January 2013

New Years Day
Every year since I have lived in California, (we moved here when I was 5) I have attended the Rose Parade in Pasadena.  I think there was one year when it rained and we didn’t go.  Anyhow it is a huge tradition in my family and I have passed that on to my children.  They love it and look forward to it every year.  I love how so many of my Jones Cousins go and we all meet up for a great time.  The kids sit on ladders and step stools and spray each other with silly string.  I mostly don’t even pay attention to the parade and visit with my cousins. 


After the parade ends we all drive over to Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bob’s house in Glendora to celebrate.  She always makes a delicious spread of Mexican food.  Our favorite are her taquitos.  I will miss this greatly someday as it has been a tradition I have enjoyed for almost 30 years!


Los Angeles New Years Half Marathon
So I have a lack of pictures here but I wanted to share this fun event.  Chris’s company, Red Bull sponsored a half marathon in Downtown LA that was on Januray 5, a Saturday night at 9 o’clock.  It’s very unusual to have a half marathon at night like that but Chris thought it was really cool.  Because his company sponsored it he got a free entry to the race and we were put up in a very fun hotel.  It is a very old historic hotel called the Biltmore hotel in downtown LA.  Here is a picture of Libby and Maddie on the beautiful “Princess” bed. 

The kids and I walked down to the race start and ate dinner and saw Chris off on his race.  Because it was so late at night we went back to the hotel and went to bed long before Chris returned.  He had a great time and really enjoyed running inside Dodger’s stadium.  We’re hoping next year maybe I can do it with him! 

Libby the Birthday Girl
Libby’s Birthday is on January 11, which is fun because her cousin Halli shares the same birthday!  Aunt Kelli’s birthday is only 2 days before that on January 9.  We got together to celebrate the 3 birthdays early in the month at Grandma Faye’s house. 

Libby turned 3 this year and it was a very fun birthday for her.  It was her first birthday where she really understood what her birthday is.  She was excited to get some mail a couple of days before her big day!

The night before her birthday Grammy and Grampy took her out all alone for a special dinner at Lucille's.  She felt like such a princess!

When she woke up the next morning it was her birthday!  I made her a Minnie pancake and she was so happy! 

We had all planned on going to Disneyland for her birthday, even Daddy took the day off of work.  She got to open all her presents that morning. 

Here she is, all ready for her big day at her favorite place on earth!

It is a treat when Daddy gets to come with us to Disneyland so he of course got to ride with Libby on all her favorite rides. 



We literally spent all day at Disneyland and had such a blast!


As luck would have it the mystery shop I got for that day had Ariel’s Grotto which is a Princess character dining restaurant.  Libby was so excited that we got to go on her birthday!  Here she is with Ariel.  and her new stuffed Ariel toy!

The girls enjoyed meeting all the princesses and getting pictures with them.  The boys, not so much!


Libby got a special birthday treat at the end of our meal which made her feel so special!

To top off her special day we went to Build-a-bear in Downtown Disney for Libby to get her Minnie bear that she had been talking about for months.  After a long day at Disneyland she was very tired and a bit grouchy by that time. She got her bear and was a happy camper by the end of the day though.  It was probably a little too much for a 3 year old in one day. 

Snuggling up in her PJ’s with all her new toys on the way home from Disneyland.  What a day it was!


A Visit to the Dentist
Libby  had her first visit to our Dentist office a few days after she turned 3.  She did great!  We love our hygienist!  She is our neighbor and really good friend.  Libby wasn’t scared at all because she knows Melissa so well.  She even held still for X-rays! 


Carter’s First Spelling Bee
Carter qualified for the Spelling bee for all the 3rd grade students this year.  Only 3 students from each class qualified.  He was very excited to be able to do it and very confident at that.  On his second time around the word he got was “quart”  he immediately spelled it “court” with sports on his mind.  I guess he didn’t really pay attention to the sentence the Principal gave it in.  He was pretty bummed because he said he knew every word after that. Oh well, its good for him to be humbled once and a while! 



Buddies
Sawyer has been in Kindergarten this year and has a half day.  He get’s out at noon every day so that leaves some time for he and Libby to be alone together without the other kids around.  He is such a wonderful big brother and loves playing with his little sister.  He is such a good sport and caters to her every whim!  (Most of the time, and when he doesn’t we know it!)  Here they are watching cartoons (probably Sofia the princess!)

.. and playing dress ups.  They told me they were Captain Hook and Smee! 


My 34th Birthday
It’s no surprise that I love my birthdays.  I always anticipate them just like a little child.  This year for my birthday Chris got me a new Camera which I have been wanting for years!  I finally got a SLR camera and was over the moon!  He let me pick it out and I even got an extra lens for zooming and a nice bag.  It has become a very fun hobby for me and I’m amazed at how awesome the pictures it takes look! 


On Sunday before my birthday my Mom had us over for a delicious dinner and a wonderful chocolate cake.  She always goes out of her way to make my birthday special. 

On my big day Chris took me to breakfast at my favorite Breakfast place, Kick back Jacks.  it was delicious and I loved it!  Carter was home sick that day so he go to come too!

Another gift Chris had given me for my birthday was a Brazilian Blow out.  I had my appointment that very day and went as soon as the kids got home from school.  I was so excited with how my hair turned out and have loved having straight hair!  I get a lot of strange looks when people don’t recognize me and it is so much fun to see people’s reactions.  I have had curly hair for 34 years so it is quite a change! 
After my hair appointment I met Chris and the kids at Lucilles for my birthday dinner!  The kids were excited to see me after my 4 hour hair appointment!  Thanks Chris for a fabulous birthday!


Garage Flood
So a couple days before my birthday Chris came home from work to find tons of water flowing from the ceiling in our garage from the unit above.  Our entire garage was flooded and it was a mess.  We ended up having to get all the dry wall ripped out and replaced and it took 2 months.  It was tough not having a garage while the repairs were being made.  The kids missed their bikes while they were in a storage unit and I missed parking my car in there.  I was glad when all was said and done and we had a garage again.  Thank goodness for insurance!  (but boy was that a pain in the butt!)