Lagoon

The Saturday after Julia's Baptism, were able to go to Lagoon for Xlear's work party.  We look forward to this every year.  This year the Gordon's were able to join us and it made a fun day that much more so.  We met at about 11am and stayed until 10pm.
Here's a set of pictures from the day. . .

Here is the classic picture we have taken every year of Julia on this ride.  I think we have one of her alone, one with Brigham, one with Porter, and now one with Martie.

But this is my favorite picture of the day.  She is such a great big sister.

Photo Album and Funny Family Moments

My mom and dad have an awesome tradition when her grandkids turn 8.  They send them up in a hot air balloon and Julia got to go with her grandma, Amanda, and Stewart.  Rather nervous at first, she didn't want to go any higher than the trees but once she got up there she really loved it.  She took a camera with her and I will get the pictures scanned in so she can share more of her awesome experience. 

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

For family home evening we took a trip to Thanksgiving Point's Animal Farm.  Martie loved playing with Dad while everyone else made a craft and the rest of the kids loved riding on the ponies.

Brigham had his birthday party at the skate park.  He loved it.  He had Grace, Tiernan, Hailey, Hannah, Porter, and Abbey all there.  Mom made the pinata and the kids loved all the loot they got out of it.

Julia's class culminating event involved the production of three plays.  Julia played the part of the "greedy wife" in the story, "The Sparrows Tongue."  She did a great job and looked beautiful in JoElle's kimono.

The kids loved having the missionaries over for dinner.  After eating, they stayed and had pillow fights with the kids and then gave us a lesson.  It was a fund evening with the Gordon's joining us.

You may think we picked out the craziest pictures of Martie but more often than not, her hair is flying off her head no matter how many times mom combs it and she usually finishes dinner at least this messy.

Bonnie, Reid, Brooklyn, and Owen came to Utah for a visit and we met them at Thanksgiving Point.  We had a great time seeing them and their sweet little ones. 

   

As an end of the school year celebration, the school goes to Hollywood Connection.  This is the first year we have been but it was a ton of fun.  We pay $2 per person and the kids can roller skate and ride on the rides as much as they want.  Brigham stuck to the rides with Ben and Julia had the most fun roller skating with Abbey who got to come play at our house afterwards.  Hooray for summer!

They do share sometimes.  The Gordon's are the only ones that have roller blades that fit kids  and since everyone always wants them, we frequently see two kids sharing one pair.  They each put one skate on and then hold hands.  Whatever works!

We have also had a few funny comments and moments in our house that I feel should be logged for posterities sake. 

Brigham had two weeks of school left and he tore the bottom of his backpack open.  I had a hard time feeling very bad as he spent the year dragging it on the ground, trying to tie it into undoable knots, and swinging it around.  Fortunately we found a solution for the remainder of the year.  We had him wear the backpack upside down and put the papers in the bottom.  Now I'm worried he liked it enough to try it again next year.

Porter and his best friend Abbey were caught getting in trouble again.  They have been known to potty outside, fill the sprinkler box with wood chips, and even stuff pennies into the neighbors CD player permanently ruining it.  Their latest seems to take the cake though.  Peter's fan belt broke on his car and caused all sorts of engine problems and the like.  After towing it home, he had it in the garage with the hood up.  A few days ago he came in furious after seeing that they had taken grass clippings in the garage and FILLED HIS ENGINE with grass.  The cap was off where you add oil and they thought that would be a fun thing to fill.  Fortunately we have to have the engine rebuilt anyway or they would have cost us a vehicle though I suppose we could have just held onto it and given it back to him so he could fix it when he turns 16 and wants a car. :)

Julia made a brilliant discovery.  Towards the end of the year, she got in the car saying, "Mom we should never, ever, ever go to the mall.  It is terrible there."  After asking her why she explained that one of her friends got a pair of shoes there for like $65 and the next day another boy showed up with the exact same shoes but he got them at Ross for $20.  I hope she remembers her disdain for the mall when she is older.

Martie is insistent to only go down or off things face first.  She crawled down the outside patio stairs face first and then she started doing the stairs to the basement face first.  She did it a couple of times and then fell once.  I held her while she cried for about five seconds and as soon as I put her back down, she crawled back up the stairs and turned around face first so she could try it again.

Before school got out, Brigham was caught giving money away.  Peter got a pad of 100 one dollar bills glued together as a pad.  We keep it in our closet so that when the kids do something neat or special, we can give them one.  Apparently Bugs went in, got out the pad, and took it to school and was handing them out like candy.  Fortunately the teachers caught him before he gave away too much of the $64 he had.  

Blue Belt

Today was a pretty special day for Brigham as well as Julia. Today, Brigham got his Little Ninja blue belt. He has worked his way through white, yellow, orange, and puple to now become a blue belt. He is a pretty awesome kid.

Julie Anne Jones

My beautiful girl Julia was born seven years ago today. I love Julia. Next to Peter, she is my best friend. I remember being younger and telling my mom every detail of every day. Julia does that with me now sometimes and I love it. I love to go places with her. Shortly after Marti was born, Julia and I went to Kohls to pick out a new shirt for me to wear to the blessing. Martie slept through the whole thing but Julia and I had so much fun. I think we were there for about two hours. I just kept trying on different shirts trying to find one that looked good, and Julia would dance in the aisles and tell me which one looked the best. It was so fun. I love to go anywhere with just the two of us. I see so much of the little me in her. She wants to be in charge, she loves to be around people, she can walk up to anyone and introduce herself and ask if someone wants to be her friend, yet at the same time she is completely her own person- and I love the person she is.

Anyway, she has had some fun things going on as her birthday has approached.
Yesterday, she got to go be an extra in a movie with Peter. Nathan is funding a movie called, "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend" and Peter spent the day at the airport with Julia and Grandma Linda. The movie comes out next spring and each of them should be in about four different scenes. I spoke with Peter during the day and he said that they didn't do much during the nine hours they were there. I asked Julia if she was bored or if it was fun to which she replied, "It was great I met a girl names Brianna and we played all day." She can make a friend with anyone anywhere. Pter wasn't able to take many pictures but here is a picture of the two of them together.
Today, we had some friends from our old Riverton house come visit. Heather, Lellia, and Gracie came to visit from California. We love to have them visit. So, today we pulled out the slip and slide and the kids all played on it with Mason, Alora, and Abbey. Here are some pictures.
We also did Julia's cake today. Since she was getting an "American Girl" doll for her birthday, she wanted an American theme. So, her cake was an American flag. A combination of dificulty finding the candles, and the desire for an American theme, led us to the genius idea of using sparklers instead of candles. Julia was a bit nervous at first but ultimately I think she found it fairly cool. And afer cake, Julia finally got the American Girl Julie doll that she has been saving for since Christmas. Grandma Julie and Grandpa Terry gave her a chunk of money that she combined with what she got from Peter and me as well as some money that she had earned. Here is a picture of her with her Julie doll and her Grandma Julie.
When all of that was done we went to a primary activity where the primary kids learned games they could play without any supplies if they ever had to evacuate and that brought us to the end of the day.

And now my beautiful girl is asleep in her room with her sister that I hope will be her best friend as well. It is funny because I almost miss her as soon as I put her to sleep each night yet I am grateful for the time that it gives me to reevaluate how I am going to be a better mom for her tomorrow.

You know what this house needs?

A Hammock! (Or two)
For Father's Day, Peter got a hammock with a stand. We tried setting it up outside to take a nap in after church but it started raining so we quickly packed it up (it's portable) and brought it inside. Once we were comfortably in it we took a cozy nap with about 1/16" clearance above the ground. I think it is made for one person. Anyway, to thank me for the wonderful gift, or simply because he is a wonderful husband, Peter hung up the hammock chair that we bought on our trip to Cozzumel about a year and a half ago. This is a picture of me in my hammock. For some reason, it isn't as comfortable as the when we tried it out in Mexico. Are we missing something?

Maybe we need one less. At least that is what we think Porter would vote for. Here is a picture of him after he fell out of the hammock the first time. The second time he fell out he was pretending it was a space ship with Brigham and he had to go to the doctor and get three stitches in his chin. He is a tough kid and didn't cry when he got them.

Apparently I have another pretty tough (or foolish) son and couple of nephews. Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and brought suckers with scorpions in them. Brad ate his all first, then Easton, then Bugs ate half of his and Amanda ate the other half. DISGUISTING. Adam was the only one to resist peer presure and not eat his. I am etering the rest of the hooligans (Yes that is a real word and so is schnouzer. My dad uses them both all the time!) in Fear Factor.

The Baby Has Arrived!

I don't have pictures but LeShel has had her baby! He arrived at about 12:45 Wisconsin time weighting 7lbs 15 oz. and 19.5 inches long. He is said to have hair and he is "perfect" according to me, his mom and his dad. And yes, my super woman sister, went natural! I rejoice for her only because it is something she wanted to do. I, of course, secretly mourn for her and all the pain she went through as well but that is over and done now. I have already instructed daddy to send pictures ASAP and I will post them as soon as I get them.

In the meantime, here is a picture of our new "GIRLS ROOM." We have a now have a girls room and a boys room! It is fun and Julia of course loves it. Here are some pictures of Julia's side, and Martie's side. Julia loved seeing the bedding that was made for her by her mom and grandma. I was just glad we had it so we didn't have to make a whole new set.>
And here is a picture of Peter. I cut his hair last night all by myself. If you want to laugh, Peter doesn't mind. Apparently the guys at work called him Q-tip all day anyway. He just smiled and said, "It's all good because I am $15 richer than I would be otherwise." Does that mean he doesn't like his haircut?
And these are pictures of my kids and Peter putting together "game kits" that will be handed out when our neighborhood has it's "trial evacuation."

Life is Great

I am a people person. I love to be in a crowd. I hate the feeling that something is going on somewhere and I am missing it. I love to play games 'cause it gives me time to chat with people that can't leave in the middle of the conversation (yes, people do that to me). I love to run because the people I run with usually can’t run any faster than me to escape (LeShel), or they are too nice to try (Shauna). I love to have people hang out at my house so I can straighten like I always need to but have someone to talk to while I do it (Katie). Anyway, we have been busy and that is great. Busy is beautiful to me. So, here is a list of what I have done since my last blog.
May 29th was my 31st birthday. It was perfect. Peter gave me some cds that his orchestra made and a massage table with a masseuse. :) Julia came in feeling bad that she didn't have anything to give me. I told her a hug was great but she went and cut me a rose from the front yard anyway. Then Brigham came in with my gift from him. He had it wrapped in toilet paper. I opened it up and it was the little plastic thing that goes around the lid on the milk jug. He said I could keep it and, "use it on all my milks." I love that boy.
Then I got to have a party with some lovely ladies in my ward (Lisa, Suzie, Shauna, and Amy). We all got together at Amy's house and played a game or at least tried to, while the kids played in the water and the wind blew. It was a ton of fun and I have some lotion to use to help me remember all the fun we are going to have this summer.
May 29th was the school carnival and the "Ward's Funniest Home Videos" as well. The carnival was great. We took Amanda with us and they played in the bounce house and ate lots of carni food. Peter tried his arm at the pitching game. I was impressed. He tied for second and got a t-shirt that matched mine and Julia's from the race.
After we had our fill at the carnival, we went to the ward video night and it was fun. We sent in a video Peter made of him feeding chicken and rice to Porter. It looks like the kid hates it but he keeps taking bites so Peter keeps feeding it to him. I'll post it when Peter gets home.
June 4th was the last day of school and Peter had a concert in the park. It was their patriotic concert so we put Martie in Julia's old July 4th outfit. She looks great doesn't she!
The next day, Friday, we took off for St. George. We didn't leave until about 7pm but I knit with some yarn Katie gave me and then I got to drive. We had the craziest experience. Bugs had to go potty and with Bugs, you don't wait for the next bathroom if you know what I mean. We pulled off a ranch exit, opened the van door and let him shoot for the stars. I'm not sure what we parked by because it was dark but when we closed the van door, there were about a million mosquitoes in the van. You could wave your hand through the air and hit about ten. We were all trying to swat them but there were so many and the kids were getting eaten alive. I was trying not to laugh and told Peter I was afraid we would get West Nile Virus. Julia asked what that was but Peter tried to reassure her that it was a disease that killed people but he was doubtful any of our mosquitoes had it. Thank you Peter.
Anyway, St. George was great. My mom has a house down there that she rents. It is insane nice with a pool that looks like it goes over the cliff that overlooks the park. If you want to check it out, copy the following into your web browser: http://www.vrbo.com/244434 Here are a few pictures we took.

While in St. George we played a few rounds of Settlers of Catan. Peter won every time except once when I helped Katrina win, so we could end the game. I went jogging, we made a few trips to various stores, and then we saw Annie. It was so cool. It was at the Tuacan Theater outside. They had a little pre-show and while watching it, Porter kept trying to put his arm around this little girl he saw. He tried three times but she kept pushing him away. I think he was missing his little friend Abbey. The kids were enthralled by the show though Bugs did fall asleep leaning on the lady next to him. They were all singing the tomorrow song the whole way home but Porter was the first one to start singing, "itto goes itto goes ebbey air itto goes." I couldn't believe he picked up on the "Little Girls" song that Ms. Hannigan sings. I guess with his interest in girls it really appealed to him. Here is a picture of him with Martie in St. George. She doesn't mind his arm around her.
Yesterday, June 11th was our school uniform sale! I love the uniform sale. Everyone brings in the clothes they want to get rid of (the jumpers must be made of steal because they NEVER wear out) and sells them to other people who are too smart to pay retail. It is crazy busy but I love it. I love people getting a good deal and I love to be where everything is happening. So, anyway, I guess that is all we have been up to but we are staying busy.
Oh, we made summer reading goals as well. Porter is going to be read to at least four times a week. Brigham is going to read four small books a week to me or Peter, and Julia is going to read at least one 100+ page book each week. And as a family we came up with a list of things we want to do. We are going to visit ten different parks, go to Lagoon with Xlear, go on a picnic, and Julia wants to color a huge picture, and Brigham wants to go camping at least once. My summer goal it to potty train Porter. It should be enough to keep us busy. Anyway, if anyone wants to get together for games, give us a call.

Just for fun, here are a few extra pictures I have been meaning to blog. Martie's first bath in the big tub.

My swing and fountain. I know, I need to get rid of the big orange extension cord.
Check out that scenery. No wonder Peter mountain bikes. I would join him if I could make it up the hill, and the seat didn't feel like an oversize personal item.

And last but not least, this is dear Porter with his head stuck in the cat house that Peter built under the steps. We heard him crying and Peter said wait just a second Porter and I will get you out. I thought he was going to run and grab something to help him get out but he was just running for the camera.