Maddie is 10!

Its hard to believe my first born is a decade old.  I vividly remember when I turned 10, I felt old and mature.  I remember my dad saying, “you are a decade old today” and it made me feel so grown up.  Madeline turned 10 on November 20 and had a very special weekend with lots of fun.  Her birthday fell on a Sunday so we planned a few activities in the days surrounding it.  She chose not to have a party this year and instead receive a $100 bill, which she put right in the bank.  She is such a saver!  On Friday I made cupcakes for her class and she celebrated with her classmates.  On Saturday, Chris took her to In-n-out and they came home and watched a teeny bopper movie together and I made caramel corn for them.  On Sunday morning Chris and I got up and made her breakfast before church.  It was her favorite, Aebelskivers which are reserved for very special occasions in our house.  After church, we had Grammy and Grampy, Chris and Amanda, and Wes and Kristy over for dinner.  We all sat around and told Maddie what we loved about her… a Jones family tradition.  The next day she went to lunch with Grandma Faye at Mimi’s and had Quiche.  She felt very special and had a great time.  She also had a fun trip to Dave and Busters with Sawyer and Carter later that week. 

 

Maddie is a dream daughter.  She is such a joy to have in our home and is a vital part of our family.  She is such a great big sister to her siblings.  She helps me so much around the house and I am so grateful to her!  She is mature and responsible and has a huge heart.  She is such a leader and is always keeping our family on the right track by reminding us to have Family Home Evening (sometimes taking over ) and family prayer. She is such a hard worker and always gives 100% at school.  We are so proud of her accomplishments and talents.  She is a ray of sunshine in our lives.

.

.

GRANDpa is GRAND!

 

This year has been very exciting for my Dad as he was selected as Arcadia Unified School District’s “Teacher of the Year” and then went on to be selected as Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year.  He is one of 16 teachers to bear the title out of 75,000 educators in LA county.  It has been quite an honor for him and he has been honored on several different occasions.  Most recently he was selected by Arcadia’s festival of bands to be the Grand Marshal of their parade.  We were so lucky to be able to ride along with him in the parade.  Here is the program with an article about him.

Before the parade we enjoyed some donuts and fruit.

In the parking lot they had lined up some really cool old antique cars along with this neat fire engine.  The kids enjoyed taking pictures on it. 

Grampy looked so cute and “Grand” in his hat!

We were lucky to ride in a Foothill transit mini bus.  (think golf cart bus)  The kids were so excited to be able to be part of a parade.  Chris and I weren’t planning on being in the parade but since there was room we decided to ride along too!

We were positioned right in front of the Arcadia High band which is larger than most college bands.

Maddie had fun waving to all the people along the parade route.  It was great to see so many people who love and admire my dad yelling out to him and congratulating him. 

What an honor it was to be part of this parade and seeing my Dad honored.  I am so proud of him and all his accomplishments.  He is an amazing teacher and an even more wonderful father!

End of Soccer Season

Our Soccer season ended just before Thanksgiving and was a huge success.  As crazy as the schedule was having 3 kids play soccer, it was a blast and I loved it!  Carter and Sawyer are in divisions that do not have play-offs so they are finished but Maddie’s team has gone on to win 2 of their play-off games so they are still playing and could be until February!  So we aren’t completely finished with Soccer.  Each boy had a pizza party with his team and got a trophy.  Carter had great coaches this year.  His team was an “un-coached team”  so one of the parents had to step forward.  With Chris’ busy schedule there was no way we could do it so I was grateful when Kenny and Jennifer stepped up.  They were already coaching their younger daughter’s team so it was a big undertaking to take on another team.  They were awesome and we just loved working with them.  We couldn’t ask for better coaches.

Sawyer had a blast and really got along with well with his teammates.  He was very excited to get a big trophy! 

That Saturday the boys had their last games.  Sawyer is so much fun to watch as he is such a ball of energy on the soccer field.  He can’t wait to play again.  We’re going to sign up for spring soccer.

Carter had a great season with his team this year.  He had some really good players on his team and they won every game.  It was very exciting to watch, we wished they could go to play offs because they would for sure win it all. 

Uncle Chris’ 70th Birthday Celebration

My Dad’s oldest brother, Chris is the patriarch of the Jones Family.  On November 12, he reached a huge milestone and turned 70 years old.  Last year on just before Christmas he suffered a massive heart attack and stroke that left him paralyzed on one side of his body.  It is a miracle that he survived.  This past year he has been through so much with his dear wife Louise.  His children wanted to give him a wonderful celebration and celebrate his life for his 70th birthday.  I was so grateful to be able to be part of it.  He is a great man and I have wonderful memories of him.  He reminds me a lot of my grandpa Talmage.  The last time I saw him before his stroke we were at his home for a shower and we were talking about the Book of Mormon.  He wanted me to be able to hold one of the original copies of the Book of Mormon which he had in his possession.  He brought it out and let me hold it.  It was amazing to be able to hold something of such great worth and significance.  My mom was worried that it might get ruined by letting people touch it, but Uncle Chris objected and said, “no, I think it is important for people to get to hold it and feel of its significance”  He loves church history and has spoken to thousands of people about it over the years.
My mom made a massive BYU football cake as Uncle Chris is a huge BYU fan.  They even had the game on during his party. 

Here are Chris and Louise with their 4 children.  I love my cousins and look up to them so much.

Barbara Jean insisted upon putting 70 candles on his cake.  I didn’t think she could do it but she did!

What a wonderful life and legacy my uncle Chris has led.  Here’s to many more years!

A long weekend in SLO

Lately I’ve been getting work up in the central coast area which has been really fun because our family loves to travel up there.  Chris used to travel there a lot when he worked for Odwalla, so its fun now when I get to go there for work.  This time I had to work in San Luis Obispo and we had some free nights that needed to be used so we decided to make a family get-away out of it.  We left Thursday after school and didn’t come home until Sunday evening.  With me being released from Primary now I didn’t even have to worry about getting someone to cover for me. 

We rushed up on Thursday after school so we could make it in time for the Farmers Market.  I just love the Farmers Market up there.  It is huge and so much fun to see all the farmers that come to sell their produce.  The kids like the samples too!

The next day was pretty uneventful because I had to work.  We went to our favorite bagel place for breakfast though and Chris took the kids back to the hotel while I worked.  After work we went to the downtown area and walked around.  We looked at the mission and  the creek that runs through the center of the city.   Maddie had done her mission project on the San Luis Obispo mission so it was fun to finally get up close to it. 

 

The next morning we tried a breakfast place that looked like it had been through a time warp.  It was a dive next to out hotel but after looking at yelp we thought we’d give it a try.  It was called Margie’s Diner.  The portions were huge and the food was actually very good. 

Then we headed to a really neat State Park called Montana de Oro.  It was a beautiful drive and the coast was gorgeous.  The kids jumped out of the car and started to explore.  It was a little overcast and cold but they didn’t seem to mind.  They had so much fun playing with rocks and looking for sea life.  We could have spent hours there. 

They had a cute old home that was a museum with artifacts from the area. 

On our way back to our hotel we stopped at Rite Aid and enjoyed some Thrifty’s ice cream, even Libby got to enjoy some!

That night we were crazy enough to go to the pool.  Keep in mind its like 50 degrees outside.  It was heated though so it was pretty enjoyable. 

The next day we packed up our things and headed out.  It was great to take a few days to spend as a family and just have fun. 

We had one last pit stop at a view point just north of Santa Barbara, the sky was blue and the ocean looked gorgeous. 

looooove this picture!