Cabin

Last week we got to spend a few days at a friend's cabin. It was so nice to get out of the heat and just take a few days to relax. Well, relax as much as we can while keeping Jackson from destroying the cabin or escaping.

My family LOVES fishing. As long as I can remember we have always gone fishing but we are cursed. Somewhere in our family, someone must have done something to upset the fishing fates because we rarely catch anything. Between all my siblings and my dad, I bet they went fishing 15 times and spent HOURS there. By the end of the trip, Eliza's four year old cousin had caught one. My older brother caught two and my younger brother caught one. And they cheated so those don't really count. :) Oh well, it's still one of our favorite things to do as a family. Here is Eliza trying her luck.

My dad taking some of the grandkids.

We also brought up some cupcakes to celebrate Jackson's birthday with my side of the family.

The weather was perfect! We had an awesome thunderstorm Wednesday night but most of the time it was in the low 70s.

Snow in the mountains

Eliza and Michael. She is borrowing his jacket...

2 years old!

Jackson turned two on Friday! We had some family over on Sunday to celebrate. Thank you to everyone for coming and for the fun presents!

We all went bowling on his birthday which turned out to be not such a good idea. He only wanted to to chase the ball down the lane and was not happy with us when we wouldn't let him. We also has has 2 year check up on his birthday. I felt really mean doing that but it turned out that he didn't need any shots this time so it worked out.

Here are his stats -

Weight: 29 1/2 lbs (70%)

Height: 34 1/4 in (50%)

Head: 50 1/2 cm (85%)

He is doing great and is right on track with everything except his speech. He still doesn't say anything except mama and that's only if he's in a good mood and we prompt him to do it. So the pediatrician thinks he needs have some therapy. I'm all for that because this poor kid gets SO frustrated when we don't know what he wants so the sooner he starts talking, the better. We need to talk to the school district and see how young of children they will work with.

Jackson can be such a sweetheart and he gives the best snuggles. He loves to play with his sister and he loves to climb on anything and everything. I think once he starts to communicate better he will be a happier child. I had no idea my two children would be so different. Eliza started talking early and has always been very mellow, content, adaptable...all those things. Jackson is the opposite. But I love him. There are just some days I need to go in his room after he finally falls asleep and watch him sleeping so peacefully to remind myself that I really do. :) Our family would not be complete if he weren't in it. Eliza loves her little brother and he's daddy's little buddy. Love you Buster!

NKOTBSB

After 21 years of loving them, my dream of seeing New Kids on the Block live came true! I only had to drive 425 miles to do it. First of all, the weekend could not have been possible if it weren't for Matt willing to take me and my parents willing to tend. Thank you so much!

We left Sunday morning and drove all the way to Las Vegas, only stopping for gas and lunch. We arrived with a couple of hours to kill and if it hadn't been 112 degrees, we might have ventured out more but we opted to stay indoors. The concert was at Mandalay Bay so we parked and spent our time walking around and people watching. We had a yummy dinner at Shanghai Lilly and then I got in line. There were SO many people! I had to laugh because The Backstreet Boys were performing with the New Kids and as I looked around, it was easy to tell who was a fan of which band. I was at least a good 10 years older than the BSB fans. :)

Once the doors opened I got in line for the merchandise stand. I was on a mission! I got a program, a t-shirt, a big ole 80's button, a key chain, and an autographed CD. Jordan Knight not only signs some CDs to sell before each show but he kisses them!

This is Danny Wood's custom Harley that he's raffling off. All the money raised from it goes to the Komen foundation to find a cure for breast cancer. His mom passed away a few years ago from breast cancer. Awesome cause! Last I saw it was up to about $45,000.

I bought my concert ticket from KSL. It was upper bowl but row K. I thought, row K, that's probably about the middle of the section...not too bad. Apparently the section is only rows A through K. I was the VERY top row! Once the opening act started there were empty seats at the front of my section so I moved down along with three other women. It made dancing and singing along to all the songs much less embarrassing when I was next to other people!

What can I say about the concert? It was unbelievable. I did not stop smiling the whole time. There was a perfect mix of new songs and the classics. And let me tell you, those guys have not slowed down one bit. The show was over two hours with very little down time. Soo.....get ready for a picture storm! Here we go!

The stage was SO cool!

They went out into the crowd during "Tonight."

Joe is holding his oldest son. He helped sing "Tonight." SOOO cute.

Nick Carter and the Knight brothers

Encore - Hangin' Tough

I took five videos but after two hours last night, I still hadn't been able to load ONE. I guess they're a little big for the blog. If I can make them smaller I will post them later.

The whole trip was spontaneous and crazy and not at all like me. BUT I'm so glad that I did it! I would have regretted it otherwise. Thanks again to Matt for being a good sport about it. And no, I am not mad at all that he didn't go to the actual concert with me. I made some friends and had a blast! And also thanks again to my mom and dad for taking the kids. They loved it.

My seats weren't the greatest and my camera's zoom could have been better but I have nothing but beautiful memories now! I loved it!