My Handsome Men

How am I such a lucky girl?? These boys are so wonderful to me! Our friends the Myers had us over for Mother's Day and took these awesome pictures. Not only are they both amazingly handsome--they are SOOO happy~ and that brings extra joy to my life.

Medical School Acceptance at Texas A&M!!!!

 What a day to celebrate! After much prayer, fasting, working, and more prayer, we felt so blessed to receive a call from the Texas A&M admissions committee inviting Michael to join this year's class! We are so grateful for this miracle and for the opening of a new chapter in our lives! 

Michael chose this cool Greek/Mediterranean deli for lunch to celebrate his acceptance. We're SO happy!

Mother's Day

 Michael was is always so sweet to me! He packed a yummy breakfast (do you see the peanut butter? He knows well that breakfast must include peanut butter to be considered yummy) and we went to a beautiful new park nearby. He made me a great card and we watched Mormon Messages about motherhood. I just love being with my adorable husband and baby!

I thought of how truly grateful I am to be a mother and to have such a tender and happy son. He brings me so much joy every day! He is so ticklish now and I LOVE the way he just laughs and laughs when we tickle him. He's my best buddy!

A few of Jackson's Favorite Things

 Jackson LOVES his new high chair! Michael actually spotted it at a garage sale while he was running the 1/2 marathon! He yelled out that we would come back for it, and indeed we did! Jackson loves the independence it gives him, as well as the height! As you can see...he's still devouring the mangoes!

Jackson loves to help with the laundry!  He gets a sweet ride in the dirty clothes basket, we listen to fun music, and he gets to hear funny stories about all the clothes--where they came from, where they've been worn, how long we've had them...

Jackson loves to relax! And what a comfy headrest the wooden basket must be....
He really put himself into this position. Now that he rolls around so much, we often find him rolled on top of several toys--and he just keeps playing like he doesn't even notice the bulging objects beneath him!

As you can see, even though I made him the sweet ribbon bracelet, he's still obsessed with sucking on the single green ribbon. Cracks me up every time!

4th Annual HendeRUN!!!!

 We had our first FULL participant this year! Our friend Tyson Traveller ran the entire 1/2 Marathon with us! His amazing wife was kind enough to watch Jackson during the race.

The morning was cold and windy...but we enjoyed it anyway!

I love the creative finish lines that Michael always designs :) Our Camry marked the end of our long race!

Our friend Joseph McWhirter ran the last 2 miles with Michael, and he and his wife Erica joined us and the Travellers for our traditional post-race pancake breakfast! Michael made AWESOME banana pancakes with Coach's Oats...so delicious.

As always, this was such a fun event to put together and work towards as a family. We trained hard and reached our goals!

How to Use Every Last Morsel of a Mango

I love to eat mangoes. I just get so sad that it's so difficult to get all the goodness off that massive seed! I never knew that Jackson would solve that problem so simply! He gnawed for a good 20 minutes and sucked off every possible bit of flavor that might've been clinging to that seed. He didn't want pureed mango in a jar, but he went crazy over eating right off the fruit like mommy. Fortunately, this mango experience combined with his recent fetish for Cheerios has helped me realize the key to getting Jackson to eat solids--he just likes his independence! He doesn't want mommy spoon feeding him--he wants to use his own hands and he wants to eat the same foods that we're having. Apparently he prefers chunky over puree!

Samplings of Jackson

 Jackson is now an amazing 8 months old! I'm a happy mom because he still hasn't explored the realm of crawling and moving all over the place...As you can see in this picture, he plays with all of his toys until he accidentally pushes them all beyond his "reachable" radius. Hilarious to us, but sad for him. :)  The saddest part, however, is when he DOES reach for the farthest strewn toy and does a faceplant into another toy. Ouch. Sometime all too soon he'll figure it all out and be reaching all over the whole house for my toys instead of his. Watch out, mom!

 Jackson likes to wear sweet potatoes as lipstick instead of eating them. Ridiculous. And these are delicious, homemade sweet potatoes! I even sampled them myself. Michael also agrees they're tasty. Jackson used to gobble them up...but lately the only thing he's consuming very well is momma's milk. I'm guessing it's a phase? This too shall pass.

When we were at church with my sister in Dallas, Jackson was a very tired boy and thus not so happy. That is, until we discovered a magical green ribbon that entertained him for almost an hour; he sucked it to the point of absolute saturation. An idea was born in my head for a bracelet covered in many colorful ribbons that he could suck to his hearts' content. Miracle of miracles, I actually made it yesterday, and he LIKES it!!! Score!

Adventures in AK, OK, and Dallas, TX

 After our fun with Michael in Kansas, Jackson and I drove to Fayetteville, AK to visit my college roommate, Natalie and her husband, Seth. We hadn't seen each other in YEARS--so it was a very sweet reunion!

 We got to spend time with my brother and his wonderful family in Oklahoma. We had fun dying Easter eggs with Grandma and cousins. We also enjoyed the week without internet or cell phone reception. We discovered how much fun you can have out in the country! The trees everywhere were BEAUTIFUL, but I hated the dogs when I went running!!

 Jackson got to spend time with his two cousins closest in age. Abram is about 8 months older than him, and McKenna is only 10 days older. He learned a lot from watching them scoot, crawl and walk around. His sitting improved exponentially, as did his general awareness and curiosity about the world around him.

 Jackson was awesome with all of our driving on this trip!  Unfortunately, you can't always control when nature calls!

 Time Out For Women in Arlington, TX!  So fun to be with my mom and sisters at this inspiring event! And Jackson just enjoyed flirting with all the women sitting around us :)

All the girls enjoyed our late night at the hotel...with midnight pizza and babies who wouldn't miss out on the party!  To top it all off, in the morning we had a great waffle breakfast......Honestly, Texas must be the only place that makes Belgian waffles in the shape of their state!!!

Kansas City LDS Temple

What a beautiful Temple! I remember when President Monson announced the building of this Temple--it was right at the end of my mission and I was SO excited! Since then, I've looked forward to its completion. In the 17 years I lived in Kansas, our closest Temple was at least 3 1/2 hours away, in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, or St. Louis, Missouri. I loved being able to go through the Temple with little Jackson. He most likely won't remember this experience, but I'm glad he's getting lots of exposure to such sacred places early in his life. We love Temples!

Our Family Vacation~My home town!!

 For our family vacation, we decided to go to Kansas City for the new LDS Temple Open House. Conveniently, it's close to my home town, as well as several historic sites for our Church. So, we planned a great adventure!


We visited Liberty Jail, where Joseph Smith was incarcerated for several months on false charges.

We went to Cici's Pizza and Jackson enjoyed his first motorcycle ride with Daddy.
We went back to my family's old house and spent over an hour going through the rooms and the yard recounting my old memories there. So many good times! (and so lucky that our friends own the home now, so we could see it!)

We went back to my family's old house and spent over an hour going through the rooms and the yard recounting my old memories there. So many good times! (and so lucky that our friends own the home now, so we could see it!)

 We enjoyed a birthday dinner at a fun restaurant on the Plaza in Kansas City. Yes, that is a chocolate box desert that you can only fully enjoy by pretending that your knife is an ice pick. We had so much fun roaming the streets together and window shopping at Crown Center and the Plaza.

A highlight of the night on the plaza was when Michael and our friend Don tried to get Jackson to sleep by walking down the main drag--just the two men-- and Jackson in the car seat. Let's just say they got more than one funny look from people...and of course they had to play it up. That's right, folks--these men are happily married, but not to each other!!

Excited for General Conference!

How we love Jackson! His enthusiasm rivals that of Elder Perry!! Would you agree? :)

The Lion King meets Hunger Games

For the first time since our move to Lubbock, Michael and I had the privilege of going to the movie theater! Our awesome friends the Plotts watched baby Jackson, and Michael and I were off to see Hunger Games. We'd built up a lot of excitement to see the movie because we both read the first book, and then we read the 2nd and 3rd together. I thought they did a great job choosing the cast, as well as capturing the essence of the book without being overly gory. The best part, however, came from the audience and not the movie! In the quiet moment when Peeta is putting the special healing goop on Katniss' forehead, someone did an excellent imitation of Rafiki's voice and said, "CIMBA!" Really loud. At first there were a few giggles, and then the whole theater just roared with laughter when they realized how much it really resembled the part in the Lion King when Rafiki paints Cimba. Hilarious. You'd have to be there to really get the sense of how funny that was in the middle of such a tense movie. Loads of fun!

Ooops...bad mommy!

After returning from a joyful afternoon at the park, I discovered I had broken the cardinal rule of mommyhood....I neglected to put sunscreen on my precious son! His little chubby cheeks got a little more than rosy! Michael was kind enough to inform me that I had damaged the DNA that will continue to replicate throughout Jackson's entire life. Way to go, mom! But, hey, he still loves me and he's still happy! What a blessing that babies are so forgiving! :)

Beautiful Weather and Family Walks

We have enjoyed such gorgeous weather the past few months! Springs here are typically quite windy, or so we've heard, but we've enjoyed so many calm and sunny days. As a result, we've also enjoyed lovely family walks! Jackson is a great walking buddy--whether he's in the pack or the stroller, he's a great sport. And he's adorable. Simply adorable.

Eating Solids

Jackson is loving the world of real food! So far, we've cooked up or mashed some green beans, yellow squash, bananas, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, pears, apples, bananas, rice cereal, and have I mentioned frozen bananas? Jackson has continued to be my monkey! He loves using this stupendous baby contraption to gobble up bananas. The slurping sounds are amazing. It's such a blessing when food can double as entertainment--for him, and for us!

Our "Grand" Piano

My wonderful parents gave us a piano as a wedding gift, and we just now called to collect it. We kept waiting to be "settled in" somewhere before we got it....but then we realized that could take many more years, and we felt ready for the blessing of piano music RIGHT NOW. :) After much deliberation, we decided to go digital. It's just more practical for our situation, and better suited for teaching children to play. So, one day the delivery man showed up on my doorstep and graciously pushed the piano far enough into our entry way that I could barely close the door and even more narrowly get through the space with Jackson in my arms. Fortunately, when Michael arrived home, he came to the rescue! He first put his muscles to work moving it out of the doorway, and then employed his handy-man skills to work assembling our new beauty. Michael and I both love to practice and play, and Jackson LOVES to listen! I've loved how excited Michael gets to make beautiful music. He especially likes the feature that has the piano play the left hand part of the song while he plays the right hand part. Apparently Jackson's not the only one who likes new toys! Thanks mom and dad for always encouraging us to develop and share our talents!

The New Pizza Stone

Michael is full of ideas and inventions. His enduring passion since we ate at Settebellos in SLC has been to build a wood burning brick oven. He's even obtained the fire bricks necessary to do so! Unfortunately, our landlord wont allow us to build a brick oven inside our apartment, or on the community lawn in behind it. Crazy, I know. So insensitive to creativity! But, you know Michael--nothing will stop him from getting what he wants! So, we were blessed to get a sweet grill from some friends in our ward who were getting rid of theirs. Michael cleaned it up, and now we use the bricks on the grill on our back balcony to cook our Friday night pizzas. We're getting them close to perfection. My guess is that all the neighbors will smell our Friday night delights and petition the office for us to build the real brick oven. Until then, we'll just enjoy our grill bricks. Way to go, Michael!

My Adorable Boys

I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to spend all my time with my two favorite men!!

Bike Trailer with Daddy

Jan 2012--Our lovely friends the Copes let us borrow their bike trailer~ and Michael got Jackson ALL geared up for the family outing! Jackson had a cush ride in his carseat, belted into the trailer, and Michael enjoyed the extra work of pulling him! I was just happy to be out on my bike again!

Thanksgiving in St. George

Jackson's first flight and family vacation!! We were so grateful for the chance to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with the
Henderson family in St. George! We had all sorts of family adventures: singing Christmas carols around the piano, special lunches with Grandma and cousins, movie time, learning gun safety, hiking black mountain early in the morning, Lizzy's baby shower, late night movies, family pictures... but most of all we enjoyed the time

reconnecting with everyone. We might

LOVE living in Texas, but we MISS our family!! Jackson especially was excited to meet everyone and give them a good show of his skills: smiling, cooing, clicking, kicking like crazy, and playing in Grandma Carrie's baby gym!

Jackson's Baby Blessing

You know that feeling you get when you're so far behind that you don't know where to start catching up??? That's where I'm at! It's been way too long since we've posted any of the exciting things going on in the Henderson household. So, today my goal is to play catch up.

November 6, 2012 Jackson Michael Henderson was blessed by his daddy in the Canyon West Ward. We were SO very grateful to have such amazing support from our family! Grandpa Lon and Grandpa Petersen got to meet baby Jackson for the first time, along with the Browning family who came in from Dallas. We were of course happy to have my mom with us again as well. What a special day! A few friends (the Copes and Bri and Memphis Norton) joined us for a luncheon and the blessing. Michael truly worked and prayed to prepare himself for this time that we had looked forward to for so long. We well remember being in our married student wards in Provo and always wondering when it would be our turn to bless a precious child. We're so grateful for the timing, and for the miracle it is to have Jackson in our home. The blessing was a sacred and uniting moment for our little family.