Our Jones Journal

FINALLY !!!!!!! Engaged!!!!

2009-12-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

When I asked Lacie what she thought Leland might want for Christmas, she responded "me to stop bugging him about getting engaged." Lacie has been waiting her entire life to get engaged and has been planning her wedding for years. It all became a reality on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009, when Leland Lui finally popped the question.

Let's just say that this proposal story includes a flat tire, having only pajamas to wear to the proposal (because all your pants are in the washing machine wet), stress from preparing for your singing audition the next morning for the BYU music program, an upset stomach (because you need energy for your audition so you eat lots of carbs aftering not eating them for weeks ), and a very patient and understanding fiance.

I will admit I was a little annoyed because Leland had asked Craig for Lacie's hand in marriage clear back after the general priesthood meeting in October and Craig didn't say anything as instructed by Leland (I do understand the whole trust thing, but still...) So I didn't think it would happen yet as I was waiting for Leland to come talk to Craig. Nevertheless, I was very excited and thrilled when finally around 10:00 p.m., they were able to sit us all down and tells us. Brock is so excited to have a brother. I am just thrilled to be able know that Leland loves Lacie and will treat her well and take care of her.

They are planning on getting married July 10, 2010, in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, just a little over a year after Leland's baptism. We are so proud of them and that they have decided to wait the full year so that they can be married in the temple for eternity and start their marriage out in the perfect way.

Lacie got the ring she wanted!

Brock's life....

2009-12-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

Brock turned 10 and wanted a new bike and guess what? That's what he got! Along with a Lone Peak cap that Justine saw at the store and insisted we get for Brock! We open presents before Craig leaves for work, which is why it is so dark!

Crazy hair day at school!!!
Finally Brock could have his birthday part now that football was over!

It would not be a party without sports!

Of course they had our traditional birthday breakfast, letter-shaped pancakes of each ones 1st initial (the M's are tough to flip).

Did I say we were done with football? I lied. It turns out they put together an allstar team to play in the Border Warz tournament involving teams from Utah and Idaho. The boys were excited to play at Real stadium.

Brock is #10 and has the red hand warmer on the front of him (above he is middle, below he is far left).

He is far left.

We manage to fit in scouts with everything else. Brock is now a Weeblo (and has been for a few months, but we could never get to pack meeting because of football).

Halloween Night

2009-12-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

Kali is a "retro" girl!

Check out the funky eyelashes!Lone Peak football players - Karissa & Mariah
Brock, you need to get ready for Halloween! Oh, you are ready? What a nerd!
Leland is a great cook and very thoughtful. He made these gluten-free cupcakes with Reese's inside. Normally Justine would not even try a cupcake, but when she found out they had Reese's inside, she gobbled them up.
Brock's friends met together for dinner and then got an early start on the trick-or-treat thing. They wanted to cover a lot of houses, and they did.

They got tired and stopped at our house to warm up and trade and eat candy. They all unloaded their pillow cases and had tons.

Brock's friends are just good kids. When they found out that Justine loved Reese's, each of them quickly volunteered to give her one of their Reese's. I was very moved by their kindness, and Justine was thrilled.

As if the candy was not enough, they needed food munchies to keep them going.

What a fun night!

Carving Pumpkins

2009-12-01T07:21:00.000-08:00

I love when Halloween comes! Carving pumpkins is a family tradition and Leland joined us this year. Justine has a hard time liking the "goo" inside but eventually got into it and laughed.
Masterpieces! Notice the headless pumpkin head on the backrow.
Brock always has 1 thing on his mind...

Sadie Hawkins Dance

2009-11-02T16:44:00.000-08:00

Mariah and frineds decided to have a superhero theme, Batman. Notice Mariah and date are the only was "off" from the rest of the group. He had quite the fun personality to match Mariah's. They had a lot of fun.
Mariah likes to be the "center" of attention, even in pictures!!!

Football comes to an end...sigh!

2009-11-02T07:47:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I love watching Brock play football. I love how excited and obsessed he gets about it. I love the friendships he forms and the discipline he learns. I love the cheering fans and the encouraging coaches. I love the way he leads his team in cheers to pump them up. I love the fall afternoon games that bring families and friends together. Unfortunately, that all came to an end when they lost in their playoff game. It was quite a shock and disappointment as we were actually the better team (really).I love that Coach Fullmer always started and ended the game with a prayer from the team or coaches. Only in Utah and aren't we lucky.
Craig coaches because of Brock and delights in how well Brock does. Brock and some of his football buddies.

Goodbye until next season!!!

NEW AND UPDATED POSTS - YEA!!! Can you believe it?

2009-10-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it has been awhile since I posted anything. Life gets so crazy busy! I will try to catch up so things will be out of order (pretty much like my life)! Enjoy!

BEAR LAKE

I really needed to get out of town for fall break. Our wonderful friends, Nick and Annette Ivins (and Ryan) offered their family condo in Bear Lake. Who can pass up Bear Lake? We just relaxed the whole time and had a blast. Thanks Nick and Annette! The scenery was absolutely stunning with the autumn colors and smooth blue lake.

This is the position Nick and Brock were in about 50% or more of the time. What were they doing, you ask? Wii and Playstation 3! They were in heaven.

There were games to play for the rest of us too!
Every night was movie night.
There was an indoor pool...
Craig was so thoughtful and did the dishes and started the dishwasher. The liquid soap did say "dishwashing soap" on it. Um...but it didn't say for dishwashers on it, hun. I hear from the kitchen from Craig, "I think we have a problem" as the suds spilled out onto the floor.

We decided to play tennis...I have not laughed that hard in a long time. I sat out at first to record the play and it was a comedy. Craig was serving from behind and hit Justine in the bum. Mariah either didn't have her contacts in or there was a hole in her racket because she just was not connecting up. Craig again hit from behind Justine, the ball hit her racket, and then bounced back and hit her in the forehead. I have never seen that before. She thought it was pretty funny. Brock didn't hit the ball so it hit him, right where it really hurts. He was on the ground crying while we were all rolling on the ground laughing.

We were terrrible at tennis. We spent more time hitting each other with balls and chasing balls then we did actually hitting the ball to each other. Oh well, it was good exercise and fun.

You can't got to Bear Lake without getting a raspberry shake!!!

ANOTHER NEW POST ON THE NEXT PAGE....FOOTBALL INJURY AND DRAMA

Football Injury and Drama

2009-10-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

Brock's team was playing their first playoff game and they were excited. About 10 minutes into the game, Brock made a great tackle but ended up hitting his head on the ground. He came out for a few plays and then went back in. Another great play and another hit on the ground with his head. This time he was crying with pain and didn't get up. An ER nurse on the sidelines checked him out and his neck hurt so she said not to move him. The ambulance was summoned and they went to work on him. Knowing how much ambulances cost, I thought we should have just thrown him in the back of the car and taken him to be checked. I kept that opinion to myself as I didn't want to look like the unconcerned mother. LOL

They totally taped his head to the backboard and strapped him down. He couldn't move even if he wanted to. That backboard later became a "sore spot" literally for Brock later on. I felt like someone in a very bad parade riding in the front of the ambulance and waving to people as we left.

The doc wanted to make sure everything was okay so he sent Brock for a scan.

Brock's teammates were very upset that Brock was hurt. He is usually the guy leading them in their cheers and pumping them up. There were some tears but they dedicated the game to Brock and came back to win.Because we waited so long to take off the neck brace, it actually started hurting Brock the most. He was so glad to get it off after finding everything was okay and also glad to hear the team won.

We appreciate the many phone calls and inquiries into Brock's welfare. What a great bunch of people we get to call friends.

Leland Liu gets baptized...

2009-07-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Lacie has been dating Leland since the beginning of the year. He has many member friends and neighbors, but really looked into the church last year. He announced to us just the week before, out of the blue, that he was getting baptized. He had been attending church meetings and reading scriptures with Lacie. Suddenly, he realized he actually did have a testimony. It was a sweet day. Leland's older brother has been a member for 14 years and waiting patiently for others to join. Below (r to L): sisters Lori and Lora, ing-ing (Chineese version of Grandma, but I have no idea how to spell it) who does not speak English but is so cute, Leland, sister-in-law April marred to brother, Loren. All the little kids belong to Loren & April. They are a very nice friendly family.
Our family was so excited to have Leland join the church (for many reasons, wink, wink)!
I would say Lacie was the most excited this day!!!

Cedar Hills Celebration...

2009-07-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

We sit in our usual spot waiting for the parade... Yea PALS....(Justine in yellow with hat)
PALS performs at the park...

relaxing after a bbq dinner....

Fireworks were moved this year because of Walmart being built in our usual field. They shot them off from the driving range of the golf course so for the 1st time in 12 years we had to drive to watch the fireworks. It was always so convenient to just walk to the park.

Gracen, Kali, Saddie

Barbara, Mariah, Brock, Lacie, Leland, Justine

Allstar baseball team...

2009-07-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

We thought we were all done with baseball when Brock was chosen to be on the allstar team for Highland-Cedar Hills. There was a lot of travel to Salt Lake, but it was fun. They didn't do as well as they would have like to, but it was still a great experience.

Sweet Sixteen...

2009-07-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

Mariah's friends came to kidnap her for breakfast at IHOP. Nice banner.She had her first official date...golfing. Her friend, Nate, works at the golf course. I told her she had to make sure everyone was standing very far away from her as she swung (you all know why). When golfing with Grandma & Grandpa Jones and cousins, on her first swing the club went flying. FORE!!!!
So Craig went to get the famous Costco cake. Unfortunately, the car was very hot on the way home and it kind of melted in some spots. How it tastes is what counts, right?

Mariah is smoking at 16!!!

Traditional bday pancakes (gluten free, of course)

Fathers' Day..

2009-07-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

We got to visit with our Dad's for Father's day. Thanks to them for the great examples they are in our lives. Thanks also to Craig for the great Dad he is!

Memorial Day... okay, I know this is out of order.

2009-07-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

We decided to get passes to 7-Peaks this year and were determined to use them even if it was a little cold on Memorial Day.That looks very uncomfortable!!!

Brrrrr.....don't splash....

the life of Justine...

2009-07-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Justine can sleep anywhere and anytime. She loves to sleep.Justine and friends love movie night and dinner.

June Birthdays

2009-07-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

Kali's bday was spent in California. She is such a unique individual. We love her quirkiness!!!The coveted Cosco chocolate-chocolate-chocolate cake!
We added to Kali's hat collection.

Aunt Lisa even made our traditional number bday pancakes.

For my bday (Diane) Mariah insisted on making the number bday pancakes. She had a little trouble with the "4", but they were yummy!

We are off to San Diego...

2009-07-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

Yea, we are packed to the ceiling!

San Diego and setting sail...

2009-07-13T00:17:00.001-07:00

The girls are getting ready to go to church in San Diego.Justine does not want to get out of bed...so what's new?Brock is ready.

Trying to check in for the cruise.

Justine is thrilled to find the unlimited self-serve soft chocolate ice cream!!! The Jones family definitely ate our moneys worth of ice cream on the trip.

We are excited to get under way.

The lifejacket drill is always so fun...not! The girls actually got sent to a different station because their room was down the hall. We met some recent high school graduates from Beaver and thought about introducing them to Mariah.

crusin' day #2...Catalina Island

2009-07-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

We took a small boat to Catalina Island. The sky was overcast and the temperature chilly. That didn't stop us!!!

The birds were quite friendly.

This bird decided to take a bath in the drinking fountain.Mariah would love to take her driver's test in the golf cart. It would be a whole lot easier to drive and park than a big old Suburban.

Our morning was booked to go paragliding off the back of a boat.

The kids had us go first...it was a little cold, but so awesome. They took us so high and we could see all over the island.

At first Justine said she wanted to go by herself, but then she decided to go with Lacie and Brock. Justine went back and forth between excited and crying.

Lacie was sporting her NY Yankies baseball cap and the captain of the boat gave her a hard time of that. While she was in the air, we told the captain she had her whole room decorated with NY stuff (a fib). In the spirited of rivalry, he dipped them into the ocean up to their waistes. They all loved that and said the water felt warm.

Next came Mariah and Kali's turn. They too were dipped into the ocean and loved it. We all thought paragliding was the highlight of our trip and something we had all wanted to do.

Formal night...what a beaufitul family..

Cruising...3rd day

2009-07-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

One of our ports was to be Ensenda, Mexico, but because of the "swine flu" that port was cancelled. The ship did go near Mexico and we could see it, but otherwise, we just did circles out in the ocean.Even though it was a little chilly, we were determined to enjoy the sun! Good thing there are nets to catch all our stray volleyballs.

While waiting for one of the shows to start, they had Bingo. Brock was called up out of the audience to make sure all the Bingo ball were there. For his participation, he received a "piece of ship on a stick" as they crew call it. Brock was way excited.

I guess the show was not that entertaining for Justine or she was just exhausted from all the eating.

Cruising...third day

2009-06-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

A little minature golf...Brock and Kali have fun playing watergames.
Here we are with our dinner hosts and matradee. The lady in the back right corner came to my rescue one night. As the rest of the family went to get seats for the show, Justine and I were trailing behind. As we left the dining room and walked to the elevators, Justine said she was going to throw up and started heaving. In a panic, I told her to wait and lets get to a bathroom. She didn't! I caught most of it in my hands (yuck), but then stood there not knowing what to do. I could not really move and neither could Justine. A few people walked by and finally someone went to the hostess near by. She came out and brought a bowl and wipes. She was so very kind and reassuring. I wonder if this happens more often than you would imagine. In Justine's case she ate a yummy and dinner and ending with her chocolate ice cream. In between, though, she got up and danced with the waiters. I wonder if that jiggling did not sit well with her dancing.

Justine gets into the spirit with the waiters marching by.

We celebrated Kali's birtyday early with a cake and a songl

"We loved going early and getting good seats for the shows. The girls found some confetti left over from the previous show.

The kids loved the towel animals left for them on their beds.

Goobye unlimited food...hello real world!

2009-06-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

As we prepard to debark from the ship, we had one last ice cream experience. The unlimited self-serve ice cream was by far the favorite of the Jones family.

Talk about a small world...this is Tiffany. She was hanging around as we were playing volleyball so we invited her to join us. She was on the ship with just her mom, who was sleeping at the time. When volleyball ended, she asked if she could hang out with us. That was the start of a great friendship between Kali and Tiffany. It turns out she is LDS and leaves in San Diego. They got a steal of a deal on the cruise and decided to come. She said her Dad could not come because he had to work in the temple. He would suppose to work until noon that day and then come pick them up.
We said our goodbyes to her and headed for our appointment at the San Diego Temple to do baptisms. What a beautiful temple. We arrived 2 hours earlier than our appointment (I was not sure how long it would take to get off the ship) so we called to see if it was possible to come in early. The worker said they had been trying to contact me because they didn't have enough scheduled workers to do baptisms at noon, our appointed time. I told them we were outside in the parking lot and asked if we could come in early. After some checking, we were okayed to come in early. The worker in charge turned out to be Tiffany's dad, who would have normally left at noon. What a small world! What a blessing it was to be able to have things work out so perfectly. We not only were able to meet Tiffany's dad, but also get to do the baptisms. The Lord sure had a hand in that!!

Once we reached Lisa's house, you can bet everyone was anxious to go swimming despite the cooler weather.

We wore Loni out.

LA Temple and Zoo

2009-06-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

We were able to go the the LA Temple this morning and do baptisms. It is so different than at the Mt. Timpanogas Temple...at home everyone speaks English and there are so many temple workers. We were just grateful to be there.We loved going to the zoo. The weather was perfect.
Life is so much easier and faster when we get Justine a wheelchair for the day.

Lacie, you look like a real condor.

Kali's bday

2009-06-23T05:56:00.001-07:00

Good morning, Kali, and Happy Birthday!She gets ANOTHER hat!
Aunt Lisa even made our tradional number pancakes.

You know you are exhausted when you fall asleep right after breakfast.

Venice Beach

2009-06-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to check out Venice Beach. The weather was on the cool side, so there weren't as many weirdos out. It was fun to check out the many vendors and enjoy the atmosphere.

Check out Hank and Loni's new shades!Justine finds Wall-E.Indiana Jones, here comes Craig Jones.

Brock, Loni, and Ryan were the only ones brave enough to get in the water (besides jusst there feet). Bo got in the water to but by accident as she was knocked over by a wave.

I am not exactly sure what happened, but suddenly the girls turned it into a modeling shoot. I guess watching all those episodes of "America's Top Model" has rubbed off on them.

Justine was even getting into the spirit of modeling.You know Ryan is a good sport and a good uncle when he lets the girls talk him into the modeling gig too. I love that seaweed and sand look.

cont. Venice Beach

2009-06-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

Bo is loving the beach!

Oops, Ryan didn't bring a swimsuit but still went swimming? Let's hope he doesn't get in a car accident on the way home because he doesn't have any clean underwear on (actually there's nothing on under that towel, hmmmmmmm).So, one of the hazards of going to the beach is getting a little tar on you. Lacie got it on her feet and thus the plastic bags(Lisa has everything in her car) until we could get home and clean it off with some strong cleaner.

Relaxing evening

2009-06-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

Costco makes the best chocolate-chocolate birthday cake (at least that is what Craig said)!

The community bedroom by night/frontroom by day.

The Jones family all slept in the frontroom the first night, and there were major complaints the next morning about Craig's snoring. The next few nights, Craig and I were banished to the bunkbeds so everyone else could get a good night's sleep. Some relaxing time for Craig, Lacie, and Brock

What's a family vacation without playing some card games.

vacation ending

2009-06-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

It is time to say goodbye to the Tippett family. boo-hoo!

Loni and Lacie demonstrate their talented eyes!

I don't think there are any 2 blondes in the world that are cuter than Mariah and Bo!
I hate to say goodbye to my sister, Lisa. We have had so much fun.
Mukwa goes crazy when we get home.

Justine's First Prom ! ! !

2009-05-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

Justine got asked to go to Prom, her first time going to a school dance. Justine's special education teacher, Mr. Pead, organizes for the kids in his class a night out for prom. He asks for volunteers at Lone Peak High School to go with those students in his class that would like to go to prom. Mr. Pead also arranges for a dinner, pictures, rides, and free dance tickets. What a blessing to have such kind-hearted teens who love to brighten someone elses life.

Justine was especially excited when her invite was accompanied by at "king" size Reeces.

"Justine, I would feel like a KING if you would go to prom with me!"Her picture and response ... "I would be nuts not to go with you to prom."
Justine was not happy at all about getting her hair done. We would not let her do her typical 1 ponytail, so she insisted on 2. We told her a princess does not wear 2 ponytails. She growled at me as curled and hairsprayed her hair until we had princess worthy hair. In the end, she really liked her beautiful hair. She also was not interested in wearing any jewlrey. We finally convinced her to wear this bracelet of her great-grandma Jones.
Now she looked like a princess!

Continue ... Prom!!!

2009-05-03T16:55:00.001-07:00

At the last minute, we actually found some shoes that fit ... When we started taking pictures, Justine suddenly turned into the international model ...
She was soooooooo excited when she got her corsage....

Justine and date, Michael Lilly

He was so sweet with Justine. He would put his arm out for her to put her arm through as they walked. He opened her door and always made sure she was enjoying herself. What a great guy.

Dinner was served at Tonya's house. They kids loved eating together and talking.

continue...Prom!!!

2009-05-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Justine & Michael, Brandon & Charity are ready to eat ...Group shot ...
Now a funny pose ... Prom was held at the capital buidling in SLC, and Craig and I were chauffers. Justine & Michael danced the WHOLE time. She had a smile on her face the entire time and had so much fun. She would look up, see us up on the balcony, wave, and giggle. It made my teary eyed to see her so happy and doing something "normal" like everyone else. What a great time she had.

She had quite the workout dancing the whole time, and it didn't take long for her to totally zonk out on the way home in the car!!!

A tired, but happy Justine hates to see the night end.

"America's Favorite Past Time"

2009-05-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

Brock is throwing the pitch ...... and now takes a turn up at bat.

Hit a homer, Mariah ....
... then she gets ready in right field.

SPRING??? BREAK

2009-04-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! We had spring break all last week. I had to work the first part of the week, but we had plans to go to Fairview to Dad's cabin and play and ride 4-wheelers the last part of the week.

Monday...was great. Mariah hiked to some hotsprings with some friends and got some sun.

Tuesday...turned stormy with a little snow.

Wednesday...morning we woke up to this...9 inches of snow!!! We could not believe it!!! Now we could not get to the cabin so new plans were made!

Thursday...there were sleepovers, movie rentals to watch, and games to play.

Friday...Kali, Brock, and friend, Madison went laser tagging while Mariah and Justine went to see "17 Again" as Justine is in love with "Troy."

Saturday...we made "lemonade from lemons." We took advantage of the snow and went to Straweberry Reservoir for a day of snowmobiling/sledding with Dad. Ron, Kalya, McKenzie, and Brandon joined us. We had a blast!!! And the day was so beautiful.

(L to R) Dad (Bruce), Brock and Justine, Craig and Kali, Mariah and Lacie
What beauties...Lacie and Mariah. They were both disappointed with the snow fall, but still had fun!
Craig and Kali

continue...SPRING??? BREAK

2009-04-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

I think Justine is ready for some fun. She loved riding in the cutter behind the snowmobile.

Mariah loves to drive and loves speed. She zipped around and around and went over jumps and bumps!
I will admit that when I saw the old windsurfer board on Dad's trailer, I laughed and was wondering what the heck we were going to do with that. It turned out to be the big hit of the day. Lacie is the first brave one to try it out. Go Lacie!

We brought Mukwa with us, but the snow was so wet and soft that everytime she would try to run after people like she normally does, she would just sink down. She got wet and tired so fast. We made a spot for her to be off the snow and rest. Justine is keeping her company.

Ride 'um cowboy! (Brock)

continue...SPRING??? BREAK

2009-04-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you are going down hill on the board, but going faster than the snowmobile. Kayla and Kali just about pass up the snowmobile.Brock had fun being pulled on the tube too.

Mukwa goes for a ride with me in the cutter. It made her nervous.

What happens when you go snowmobiling/sledding on a cold, but sunny day??? The sunglass silhouette sunburn, that's what!!! Kali got the worst.

Tied for second place was Craig, Mariah, and Justine. Of course, Mariah and Kali got made fun of at school. They are just jealous that they didn't get any sun over spring break.

Easter Fun

2009-04-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

There is full concentration as we decorate the eggs (all 40 of them).
What would Easter be without "High School Musical" eggs, Justine's favorite.

I am not sure what Mariah is doing, but I think she is tired and warming herself with her fresh-out-of-the-water egg.

I think Leland has the hang of this artistic culinary thing.

Their masterpieces!!!!

More..... Easter Fun...Easter Morning

2009-04-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

Justine is sometimes a little slower than everyone else at finding the candy. We will have to tell everyone to freeze and then Justine get a chance to gather by herself. Are you really going to eat that candy that was in Lacie's shoe, Leland?
What a stash of candy we found!

What's Easter without Easter dresses?

Justine relaxes with Grandpa after a yummy Easter dinner.

A little accident prone

2009-04-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Mariah joined the high school sophomore softball team. She has been keeping the team entertained with her mishaps! For instance, one day they were playing in the gym and Mariah was up to bat first. She hit, ran, landed on the base, and then the base slid out from under her. It was a good thing she had her batting helmet on because she flew head first into the brick wall. She hit the wall with her head, chin (see below), and her knee (see below). Ouch! The knee got really colorful as time went on, and Mariah wore it like a badge of courage.

Never a dull moment with Mariah around!!!!

Special Needs Mutual Roadshow "We Are Happy"

2009-04-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Justine is the one in the yellow in the middle dancing around. She also played the drums later on and did great! Justine and her peer counselor.

Justine got so excited to see her granparents who came to enjoy the show!

Passport pictures - April '09

2009-04-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

We are too cheap to have our passport pictures taken somewhere else, so we decided to do them ourselves. At first Craig said we could not show teeth. Later, we decided you could smile with teeth.

Justine's picture is hilarious. She just can't do a normal smile when you tell her to. We took a bunch of pictures, but they all turned out like this.

A Day of Snowmobiling

2009-04-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

Dad was kind enough to take us snowmobiling, and Ron's brother-in-law, Kelvin, had the perfect spot up Provo Canyon.

The day was beautiful and sunny. The area was a little more for the experienced rider. Craig did great, but I seemed to struggle with those inclines and tipped over the machine several times. One time I fell off, but the snowmobile kept going down the hill. I tried to run after it, but the snow was so deep that I just kept falling down. It finally stopped, and then it took some doing to get back on course. Dad was extremely patient with me...thanks Dad!

Ron wanted to take us to this beautiful look out, but that required that we go up some steep terrain. Here is Craig making his way up. I do great on the hills that go straight up.

What a VIEW!!!! Those black dots at the end of the cliff there are Ron, Dad, and Kelvin.

Some Honey Fun - March

2009-04-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

We had fun with some of the family that could come to our house and eat dinner, visit, and and play wii.

Kali, Mariah, and the other teen girls playing the "Mouse Game" with Eva.

It's Derby Time - March 19

2009-04-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year - derby time. Brock and Craig created a masterpiece.

Draper Temple Open House - March 4

2009-04-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

We had been waiting and waiting and finally our appointed time came to go tour the new Draper Temple. We were assigned the "blue bus" that transported us from one of three local stake centers to the temple.

We were so glad to have Lacie's boyfriend, Leland, join us. What's up with the scarf on the head, Lacie?

The temple was absolutely BEAUTIFUL inside!!! It is on the small end of temples, but very much wanted and needed by the people.

After the tour there were refreshments, displays, violins, and of course, missionaries for questions.

Happy 45th Birthday Craig!!1

2009-04-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

For his 45th birthday, Craig wanted a cake just like he use to get when he was a boy... a banana nut sheet cake from Dick's Market. So I drove to Centerville and got him his birthday cake before I picked him up from work for a birthday lunch.

SOOOOOO MUCH SNOW - Jan. 2009

2009-04-05T14:24:00.001-07:00

It just kept coming and coming!!!

BUSY BOY

2009-04-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

Foreign Day at school...

Brock gets braces on his top teeth to make room for 2 teeth to come down.

Holy cow!!! Look at all that hair. I could not stand Brock's long and unruly hair any more so chop, chop, chop.

This is Karl Malone, the subject of Brock's report!

Oh yea!!! Jr. Jazz basketball. His team was undefeated.

2009-04-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

Craig and I were able to sneak away for a day, night, and a day to Salt Lake City. We had the priveledge of attending the Tab Choir and Orchestra Christmas program. It was fabulous. We also enjoy dinner at the Gateway and did some Christmas shopping. Craig wandered into a toy store and they had 1 wii Fit there. What luck! I was so excited. We have used and loved it.

What I really love is this wonderful man whom loves me no matter what. He has a quick wit that makes me laugh and smile as well as great wisdom that helps me when needed. Luv ya Craig!!!

JUSTINE TURNS 18

2009-01-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

It is so hard to believe that it has been 18 years since we were blessed to have Justine come into our family. Although we were initially devestated when we found out Justine had Down Syndrome, we have since been blessed with joys, sorrows, struggles, triumphs, laughter (and there has been much), and love. She is stubborn and the next minute she can give you a huge hug.
Justine's posed smile!

Justine loves anything High School Musical, listening, singing, and dancing to all her Disney and other songs on her iPod, sleeping in, letting Mukwa (our dog) lick her face, Reece's, chocolate ice cream, coloring, rice, all kinds of meat, and sorting cards.

For Justine's birthday we played games and went to see High School Muscial 3 with her friends (Megan, Jessica Blair, Jessica Bate, Lauren, and Charity).

Some of her favorite phrases are:
* When asked what she is doing - "Noding." (nothing)
* When not in a good mood - "Don't touch me."
* When Lacie comes home to visit - "Wacie"
* When she gets a job assignment - "What?"

Justine's favorite place to eat her birthday dinner? Chilli's for steak and loaded mashed potatoes.

wii Love playing together!!

2009-01-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS DAY 2008

2009-01-01T19:55:00.000-08:00

As is tradition, the kids all slept upstairs in one room. They also come down youngest to oldest. Wow, Brock was not first this year!!!

It is so fun to have little ones for Christmas. Bo is loving it. Justine is thrilled with her High School Musical collection of bedding, pj's, door organizer, and CD.

We made room in the kitchen for riding new Christmas bikes. Isn't that what kitchens are for?

Our traditional Christmas breakfast of bacon, sausage, waffles, etc.

Rock Band rocks!!!!

Christmas Eve 2008

2009-01-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

Lisa (Diane's sister), Rian, Loni, Hank, and Bo came all the way from California to spend time with their Utah family. We were so glad to have them spend some Christmas time at our house.

There was opening of pj's and some pictures. When we asked the kids to do a "Charlie's Angel's" pose, Justine suddenly jumped out in front and did her own pose. ???

Mother and Daughters Diane, Johan, and Lisa!
Mom broke her wrist the day before fending off an attacker that broke into her house (just kidding, but it sounded good, huh?)

I think Loni and Hank are finally comfortable with Mukwa, and she LOVES the attention (except when you poke him in the eye like that, Hank).

There were many battles fought and won. Rian and Lisa fight it out in tennis. Justine and Hank duke it out in boxing.

HONEY CHRISTMAS CRAZINESS

2009-01-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

Everyone piled on for a train ride down the hill.

Of course we must look our best while playing in the snow (cousins Breanna, Mariah, Paige).

Our baby, Bo, from California didn't like being bundled up so much that she could not move so she watched from the car with her favorite Aunt Diane.

They finally got Justine to go down the hill (back right with Craig on the tube) only as that is where the car was.

There was a warm dinner waiting for us back at Grandma's. We entertained ourselves by hitting Wesley on the head with strategically cut paper rolls to play our Jingle Bells.

We love Christmas!!!

2009-01-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

PUTTING UP THE TREE

Every year it is so fun to look through the ornaments from the previous years and recall all the fun memories. The argument was ended about who got to put the star on the top when it was decided that Justine would. To our surprise, Craig had Justine get on the stairs and hoisted her on his shoulders. She giggled so much she could hardly put the star on. We all laughed so hard too.

2ND ANNUAL NEIGHBORHOOD PARTY

We love having everyone in our circle take time out of their busy schedules to come for a night of food, fun, and friends. We played Christmas charades and did our white elephant exchange. The big long pj's with feet on the left were the big item last year as well as this year. Who would have thought?

JONES CHRISTMAS PARTY

We love getting together for the annual Jones get together. We had a great dinner, opened presents, and were delighted with the traditional "Oh, I just go nuts at Christmas" with the Sweedish accent and everything.

Jones' Christmas Newsletter

2008-12-22T15:01:00.001-08:00

Seasons greetings to all! We are very pleased you took the time to check out our online holiday newsletter. As usual, we have been busy this year and are glad we can share our experiences and blessings with you.

Our family did so many different things in 2008! Well, maybe not... It was the family project this year to get the basement finished. So this meant that we all had to put in a lot of time and sacrifice our social lives to help get it done. We finally finished at the end of this summer and it's a beauty. All the hours sacrificed turned out to be worth it! Unfortunately this also means there is not much to report on family events besides that. BUT each member of the family did have their plates full in 2008.

Lacie (20) had an eventful year. After going to Weber State the year before, she transferred to UVU this fall semester and loved it! Though the love will continue at UVU this spring, she is hoping to transfer to BYU next fall to finish her music schooling. Hopefully her school hopping will end there. :) She is working at VitalSmarts (a communication training company) doing data entry and loves it. She has recovered almost completely from her back injury and more. In fact, she has started to take her health pretty seriously and has lost some weight and feels wonderful. Keep it up Lace! She feels this is not only good for her, but all her missionary friends that are getting home this year...;) Mostly though, she has grown in her testimony and though losing pounds physically, she is gainging pounds spiritually.

Justine (18) is sure to be the next High School Musical star. She knows every move and word to "Bop to the Top" and constantly mentions HSM4. Since there is no word on a continuance of the series, we are pretty sure she mentions this because she wants to be the star. Which she should be. Last year was pretty tough with Justine. She had that "teenage attitude" and made everything difficult. However, this year she has made a Karl Malone 360 and is such a joy. She is basically the entertainment whether she means to be or not. (ex. her choir stretches, burping peoples names, catch phrases like "nophing!?", and singing duets from different floor levels.) We love her spirit and her unusually high waist line and will keep everyone updated on her HSM debut.

Mariah (15) is in high school and ironically she hates it. (Isn't that supposed to be the BEST time of life?). She has been focused on voice lessons this past year and is doing quite well. Her life long dream came true recently when she attained her first cell phone. OMG! The texting never stops and she has evn hlpd mom lrn the txting lingo. This phone has actually come in handy with her being the miamaids president, so mom and dad are fine with her having it. She said the most eventful thing this past year was when she almost died on the river at Youth Confrence. Mariah lost the only wisdom she ever had, by getting her wisdom teeth taken out. Unfortunatly we haven't really noticed a difference in her intelligence since then. So did she have wisdom in the first place? Though she is still Mariah, and provides us with limitless material for teasing her, she has actually grown up a lot this year. In fact, her own cousin did not recognize her at the mall (love ya Maren!). But in all seriousness she has grown up physically and spiritually and is a good big sister (depending on her mood and how much we tease her).

Kali (12) had a lot of firsts this year, since turning 12 is sort of a right of passage in the community. She is now in young womens and served as a councelor in the beehive class. Going into young womens also meant that she was able to head to girls camp this summer with her 2 big sisters. She said that was one of the best parts of her summer! This is also her first year of jr high. Its definitley taking some adjusting, but she has fun participating in orchestra and other school activities. Kali also finds time to play with friends, play computer and wii, and play violin and piano. She enjoys her new violin teacher and is hoping to really excel this year. It's strange to see Kali grow up. Now we can tease her about the same things she teased her sisters while going through teenage years. We let her off easy though because she is really turning into a beautiful young women.

Brock(9) has had a fun year playing tackle football, with Craig helping and giving pointers as the assistant coach. He still enjoys "playing the field", if you will, and participates in many different sports. And as usual, excels at all of them. He is still the teachers pet, learning very well from Lacie about that. Brock is a big help around the house and is always willing to lend a hand to anyone. It was actually a fun game this year to see how many things we could get him to do before he said no. Brock is big enough now that our dog is at a disadvantage while wrestling with him. However, Brock and the dog are still contstant companions. Though sometimes Brock gets teased for having a tender heart, we all know that it is helping him be a good person and commend him for the good brother, son, and friend he has been this year.

Craig and Diane recently celebrated their 24th anniversary this month (who gets married in December). My, how the time flies by. It has been so great to spend time together this year working on the basement (a little frustrating at times) and working in the ACN business. We loved the 10-hour drive to California to just talk, and we did. Still best friends!!!

Diane (29) has been busy being a mom and working this year. Still doing medical transcriptions, and getting tired of it, so she is now looking at a new career (see previous post). She really enjoys the prospects and hope that everything pans out this next year. Also she has spent a lot of time finishing the basement and actually really enjoyed it. Crazy? Maybe so, but she is grateful for the extra time she got to spend working with Craig on their house.

Craig (29 as well) has basically been Mr. Fix it all year. Or Mr. Build it, if you want to get technical. He really focused and put all of his time into working downstairs and making improvements about the house. He stayed very determined when the task seemed hopeless and the family gives him a big "high 5" for that. We would'nt have gotten it done without him. Of course, he still had a bit of fun with the basement as well. Craig researched and made sure we had the ultimate sound system, high tech t.v., and various technologicaly advanced equipment. Perhaps that is the real reason he wanted the basement finished so badly...

Overall our family has so much to be thankful for this year. We may have fun new gadgets in the basement, but we also have the gospel, each other, and our Savior. May everyone realize our love for you and for Jesus Christ at this time of year.

Love,

The Jones Family

Starting in ACN - Anaheim Convention

2008-12-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

Posing with Donald (we are on a first name basis now). Watch the Celebrity Apprentice on March 22 for ACN's great video phone.

We decided we wanted to start a business of our own so Diane could stop typing nights, weekeneds, and holidays doing medical transcription. We had been looking around and were introduced to ACN, the largest telecommunication company in the world. Since becoming reps, we have had fun introducing others to the company, getting to talk to so many people, and even went to our first convention in Anaheim. We are in the big leauges with Donald Trump, as he loved ACN's video phone so much, he is featuring it on the Celebrity Apprentice on March 22 for 2 hours. So cool! You can check out our website at CraigAndDiane.acnrep.com for more info.

While in California, we got to stop in and visit Diane's sister, Lisa, and her family. Hank and Loni love to have visitors as you can see on Hank's face.

2008-11-16T18:15:00.000-08:00

Family Pictures - We finally got everyone together for family pictures at the State Mental Hospital in Provo (yes, the mental hospital). Linda, Diane's sister, did the honors and did a great job. The most difficult part was getting Justine to smile.

A little family smooch!

The knees really hurt!
A family hug!!!

Family Love!