New Years Eve

 We spent New Years Eve with a bunch of family at Ryan & Shannon's house.  The food was awesome, but the company was even better.  This is Stockton and Uncle Moto-Moto showing Reese how to play a game on the iphone.

 Grandma Sandy loves having her picture taken :)  with Alesha and Brecken

 While the boys ran around having Nerf gun wars, the girls painted nails

Uncle Moto-Moto and Reese...so cute!

Can't believe another year has come and gone!  Good riddance 2011...Hello 2012!

Christmas Morning

We are all so spoiled!  Christmas morning is so fun with young kids...sometimes I think I am more excited than they are :) Here is Reese with her doll, small doll house, Don't Break the Ice game & Lucky Charm cereal.  The cereal is a tradition from my childhood.  We always got a box of our favorite cereal to eat on Christmas morning.  Our kids have also loved this tradition, especially since they don't normally get sugar cereal.  I know- I am such a mean mom ;) 

 Here is Averee with her American Girl dollhouse (Santa has been busy!), doll clothes, nite light for reading in bed, & Cocoa Pebbles.

 Here is Owen with his new wii games: a Toy Story pop gun game (just like our favorite ride at California Adventure) and Lego Indiana Jones.  He also got bullets for his Nerf gun, a race track for his match box cars & Cookie Crisp cereal.

 Here is Adee with the American Girl dollhouse, doll clothes, Ant in Pants game, & Reese's Puffs cereal.

 I think Danny was more excited to play the Toy Story game than anyone else :)

Everyone loves a good game of Don't Break the Ice...but I think I am going to get sick of putting all the ice cubes back together, over and over, every day.  Oh well, maybe the excitement of a new game will wear off?  I can hope right?

Taytam at Christmas time

Everyone warns you that the first year after a loved one has passed away is the hardest.  The first of each holiday, their birthday, or any anniversaries, without your loved one can be very hard.  Since we have been prepared for the worst at each holiday, it hasn't been as painful as we expected so far.  But will Christmas be the same?  We can hope.  Luckily this time of year is so busy that it leaves little time to sit & feel sorry for yourself.

We want to do something special for the kids each Christmas to remember Taytam.  This year we are giving them a beautiful picture of the St. George Temple that has their name on it & the saying 'I love to see the temple' for them to hang in their rooms.  Hopefully this will be a meaningful gift that they will enjoy looking at for many years to come. 

Another Taytam tradition that we are starting this year is Taytam's Christmas Jar.  For several years we have collected our change throughout the year then used it for someone less fortunate at Christmas time.  Sometimes we just anonymously give the money to someone who needs it, sometimes we use the money to buy gifts for someone in need, sometimes we just give the money to our bishop to use as he feels right.  Well, starting this year we are going to use the money to buy gifts and clothes for a little girl in need who is the same age that Taytam would be if she were still here with us.  It feels special, & it feels like a good way to remember our sweet Tater-tot at this wonderful time of year.  We miss her so much everyday, but the pain gets less & less as the time passes.  I can now understand the saying 'Time heals all wounds'...the time at least helps to lessen the intensity of the pain.  Thank goodness for our understanding of Heavenly Father's plan and our testimonies of where Taytam is today. Merry Christmas Taytam!

Annual Jones Family Christmas Party

 Each year Santa comes to the annual Jones family Christmas Party, so the kids look forward to this every year.  I had so much fun decorating the tables...they looked so festive!

 What a good looking bunch!  Reese was so cute with Santa this year, and not scared at all.  She just kept wanting to give him hugs.  Thanks again Santa- you are the best!

I had been looking forward to this party for months cuz we were finally going to surprise Dale & Sandy with their home movies that we complied and put on DVDs.  We gave copies to everyone else in the family during Thanksgiving, but Dale & Sandy where on a cruise so we told everyone to keep it a secret till Christmas.  This is a project that Sandy has wanted to do for a couple years, but was overwhelmed by all their movies & didn't know where to begin.  So Danny & I decided to secretly do it for them.  It took a long time, but it was totally worth it.  They were so surprised and excited when they opened their gift and saw all 22 of the DVDs.  Dale & Sandy couldn't wait to watch them & spent most of their Christmas vacation watching & reliving all the memories.  That makes us so happy!  Merry Christmas!!

Salt Lake Trip

 Every other year we try to make the trek up to Salt Lake at Christmas time to see the lights at Temple Square...we are never disappointed!  The lights are always gorgeous & take my breath away.  This year we took my sister Alesha with us too.  She is such a sport to hangout with us and all the craziness we bring with us wherever we go :)

 We also took a tour of the Conference Center-the kids couldn't believe how big it was.  They kept asking the tour guide when we would see President Monson :)

 The next day we went to the 'This is the Place' park.  It was pretty cool, but nothing was open.  So we just took the little train ride around the grounds & went in the only open building: Brigham Young's Farm House.

It was a great trip with decent weather...what more can you ask?!

Ginger Bread Houses

 

 It is that time of year again...Gingerbread houses!  The kids look forward to this mess...I mean activity every year!  For Family Home Evening we invited Ryan & Shannon's family, and Todd & Michelle's family over to enjoy this annual event.  The kids always have more fun doing things with their cousins.  Reese did much better than I thought she would...she actually decorated her house BEFORE she ate most her candy :)

 Adee and her work of art...she is getting better at not just piling all her candy on the graham cracker house

 Owen always surprises me with his artistic attention to detail

Averee is our little perfectionist and always makes a cute house

Christmas Pajamas

During the first Family Home Evening after Thanksgiving, the kids get to open their first gift of the season: Christmas Pj's! They are always so excited to open the presents, even though they know it will be pajamas, they can't wait to see what they will look like this year. Luckily, I can usually find matching pajamas in all their different sizes. But I know that won't last much longer...better enjoy it while I can :)

Adee's Tooth

Adee has had a loose front tooth for WEEKS! She just won't mess with it enough to get it really loose. We keep trying to convince her that it needs to come out...especially since we can see the adult tooth trying to come in behind it. Well, she really wants her $ from the Tooth fairy, so we finally talk her into the classic 'tie a string to your tooth and the door knob' trick. Since she has seen it so many times on America's Funniest Videos, she decided to give it a try. After we got her all tied up, she started to have a change of heart, but her Dad just hurried and did it anyway :) This is the picture just before Danny slammed the door shut-not sure she wants to go through with this anymore! This picture was taken right after Danny slammed the door and Adee's tooth popped out

What is funny about this picture is that she isn't crying about the pain or anything like that. She is crying because she couldn't find her tooth after it popped out, and she was so worried about getting her money from the Tooth Fairy. She kept saying "I lost my tooth! I lost my tooth!" But she didn't mean it came out, she meant she couldn't find it. It was pretty funny. Anyway, we all got on our hands and knees and sure enough, we found the prized tooth.

Our tradition with lost teeth is that the kids put it in a small glass of water by their bed, then during the night when the Tooth Fairy has to reach in for the tooth some of her fairy dust and glitter comes off in the water & turns the water a different color each time. She also leaves them 4 quarters in the water too. The kiddos love it! Owen & Reese keep asking when they will lose a tooth, and since Owen's 2 front teeth have turned black from hitting them on the tile floor-I am hoping he loses them sooner rather than later!

Pippenstock Merryweather

We had a visitor this year...a Christmas elf named Pippenstock Merryweather. We woke up one morning to a fantastic breakfast and our new visitor with a letter to the kids. The letter explained who he was and why he was here. Pippen said that Santa had sent him to our family for the month of december to watch the kids and make sure they were not being naughty :) He would report back to Santa each nite and then hide in a new place each morning. The kids had a great time looking for him & seeing what tricks he had played during the night. He is quite a character! Pippen also brought gifts for the kids: Santa hats & crazy Christmas socks. What a fun morning!

Kids Christmas Trees

The kids each have Christmas trees in their rooms & each year they just CAN'T wait to put up their trees and get them decorated. Owen's tree is green with blue & red decorations...He is always the first one done decorating. He isn't very picky about the placement of each ornament. Averee and Adee share a room, so they also share a tree. It is pale pink with silver & pink ornaments. They also have some ballet shoe ornaments & those are the last to go on...the placement has to be just right :) This was the first year that Reese got to decorate and have her own tree in her room. She was SO excited! Her tree is dark pink with silver ornaments. The older kids were very 'helpful' and put most of her ornaments on for her. She was a good sport though & too excited about the whole thing to get mad at all the 'help' :)

White Sands Hike

 The day after Thanksgiving we needed to work off some pie, so we went for a hike to one of our favorite spots.  It is called the White Sands Hike near the top entrance of Snow Canyon.  It is a pretty easy hike that leads to a huge sand hill.  We invited Kim & Lloyd and their boys, my parents & brothers Kjarsten and Jason with his daughter Aiva.

 Owen and Ben digging in the sand

 The kids had a great time sliding down the huge sand hill in a train formation.  Their pockets were full of sand!

 Here is Lloyd, Danny and my dad Ryan

 Here is Kim, my mom Verlene and brother Kjarsten

Ben, Nathan, and Luke are so cute with Reese...they play so cute with her & are very patient

Thanksgiving Dinner

 We had a great Thanksgiving Day, spent with tons of family.  The men and boys went to the annual Turkey Shoot that morning and had fun winning us some delicious pies.  Then we all met together at Jones Manor for the feast.  Good food and good times.  Gotta love turkey day!

 I had a great time decorating the tables this year...I think they turned out pretty gorgeous :)

 This is a rare picture of just Danny and I...isn't he hot?!

We gave everyone their Christmas present early:  we took all of Danny's parents home movies and compiled them onto DVDs.  It was quite the job and it took forever, but it was totally worth it!  After dinner we all sat around and watched the old home movies...it was hilarious!  The kids had a great time seeing their parents as children.  The adults had a great time laughing at the hair and clothing styles :)

Adee the Ballerina

Adee & her ballet teacher: Miss Jennie Wood

Adee is such a fun dancer to watch. She is very expressive & dramatic, not to mention so cute!

Averee the Ballerina

 Averee loves ballet...and she is really good at it.  Her long term goal is to be on pointe shoes, and she can't wait! :)

 Look at that form!

Here is Averee and her ballet teacher Miss Jennie Wood.  Averee adores her & thinks its so cool that they both have curly hair ;)