2010 A Banner Year So Far

Hello Again,

Well alot has gone on since October...the last post. My parents came for a visit during christmas. That was fun to see them. I had not seen Dad since Ben and Marcie's wedding. The kids were so excited to see they had a granpa. Bryans dad has been gone now over 11 years. They thought uncle Dan was funny. We got to tour downtown salt lake....and it was really cold. We did some sledding, and watched it snow. It made being inside all the more cozy. We had a good time, and a good christmas.

I would have to say more has happened with Tommy this year than anyone else. Saturday he was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He had to be dunked twice, because the water being really shallow, allowed for the static electricity in his hair to stick up. A circle of hair was left dry. On the second try...Bryan pretty much laid him on the bottom of the font. He had a birthday party after, and had a blast. 10 of his friends attended, and we used a gymnasium to let them run and kick balls and throw frisbees. So much fun. Recently he won a PTA sponsered contest, where he submitted a photograph of his salamander. His photo will be going to state for judging. He received a medal. We were excited.

At Christmas he entered a coloring contest, and took first in all age categories. He won a $50 dollar gift card to walmart. An 8 year olds dream. 185 kids participated. Tom added googly eyes to his picture....it set it apart. The granparents were here to witness his excitement. It was fun.

Rachael turns 6 saturday. This means she can finally take showers instead of baths fulltime. She is becoming a beautiful little girl both inside and out. She is so sweet, and good to her brothers. She loves kindergarten and writing and drawing. I have never seen a child use more paper than her. I got her a chalk board and colored chalk to save a few trees. I have to limit her to two sheets of paper a day. For her birthday...I think I will give her a ream of paper. She ate in the school cafeteria a couple of days ago. She was so big. We are getting her ready for 1st grade. She ate with other kindergarteners. What a big girl. I asked her what she looks forward to when she get older. She is looking forward to getting her ears pierced at 12, and wearing lipstick at 18. She loves makeup, earings, and dressing up. She spends everymoring playing barbies. We must not disturb her. She has afternoon kindergarten, for this reason. Ha!

Jerry can now spell his name. He knows the alphabet and their sounds. I am going to start teaching him how to read in a month. He needs to mature a little. The patience thing is short. He loves competition, and getting dressed first out of the bathtub. Lookout if you get dressed before him....we have a huge meltdown. Getting the newspaper everymorning is a ritual, and helping mom with garbage on garbage day. He loves reading time at the Library, and especially the snack after. He is now a sunbeam, and has figured out if he likes it that much. He misses the toys and snacks of nursery. His favorite thing to do is go for a walk with mom and check the chicken eggs. He likes the fact that it is just he and I, and the other kids are in school. I enjoy it too.

Bryan is undergoing inspections on everything right now. Not his favorite thing to do. He enjoyed Tommys day, teaching the boys how to play war ball, and of course baptizing Tom. What a momentous occaison for the whole family, and watching him use his priesthood authority. He is such a wonderful dad who works way to hard, and cares about everything. His plate is full, and he spends all his free time with his family. We both look forward to the day when he can spend more time with the family, and other hobbies.

I have been excited about all that has gone on. My kids are becoming more and more self sufficient. Watching Tom win contests, Rachael beg to get her ears pierced, and Jerry sing rock a bye "Big Boy" instead of baby, keeps me going. I am starting to look at things to do once Jerry gets into school. I have alot of things I want to do, but am trying to always be in the moment. For now I am content with running a busy home, and so enjoy the fact that I can do that. I love the Lord, and have completed reading the Book of Morman, D&C, Pearl of Great Price, New Testament, and am now in Exodus of the Old Testament. I love it when Moses tells Pharoh, "Let my people go". It is my new motto this year. Well this reads like my journal. Not much writing...but when I do...look out. I will end now. Thanks Marcie for prodding me to write. Much love to all who read. Thanks for the little things...they are always the biggest things in the end right. Ben we keep praying for you to do good on the tests.... Thanx for the card and the contents....the kids loved it. You guys are so thoughtful. Also thanxs to Granma and PaPa...for all you do as well. Adios Rebecca

Winter is here and the Grasshoppers are Gone!

Hello Again,

Summer is gone, and so are the grasshoppers. My children caught some really huge grasshoppers this summer. Sorry I don't have a picture of one, I could not waste a picture on those nasty little critters. Despite all the things we do, this picture depicts what my children love most. Cooking with granma Teddie. This is what they will remember. She graciously opens up her home and lets us spend memorable times with her cooking and playing. Thankyou granma.

We are in school, playing soccer, and gearing up for the holidays. We look forward to Halloween. Rachael will be Ariel from the little mermaid, Tom is a gross zombie, and Jerry is still deciding between a skeleton, and spiderman. Tom has scored about 6 or 7 goals, and has made an excellent goalie. He plays on the 6-8 age group. Rachael has scored 3 goals and plays on the 4&5 age group. Jerry will play next year. My kids love to get out there and run. It is so much fun, because we get to know other parents and make new friends. Lately I have been keeping busy making plum jam, cutting up tons of pears and drying them. My hands are in dire need of a vacation. We are fortunate enough to of had a great garden and fruit trees. I have never canned, but see a need to do it next year. I have friends who do, and they have inspired me. Bryan is working hard and enjoys going to the kids games. I think he has only missed one. When he has a chance, I think he will enjoy coaching. We are greatful for our blessing, because we are blessed. Conference was great this year. I particularly enjoyed Bednars talk about family home evening. I can relate. Much joy to all, and may you stay healthy and strong in your beliefs. Till next time.

Summer 2009 Fun! Fun! Fun?

Hello,

We have been having a fun summer. It has been fun doing things with the kids. We have gone to the zoo, as you see here, the dinosaur museum, we hiked to the Timpanogas caves (so cool), actually about 45 degrees inside the cave, jungle jims playland, 4 wheeling in the mountains with dad, fishing with the whole family, swimming in granmas backyard, and at olympic park downtown, the aquarium, etc... We have had a staycation. Anyway we have a beautiful garden this year, if we can keep the grasshoppers off the plants. We have had a wet and mild year. This brings lots of little critters we do not want. We each have our own little gardens, on top of dads great big one. We are growing tomatoes, big and small. Green peppers, squash, zuchinni, pumpkins, cucumbers, turnips, lettuce, and carrots. All is doing good, and the kids help tend the chickens. We have 4 hens that lay about 3 to 4 eggs a day. We do enjoy them. This year we added a few members to the family. The kids have been wanting a dog...but we are not quite ready for that. We added two parakeets to the family. Their names are bluey and tweety. They are cute together and keep each other company when we go to granmas. The kids love to watch them....it has been fun. This summer has flown by, but we have not stood still. Granma Jones has been great to let us come and stay with her, and to even trek with us all over salt lake. It is nice to have an extra pair of hands. Bryan has been able to go with us places around here, but work keeps him pretty busy. We plan on going to our new local pool here soon. It will be fun. The kids have never been to a big pool. We hope all is well, and look forward to seeing anyone who wants to visit. Mom, dad, daniel, and sam may come up for christmas. Anyone else who wants to come to is welcome. Much love to all. We hope your summer has been fun, and that you have been enjoying nature.

A Birthday Celebration

Hola Again,

We just had our marathon of family birthdays. Bryans birthday is January 27th, seven days later is Tommy's, then ten days later is Rachaels. Thankgoodness Jeremy's is a couple months later, and then mine is way into summer. Tom and Rachael had a blast for their parties. Granma Jones was up from Salt Lake for both parties. It's not a party unless Granma is here. For their birthdays we had the usual cake and icecream and presents. The Jones family of course was in the heat of a nasty cold and flu season during these celebrations. Partying was kept to pin the tail on the donkey and other such fun games played indoors. We did venture out and bowl with granma....but our scores definately showed cold and flu were to blame for low scores and not that we really stunk. Birthdays are big here. The birthday boy or girl gets to pick their favorite meal that night, their icecream and cake flavors, as well as their own box of cereal. A treat since mom says no all year long to "captain crunch, and cookie crisp". We are together and healthy and that is the blessings we enjoy most. We hope all is well with whomever reads this. Much love to all and yes you are in our prayers. Please keep us in yours. Take care and tell someone you love them today. Godbless the Jones'

Rachael, Tom and Jerry......Say Cheese!

Hello again,

I would of had a post sooner, but Jeremy thinks it's fun to turn off the little red light under my computer. I have had two blogs obliterated. Gotta love em. I hope you enjoy the latest photo of my 3 musketeers. We are doing good. We are all in one piece. It has been a hard week though. I had a car wreck today. It was the other drivers fault thank goodness. I drive a big truck with a grill guard. It did not mess up my truck....just bent the guard. The other lady got her front smashed in. She decided to do a U-turn and barreled right into me. The kids are ok. There is something to be said about driving a truck, versus a little compact. I like a little more car between me and the other guy. Anyway...my neighbors decided to burn their lawn to get rid of tall grass among rocks....and the flames jumped the fence and burned down part of my fence and melted my irrigation faucets. They then proceeded to tell me I could fix it, or wait till they get around to it. The joys of neighborly love. Tom got in trouble for throwing snowballs on the playground, and had to write "I will not throw snowballs ever again." Now that made me laugh, and I lectured him through a smile. It's my kids that help me see the lighter side of things, and yet can drive me the most crazy. I pray that we can all have a safe and happy holiday. Know that the Jones' miss the family and are keeping all in our prayers. Goodluck Ben on your tests, we are praying and pulling for you. Sam we are hoping and praying that you can make a good decision about your future. We pray for Uncle Noah in Afghanistan....and pray he can come home safe and sound. We pray for Granma Cloud in Iraq. Jeremy thinks granma Cloud is in Iraq...it brings snickers. Anyway we hope all is well with everyone.

Tom has a christmas play we are looking forward to seeing. He will be singing, "I saw mommy kissing Santa Clause."He is embarassed to sing it to me, so I look forward to watching him blush while he sings it with his class. We love all of you and have a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

First Post.....Here Goes

Hello,

We have been busy until this last week. Soccer, school, church, visiting granma in salt lake, etc.... We are enjoying the fall weather and playing in the leaves. Colds are here to stay till May. Bryan is trying to figure out if he likes his new 16 slice CT scanner. His job is like a roller coaster, has been from the start. I am keeping busy with 3 little ones under foot. I managed to amaze my 6 year old the other day by replacing 2 of granmas screens. He actually told me I was perfect, and could do anything. I hope this glimmer in his eye lasts though the teen years. Any bets. Rachael is excited by her new frilly shirt. She is ready to be a member of the High School musical, when she wears it. If I could only get her to eat her dinner with the same excitement. She is a very loving little girl who mothers Jerry all the time. Jeremiah is very two. I often think, I would love to give people who take themselves too seriously, a two year old for a day. All logic and sensibility is thrown out the window. They make you laugh till it hurts. I will miss my 2 year old when he gets his rationality under control. All is well in the Jones house for now. We love the Lord, and know to appreciate the normal and the mundane. God Bless all who read this....and forgive my lack of talent with this website. I gave it the old college try.