good times

 

 now you may think of September and think school,

fall leaves, 

crisp apples, 

and cooler weather.

all good things.

but here at the Jackson joint our close of summer is never complete until the fair.

oh the state fair...

everything that is wrong and severely frowned upon within society presents itself in one gloriously disgusting stretch of land in the wrong part of town.

 how could we not attend?

last week we grabbed our favorite groupies (da Gregs) and made our way to the Fair.

   

after this greeted us upon entrance we thought not much else could top.

deep fried butter? hmm...

   

 we were proven wrong.

so, so wrong.

about 12 steps up we came across this.

take a better look. yes. right there at the 3 by 2ft plywood box.

there awaited you"little linda".

she was for real. while our celebrities were writing gut wrenching hits about the disaster in Haiti,

our fellow Fair friends were snatching up refugee little people and forcing them to a life human exploitation. it's wrong.
despicable maybe..

we were the first in line to see her.

uh oh...

it was every bit as disturbing as it looks, sounds, and feels.

i'm so ashamed.
but maybe the best dollar spent in while??

 

 

luckily a trip on the ponies and a fair themed photo-op brought us to a safer more comfortable state of mind.
phew.

 

and then the night ended just right,

kennan and dusin took the ride of their lives on the mechanical bull.

oh yes.

fall can now come.

first day

well finally...
school days have come!

minie's preschool doesn't start till about 1-2 weeks after
school begins for the rest of the functioning world and those couple of weeks are always
the final nail in the coffin.
do you appreciate how i have only experienced one semi-school year to date
yet i talk like a seasoned vet?
me too.

my name is brooke,
and i am more than happy to see my daughter leave for school.
some parents cry..
i silently cheer.
what does this depict of myself? probably if i wanted to do a little soul searching,
the results may not be in my favor.
but let's be honest.
school is a happy place in the jackson family.

and really, i can't be the only one to blame. minie lives for her school days.
i feel like it should be a good thing. i know one day the tables will turn,
so until then let's enjoy it... right?
maybe kindergarten will tug a little more..
it doesn't seem likely.

but always and forever i love this mello- dramatic tootse
after all, she is quite cute.

here is to day 1...
RAH, RAH!!
and the beautiful 170 to come.

babies mine

sometimes i take pictures of my babies and then forget all about them
i never feel satisfied with my shoots when i'm finished with them. being mom and the one behind the camera can sometimes be tricky.
i'm so glad i gave this shoot one more look through...

never have i loved these girls more.

they are my everything.

your so lame

this is how we are all feeling about me right now. it's been how long since i last posted? offensive.
i'd like to give you excuses like our fabulous weekend get-away to Chicago, or the weekend i spent in Sun Valley for "work".. but really, they would be just that.. excuses.
*sigh....*
no. never mind.
i'm giving those as reasons. they sound legitimate, right?
har, har, har...
i really don't have much to update. my girls are still pretty damn cute,
we still live in industrial Murray, Ut.
the dogs still drive us a little zaney,
money still always feels tight,
dustin still works,
i still take photos,
be the mom,
and well, apparently travel a bit.

just life.
i want to cry just a little bit that summer is on it's last leg. it has FLOWN by.
but am i horrible to also be counting down the days for school to begin?
minie needs a good schedule in her life.. i need a good schedule in my life.
either way you crack it,
come September 1st we will all be a tad bit happier.

soo... all i have for you photo-wise are a few shots of our fabulash weekend in Chi town.
i love when dustin's business trips find me in company.
:)

enjoy your last weeks of summer.
we'll all miss them.

xo,
brooke

bear lake on an iphone

like most of these summer weekends,
we spent our pioneer day in Bear Lake.
somehow i never can find the energy to do much other than sit around and eat
so these are all the more of the festivities documented.
i'm finding my phone camera more and more convenient every day.

Caribbean of the rockies,
raspberry shakes,
evening fire pits,
wave running beach days,
lots and lots of good food.

our 24th wasn't half bad.

if you get on our good side,
we might even invite you to come next time.
just saying...

all of my love

i can't sleep. i've been tossing and turning in bed tonight with a million thoughts racing around. like usual i try find my grounding. i look over to dustin normally and he focuses me. i feel safe and secure, and loved and within moments my racing mind quiets and i drift off to sleep. but tonight he had poppy curled up next to him. and while all my other racing thoughts came still, my heart honestly lept with this over-powering all encompassing love. a love i don't completely understand even myself, but wtiness every day. how am i so lucky to have these individual souls to all love? how did i create two of them ? and how do they all love me so deeply in return? my heart literally is so full of love for every being that is our family.
but how do i show this? how do put into action what i actually feel?

tonight we took the kids to an outdoor mall close-ish to our home. they have a pretty impressive water feature/pop-jet something or other going on. and it felt like a splendid summerish family activity so off we were.
upon arrival to the water both my girls were a little stand-offish and sat with excited eyes on the side lines. both sort of toed the edge, and then would scramble back to me shrieking with both laughter and fear. after a few minutes of this however, my always dare devil poppy, ran straight to the middle of the fountain straddled the largest jet, and let out the most contagious and adorable squeal of delight and fear. i literally laughed out loud, and physically felt so in love with the little-big phenomena she is. she just is so much. and i loooove her so much. she completely has me whooped. it felt so good to see her that happy.
but somehow coexisting with all of this love and pride for poppy is a different love i have for minie. i have an appreciation of her apprehension of the cold water and new sitaution. but also a sadness that she isn't out there giggling and being silly along side her sister. i feel guilty then also that i find so much joy in watching poppy be so happy, that i'd almost forgotten that minie was still standing scared on the sidelines.
so then i leave my happy poppy to hold my minie's unsure hand to tell her she doesn't need to be afraid. i show her she can still have own kind of fun by dodging the exploding water instead of just taking it full on, and now she's finally squealing in delight right along side her sister.

i sat back and felt so much love for my family.i am so blessed. but i also felt guilt. guilt because i know i can't be everything i know they both really need... and need from me.
phew... it's exhausting isn't it?
the whole parenting thing ....how can i show my children just how all encompassing my love for them was, IS, and will always be. they are my hear, and there is no limit that this love of mine can't reach. they are my everything,

to my own mother and father. thank you, thank you, thank you. i have always felt your love and how deep it really ran. and i am sorry for the moments that i forget it. i love you mom. i love you dad. thank you.

this is risky business this parenting thing. i have no idea what is in-store for our future.. but i do know there will always be our love. messed up, confusing, over-whelming amounts of love.
things are going to be okay.
right???

minie and poppy,
please know that i never, ever, EVER will stop loving every crazy, neurotic, silly ounce of you. you are mine and your father's everything. we love you. i LOVE you. with. all. my. heart.

xoxo,
mama


*note to reader
it is 1:20 AM. this is just my muddle brain trying to make sense of my crazy thoughts.
i just want to fall asleep.
if this all sounds like gibberish ... it is :)

goodnight

the jorth of fuly

hardly is there ever a better summer day than the 4th of july. truly.
i love that all us original williams kids congregate back to our parents. i love that we all sleep over and revert back to being the kids ourselves. and that my Mon doesn't even skip a beat treating us as such. i also love how we make our husbands decorate bikes in the middle of the night for the morning parade (and they do it. happily). i love the food, sidewinder falls, and spending all day doing absolutely nothing with family and friends.
our jorth was a pretty dang perfect day.
how about yours?

this year we tried to be extra creative and finally make my dad's dream come true.
he thinks he is hillarious and claims there are far too many of us to remember. therefore, we are all assigned a number. i was the 5th child born into my family so i am number 5. that makes dustin number 50 and our girls 51 and 52. make sense? not really? i know... he's weird.
but that is what this is. the numbered grandchildren.
poppy was supposed to be in this...

but instead was doing this.
she is not much of a morning person.

4th of julyers waiting for breakfast.

poppy girl,you were very loud this morning.
weird.
:)

there's my happy girl!

and robyn had mad skillz.
jump while i have my camera out. i dare you.
i love me some jumping shots.

i didn't take a single picture of a firework or anything terribly festive actually.
almost offensive....
but your feeling the love, right?

hope your summer holidaying about is stupendous.



xo,
brooke

turning 4

about a month ago i decided i wasn't going to do a big hoopla for minie's birthday this year. after all is said done, does she really care? simple answer, NO.
give her friends, give her presents, give her a candle to blow out.
seemed easy.
well, hell. i thought so too.
but
THIS blog was introduced to me and then all my plans of simplicity went flying out the window.
i mean honestly... i may have a problem.
i tried to reel it in, so the following is what was produced.
over all.. it was fantastic.
and surprisingly stress-free.

she is worth making a fuss about. really, she is.

me and my girls. i don't make an appearance much on my own blog. but robyn had my camera this day and she got these.
i love these stinks.

pin the dot on the ladybug

and a very sad attempt at a three-legged race.

minie was hysterical.
sometimes it's just hard being the birthday girl.

but a candle lit mud pie made it all better.

oh la la... and her too.
shhh...
so hot right now.

minie's actual birthday fell on a Sunday so it was pretty low key. balloons and streamers to greet her... and then it was off to church.

she finally got her rapunzie gown, and was 100% thrilled to put it on immediately.
disney runs our life.

nannie's famous neapolitan cake was the perfect cap to the perfect birthday weekend.

minie.. you are the cutest 4 year old around.
we love you