Posted: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 5:00 am | Updated: 2:45 pm, Tue Dec 28, 2010.

Mike Leiby – The Independent | 0 comments

Twenty-two-year-old Pinetop-Lakeside resident Austin Jones (pictured with Lakeside Fire Capt./CEP Kerry Ross) has been helping out at the Lakeside Fire Station for a number of years and recently the autistic young man was honored with honorary Lakeside Fire District Firefighter status. Included in that honor was his own official firefighter's helmet and recognition from the district for all he does to help out around the station.

Christmas 2010

 Christmas 2010

 James and Cowgirl checking out Cowgirls stocking

 Brynlee wearing Uncle Monkeys new hat

 Sawyer's new iPod

 Taylor gets new spurs

 Hayden gets new clothes

 Brynlee's  new car

 Another new hat!!

 Granny got to spend Christmas with us this year too!

 Poppy and Brynlee

Quade gets a new glove

 Oh my! what did Hayden get??

Yikes...Rich got it too!!!

Pepper opening her Present

Brynlee's New Squeeky shoes

What did Noah and Sawyer get for Christmas?

Our Christmas Letter....?

So I have been a bad blogger lately....but its not my fault. My computer is slow and needs a doctor but I'm too selfish to take the ol girl in. Just don't feel like i can let her go for very long without missing her too much. Sad but true....

Our Christmas cards went out recently and I failed to send an update letter. I read and heard that people don't love getting those letters ??? (but just so you know, I LOVE getting those letters) so I just sent the card this year and figured I would post the updates here as I suppose that is why you all come here occasionally...for an update!

So....

Here is the Jones Family Update for 2010

Brittnee, James and Brynlee- James came home from Iraq safe and sound in April. He moved his little family back to Albuquerque. He is back working at the hospital, not loving it but thankful and grateful to have a job. We get to see them (mostly the girls) every few months and are happy about that! Our little Brynlee is growing way too fast. She is 18 Month old and has started nursery at church and really likes it. She jabbers up a storm when you talk to her on the phone. I don't have much of an idea what she is staying but she loves to talk and talk and calls me very often on her own since my number is programed in her moms phone. It is fun to hear her little voice on the other end just talking up a storm. Brittnee has been lucky in that she has been able to be a stay at home mom so far since Brynlee's birth. Brittnee is the ward librarian and on the activities committee in her ward and they have James busy working on the scout committee. They are doing well, just celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary and we are looking forward to getting to have them here for Christmas this year.

Austin- Oh Austin....Still Blue Ridges biggest fan, this will be his very last year of high school. I don't know if he is looking forward to that or regretting that...I will have to ask him? Austin is still working occasionally at the movie theater and loves seeing people he knows so he can pick on them. As you probably heard he was recently made an honorary cadet at the fire department and so his ride alongs and time with the guys is picking up but for the most part "the Austin luck" is still happening since they hardly ever get calls when he is on duty. I believed his time there will pick up alot this summer and into next year as he will have more free time. We hope to enroll him in some Northland Pioneer College classes and some institute classes as well next School year. But no matter what I am sure you will still see him cheering the yellow jackets on at most high school sporting events. HERE WE GO BLUE RIDGE, HERE WE GO!!! we will hear that in our hearts forever more!!!

Hayden- Hayden moved back home at the end of first semester last year as he was having some medical issues. Having horrible headaches, blackouts when exercising and some weird heart things going on. We had many tests done and pretty much came up empty handed. He still has headaches but the other issues have resolved themselves. He sat out second semester but worked full time at the ski resort again and really loved that until he broke his collar bone which did not heal (shoveling snow with a broken collar bone will do that you know) and had to have surgery to repair that. It was a ruff year medically for him but he did stick with school and just finished up his 2nd full semester at Community college. He has held several jobs(at the same time) over the last year and never seems to have a problem finding a job. Most recently, he has been working for a physical therapist here in town and is absolutely loving that and is planning and applying for Physical Therapy Assistant school and hopes to be able to start that, down in the valley in September.He tried out over the weekend for a semi pro football team that is starting up here on the mountain as part of the (CFL) Copper Football league and made the team so we will see what that brings...mostly for fun and the love of the game that he just cant seem to get out of his system.

Quade- Our little Quade man is not so little anymore. He is nearly 6 foot and 225 pounds.  Quade got to start high school this year and he is just over the moon!!! He gets up every morning and runs into our room and says...HIGH SCHOOL???? He loves every second of his time in high school and can not wait for the bus to arrive each day. I think Austin is showing him the ropes over there in high school and Quade is just eating it up! He has so many friends and people who love him that he just cant get enough of them and the atmosphere at Blue Ridge High school. He has also started going to sunday school on his own and seems to be doing well with that as long as he is not trying to be the class clown!!
We are sooo thankful for the good people in his life!

Taylor-  Miss Taylor is turning 16 in a few short weeks and I am not really ready for that at all. Boys have started nosing around and she is starting to get the hang of driving. Luckily she is a good girl and easy to trust. Taylor played soccer again this year and has improved alot. We hope she sticks with it and goes out again this next school year. She is kind of the low man on the totum poll as most of the girls that came in to the JV team this year have been playing together for years on a traveling team but Taylor does not let that get her down and she pushes forward and has a great time out there. She is doing GREAT in school. She has also taken a BIG interest in Brittnee's horse that is still here locally. Taylor spends every extra minute at the barn working with the horse and trying to make him behave better. She is implementing alot of things she has learned in 4H and it seems to be working. Taylor also worked over the summer as a volunteer at a vet clinic and really really enjoyed that. She is looking forward to finally being old enough to get a real job and make some money. She is hoping to work at sunrise with Hayden this winter.

Noah and Sawyer- I will put these two together as they do alot of the same things so its easy to lump them together. They are 10 now, almost 11...where does the time go? Although they are twins they could not be more different. In looks and in personality. Noah stands about 6 inches taller then Sawyer and they don't look anything alike. But they do both love alot of the same things. They played basketball, baseball and football this year. We are learning that Noah has alot of natural talent when it comes to sports and Sawyer has a TON of heart which makes them both pretty equal in the sporting arena. They both did very well in all they tried this year. They are both doing well in school and are in separate class rooms and both are happy about that as they seem to be making different friends and finding their own way. Their personalities also could not be more different. Noah is strong,tuff, very serious and not very affectionate where Sawyer is soft and lovable and very affectionate and soooo funny. These two are a TON of fun and we love every minute and don't know what we would have done without our bonus babies!

Rich- Going on 9 years now with the same company and he still enjoys what he does and who he works with. He is teaching gospel doctrine at church and absolutely LOVES it. I really enjoy his lessons as well as those of our other GD teachers. Which makes me finally feel comfortable in this class. Rich coached Noah and Sawyers team in Baseball and was the asst. coach in football. He really loves getting to do that and shhhhhh But i think it keeps him young too! Rich also helped out again this year (18 years now) with broadcasting high school football and still loves doing that. Hayden was able to be involved this year too so that makes it double fun! Rich is still playing softball and even though he is the oldest guy on the team now adays he is still called to play each year since he is a pretty dang good pitcher. This year a group of Hayden's high school buddies put a team together and asked Rich to pitch for them. So here you have a bunch of 19-21 year old boys out there with their token old man pitcher...it was GREAT and helps to fulfill Rich's other big dream of continuing to be able to play long enough to play with his boys....now we gotta just keep him on the field for about 6 or 7 more years so he can play with Noah and Sawyer!

Me- What to say....this has been an interesting and trying year. Alot of ups and downs.  Seeing my babies grow up and move on is not fun but it is part of life. Luckily I still have those bonus babies i spoke of earlier to cuddle and snuggle and keep me from feeling too old. Bonus babies are good for that, you all should try it! HAHA. I am still working with EF, 9 years now, I really love working with the kids and their host families! This year they made us Regional Coordinators so we are over a larger territory. We were able to do some traveling this year that we could not do if it were not for our involvement with EF. Hawaii(with Taylor), Boston, Florida, and California three times(once with Noah and Sawyer). We are preparing now for our annual Hawaii trip and will be headed out again for that in January but will be staying an extra week and checking out Kauai. I figured after doing this WORKING trip for about 10 years now it is time we take alittle time for ourselves.(and we just might be taking two boys with us this year but they wont know that until Christmas day so shhhhhhh). We have plans to visit Vegas in March and also to take Austin on a graduation trip in May or June.  I have been the Cub scout committee chairman at church for several years now. So between all that and keeping the fires burning at home I guess I'm a pretty busy and lucky girl. As I said there have been alot of ups and downs. Some things that we had to go through with Quade, having a couple of good friends and great people in my life going through Cancer and trying to balance all I do has been taxing. But I do feel like I am very fortunate to live where I do and have the people in my life that I do so for that I am grateful!

I hope this has been a great year for all of you and I hope the Christmas season and the New Year bring us all health and happiness!

Happy 2nd Anniversary

To Brittnee and James

Video

Here is the Video from the Board Meeting

Gotta love this kid....

The Big news.....

Here it is...

what you all have been waiting for

Last summer Austin got it in his head

that he wanted to do a ride along with the fire dept.

He must have talked to someone somewhere along the line and he was granted permission.

He went on his first ride along

at the beginning of August.

And he just keeps going back

and they let him come whenever he wants.

Funny thing is....

he never really got to ride along

because whenever he went it seemed

they never got any calls

this went on for awhile.....

well a few weeks ago

he went to the fire station after school

to do another ride along

within minutes after he got there t

hey got a call for a

FIRE...

and it was a pretty big Fire (at least for around here)

Austin got to go along

but he had to stay in the truck...

Last week I got a call from Captain Ross

He called to tell us that they had discussed it

with the fire board and the Chief,

and they really felt like Austin had

alot to offer the fire dept.

And they wanted him to be able

to do alot more then just sit in the truck.

 They decided they would like to make Austin

an Honorary Fire Cadet!!!

We kept it a secret so Austin would be surprised

tonight was the big night!

He was presented with his own Helmet

and gloves

and will be receiving his other gear

(shirts, pants, boots etc)

He will go to the fire station and work (volunteer)

on shifts now

and will have responsibilities

to do both in the station

as well as when they are on calls

he is sure super excited

and we are very very proud

THANKS LAKESIDE FIRE DEPT

YOU GUYS ROCK!!

News....

I have some very exciting news....
but its a secret!

Tune in late next week to learn what the great news is....

Haydens project

Hayden has been attending NPC here in Show low.

 Hes taking some general Ed classes and is thinking of going to PTA school (physical therapy assistant) in August. Along with his academic classes he is taking

a metal working class.

Some of you know that he used to work for a guy here locally who makes mid evil armor.

Hayden has his own full suit of Armor that he made himself.

So now this man that taught him how to make the Armor

is teaching this metal working class at NPC and so now Hayden is building a suit of armor for a horse

(don't know what the official name for it is)

he finished the headpiece and has it on display at the NPC art museum.

Pretty cool ah?

50 Years of wedded bliss.....

 Then...

Now...

Congratulations to Wayne and Vatia Jones

Or mom and dad in our case....

now off to Utah to celebrate!

Here's to wishing.....

The most perfect husband....

A most happy Birthday today!!!

Little Guys Football....

Finished with an undefeated season...

Sawyer played linebacker on both Offense and Defense

Noah Played Defensive end and Quarter back

Rich played....Assistant Coach!

fun was had by all three of my boys! ;)

JV Girls Soccer

Soccer is over this season for Taylor...Her team went undefeated!!!

Pretty amazing if you ask me!!

Way to go Tay!

Fort Lauderdale....

That is where we went....and it was alot of fun. We went for an EF Regional Coordinator meeting and got to spend alot of fun time with alot of fun people. Stayed in an awesome hotel with an awesome view (as you can see from my last post) We spent alot of time in meetings but did get to go do a fun air boat tour to see some alligators in the wild.

FT. Lauderdale has some amazingly HUGE Yachts

There was a huge boat show the next weekend after we were there

so there were awesome boats docked all around our hotel

This one had a helicopter, jet skis and a power boat

This one and the one below they say are owed by the wealthiest man in the world

they say he is in telecommunications in Mexico among other things (wink wink)

He also owns this boat and another that was docked near by

they were working hard to clean and prepare each boat for the boat show

every boat had a full staff on board...

crazy stuff!

Guess where I am??

View from our Balcony!!

Happy 22nd Birthday Austy!!

When i came home from California....

We had two new members of the family....

their names are Stew and Cassi (as in Casserole)

What a crazy last couple of weeks its been...

I had a minor procedure done on my feet to remove

the screws in my ankles that i had put in last year.

they are corrected now but the screws were really causing me alot of pain

so we took them out. So that was two weeks ago Thursday...then on the following Tuesday i got the flu and was down for the count...i was very worried as we were suppose to be leaving Wednesday to take the exchange kids to California and how in the world was i going to drive 9 hours to California with the flu????

well luckily with alot of sleep i was feeling better by Wednesday but still not 100% as i had a horrible cough (still do) but we went and we had a ton of fun!!

here are all the kids outside universal studios

we met alot of celebrities while we were there...it was just amazing

went to this little club and ran into Will Smith..

 Did alittle skateboarding with Tony Hawk

 Not sure how i ended up here???

Ran into the Rock...he was really digging me but i had to tell him i was already in a relationship.

 He took it pretty hard.

Saw Miss Haley Berry at some awards show...

got a picture of her but I was alittle under dressed to get one with her.

 We were able to sit next to Jack though...that was pretty cool.

 He was really into my friend Dawn

Then we ran over to that school where they film Glee

Sue was there...she was not in a very good mood, but what else is new!

And then when we were waiting for a bus we ran into Mr Hanks...he wanted to share his chocolate with me!

he is such a sweeeeet guy that Tom Hanks....but since he had not opened the box yet I told him he really ought to take it home and share it with his momma...

overall it was a great trip....

I don't know if my room mates thought so as I pretty much kept everyone up all night with my cough!

but oh well...I finally seem to be on the mend