Gone Fishin'

This morning Jackson and Lou headed out to the lake for some fishing. They met Skip and Jack out there and the four of them spent the chilly morning down by the water.

Jackson had never been fishing before. Last night Lou took him shopping for his very own fishing pole and they sat at the kitchen table last night getting ready for their big morning. Lou doesn't fish too much, but he has a small tackle box so they had fun getting that ready.

Since Lou doesn't fish all that much, he doesn't have a fishing license. When we went to the store to get him a day license, Jackson told the lady at the counter that he needed one too. She smiled at him and said, "Well, you don't need one unless you're telling me you're sixteen." I quickly explained to Jackson that he could go without a license as long as he was with someone licensed. I didn't want him to think he couldn't go if he wasn't sixteen.
They left early...around 7:30 or so. And I don't think they came home until almost noon. Lou said Jackson didn't even want to leave when it was time to go home...

Sadly, they didn't catch a single fish...lots of bites, but they couldn't pull one in. That's perfectly fine with me...I didn't really want to eat trout for dinner.

Jackson's First Job

This year Jackson is in Mr. Amon's class at school. He really wanted to get Mr. Amon for a teacher (since he coaches a lot of sports)...I guess Jackson just thought he'd be a cool teacher.

Well, it turns out...He's been a great teacher for Jackson. Jackson has just excelled this year.

Mr. Amon has several jobs available to his students. There's the library monitor, the telephone monitor, the line leader, the ball monitor, and the lunch count & flag salute leader. Early on in the year Jackson decided he was going to apply for the Lunch count and flag salute leader position...It's kind of like two jobs in one. The job consists of reading the lunch choices for the day to the class and then asking for a count of who would like the 1st choice and who would like the 2nd choice and who brought their own cold lunch. He takes count and sends it off to the cafeteria so they know how many of each lunch to prepare for the class. Once that's done you have to ask the class to "please stand" and lead the pledge.

Jackson filled out a job application and I think he had an interview for this position. It was really the only one he wanted so we were really hoping that he would get it. We tried to prepare him for both outcomes just in case he did not get the job. We kept telling him, "If you don't get it, don't cry and remember it might happen for you if that person can't keep up and do a good job." Apparently you can lose your job if you are not following the bosses orders.

On the day they announced jobs we were really keeping our fingers crossed that Jackson would get the job he wanted...Turns out...HE GOT THE JOB!

Jackson said, "It's just such an honor." Since then he has not missed a single day of school for fear that someone else might have to do his job. He is just doing so well in school and I think having this job has made him feel more confident and I just love that.

Last week the school had their first quarter award ceremony and Jackson was the only kid in class to get 4 awards.

So proud of you Jackson. We just love seeing you excited about school. You are such a good, sweet boy. You are so talkative and polite to everyone. We love you so much.

Our Sweet Simon

Simon has been my dog for the last 7 1/2 years. I fell in love with Simon as soon as I got him. When Lou and I moved in together 5 years ago, Simon was part of the package deal. Lou had Benji, and both of our dogs were fast friends. As time went on, Simon and Benji have both become sweet little members of the Standifer Family.

Simon has never been the easiest dog...He's on medication for seperation anxiety, he used to hump almost everyone that came over (luckily, that hasn't been a real issue lately), he runs away if he gets out front (we've chased him across mager traffic several times), he likes to sleep in our bed (under the covers)...Anyway, you get the point. He's always been quite a handful, but he's just got the cutest personality...Lou always says (jokingly), "Simon if you weren't so cute, you would have been gone a long time ago."

Anyway, this crazy dog developed another problem that I kind of ignored at first. About three months ago we noticed that he wouldn't put his back left leg down. He would just touch it lightly on the ground and he kind of hopped so that he didn't have to put a lot of weight on it. It wasn't constant, but it was just enough that we could see something wasn't right. At first I thought he had gotten something in his paw. I felt around...he wasn't bothered by me touching it and I didn't feel anything so I left it alone.

We watched him for a few days and since he didn't seem to be upset or hurting, we just let it go. After a little while I decided to take him into the vet...just in case. We see a wonderful vet, Dr. Gary...He just loves Simon and treats him so good. We made our way into Dr. Gary's office and he had me take Simon for a walk so that he could observe this hop I was talking about. Right away he noticed it so he put Simon up on his table for an exam. Dr. Gary noticed that Simon's knee had a little wiggle. He could hold the knee cap and move it from side to side. He figured this was probably the cause of his hop, but since Simon didn't seem too bothered by it, he told us to just keep an eye on it.

Over the last few months we've noticed him limping around here and there, but it never seemed to bother Simon too much and so we let it go. This last weekend, however, has been another story. On Friday we started to notice that Simon was not jumping up into our bed and hadn't been for the last few nights. We were not complaining, but thought it was odd. We started to pay more attention and realized that he would not jump up on anything...In fact he was starting to cry in pain if he moved suddenly.

He was doing pretty good otherwise so I wasn't too concered, but this morning I noticed he hadn't eaten his food last night for dinner and he wouldn't eat breakfast. I tried to bribe him with chicken and when that didn't work, I knew something was up. I got into the shower to get ready for work and he was laying in the corner of our bedroom on a blanket. When I got out of the shower he was still there and when I called his name he didn't move. I squeaked a toy to get his attention, but nothing...I bribed him with a treat, but nothing...I pretended someone was at the door and he would not move (for those of you that have been to my house, you know that's a big deal).

I was home alone...Lou had left for work, and I was worried. I called Dr. Gary's office and made him an appointment right away. They said I could bring him in at 9:30. I finished getting ready, sent an email to work, and put Simon in the car. AS soon as he got into the car he perked up a bit, and I felt a little relieved. We got to the doctor's office and they took him in pretty quickly. The doctor decided we'd better get some x-rays and run a blood test or two. I immediately got nervous and before I knew it Dr. Gary gave Simon a tranquilizer shot to make him sleepy.

Simon cried a lot and they put him back in a kennel. They told me to come back at 5:00 for him...I started crying. I felt sad and scared. All day I was at work worrying about Simon.
I went to pick him up at 5:00 and I had to wait a few minutes for the doctor to come and talk to me. As soon as he walked into the room, I could tell it was not good news. I followed him into a little dark room. He flipped on an x-ray light and slid a film up for me to see...This was not Simon's hip. He showed me how the hip was supposed to look...The ball nice and tight in the socket.

And then he showed me Simon's hips....

Neither on fits nicely in the socket like they should, but the left one is obviously worse than the right. The ball in worn down from rubbing against the bone and the socket is not deep enough for the ball to really fit into correctly.

I asked Dr. Gary what this meant for us, and he recommended we make an appointment with an orthopedic veterinary surgeon. The doctor he recommended is in Stockton, but travels down to Fresno every other week and will see Simon in Dr. Gary's office. In the meantime, we will start Simon on anti-inflammitory joint medication.

I brought Simon home...He is so groggy and just feels crappy. I didn't give him any medication tonight. He was very hungry, but threw up all of his food after he ate it...probably from the tranquilizer he had today. He just looks pitiful...hopefully he wakes up feeling a little bit better.

I know some people...probably even some of our family, will not agree with us spending money to help Simon feel better. But you know what?...we're going to anyway. He is part of our family.

Next stop...Dr. Fry's office.

Lovin' Soccer...Go Sharp Shooters!

Jackson is playing soccer for the first time this year. He has been playing goalie quite a bit. He is actually quite good and really seems to be enjoying the sport. Today I got some good pictures of him. It was pretty chilly this morning, but we were thankful that we beat the rain.

Here's Jackson running up for a goal kick....

Playing full back...He really likes being in all the action.... Going after that ball...He can really kick it far.
Back at goalie...Nice block Jackson!...

We are proud of you Jackson. You are showing great sportsmanship, and being a true team player out there. We love watching your games and cheering you on. Go Sharp Shooters!

Thursday 10-21-2010

Read all my favorite blogs tonight. It doesn't feel so overwhelming when you keep up on them. I don't know what happened to me...I got away from blogging and reading blogs that the thought of "catching-up" just seemd so overwhelming. I finally just decided to read what I could and start all over. Don't worry about all the stuff I missed and just get started again. You know like they tell you in Weight Watchers (for those of you that have done WW)...If you really blow it...get back on track the next day. Well, I am back on track.

Tonight Jackson had soccer practice and so everyone got home kind of late. I threw together some tacos for dinner and we scarfed them down quickly. Jackson had a pretty scary asthma attack tonight at practice so he told me all about it while we ate dinner. We didn't have too much time after dinner for a whole, but I did peak through Jackson's back pack to make sure all of his work was done for the week.

Anyway, Jackson was getting ready for bed and I was trying to give him some cough medicine and as soon as he took it he started to cry and held his mouth. He was all sweaty and I thought at first he was going to throw up, and then he said his tooth hurt. I looked into his mouth at his loose tooth in the front and it was hanging. I had a napkin in my hand (for some reason) and so I asked him if he wanted me to pull his tooth...He was still crying, but nodded yes. I stuck the napkin around the tooth and pulled. It hurt a little bt and started bleeding. It didn't come out right away, but I pulled one more time and out it came. It was hurting him for some reason so I took another look in there and it looks like the new tooth is already making it's way in.

He called Grandma Bev to tell her about it. We put the tooth under his pillow and laughed about the Tooth Fairy Movie. For those of you who haven't seen it...The Rock is the Tooth Fairy. It's quite a funny movie.

Turned out to be quite an eventful night in the Standifer House tonight. Tomorrow is Friday and boy am I ready for the weekend.

Good Night All.

I Miss You BlogWorld

I just got onto my cute little Netbook that Lou bought me a year ago for my birthday...I haven't used it as much as I would have liked. I love that I can sit with this little computer and explore the World Wide Web all cozy in my big comfy bed.

I started reading blogs tonight...Some I haven't kept up with in way too long. And I realized how much I miss my daily routine of reading and writing blog posts. Even if I didn't have a lot to say it was still nice to spill all my thoughts for the day.

I made a goal tonight....I will check blogs daily and try to post at least twice a week.

Here's a little update on what's up with the Standifers.

I got a new job back in March. I now work for several businesses all in one. I do bookkeeping for ESPN Radio, His Magazine ( a local magazine in Fresno), a few sign companies in town , and I also help a friend of ours out with his bookkeeping when I can. My schedule is pretty jam packed, but I do find time for family and fun. I prefer to stay busy and I especially like the flexability I have working for a variety of comapnies all at once.

Every now and then I get an offer for more business, but I don't think I can take any more work on right now...this keeps me pretty busy.

I have had some health issues lately. I was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia back in July. I was happy to have a diagnosis for my crazy tooth/face pain, but I wasn't quite ready for something like this. I now take medication for nerve pain. The side effects are somewhat bothersome, but the medication seems to help the pain quite well.

For now, I am just glad to have the pain managed.

Lou is back to school...in his 3rd year of teaching. He is still coaching debate and forensics and his team just keeps growing. The kids just love him and I love watching him coach and teach. He is just so happy to be working with these great kids.

Lou is also working in a new band. It's just getting off the ground now...I'm hoping to see them play soon. I love watching my man on stage...He has such a wonderful voice.

Jackson is in the 2nd grade now. He has Mr. Amon for a teacher and he is really doing well this year. In his class this yer he "applied" for a job and got the job he wanted. He does the lunch count in the mornings and leads the flag solute. He is really proud to have that job. He never wants to miss a day of school because he's so worried about who will do his job if he's not there.

This year Jackson is playing soccer for the first time. He is playing goalie. I is actually doing an awesome job. His team hasn't won too many games yet, but they are only about half way through the season. We'll see how the rest of the season goes.

Our pups are happy and spoiled as always. Simon started taking seperation anxiety medication a few months back and they are helping him so much. He used to have some mighty distructive days while we were out of the house before...He would tear things up and chew at his paws and make them bleed. He would get so anxious and upset when we got ready to leave the house. Our vet, Dr. Gary, put him on Reconcile for anxiety and it works great. He is still playful and active, but he is much more mellow overall. He calms right down when we leave and he is getting used to our routine again.

Benji is as cute as ever. She's always been a lover. We're having a little problem with dry skin lately, but overall she is great.

I know...I'm a crazy lady...what kind of person updates on her dogs?....ME! I love them...they are part of our family.

Well, that's it for now. I'm getting tired, but I am back...Back to the Blog World. More to come from the Standifers.

Love to all.

Standifer Family Picnic Adventure

Today we decided to take Jackson to practice his soccer at the park. He is playing on a team for the first time this year and we wanted to help him practice a little. I thought we should take a picnic to the park and make an outing out of it.

I wasn't prepared enough to make us sandwiches so we stopped off at PCH sandwiches and picked up our picnic. Jackson and I went inside to order our sndwiches while Lou waited in the car. Jackson found the newspaper and got a little reading in while we waited.

We didn't have to go far from our house to find a nice park with lots of shade and trees to have a nice picnic. We spread out our blacket and ate our good lunch. Lou and Jackson found a couple of trees to make our goal posts and they were against a fence so we didn't need a net.

Jackson drop kicked the ball for the first time and it got stuck right in one of the trees. BUMMER!

Lou had a folding chair in his car so we folded that up and tossed it up in the tree. I said, "I hope we don't get the chair stuck in the tree." Lou said, "Oh, the chair won't get stuck." ...The chair and the ball both ended up in the tree.
Luckily we were not too far from home. We all jumped back in the car and headed home. We thought about bringing back our ladder, but it is heavy and too long to fit nicely in our car so we settled for a walking stick that we had in our garage and our kitchen step stool.

We headed back to the park with are gear...Cracking up about it the whole time.

We got the chair down easily, but the ball was a bit more hard to do. We had to throw the stick up in the tree and finally the ball came down.

Only one problem...

The stick got stuck up there. We threw the ball up one time and got all of our items out of the tree. Pretty silly.

We played some good soccer AWAY from that tree.

Thanks guys for the fun adventure.

Big Burrito

Lou and I went to lunch with our friends not too long ago. They picked the restaurant...we had never been there. Lou had decided before we even got there that he was going to have a burrito. When he ordered...I don't think he had any idea it would be SO big...

He couldn't finish it...

We Love the Grizzlies

We have had some fun at the Grizzlies Stadium this summer. We got great tickets (from work) this year and were able to see a few Grizzlies games. Jackson loves baseball and we've been taking him to see the Grizzlies since he was (almost) 2 years old. Now he gets pretty into it. Yelling and cheering with all the fans. Here he is cheering on the team...What a close game! We (my work) had a family picnic at the stadium...we got some pretty good seats and had lots of fun visiting with friends and watching the game.

Happy Father's Day

Today is Father's Day. I have really enjoyed this day since I started dating Lou. I have always enjoyed coming up with a plan to make this day fun for our family and make sure Lou feels special.

He is a great father. Him and Jackson have a special bond. I have always loved watching the two of them together.




Lou,
You are smart, talented, funny, kind, loving, dedicated, loyal, determined, fun, silly, handsome, caring...aboslutely amazing. You are a sweet husband and a wonderful father. I love you.

HAPPY FAHTHER'S DAY!

Mr.S. Rocks!

Today I went to Lou's classroom with him to work on some rearranging. Everytime I am in there I notice that the notes on his desk keep growing...This is what his desk looks like...

Those are all notes from students. The kids just LOVE him. I think it's great how well liked he is. He must be an easy teacher! Ha...Actually I think he's kind of tough.
He wasn't all that excited about taking a picture. Love you honey! I am very proud of you. Your room looks great and I know you are a wonderful teacher.

Where's Simon

Simon LOVES to lay in clothes...Clean clothes (especially right out of the dryer) or dirty clothes. He doesn't really care. Lately we've been losing him around our house and we seem to always find him in the laundry. This is where he likes to be these days...

Happy New Year...2010!

We spent the evening at home...just the three of us. We had sushi (take out) and played Wii all night.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We had a nice time decorating our house for Christmas. We actually put the tree up pretty early, but we didn't do too much shopping until almost Christmas this year. We had trouble getting into it after all that has gone on in our family. We didn't send out our Christmas cards or letter this year. I wasn't being a Scrooge, but truthfully it was a little too much to have to think back on and write about. We're hoping for a much better 2010.

Once we got into the Christmas spirit we had a fun time getting ready for Christmas and really enjoyed the season. Jackson and I made a fabulous Gingerbread house. We had a lot of fun decorating it and I was atually kind of sad to see it go after Christmas.

We were so thrilled to have Jackson for Christmas Eve and Christmas day this year. We usually only have him Christmas day since his mom's family has a big Christmas Eve celebration, but this year we were happy to receive a phone call from Jackson at about 8:00pm on Christmas Eve asking to spend the night with us. We picked him up and hurried home, and prepared for Santa to visit in just a few hours.

Jackson had the brilliant idea to make a reindeer feeding station in our back yard. We mixed up everything we could think of that reindeers would love to eat: cabbage, carrots, oats (oatmeal) and a little lettuce.

We made Rudolph his own special dish and we made a big tin for all of the other reindeer. We set everything up on our back patio. While we were setting everything out we heard some jingle bells and a "Ho Ho Ho!" coming from the trees. We were worried that Santa was already making his rounds in Clovis, but discovered that it was a false alarm.

We got on the Santa Tracker online and saw that Santa was actually in Canda and we knew we still had a little more time to get things prepared. Jackson left Santa some cookies and milk and wrote him a note and placed it right in front of the fireplace.

The next morning when we woke up we found that Santa had come and the reindeer ate all of their food. They left a little bit of a mess, but we didn't mind cleaning it up. Santa left a note for Jackson and thanked him for the cookies...they were all gone...He must have loved them. Jackson's stocking was filled with lots of goodies and our sweet little boy was concerned that our (mine and Lou's) stockings were empty. We explained that Santa would have way too much to do if he brought stuff for all the mom's and dad's too.

After a little while Grandma Bev came over with donuts and milk for breakfast. We opened a lot of our presents with her. Jackson was very happy that Daddy and I bought him a Wii for Christmas. He had been asking for one for a while. One day he said< "Do you have $199.99?" I said, "Yes." And he said, "That's enough for a Wii." I told him that if we got the Wii he probably wouldn't get a whole lot of other presents since it cost so much and he seemed to be okay with that. He got plenty of presents...more than he knew what to do with really and so when he opened the Wii he was one excited kid!

He got the dual sided Light Saber too. He asked for this almost everytime we were in Target. This one was hard to wrap and apparently he figured out what it was because when he opened it he said, "I knew it!"

Jackson bought me a beautiful ring...

And he bought Grandma Bev a cute little Willow Tree boy...

Later on in the day Grandma Lupe, Uncle Tom, Billy & Dawn, Aunt Brittany, Uncle Bobby, and Grandma Donna came over for Christmas dinner and more present opening.

I cooked Christmas dinner with Bev and Lou's help. Everything turned out real nice and we had plenty of left overs. We had a great Christmas this year. We were sad to put all of our decorations away, but we did. Lou and Jackson go back to school and work this next week. Life is moving quickly and we are heading into the New Year with hope of a better year in the Standifer house.

Hope everyone is well! Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Lou

Lou's 40th birthday was on December 13th! Yes...this post is a bit late. Like always.

I had asked Lou for a few months what he wanted to do for his birthday...since it was a big one, but he always told me nothing. I knew he wasn't too excited to turn 40 (and I could understand since I just turned 30 in August and really dreaded it), but after all he's been through this year I thought we just have to do something.

Right after my Father-in-law passed away I decided that we should have a party for Lou. Something small with just his close friends and family. I know that at times it has seemed like we're going through so many horrible things (especially this last year), but we do have some really special and sweet people in our lives, and I knew they'd be excited to celebrate Lou's birthday with him.

I knew he wouldn't go for it so right away I decided that the party had to be a surprise. My sister and I came up with a list of people and a loose plan of how to surprise Lou. I decided to tell Jackson about our plan...I know...A little risky telling a 6 year old about a surprise party that wasn't happening for about two weeks. But believe it or not, he did not tell. He kept the entire party a secret and even made up a few stories of his own to throw Lou off.

Lou and I have been dieting since August and he has actually done a fantastic job sticking to his plan so when it came time to plan the menu I was glad that he had decided to break his diet for the weekend of his birthday. Lou had said that he wanted to eat Chinese food for his birthday...just the three of us. I decided to add to that and make sure he had all of his favorite foods...If he was going to break his diet I wanted him to get a taste of all his favorite things. I ordered beerocks from The Beerock Shop. I ordered his (our) favorite cake from Charlotte's Bakery. ***NOTE: If you live in the Fresno area you should definitely try Charlotte's Bakery. You will NEVER order a cake from another bakery. I ordered sushi from Mr. Sushi. I made our family favorite "Mexican Pizza." I got shrimp cocktail from Costco. My sister made her fabulous mac & cheese, and our friend Corona made Lou's favorite Spanish dish...Chicken & Rice. Oh yeah...and we had so much Chinese food.

My Mother-in-law was so excited about the party. She knew that Lou really needed a pick me up after such a crummy year, and we began talking "in secret" about the party every chance we got. We invited one of Lou's best friends, Kristi. She and Lou have been friends for a lot of years. We went to her wedding right after we started dating and she and Phil came to our wedding a couple years later to share in our special day. We invited Lou's (and my) friends Skip and Corona and their two boys, Jack and Antonio. Lou and Skip went to high school together and are still great friends. We love spending time with them and Jackson just loves their boys. We invited Lou's colleague, Drew and his wife Leslie. Drew teaches next door to Lou and has become one of Lou's best friends. He has really helped Lou out a lot this year and he and his wife have become great friends to us...we really enjoy spending time with them. We invited Beth...one of Lou's other colleagues and a great mentor for Lou. She really has been one of Lou's biggest cheerleaders since he's been at Clovis High. I know it meant a lot to Lou to have her here. We invited my family...Bobby, my mom, Brittany and Chris (Brit's boyfriend). We invited Adrienne & Tara. Adrienne is one of my best friends and she has become so dear to our family. She has been there for us through a lot of crap and she is always willing to help out...even when we don't ask her. And my mother-in-law Bev was there too. I know Lou was so happy to have her here for his birthday.

We had the party on a Saturday night before his actual birthday (his birthday was on Sunday). That day was kind of crazy...Lou's debate team had a tournament at Clovis East. Drew was covering for Lou that day because Lou knew we had plans. He rested most of the day while Jackson and I ran around town. One crazy thing that happened...a few days before the weekend I got the idea to call Bound By Tradition....Lou had been talking about getting a memorial tattoo for his Pop. I knew he kind of wanted to get the tattoo for his birthday, but hadn't really made the plan. So I called Jason to see if by chance he had any openings on his actual birthday. He has worked on Lou before and really likes Lou. He asked me what was going on and I told him what Lou wanted. I told him I would stop by his shop Saturday and find out if he could make the appointment work. He thought he might be able to move some people around and get Lou in for his birthday.

Well, wouldn't you know...Lou woke up Saturday and said, "I'm going to call Jason and see if he can get me in today....I really wanted to get a tattoo for my 40th birthday and I know he's busy, but maybe he had a cancellation." I tried to discourage it, but didn't want to be too suspicious. Lou called and left a message for Jason and I got dressed quickly and Jackson and I headed down to the tattoo shop right away. I know what you're thinking...You took Jackson to a tattoo shop? Well, I didn't think that through really...we were only there for a few minutes...and it's really clean.

Anyway, I got in and as soon as I saw Jason I said "did you call Lou back?" He said No! he was waiting for me to get there because he didn't want to ruin the surprise. He wasn't able to get Lou in for his actual birthday, so I told him to just call Lou back and set up something with him. My mother-in-law was going to give Lou the money for his tattoo for his birthday in a card.

Okay, so Jackson and I ran around ordering and picking up food for the party and hiding it all at Brittany's. Around 5:00pm Brit came over to babysit Jackson so that Lou and i could go to my work Christmas party. We had planned to just go for cocktails so that we could have a quiet evening at home to celebrate Lou's birthday. While we were at the party Brittany and Jackson and Adrienne and Tara got the house ready for the party. Our guests all arrived around 6:30 and my mother-in-law picked up food on her way.

We left the Christmas party around 6:45 and ordered a couple of plates of our favorite Chinese food. We went to pick it up and headed home. I was texting Brittany on the way and Lou looked over at me and asked what I was doing. I made up something silly and tried to act cool. Once we turned on to our street there were cars everywhere. I'm lucky that our neighbors have a lot of parties...Lou just thought the neighbors were partying.

We got out and headed up our walkway. Lou opened the door and Brittany and Jackson were in the living room. As we walked into the house further Antonio popped out and Lou thought Skip and Corona and the boys came over. As soon as he turned his head and looked down our hallway...he saw a crowd of friends and everyone yelled SURPRISE! It was great. Lou looked at me and said, "We don't have enough food for all these people."

Oh, but we did have enough food for everyone...and then some. We broke our diet for a couple of days.

Lou had a fun party with his best friends and family. It was a great success and he says he had NO idea. He couldn't believe Jackson knew about the party and never told.

Honey, I love you. Sorry this post was late going up. I'm glad that you had a great birthday and that you loved all of your gifts. I sure love you and am so proud to call you my husband. Happy Birthday!