Bradyn and Todd Spend Weekend Hunting?

Before anything the guns in the pictures with all the boys and Bradyn are unloaded and the safety's are on. The boys wanted to hold the guns and so we took every safety precaution before they did.

This last weekend was the opening of the deer hunt. Bradyn and I went up to the cabin with Jeff and Jake, Scott and Peyton, Riley and Clayton, and Nels and Dallin. We had decided around January that we all wanted to go up and spend the weekend with just the cousins. While we were there no one shot or even saw a deer. I really don't think we were out long enough to see one. It was just fine that we didn't get one because we had a good time just being with each other. We had to laugh because we were only going up for two days but when we unpacked all our clothing and food we would have made it for two weeks. That's one of the fun things about the cabin is that there's always plenty of food.

On Saturday Jeff, Scott, and I; along with our boys traveled down to Salt Lake to the football game. We had a fun time and again had plenty to eat. It wasn't really a game because Utah had things under control from the opening kick. Bradyn and I had a wonderful time together. Nickolas had a hard time understanding why he couldn't go. We continued to tell him that he needed to be at least 8 years old before he could go. I think he understood this but asked why he couldn't go with the boys. Nick called my cell phone a couple of times asking if we had shot a deer. Each time I would tell him no and he would ask "Why?" I never had a good answer. Bradyn and I look forward to the time when Nick is old enough so that ALL the boys can go out.

Family is Doing Well

Not a lot has been going on in the past couple of weeks. Not that were not keeping busy, that we definatly are, it just the same old thing. Elle finished up her soccer last week. She did an amazing job this fall. It was her first opportunity to play in an excellerated league and she excelled. Elle switched off playing different positions. She played goaliem defender, and forward. It was always exciting to watch her play the forward position. she would get a hold of the ball and send it flying. Many times the girls on the opposing team would do all they could to get out of the way. We are very proud of Elle and looking forward to watching her play over the next years. Elle's team is thinking about participating in an indoor winter soccer league so we'll leep everyone up on that.

The other kids are doing well. Bradyn , Katie, and Nick bring a lot of energy and happiness to our family. Bradyn and Katie are busy with their piano practice everyday after school. The two of them are also involved in a 4H after school program which they love. They stay after school once a week to participate. A few weeks ago in Cub Scouts Bradyn earned his wolf award. Bradyn is having a good time with Cub Scouts, enjoying working on belt loops, arrows, and different awards. In a couple of weeks Bradyn will have his Pine Wood Derby. We are gearing up for that. Bradyn asks everyday when the two of us are going to work on his car. They don't make it easy for an 8 year old to make the car. I can see now why parents or should I say dad's are so involved. We'll post pictures of the adventure.

Nick is doing well. He keeps busy with his preschools and enjoys going each day.

A couple of notes about Spanish Fork Football. We one our second region game against Timpanogos last Friday. The team was prepared and ready to play. We won 34-7. We are now 2-0 in region and play Pleasant Grove Friday. They are ranked 3rd or 4th in the state (depending on which paper you read) and 6-1 overall. They were picked to win region so this is going to be a huge test for us. I really feel if we can limit mistakes and run the ball effectively we'll win. It should be a lot of fun.

Jackson Kids Prepare for Primary Program

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=61ebff52fc41c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1


This coming Sunday, September 28, @ 9:00 a.m. is our primary program. Liana and the kids have worked hard putting this together. As I had mentioned earlier in the blog Liana has been the primary chorister for four years now. Before that she spent two or three years as the primary president. So needless to say she has been directly involved in the primary program for the past 6-7 years. She is a trooper and I think I complain more about it than she does. The kids are excited and it's fun to hear them singing the songs and saying their speaking part around the house.

Spanish Fork Beats Brighton, Loses to Hunter

On September 12 Spanish Fork traveled up to Brighton High School to Play. This was a very good test for our team because Brighton was closely matched to us. The team came out to play and the offensive line had a great game. Going into half time the game was tied up at 14-14. As coaches we were excited to see how our team would handle this, they would either fight or give into the pressure. Well they came out and fought. We won the game 28-14. I was pleased with the effort and execution of the line and thought this game said a lot about the character of the team.
The following week we traveled to Hunter. I like to say that this game went well and we were as excited about it as we were the Brighton game. But with a final score of 41-13 I can't. I don't think the final score really told the entire picture of the game. Hunter came out early and with mistakes on our part went up 14-0. The defence actually played a good game. The offence put them in bad situations and then they gave up a big run and pass play. Other than that they pretty much shut Hunter down. After being down 28-0 we put 2 touchdowns on the board, but missed 1 of the extra points. When we went to our hurry up offence we threw 2 interceptions, 1 was returned for a touchdown and the other to our8 yard line. It was a disappointing day. Needless to say I'm looking forward to this week and watching how the kids respond. We'll play American Fork on Friday.

Liana Celebrates Birthday on September 8th

Our lovely and talented mother celebrated her 33rd birthday on Monday. The kids had a good time giving her gifts they made and singing to her. I wish I could say I planned a better day for her but it was same as usual. We both worked, went to football, piano, and other things. In my defence I was going to take Liana out on Saturday but because of extenuating circumstances we were not able to go. The two of us did go out to dinner an Chili's that night. Liana wanted to go there to get their lettuce wraps. After we sat down and ordered an appetizer and drinks we couldn't find them on the menu. When we asked the waitress if they had lettuce wraps she said they had just taken them off the menu. So our whole reason for going to Chili's was the wraps and then Liana didn't get any. After dinner we went to Gart's and Liana got some new work out cloths.

Spanish Fork Beats Payson 36-0

Last Friday we played Payson for our Homecoming game. After a shaky first quarter with a lot of turn overs we finally put a game together. The final score was 36-0. The offensive line played well and we moved the ball all night. Their pass protection is coming along. In our first three games we've given up two sacks, but Breck (Quarterback) is being pressured still. If it wasn't for his athleticism we would have given up more sacks. The thing that is exciting to me is that the kids come out everyday and want to get better. Our run blocking needs to get better. Teams are still putting 7 or 8 players in the box. It's hard for any group of linemen to block that. As I watch film we still have technique and blocking fundamental issues to work on. I am happy with where were at right now. Still a lot of work a head of us. We play Brighton this week which will be a big test for us. They are a big physical team which if we have the number of mistakes of Payson we'll be in trouble.

Saturday Spent at Utah Lake

Once again we took Grandpa's boat out to Utah Lake and spent the day. We had a great time. We took out a tube to pull behind the boat which gave us more things to do. Katie and Bradyn started off in the tube and after a minute were crying. I think the only reason Katie was crying was because Bradyn was. We had to promise to go slow and the rest of the kids would go, Bradyn never got back in. I tried to talk Liana into going but I don't think she trusted me. I don't get it, I'm pretty trustworthy I wouldn't try to get her to wet. Any way we had a great time and it's fun to be out as a family.