Keeping Up With the Joneses

Just a quick picture of some of our roses. This weekend we got to meet some of Marshall's family for dinner in Spanish Fork and then see our new niece /cousin Rachel Jewell Jones. Such a beautiful little girl, but the kids were much more interested in meeting their new chickens than their new cousin! Marshall's parents stayed overnight and on Saturday morning Marshall took Myles for some one-on-one time while Deb, Russ, Max, and I took Mason to his final T-Ball game of the season. Later Marshall's brother's family joined us for lunch and while the babies slept, the guys took the big kids for a hike. Next weekend is going to be a busy one! We have some friends from Canada coming to stay Wednesday for a while ( yay !) and then Saturday-Monday we will have a house full with Marshall's brother's family and parents (and whoever else wants to come) for a 3 day Canada Day/Independence Day party! It is so great living near family.

The boys are very lucky to have an awesome dad. Just an example--last weekend he helped Mason build, paint, and erupt a volcano in the back yard. He is the swing pusher, baby rocker, story reader, and all around #1 dad. Myles woke up at 6 AM this morning so excited for Father's Day. We made him cinnamon rolls and bacon, served with sour chocolate milk (oops, sorry Marshall) and finally at 7 when the other kids were awake brought him breakfast in bed. Then Marshall got to open his presents. Mason got him a #1 Dad Trophy, Myles got him Super Mario pajama pants, and Max got daddy a " supmam " (Superman) shirt. The kids were pretty thrilled about the presents and promptly tore the tags off and made him put them on. Happy Father's Day!

Our ward's Father & Son camp out was this weekend and the boys were all pretty excited to go. All day Mason and Myles would get their hats, blankets, hiking boots, etc. and Max would be right behind them getting his too. So when he realized he wasn't going. . .we had one mad baby! He kept crying "I camp" and trying to move his car seat from the van to Marshall's car to go with the other boys. I finally buckled him in his car seat and took him to the park. Next year Max! The boys had a wonderful time camping. They were a little cold during the night which led to some tired boys in the morning. They were asleep before the car left the campground. Max was so happy to see them when he came home, you would think I had beat him all weekend. We briefly considered having a babysitter come that afternoon while he was having his nap so we could take just the big boys to Seven Peaks but we thought waking up to everyone having gone somewhere without him again might b...

I spent the afternoon at a conference in SLC and when I heard that Marshall took all three boys hiking this afternoon I was prepared for stories about them whining, complaining, refusing to walk, etc. But it seems they've grown up a lot since last year! When they got to the trail head the stroller tire was flat and so they all ended up walking. Marshall ended up carrying Max most of the way (he is still 1 after all ), but the other boys just kept going and going and going. Marshall says they went well over 3 miles with no complaining. They called me when they got home and each bragged about how well they hiked and how they didn't even get tired. Even Max had to tell me "I hike mama!" I see some fun hiking trips ahead. At one point Mason and Myles were bushwhacking up the side of a mountain beside the trail and all of a sudden Myles started screaming that he had to go potty, so Marshall told him to just pull down his pants and go. Well, you can't get anything p...

In our home we practice a unique combination of Christianity and Marvel Comics-based religion. When Mason learned about the Holy Ghost last week in church he came home telling us that the Holy Ghost's job is to send out a Bat Signal so that Batman can come and rescue us when we are in trouble. Mason can't wait to get to heaven to meet Spider Man, and all of our family prayers include a blessing for Superman. The best story is from last week when Mason was concerned about Batman and Robin's relationship. He said that he thinks that Batman and Robin are just very, very, very, very in love and decided to get married. But because it was illegal, they had to kill all of the police so they wouldn't go to jail for it. I asked him why it was illegal and he said that he knew that boys weren't allowed to marry boys but that it made him sad because he knew that Batman and Robin love each other very much, and "you should be allowed to marry who you love." That's m...

This was the best pose they would do. Last fall we bought season passes to Seven Peaks and I wondered how much we would use them. I've been worried about if I would be able to take all three kids by myself and if they would still have a good time if they couldn't go on the slides, get tubes, etc. (all requiring one adult per kid). But today we spontaneously decided to try it. I took all three kids in their swimsuits with built-it life jackets and we had a great (and safe) time! We spent most of the time in the lazy river and wave pool, stayed about an hour, and everyone had fun. Mason likes swimming on his own, but I had to hold onto both Max and Myles the whole time. I'm hoping that by the end of the summer Myles will feel better about letting go of me. I think it will be a great summer!

We had a great and busy weekend. Saturday morning we woke up to a house full of guests (Marshall's aunt, three cousins, Marshall's mom, and Marshall's nephew). Then ALL of the Jones cousins and almost all the aunts and uncles came over for a massive bike ride along the Provo river train. Let me tell you, it takes about 2 hours to get 12 kids and 10 adults ready for a 45 minute bike ride. After the bike ride we went to a park near our house for a picnic. Quite a fun day for the kids! Thanks to Marshall's cousin Whitney for the pics of her facebook page! Because I didn't get to go on the bikeride with everyone (I was helping get lunch ready), Saturday afternoon I decided to try out my new bike with a ride to BYU and back to see if I would start riding my bike to work and back. Well, riding to work is no problem. Riding home from work is another story. I thought it would be easier to take a longer route hoping it would be less steep but I think that was a mistake. It...

Today was my birthday and it was a wonderful day. I woke up to breakfast (okay, a protein shake) in bed, homemade cards, and presents of bubble bath from the kids. After working for the morning, both Marshall and I took the afternoon off and left the kids with the babysitter and went to a movie and then shopping. I got a new bike (I've been riding the same bike since I was 12--that's 20 years!) that I'm hoping to start riding to work and back. When we got home our amazing babysitter had made this incredible cake for me. She is such a great cook and babysitter--I don't know what we would do without her. We then met Marshall's mom, aunt, and three cousins at Olive Garden for dinner and then came back to our house for cake and ice cream and everyone is sleeping over. It was a great day and I am so very lucky to have so many loved ones in my life!

This was a trip I really wish I would have gotten more pictures of. About a month ago Mason went on a field trip with his kindergarten trip to the farm at Thanksgiving Point and had a great time. Ever since then he has been talking about it a lot and really wanted to take his brothers there to show them around. So Tuesday morning we headed up and had a great time. Max was so so so cute with the baby animals. He would crouch down to their eye level and talk to them in a high pitched voice and blow kisses at them. And then when it was time for a pony ride he was so scared until the horse started moving and then he laughed hysterically the whole time. He just couldn't believe he was riding a pony! In true Myles style when I gave them corn to feed the animals, Mason wanted to feed the pretty ducks, Max wanted to feed the baby chicks, and Myles wanted to feed the "big mean ugly turkey." He loves a villian. Mason loved being a tour guide and took it all very seriously. At one p...

If I ever wonder why I was so tired in my 30s, I want to remember days like Saturday. Last Saturday I got up with the kids at 6 AM and made the kids breakfast so Marshall could sleep in a little. At 8 we got all the kids on their bikes and went to a garage sale in our neighbrohood, came home, went to the library to sign up for the summer reading program, then went to Trafalga for a few hours of amusement park fun. And that was all before 11:30. Really, sometimes I miss my pre-children saturdays of sleeping in until noon. But then I see these sweet kids and it is all better.

Last week we went with Aunt Jessica and cousin Logan to the Day Out with Thomas in Heber. We've been a number of times before and it is always a good time. Myles and Logan hanging out watching Thomas before we left.

Last week Mason finished kindergarten and they had a cute little program. I am so proud of my little almost-first-grader. He has worked so hard and absolutely loves school Love this boy.