Jackson's 8th Birthday

Jackson was so excited to turn 8!! It has been big year for him and he's excited to grow up. For him, it means no more booster seats on school field trips (yay!!), getting baptized, and more responsibilities... like mowing the lawn and taking the garbage to the road (yay for me!!). Jackson is a great kid. He's very thoughtful of others, tries to be considerate of feelings, and is great at trying to be silly and funny to lighten the mood when its needed. He's a hard worker, loves the outdoors, plays hard and loves life. He's a great negotiator! I sure love having him be apart of the family. We decorated his door for a morning surprise. He did a great job of bursting through it, making sure to get every streamer!

It was Jackson's year to have a friend party for his birthday. He hasn't had one since he was 5 and he probably won't have another until he's 12. It was a very fun party...and a lot of crazy!! We took a huge group of his friends from school and church and a few cousins to Boondocks. Two of his friends at the party would also be baptized with him the following morning (Kaylor and Sophia)! They started off with a pizza party, opening gifts, and topping it off with chocolate cake.  (Just to note for my family journal, his friends at the party were: Xander from soccer, Kaylor Hansen, Brigham Schofield, Jonah and Lynden Houghton, Taylor Washburn, Dominic Hiatt, Matthew Muhlestein, Mason Anderson, Bridger from school, Parker and Chloe Hansen, Sophia Hicks, and his brothers and sister)

The kids got unlimited chances to ride the go-carts and bumper boats and play laser tag (where they all started right after cake), miniature golf, and 20 tokens each to play arcades. Considering the craziness of the evening, I'm assuming everyone had a good time! We couldn't keep track of all the heads 100% of the time, so we just them go amok until it was time to go and hoped they each figured out how to have fun in their own way!

 Jackson tried out the go carts for the first time. I think he was a bit nervous at the start, he was pretty easy going with it, a little timid. He got 200 tickets for being the birthday boy to redeem at the ticket counter for prizes, and I think his tokens earned him a few hundred more. He was pretty ecstatic about trading those in for prizes. I hope it was a birthday he will always remember! Thanks Grandma/pa Gray for coming to support and  helping drive kids, and to Aunt Carissa for taking the trip all by herself to meet us at Boondocks! We appreciate your love and support!

 Since we got home from his party late and he didn't have time to play with any of his presents, he woke up early the next morning and went from toy to toy to toy. It was like Christmas morning all over again! This was a tin can robot set from Gandma/pa Gray, the first he chose to break into! He also got water guns, water balloon set, nerf guns, lego sets and other fun boy things. Happy Boy!