Rockin' New Years Eve

I know this is out of order, and I don't know why - just be patient! :) Anyway, us Jones' really know how to party. At first, we weren't sure if Allen would be able to join us or not - but they worked very very hard all day and were done around 5:30 p.m. We ate nachos for dinner and of course had "party" food. We also played band hero - which was actually extremely fun. I have decided I missed my true calling in life. I totally rock on the drums - I amaze even myself. Tyler pretty much kept the microphone - he sure does love to sing. And the girls were good at doing it all. Around 10 p.m. the girls went off to bed, but Tyler was determined to make it until midnight. So with everyone else asleep, including Allen, Ty and I watched the ball drop in times square and Ty then promptly went to bed and straight asleep. It was a fun night just hanging out together.

Christmas 2009

Christmas was another great one this year! Well, at least Santa came - so I guess that's how the measure is set around here. This year, we remembered to check Tyler's alarm clark and make sure it wasn't set for a ridiculous time. The funny part was at about 8 a.m., Allen and I were awake and wondering if the kids were ever going to wake up. They all slept in and finally got up around 8, including Braden. The older kids really tried to help Braden get into the spirit of opening presents, but we found out he really doesn't care. He didn't even care about the wrapping paper. He did get a few new toys which he loves. The other three came out well also. Lots of new toys to play with. Anyway, here are just a few pictures to enjoy.

December Happenings

This is my post for the month of December except for Christmas. It started out GREAT! David Archuleta came to BYU-Idaho to perform, and we were so excited to be able to see him in concert. Allen, Tyler and I went and watched him perform...yes...we are cheesey that way - but we were very excited.

On the 9th was my mom's birthday. I am posting a picture of the cake because my dad had brought the cake and had that number written on it. It is a special thing between them. Anyway, at one point or another, all of my children kept asking "Grandma, are you really 381 years old??" Ha ha, it was just so funny. Poor mom - no winning in that situation.

(He really is happy here. He loves making faces and noises!)

Of course, we put up our Christmas tree. This is the first year ever that it took so long to put it up. We didn't get it up until the 8th - which for us is sad. It is usually up the week of Thanksgiving. We weren't too excited about Braden being around the tree, and more importantly all of the plugs. He loves plugs and cords. Luckily, it was low enough to the ground that it kept him away. He hated the feel of the tree on his head. All the kids enjoyed it. It is a fun time to deal with all of those wonderful lights that don't always work, and trying to figure out which branch goes where.

For family home evening before Christmas, we put together gingerbread houses. I din't realize they were so messy and so much work. We didn't have a mixer to mix the glue - I mean frosting. Then I was really dumb and I forgot to get a picture of the finished project. What's up with that? At least the kids had a wonderful time - as evident in the pictures.

School was out on the 18th and the kids were so happy. McKenna and Kylie also participate in the afterschool program, and one of the classes that Kylie signed up for was the princess class. Each Thursday they made different things. The crowns, necklaces, sashes, etc. Then they had a tea party. This is Kylie's stuff that she made. She was so proud of it and so sad that that class had to end.

Of course the final event before Christmas Eve and Christmas, was Allen's Birthday. I should dedicate a post just for that. But since I didn't, Allen turned the BIG 40 this year. We of course kept it simple and small and stayed at home and had carrot cake. But I hope you can indulge me for a minute while I tell you how much we love Allen. He is such a great dad and husband and of course my best friend. He is everything I am not which is why we probably work so well together. For the most part he is so easy going and the kids love to play with him. He is always willing to build and rough house with them all. And we can't forget what a hard worker he is. Never having a problem to jump in and do something that needs to be done. Anyway, we love him and hope the next 40 are just as great!

Thanksgiving #2

Our second Thanksgiving was just as great as the first! Allen was able to take the entire week off. We did some Christmas shopping, we all got our H1N1 shots, and we bought paint. Can you say crazy? We have been wanting to do a couple of accent walls in the kids rooms for quite some time. What started out as just a couple of walls, turned into the entire house doing "touch ups". We did let the kids paint for a little bit. I am really sad I didn't get one of Ty. However, soon, after I finish their rooms with some decor, I'll post pictures.




The girls made indian hats for a special Thanksgiving dinner that they had at school. They were extremely proud of these hats and I promised them I would take a picture.


We enjoyed another great Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house. I invested in a coloring book to keep the little people occupied for awhile. These are the ones that they did for my parents. They are all sure great at coloring!

We hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are so grateful for all of the blessing we are able to enjoy each day.

Allen's Dad

Since Allen and I have been married, his dad and Loreen (his dad's wife) have been living in St. George. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to see a lot of him. His dad is moving to Caldwell Idaho, and while he was passing through Rupert, we had the opportunity to go there and see him. He is a great man and I love and respect him a lot. Sadly, he isn't doing so well right now, and so it was a great blessing to see him and introduce our kids to him. Here is a picture with Allen and his siblings and then our family with Allen's dad.

Thanksgiving #1

I had a sister visiting from TN, and another sister visiting from Utah, so my parents had an early Thanksgiving dinner on the 14th of November. It was super great food and fun family time. We played games and ate a lot! My parents even pulled out their Christmas Tree, and let all of the little kids decorate it. This is of them. We were sad to see my sisters leave after this weekend, but felt grateful that we could have "thanksgiving" with them.

Pumpkin Carving

We had a great FHE this last Monday. We carved pumpkins, put up some decorations and frosted sugar cookies. The kids were thrilled and had a great time. Here are some pictures of the event.

Braden keeping occupied watching and chewing on a plastic spoon.

Yes...we are wearing gloves. The pumpkin guts makes some of us break out in rashes. Yuck!

McKenna's spider hat she made at school! She LOVES it!!

Keeping up with the Jones

Yes..I'm a slacker. October has been an extremely busy month, however, here are a few things we've been up to.

Spirit Week Fall 09! Went to a couple of the activities and of course I worked at the rodeo again so the family came and enjoyed it for a little bit. It was busy crazy, and nobody participated this time, but fun none the less. Here is a picture from the torch lighting. the girls really wanted their picture taken in front of it.

Allen was put in jail! Well, not real jail. He was asked to go to jail to help the mda society. He was supposed to raise bail money. We thank everyone who contributed to help "spring him". This is a picture they took of him in jail - before they fed the inmates. Personally, I think the stripes do him well!

Unfortunately, we had a bit of sadness. Our brother in law - Allen's oldest sisters husband - died of cancer on the 8th. Allen and I were able to get to the funeral on the 17th. It was a nice service and it made us walk away having a desire to be better. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

Then there was the swine flu! I got a phone call from the school one thursday afternoon on the 15th telling me Ty couldn't breathe. I went and picked him up and he was just extremely tired and his whole body hurt. Friday morning I took him the dr and they had us go to the hospital for lab work. They tested for flu, plus pneumonia and x-rays and did a blood work up. Unfortunately, he was so tired and dehydrated, they didn't get much blood from him. It was sad to watch him lie there and didn't even cry every single time the needle went in (which was about 4 times), each in different spots. He sure did get some nasty bruises though. He was unable to come to the funeral, and by the time Allen and I got home from the funeral, I was unable to move also. It just sort of circled through all of us. Of course it was with Tyler the longest. He did turn blue. Thankfully, I know he was being watched over and he is finally starting to feel better.

Allen and I also had the opportuntity to go to Provo for a night. Allen had some meetings that started at 1 p.m. on Friday the 23rd. I attended his meetings with him and we stopped by to say hi to a dear old friend. We learned all sorts of things. Saturday morning we returned home. While we miss friends and acquaintances, the trees and mountains (and they are spectacular right now), and we miss conveniences - we sure don't miss the traffic! UGH! It was a fun quick trip and we wished we had a little more time to see things we really wanted to. Oh well. Maybe soon we'll go again.

Happy Birthday Ty!!

Tyler had a great birthday this year! School was great and everyone made him a Happy Birthday Book with nice things they said and drew. I dropped off a box of hostess cupcakes for his class and Tyler was able to pass them out to everyone. He said the teacher had two. I told him it better have scored some extra credit points for him. We also had a party at the new Craze Fun Zone that opened up in Rexburg. It was ok. At least Tyler loved it. After the party we went to my parents house and shared some cupcakes and we opened up family gifts. Tyler received a MP3 player that he is so excited about. Unfortunately, we're having problems with it. If any of you know all about these things, please let me know!! Here are some pictures of Tyler at his party. The first is of Tyler doing the miniature golf. The second is where we had the presents and pizza, and the third is of everyone before they went in to play laser tag. That part was the coolest and I think we'll have to go back and do that sometime.

Braden Update

Yes...he's a crawler! He started crawling last month (before he was 6 months old), and he likes to pull himself up into a standing position. I actually was going to try and post this last week - but since I haven't, I will share what happened to him on Monday.

I blocked off the stairs with some totes that were full of stuff and actually pretty heavy to move. Tyler was watching him and playing with him while I was doing dishes. Tyler got up to open the door and I am not sure how - but he got his hand slammed in the door. So I was taking care of that problem when I heard Braden screaming. I looked around and somehow he had gotten through my "gate" and he fell all the way down the stairs. My heart stopped of course - and it was even worse when I went running down and saw that he had a bloody nose! I took him to the Dr. right away - they checked him out and told me he was okay but just to watch for bruising on his head. I of course had a sleepless night as I listened all night to make sure he was still breathing! Anyway, all is well now with him. These pictures aren't the greatest - but you get the general idea.