle James. The weekend he was here we took a short trip to Hilton Head. My dad has a weekend dental retreat once a year that is fun for the whole family and this year it was in Hilton Head. No seriously, it is really fun. They give away a ton of cool prizes. This year James won a digital camera, my dad won an overnight stay at a hotel in Atlanta, and Jackson won a water gun. We spent all day Saturday at the beach. Drake didn't like the cold water much, but he loved eating the sand. Jackson wasn't thrilled about the ocean water either but he enjoyed being there with Uncle James, Dad, and Grandpa.

Saturday night we danced (actually just Jackson and Grandma danced), and ate, and hung out with the crazy drunk dentists. We all had a good time.

Here are some of the many faces of Drakes while in Hilton Head. I think he might be a little on the special side, if you know what I mean. But he is cute nevertheless.

On Monday, June 8th we went to a Braves game with a ton of friends and family. Tickets were only $1 so I bought 30 and we used them all. My cousins Erik, Brent, and Dave were their family and friends. Justin's sister, Jessica, was there with her family and her husband's sister, brother, and his wife came along. My parents and brother were there. Nicole and Maggie came and so did Chris, Carey, Boston and a couple of their friends. It was fun having such a big crowd. The Braves played the Pirates and the game ended up going into overtime. We left during the 13th inning, but we listened to the game in the car on the way home and the Braves ended up winning 7-6 in the 16th inning. Thanks Chris and Carey for telling us about the $1 tickets!