Happy Birthday Jess-i-mi-ca!

Today is a wonderful day to remember Spencer's sweet sister Jessica. Today she would turn 23, just a year and a half younger than me. I felt very close to her even though I only knew her for 4 years. 

I remember the first time I met her. I was really nervous. Spencer and I had only know each other for maybe a month and we really liked each other. Already by then I knew that Jess was a special person to Spencer. They were best friends and if I didn't have her approval then I was out. Spencer brought her into the chocolate store that I was working at and it was the day before Christmas. It was a crazy busy time, but it was really fun to meet her. She was kinda serious, because it was really just a quick hello, but you could see how close her and Spencer were. After that I just remember becoming her friend instantly. 

 I love that she was someone who loved to laugh. I think every time I ever spent time with her there would always be laughing at some point. And I loved how much she loved to laugh with and at Spencer. He knew that he could pretty much say and do anything and she and Mom would laugh pretty hard. They sure loved him so much, and he loved them too.

 Picture of her when she was young are my favorite. So many of them she has the cutest and funniest little poses.

 She was such a hard worker and did such a great job at anything she did. I really thought it was pretty amazing that she graduated from Westminister College with a Bachelors in Psychology.

 I love all the cute pictures and memories of Spencer and Jess. They were right next to each other in age, and they sure had a lot of fun together.

She really was the cutest little girl. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY and WE LOVE YOU JESS!!!!

Another fun hike in Flagstaff

Someone in our ward told us about these caves here is Flagstaff so we decided to go check them out. The whole hike up is kinda steep so i took lots and lots of breaks.Once to the top it was really pretty. A storm was passing out ahead of us and it was really cool to see the clouds.

 The caves are everywhere at the top. We saw probably over 20 and didn't even look at them all. Some are really small but many of them you can climb into and connect into other ones.

 Tiny little horny toad.

 As we were hiking up we saw a grasshopper fly up and a lizard jump and catch it in his mouth. Spencer thought it was pretty cool. So we took a picture of the little guy with the grasshopper in his mouth.

Bear Lake Trip with the Baughs

You can never go wrong spending a weekend with the family at Bear Lake. We have done this same trip in the past with the Baugh's and every time it is so fun.

The island floaty thingy was the funniest part about the water. Sorry i don't know what is was called. It was the hardest thing getting up onto it, and my mom and I just about died laughing watching each other get on it along with other aunts and cousins. So fun!

The water really was nice. Kind of chilly but you got used to it really quick. So pretty up there!

My uncle brought up his paddle board which was really fun. It was out the whole time trading off between the cousins. Spencer and I tried to do it together which is hard. It is really built for one person!

This is the beach house we stayed in. We don't have the whole place to ourselves. Just a few rooms with lots of beds and bathrooms and some kitchens. You just walk right off the back deck and you are on the beach.

On one of the days some of us went to the Minnetonka Cave which is fun. It is nice and cool and you climb 888 stairs total. We had to wait to go into the cave for over an hour so we pulled over to a camp spot and hung out for a bit and snacked.

One of the nights we celebrated my grandparents 60th anniversary. My cousin Amber did an awesome job making the cute cake and other desserts. My cousin Nichole helped with the program by getting all of us cousins and the kids to ask grandma and grandpa questions about their marriage and life together and they recorded it so we all can have a copy. I did a few decorations to try to make it a little nicer. It was a fun night.

My other cousin McKenzie helped with the gift. We got a huge basket and everyone brought an item or two to put into it that reminds them of grandma and grandpa. It was fun. There were things like See's candy gift card, cake mix, root-beer extract, crackers from fishing or backpacking, and lots more. Hopefully they enjoy it.

My cousin Amber made this cute picture of the Logan temple for them because that is where they were married 60 years ago! Very cute!

Announcing...baby on the way for the Jackman's

I guess if I've announced it on Facebook then i might as well tell all you who view my blog that we are expecting...finally!

Most of you know that it has been a year since we lost our little guy Calvin. Since then it kinda has been a roller coaster. We got pregnant 3 months after I had Calvin, recommended by my doctor, and I wouldn't let myself get excited until I saw a beating heart on the ultrasound monitor. Right from the start I knew that something was up. My nausea was not consistent and I didn't feel like my symptoms were getting stronger, which they should. Around 9 weeks I miscarried, and honestly I think Heavenly Father prepared me for that. Of course we were so sad, lots of tears, but I felt that it was more bearable than it could have been. 

We then moved to Flagstaff, got a new doctor and decided to get a cyst removed from one of my ovaries. It was causing problems when I was pregnant with Calvin so I felt that we needed to get it removed before trying again so that there wouldn't be anymore complications added to the already stressful pregnancy. The cyst was removed along with my ovary and tube. It was completely embedded in the ovary causing the ovary not to even function normally. The other ovary looked great so my doctor was hopeful that we would have no problems getting pregnant. The next month, we got pregnant!!

Everything has been going so smoothly with this pregnancy so far. It really has been a blessing. I have had 2 ultrasounds so far, and heard the heart beat twice. In 3 weeks we get to find out what we are having and see more pictures of this cute little wiggly, growing baby!!

The first time I felt this one move was the day before Mom and Jess passed away. I was only 15 weeks along, and since then I feel the baby move at least 5 or 6 times a day if not more. I love feeling it move because it reassures me that all is well. I can feel Heavenly Fathers help because I thought I would be more stressed out, but most of the time I just know its going to be ok and it is not in my hands. I am definitely learning trust. I know that it will get more stressful towards the end but I hope that now I can learn to relax and not worry so that during that time I can be prepared. But I do know Mom and Jess are up there helping this little one, and hopefully more, come down to us. 

My due date will be Dec. 18. Since I am high risk I will have more appointments and monitoring, especially toward the last half of the pregnancy. Once I hit 24 weeks I will have appointments every 2 weeks,  then after 34 weeks I'll have one every week!! I am happy about that for many reasons: to keep me sane, to keep an extra close eye on the baby, and JUST TO BE SAFE! 

My growing belly at 13 weeks!

 15 Weeks!