THE STARS ALIGN !!!!

The newest member of the Timpview JV tennis team, just after winning his first match!!

This is the cool (or should I say HOT?) logo for the team's sweatshirt. Don't you just love the flaming tennis ball?


(I could only get a picture of him through the chain link fence!)

Sometimes the stars align and dreams really do come true. For the last several years, Josh has taken tennis lessons in hopes of being able to play on the Timpview tennis team. He tried out as a freshman and didn't make it. He tried out this year and made the first and second cuts but, sadly, not the last. The coach told him that he wanted him to try out again next year and that his sons, the assistant coaches, had wanted to keep him. Josh took all this well and when I asked if he wanted to continue taking lessons he said "Yes" and that he wanted to try again next year. Well, this week-end, there was a message left on our message machine from the Timpview tennis coach, Rob Sperry. He had seen Josh last week-end at Matt Jackson's farewell. Josh talked with him and didn't think much about it. But, the next Saturday, there was a message from Rob. He told Josh that he had made a mistake and wanted to invite Josh to join the tennis team!!! We were thrilled and shocked! We had never heard of anything like this happening! Well, today Josh played his first match and won!!! 8 to 6! Afterwards, we went out to dinner to celebrate and Ryan and Becca joined us. We are so excited for Josh! Lots of exciting times ahead!

Grandma Jackson's 89th Birthday!

Grandma Jackson just turned 29 for the 61st time on Friday, March 26th! We had a wonderful dinner for her at her daughter Susie's home with just her children and spouses. It was amazing with all the doctors in the family, that everyone was able to come! Then, Friday, her actual birthday, Jamestown, where she lives had a little party for her. Instead of the grandchildren talent show that we have had in the past, we had a great video that Stefanie Jackson had put together. The high light was seeing pictures of her and Bud on their wedding day! What a treasure to have! We love you, Mary Ellen!

Disney vouchers!!!

Wow!! Our Disney vouchers have come. We got the much anticipated email this week end! We are hoping to use them at Walt Disney World over Thanksgiving break!

Women's Conference

On Friday of this week, our stake Relief Society Presidency met at our Stake Center to get ready for our BIG event of the year: Women's Conference!!! We had planned for the better part of a year for this event and we were so excited!! We got tables set for approximately four hundred and made "snacks" of trail mix and pretzels so our sisters wouldn't get too hungry while they were at class! Our theme for the conference was "Enjoy the Journey".
Our luncheon, which took place after the classes, was prepared by Donna Kelly from my ward. She made a fabulous oriental chicken salad that was served in a "Chinese take-out" box. We even had specially made fortune cookies that had Pres. Monson's quote inside about "enjoying the journey"!We had a humanitarian project going on where women could come and tie quilts if they wanted during class time. Three twin bed size quilts were done and six baby quilts completed!
My favorite class, the one I had been waiting for, was on the joy of being a grandmother. Sister Connie Boshard, grandma and woman extraordinaire taught the class. She had so many fun themes and ideas for family reunions, activities, and gifts for your grandchildren!!! You can see her enthusiasm and spirit in the picture below! In all, nine different classes were taught, and everyone was wonderful! We felt so blessed and so happy that the conference went so well!

Give a day, Get a free Disney Day!

My favorite one!

Ryan and Becca told us about a program that Disney was doing where they were offering one million free tickets into Disneyland or Walt Disney World to people who signed up to do a service project in their community! After hearing about their experience and how easy it was, I decided to sign me, Bob, Josh, Janie and Colby up. I was able to choose from 10-12 pages of service projects and chose the United Way's "Welcome Baby" program. For each ticket we had to either buy 10 receiving blankets or make 3. Well, we bought thirty at 6/$10 and so spent $50. Then I had quite a bit of baby flannel that I decided to make into blankets. I figure we will get $450 worth of tickets for about $75! That's $15 a ticket! The only problem...I got carried away and instead of making six blankets, I made fourteen! I just really enjoyed sewing again and found I could make a blanket in about 20 minutes. (I figure I can use the extra blankets for gifts.) I took our finished project to United Way today and they said to watch for our ticket voucher within the next two weeks. We are really excited!

Bob's perfect day!

If you are a busy orthopedic doctor who goes to work before the sun is up and comes home many nights after the sun has set, you dream of being outside doing something you love that is not related to work. Well, our son James, who lives in Boston came this week-end for a visit! He really wanted to ski and so Bob took off yesterday ( a rarity) and they went to Deer Valley early in the morning. They skiied HARD (doing all the mogels and double black diamond runs) and then came home about 2:00 p.m. At 3:00 p.m. they had a Tee-time at Riverside to go GOLFING with Ryan and Josh! Skiing and golfing in the same day---only in Utah in the spring!!!

After nine holes, we all piled in the trusty suburban and drove to Salt Lake where James wanted to go to Hires Big "H" restaurant (a drive-in hamburger place that I used to go to when I was a young girl). We met Janie and Colby and the whole family threw cholesterol worries to the wind and had onion rings, cheese fries, and hamburgers. It was a heart attack waiting to happen! Afterwards, we went to a fantastic gelato place and had scrumptious gelato like you would find in Europe. I had Nutella chocolate and Cookies and Cream and it was SO GOOD! I tasted Becca's strawberry and I am dreaming of that right now. Seriously, I will seek out this place the next trip to Salt Lake and try some of the other flavors. It was to die for!

Timpview Basketball State Champs!!!!

Josh, Jacob, and Cindy

Ahh! Those lovely Weber State Wildcat PURPLE seats!

Last weekend, we went for a trip down memory lane...we went to Weber State University in Ogden to the High School 4A Basketball finals! We have been to Weber State many times in the past when our basketball playing children were also in state games. We love the excitement and thrill of the games!! This year, Timpview won the championship again!!! The last time they won was when Ryan's team won in 2002. We took Josh and two of his friends (this made for a very loud car ride) and then met Janie who had come down from Logan. After the game we went to Wingers for some dinner. (We opted for a separate table from Josh and friends as we wanted some quiet!!!) It was great fun.

The friends that came to play!

Friends come in all shapes and sizes! How wonderful that we can be friends with anyone and how enriching they are to our lives. Last Tuesday, my dear friend, Tiffany, who lives across the street, needed someone to watch her two youngest children, Mark and Katie. When they arrived, I got out our large bin of duplos. We set up a zoo and, of course, a long train! Now, knowing Mark a little bit, I knew Mark was a train man and understood EVERY aspect of trains, particularly anything Thomas. What I didn't know was that his vocabulary extends way beyond the train yard. I was "blown away" when Mark asked me, "Hey, Sister Jackson, how do work this hydraulic wench, anyway?"
The "Hydraulic wench!"


Mark ready to lift a tiger from the train with his hydraulic wench in hand!