~Jones Jibberish~

Happy Birthday to my 17 year old babies!!!!

2012-01-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

I love you both soooo much!

the last 17 years have been an adventure, that is for sure!

but I wouldn't have missed a minute of it

Winter Formal

2012-01-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

Taylor and Colten

Christmas Day 2011

2012-01-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

A little late getting the Christmas pictures up this year but then again the decorations are not down yet so i think that means I'm still safe HAHA

The line up to go and see what Santa brought....

A new bike for Sawyer....

iPod number 642 for Quade....

Blue Ridge beanies....

One more monkey hat for the monkey boy....

Some new pom poms for our UofA cheerleader...

New Catchers gear for this upcoming baseball season....

A new bed for pepper....(don't you love our fireplace?)

some new gear for the fire station....

another request....BASEBALL PANTS

A totally spoiled girl....

new hats for all (from Aunt Gerri and family)

best of all....a nice quiet day at home (until we left for church)

and a tiring one...

Twas the night before Christmas.....

2011-12-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Last Night....

2011-12-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome Holiday Gathering with a majority of our Exchange Students

Who are in the White Mountain area for the school year!

Great kids!!! and TONS of fun!!

Early Christmas

2011-12-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to have Brittnee and her Little family come this last weekend

to spend an early Christmas with them!

I never get enough of this little granddaughter of ours!

She was super excited to play in all the snow we had

so we bundled her up tight and took her sledding for the first time

They boys built alittle sledding hill right in our yard that was just the right size for her...

but everyone else couldn't help themselves....

it was a great time and A LOT of fun!

After sledding we had Brittne, James and Brynlee open their presents

And then we got ready to go to our ward party

Here is Brynlee modeling her new outfit from YaYa (thats me)

Not sure what this is but it was sooo stinkin cute!

Our baby girls...

The whole little Bowdoin family...

Santa came to the ward Christmas party...she was fine sitting on his lap

But then came out the HUGE boo boo lip...

sooo funny!

Even though their stay was short we were VERY VERY glad they were able to make it!

The North Pole Experience

2011-12-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

We had the exciting pleasure to go to the

North Pole Experience

in Greer

When we got to Greer we had to board the candy cane express and make our way through the "Portal" that would take us to the North Pole....

When we arrived we were taken to the doors of Santa's Workshop

By a very happy Elf...

When we got inside the very first thing we got to see what the

TOY HALL OF FAME

this was fun for me because I got to see lots of toys from my childhood...

We then moved into the "old" small workshop, before it was expanded

We were given a tour of the old workshop and told what to expect in the new workshop by Santa's head elf

After that we went into the actual workshop and were able to help the elves make some toys that would go out to all the good boys and girls (I don't have pictures of that as my camera pretended to be out of batteries)

next we were invited in to sit around the table and have yummy cookies and Santa soup (hot chocolate)

after that we went into Elf University where we learned about manners, being grateful and how to be good boys and girls

finally we moved into Santa's office where we waited our turn to meet Santa

Here is Quade checking out Santa's big office chair

Sawyer had a turn

as did Noah

and then we were finally able to meet The Big Guy and tell him of all our dreams and wishes....

After we spent some time with Santa, we boarded the Candy Cane express and went back through the Portal and stopped in at Molly Bulters for a very very Yummy dinner!

2011-12-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Blue Ridge vs. Show Low Football - A photo gallery

Blue Ridge super fan Austin Jones, a staple at all Yellow Jackets home games, congratulates a leaping Ben Watson following the Yellow Jackets' 35-14 win over the Show Low Cougars, Saturday, Nov. 26 at NAU's Walkup Skydome for the AIA Division IV title.

2011-12-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Blue Ridge vs. Show Low Football - A photo gallery

Blue Ridge super fan Austin Jones rubs the championship trophy hoisted by Blue Ridge player Chans Cox following the Yellow Jackets' 35-14 win over the Show Low Cougars, Saturday, Nov. 26 at NAU's Walkup Skydome for the AIA Division IV title.

Happy Birthday James!!!

2011-12-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

Just....

2011-11-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

A cute picture of Taylor and I while we were in DC

Update...

2011-11-12T14:30:00.001-07:00

Sawyers surgery went well. Everything is fixed and put back where it is suppose to go. He was in pain and on meds last night but so far today the pain has been minimal and no drugs so I think he is headed for a quick mend!

Rich and Hayden survived their sky dive adventure today.....

pictures (and maybe video) to come....

A little shout out....

2011-11-10T16:36:00.002-07:00

For Sawyer who is having hernia surgery tomorrow

Say alittle prayer for him!

Haydens comin home....

2011-11-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

Its been nearly four months since he left for school.....

Miss that boy...

He and his dad have some pretty big plans this weekend....

here is a hint....

Tooth Fairy.....

2011-11-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

The tooth fairy shared a little note that she found under Noah's pillow last night

She said she had dollar in hand and found this note when she went to place the dollar under the pillow

hmmmmmm......

I must say the lady at the drive thru at the bank got a pretty good chuckle when she got the note in the little canister.

Needless to say the tooth fairy is now paying out in sacajawea Dollars!

Posting this for my mom to see....

2011-11-09T08:11:00.002-07:00

Taylor and I go to DC

2011-11-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

I had meetings in DC this last week so I decided to take Taylor along

so she could experience the Nations Capital

We took a trolley tour around where you could get of and on at all the sights

first was the Capitol

The Smithsonian Castle

Jefferson Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

WWII Memorial....we also saw the Vietnam Memorial and the Korean War Memorial

and all the other sights along the Mall area

But we both agreed that Arlington was our Favorite stop

The White house

Taylor also was able to visit the American history Museum, Holocaust Museum, Air and Space Museum and the spy Museum

there was soooo much to see and just not enough time to see it all but we had a great time!

But she also discovered that she is a little "barn sour"....

(hope you know what i mean)HAHA

The video's are just for Brittnee....

She told me before she left how much she wants to go to Washington and to Arlington

as I mentioned, Arlington was amazing

they told us that they do between 25-35 funerals a day there

we were able to witness the Cason precession which was very touching

they asked that no pictures be taken but it was a very beautiful thing

first the Military band and then the horse drawn carriage with the casket

followed behind by the family....

it and the tomb of the unknown soldier

are great reminders of what an awesome country we live in.

Halloween

2011-11-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

Halloween was alot of fun this year....

We decided to have Brynlee come for a few days for a "trial run"

So Rich brought her home with him on Sunday

and she was over the moon to ride in "her" truck

Brittnee was coming over on Wednesday so we thought we would give it 3 days to see how she did without her momma.

She did amazing.

she did not cry or fuss or look sad one time!

but boy was she happy to see her mom when she got here and she then would not let Brittnee out of her sight! HA

Brynlee got here the day before Halloween so she got to go trunk or treating with the boys

I love this picture of her holding the hand of the evil sock monkey

no worries!

Sawyer got A LOT of comments on his costume and Noah was a pretty convincing Army guy with his backpack that James gave him for Christmas and his Paint ball gun that looked like the read deal

and of course Brynlee was the prettiest little fairy ever!

she did really well...it was really dark and there were a lot of creepy creatures milling around

she didn't seem to mind and by the end was actually REALLY looking at them

and even talking to some.

We had a really fun time having her here with us for a few days!

Football 2011

2011-11-08T07:35:00.000-07:00

What Handsome boys I have!!!

But if i were not there, I would have to question the whole twin thing!

Here is the answer to the Riddle....

2011-10-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

Quade is obsessed with Blue Man Group....

a few years ago there was a special on TV showing one of their performances

Quade loved it so much that we taped it and he has been watching it

at least once or twice a week since then.

So Brittnee called me up one day to let me know they were coming to Albuquerque.

She wanted to buy tickets for she and James to take Rich and Quade

so they did...

So Rich took Quade with him this weekend to take Brittnee's Horse to her

after dropping off the horse they got ready and went to the performance

Quade had no idea what was about to happen!

This was a surprise of a life time for him

he was so happy and has had a grin on his face ever since

he is carrying around the pictures and I have a feeling this is something

we will hear about for a long time to come!

good call Britt!!!

Here is another clue.....or two.....

2011-10-29T18:12:00.001-07:00

Guess where Quade and Rich are today....on Richs birthday!?!?

2011-10-29T14:44:00.002-07:00

Honor Roll....

2011-10-24T09:04:00.001-07:00

YEAH for Sawyer!! he made the 5th grade honor roll and perfect attendance!!!

Barcelona, Spain

2011-10-21T14:20:00.001-07:00

We took our first trip over the pond...

It was not a long trip but it was just enough time

to experience a pretty cool destination and some pretty awesome Jet Leg!

We arrived on Thursday the 13th and we went down town that evening

We had a little tour of the town center which includes

Roman Walls and pretty cool Architecture

at the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona built in the 12th century

We also went to Las Ramblas which is the shopping area.

I just loved all the old old tall buildings and the narrow, cobblestones streets

most everyone traveled by public transit or scooters.

There were alot of scooters everywhere we went

and there also didn't seem to be any real "rules" for scooters driving through the streets

This was in the market in the heart of Las Ramblas

These old Roman walls were in the middle of an apartment building

they built around and on top of the old Roman city

you can read more about that here

on Friday we did some more sight seeing...

First we went to Parc Guell

this was a special area that the Great Catalan Architect, Antoni Gaudi built

he intended for it to be an upscale housing development

but alot of people didn't really like his style of building

and because of that and because it was built far from the city (in those times)

it didn't really take off

here is a view from the area

This picture is of the top of the market area, each of these pillars is part of

the amazing water system that he built to water the landscaping

down by the pillars would be the market place and up on top you can see the

longest one piece bench in the world. It is all made of mosaic type tile work

the walkway from the front entrance into the market place

more of the bench

looking up at the roof of the market area

some of the tile work up close

Goudi's work is very beautiful, ornate and detailed

there were only actually 3 homes built in the park, the rest was garden area.

next we went to the Sagrada Familia

this is the church of the Holy Family that

Antoni Gaudi was commissioned to built

it was estimated to take 200 year to complete

and should be completed in 2027

here is a replica of what it should look like when it is complete

when Gaudi died another Architect took over

and did so in his own style.

I personally did not care for the change in style

the front of the building that Gaudi did depicted the birth of Christ

and the other side of the building that the new architect did

depicts the death and resurrection of Christ

After leaving there we went back down town

Here is a cathedral that we happened onto

More streets...I just could not get enough of them

And Rich could not get enough of the Chocolate shops

More of the Roman walls which he also could not get enough of...

We also were able to visit the Picasso Museum

that dude was weird!

more Roman walls

There were some interesting people at Las Ramblas

our tour guide called them "Weirdos"

Not really sure how this guy is staying on his stand

(yes he is real, not a statue)

and this guy is some sort of Gothic creature

More pictures from the Market in Las Ramblas

At the end of the day we were able to catch a Flamenco Show

On Saturday we took a Journey to the top of the mountain to

Montserrat

if you click on the link be sure to read the history of the Holy visions

This is the cave where the Holy Visions took place

if you look closely you will see a track running up the side of the mountain

we went there next...

here is the car that you load into to travel up the mountain

there were two cable cars that traveled the track at the same time

one going up

and one coming back down

they would pass each other at this point in the tracks

the view from the top was unreal

These next pictures were taken inside the cathedral

Up in the middle of this picture, in that little balcony is the Black Mary

people stand in line for hours to see and touch and kiss the Virgin Mary

When we got back we made arrangements to attend a Soccer game

As I'm sure you know, Barcelona's soccer team won the world cup

last time it was played

so we were able to go and watch

the best team in the world play in the best stadium in the world

it was amazing and SOOO big

it holds 100,000 people

and it is nearly full every time they play

we had great seats and the crowd noise was deafening at times

on Sunday we did some more sight seeing

first we went down town to experience the festivities in the Gothic Square

they had dancers and parades

After that we headed up town to another Gaudi Building

this was a home that he built

Pedrera house

here is a replica of the house

this was upstairs in the attic

you can see the columns in the roof

here is the rooftop

looking down from the rooftop

the view from the rooftop

more from the roof, looking down to the court yard

it was an amazing building....after looking a the unique rooftop

we went down into the attic which is where the service people would go

to do the families laundry

and then we were able to go down and view the inside of an apartment

that was left with the vintage feel, furniture and decor from the time period

of when the building was built

after that we were able to sign up to take a bike tour of the city

don't you love Rich's little basket on his bike?

we were also equipped with little bells.

At first we thought they were fun

but boy did they come in handy when we hit the streets of the boardwalk

it was kinda crazy but oh so fun!

here is our group

The beach on the Mediterranean

The "W" hotel

And on the last night of our trip, we had one last awesome dinner

This is Bob and Dan

the Vice President and President of our EF Boston Office

This was a fantastic trip and although short, it was just right for us!
We are so glad and feel so Lucky that we were able to go!!

Wishing Austin....

2011-10-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

A sweeeeet 23rd!!!

We love you sooooooo MUCH Austin!!

Next Stop....

2011-09-29T22:24:00.000-07:00

Any Guesses??

Funny Email...

2011-09-28T17:13:00.000-07:00

Email exchange today between Quade's teacher and myself....boy does that kid LOVE high school....

Hi Barb,

Do you have any idea what got all over the back of Quades shirt today? Just so I know how to treat it when I wash it

Thanks

Francie

reply...

Francie,

It is field paint. After he made a touchdown 4th hour he rolled on the fresh field markings.

Hopefully it will come out,

Barb

my reply back...

Barb,

Lol that is funny....not for the new shirt but funny just the same...now he can wear his glory to school on occasion! Haha

Francie

Great Trip....but.....

2011-09-22T00:21:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of taking the exchange students on an awesome trip to California this last weekend.

They had a blast and were overwhelmed with Awe

but at home a different kind of Awe was going on....

Noah Broke his Collar bone in his football game on Saturday...

a Call a mom NEVER wants to get when she is out of town

I am ALWAYS the one that takes the sick or broken kids to the doctor/hospital

It was a sickening feeling to not be there

he is such a tuff boy...

We know from experience (with Hayden) that this is a very painful injury

but Noah didn't cry or really complain much

we can tell it hurts a lot by the way he holds himself and the way he walks

He is just a tuff boy!

unfortunately after 3 weeks his season is over

but he still goes to practice everyday just to support the guys!

4H

2011-09-14T08:14:00.002-07:00

So Taylor had chosen to forgo Soccer this year and do 4H with the horses
she has been working really hard to prepare for the final event of the year.

This last Saturday was the first half of the event.

Brittnee came out to help out as we had A LOT going on that day.

This first day she used Dallas for all of her classes

Horse people are up at the crack of dawn.

Maybe this is why I'm not a horse person?

Attempting to keep him Clean after his bath the day before

Lots of preparation to get everything just right

She competed in Showmanship and Bareback

Pleasure, horsemanship, western riding, trail riding and Reining.

Brynlee loves the horses soooo much!
here she is on Jett

Taylor's friend Colten came out to support her too

Brynlee really likes him LOL

And then it started to rain....HARD....and hail.....and they called it for the day

she will go back today to finish up her events with Dallas

and then she will do barrels and poll bending with Jett

overall she did pretty good so far for her first attempt at 4H
We are very proud of you Taylor
and all you have accomplished!

Daddy's new wheels

2011-08-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Momma's new Ride

2011-08-23T08:12:00.002-07:00

2011-08-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

UP TO OUR EARS IN EXCHANGE STUDENTS

45 IN ALL....

2011-07-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

Just a great picture of Austin today

from the Pioneer day celebration.

so i thought i would share it...

thanks Ellen for sharing this photo with me!

Noah rides a steer!

2011-07-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

These are the videos from when Noah rode the steer at the Show Low rodeo
on the 1st of July

Crazy boy...

the first one is of him getting "tied in" by Taylor's friend Colton

and the second is the actual ride...short but sweet! LOL

Made the paper....

2011-07-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

The boys moved on to the regional round of the little league play offs.

It was in Page and happened when Rich and I were out of town

so they went with the team.

They played two games and lost both and came home

but they had a fantastic time!

this pictures was in the paper on the 12th

Day late.....

2011-07-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

SALMON COUNT

JULY 15TH WAS 2922

JULY 16TH WAS 27826

JULY 17TH THE DAY WE LEFT 230,643

BIGGEST ONE DAY RUN IN THE LAST TEN YEARS AT LEAST.
THE AVERAGE RUN OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS WAS 80,000

I THNK WE WERE TRULY A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT!!!!!!

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishCounts/index.cfm?ADFG=main.displayResults

Alaska Day 8

2011-07-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

Good bye Alaska....

Alaska Day 7

2011-07-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

On our last full day we knew we needed to head back to Anchorage

but Austin REALLLLLY wanted to do SOMETHING!!!

so we finally settled on the zoo

then we had to get going quickly to make it back to Anchorage before the zoo closed

and we made it!

most of the animals were arctic animals or animals that were native to the region

it was kind of depressing seeing all the animals in cages

I don't think this is something i typically notice or care about much

but after going to the conservation center where the animals are there

because they are orphaned or injured and seeing the big open spaces they have

then going to the zoo...

well it was just depressing

first we visited the polar bear

this is a snow owl

the Eagles (this one looked very old)

Austin with the Eagles

the wolves

Black bear

another black bear

Mountain goats

Leopard

Brown Bears (Look at those claws!)

back to the Polar bears

and then the Otter who was having a great time entertaining us

We saw alot more animals but these were the best pictures

Alaska Day 6

2011-07-18T10:25:00.001-07:00

On Day 6 we ventured up the coast to Homer, Alaska

Homer is a fishing town

if you are a deadliest catch fan

you should know that Homer

is the home of the Time bandit

Homer is absolutely beautiful!

they had alot of little shops along the "Homer spit"

they had alittle shop there that sold shirts and things from the time bandit

and outside they had a crab pot

so we baited it up!! HAHA

after we checked out all the little shops

we went down to the "Fishing Hole"

to do alittle fishing

out in the middle of the hole (inlet)

were a couple sea lions out playing

they were fun to watch

this famous old saloon was there

the salty dawg

there were tshirts all over town saying

"a drinking town with a fishing problem"

pretty funny stuff

next we moved on to alittle wildlife place that Austin wanted to check out

I love these flowers...

they were everywhere along all the roads

all along our way around Alaska

while we were in Homer we say this awesome Eagles nest

When we saw it the first time the Mom and Dad Bald Eagles were in the nest

but we could not stop for pictures then

but when we came back they were not there but we could see one of the babies (there were two)

this was a super cool thing to see

Austin loves bald eagles

they are his favorite!

but this bald eagles nest was in the strangest place

In the afternoon we went back to Soldotna

and waited with thousands of other people for the Salmon to start their run

Unfortunately it did not happen before we left

that was one of the main reasons we went when we did so that was alittle

disappointing

when we got back to Soldotna we took another walk down to the Kenai River

we saw this eagles next along the banks

Here is the Kenai

they say when the Salmon are running, people are lined up all along the banks

nearly shoulder to shoulder

bringing in fish as fast as they can snag them

there were alot of beautiful homes along the river too

The Seagulls seemed to be the only ones eating fish!

Alaska Day 5

2011-07-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

On day 5 we did alot of this...

We spent about half of the day driving around looking at lakes

and streams for good fishing spots

then we came back to camp and caught up on our sleep

because it never gets dark here, the boys found themselves

often fishing near midnight....

Alaska Day 4

2011-07-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

On day four we headed out toward Soldotna.

Traveling along we stopped to check out a Glacier

The Scenery was just so beautiful everywhere we went

These pictures were taken in Coopers Landing

on the River

If you look up in the tree tops of this photo below you can see

a roof top

this is the Princess Resort where my niece Adrianne is working

she was sick and at the doctor the day we came through

here is a little closer shot

in coopers landing we stopped at Jim's Landing to fish

in this picture you can see that Austin has some company

(click to get a closer view)

A bald eagle was waiting for Austin to catch him some lunch

Rich

Austin's new friend still watching him...

We watched these little baby ducklings for awhile. Their mother teaching

them how to swim upstream

Hey Grandpa!!

Grandpa and Austin

This is one of my favorite shots from the whole trip

On our way out of Jim's Landing we saw this moose near the road

Alaska day 3 "AFTER THE CATCH"

2011-07-15T01:46:00.001-07:00

After we got off the boat, the deck hands took the fish in big wheel barrows

up to the weighing and cleaning area

they hung the catches of the day here

This is Nick and Big Tuna hanging all the fish from the day.

Each boat's deck hands line up here and wait their turn to hang the fish

and the people that were on that particular days trip on each boat

can go up and get pictures with the fish

Nick and Tuna arranging the fish..

the weird looking one in the middle is a lingcod

then on each side are the Halibut

and then they lay out the Salmon in front

Thats us...Rich had the two biggest Halibut of the day

this is Austin with his two new buddies

Nick and Big Tuna

this is the boat that came in right after us....

i just wanted you to see the size of that Halibut in the middle

I think they said it was just over 100 pounds

After everyone is done taking pictures they take all the fish to another outdoor area

of the dock and they filet it all for you

then you can decide how you want to take it...

fresh in bags and out the door

or you can choose to process it and have it shipped home

we ended up with almost exactly 50 pounds of fish

after it was fileted

Alaska Day 3 FISH ON!!

2011-07-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the dramatic delay in the updates.

The first posts came from a campsite with wi-fi

and now we are where there is none.

relying on my phone tether i have downloaded these pictures

no less then 6000 times

and FINALLY it worked!!

sooooo

on with the show....

on day three we went out on a fishing charter

we had to be at the dock at 6:15 to board the crackerjack Voyager

this was a 14 person fishing charter

with a skipper and two deck hands

when we left the weather was looking rainy and ominous

I joked with Rich about going on a Threeee hourrrrr tourrrr (think Gilligan)

well little did we know that we really were going 3 hours out on the ocean!!!

just to get to our fishing spot

wowzers....

the weather was bad which equates to bad seas

I was (very proudly) the only one in our group to not get sea sick

and one of only a handful on the boat that didn't loose their breakfast

Leaving Seward Alaska

it was an amazing view on the way out

This was our deckhand, Nick preparing bait

we saw big horn sheep

once we reached our destination, 25 miles off shore

we began to fish

this is our other deck hand, "BigTuna" helping Grandpa get set up

And Austin scores one of the first Halibut!

and Austin was the FIRST to make his 2 Halibut limit

Winner Winner!!!

Rich had some fun reeling them in...

Here is a keeper...Rich Caught 5 but was picky about which two he would keep

After everyone met their limit on Halibut we moved on

back to closer shores and Salmon Fishing

Grandpa and the ocean did not get along so good

but he was feeling better by the time we got back to calmer waters

Austin was nearly the first person to meet his 3 limit Salmon too!

what a super fisherman he was that day!!

Here is Grandpa's catch coming up....

Nice catch Grandpa

Rich and Austin hanging out after they were done

seagulls fallowing the boat

(if you click on any of the pictures they will give you a bigger view)

a boat load of fish

and a GREAT day fishing!!!

Alaska Day 3

2011-07-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

Teaser...will be back with more

Alaska Day 2/Afternoon

2011-07-12T00:51:00.000-07:00

After the boys fished in the morning we headed over to the

one place that Austin REALLY could not stop talking about.

The wildlife conservation center!

this is a refuge for Animals that have been inured

or whatever else has brought them to this new (sometimes temporary) home

First we say these Brown bear cubs

they are 17 months old and

their mothers were killed

they are not siblings but have grown up to be

brother and sister

they are being hand fed but the trainers are very careful to

not treat them like pets.

they have rarely (maybe only a couple times)

been touched

In the Pen next to the cubs was this black bear...

he was a hoot

while everyone was looking at the feeding demonstration

of the cubs, he was showing off like no other!

next was this Caribou

great horned owl

Moose

an adult brown bear

look at those claws

wood Buffalo

Elk....and a yellow jacket lol

after we let there we drove toward Steward and stopped a lake to try fishing again

we saw a sea plane doing touch and go's

that was pretty cool

and this last picture is just for Austin's friend Dan....

Alaska Day 2/ Morning

2011-07-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

First thing in the morning....dad and Grandpa took Austin to the

river just up from our campground to give him a little practice in his

waders...

looking to catch some trout....

no luck....

Fish 1 Boys 0

Rich giving Austin alittle instruction

Grandpa

Rich

Austin

Grandpa

Rich

Grandpa

The boys....

Alaska Day 1

2011-07-11T20:07:00.001-07:00

Well we arrived on our fun adventure...

after getting our luggage, renting our RV and getting grocery's

we headed out toward Seward

We stopped at a beautiful camp ground in Williwaw

near Portage

we went for alittle walk and got these shots

beautiful flowers and everything was sooo green

There were Huge mountains with glaciers

and waterfalls running down the mountains

Rich is a happy camper in his Indian Jones hat!!

Beautiful walk ways and bridges

Austin and Dad

Austin, Grandpa and Dad

More Glaciers

and waterfalls

we had a great first day!

All Stars....

2011-07-06T23:18:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned previously...Noah and Sawyer both made the 10-11 year old All Star team

They went undefeated in their first round

and are now moving on to round 2

Round 2 will be played in Page Next week

Noah Plays starting Catcher

Saywer Plays Left Field

Noah hit a triple in the first game which was pretty sweeeeet.

Noah During warm ups...

Sawyer in the line up

Noah in the line up...

The team...love this picture

Brynlee hanging out with Papa watching the game

Noah Catching

Noah Hitting

A little brotherly love in the stands

Sawyer batting

Good luck at the next round boys!

Very Bazaar

2011-07-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

To see Turkeys roaming through your neighborhood?

there were three of them walking down our street today

kind of Bazaar I would say...

4th of July.....

2011-07-06T22:50:00.002-07:00

BEWARE: BRYNLEE OVER LOAD!!

The 4th of July is finally here!

My favorite holiday of them all...

I love (and insist) that my kids all spend the 4th with US

Brittnee and Brynlee were able to come this year which was a special treat.

James was at training so he could not come...

I hope he can make it next time.

so on Friday we went to the Show Low Rodeo together

that was really fun.

Taylor has a friend who rides bulls and they talked Noah into riding a steer!

we have video on Brittnees camera so i will have to add that later

but he stayed on for 1.4 seconds!

not to shabby for a first timer

(and a last timer, if you ask his mother)

On Saturday, Brittnee, Taylor, Natalie, Hayden, Lynn and I went to the Taylor Rodeo

that was an awesome experience!

I have never been before and it is a great facility!

The Rodeo was great

Colton(Taylor's friend) rode a bull

he didn't stay on long enough but he did a good job anyways

very nerve racking!

I don't know how his mother does it!!

After the Rodeo they had fireworks

this ended up being the only firework show on the mountain

wish we would have known then that they would be canceling the

Show Low fireworks because we would have taken Quade to see the fireworks

that boy LIVES for firework!!!

He was very very unbelievably very disappointed to not get fireworks this year...

he loves fireworks more then Christmas i think!!

anyways....the Fireworks show was great in Taylor

it was very touching...

the crowd sang the songs that were playing during the show

and it had to bring a tear to your eye!

I love small town 4th of July!

on Monday we went to the annual Show Low Parade

Pictures below ...

sorry for the Brynlee overload but I CANT HELP IT!!

I have missed this little sweet girl soooo much!!!

Brynlee at her first parade

(that she remembers)

Hayden and Quade

Waiting for it to start

Here it comes YAYA (that's me)

Hi over there!!!

All American girl!!

Watching with Taylor and Colton

Gangs all here

back row: lady I don't know, Brittnee, my sister Lynn, Quade

Front Row: Colton, Brynlee, Taylor, Hayden and Natalie

Sawyer and Noah got to be in the parade with the Cellular One Float

Rich too....he stopped by so Brynlee could say hi to her PAPA

she cried when he left....

who's that????

Fire Cadet Austin of course...

2011-06-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

I have TWO!!!!

and they are both VERY happy!!!

let the games......

continue!

Happy 2nd Birthday ....

2011-06-02T00:43:00.001-07:00

to our Auburn haired beauty!!!

I miss her soooo much!

ALLLLLLLL DONE!

2011-05-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Its official!

Austin is FINISHED!!!!!

And he has the goods to prove it!!!

Way to go Austin!!

we are sooooooooooo Proud of you!!!

Super Senior....

2011-05-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Austin was recognized this year at the super senior banquet!

I have some awesome speech video

but Blogger is not letting me upload it...i think its too long

But the cool part was that they gave Austin a football Jersey and said they would be retiring the number

in Austin's honor! pretty cool ya?

Exchange Students....

2011-05-19T16:46:00.001-07:00

This week we had our exchange student end of the year get together.

Here is a link to the video I put together for them!
It was a fun year and we really enjoyed having all of these great kids in our community and schools.
http://www.vimeo.com/23715040

Special Olympics....

2011-05-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

Special Olympics was great fun this year.....

the boys got medals for their events

and had a great time with their Buddies from the track team

Taylor got to be a buddie too!

Acceptance....

2011-04-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

Hayden has been working for a Physical Therapist for about a year now and decided after working there for a few months that this was the career he wanted to go in to.

He Applied for Physical Therapy Assistance school and found out today that he was accepted.

He starts in September and its a two year program!

We are excited and proud of him.

We are glad he has been able to find something that suits him and I think this is a great field for him.

He is very people oriented and loves to be around all different people, young or old he just loves people. He also loves sports so I think that will also be a direction he can go into that will make him happy.

So with that...he is on to a new adventure.

Today is a good day at our house!

Next stop....

2011-04-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Alaska!

Austin will officially Graduate this year

and we have been promising him

a trip anywhere (within reason)

that he would like to go

so after much deliberation....

he decided he just wants to go fishing...

but where?

Florida was the first choice

but in Florida we would have to Charter

and probably only go out fishing one day

So then we started talking about Alaska

and that he could fish everyday there

so Alaska it is!!!

We will go in July!

April showers???

2011-04-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

Ya right!!!

Looks to be about a foot and its still coming down!

Newest member of the family....

2011-04-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

I Finally graduated from Cub Scouts....

2011-04-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

Ok technically the boys graduated but that also means that I am finally

DONE with Cub Scouts...

after 14 years and 5 boys I am D-O-N-E!!

now there is always boy scouts to conquer

but it just feels good to finally be moving on

Noah and Sawyer receiving their arrows of light

Me receiving MY arrow of light LOL

Love these boys.....

Final group hug with the webelos Den

Alittle crossing over into boy scouts

Being accepted into the 11 year old scout den by

the Eagle Scouts

Its a goooood feeling!!

Way to go my boys!!!!

speaking of babies....

2011-03-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

I think ours have grown up...

no one really calls them the babies anymore :(

The "babies" turned 11 years old this last Monday!!

isn't that INSANE????

I just don't know how this happened so fast...

here are a few birthday pictures..

And another one of those series of photos

in hopes of ONE good one!

Happy Birthday to my BABIES!!!

Brynlee baby....

2011-03-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

While we were away, our wonderful Brittnee came AGAIN to watch the troops!

what would we do without our wonderful Brittnee??

well of course she brought with her our Brynlee Baby

I brought Brynlee home this cute outfit so I had to get some pictures of her in it before she went home.

Isn't she the cutest!!??!!

Just look at those eyes!!!!

love this baby girl

Vegas Baby.....

2011-03-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

So two weeks ago we were able to go to Las Vegas for an EF meeting. We decided this time, since it was semi close to just go ahead and drive rather then fly. Doing this allowed us to be able to take a couple kids with us. Since Hayden just turned 21 we thought it was a good choice to take him and then we went ahead and took Taylor too. Its hard for a 21 year old to get in too much trouble when he is attached to a 16 year old right??haha..

So we had a great time and did alot of things and saw alot of things.

I'm sure you have all seen plenty of pictures of Vegas so I wont bore you with that but i did want to share with you a funny series of pictures....

WHY does it take multiple pictures to get ONE good shot of the hooligans?

Yes it is True!!!

2011-03-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

He Turns 21 today!!!

HOW do these things happen so fast??

He came into the world in his own way

and he has lived his life the same

(never a dull moment when Hayden is around)

lucky for us

his own way is a good way

love this boy!

Very proud he is my son...

Brittnee....

2011-02-14T10:03:00.000-07:00

Today on Valentines day...

I want to tell you what an amazing daughter I have....

She is a great daughter

She is an amazing mother

and

She is a great wife

Brittnee has always been a very responsible girl

wise and mature beyond her years

I want to tell her that I love her

and I want to thank her again

for all she does for me....

every year she comes and holds down the fort

so Rich and I can escape this loca casa

and hang out in paradise for a week

(this year for two weeks)

We (mainly me) need it to

refresh and rejuvenate

I also want to thank her again

for letting me come

to New Mexico last week

to kinda crash her date

and go to Wicked with her

Thank you for taking ME..

it was an amazing musical

and I loved spending that time with you!!!

I was just thinking yesterday that she has been

gone from home for 6 years now!

time just keeps rushing by..

Thank you again Brittnee for ALL you do for me

You are an

amazing,

beautiful,

wonderful women

and I'm SO proud to say you are my

DAUGHTER

*~Jones Jibberish~*

Happy Birthday to my 17 year old babies!!!!

Winter Formal

Christmas Day 2011

Twas the night before Christmas.....

Last Night....

Early Christmas

The North Pole Experience

Blue Ridge vs. Show Low Football - A photo gallery

Blue Ridge vs. Show Low Football - A photo gallery

Happy Birthday James!!!

Just....

Update...

A little shout out....

Haydens comin home....

Tooth Fairy.....

Posting this for my mom to see....

Taylor and I go to DC

Halloween

Football 2011

Here is the answer to the Riddle....

Here is another clue.....or two.....

Guess where Quade and Rich are today....on Richs birthday!?!?

Honor Roll....

Barcelona, Spain

Wishing Austin....

Next Stop....

Funny Email...

Great Trip....but.....

4H

Daddy's new wheels

Momma's new Ride

Noah rides a steer!

Made the paper....

Day late.....

Alaska Day 8

Alaska Day 7

Alaska Day 6

Alaska Day 5

Alaska Day 4

Alaska day 3 "AFTER THE CATCH"

Alaska Day 3 FISH ON!!

Alaska Day 3

Alaska Day 2/Afternoon

Alaska Day 2/ Morning

Alaska Day 1

All Stars....

Very Bazaar

4th of July.....

Happy 2nd Birthday ....

ALLLLLLLL DONE!

Super Senior....

Exchange Students....

Special Olympics....

Acceptance....

Next stop....

April showers???

Newest member of the family....

I Finally graduated from Cub Scouts....

speaking of babies....

Brynlee baby....

Vegas Baby.....

Yes it is True!!!

Brittnee....

~Jones Jibberish~