A place to sit

Garrett is always finding strange places to park himself...here are a few:

A spring form pan
His old car seat
His folding chair...he discovered it is much easier to get in/out of this chair this way.
A package of toilet paper. Looks to me like he's sittin' & thinkin'. Ha!

I love this...

Isn't He the Cutest?

Garrett's new favorite toy seems to be the box his new car seat came in. Lately, his favorite word is "door", so he will get in his box and open/close the "doors". Very sweet.

Garrett loves his juice!Garrett's shirt from Grandma Jackson says "Kansas Rocks!" ...and he's appropriately playing with his Jayhawk that plays the KU fight song. He and Daddy like to "march" to the beat.

Garrett received 2 new bowls for his 1st birthday. One from Uncle Dave with a red tractor on it (see previous birthday post), and another cowboy bowl/utensil set from our friends Sue & Marvin. He likes to play with them both...and, yes, he likes to eat from them too! I tend to appreciate the cowboy bowl because of the suction cup bottom that keeps it in place, versus bowls without suction cups that easily fly across the room (thanks, Uncle Dave!).

Garrett also loves his "new" rocking chair. It had belonged to my sister, then my brother, then on to me...and now it belongs to Garrett. My mom recovered the cushions with fabric that coordinates with Garrett's cowboy room. He likes to sit in the chair and "rock"...which is actually just nodding his head back/forth. He'll figure it out eventually...

Jell-O! Garrett's first experience with the messy, cherry-flavored treat. It was a fun idea...until I realized I forgot to put a bib around his neck. Of course he is wearing his white KC Royals shirt. UGH!
Note: to get out Jell-O stains, treat with Shout and soak overnight in a mixture of Oxy Clean Powder & water. It really works well!

Garrett's 1st Birthday

On Friday, August 13, Garrett Steven Jackson turned 1!!
We celebrated his big day on the 14th at El Dorado Lake in Kansas where he could celebrate with his cousins, Aunts, Uncles and both Grandmas!
Grandma Jackson and Grandma VandeBerg decorated Garrett's cakes - one to share with everyone...
...and another cake just for Garrett.


Garrett wasn't sure what to do with the wrapping paper. Daddy was there to help him figure it out.Uncle Dave got Garrett his very own dinnerware, which he LOVES (despite the fact that the tractor on it is red instead of green!)
Garrett also got lots of fun toys!


His very first Jayhawk!
What's in this one???
A Green tractor!!!With all of the excitement of the day, we forgot to have a family picture taken! Here's the closest we got...
Here comes the cake!


Uh Oh!!!


Unfortunately, we've discovered that Garrett has a sensitivity to food coloring (we're guessing), because after the frosting was wiped away his face was completely blotchy-red - including a red hand print! Fortunately, the redness went away after he got out of the heat. Something to keep in mind the next time we decide to let Garrett cover his head with frosting.

After the food, the presents, and the cake, we went down to the lake to swim. Garrett was so tired he started to fall asleep in his floating tube.
After Garrett's afternoon nap, Uncle Billy Jackson took us on a boat ride. Garrett seemed to like being on the boat...
...but he wasn't too thrilled about his life jacket.
We all held on tight when Garrett took the wheel!
At the end of the day, after the last guest left and the excitement died down, Garrett fell easily asleep.

It's been an amazing first year that went by way too fast. I look forward to seeing what year 2 will bring!

Jackson Family Vacation 2010

I'm finally getting around to posting some of our Jackson Family 2010 Vacation pics (thanks for the reminder, Aunt Jan!)!
The week after July 4th all of the immediate Jackson's got together at Toronto Lake in Kansas. It was a great trip - pleasant weather, no bugs, sunshine - and rain - every day...Overall, I think a good time was had by all!

Here's Garrett enjoying his lunch on our deck overlooking the lake.
We stayed in this beautiful cabin with Grandma Jackson - and Jeremy a few nights too!


Jeremy and Garrett - I think he was trying to chase him away from the doors. I don't know what it is with Garrett and doors. He makes a bee-line toward opens doors and loves to swing them back/forth. So far no pinched fingers...but open doors keep us on edge!
Garrett & Uncle Billy in the loft. You could only get up there by ladder, but Garrett loved the open space to crawl around in...just as long as someone was at the top of the ladder to keep him from getting out.
Garrett & D.J. in the loft.
Uncle Billy took Garrett to dip his feet into the Woodson County Lake - which was a nearby, cleaner lake better for fishing.
Jeremy taking Steve and Darren for a ride in his new boat. There was a lot of debris from limbs and rocks in the Toronto Lake, so it was hard to navigate a boat without hitting anything.
Aunt Donna & Garrett - sunscreen hair!
Swimming in the lake. Garrett loves his swim tube. The beach area was washed out and filled with driftwood, so we went to a nearby boat ramp to swim. This was a nice place to be since we mostly stood on concrete instead of the rocky bottom of the lake. D.J. in the background.
Steve and Courtney at the evening campfire - we were able to have s'mores nearly every night!
You can just imagine all the dam jokes that took place in the Jackson vehicles as we made our way on the dam road to the dam! (Sorry Grandma J).
The Jackson 4!
OK, so I'm not the best at considering lighting for a group shot. But here we are! Jeremy is the only camper not in the photo - he had to return home to work.
Bye Bye Grandma! So Sweet!