A visit from Tía Gladys

Tía Gladys (our aunt from Guatemala) came to Ohio to help us cheer on the Buckeyes to another win against Michigan and of course to spend family time during Thanksgiving weekend.









The day before Thanksgiving the kids, my Tía Gladys and I went out to lunch with Grandad. It has been years since my dad and my tía had visited with one another. It was a sweet reunion.







Alyssa thinks she is in charge of her brothers and her cousins....



The kids taking turns saying our Thanksgiving family prayer









Great job kids! Mima better make the prayer longer because in about two years Alyssa will need something to read!

Gracias Tía por venir a visitarnos. Estuvimos muy feliz. Te quiero siempre! Besos y abrazos a todos!

Annual Pumpkin Patch

Searching for a pumpkin...





Nice...



That's a little better...

Brady's Year

Brady has had a GREAT start to middle school.

Off to his FIRST dance!



Brady was awarded Student of the Month for his team for the month of October. Mrs. Snively, one of his teachers said the following during the award ceremony(which is also stated on the back of his certificate:

With the theme of respect in mind Team 605 chose Brady Jackson as our October Citizen of the Month. Brady is a definite role model to his peers and classmates. He is always polite and respectful to teachers and is equally respectful to other students, even those he does not know well. Brady is also actively involved in Boy Scouts and works hard to help others as evidenced with a summer project to bring school supplies to needy children in Guatemala. We hope that Brady’s care, compassion, and respect for others continues to grow as these are attributes that we wish all of our students could possess.



Hey Brady...can you at least act a little excited...



Two weeks later, Brady was the first boy scout awarded a Certificate of Excellence Spriit of Scouting Award from the Delaware County Simon Kenton Council. The Spirit of Scouting recognized Brady for his outstanding work in helping to gather and deliver school supplies to Orphan Outreach in Guatemalafor the backpack project he did this past summer. See the the site below to read the story again:

http://www.orphanoutreach.com/news/2008/0902-Brady/index.html





Mr. and Mrs. Ross with Brady (his scout leaders)



WAY TO GO BRADY! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF THE GREAT YOUNG MAN YOU ARE BECOMING!!

Trick or Treat

Cole and Alysaa 'trying' out their costumes about a week before Halloween. They are pretty good at their characters. I love how Alyssa has matched her shoes with her cast!






Trick or Treat night, the Jacksons joined us (yep, another Jackson family...no relation though). The whole Jackson family dressed up! Brady enjoyed having people 'pull his finger' with a fart machine....typical!!





Lots of candy....actually we still have some left.

Pretty in Pink...and Purple

I guess this is the result of having two older brothers...... After playing with Brady, jumping off the couch and having him catch her the FIRST three time...the fourth time, Brady was done playing and he dodged the jump.... Which is why kids should NEVER jump on or off furniture!!!!



One week later a much better cast that was supposed to be water proof. She kept the cast on for about four weeks. With the cast on, you would have never noticed she even had an injury. She 'injured' the boys several times with the cast while using it as a weapon...that a girl!!

More football pics

Cole finished the football season earning a really cool irredescent trophy! Next year, Cole will be sporting football pads. My baby boy better start eating some more to add a little more padding to all 52 pounds of him!

Petition for Preemies

Solutions are within our grasp!

Today more than 1,400 babies in the U.S. will be born prematurely. Many will be too small and too sick to go home.

Instead, they face weeks or even months in the intensive care unit. (NICU). These babies face an increased risk of serious medical complication, and death; however, most eventually will go home.

In order for more babies to continue the fight that Cole won and to overcome the battle Christopher lost, please consider signing the Petition for Preemies. Click above!

Happy 8th Birthday Cole!

We celebrated Cole's 8th birthday with another Buckeye themed party. Cole had a few buddies spend the night. We cheered the Buckeyes on to a win against Wisconsin. Happy Birthday Cole!





Not too excited to receive socks and underwear.



A little better reaction to a new bike.



Our yearly tradition, signing Happy Birthday to our Angel Baby Christopher as we send balloons to Heaven for his birthday celebration.



We hope you enjoyed your day Cole! We are so very greatful for your healthy life and great personality.

Fall Football Fever

O-H-I-O. No matter what rank the Bucks are, we still love them and will always cheer them on.





We are also cheering on the Olentangy Orange High School Pioneers. Our nieghbor, Olivia is a cheerleader and Alyssa is a fan! Thanks Suzie for the great Pioneer cheerleading outfit. Go Pioneers!







Another team we are cheering on this fall is Cole's team, the Eagles. As always, Cole is doing great (even with a sprained ankle half way through the season). Keep up the good work Cole - Go Eagles!

A great run that set up a touchdown the following play!

Niagara Falls and The Battle at Fort George 1812

Brady's boy scout troop went to Canada in September to participate in the reenactment of the battle of Fort George. On our way to Fort George, Niagara on the Lake we made a stop at Niagara Falls. We also rode the Maid of the Mist, a first for both us.





A 12 second clip of the Falls while on the Maid of the Mist:



The first evening at camp, the 6th US Company G Brigade enlisted in the US army and gave a toast to President James Madison.







The next morning the boys headed into the Fort for artillery training.





The British Red Coats, which were the Canadian Scouts



The US scouts represented the US Army



After three hours of training the 3002 scouts paraded through the town of Niagara on the Lake.





"Troops at ease!" The boys were given free time in town and they celebrated their long morning of training with a bottle of coke and a snack.





Off to battle! The battle lasted about an hour. Pure boy heaven; screaming at each other, shooting caps from their muskets and playing war. I was wearing a red shirt, which made it perfect to blend in with the Red Coats, which is how I was able to get right in the middle of the battle. Nextyear I'll remember to bring ear plugs!





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You might want to grab your earplugs for this clip of the battle.



Great job Troop 844! We look forward to next year!