Quick update...

Well, I don't really have anything new to say or report. I just hadn't posted for awhile so I figured I needed to switch my layout from fall to winter & give a quick update:

All is well in the pregnancy department. I am only about 14 weeks but still feel a little yucky. Which is lame- I hoped it would be gone by now. I usually don't feel this yucky when I am prego but each time is different I guess. Otherwise, I am doing good. I don't really have any notions as far as gender. I am hoping for a boy to even things out & give Owen a little buddy to wrestle & play trains with. But of course we will be delighted with whoever comes our way. I have a few names I like, but of course Danny doesn't even want to talk about it till next month when we find out what we are having. MEN! The names I like are: boy-Gavin, girl-Quincey. What do you think?

I just love this time of year. I really do think there is something magic in the air. It is even snowing here today-awesome! We are about as ready for Christmas as we will ever be. Which is a relief. The kids are so excited-Averee tells me several times a day that she 'just can't wait for Christmas!' Me too! :0) Even Owen is old enough now to get into the spirit of it all. Kids make everything more fun & exciting! We have been staying busy, like everyone else, with all the traditions & fun things to do this time of year. Can't get enough!

I am in the Primary Presidency now-which is kinda new. I have never really been in primary so I feel kinda like a deer in the headlights. Especially since I am the counselor over scouts-that is a foreign language! :0) So it has been a learning experience to say the least! We have a really fun group of ladies though so that helps. A few that some of you might know: Dani (Shaheen) Jensen & Jennifer Larsen. I think we have a little more fun than we should!

Well, I can't really think of anything else that has been going on. Pretty much the same old around here. Which is fine with me! I hope you are all enjoying the season as much as I am!

Surprise...

So many things to be thankful for,

but still we get to say:

June 2009-Surprise!

Another blessing is on it's way!

P.S. I'll write more later...I just couldn't wait any longer! Happy Thanksgiving!

Finally...

After what seems like forever-I finally saw Twilight last nite. It was quite surreal-after reading the books for a few years now & waiting for the movie for so long-it didn't seem real. I was so excited-no giddy actually! I know some of you are surprised that I didn't go to the midnite opening -but I really wanted to see it with Danny & he went to Salt Lake for the weekend to see the BYU game. So I waited till he got back-but it was worth it to see the flick with him. Totally worth it!

I must begin by saying that I went into it with very low expectations. I mean really-how could a movie live up to a book like Twilight? I think the only movie that has ever done the book justice is 'The Notebook'. Anyway- I am happy to say that I really really liked the movie. Can't wait to see it again in fact. I think they did a great job of keeping with the feel of the book & condensing 500 pages into 2 hours. They added & changed a few things, of which only one was disappointing. But don't worry-I won't spoil anything for those of you that haven't seen it yet. And of course there weren't enough kissing scenes. :0) They did a really good job of making Edward seem dangerous & scary-more than I had made him in my mind. What a hottie! Several times I realized I was holding my breath just watching him. Silly-I know! I was excited about Robert Pattinson as Edward from the start & I think he did a great job. He seemed so tortured but still gorgeous!

Now here is the real surprise: Danny really liked it too! He was pleasantly surprised & said it was different & better than he expected. YEAH! We both agree we will have to purchase that one. Now I am anxious to see how New Moon turns out. It was my least favorite of the 4 books-but it will be cool to see how they present the Volturi. Not too excited for all the Jacob nonsense in New Moon- sorry Team Jacob but I am a hard core Team Edward fan! :0)

So there you have it: my 2 cents on one of the biggest movie openers of all time. #15 to be exact. 70 million in one weekend on a movie that cost 35 million to make. Plus it is the biggest opener for a female director. How cool is that!

Good times...

So, my good ole pal Jess (who just had an adorable baby girl named Mia-congrats!) posted a fun tag on her blog: you are supposed to open your picture file, then open the fourth folder & then post the fourth picture...

Averee modeling her new Minnie Princess hat...too cute!

This picture was taken in January of 2006 when we went to Disneyland with my parents. It was such a great trip-very fun! Although somtimes I wonder who had more fun? The kids or the Grandparents! Averee was about 3 years old & in awe of it all-Adelyn was only about 8 months, so she didn't really get into it too much. Time for another trip! Disneyland here we come!

So now I tag anyone else who wants to play...

Mr. & Mrs. Smith...

Well, I am FINALLY taking the time to update my blog. Where does the time go-seriously?

Corbin, Averee, Bailey, & Adelyn in front of a fountain in a park where we stopped for a rest

Last week we got to go out to Virginia to see the Smiths. What a trip! It was so great to see them. They had only been gone for a couple month-but we sure missed them. Averee was especially excited to see Bailey. It was a great trip-where I realized a lot of things are either bigger or smaller than I thought...

Such silly girls

One day before we left Averee asked me what language they speak where Bailey lives? :0) I had been trying to explain that Bailey now lives even further away than Grandma Funk. It was pretty funny-then she said that she can speak five languages so she just needed to know which one to use. She thinks that since she can say 'hello' in French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, & of course English -that she can speak those languages. Such a funny girl!

We decided to leave Owen home with some friends in the ward who have a little boy the same age. Thanks again Fishers! I just couldn't imagine dealing with Owen on the airplane & all the sight seeing. The girls were super excited to fly for the first time. They did really great. Luckily the plane had tv's in the headrests so they could watch cartoons the whole time. We flew into Baltimore since it was cheaper than flying into Washington DC. Then we drove to Kenny & Christan's house. Thank goodness for GPS-the roads out there are crazy! How did people get anywhere before GPS? Anyway-it took us awhile to get there since we hit rush hour. We finally got there late thursday nite. It was great to see each other & it felt just like old times. The kids immediately got right down to business-playing!

It is gorgeous out there-so many trees! No mountains though-you can see forever. Christan's home is cute & perfect for having guests-we had the downstairs all to ourselves. I highly recommend a visit! :0)

This is about as close as we were going to get to the White House

Friday morning we headed to DC. The parking there is pretty crazy-there is no parking by the sights. You have to park blocks away in a parking garage ($20 a day!) then walk to the sights. We hit the National Archives first & that was pretty cool. None of my pics turned out though since it is pretty dark in there (to protect the documents) & they don't let you use flash photography (also to protect the documents). It was pretty cool to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, & the Bill of Rights. The papers are huge-much bigger than I realized.

Then we headed to the National Museum of Natural History-they kids had a great time looking at all the animals, dinosaurs, & bugs. I have to admit that T-Rex was quite a bit smaller than I thought he would be but the elephant was twice as big as I thought it would be...weird.

Averee was excited to see this Triceratops skull-it is her favorite dinosaur

Next we went to the Washington Monument. Way taller than I thought it would be! We planned to go inside but didn't realize you have to buy a ticket & by the time we got there they were sold out for the day. Bummer! But we got some cool pics anyway...

Then we headed down to the Lincoln Monument-I was really excited to see this. We walked in and you could just feel the reverence in that place. I got the chills. On both walls they have engraved some of his famous speeches- including of course the Gettysburg Address. The statue itself was huge-again it was probably twice the size I thought it would be. Crazy! It was so cool-definitely a highlight of the trip...

It was so crowded that we couldn't get a pic by ourselves-oh well!

Saturday we went out to Mount Vernon, which was George Washington's estate. This place is enormous! So many cool things to see-you could spend all day there. Just to think of all the history in a place like that is overwhelming. We didn't actually go in the mansion cuz we had the kids and 2 strollers, not to mention the line was forever long! But they had a miniature of it in the visitor center-so that worked. The coolest part was the tomb where he & Martha are buried. It is a very quite & reverent area of the estate. It is open & you can look right in a see their tombs. Washington's has a huge eagle crest carved in it-it was beautiful! What a cool thing to see! They still keep some of the farm going-just for the tourists. The kids got a kick out of this very tame rooster...

Here we are posing with George & Martha & their grand kids

In front of the Mansion

This rooster was a little too tame!

Sunday we went to church with the Smiths & yup-the church is the same wherever you go :0) Their sacrament meeting was just as noisy as ours. he he he. Then we wanted to go to the Zoo in DC, but since everyone else had the same idea & there was NO parking-we decided to head to the beach instead. The kids loved it-they collected shells & even held a Horseshoe crab...yuck!

Love that look on Corbin's face!

Monday it was time to head home. Bummer! But first we headed down to see the lake behind their house. It was gorgeous-the leaves had a started to turn. What a view!

The trip went way too fast. So much to see-so little time! Thanks again Christan-we had a great time & it was so good to see you guys & just hang out like old times! Tell Kenny thanks for being such a patient tour guide. I think he probably got tired of all my questions! I guess even though you guys have only lived there a few months I still expect Kenny to be an expert on the surrounding area. :0) The kids had a great time too & Averee keeps asking when we get to see Bailey again? Hopefully soon...miss you guys already!

False Alarm...

Do your kids ever embarrass you so badly that you wish you could climb in a hole & die? But yet, all you can do is laugh hysterically? :0)

Well, the other day I needed to drop something off to my mom. She is a secretary at the elementary school. Since Averee was at school I only had to handle Adee & Owen-simple right? No problem. Famous last words...

We get to the elementary school & everything is going great. My mom is of course super excited to see us & spoil the kids with candy (right before lunch I might add). In between keeping Owen's hands off all the enticing things he can't touch, we were just chatting away, enjoying each others company. Next thing I know we hear an alarm go off-of course I panic & look for Owen. Yup-guilty! There he is all sweet & innocent standing under the fire alarm. Yes-he pulled the fire alarm! AAHHH! I run over & grab him-look at my mom & say "tell me he didn't just set off the fire alarm?!" But she is too busy laughing! At least someone else found this amusing! Everything is immediately a blur of activity: my mom has to call the fire department so they don't actually show up, the janitor has to reset the alarm, & the other secretary has to go outside with all the kids & teachers, cuz of course you can't just turn off the fire alarm- the whole school is now having a surprise fire alarm drill. Oh my! Seriously! I was SO embarrassed! I am sure my face was bright red & I was sweating bullets. But all I could do is laugh! What a lunatic! (I have come to realize that is my defense mechanism-to either laugh or try make everyone else laugh.) Anyway-everyone was really cool about it & thought it was so funny. Plus, they kept reassuring me that they were supposed to have one during the first two weeks of school anyway. Hopefully they weren't just saying that. :0) Wow-but the whole time Owen is just going along like it's no big deal & looking around like 'why is everyone running around all crazy?!' Gotta love curious little boys!

That is an experience I won't soon forget! Sorry mom, but it might be awhile before I dare visit you at work again...:0)

Oh, Mr. Darcy!

So, this is a pretty random post for me. Usually I only take the time to blog about my kids or vacations or that sort of thing. But I am branching out & sharing some thoughts about a book I reccently read. And no, I don't mean Breaking Dawn... :0)

As some of you may already know-I LOVE to read. Can't get enough! I average a couple books a month, which is pretty good considering everything else going on in life ya know? I will read pretty much anything & I don't think that I have ever read a book that I didn't like in some way. I usually have a few books going at once so I can pick up whatever I am in the mood for. Well, this insatiable hunger got even worse lately & it all started when I recently re-read Twilight, New Moon, & Eclipse in anticipation for Breaking Dawn. Which I LOVED! But when I was done with those I needed something to help me get over the fact that Edward & Bella's all consuming love story is over. ...sigh... What do I read now? How will I move on? What is a hardcore Edward fan to do? Will I ever be able to read a book & love it as much as this literary junk food that I have been addicted to for so long? I know I am not alone in these feelings...right?

Well, I noticed a book that my niece Savanna was reading called 'Mr. Darcy's Diary', & my interest was peaked. Especially since I had read that Stephenie Meyer modeled Edward after a healthy dose of Heathcliff from 'Wuthering Heights' & large helping of Mr. Darcy from 'Pride & Prejudice'. I have always loved Pride & Prejudice, but it had been a few years since I read it. My niece explained that this was Mr. Darcy's side of the story. 'Really?' I thought. I was definately interested.

So I re-read Pride & Prejudice & liked it even more than I remebered. I swear that book gets more funny, heartwrenching & romantic everytime I read it. Then I dug into 'Mr. Darcy's Diary' & I LOVED it! It was so interesting to hear his point of view & how much he loved Elizabeth early on & tried so hard to fight his passion for her. The insights in this book make the story all the better. It makes you love Mr. Darcy & your heart just breaks for him when Elizabeth rejects his first, rather awkward, proposal. Plus, it fills in a few gaps from P&P, & even takes the story a little ways into their married life. I devoroured the book in about a day & a half. SO good! It is obviously not written by Jane Austen since she died almost 200 years ago, but the language is the same & I thought Amanda Grange was very true to the original characters. If you like P&P, you gotta read it. If you already have (& I am just a little slow) or when you do, I would love to hear what you think...

P.S. Watch out Edward! My new crush is Mr. Darcy! :0)

Surviving the Summer...

I know what you are thinking...FINALLY! An update! I know-seriously! Has it really been a month since my last post? CRAZY! We have just been trying to survive the summer. Between trips to the library, pool, & Jumpin' Jacks, Averee STILL finds time to be bored! Let's just say that I am looking forward to dance & school starting back up next week. I just can't seem to keep her entertained all by myself! :0)

Adee swimming at Grandma's on the 4th of July...gotta love the goggles!

Not much else has been going on...we went camping with my parents & my brother & his adorable fiance which was a lot of fun. We went to Yuba, so there was plenty of fishin' & tubin'. We plan to go back when it cools off a little. We have a camping trip for this weekend planned-should be fun! I will post some pics when we get back...

Adee & Ashley (Kjarsten's fiance) giving the thumbs up after a thrilling tube ride at Yuba

I got to see some long lost friends for a few hours one day. It was great to hang out with you Jess! I miss you tons-you always make me laugh! :0) Plus Tiff was there & I hardly ever see her even though we live so close-pretty sad! We need to fix that Tiff!

Averee & Uncle Randy riding Rocky. We stopped by on the way home from Yuba.

Last week Danny's sisters were in town with their kids & we had a blast! We kept all the kids really busy & they were dead tired each nite. They have so much fun with all their cousins-we are blessed with an awesome family! Thanks Mel & Kim!

Everyone caught a fish at Yuba-even Owen! He was more excited than the picture depicts...

I just read Breaking Dawn over the weekend-but don't worry I won't spoil anything for those of you not finished yet. :0) I am happy with the ending but sad that the story has come to an end...but now we have the movie to look forward to right? I know, I know... I am completely obsessed! At least I can admit it! Can't get enough of that vampire love story! Anyone else done reading? I am DYING to talk to someone about it...call or email me!

Despite the look on their faces-they really do love Jumpin' Jacks! :0)

Well, that is about it for this past month. Once we get back into the normal swing of things with summer over I will be better about posting more often...promise...I hope...we'll see... :0)

A boy & his trains...

So, this post is a little late-Owen's birthday was actually Sunday. Oops! I just can't believe my little man is 2! Crazy! It seems like only yesterday we were so excited to get some more testosterone in our house! We were so happy to get a boy & couldn't wait to meet him...

Owen was born June 29th

weight: 7 lbs 11oz

height: 21 inches

First Christmas

Owen's first Lake Powell trip

Owen turns 1!

He wants to be just like daddy

He loves to make a mess!

Owen's is getting so funny! He is such a goof ball & loves to show off & make us laugh. He loves loves loves to wrestle with Daddy. He is such a little tough guy...

And like most little boys who have discovered Thomas the Train-he is obsessed! He loves these little trains. He carries them around all day & says 'choo choo' over & over. It is so cute! This is a much needed change in our house that is filled with Barbie, My Little Pony, & Polly Pocket! It was hilarious to see how excited he got with all the train presents. The faces he made where so funny & animated. He kept shouting for joy & doing little dances-hilarious! Here are a few pics from the big day...

Averee & Adee had to get in on all the train action...luckily Owen shares better than they do!

Owen can't even hold all the trains he has now-what a lucky boy!

He did so good blowing the candles out-I was surprised he even knew what to do. He got them both out in just 2 breaths!

Well, our little man is getting bigger & funnier everyday. We love you OJO & can't wait to see what you will do next! Besides climb on the counter, empty the cabinets, play in the toilet, etc etc etc... :0) We could live without all that-but we couldn't live without you!

The time has come...

So, the time has come for me to go private. Nothing crazy happened but I have been debating for a long time & Christan finally talked me into it. :0) Better safe than sorry right? So please leave me a comment with your email address so I can invite you to my private blog. Even if you only peek at me every now & then, & even if you don't have a blog yourself-I still want you to be able to keep up with me thru my blog. I will probably wait about 2 weeks to make sure you all see this. Cool? Thanks...

Shake that thang!

Gotta love that cheesy Doritos grin!

Okay, so the other day we went to the splash pad with Christan & the kids. We had a great time of course-but it got hilarious when someone pulled their car up & left some mexican fiesta music playing for all the park to 'enjoy'. We look over at the girls & they are totally shakin' it! We were crackin' up! I don't know where Ave & Bailey learned those moves! I know it wasn't at Ballet class! :0) Usually Adee is our little booty shaker-but Averee is giving her a run for her money! I took some video with my camera-but can't seem to get it to work here on my blog. Any advice? If I can get that figured out- you will just have to see these girls dance. I will keep you posted. Here are some pics from the splash pad...

Owen kept trying to drink the water out of the fountain holes-eeewww!

Bailey taking aim...

I think Adee needs a stronger stream!

The boys can't quite figure it out...lucky for the girls!

Back to Nature...

This last weekend we headed up to Yuba Lake for some R&R. By 'R&R' I mean camping & fishing. Which isn't really 'R&R' for the mom-but you know what I mean! :0) Danny went fishing there last weekend & caught some awesome Northern Pike & he couldn't wait to go back so we decided to brave our first camping trip with the kids. I got thinking & the last time we went camping was the weekend we found out we were prego with Ave-over 5 years ago! So it was a much overdue activity. It just seemed like we either had a newborn or I was prego so we never got around to it.

But anyway-we were very excited to go. We went with Danny's brother Ryan & his family, & Danny's dad Dale even came up & 'roughed it' with us. Shannon wasn't quite as excited as I was to 'tent' it-but I think she survived! :O) The camp ground was awesome-there were bathrooms & showers right by us. So convienent! I was a little hesitant to take OJO since he is in that 'get into everything' stage-I knew I would spend my weekend fishing him out of the lake & trying to keep him away from the fire. Luckily my awesome sister Alesha is home for the summer & said she would come stay at our house & watch him for us. Great! It was so fun to get to concentrate on just the girls. We had a great time- going for walks by the water, throwing rocks in the water, fishing, climbing trees, looking for snakes, making Smores & just getting back to nature. The girls slept really well & thought is was 'so totally cool' to be sleeping in a tent. The whole thing went even better than I had hoped. We did get rained on saturday morning so we packed up & drove in to Scipio to see my Aunt & Uncle. My Uncle Randy was the best! He delighted the kids with horse rides which I thought Averee would chicken out of-but nope. She loved it too! The kids are still talking about going camping & horse riding again. I hope they realize that we can't ride horses everytime we go camping! Although I would love that! I even rode my Uncle Randy's horse for a sec & it felt great to get back in the saddle. I hadn't ridin' for years! Thanks again Uncle Randy! Here are some pics from the weekend...We found 2 snakes right when we got to our site-the girls weren't even scared! They wanted to hold it & touch it. Plus, they kept looking for more the whole weekend!Adelyn & Megan hangin' out in a nearby treeThe kids also got in some much needed arts & crafts time

With our first official camping trip under our belt we can't wait to go again! Hopefully we go several more times this summer...& I guess OJO can come next time! :0) We all really missed him & I know he would love it. So here is to a summer full of camping!

Lake Powell...

We headed to Lake Powell over Memorial Weekend for the Annual Jones Family Lake Powell trip. Danny's parents get a house boat every year during the week of Memorial Day. We had a great turn out this year-all but two brothers & their families were there. It was great to see everyone & just hang out. The kids love getting to play with all the cousins & they all get along for the most part. :0) The weather wasn't the best but we had a great beach so that makes up for the weather. Plus, I would rather be a little chilly than roasting hot. The kids had a blast of course & Danny got in lots of great fishing. He took Owen out fishing a few times & he loved it. I am so glad Danny will have a built in fishing buddy. Owen just adores his Dad & loves to be on his boat fishing with him. Melts my heart! Here are a few highlights from the week...

Adelyn & Averee loved floating by the house boat on their own little boats-they are getting so brave!

This is Averee & Owen with their cousins Camden & Brecken

Thanks for another great trip Grandma & Grandpa Jones! Can't wait till next year!

an update...finally!

Wow-where does the time go? Seriously! I don't even have a good excuse for not updating for so long. I haven't been too busy or anything like that-life just gets away from you sometimes ya know? Then before you know it you haven't updated your blog for like 3 weeks! So what have I been up to? Let's see...
At the beginning of May I had the opportunity to go up to the BYU Womens Conference with almost all my sister-in-laws. It was awesome! We had such a great time. It was great to spend time with these ladies that I love & admire without the interuptions of husbands or kids. You get to know each other on a different level & I have learned so much from them. I am very blessed to have the great in-laws that I have. The conference was amazing-the first day was a little overwhelming cuz there are just so many great classes to try to choose from. Then that night they had a concert for us with a lot of the well known LDS artists. We were laughing & dancing one minute then crying & feeling the spirit the next-it was great! We even got to hear from President Monson-he was the last speaker the last day. What a blessing! As soon as he walked in it was dead silent-you could have heard a pin drop. And there were like 30,000 chatty women there in the Marriot Center! After a few moments of silence someone started singing 'We Thank Thee o God for our Prophet' & everyone joined in. The spirit was so strong-I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. He said some of the same things he said in general conference-but more geared toward all us women. So awesome! On the way home we stopped at Thanksgiving Point to see all the flowers since it was during their Tulip Festival. It was so gorgeous! We had too much fun making our way thru the garden & seeing all the amazing things they have done there with flowers. I definately recommend it! We are going to make the conference trip a tradition every year-can't wait till next time!
Later that next week I got to see a few friends from out of town-love ya Jennie & Carly! It was so good to see these ladies & their sweet little ones- Jacob & Claire. It made me realize just how much I have missed them. We have been friends since middle school & I love that we can always just pick up where we left off. So good to see you guys! Love ya!
Then of course we have had the usual end of year recitals & graduations to attend. I can't believe Averee will be in Kindergarten next year! She can't wait-she actually thought that she would get to go as soon as she turned 5. She was more than a little dissapointed to found out she had to wait till the fall! The girls have loved their dance classes. Averee is getting better all the time. I think Adee justs like to wear all the different costumes! Here are a few pics from Adelyn & Averee's dance recitals...

This was Adee's favorite costume of the day-what a diva!What a poser!

We got to have a litte tea party together after Adee's recital-she even served us cookies!

Of course Averee is the tall one wearing blue in the middle-look at those nobby knees! Can't imagine where she got those chicken legs from! :0)

Averee was so excited for her dance recital-I think mostly cuz she knew she would get a lot of flowers! She did such a great job-we were so proud of her!

Well, the only other thing I can think of is that we got rid of our dog Sammy. FINALLY! I tried it for a year & just couldn't take it anymore. It is like having another kid! A 'kid' that chews on EVERYTHING (he ruined a couch & more toys than I can count!), barks at EVERYTHING (especially at nite!) & constantly digs up your garden! It was time for him to go & I feel really good about the home we found for him. The kids don't even seem to care so far-I think they were sick of Sammy jumping on them, barking, & leaving 'presents' in the lawn. I will miss my 'floor cleaner' though! He always kept the food under the table cleaned up!

I think that is about it for now. We are headed to Lake Powell tomorrow so I am sure I will have some pics to share next week. Have a good one!