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.....

A day of Snowboarding....

I took the kids up snowboarding yesterday...they had a ton of fun and have not lost their abilities over the summer..Noah and Sawyer went up to midway with the girls....made me REALLY nervous but they did fine and by the end of the day were zooming down midway!

Hayden giving Natalie alittle help (emphesis on LITTLE)

Natalie and Taylor "chillin" (not really...it was sooo warm that day, the kids were shedding clothes 15 minutes after we got there

Austin...who went to the top, by himselft, for the first time...

Austin and Sawyer on the bunnyhill lift

A few snaps from they day....

Sawyer-boy
Noah takin a break

Hayden teaching a snowboard lesson

Noah coming down midway

Hayden catchin' some air (no he's not hanging off the lift LOL)

Some Video.....

Hayden gettin' alittle air at the board park

Noah's second time down midway

Sawyer coming down from midway....you may have to watch this one a couple times to pick him out...he's about half way up, right in the middle.

More football....

Sorry people, I promise its almost over...

The All Arizona lists came out today...and although Hayden did not make the list for 1A-5A All Arizona (which is very hard to do, BR only had one person make that list) he did make the 1A-3A All Arizona team (second team) only 4 BR players made this list.... When I told him this morning...he said....it is VERY exciting BUT...its not a Gold football (meaning a championship) It will take some time to get past that I guess....and it shows that he is a Team player

So I'm pretty sure that this is the list of boys who will play in the All-Star game in June-ish

here is the list

2008 Class 3A-1A Football Team

First Team - Offense

Matt Inman QB 6-0 180 Sr. Yuma Catholic

Shad Bride RB 5-11 200 Sr. St. Johns

Griffen Sturm RB 5-11 175 Sr. Lakeside Blue Ridge

Logan Garner C 5-9 232 Jr. Payson

Matt Wilson OL 6-6 272 Sr. Payson

Blake Crissman OL 6-3 250 Sr. Wickenburg

Davis Voss OL 6-1 215 Sr. Chandler Valley Christian

Matt Scouler OL 6-1 250 Sr. Phoenix Christian

Ethan Hageness TE 6-3 190 Sr. Phoenix Christian

Ernesto Samienego WR 6-2 180 Sr. Yuma Catholic

Adam Mosbrucker WR 6-1 182 Sr. Phoenix Northwest Christian

John Wommer K 5-11 170 Sr. Phoenix Christian

First Team - Defense

Bryan Burke DL 6-4 235 Sr. Payson

Michael Munsil DL 6-1 255 Sr. Scottsdale Christian

Alex Forehand DL 6-3 195 Jr. Fountain Hills

Joel Ballew DL 6-3 250 Jr. Valley Christian

Steel Armstrong LB 6-2 230 Sr. Lakeside Blue Ridge

David Carlen LB 6-1 210 Sr. Payson

Stephen Sasso LB 6-2 180 Sr. Chandler Valley Christian

Justin Smith DB 6-2 192 Sr. Safford

Chase Peterson DB 5-11 175 Sr. Fountain Hills

Jordan Morgan DB 6-0 190 So. Valley Christian

Shane Keith DB 6-0 180 Sr. Payson

Jake Storrer P 5-9 180 Sr. Scottsdale Christian

Kyle Hauser KR 6-0 160 Sr. St. Johns

Second Team - Offense

Ridge Halenar QB 5-10 180 Sr. Payson

Kyle Graf RB 5-6 165 Jr. Benson

Matt Reidhead RB 5-8 180 Sr. Snowflake

Conner Ruppert C 5-11 270 Sr.

Fountain Hills Matt Scouler OL 6-1 250 Sr.

Phoenix Christian Ken Cuiriz OL 6-0 238 Jr. St. Johns

Hayden Jones OL 6-1 175 Sr. Blue Ridge

J.R. Maner OL 6-2 195 Jr. Heber Mogollon

Preston Luna TE 6-2 190 Sr. Kayenta Monument Valley

T.J. Peters WR 6-1 185 Sr. Eagar Round Valley

Brady Wager WR 6-1 195 Sr. Globe

Stacey Berg K 6-2 185 Sr. Winslow

Second Team - Defense

Tad Siota DL 6-2 265 Sr. River Valley

Gavin Clark DL 5-10 195 Sr. Show Low

Derrick Fenn DL 6-6 235 Sr. Benson

Byron Wahl DL 6-1 182 Sr. St. Johns

Eric Liles LB 5-11 180 Sr. Coolidge

Tyler Savage LB 6-3 190 Sr. Payson

Zach Rollings LB 6-0 230 Sr. Fountain Hills

Tracy Poudrier DB 6-2 165 So. Joseph City

Garrett Anderson DB 5-11 162 Jr. St. Johns

Daniel Rodriguez DB 6-1 165 Sr. Scottsdale Salt River

Sheldon Murphy DB 5-7 160 Sr. Wickenburg

Cody York P 6-2 170 Sr. Payson

Ty Webster KR 6-1 175 Jr. Blue Ridge

OUCH!

Brittnee and James got us a Wii fit for Christmas (no, their not trying to tell us something! right Britt?) The kids were setting it up and the different characters (people) stand on the board and input information and it calculates your size and fit age and stuff like that....

well....when Rich stood on the board to set up his character....the Wii fit said......

Owwwww!

Now THAT'S funny stuff right there!!

and...the GREATEST gift of all....

Well as usual, I spent all the money before Rich had a chance to buy me anything. So i was expecting nothing..which was fine, because I would much rather spend it on everyone else anyway. So we get to the end of the present opening...and there is one gift left under the tree. Rich gives it to me, and I'm totally surprised and shocked (cuz I'm not expecting anything remember) So I open it up and see the back first.....its obviously a picture but as I open it up i Read this poem that Rich Wrote.

Innocence
A child so pure
A gift from above
On loan to us
To teach us pure love
Wrapped uniquely with care
By Gods loving hands
A giant of spirits
Placed here among man
The love that is his
He learned from his brother
No anger no hate
No conditions for others
His wonderful hug
That we need to savor
It’s simply no less,
Than the love of ourSavior

Rich Jones

And then I turn the picture around to revel this....

(click on the picture to get a closer look)

If your not getting it.....

here is the inspiration...

There is a story about how this picture came about....I will post more about that later.

So for now, just savor the moment as much as I am!

Excitement Personified

Quade was the highlight this year....with his Christmas list, that we heard about constantly. And when I say constantly, I mean C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-L-Y!! over and over every day for at least the last week. CENA, PLAYER, HELMETS, CENA, PLAYER, HELMETS......SO guess what Quade got for Christmas???? yep, you guessed it.....do i even need to say it again!?!?! First he opened his iPod Shuffle (which was prefilled with his favorite songs, thanks to Hayden) Its purple too!!! So i think he was pretty shocked and amazed with that...then next came his box of wrestling guys....Hardy, Triple H, and some other dude that I cant remember what his name is....but Quade knew who he was, and thats all that matters. He has asked for all three of those guys in the same sentence as CENA, CENA, CENA....in the box was another wrapped present, any guesses what that might have been??? (This guy is so hard to find, I actually had to order him off the WWE site. Quade was SOOOOO excited, he was actually shaking as he was opening up his wrestling guys! Don't ask me what the fascination is with the wrestling guys but its equal to his love of music and "players". And his last gift had none other then little football helmets, equally thrilling for Quade....??? It was so fun to watch the excitement in his eyes...he makes Christmas so worth the time, effort and money spent.

Christmas Morning

We woke up this morning to more snow! about 3 new inches...so not only did we get a white Christmas but we got a FRESH white Christmas. The kids called us (on the cell phone LOL) because, as tradition would have it, they all slept in the same room together with Hayden sleeping in front of the door to prevent any sneaking and peeking.. so back to the story...they called us and woke us up at about 6:30 (per instructions NOT to call before 6:30) So we got up and went to relieve them of their waiting...They lined up, youngest to oldest (again, per tradition) and then they marched out to see what surprises awaited them. Here are some pictures from Christmas morning....

Christmas 2008