I'm outta here....

100 THINGS
Rules: Copy and past the 100 facts and make the ones white that you have already done before
.1. Start your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a Meteor Shower
6. Give more than you can afford to charity (does tithing count?)
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (will never happen)
11. Looked up an old boyfriend on face book
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Got food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (Rich is the Gardner but im counting those little beans you plant at school LOL)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept in an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when your not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a marathon
28. Ridden in a Gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total Eclipse
30. Watched Sunrise or Sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen the Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (it only lasted for a short time)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung Karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful Geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to top of Eiffel Tower
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gotten out of a speeding ticket
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold girl scout cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood
65. Adopted a stray dog or cat
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt- I have helped with one
73. Stood in times square
74. Toured the everglades
75. Got fired from a job
76. Seen the changing of guards in London
78. Broken a bone
79. Been on a speeding motorcycle
80. Seen grand Canyon in person
81. Published a book
82. Visit the Vatican
83. Bought a brand new car
84. Walked in Jerusalem
85. Had your picture in the newspaper
86. Read the entire bible
87. Visited the White House
88. Killed and prepared an animal to eat (not personally but i was there while it happened)
89. Had Chicken Pox
90. Saved someones life
91. Sat on a jury
92. Met someone famous
93. Joined a book club
94. Lost a loved one
95. Had a baby
96. Seen the Alamo in person
97. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
98. Been involved in a lawsuit
99. Owned a cell phone
100. Read one whole book in one entire day

ok, dude...i have done alot of stuff....looks like i need to travel alittle more and get alittle more adventurous in the rain and the water

GO BIG RED!

Were goin to the super bowl!! unbelievable!!!

Next up....

wheww what a whirlwind December and January have been! But its finally coming to an end (all the craziness and long "to do" lists) the next thing on the agenda is our trip to Hawaii with the exchange kids that we do every year ( I THINK this is the 9th trip I have done but I have kind of lost count) so at least its a good thing! But, even though most people roll their eyes when I say this....its still alot of work but it is somewhat relaxing at the same time. We will leave Saturday for a week in (hopefully) sunny Hawaii(its the rainey season) with 36 teenagers! So I have just been working on getting that all organized and getting all my lists together for the trip as well as for the family to function while we are gone. So the kids are not so excited that we are leaving but they are excited that Brittnee is coming to stay with them while we are gone. I'm extremely glad to have such a capable, responsible daughter to pick up the slack for her dear ol' mom.

Banquet....

Last night was the football Banquet...It was a really good banquet with alot of good words said. Coach Moro recognizes the seniors mainly at the banquet so he brought up all the underclassman and they handed out their certificates and letters and he talked about them as a group for a few minutes and then he brought up the seniors and he brought each of them forward and talked about them specifically although he does not talk much about their abilities or athleticism but more about their character and the kind of person they are and their good traits that will take them through life...so that was nice. I video taped what he said about Hayden but the audio is really hard to hear so i did not post that. He talked about his leadership abilities and how he is a spokesman (He gets that from his dad) and that he is a real leader. After they talked about all the boys, we moms went up and gave them their scrapbooks and then we watched the AWESOME highlight video..that was alot of fun. We always look forward to the video. Following the video they handed out awards. The majority of the awards are voted on by the other players. The last award of the night is voted on by the coaches and is presented by the parents of a young man who played football for blue ridge and was a true inspiration. He died of Cancer in 1985 and ever since then they have presented the T.R. Yeager Most Inspirational Player of the year. And....well.....this is who received it this year......



I was told after the banquet, by one of the coaches that this is a very prestigious award and is equal in their minds to the MVP.

Here is a close shot of the award....Hayden told me that he was going to go home and eat some cereal out of it...lol....i think he deserves to do that...I would think that Wheaties would be the cereal of choice to eat out of this bowl but no....Hayden would pick froot loops...and on second thought, for Hayden...that is probably more appropriate! (addendum- he did not really eat cereal out of the bowl, he was just kidding...wouldn't want anyone to think he was being disrespectful or anything)

Here is his plaque he received for All-State

This is Hayden being VERY annoyed with me for wanting a picture of him with his hardware. It was a pretty emotional evening for him. He loves his teammates and will miss football more then anything i think...

and here is Hayden with Coach London...his line coach. He told Rich that Hayden was one of his all time favorites! Hayden loves coach London!

The Football Banquet..

is tonight! I'm excited for it because.....I can finally get this "scrapbook project" behind me! I have not talked about the scrapbook project prior to this because it was ALL consuming and I'm not really sure how I got roped into it???? Every year the moms of the seniors make this book for the boys as a memento for their senior year of football. Well, lets just say...the project has evolved from a simple 8 1/2 x 11 three ring notebook, put together by pasting some pictures from the computer and printing them on the computer to this full fledged 12x12 scrapbook that had a whole lot of special papers, embellishments, hundreds of photos, etc and then had to go to the printer to finish. Thanks to last years moms for "stepping it up" of course we could not be outdone! LOL...Anyways, I got volunteered to spear head this project and then after meeting with the moms and finding out that no one had really scrapbooked before besides me....I ended up making the whole book. Each of the moms made a page for their son and then I did the rest of the pages. The total project cost just over $1000 and took probably about 40hours to complete. But I'm pretty proud of the finished product. I hope the boys appreciate them!

We made 15 books and each has 66 pages...this is the front of the album
1st page

Random page (California camp)

Last page....

I really was pretty happy to get to do it.(I can say that now that its done) I hope it was everything that the other moms hoped it would be. I'm really not ready for all these "senior" moments coming up in Hayden's life cuz I'm just not ready to let him go....but that is another post for another day....

I saw this..

on someone else's Blog and thought I would share....unbelievable site that you can go to, to watch movies and tv shows for FREE!

check it out~

I know, I know....

Everyone must be pretty sick of hearing about it...because no one is posting comments anymore lol but I think there are a few grandparents that check this site that might be alittle less annoyed by my football ramblings.....anyways, I think this is probably the last article we will see.
this was in the independent this week....
here is a link to the full article if you want to read it in full (Grandpa)
http://www.wmicentral.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20237326&BRD=2264&PAG=461&dept_id=505964&rfi=6
and here is the little blurb about Hayden....

(Blue Ridge five among eight area 3A All-State gridders)
The 6-2, 184-pound Jones was a key member of a solid offensive line that helped the Yellow Jackets average 264 rushing yards and 370 yards from scrimmage a game. The senior and three-year varsity player was one of three Yellow Jackets offensive linemen selected first-team All-3A East. "He was just a great team leader besides being a very good and steady offensive lineman," Moro said. "He's not very big but steady and a great team leader." He moved between the guard and tackle positions on the right side of the line depending on which teammates were injured. That ability, which many players don't have, made him an indispensable part of the line for the last three years. "He's able to play either one," Moro said. "That's pretty much unique, I would say."

I will probably have more to say after the football banquet next week so be prepared! LOL

Happy Birthday to my 14 year olds!

Happy Birthday to Quade and Taylor...I can not believe how fast they have grown up. I can remember the day they were born like it was yesterday.

When we decided to try to have another baby we did not have insurance (luckily the only time we were without insurance) but we thought....hummm worst case scenario, we have a c-section, we pay $50 a month for the rest of our lives...no big deal. Little did we know we would get pregnant with TWO babies and that they would be 6 weeks early, spend 2 weeks in the NICU and the worst case scenario turned into nearly $100,000!

I was on bed rest with them after having meaningful contractions at around 28 weeks. I was put on medication to stop the contractions and that also meant That I would be put on full bed rest which meant that I spent the holidays in bed...unable to cook, clean, shop or anything else. It was a very hard thing too do having 3 other kids at home who needed to be cared for plus an exchange student. But somehow we made it work. Rich was amazing with all he did to keep things in order, my neighbor brought me lunch nearly every day and many of my friends helped out with the kids as much as possible.

At 36 weeks after a week of no electricity because of a HUGE snow storm (we had to cook on our wood stove and put our food out in the snow) the lights finally came back on and thankfully we were able to take hot showers....I woke in the early morning with contractions that would not stop. So off to the hospital we went. We called our friends, Paul and Michael, to have them come and give me a blessing, that helped put our mind at ease.

They started me on another medication that can only be given at the hospital intravenously. It was Mag sulfate. When they put it in your veins you can feel it as it feels warm and it fills your whole body until you feel hot. It was not fun..after the birth i actually had what seemed like a sunburn, I think it burned from the inside out...bazaar. This was still not stopping the contractions so they decided I needed an amnio to see if the babies lungs were developed enough to deliver them here on the mountain but because it was a Sunday there was no one here, on duty to do the test after it was drawn (this ended up being a blessing in disguise) So they decided that they would need to fly me to the valley "just in case" so they loaded Rich and I, with babes inside, in an ambulance and took us over to the airport so we could be flown by the medical plane as this was before we had any helicopters here. We had a very uneventful flight but at the same time we were very scared of the unknown. What would lie ahead for us once we arrived?
After touching down at sky harbor they loaded the 4 of us into another ambulance and whisked us off to Good Samaritan hospital. Once we arrived and were settled in they did the amnio and it seemed like we waited forever for the results. But when they came back in they told us that their lungs looked good and that we would go ahead and deliver. My sisters had arrived at this point and they were very helpful in lifting my spirits and helping me feel alittle calmer.
We delivered in the operating room "just in case" but luckily both babies were able to be delivered vaginally and quickly. What an interesting experience that was...its seems like a blur with all that was going on around us. There were so many people in the room but really in my mind I can only remember the intern that delivered and the doctor that stood over her shoulder. Oh ya, and the nurse who climbed up on the delivery table and pushed on my stomach with all her might (left bruises) to make sure baby B (Taylor) did not switch positions once baby A (Quade) was out.

I cant remember much right after they were born..I think I was just in shock but it turned out that their lungs were not fully developed (this is where the blessing in disguise comes in as in if we would have had the test at home and it came out that they were good to go then we would have been separated if we would have delivered on the mountain because they would have flown the babies out because of the premature lungs and I would have had to stay there to recover)

The babies were both intabated and put on respirators. Luckily they did not stay on them for more the 24 hours. But because of Jaundice and eating issues they were in the hospital for 2 weeks. Thankfully those were the only real issues they had. Luckily I was able to stay with my In-laws and go back and forth to the hospital daily to be with the babies. Rich came home to be with the other kids and to go to work and he would come back on the weekends to be with us. Again, my friends and ward members stepped up greatly at that time to provided meals and to take the kids after school and on the weekends...to them I will always be indebted.
After two weeks we were finally able to bring our sweet babies home! what a joy!

Quade Silas Jones
4lbs 11oz

18 inches

10:21 pm

Taylor Annaleise Jones

4 lbs 8oz

18 1/2 inches

10:30pm

Our little Miracles....

14 Things I love about Taylor

1. She is Beautiful!

2. She is the BEST "other mother"

3. She cares about the way she looks

4. She is smart and does well in school

5. She is a good friend

6. She loves to try new things (sports)

7. She likes to cook and bake (she musta got that from her dad)

8. She is very mature

9. She is a great babysitter (and does not complain about it too much)

10. She is an animal lover and has great compassion for animals

11. She has a level head

12. She has common sense

13. She has a desire to do her best in everything she attempts

14. She is an awesome daughter! I could not ask for more!!

Happy Birthday Taylor-Girl

14 Things I love about Quade

1. He is just plain AWESOME

2. He gives the BEST hugs

3. He is Handsome

4. He is strong (although this can be a hindrance as well LOL)

5. He is ALWAYS happy

6. He is compassionate

7. He loves BR FOOTBALL (just like me)

8. He has a good sense of humor

9. He Loves music (His Christmas iPod is his best friend)

10. He is a blessing and helps us keep things in perspective

11. He has unconditional love for everyone

12. He has a great memory

13. He brings alot of laughs and smiles to our family

14. He reminds us to keep life simple

HAPPY BIRTHDAY QUADER-BEAR

another...

Here is a link to another list Hayden made..not a huge deal, but he did get his picture in the paper this time LOL
http://www.wmicentral.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20234569&BRD=2264&PAG=461&dept_id=505964&rfi=6

Pretty cute....

Pictures from winter formal...good thing they are so cute, cuz they cost an arm and a leg! whats up with that anyways? seems like it should not cost more then the tickets AND the dinner to buy pictures! hummmmm

Maybe I'm in the wrong business! LOL

SOOO Busy.....

I sat down tonight to write a letter to Joe's mom (our exchange student from a few years ago) and it made me realize how crazy things have been around here lately...I have been getting a little flak for not updating my blog more often so I thought I would give a quick run through of what I have been up to.....(an excerpt from the letter)

" Seems that I am busier this month (Jan) and Last then I have been all year. I have way too many projects going on....I am in charge of putting together a scrapbook for all the football player for their senior year. That was a huge project that I just finally finished tonight....66 pages! I still have to take it to the printer and get 14 books made but I think that will be the easy part. I have been trying to help Brittnee come up with some kind of a wedding announcement that we can send out to family and friends. (making them Is the next project), trying to come to a decision with EF as they have asked me to be a Regional Coordinator, hummm should I ? or am I already too busy? I said YES (am I crazy?) planning and getting ready for the Hawaii trip for 35 exchange kids and on top of that and Christmas, Christmas cards, snowboarding excursions, kids being out of school for the last two weeks, extended family coming and going. And then throw in no fewer then 4 holiday get togethers/parties....well...I'm just, pretty much exhausted!"

So if you have been wondering why the heck that Jones Chick does not post more...there is your answer! I'm sure as soon as we get back from the Hawaii Trip at the end of the month things SHOULD slow down some.... hopefully, maybe.....