Jared and Melissa Jones Family

Mackayla turns 6

2012-01-26T20:59:00.001-08:00

Our baby is 6! We got home from our Christmas trip on the evening of January 2, and had a nice family birthday party for her on her birthday, the 3rd. We had another little birthday party for her with her cousins on Friday the 6th. That gave me a few more days to get the pinata done and the house back in order after our trip.

She wanted cinnamon rolls for her birthday breakfast. Then she got to take treats to kindergarten and had a good time at school.

That afternoon she got to go to dance class. Another great way to spend her birthday.

After dance, we met Daddy over at Texas Roadhouse, which is where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner. They sang to her at the restaurant, but she didn't really appreciate the extra attention from strangers. She did enjoy the ice cream though!

At home, ready for presents.

She got some new clothes and couldn't wait to try them on!

Mackayla wanted a mermaid themed birthday, and gave me specific instructions on how to make her cake. She wanted her mermaid barbie sitting on a rock in the ocean with a little of the cake being a beach. She is wearing the crown she got from school that day.

On Friday she had mermaid cupcakes. She asked for a fish pinata. She wanted it to look like Flounder, but pink and purple.

The Nelsons joined us for that party along with the Henry girls, Brooke and Michelle.

Mackayla picked out the games she wanted to play. They played pin the mermaid on the rock, had a cake walk, and had mermaid races with their legs tied together like one fin.

Mackayla was pretty sad when it was actually time to destroy her beautiful fish, and wanted one last picture with it.

Hitting the pinata.

Cake time! The party kids.

She got a few more gifts at this party, and had a wonderful night!

Mackayla at six:

Mackayla is a wonderful, lively little girl. She thoroughly enjoys kindergarten, dance, and playing with her brothers. She plans on being a professional ballerina when she grows up. Both Bradley and Jacob can't wait for her to get home from school, and love to play with her all afternoon. She loves to teach them both how to do everything from reading, writing, and talking properly. Also, she is SO excited for her new sister to join the family in April. She likes to play with dolls and barbies, playing on the computer, and LOVES to draw and do crafts. She is a great help around the house, and a great sister and daughter. We love you Mackayla!

In between her two parties we received our Christmas package from Papa and Nini, and had another little Christmas party.

The boys in their new camp chairs from Great Grandma Jones

Let the fun begin!

January was a busy month. Bradley did Itty Bitty Basketball a few mornings a week and loved it. It really sparked his interest in the game, and he loved playing defense and making baskets. Jared took him over to the church gym in Yakima to practice before his class began, and within a few minutes of trying to dribble he jammed his finger. It was black and blue, and hurt. So, he decided he wasn't going to dribble anymore, and never did during his basketball class. He is going to have to overcome that before he can make it to the pros. :)

Jacob started potty training right after we got back from our trip as well. The first week went so well, but he has regressed a little since then and is still having occasional accidents. Its such a frustrating and exhausting process, but we are so excited to not be buying diapers right now! I had not had a single day of not changing diapers in over 6 years, and now we are diaper free!!! Of course, we have less than three months until we have a baby and start all over again. :)

We've had a stomach bug run through a couple of the kids, and the rest of us had a cold, but we are feeling good again now. The first couple weeks of January were also rough because I had cracked (or something) ribs and was in a lot of pain. My doctor said they see that more often in 3rd and 4th pregnancy as things in the body are expanding. It kept getting worse and worse and I wasn't sure I was going to survive, but then it did finally start getting better. It's so nice not having to dread a sneeze or a cough, and not having to get mad at people for making me laugh and bringing me more pain! Our baby is still looking really healthy though, and my fluid levels have gone up, so all the hardships of pregnancy are really just a small sacrifice! We're getting so excited for April to come and to have our new baby!

I think that about sums up the month of January!

Finishing 2011

2012-01-16T20:31:00.000-08:00

We spent the week between Christmas and New Years just playing and having a great time. We left on the afternoon of New Years Day to head back home.

Here are the kids playing with the stamps they got for Christmas

Bradley playing a game

We went over to the church gym one afternoon to play, and try out Mitchell's new car he got for Christmas. Everyone played a very dangerous game of soccer, while Jacob and Eden drove around in circles the whole time.

Jared playing some pool

Dad and Mom trying to blow their ball in during a couples game.

Mackayla reading the new books Jacob gave her to Grandma.

We went bowling one afternoon. It was the kids' first time to bowl. They loved it, but poor Jared had to help all three of them throw the ball everytime. I'm sure his back was pretty sore by the end of the game.

Jared and Jacob in their matching "pirate shirts." Jacob helped me pick out this shirt for Jared at the store. He helped me wrap it, and was so excited to give to him for Christmas. On Christmas morning when Jared opened it, Jacob yelled, "Yay! Your pirate shirt!!" Apparently, the whole time he thought he was giving his dad a pirate shirt for Christmas. It was pretty funny. Then a few days later we were at a store, and I saw a little shirt just like it on sale so I got Jacob one that matched. He loves having a matching pirate shirt.

When in Yakima, we always get to spend our lunches at Taco Bell with Grandma Davenport.

Since we were leaving on New Year's Day, my mom made a nice dinner on New Year's Eve. Then we Spent the rest of the night playing and hanging out.

Scott and Jaden happen to already own some "pirate shrirts" so they decided to join in on the fun.

Using a spatula as a sword

Ha Ha

Playing twister

We rang in the new year with the East coast at 9pm our time, for the kids. Heather had lots of the noise makers for the kids.

Mackayla got to open a few early birthday presents from Heather and the Aprils that night also.

I did it! I was so tired, but I stayed awake (mostly) until midnight.

Celebrating with some sparkling cider.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!

2012-01-12T21:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2011 was another wonderful Christmas! We left a couple of days before Christmas to head up to Yakima to spend the Holidays with my family. The weather was clear and the kids were great travelers.
Here they are all loaded up and ready to head out.

We got there the afternoon of the 23rd, and that night Santa came to visit at Grandma's and Grandpa's house. He really wanted to pay a special visit to Mitchel,l but we all got to enjoy his company for a full hour. The Tree family was all there too!
Here are the boys with Santa. Mackayla preferred to keep her distance and never left her Daddy's side the entire time he was there.

Mackayla hanging on to Jared's leg while Santa was there.

Everyone enjoying the show that Santa put on.

Jacob helping Santa

Mackayla was in charge of apple pies for Christmas dinner and made some beautiful poinsettia pies on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve dinner at Burger King! We had a big group there with all the Hatfields and the Trees.

Enjoying our whoppers

After Burger King we drove out to the Trees for a few minutes to see their lights and visit. Then we headed back for our Christmas Eve program and festivities.

The Holts performing a number

The Hatfield Family

Performing our Jingle Bells dance

Jared and kids enjoying the show

Then downstairs to enjoy the fire and lots of goodies!

Opening their Christmas pajamas

Jacob was really tired so we had trouble getting many good pictures in pajamas.

They all got monkey pajamas this year!

Some of the cousins in their pajamas. We're missing the youngest from each of the three families because they were all too tired.

Aunt Heather and Mackayla

What's better than being a kid at Christmas? Being a parent at Christmas! (I stole that from Danielle's blog.) Santa came and I was so excited, I hardly slept all night. Once I finally got to sleep, I woke up at least once every hour hoping it was time to get up!

Church started at 11:30. We got started by 7am and had plenty of time to open all our gifts before hand.
We were waiting at the stairs to go in and see what Santa brought!

Jacob got the game Elefun

Mackayla got a baby bed and play set and the Baby Alive doll she wanted so badly, and she was even wearing matching pajamas.

Bradley wanted star war toys, and got the Millennium Falcon spaceship

Jared going through his stocking

The kids opening their soft blankets from Jason and Elena

The few days before and after Christmas there was a stomach bug going through the families. Luckily our family escaped it for the most part. Unfortunately, my mom spent the entire night before Christmas throwing up. She at least felt good enough to enjoy the festivities from her chair behind Mackayla in this picture.

Lots of new toys

Playing guitars

I love Jacob's face in this picture

Grandpa Santa burning the wrapping paper

Mackayla and Bradley have been asking for a pogo stick for Christmas for years. We finished off the presents with the kids finally receiving their pogo stick.

Then we had some Cinnamon rolls and fruit for breakfast

Taking Mackayla's new dog for a walk. We can't wait for Christmas to come again this year!

Christmas Festivities

2011-12-20T13:38:00.000-08:00

December, as usual, has been filled with fun events and activities. We've had a great time and are looking forward to our trip home to Washington in a couple of days.

Sunday we had our nice Christmas dinner

Santa waffles for breakfast

Gingerbread men

Red and white swirls cookies

Green and white checker board cookies:

The kids are cheering for Jared because, although they had their doubts, when he cut the dough it was indeed a checker board pattern.

I was in charge of an activity at Mackayla's class Christmas party. We made snowmen out of marshmallows.

Santa showed up at kindergarten that day! Mackayla was pretty nervous to have to talk to him. She told me afterwards, "that is why I just like to write him a letter!"

The boys wanted to make some snowmen too when I got home.

The boys have been taking turns being Santa, riding a reindeer and pulling his sleigh.

Cute boy!

Last week, Bradley, Jacob and I got to go to Mackayla's class for a short little Christmas program. They sang 5 songs for us. Mackayla was a great performer and kept her big smile on throughout every song. Jacob LOVED the show. He was dancing in his chair the whole time and clapped like crazy after every song.

Working late into the night on Christmas projects. These days that means it was probably getting close to 10:00 and I went to bed very shortly after that.

We made wreath treats one night for FHE.

The kids loved buttering up their hands and getting all sticky.

The Sunday after Mackayla's dance recital, she wanted us to set the table nice so her flowers could be the center piece. They did look very lovely.

Decorating the Christmas tree.

Jacob put all the balls on one limb of the tree.

Jacob filled a laundry basket with blankets and pillows and made himself a comfy seat right in front of the TV.

Bradley's favorite outfit is wearing just his underwear. I found him standing on the air vent one day with the heater going, trying to get warm. I had to take a picture!

We had a couple of parties and events this month also. At Jared's work party this year they had a big raffle and we won the grand prize of a new TV! It was pretty exciting. We're all so excited that Christmas is finally here and can't wait to join more family to celebrate! I shouldn't have to go to any more stores or do any big projects or any more wrapping for Christmas so now we can just enjoy the season!

Mackayla's Dance Recital

2011-12-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

Mackayla loved every second of dance class this fall. As it was getting closer to her recital she asked me if she gets to take dance again in January. I told her I would have to talk to Dad about it and she replied, "well since I'm going to a ballerina when I grow up, I think I need to take one more dance class." I couldn't argue with that. One more dance class is probably needed before she can become a professional dancer. :)

She had her first ever dance recital on December 1st. She was so excited and never got nervous about it at all. She looked beautiful and I couldn't pick just a couple of pictures so here is a bunch.

Here are all her male fans that came to see the show!

I was so proud of her! Daddy gave her these flowers after the recital.

Jacob loved the entire recital as long as we let him watch from the floor. He loves to lay on the floor everywhere which is a bit of a problem sometimes.

On stage before the show

A few action shots during the dress rehearsal the night before!

It will be so fun to look back at these pictures of her first dance recital when she grows up and is a ballerina!!!

Thanksgiving Week

2011-12-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

My computer suddenly won't read my camera card anymore so it's taken me awhile to get all these pictures together but I'm hoping to finally catch up.

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday with the Jones family. Jared's parents and grandmother all flew up to spend Thanksgiving with us here in Utah.

We took family pictures on Saturday. I don't have any of the pictures yet but this is just a snapshot of just our family afterwards.

Jacob eating his Thanksgiving dinner.

Mackayla

Bradley

We were very blessed to also have the LeSueurs join us for Thanksgiving dinner

The other table

Our table made it onto facebook thanks to Chelsea! I thought I'd add it to our post also.

Bradley and Mackayla were ready to eat

I added this picture just because its the only picture I could find of me on Thanksgiving day. Unfortunately it's by back side...

The kids had a great time helping Dad and Papa burn the fire in the pit and preparing the turkey Wednesday night. Unfortunately, things with the turkey didn't work out so we had some chicken and ham at the last minute with our meal. It was still delicious.

Wednesday before Thanksgiving we went up to Ashley's and joined them at a fun place for the kids.

Bumper cars

Before Thanksgiving, the boys made turkey hats at school.

For one of our Family Home Evenings in November we made a Thankful tree. Everyone wrote something they were thankful for on 10 different leaves the first night. Then they kept adding leaves throughout the month as they thought of more things to be thankful for. (This is all Bradley usually has on by the time evening comes.)

The weekend before Thanksgiving the Holts came to visit on their way to Preston. We were so excited to get to see them for two days. We went to the Lehi swimming pool one night and had a great time. The kids always love to get to see their cousins.

Eating Breakfast

Cousins

Jacob and Cannon

I may come back and add more details to my writing when I'm not so tired... or I may not.

making pies

2011-12-15T20:36:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving morning was spent helping Mackayla and Bradley make pies for the big dinner. Nini did such a good job documenting the whole experience with pictures I just had to give the event it's own post.

I realized after I uploaded all the pictures they are in reverse order but there is NO chance of me redoing it so here it is from end to beginning.

Mackayla enjoying her apple pie

Bradley eating the banana cream pie he made.

His finished product

Her Apple pie

pouring in the pudding

Stirring

ready to go in the oven

she wanted to cut a flower into her crust

Jacob was a good helper too

preparing the apple pie filling

Learning to flute the edges

They were very proud to have contributed pies to Thanksgiving dinner and both pies really were DELICIOUS!!

Happy Birthday Melissa

2011-11-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

I turned 32 this year! Bradley and Mackayla made me some cupcakes. After Mackayla's dance class, we met Jared at Cafe Rio for dinner. Then we came home and I just hung out for awhile while everyone else frosted the cupcakes and wrapped some presents.

My children are always so helpful. By the time I tried to blow out the candles they had already blown them all out but one!

Jacob really enjoyed the cupcakes!

Bradley loved the frosting!

Ready to open presents

Cards from the kids

Making the cupcakes earlier that afternoon.

The couple days before my birthday I suddenly came down with a HORRIBLE rash that covered me from head to toe. It was miserable! I was at the Dr's office for that on the 7th when they discovered that my amniotic fluids were very low. They wanted me to come back as soon as possible for a full ultrasound since that could indicate something very wrong with the baby or pregnancy. The soonest they could get me in was the morning of the 9th. Between that and the rash my birthday wasn't exactly relaxing. I appreciated all that my kids and husband did to make me feel special that day though!

As a follow up to that story, they couldn't see anything wrong with the baby in the ultrasound but wanted me to have another one at the hospital to double check. It was a huge relief and we also found out that it is a baby girl!! We just had our hospital ultrasound last week and again they couldn't find anything wrong with our baby but the fluids were still low. We are suppose to go back in one month for another one. If they still see no problems we will then go back to our regular doctor visits.

We had one small snow so far this year at the beginning of the month. The kids had fun walking around in their boots in the snow.

Mackayla had to disguise this turkey for school so it wouldn't be eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. She dressed her Turkey as a princess.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-15T14:03:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to play catch-up again! Halloween was fun, although it did put a big damper on the party that both boys were sick - fighting a fever. That afternoon Bradley got really sick and couldn't even move off of the couch. I felt so bad that he was going to have to miss Halloween. His fever finally broke right before Jared and Mackayla were about to leave for trick or treating, and he insisted he was going with them. It was a pretty warm night, so we put the boys costumes on really quickly, and let them go to just a few houses. They were gone less than ten minutes, but were worn out by the time they got back. Then Jared and Mackayla headed out for a while to collect more candy. At least the boys got to have a bit of Halloween. Bradley lost his voice completely for a couple of days, and Jacob could only talk very quietly. It sure was quiet around the house!

Here they are on their way out.

Captain Jack Sparrow

Buzz Light Year

Elmo

Beautiful witch!

I had a matching witch outfit, but because of the craziness of two sick kids I didn't end up having a chance to dress up that night.

Our Halloween party was a very simple event due to the sick children.

This picture is included only as evidence that I do exist and was present on that Halloween night.

I gave Bradley and Jacob a huge handful of candy when they trick or treated to our house as they came back home. This was all the candy they got, but both were very pleased. Mackayla has been very nice about sharing all the candy she got, and they still have plenty left.

Bradley had to show off his loot.

An action shot of the trick or treaters

Mackayla's school had a Halloween parade. She was so excited since this was her first parade to march in.

Carving a pumpkin the night before Halloween. Bradley didn't feel well enough to participate.

Our Jack o Lantern

We had a trunk or treating activity with our new ward a few days before Halloween. Jared got lots of comments and looks from his tattoo sleeves. No one could tell if they were real or not. Jacob didn't want to put his costume on until it was time to get the candy.

Bradley and Mackayla ready for the trunk or treating.

I did wear my witch costume that night, but didn't end up with a picture of it.

I gave Jared guitar lessons on a DVD for Father's Day since he's been wanting to learn to play. He's started doing the lessons lately, and is picking up on it quickly.

Breakfast with Daddy before work one morning.

Mackayla and the leaves she collected on our drive into the Mountains.

These are in backwards order, but I'm too tired to fix them. We went for a drive in mid-October to see all the beautiful fall colors. We stopped at Sundance on the way home to look around. Bradley had fallen asleep on the drive, and was still very tired.

We drove the Alpine Loop and saw a lot of great colors.

Bradley took this picture of Jared and me.

Jacob exploring at a picnic sight.

We started the drive out with a picnic. My mouth is full, and I'm chewing, but there are so few pictures of me I can't be picky. :)

Bradley turns 4!!

2011-10-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

The boy that we adore, has finally turned four!

I thought it would be really nice and special if I wrote a poem for Bradley. It turned out really well I think.

Bradley has been planning a Kung Fu Panda birthday party for months, and couldn't wait for this day to finally arrive. Since his birthday was on a Saturday we were able to party from sun-up to sun-down.

Here is the happy birthday boy with his Panda cake and Tai-Lung pinata.

He wanted waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast.

With his presents

Spencer, Sophie, and Lexie joined us for an early afternoon party. We started off going to Mr. Ping's Noodle House for lunch.

The first game he requested was pin the dragon scroll on Po. He didn't want to be blindfolded or close his eyes though. Amazingly he got it right onto Po's hand.

For the next activity Master Bradley helped to train the other kids in the art of Kung Fu. They had to hit/kick each balloon as it came at them.

They finally the event he was most exited about; fighting Tai-Lung. He'd been looking forward to kung fu-ing his pinata open for a very long time!

The kids loved fighting Tai-Lung. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but Jacob was VERY into this fight and had a mean, determined look on his face every time he hit it. It was pretty funny. They got it ripped open and were so happy that they had defeated Tai-Lung!

Mackayla found this Kung Fu Panda stuffed animal at a yard sale this summer and had been waiting to give it to him on his birthday.

Jacob loves the panda and Bradley's new skateboard

Cake time!

Bradley loves the skateboard his Daddy got him, but loves the pads and helmet even more.
He felt completely invincible with all his armor on and wore it most of the day.

Bradley got his first transformer. Jared spent a while trying to figure out how to transform it.

Now that Bradley is four he is apparently old enough to take pictures by himself. He took this nice picture of Jared wearing his pants.

He played with all his new toys all afternoon. Then for dinner he wanted his favorite meal; grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

After dinner we rode bikes over to the playground.

Bradley wanted to ride his bike rather than try the skateboard, but Jared still brought it along and played with it himself.

Bradley kept saying "I know I'm so tough with these pads on!"

Bradley was exhausted by the end of the day. He said he was too tired to make it up the stairs for bed.

I always feel bad when the birthday is over. They look forward to them for so long and now it's back to being a full year away. He had a great day, though, and said that every single part of the day was his favorite part.

Bradley is a very active little boy. He is always running and jumping. He has a great imagination and can turn almost any object into a sword. This is a hobby Jacob shares with him. The two of them are always sword fighting together. They are both really into star wars, and are most often pretending to have light sabers. Jared has just started showing Bradley the star wars movies and he can't get enough of them. Bradley's other true love is Kung Fu. He is a self proclaimed master and spends a lot of time training Mackayla in the art. He loves it when daddy gets home because he is a better kung fu/sword fighting opponent than I am. He is a wonderful brother. Now that Mackayla is gone in the mornings, he and Jacob have fun playing together for hours. Then, in the afternoon while Jacob is sleeping, he plays for hours with Mackayla. They really are his best friends. He's also having fun becoming better friends with some of the boys in the neighborhood. He loves carrying the title of "Man of the House" when daddy is gone. He is often running around the house in his underwear. We do make him get dressed in the mornings, but as the day goes by his clothes somehow come off. He is a very smart little boy and loves learning new things. He's a very good reader for his age, and is working on writing his letters more. He does still have a few things to learn. The other day we were walking through the toy isle at the store and Bradley said "oh look, that game must be for boys because you really have to think to play that game." Of course, I blame Jared for him thinking that way. :) He thinks his daddy is smarter and stronger than anyone else in the world. This was about a year ago, but I don't' think I ever wrote it down: Bradley use to always say in his prayers "thank you for all the really big things, like the mountains and houses and Daddy." He says the sweetest little prayers and becomes very upset if anyone ever forgets to include his cousin Mitchell in their prayers. He is definitely a mamma's boy. If he's ever hurt or tired he always wants his mommy. We love him so much, and are so grateful for the four years he's been in our lives so far!

The Last Month

2011-10-13T20:32:00.001-07:00

I'd like to apologize to the two, maybe three, people that read this blog, for the lack of updates. I haven't seemed to be keeping up with anything lately. It is taking me a while to adjust to the structured life style that has come with having Mackayla in school every day. Every single day we have to get up and get ready to go... it's getting really old! :) I really don't want to get behind in our family book though so I'm making myself get this done.

Mackayla and Bradley did a great job in the primary program in mid September. That same day they announced they would be creating a new Jordan Willows ward and we were going to be part of it. As they have been getting the new ward organized we've only had Sacrament meeting for several weeks. This last Sunday was our first three hour block in a month. We only know a small handful of families that also came from our previous ward so we have to start over meeting all new people. Jared and I still haven't received callings in our new ward but I think they are coming.

Jared has gone on two different window manufacturer window plant tours in the last month. He spent a few days in Bend, Oregon and a few days in Warroad, Minnesota. I really don't like it when he's gone but we survived both of those trips.

Mackayla is still loving her dance class and is learning her dance now for the recital in December.

Jared was too busy to shave... for several weeks.

Having some ice cream with peaches from our trees. This was our first year to get fruit from the young trees.

It still felt like summer all through September. It didn't start feeling like fall until October. We were able to spend a lot of time outside and loved it. This is Bradley and Jacob playing with the hose one morning in late September.

Mackayla decided she wanted a new hair style and was going to get bangs cuts. Jared and I both tried to talk her out of it since she had just finished growing her bangs out from last year. She was determined though.

Before picture:

After:

She looks beautiful!

Cleaning off the pumpkins they just picked from the garden. We got 5 pumpkins this year, one for each of us.

Picking all the pears off the tree before the first really cold night was about to hit.

The pears were delicious and we've been really enjoying them.

We went to Provo last weekend for the BYU homecoming parade. The kids shouted their hearts out to get noticed so they could get lots of candy!

Yesterday Mackayla went on her very first field trip. It was her first time to ride a bus and she loved every second of her adventure. They went to Hee Ha farms and went on a hay ride, through a corn maze, did some other activities and picked a pumpkin. Mackayla was very attached to her pumpkin by the time she got home and told me it was her best friend. She gave it a bath in the sink and it even slept in her room with her last night.

All curled up.

Jared wears a gray stocking cap outside a lot in the winter. Bradley got a new one and was wearing it all morning telling me he looked exactly like Daddy. He said that when he and Daddy go out in the snow I wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Then he said "well, actually you'll be able to tell which one is me because Daddy would never wear pink boots." At the end of the season last year his boots were getting too small so I put him in some old ones of Mackayla's, which were pink, a couple of times. I assured him that we will get him new boots and he doesn't have to wear pink ones all year. :)

Tomorrow is Bradley's 4th birthday so we are busy getting ready for his special day. I'm sure the birthday post will be up soon!

1st Day of School!

2011-09-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

Our baby girl is now a kindergartner!

Mackayla started school last week and has loved it. She had her outfits for the first couple days picked out weeks in advance. I tried to talk her into wearing one of her new outfits for the first day but, she was determined to stick with her planned clothes. She looked beautiful and so grown up.

Daddy went into work a little late on her first day of school so he could make her breakfast. She requested green pancakes with pink smiley faces so, that is what he made her.

Bradley and Jacob were also very excited to have their first day of school with Mommy. They packed their backpacks the night before (with toys) and picked out their clothes as well.

Standing outside of her classroom.

I always see other people's pictures of their kids first day of kindergarten in their classroom so I assumed we would do the same. I told Mackayla I would walk her into her room, help her find her seat, take a picture, and then we would leave. She was so excited for school to start and its only three hours a day so I didn't think it was going to be a sad event. However, it turned out a little different than I had envisioned. The bell rang, the teacher opened the door, told the kids to come in and wave good bye to their parents. I had no idea parents weren't allowed to go into the classroom. Since Mackayla was in the front part of the line she was in the classroom quickly and I didn't really get to say goodbye. I just quickly yelled, "have fun, I'll be back in a few hours!" I stood outside and watched in the window for a minute. She looked a little nervous as she looked for her spot to sit but she found it. Then I realized I had to leave and that I couldn't even come back in an hour to check on her. I spent the rest of the week depressed. She was gone four hours a week last year with preschool. This year she's gone about fifteen hours and next year she'll be gone 30 hours every week!! I keep thinking about how fast college is going to come!!!

It does make it much easier that she loved the first day of school and was so excited to go back the next day. She thought it was funny though that at her first day of school "they just did fun stuff and didn't really learn anything!" The first week was a great experience for her though.

Standing in front of her school

Then back home, after dropping her off, we started our first day of Mommy school for the year. The boys had a great time.

Working hard at school

Since her outfits were so important to her she wanted a picture every day of the first week.

Day #2

Day #3

Day #4

This was the week before, going in to meet with her teacher for a kindergarten assessment. Mackayla knew all the answers her teacher asked her so she wasn't sure what she was going to learn this year at school.

We spent some of Labor day today getting the rest of our down stairs painted finally.

Here are some of Dad's helpers.

I had to set up some painting stuff of their own to distract them from wanting to help their dad.

The kids digging into their bag of goodies they got from the Magleby summer party last week.

Painting a fruit pizza

Grandpa and Grandma Hatfield were able to make a quick trip down her to see us a couple weeks ago. We had a great time with them. We went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point one night.

Besides enjoying their company it was nice for them to be with us so our whole family could actually be in the same picture!

They almost got eaten by this shark!

The kids were looking forward to playing this fishing game with Grandpa since they just knew he would love it. I'm sure Grandpa thought it was just as much fun as actually fishing. :)

Their days here went by way to fast!

2 and 32!!!

2011-08-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

Jacob turned 2! He practiced blowing out his candles for weeks and at last his birthday finally came. He wanted a "Monkey George" (curious George) cake this year. Mackayla and Bradley made and decorated the banana cookies around the cake for him.

George hanging out of this tree

Jacob is quite the little swimmer, so Bradley picked out some goggles for his present to Jacob.

The Nelsons joined us for the celebration.

Jacob and Lexi

Jacob loves his new big boy underwear

He also loved his golf set, but is only allowed to play now with close supervision. He just found too many uses for the golf clubs. :)

Opening a puzzle

A water table

Blowing out candles

JACOB AT TWO YEARS:
There is so much to say about this cute little boy. He loves his morning milk and cartoons every day. He is a wonderful sleeper (the best so far), but is usually the first one awake every morning. He cries if Daddy leaves for work before he gets up in the morning, spends all day saying he wants Daddy home, and can't wait to play tag with him when he gets there in the evening. He loves to play with Mackayla (still called "Gaga" most of the time) and Bradley. He talks like crazy, is starting to use whole sentences, is constantly using bigger words, and loves to tell jokes. Hide-and-seek and tag are some of his favorite games, and he will adamantly tell you "shhhh" if you're hiding with him. He loves to swim and take baths, and generally anything to do with water. He is super cuddly and loves to give hugs and kisses all the time. Every night he runs to Mommy to take him to the stairs for bed, but prefers that his Daddy tuck him in. We love him so very much!

On an older note, Jared turned 32! I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, and he quickly responded that he wanted an alligator cake because he thought the kids would like that...so that's what he got.

His birthday was on a Sunday so it was nice getting to spend the whole day with him, relaxing and celebrating. It was pouring rain that day, so we tried out the croquet set he got inside.

Before opening presents

After opening presents

JARED AT THIRTY TWO YEARS:
He's nice and strong and very good looking.

I had some projects lined up for Jared after he got his router saw for Father's Day. This was the first one. We took pictures of the boys in the big trucks at Jared's work then blew them up and Jared cut out some wood to glue them on to. They're hanging in the boys' room now.

Apparently, I need to come up with some better dinner conversation. A couple weeks ago, Jared started to doze off at the dinner table while I was talking to him. If anyone knows any good jokes, send them over.

A local store had the Kung Fu Panda visiting one day. We had to go see him since Bradley is one of his biggest fans! Bradley is actually a kung fu master himself.

Hooray for spaghetti!

We finally bought a monthly pass to the City rec center. So, we've been spending a lot of time at the big aquatic center there. For the same price it would have cost to put Mackayla and Bradley in swim lessons for a few weeks, the whole family could sign up for a couple months at the center and have full access to the pool and gym. We decided that was a better option, so every time we go, Jared spends 10 or 15 mins with each of the kids giving them swimming lessons. They LOVE it there! When they don't have our individual attention they wear a life jacket or floaty shirt thing and are very independent in the water then.

Floating the lazy river

Bradley going down on of the slides

The kids love reading about some of the funny things they have said or done, so I am going to try to write more of them down here.

Two nights ago, Mackayla came into our bedroom at 4 AM, wide awake. I was completely out of it and groggy (it was 4!), but asked her what she needed. She then asked me how many seconds there were until it was time to wake up. I told her, "I don't know. You need to go back to bed for at least 3 hours." To which she replied, "No! Not hours. How many seconds?" I wasn't about to do the calculations at that time, so I told her that there were "like a million seconds left" and took her back to bed. I told Jared the story when we woke up in the morning, and he called her over and told her how many seconds were in 3 hours (10,800). Next time she better wake him up since he has all the answers!

Hatfield Family in Yakima

2011-08-02T21:07:00.001-07:00

We went back up to Washington for the last couple weeks in July. Everyone was there for about 4 days, and we packed in a ton of fun during those few days. Jared flew back home Sunday night to work for the week, and then came back up Friday morning. Derek's family was gone to Utah by the time Jared rejoined us, so we just spent some time relaxing at Mom and Dad's house at the end of our trip. It was a whole lot easier on me to just break all my pictures up into a bunch of posts so here they all are...

Family pictures! The Hatfield family now numbers 24 and is still growing.

The original group

Why not?

The Jones Family

With so many children, things always end up getting out of control

Mackayla, Eden, and Meagan. The only Hatfield girl cousins. Each five years apart.

Remlinger Farms amusement park

2011-08-02T15:00:00.001-07:00

We spent one day at Remlinger Farms. Its a tiny little amusement park for kids up in the Seattle area. Our kids had never been to any kind of amusement park before, and had never even been on any rides, so this was very exciting for them. It was a FUN, FUN day!

The whole group

My little strawberries

Jared was a fast pedal racer

Heather and Mackayla driving

Bradley and Jacob taking us for a ride

The kids were so excited for their first roller coaster. I was feeling particularly daring that day as I lifted one hand into the air. I could have lifted both hands, but Bradley didn't want me to let go of him.

More evidence of my bravery

Bradley riding the pumpkin ride with Grandma

Every time Bradley would come around on this little carousel he would smile and say cheese so we just kept taking pictures. :)

A bunch of green-shirted grandkids!

They also had a hay jumping place that the kids just loved!

The floor under the hay was springy, so you could really jump

There they go on the Ferris wheel. Mackayla wanted to ride this one probably 15 times. Thankfully, there weren't many lines to wait in on any of the rides.

Most of the cousins (and Grandma) on the bus

Riding the train around the park

Mackayla, Jacob, and Mitchell on the boat

Ethan, Bradley and an unknown girl on another boat

Lunch Break

Getting ready for the twirly ride

Jacob's first horse ride

Mackayla's ride

Bradley's ride

We stopped to see Snoqualmie Falls on the way home

Boating

2011-08-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

We spent the next day boating

Jared and Mackayla heading out for their first ride

Bradley enjoying the ride

Jacob fell asleep

while we were out on the ride

Jared and Mackayla getting ready for a ride on the tube. Mackayla loved it, and didn't find it at all scary.

Jared and Bradley, who also loved it.

Eden, Mackayla, and Bradley hanging out

Jared, Jacob, and April at the food table

Grandpa is still not too old for tubing

This big tube was an easier ride, and even Jacob went on this one. He didn't care for the wind blowing in his face, but overall had a good time.

Jaden, Derek, Bryce, and Mackayla going for a ride. I had to include this picture because Bryce had fallen asleep during his ride...so cute!

After getting cleaned up and ready to head home, I saw Mackayla and told her she was suppose to stay clean since we had already cleaned her up. She insisted she wasn't dirty. There weren't any mirrors so I took this picture to show her. All the kids were FILTHY from playing in the dirt around the trees.

We had a great day at the River. My dad did a lot of work getting the boats ready, and my mom also did a lot of work getting the food and such together. I'm sure they were completely worn out by the time this weekend was over. We really appreciate all they did, though, and love all the memories we made with the entire family together.

A few more random pictures

2011-08-02T12:29:00.001-07:00

Cousins!

The kids love their cousins so much and loved getting to spend time with them. It was great to get to see Derek's family since we see them even less than we do everyone else. It was also a great blessing to us to get to spend so much time with Mitchell. Every time he saw my bracelet he reminded me to "NEVER GIVE UP!" It's amazing that you can learn so much from someone so small. He asked me many times "I'm a good boy, huh?" That answer is pretty easy. He's about as happy and sweet as anyone could possibly be!

Spencer made all the shark shirts for the boys, and Meagan made the sun shirts for the girls.

A couple pictures from the water slide

That's my man!!

Dog pile on Grandpa

Feeding the ducks

Swimming at the Tree's pool

Mitchell, Grandma, Mackayla, Jackson, and Bradley reading a book

4th of July / Jones Reunion

2011-07-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

Jared's parents and grandmother came up for Reese's baby blessing. They spent the following week here and so we made a little family reunion out of it.

At the Nelson's after the baby blessing

Reunion T-shirts

Papa, Nini, and their 6 grandkids

The kids with their great-grandma Jones

We spent the 4th of July playing and eating at our house

Slip and Slide

Mackayla, Sophie, and Lexie on the swings

I made a flag cake, and Mackayla really wanted to sing happy birthday to our Country...outside (of course) so that the wind could blow out the candle.

Dinner time

Kid table

The morning of the 4th, our family headed down to Provo to catch the big parade. We got great seats and the weather was perfect.

Putting the flag up that morning

Time for fireworks! The Nelsons left early except for Sophie. She stuck around with Papa and Nini, and enjoyed the show with us. The kids watched from the back of Jared's truck. Jacob only watched a few, and then was so tired he asked to go to bed.

Sparklers

Happy Birthday America!

When Papa and Nini were here...

2011-07-29T07:10:00.001-07:00

Mackayla thought this would be the perfect title for this post. We did so many things and had such a fun time while Papa and Nini were here. They stayed at Ashley's house and Grandma Jones stayed at our house. We met up in the evenings, and had fun activities every night.

Making smores

Since our last Sweetheart ball, Mackayla has been wanting to have another ball this summer, which she was going to call our "Beach Ball." We decided to do that while everyone was here since it's always more fun with more people. Mackayla and Bradley made some beach decorations, Jared hung the disco ball, and we danced to the Beach Boys.

Mackayla dancing with her grandfatherWe did a little limbo as well.

Wearing her Beach Babe shirt

Bradley and Sophie dancing

We went fishing by a little pond up in Murray one evening. Jacob and Lexie were in heaven, bathing in the dirt.

Everyone feeding the ducks that same night.

Bradley caught this tiny little fish (these were the biggest ones they seemed to have in the pond)

Papa with his cute little fishing pole

Fishing Spectators

Everyone at Chucky Cheese one night

Mackayla had me crimp her hair that day. She looked adorable!

4 Beautiful ladies

Papa and Nini had a pinata for the kids to hit

Story time with Nini - all the grandkids LOVE it!

Bradley loves babies and absolutely adored his new little cousin, Reese.

We had a great time with Papa and Nini and Great Grandma Jones here. Come visit again soon!

Quick Camping Trip

2011-07-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late getting this post up but a couple weeks ago we went on a spontaneous overnight camping trip. Jared had put in a LOT of hours already that week so he took off Thursday at noon, we packed up and headed up American Fork Canyon for the night. We came home Friday morning and Jared headed back into work for the afternoon.

Hanging out at the camp sight

Of course the kids' favorite part of camping is being in the huge tent. We had plenty of space and two big air mattresses but by about 2am in got REALLY cold. We were trying to keep the kids warm and I ended up stuck in a terrible position, freezing to death. I classified it as one of the worst nights of my life. My neck was so stiff by morning I couldn't even turn my head at all. It was all worth it though because of the great adventure and memories we shared as a family. Right???

The kids each took turns cutting up some fire wood for us.

We climbed all the way up this huge rock!

Going to roast marshmallows. It wasn't cold at this point- we were just trying to cover as much of ourselves as possible from the mosquitoes.

Right after we set up our tent and were getting everything situated in there, we heard a huge noise and saw a big cottonwood tree 10 feet from our tent fall over. Obviously it fell the other way or I wouldn't be here writing this now. It was pretty creepy. Some of the camp attendants came running over to see what had happened. They thought we would probably be ok since it looked like most of the trees were leaning away from us if they were to fall also. I thought maybe we should leave at that point, but Jared said we would just say a lot of prayers and keep on camping. :) Here is a picture of the broken stump that was left.

We went for a little hike Friday morning before heading home.

Breakfast

That Friday night we were invited through Jared's work to see the Cars2 premier. It was a very exciting event.

We wanted to take some pictures of the boys in some big trucks for a project we were doing for their room. We got to spend some time playing in all the Magleby trucks!

We just had a great week at our Jones reunion. As soon as I can get ahold of some more pictures I'll get that posted also!

He's the man!

2011-06-19T21:10:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day to Jared! We had a great time honoring him on Father's Day. We let him sleep in until 7 (which was unfortunately a couple hours later than most of us) and made him breakfast in bed. He opened presents, ate ribs for dinner and a cheesecake for dessert. Our only complaint about the day is that we wish we could have had our father's over to join us for dinner! More and more on holidays or special occasions we wish we lived closer to more family!!

Jared has been working so much lately. He leaves early in the morning and most days has been coming home from 6-8 for dinner then heading back to work until at least midnight. Some nights he doesn't get home until the wee hours of the morning. He's so tired and very frustrated with work but he just keeps trucking along. There is so much I could say about what a good father Jared is but I just want to write one thing so the kids can always read this and know how much he loves them. I've never asked Jared to come home for dinner and help get the kids ready for bed before he heads back to work. I know he could work straight through the evening and be able to get a few more hours of sleep at night. He chooses though, to sacrifice his sleep rather than his time with his family. As exhausted as he may be, he comes home and immediately starts playing tag, hide and seek, wrestling and whatever else the kids want to do. He helps them get ready for bed, gives them a hug and a kiss, tells them he loves them, and heads out the door again. Hopefully things will ease up a bit at work soon but in the meantime we certainly know he loves us and we LOVE him!

A few pictures the kids and their Daddy on Father's day...

Jared got a gift from each of the kids and we all gave him a router saw

I never see Jared fall asleep sitting up but the last couple weeks, trying to live on very little sleep, I've found him like this a couple of times.

One night he was able to bring some plans home and worked all night at home rather than the office.

We washed our cars on Saturday and the kids washed their little car at the same time. They really worked hard on it and it was a very clean car when they were done!

We got a new niece this last week!! The kids love their new cousin Reese Katherine Nelson.

First picture of all six of the Jones cousins

We got to bring Sophie and Lexie to our house for a few hours on Saturday and they all had a great time! Cousins are wonderful!

Playing in the sprinkler

Here is the picture we sent to the grandpas for Father's Day

Another shot from the photo session

Last weekend Jared and Bradley got up early on Saturday morning and headed up to the lake to go fishing. He took Mackayla on one of these early morning trips last summer and Bradley was so happy to have his turn. They didn't catch any fish but had a great time together.

Loaded up and ready to head to the Lake

Blowing bubbles

Enjoying the mild summer weather we've had so far.

This summer I'm going to be taking the kids around the world. We started out visiting China and Japan. They chose to travel by rocket ship on this first trip so we got their very quickly. :) They learned about pandas, the great wall of China, sumo wrestling, and a few other things. They painted hieroglyphics, made lanterns, learned a couple words, and had a Chinese food for dinner one night. Derek gave us a few tips on the proper dinner etiquette and they loved eating with chop sticks! They even got to try some sushi.

Jacob loved his chopsticks a little too much and they became quite dangerous.

We've been in Australia now and will hopefully travel somewhere else tomorrow!

A Trip to Yakima

2011-06-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to Yakima. I had so many pictures from the trip that I ended up dividing it into four different posts. We all drove up there and Jared spent a couple days with us then flew back home to work Monday through Friday. He came back on Saturday morning, just in time for the birthday celebration and then we all drove home on Monday together.

The birthday girl!

We went out to the cemetery for Memorial weekend. In this one spot I have four grandfathers, a grandmother, and a cousin buried so it's nice to gather and spend some time there.

Watching Tom and Jerry together. My kids had never seen it before but Bradley absolutely loved it and laughed the entire time.

Greeting Dad at the airport when he got back. We were so happy to see him!!!

On my mom's birthday we snuck into her room yelled "surprise," threw balloons on her bed and sang Happy Birthday.

Mackayla gave her a card and present that morning that she had made her.

My poor kids were up late every night. I was just about to take Bradley down to bed one night and noticed he had already fallen asleep on the couch.

Bradley and Logan watching Tom and Jerry

Mackayla, Bradley, and Mitchell eating some pie.

Uncle Jared taking on everyone in a sword fight.

Jared and Scott against the boys in soccer

Grandma sharing some apple bread with Jacob

I had to stick in these cute pictures of the baby cousins. My kids miss them so much and talk about them all the time.

Eden

Cannon

Grandma Davenport, Logan, and Mackayla and Taco Bell for lunch

Grandma and Mackayla in matching pajamas

These were just some random pictures but there of three more posts of all the fun events of the week. We're so glad we get to go back again this summer!

She's a Graduate!

2011-06-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Mackayla: the preschool graduate!

She had to miss her preschool graduation since we were in Yakima, so we had a graduation for her there. Her teacher gave her the diploma on her last day of school, but she didn't want to open it until her actual graduation. It was a perfect little 10 minute program with her family, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. She sang two songs that they had been learning at Doodlebug for the graduation. Then Amy played Pomp and Circumstance on the piano as she marched around the room. We gave her the diploma and announced her a graduate. Everyone clapped and she threw her cap into the air. She was wearing my cap from my high school graduation. She requested cookies as the dessert, which Grandma had gladly made.

The proud parents

Bradley wanted a picture too. He did graduate from his first year of Mommy School.

And Jacob couldn't be left out

Mackayla's teacher gave her a scrapbook of her year at preschool. She wanted to show everyone the book and everyone got their own personal showing. :)

Even Eden got a turn to see the book.

A picture with her cousins on her graduation day

Opening a couple gifts. She got a new sprinkler from her mom and dad and a Rapunzel barbie from her grandpa and grandma.

Fishing

2011-06-03T11:23:00.001-07:00

Grandpa took us fishing one morning at a little lake in Yakima that only kids are allowed to fish in. The kids all caught some fish and had a great time.

Hanging out with Grandma while waiting for a bite.

Some help from Daddy

Jacob

Mackayla loved reeling in her fish, but wasn't so sure about the floppy thing once it was in. She was so cute hiding behind her dad as the fish was flopping all over the place.

Bradley was SO excited about catching his first fish!

A Royal Affair

2011-06-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

This was my first ever royal party! For my mom's 60th birthday, Amy and Chad put together this beautiful, fun party! The plan all along was to have this dinner party in my parents backyard, but that afternoon as the rain was POURING and it was a bit chilly we made the quick decision to move it to the church building. Mom didn't know what kind of a birthday party she was having. As Dad brought her in the back door the royal trumpet sounded, a crown was placed on her head and she walked past all the people clapping, on the pink carpet, past the crossed swords, to the front. Then all the guest were announced, one family at a time as they bowed to the queen. We were announced as "His Royal Highness, the Duke of Lehi, Lord Jared and Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Lehi, Princess Melissa." It was a wonderful night of dinner, dancing and presents. We had such a good time I wanted to include lots of pictures!

The guest of honor - the queen.

Amy did such a great job of making it all look so beautiful!

Make way for the queen

Her she comes...

The Anderson family bowing to the queen

There were a lot of good looking royalty at the party!

Princesses Amy and Eden

More royalty...

Jacob enjoying dinner

Chad and Mitchell

Looking at the book she recieved from her children

Jacob giving Eden a kiss

The Queen dancing with Mitchell

Mackayla and Bradley

Grandma and Uncle Jim

Some of the grandkids singing Happy Birthay

Opening presents

I don't know how they didn't end up in any of my pictures but for memory's sake, Uncle David, Aunt Lori, Julie, and her family were also there!

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T14:16:00.001-07:00

My special day was wonderful! I was looking forward to it for weeks before hand. Mackayla told me once, "Mom you are getting too overexcited about Mother's day!" However, she was excited too and made me many cards throughout the week. She hid them all in different places and instructed me "NOT to look under ANYTHING until Mother's Day!"

Since we have 9:00 church there wasn't really time for breakfast in bed, but they did make me some yummy eggo waffles and then gave me some presents. Jared surprised me with a trip home to see my family for Memorial weekend. I really wanted to go for my mom's 40th birthday, but we are already going this summer and with the price of gas and Jared being so busy at work I figured we just couldn't make it. Apparently though, Jared and my mom had actually planned it and made arrangements weeks ago. We are so excited to go see all the family in Yakima!

As we picked up the kids from their classes at church it was so fun to receive all their gifts. They had made flowers and pictures in primary and Jacob had made me a necklace in nursery! Then they made dinner and homemade ice cream for me! How could I help but be excited about this day for weeks?!?! I love Mother's day!

The picture flower Mackayla made me at preschool

We planted some bulbs in the fall, and Mackayla spent the entire winter praying that our tulips would come up in the spring. They are late, but are finally opening up! They look beautiful and Mackayla spends a lot of time outside looking at them.

Jared had some work done on his toes a few days before Mother's day and so he spent a lot of the weekend with his feet up. The kids read him lots of books to help him pass the time stuck on the couch.

I really wanted to get the garden in, and, since Jared was laid up, I ended up doing a lot more of the hard physical work than I usually do in preparing the garden. I got a lot of it in that weekend, and then Jared finished it all up today so now we just have to wait for it all to grow.

We planted a little bit of everything: tomatoes, peppers, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin, strawberries, carrots, radish, onions, corn, beans, lettuce, parsley, asparagus, sage, and basil.

Jacob was having so much fun with me the other day taking pictures of ourselves. I decided to stick a couple in our family album here.

All asleep together!

These were my instructions: Take a picture of me doing the dishes, put in on the blog and write under it, "our little mommy."

We got to go to Sophie's dance recital last week. Mackayla thought her ballerina outfit would be the appropriate attire to wear to the event. She actually ended up matching Sophie quite well.

Jared and I have watched all three of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies this week to get ready for the fourth one to come out next week. Hopefully we'll get to see it soon.

Mackayla will be starting her last week of school this week! When I learned about my surprise trip I realized it meant that Mackayla would be missing her preschool graduation that she was SO excited about. We promised her a big graduation party at Grandpa and Grandma's house and she is now excited about that. We're really looking forward to this next week!

Easter

2011-05-02T20:31:00.001-07:00

On our way to church Easter morning

Our attempt at a family picture after church using the timer on the camera

Another one

Getting ready for an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday afternoon

Jacob has just woke up so he was in a pretty serious mood

Coloring eggs Saturday Evening
This activity is always a real test of patience for the parents. "Don't throw the egg in!" "Don't take it out yet!" "Don't put your hand in!" "Don't crack the egg before you put it in!"

Good times!

Easter baskets on Sunday morning

Ready to eat our colored eggs

As I went to put the Easter dinner in the oven I realized it was not working. It wouldn't heat up at all. I put some of the food in different dishes and cooked it in the microwave. Lisa let me come put my rolls in her oven. So, with that slight delay we were still able to have our Easter feast.

I made some cinnamon butter and that was Bradley's favorite part of the meal!!

They say its good to be in the habit of eating slow and Mackayla really has that down. She loved the food but it took her about 20 minutes longer to finish, as usual!

We tried really hard to help the kids remember the true meaning of Easter this year. We had family home evening lessons on it all month. They each had one empty egg in their Easter baskets Sunday morning to remind them that the tomb where Jesus was laid was empty that morning. We watched the "Finding Faith in Christ" video on Sunday afternoon. After all that Bradley wanted to "play Jesus" that night. Somehow that included running crazy through the house and jumping off couches. :) Hopefully he did understand a little about Jesus's life, death, and resurrection.

April Showers

2011-04-21T21:13:00.001-07:00

This has been a very rainy month. If I start to complain though, Bradley is quick to remind me that rain is a good thing. We don't have a lot to report on in the last couple weeks. We had another round of the stomach flu run through the family last week. Jacob is the only one that hasn't gotten it yet. I'm hoping it has been long enough that we can now assume he somehow lucked out and it skipped him. It completely wiped Jared and me out for a couple days. Monday, Jared stayed home sick for the first time ever that I've known him. We're feeling much better now, and Jared is back to being SUPER busy at work.

Decorating spring sugar cookies

We've been loving the movie Tangled. The kids love to play Rapunzel. Bradley usually likes to be the horse Maximus, but since Jared pulled out this satchel for Bradley to carry around he likes to be Flynn Rider. The kids have been walking around with a frying pan all week.

Last Friday, the 15th, Bradley turned 3 and a half! He was so proud to be so much older. Since Jared had worked so much that week already he only went into work for a few hours that day and took Bradley with him. Here are the two men on their way out the door to work.

That afternoon we went to Bridal Veil Falls and hiked around a little bit. Here's the 3.5 year old with his mom.

Throwing rocks in the river.

Beautiful little girl!

A Saturday morning family workout.

My Strong Men

Reading with Dad

April's no fool!

2011-03-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

For our April fools day dinner, as usual, we had our funny plates and utensils to eat with. Jared was at a meeting is Salt Lake late and missed dinner, so I saved my real trickery until later.

Jacob eating his jello drink

After Jared got home and ate a little food, I told the kids that since Daddy had missed eating dinner with us we were having another dinner. I told them to come to the table for steak, mashed potatoes, and peas. They weren't very happy about it, and even after they sat down to their food they were still complaining that they didn't want to eat any more. Also, Mackayla kept reminding us that she doesn't like mashed potatoes. After they looked at their food for a minute, they figured out it wasn't another dinner after all! It was a chocolate swiss roll, ice cream and caramel sauce, and green candy.

The boys running out to greet daddy when he got home from work one day. Last Saturday, Mackayla and I went on an outing to the mall. Jared and Bradley stayed home, while Jacob slept, and made a bird feeder. We've all had a lot of fun watching the birds all week. There are three birds that are always there. The kids have named them, Orangie, Peanut Butter, and Jelly Sandwich.

Here's a picture of Orangie.

Mackayla is becoming a true little woman. I have to record this cute shoe story. We were at Big Lots last week, and they had a bunch of cute little girl shoes. Mackayla saw this pair of pink Dora jelly shoes and got so excited. She just had to have them! We finally decided she could buy them with some of her money, so for $5 she became one happy girl! The next day she couldn't wait to wear them to school! Even though she was going to be a little cold and she had to wear band aids on both of her ankles, it was all worth it to her to wear these fabulous shoes. I took a picture of her to send to Jared and she said, "you're going to put that on the blog aren't you?!" When I dropped her off at school, another little girl was getting there at the same time. I heard the girl tell her she loved her shoes as they were walking in. Mackayla was grinning from ear to ear. When she got home, she reported that she got several compliments and even her teacher asked her where she got her cute shoes. She said she had to tell her teacher that they only had little girl sizes. It was a shoe success!!!

We spent March Madness enjoying the Jimmer thrill! We had to eat in front of the TV for the BYU games.

Our little leprechaun on St. Patricks Day

The kids had to go on a scavenger hunt again to find the pot of gold that the leprechauns hid. We finished the day off with some green sprinkled donuts.

Jacob handed me my camera, sat down, and said cheese for this picture.

We've been enjoying the few nice days of spring we've had so far.

We're trying to get a lot of use out of the nice paths around the lakes in our neighborhood before the mosquitoes and geese return and take all the fun out of it.

When Bradley was saying his prayers the other night he said, "thank you for my favorite things" and began to move on. I asked him what his favorite things were, and he said, "my favorite things are dragons and throwing rocks into the lake." I'm glad he likes it so much even though I was hoping I'd make it on his favorites list. :)

Another exciting piece of news in our house is that Bradley is becoming quite the little reader! He's known his letters and sounds for a long time, but lately he's been able to really put them together and actually read now! It's very exciting and he is so proud! He can read the beginning Bob Books now.

Jared has been VERY busy at work and will continue to be so for the next couple months. He has a bunch of full estimates to get done. He surprised us last week and came walking in the door at 3 in the afternoon. He asked Mackayla why he was home early, and she said he was taking us to the Lehi swimming pool. Apparently they had planned it the night before. We had SO much fun and the kids haven't stopped talking about it since. Unfortunately, he had to go back into work later that night until 1am to get things done.

Jared's work has been having a bowling tournament, and we get to go watch him bowl every Tuesday night. That will last for a couple more weeks. With Jared's long work days we've been trying hard to stay busy without going too many places due to the lovely price of gas. I've been trying to get some spring cleaning done as well, but the kids just aren't as entertained by that as I am. That's about all we've been up to. We're hoping for lots of great spring weather so we can spend lots of time outside!

Spring in Arizona

2011-03-15T20:59:00.001-07:00

We went to AZ to enjoy the weather, take a break from the snow, celebrate my mom & brother's birthdays, and attend the wedding of a couple of old high school friends. It was great!

Mom & Jason blowing out their joint birthday cake (with a little help)

Jason & Elena reading to the kids
Mackayla LOVES to sleep in this little blow-up princess bed! Papa & Nini took the kids to the playground at the school next to their house while Melissa and I went to my friends' wedding. After returning home, they were so covered with sand that they had to rinse off in addition to cleaning a hot wheels truck they had found. Bradley took full advantage of having control of the water hose...

Playing in the sand

Jake has recounted to us many, many time since returning how Papa took him for a ride on the swings.

There is an area of Mesa that was originally a separate little town called Lehi. The first weekend of March they have a rodeo and other activities called Lehi Days. The kids loved it (except Jacob - he was too tired and crashed out at Papa & Nini's. Melissa stayed there and watched him.)

Eating popsicles

Our little tween - oh wait, she's only 5!

Riding ponies

Jason's birthday breakfast. Happy 28th!

Whipped cream with waffles and strawberries

Outside, enjoying the weather - it was gorgeous!

Thankfully, we were able to soak up all the nice weather before we left, because on the way home we got stuck on the freeway just outside of Beaver, UT in a snow storm. UDOT shut down the road, and we were stuck just over an hour waiting for the plows to clear the way. Luckily, we had Toy Story 3 and the DVD player to keep the kids occupied. They really did a wonderful job traveling both ways - what cute little road warriors!

February

2011-03-03T07:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't posted anything all month but I guess we haven't been up to too much. In February we had a couple more rounds of illness but none of them involved throwing up this time so it wasn't so bad. We've just been spending plenty of time at home with sick kids. Jacob has finally got three of his one year molars and that has had a negative impact on our sleep this month too. Jared spend last weekend in Mesquite, NV at some convention about new windows. Another exciting thing that happened in February were the earthquakes. We had three in two days. They were very small but centered exactly where we live so we certainly felt them! It was pretty exciting for a few days. Poor little Bradley was scared to death about them.

Last weekend, we woke up one morning to 9 inches of snow. It mostly melted by the end of the day but we had a fun time playing in it in the morning.

Earlier in the month, while Mackayla was at school the boys were eating some yogurt for a snack. I was trying to get the dishwasher unloaded and when I looked up I found Bradley rubbing handfuls of yogurt through Jacob's hair. I exclaimed,"What are you doing?!?" and Bradley calmly and innocently replied, "oh, I'm just giving Jacob a yogurt bath."

Mackayla is looking so grown up these days!

Bradley has been working hard on this talent. He's really wants to be good at playing the piano with his hands and feet.

We were able to go to a BYU basketball game this month. It was really fun to participate in all the Jimmer excitement.

It was way too loud for Bradley at first but he eventually got use to the noise and took his hands off his ears.

This is a terrible picture with our phone but its the only one I had with our little BYU cheerleader.

Mackayla took poodlina to school for an animal picnic they were having. She wore her poodle shirt to match!

Our heart pizza on Valentine's Day

We had made Valentine bags and everyone made a valentine for each member of the family. We also all got a yummy valentine from Grandpa and Grandma. The kids gave Jared the balloon.

When we were taking down the decorations the kids thought it was VERY funny to decorate their dad.

Another month has come and gone! We're down in Arizona now starting this month off with some beautiful sunny weather! That will give me something to blog about next week.

Sweetheart Ball

2011-02-12T19:20:00.001-08:00

Last night we had our second annual Jones' Sweetheart Ball. The kids have been looking forward to it for weeks. Mackayla has been so excited about getting all dressed up, and Bradley couldn't wait to get the disco ball out. They've been practicing their curtsy and bows for weeks, also, in preparation for the ball. Jared and Bradley were in charge of the lights and music. Mackayla and I were in charge of decorations and food. It was a fun night for us so there are a lot of pictures!

Ready for the ball!

Our princess

Me and my hot date (and Bradley)

Some Food

As I was setting stuff on the table Bradley kept exclaiming, "the table looks Dang Pretty!" I guess he was impressed.

Enjoying some food before dancing

Daddy pouring the drinks

Cheers

Since it was all finger food we just let Jacob have at it. He loved helping himself, and ate a ton.

Daddy/Daughter dance.

Mackayla was very into the dancing part. Her dad would bow as he asked her to dance, and she would curtsy as she accepted. Bradley would usually then go and bow to Mackayla asking to cut in.

Dancing the night away

I had to persuade my little guys to dance with me most of the time. They were pretty busy doing their own thing on the dance floor.

Jacob RAN around the dance floor the ENTIRE time! He just kept following the lights from the disco ball yelling, "WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!..."

This was our only date for Valentine's Day, but it was actually a very nice evening together. We got to dance together a lot and I have a feeling the man still loves me.

I tried to get a picture of the bow and curtsy.

Jacob was admiring her jewels

Jacob has his own style. This is how he preferred to dance with the ladies.

How could I have not had a good time at this ball with so many good looking little men to dance with?

For the last dance I got to dance with two at the same time!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Good Bye January

2011-02-05T19:57:00.000-08:00

January always seems like such a long month! After Mackayla's birthday there's nothing exciting going on for a long time, nobody visits, and its so cold outside! A lot of people start the new year off with energy, goals, and motivation. I'm quite the opposite. I feel tired and can't seem to accomplish much. By the time February rolls around, I'm good to go again.

It didn't help that we spent a lot of the month sick. We had two different rounds of a stomach bug go through the family, and a cold/flu bug. Mackayla was the only one that didn't get sick the first go around. She never gets sick!! The second go around, though, she wasn't able to escape it. It was the first time she's actually been sick (besides a mild cold) in about two years. She was great, though, and handled it well. She was much easier to take care of than the boys since she could actually make it to a bowl to throw up in every time. Now I'm being extra paranoid and cautious about keeping everyone healthy. We'd prefer a break from being sick and cleaning up throw-up messes.

Mackayla on her road to recovery

A sick little Bradley

Playing with Daddy on one of our healthy days

We have been able to hit a couple of really good sales and get some clothes for a dollar or two each. Mostly winter clothes for the kids next year. Jared and Bradley both got these Cardinals shirts. Bradley was SO EXCITED to match his Daddy. Since they are an Arizona football team Bradley has it all planned out that when we go to Arizona next month, they will both wear their shirts and play football together.

Animal party in the tub! The kids insisted on bathing in our bathtub for a couple days because they just couldn't disturb their animals' home in their tub. They were quite upset when I finally told them the animals had to move out.

When I turned around to put the cheese away I realized Jacob had been enjoying it for a while!

Little Buzz coloring Elmo

A couple weeks ago I found Bradley dressed up like this. I sent a picture over to Jared at work...

Later that day I sent Jared this picture to help him to feel better.

Bath time

We're already enjoying the month of February. We're getting some projects done in the house and busy planning all our Valentine's Day festivities!

Bradley loves Star Wars...

2011-01-18T16:26:00.000-08:00

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Mackayla's 5th Birthday

2011-01-12T17:44:00.001-08:00

She finally turned 5! This is the year I've been dreading, when I'll have to send her off to kindergarten! Mackayla was so excited for her birthday to finally arrive! She's been talking about January 3rd coming for an entire year. She got to choose everything about the day and had so much fun planning this special event!

She wanted cinnamon rolls for breakfast

She got to open one present before Daddy left for work. Her dad spent over three hours putting this doll house together for her the night before. She was absolutely delighted with the gift.

She got to take treats to preschool for her birthday and had a fun time there. Then she got ready for her Tinkerbell birthday party!

We ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse. This had been planned by her for a long time. We always drive by this restaurant and the kids always want to go. This summer Mackayla asked why we never get to go there. We told her it costs a lot of money to eat out so we only do it on special occasions. A few minutes later she asked us if her birthday was a special occasion. We told her it was and she had been looking forward to her birthday dinner since then.

The Nelsons joined us back at home for the party.

-Opening gifts-

Swinging at the pinata

Time for the Tinkerbell cake

Mackayla has grown up so much this past year. She's very mild mannered and well behaved. She rarely causes any trouble and is usually being a HUGE help to her mom. She is a great big sister. She tries so hard to take care of her two little brothers and always wants to share everything with them. If she ever brings home any type of treat from preschool she has figured out how to divide it into three by the time she gets home. She's getting more and more independent all the time. She loves going to preschool and her primary class. She likes to pick out her own outfits and is sometimes very creative when doing so. She loves to dance, sing, laugh, color, and draw. She loves playing with her doll houses, barbies and dress-up clothes. Her brothers love her so much as well as her Mom and Dad!! We are so grateful to have her in our family!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-04T21:39:00.001-08:00

I'm finally getting my pictures on from Christmas. We went to Arizona this year to spend Christmas with Jared's family. It's hard to travel for Christmas, but we loved getting to spend it with family. We had a wonderful time.

Looking at the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple grounds.

Dinner on Christmas Eve

The other end of the table

Getting ready to open pajamas on Christmas Eve

New Christmas Pajamas

The kids were great all year so we just knew Santa would come...

Ready to go see what Santa left on Christmas morning

Here are a bunch of Christmas morning:

Uncle Jason gave the boys light sabers that they LOVED

taking a little break for some breakfast

Bradley was SO excited for the gift he made for Jared. He colored this picture of a nightmare (dragon) for him. They share a love for the movie How To Train Your Dragon. Bradley just knew his Daddy would love this gift.

Mackayla made Jared and I this beautiful hand print at preschool. It was a WONDERFUL gift that we'll always keep!!

Having fun with the new play-dough stuff on Christmas afternoon.

The only thing Bradley specifically asked for this Christmas was this Dragon kite. He wanted it so bad. Since we were in Arizona, the weather was perfect to try in out on Christmas day.

Trying out her new hula hoop

We had Christmas dinner at Grandma's house. She always has a gift under the tree for every family member. We are always so grateful to be able to spend time with her on our trips to Arizona.

Mackayla is wearing her new "diamond" necklace from Nini and Papa.

Handsome little Bradley. (Jacob fell asleep on the way home from church so he didn't get a picture)

Sitting in the back, feeding the dogs tangerines.

Mackayla worked hard building this nest out of sticks

Jacob playing the piano with Nini

Jared with his mom and grandmother

Spraying whipped cream into Bradley's mouth. Jared and Bradley both thoroughly enjoyed this activity.

Mackayla loves her little princess bed she gets to sleep in.

A few other fun things from the trip for memory's sake:

we spent a day at the Arizona Science Center learning about weather, electicity, magnets, penny smashing, bodies, dry ice and magnesium fires, and lots more;
we went to the movies with Nini Papa to see Tangled
we played on the school playground almost every day
we put the kids to bed and left them with Papa & Nini, and went out with Jason & Elena. We stayed out 'till the wee hours of the night (12:30 - I know, wild!)
Papa and Nini made some really great gifts for Christmas (a camp chair for Jared, a marble track for the kids, a nativity set for the family, and blankets for each of the grandchildren)
Jared destroyed everyone playing dominoes - we'll try to forget the score Papa

Overall we had a great Christmas!

Snow Snow and Here We Go...

2010-12-20T19:16:00.000-08:00

We're all ready for Christmas but have spent the last couple of days preparing for our trip to Arizona. We're leaving tomorrow and I can't believe Christmas is here already! I wanted to get all the pre-Christmas pictures on here before Christmas comes. We've had a few good snowfalls lately and so I have a bunch a pictures of the kids in the snow.

I built this snowman with the kids tonight.

On Sunday night we had a little Chirstmas at our house. We made some wreaths to eat and had egg nog. We opened our presents from my parents and had a wonderful time.

Bradley wanted to try taking a picture with the timer.

Wearing Daddy's big slippers

Sunday Christmas Dinner

Bradley was so excited for his gift

Having a great time

Jacob got his own chair so he doesn't have to fight his brother and sister for a seat anymore.

Busy busy with their new easle

We made some santa waffles the other night. Here are Bradley and Mackayla with their waffles.

Jared made the kids a sledding track this weekend. They loved it of course.

Bradley:

Jacob:

Mackayla:

Jacob mowing the snow

Bradley loves to "swim in" and eat the snow!

Making snow angles

Tis the Season...

2010-12-12T21:04:00.000-08:00

We are truly enjoying this holiday season. Christmas is, as usual, approaching too quickly. Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to.

Santa came to our ward party!

The kids wanted to act out the Christmas story for family home evening. Mackayla wanted to be the angel and Bradley really wanted to be baby Jesus. Jared and I were assigned to be Mary and Joseph. Jacob got the role of a sheperd.

Our little sheperd with his sheep and staff.

What a cute baby Jesus

The kids are loving their Christmas countdown. They have been acting so good so that the elves will leave them a treat each day. Even Jacob is really into this and runs to check the stockings each morning.

Jacob decorating the tree.

The finished product

Jared and all his little helpers putting up a few christmas light.

Our ginger bread house. I forgot to take a picture of the house after they finished that night but Jared had this one from his phone.

Beginning to decorate the house

Mackayla, Sophie, and Lexie in their matching Dora pajamas

Christmas pictures after church

Just for our own personal memories here are a few pictures of some of our Christmas decor...

Thanksgiving

2010-12-02T08:02:00.001-08:00

We had a fabulous trip to Yakima for Thanksgiving. Jared had a couple of big estimates he had to get done before we left town. He worked most of the night Monday night and got home in time to sleep a few short hours before heading to work again Tuesday morning. Then he had to work all Tuesday night and got home Wednesday morning just in time to load our suitcases into the van and drive us to the airport at 6am. Since I was getting ready for the trip by myself I didn't get a whole lot of sleep either. Then Jacob didn't sleep well at all while we were in Yakima so we were tired most of the trip but still enjoyed every minute with our family.

Jared and the kids on Thanksgiving day

Here's everyone eating dinner. It took three shots to get everyone.

Bradley and Mitchell having some olives as appetizers.

We finally got to meet our beautiful niece, Eden. She was such a sweet little girl and of course the kids just loved her. Mackayla got this pilgrim hat at preschool and made me pack it in our luggage so she could wear in on Thanksgiving day.

Jacob giving Eden a kiss

After the big feast Jared fell asleep on the floor.

Bradley wanted a picture like the one I took of his dad so he is pretending to be asleep here.

Jacob getting a ride with Grandma Davenport

I enjoyed giving a few rides myself

The next few pictures are just some hanging out with the family pictures...

watching the football game with their boys

Playing with Jackson and Mitchell

Uncle Jared/Daddy reading a book

The best thing about our trip was being able to spend time with Chad's family, especially Mitchell. They have constantly been in our prayers and continue to be so. They are all so wonderful and we really cherish the time we were able to spend with them.

April's family made it back from their trip to Preston before we left so we got to see them again in Yakima.

Our plane home left Pasco at 6:30 am. We left the house at 4am but due to snow and very bad roads we arrived later than we meant to. We should have had plenty of time though to still get on our plane but because of the very frustrating airport people they wouldn't let us get on and so they had to rebook us on a 4:30pm flight. So, we spent 11 straight hours in a tiny airport with three little kids. The kids actually did a great job all day but by the time we got home, 16 hours after we left the house, we were all EXHAUSTED!

Hanging out at the airport

Visit from the Holts

2010-12-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Thanksgiving April, Scott and the boys came to visit us for a couple days! We loved having them and the kids loved spending time with cousins!

We got a some good snow for the kids to play in while they were here.

Bradley loved kissing and talking to his little cousin Cannon. He has started calling him Cookie Cannon now. I'm not sure how he came up with that but he thinks its the greatest name.

Jared took Bradley and Mackalya to the BYU football game Saturday with Scott, Jaden, and Logan. We all drove down to Provo and went to the Bean Mueseum before the game.

Go BYU!!

Being Bears

At the game...

I love this sleepy look when they just got out of bed in the morning.

Bradley spends so much time upside down I thought I better take a picture of it. Sometimes he watches TV like this or just likes to hang out upside down (a few minutes at a time of course).

Happy Birthday!!

2010-11-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

I'm once again as old as Jared!! I really enjoy those few months that I'm younger than him. I had a very nice birthday this year. My parents arrived in town that afternoon and were able to help me celebrate. Jared and the kids made me a delicious cake and gave me some wonderful gifts. I didn't end up with many pictures to choose from but here are the few I have of the birthday.

We loved having a visit from Grandpa and Grandma Hatfield! Unfortunately, they received some bad news from home and had to leave early very suddenly and so I didn't end up with a single picture of them. They watched the kids one night and Jared and I actually got to go out for the evening! That's a pretty special event since it only happens maybe twice a year at the most. We were very appreciative!!!

We forgot to eat our donuts at our Halloween party and so instead we ate them the next night for family home evening.

Mackayla is getting much better at her photography skills.

Jacob was pretty good at this.

Bradley and Mackayla actually wouldn't eat theirs off a string that night but decided they wanted to the next day so I had to set it up again for them.

For the sake of our family history, this wouldn't be a complete summary of our week without mentioning our dear little nephew Mitchell. Since Wednesday night our hearts and minds have been COMPLETELY consumed with Mitchell and his family. He's only three years old and is in the hospital with a brain tumor. Its so hard to watch your family faced with such difficult trials. The examples of faith and strength I've seen from both of my brothers and their wives in such times has been completely life changing and inspiring for me. I am so blessed with such amazing people in my family. We are still praying for Mitchell to receive the miracle he needs. We can't wait to see them at Thanksgiving!!

Halloween!

2010-11-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

Another great Halloween has come and gone...

Mackayla the Angel

Her hair was COVERED in glitter and she did look very angelic!

Bradley as Darth Vader

Jacob the puppy

Captain Jack Sparrow (this is actually Jared dressed up)

Since Halloween was on a Sunday, everyone here trick or treated on Saturday night. We were a little nervous as we were getting ready to go since it was pouring rain. However, the rain let up just in time and the kids had a fantastic time. They all went trick or treating for a little bit then Jacob came home with me and helped pass out candy. Later, Jared brought Bradley back and took Mackayla out some more. She stayed out as long as she could and filled her basket with candy.

Enjoying the candy

Getting his whiskers on

Sunday night the Nelsons came over to join us for our own Halloween party.

Here are the cousins Jacob, Bradley, Mackayla, Sophie, and Lexi.

Root beer and nachos

We have a picture of each of the kids drinking rootbeer from these skull glasses. Can't break with tradition, right?

Jared and I quickly put together a few games for the kids to play.

This is the fish pond.

Pumpkin Basketball

Carving the pumpkin Saturday afternoon. Mackayla loved the "goo" and played with it as much as she could. Bradley didn't want it to touch him at all so he mostly just watched. That was funny because it was actually out of character for both of them. It usually would have been the other way around.

Mackayla wanted to be a ballerina for her preschool party. She LOVES her Doodle Bug preschool!

On our way to our ward party.

Me and my man!

We woke up to snow one day last week! It melted by afternoon, but the kids were delighted to get to play in it for a few minutes.

Bradley's third Birthday

2010-10-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

Bradley wanted a Thomas the Train party this year! He really wanted a train set for his birthday, so he figured it could be a big train party!

As I was getting everything ready the night before, Jared was trying to help out and he went ahead and took over the cake decorating. He did a great job!

Our little engineer and his big sister all ready for his party!

Bradley Station: This is where you got on track #3

Getting ready to blow out candles

Posing with all his presents

Bradley wanted grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for his birthday dinner

We made a railroad track all around the house complete with mountains and tunnels. The kids loved it. Bradley ran around it over and over again being Thomas the Train. Jacob even walked around saying a cute little "choo choo" the whole time.

I thought I'd try making a pinata like April always does. Bradley requested a duck pinata. I would like to retire from the pinata making business but Mackayla is already planning what kind she wants me to make for her birthday. So, I'm not out of the business quite yet.

Trying to "quack" the pinata open

Jacob took a swing at the pinata but had actually become quite fond of the little duck over the last few days and cried when everyone was hitting it.

Enjoying Bradley's new blanket

He loves his new shield and is now better able to fight dragons.

On the morning of his birthday we were able to start the day off with a quick Happy Birthday song before Dad left for work.

Playing with his new train set the next morning

Practicing with his new bat

Bradley is so proud to be a three year old! Although he still loves playing with Mackayla, he is a total boy at heart. He loves to run, jump, tackle and climb. He loves trucks, trains, cars, construction, swords and of course his beloved light saber. We sure love him!

Pumpkins and more

2010-10-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day today so we decided to drive the Alpine loop and enjoy the fall colors. We spent some time walking around SunDance on the way home.

The kids were enjoying sitting by the water. The funny thing is that a minute after this picture was taken, Mackayla slipped and fell in. The water was only a couple inches deep and she only got her pants and shoes wet but Jared and I couldn't help but laugh. She was a pretty good sport about it overall but did inform us that it was NOT FUNNY!!!!

Mackayla was standing on this tree stump "being a statue."

And of course, a Bradley statue too.

We headed down to provo last weekend for the BYU homecoming parade. We got to see it all, Cosmo, the marching band...

Standing in front of the "Y" on the mountain

For our trip to a pumpkin patch this year, we didn't have to go any farther than our own garden. We ended up with three pumpkins so each of the kids got their own.

Who knew folding Jared's socks could end up being so much fun?!

Family pictures

2010-10-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

We had Ashley take some family pictures for us a couple weeks ago. Right as it was time to take the pictures a HUGE storm blew in. I thought we'd have to cancel the pictures but we gave it a try and they turned out great, despite the weather.

2010-10-06T21:27:00.001-07:00

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