Here is our first picture of Christmas!! Yesterday Jackson got to sit on Santa's lap. He did much better than last year. No crying, but Mikelle had to hold the candy cane in front of him to get him to look up and smile. It was too funny. You can see him reaching for it, but at least it's still a cute picture!!

Last week Kendra and Mikelle took Jackson and Tessa to the Arizona Museum for Youth. They had lots of fun. Tessa liked to eat the plastic food, and Jackson liked to go down the slide backwards on his tummy. They have so many fun things for the kids to do, and it's all mostly educational!! Plus, it's great when you can get in for free with passes from the library! Too bad it's so far away in Mesa, but so worth the drive if you have little ones.

And lastly, it was Jackson's first time on a real bike. Bobby's mom had a child seat on her bike, and Jackson loved it. He didn't even fight the helmet, and he hates anything on his head.

And of course the first things Jackson found were the toys with wheels on them. It's great that kids are so entertained by the little things. He loved an airplane that made noise, and he carried it around like a suitcase. He also found the toy cars, and the car he could sit in and push. He of course was so mad when it was time to get out of it. He also liked the mini ATV. Really, we don't think he wanted to come home to his boring toys.

We didn't get to see Bobby's sisters or Jackson's other cousins, but we did get to see Uncle Billy, and after about 2 minutes, he and Jackson were great friends. It was fun to see how fast he knew family. Bobby's cousin Jo Lynn was also there. It was good to meet her and of course Jackson loved having one more person to tell him how cute he is! While we were there one night, Bobby's mom and Jo Lynn were rear-ended, but they were okay. His mom had a slight concussion and Jo Lynn sprained her neck and back. They were sore, but didn't have to stay in the hospital for more than a few hours.

Finally, more pictures from San Antonio. The trip was long, almost 15 hours, but portable DVD players and food helped! We discovered that Jackson loves Push-Ups. Not that they are ideal in the car, but they kept him busy, and he got really mad when we "took" his Push-Up to push it up so he could eat more of it. He is so funny!

We were able to go to San Antonio to visit Bobby's mom and step-dad. It was a fun trip, and we'll post more pictures, but Bobby's mom got us family pictures. We had fun, but Jackson wasn't too sure he wanted anything to do with it. Luckily the photographer was awesome and got good shots of almost all the poses.

Last Saturday, the 14th, Mikelle ran her first half marathon. It was called "Run From the Sun" and it was to help fight skin cancer. She ran through Downtown Mesa, and got to run right by the Mesa Temple. We were both training to do the San Antonio Marathon/Half Marathon but Bobby hurt his leg, then lost his job, so to save money we cancelled the trip to TX. (Things are looking good on the job front though with lots of interviews!). Anyways, the race went well. Mikelle finished in a faster time than expected!! The weather was great, with a little rain even to keep the runners cool. Bobby, Jackson and Kristin came to support the whole time. Aunt Kristin said it was too cute as Jackson would yell run and also run along side runners as they passed him on the race loop!! Mom and dad also came to cheer her into the finish line. She was grateful for her cheering section. Going up and down stairs the next two days were a little rough, but other that she had a great time and is glad she did it, although she's not sure she wants to continue running such far distances!!

Grandma Halterman came too. She wasn't planning on staying, but she just can't resist us! She was wearing her Elmo shirt, and looked so cute! Jackson loves Elmo, he calls him Melmo. He just kept pointing and saying Melmo all night. Plus, he still wasn't too sure about his parents costumes, so Grandma and Aunt Kristin got to have lots of Jackson cuddle time.

Kristin , April Brimhall and one of their friends, Lindy all came down for the night. They dressed as black widows. Cute and sexy! We dragged them along to our party and trick-or-treating before their REAL party started! And all the boys were checking them out!

Jackson was Beast, 1960's comic book version. And of course, no one knew who he was, except Bobby and that was all that mattered! Jackson's costume was simple, although we probably worked the hardest on it, but Bobby still though Jackson looked awesome. Again, that was all that mattered! This was Bobby's Halloween. So, is Halloween really just for kids?

Here is Bobby as Wolverine and Mikelle as Phoenix. They are from the comic books, just like Bobby wanted. On Halloween we went to our ward Halloween party, then trick-or-treating. We had a lot of fun, and of course a lot of comments on our costumes, although very few people knew who Mikelle was supposed to be. Oh well.

So we have been slow to get Halloween up, but I think most of you have seen it on Facebook anyways. Before the pictures of the costumes, just a cute picture of how much Jackson loves candy! He got to trick-or-treat at our local library the Tuesday before and he couldn't get enough. He loves suckers but in this pictures he is trying a tootsie roll, yum!

While Kristin was here, we were also able to go to a little farm in Gilbert, AZ. It is called Mother Nature's Farm. We had a lot of fun, but again it was soo hot! But Jackson loved it, so if you are looking for something to do with your little ones in the Valley of the Sun, they would love this farm!

The Park

This past week Kristin was in town, so she and Mikelle took Jackson, Tessa and Kira to the park. They had a lot of fun, but the heat came back last week, so it was hotter than they would have liked. Kira mostly tried her hand at the monkey bars, and was getting really good until the blisters formed! Jackson and Tessa were all over the place, but the swings seemed to be the big hit. Jackson just loves his cousins and they have so much fun together, most of the time!! The other bonus for taking Kira and Tessa to the park was that Kendra's mom was working on Mikelle's bridesmaid dress and Bobby's Halloween costume, which looks awesome. You will all just have to wait for pictures!! Thanks Sister Hansen!

Mikelle and Jackson were able to go to Prescott for a few days last week with Kendra and her kids. We had a lot of fun, but the favorite thing all week was picking their very own pumpkins from Grandpa's garden. We just hope they last till Halloween! If we were in Prescott where it was nice and cool, maybe, but down in the valley of the sun it's a little iffy!

Of course we need a picture of us with Bobby's dad! And here is a picture of Bill, Jackson and Joan. Jackson took a few minutes to warm up to them, but once he did he had so much fun playing with them. He just cuddled up to them like they were old friends. Jackson's smile is great in the picture, because it is full of mischief, and he totally gets that from Bill!

We were lucky enough to have Bobby's dad and his girlfriend, Joan, come for a visit the first of October. We had so much fun, although it was a quick visit so we were sad to see them leave so soon. We went to the Wildlife World Zoo in Litchfield Park, AZ. It was great. Less crowded than the Phoenix Zoo, plus there was an aquarium where you could touch some of the sea creatures. The sting ray was by far the grossest. All slimy, blah and of course Jackson would touch the water, but not the creatures! And there was a small petting zoo which was fun, although the llama tried to eat Bobby's shirt and they kept following Bobby's dad since he had food for them. Jackson touched a deer, some goats and he petted the llama's bum, nice! Jackson just loved it, especially the turtles and snakes. He kept saying turtle, and hissing like a snake, soo cute! The two problems were that Jackson kept trying to climb into some of the enclosures where the wood fence wasn't very high, and trying to keep up with him. He has gotten fast, and forget about keeping him in a stroller for more than a few minutes!

Most of you know how Jackson loves to play with cars, but for those who don't you can see this kid doesn't mess around when it comes to cars. He loves to lay down and watch the wheels, even if it's outside on the hard concrete! We figure we don't need to do anything to our backyard for awhile as long as we have cars around!

So, this video is old, but we finally downloaded our videos and it was too cute not to share. Jackson loves to play with hid dad, and one day we found that he thought it was hilarious for Bobby to spit a little ball out of his mouth. Jackson has such a cute laugh!

Jackson loves to dance, but it is so hard to get him on film because he stops when he sees you filming. But here is a little taste of his moves! He is dancing to the Madagascar song, "I Like To Move It, Move It!"

The other night Mikelle found Jackson having lots of fun in our pantry. We normally keep the door locked, but obviously slacked off a bit. It was cute as he would put stuff back into the pantry, then pull it out again. We let him have fun until he started to crush our food! Oh the fun or terrible two's. How come no one tells you it starts way before they are two?!! Although, we only have four months left till he is actually two, sad. He is growing too fast.