Just Jonesin'

Snow Bunnies

2012-01-10T09:27:00.003-07:00

So this was one of those family trips we will look back on and laugh...maybe.

It all started with thoughts of snow and Iowa. We were getting a little lonely for that wet and cold feeling between our fingers and toes.

So we decided we needed to go play in a winter wonderland.

Did you know that just up the mountain from Tucson is a Ski Resort?

Seriously right here in the desert. It was too good to pass up. So we collected snow clothes and some sleds (boats according to Chase) from friends and set off.

We really looked like a red-neck bunch with our make-shift outfits.
Chase may have been wearing some of Amy's old go-go boots and they may have had hearts on them...just sayin'.
Our spirits were high as we set off toward a wonderful family experience. I even said to Jake on the drive up "You know, I feel really good about this. Like we can do these things as a family again. Now that Katie is getting older and Parker is getting stronger."
It was a lovely moment.

Then we got there.
It was a great place to sled. The snow was a little slick, since it had melted and then froze again. That was okay. We would just be careful.
That was our first mistake.
Second mistake, letting Chase out of the car. Of course he took off wanting to play in the "slow" and ride on the boats. Jake took him down a couple times to appease him. While I waited in the car with Katie and Parker. Caleb and Amy got their snow stuff on. Third mistake, telling Amy and Caleb they could sled a few times on their own while Jake and I worked on getting Parker and Katie settled in the jogging stroller. So after they are all snug in the stroller and we have successfully kept Chase from cracking his head open, we can't find Caleb or Amy.
Anywhere.
So Jake sets off to go find them and takes Chase with him.
Twenty minutes later he comes huffing and puffing back up the hill carrying Chase, but still no Caleb and Amy.
At this point I am starting to freak out (I do that).
Jake says he has to leave Chase so he can keep looking. So now I have Chase running and jumping on frozen snow, while Katie and Parker are still in the jogging stroller. Just so you know, jogging strollers don't work that great in snow. Another twenty minutes passes while I have thoughts of Caleb and Amy lost and frozen out in the snow for days.
Finally Jake and our prodigals return.
At first I wanted to run to them, fall down on my knees, take them in my arms and cry tears of joy and relief. But before they were in arms reach I saw the attitude.
They were ticked.
What?
They weren't scared and feeling grateful for their gallant rescue?
Nope.
They couldn't believe they had to come back and share the sleds with the rest of the family.
Hmmmmm.
That didn't go over well.

Yeah, it's time to pack up and go home.

Family fun time is over.

BTW Caleb is not pictured, but I promise you, he is in the back seat, arms crossed, eyebrows as low as they go and lips pursed.

We had just dished out their punishments.

So we drove home, where Chase promptly went inside, sat down on the couch, and puked all over it.

And we're done.

Happy Birthday Chase!

2011-12-30T21:00:00.001-07:00

Chase had a magical birthday.

Three is such a great age for birthdays.

They are just starting to get the whole thing and are excited with whatever you give them.

It started with the birthday tree that only Chase gets, since his birthday is five days after Christmas. Please notice the birthday garland I made for the tree.

I was pretty proud.

So the rule for Chase's birthday was that you couldn't make him scream. That is not an easy thing for any of us. At the end of the day Caleb said
"Chase did really good today, maybe we should do this everyday."
I said "What, give him whatever he wants?"
To which Caleb said "Ya, I guess that won't work."
Mmmmm, no.

Chase knew exactly what to do when it came to the candles.
BTW this is a Butter Brickle Cake (or you call it Butter Brickle Bread if your name is Aubrey) and it is so delicious.
Don't let the plain appearance fool you.

Caleb and Amy were so concerned last night that they forgot to get Chase a present. They were so cute and they worked for hours making him gifts. Caleb drew him this picture
and Amy made him a coloring book.

Chase also got Tinkertoys, a pillow pet (which Caleb seemed strangely jealous of), some puzzles and a backpack.

It was a great day. Happy birthday crazy! We love you!

Las Vegas

2011-12-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

Jake and I got to take a quick trip to Las Vegas for a job interview. For Jake, not me...I don't think I would make it on the Las Vegas strip. I wear too much clothing.

My parents were nice enough to watch ALL FIVE of our kids for us.

Thanks mom and dad!

It has been a few years since we got to go anywhere without our kids. So even though it was Vegas, we loved it.

So if you are planning a trip to Las Vegas and you don't drink, smoke, gamble or go to nudie bars then here are your options:
1. Go somewhere else.
2. Go to Serendipity's and get frozen hot chocolate.
3. Go see Phantom of the Opera or the Donnie and Marie Show (we didn't do either of these, we just saw signs everywhere and they were the only signs we could look at).
4. Watch the Bellagio water show.
5. Go to Chronic Tacos and get amazing shrimp tacos!
6. Or seriously, go somewhere else. What happens in Vegas, can stay there for all I care.

This little beauty would swim around in the pond in the lobby of our hotel. If there are live fowl inside your hotel does that mean you stayed somewhere classy? I sure hope so!

We did have a great time though and luckily the job interview was for a job in Tucson NOT Las Vegas, so maybe we will end up staying right here. I am okay with that.

Satisfaction

2011-12-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those days when you feel super productive? Like when you get things done that have been staring you in the face for weeks or months, maybe years?

Today I -

*vacuumed the vent

*cleaned and vacuumed under the couch

*straightened the shoes in my closet

*cleaned out the pantry

and

*reupholstered Amy's desk chair!

I am on a roll, I better stop now, and count this day as a success.

I Love My Family

2011-12-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

So This Is Christmas

2011-12-25T21:00:00.002-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.

It was very simple.

No rushing around.

Plenty of time to play.

No fights or post Christmas tantrums.

Gingerbread house making with dad.

Toys that make Chase sound even louder.

Sweet littles that still don't get the present thing.

Thank you kisses.

The Nativity Story.

and Christmas naps.

The End

We Are Going Private

2011-12-08T20:19:00.005-07:00

So it is time to go private. I am tired of comments from sickos (you know who you are) that I have to delete. Please leave me a comment if you want me to invite you to our blog. If I have your email address, I will invite you anyway.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T15:18:00.007-07:00

We did things a little different for Thanksgiving this year. Jake's parents were getting ready to move to Utah (so sad) so we did Thanksgiving a week early with them. We had a great time and great food. And no one wanted to mention the upcoming move. Sorry no pictures...I was trying to remember why we didn't take any pics and I think it had something to do with diapers and changing about seven of them in three hours time. Lucky for you, we have no pictures of that either.

The next day Mel and Elise (Jake's parents) spoke in their outgoing ward. They did such a great job. They are such good and faithful people and I am so lucky to know them. I, of course, cried and told Mel that it wouldn't be so hard to see them go, if they weren't such good people. He promised to try and be a lot more mean to us. Thanks. We already miss them.

On Thanksgiving day we went to my sister Angie's new house for dinner. Tyson and Angie are such gracious host and the dinner was yummy good, as Chase would say.

Okay folks, this is the reason we live in Arizona. Cause we can eat Thanksgiving dinner on the back porch! Isn't that great? It totally makes up for the million degree weather during the summer.

These are apparently the only family pictures we got. But I know we got one with EVERYONE, because I remember wrestling with kids for about 10 minutes, while trying to smile, so my mom could get a picture. We will appreciate it someday.

Katie and Kiera loving Chocolate, the dog. He is for sale by the way. Anyone want a dog?

And the number one thing I am most thankful for? This mask. It was funny.

Date Candy

Two days later I went over to Grandma Chapman's to make date candy. Another family tradition.
This is a secret family recipe and we take that secrecy seriously. There is no messing around when it comes to this candy. I still think Jake married me just so he would have unlimited access to this candy. If you haven't tried it, then I must tell you that is it amazing! I promise! If you have tried it and didn't like it, well then, I have nothing else to say to you.
My mom, Rebecca (my sister-in-law), and Grandma Chapman

Friday Night Fatties

2011-11-20T21:53:00.006-07:00

Friday Night Fatties may become a new family tradition for the Joneses. It all started when we told Caleb and Amy to go get their jammies on and they came down like this... with about every stuffed animal they own "stuffed" in every nook and cranny. They thought they were ridiculously funny. I kind of had to agree.
Chase and Katie had to get in on the action which was hillarious. Katie looked like a baby with elephantitis and Chase has metabolic syndrome. Then we got some Backyardigan's music playing to kick things up a notch. That's when the party really got started. Caleb and Amy begged me not to put any pictures on the blog. I assured them they were safe, but that may have been a little bit of a lie. Oh well- totally worth it.

And I'm hoping this video actally works, because it's pretty funny

G-tubes

2011-11-02T17:22:00.018-07:00

Once in awhile Parker reminds us of how lucky we are to have him.

How blessed we are to have a loving family and great friends.

How real the power of prayer is.

And how grateful we are for the blessing of the priesthood.

This picture is him right after he got his G-tube Surgery.

The half hour surgery went great! It was the recovery that wasn't too hot.

Wednesday- Parker gets surgery at 11:30 am.

Thursday- Parker comes home from the hospital at 7pm.

Friday- Parker is admitted back into the hospital at 5am. Has trouble breathing, is put on oxygen, and is transferred to the ICU at 5:30pm. Receives a Priesthood blessing by our wonderful home teachers at 7:45pm (thank you!)

Saturday- Parker starts to do so much better and is transferred out of the ICU to the Pediatric floor.

Sunday- Parker gets to come home! This is him reading a book that his kindergarten class made for him while he was in the hospital. He absolutely loves it! We read it at least four times a day now. Thanks Sister Boyack!

Thank you everyone who showed us an outpouring of love! Thank you for the prayers, the yummy dinners, the lunches at the hospital, the treats so I could eat my feelings, and the phone calls! Thank you for all the doctors, nurses, and staff that took great care of us! Thank you Aubrey for taking care of Caleb and Amy and taxiing them around! Thank you to my lovely sisters and sister-in-laws who let Katie and Chase come stay with them for days! They loved it and are still not ready to face the Jones Boot Camp we run here. Thank you for all those who came and visited us in the hospital. Thank you to Jake's co-workers who covered for him at the hospital.

Thank you for all of it!

6-years-old!

2011-10-20T15:30:00.011-07:00

Happy Birthday Buddy!I can't believe I have been the mom of Parker for six years!

I truly thank my Father in Heaven for everyday he has given me with this boy.

He is a gift.

Parker is such a special part of our family and is such an influence for good.

He is always willing to smile and cheer you up.

He loves to play around with his brothers and sisters.

He thinks his older brother is so cool.

No one can make Parker laugh like Caleb.

I have actually had strangers come up to me and say "You're Parker's mom!" and then they will continue to tell me how they know Parker.

I had one lady tell me that she knew Parker from school and that Parker brought a special spirit into the classroom and everyone wanted to be around him.

He can even bring out the nice side of someone who is kind of naughty.

He is just so dear.

The other day I had a lady and her two girls stop by my house.

She introduced herself and said that her daughter's had been in preschool with Parker.

I recognized the girls, but knew they were not in Park's kindergarten class this year.

Their mom said that the girls knew this was Parker's house and would beg her to let them come and see him.

They were really shy while at my house, but their mom told me that they talk about Parker everyday. They even play a game where one of them pretends to be Parker and the other one takes care of him.

It just amazed me to think that Parker has touched their life without me knowing it.

Parker loves his dad...

almost as much as his mom...

Hey, I am the one who butters his bread (or puree's it anyway).

Parker's Party

So every year I think about doing a big birthday costume party for Parker.

Then I remember that he hates parties and I would have to ignore him to get ready and carry out the darn thing.

So we settled once again for a small and quiet family party.

Grandpa and Grandma Freestone came down to help us celebrate.

We showed them a good time.

Can you tell?

Parker's cake before it hit the food processor.

These were actually trick candles.

Not a good trick to play on someone that can't blow them out in the first place, but it was all we had. I helped him a little.

Parker opened presents that included new shoes, new pants, a sweet poem written by Amy,

a robot from Caleb, and so on.

He also made out with quite a bit of cash.

Go Parker!

(I don't know if it is necessary to explain Chase in these pictures, we are just learning to accept him, his pull-up, and side bum cheek for who he is)

Happy Birthday Parker! We love you!

Oh That Little Katie!

2011-10-09T17:55:00.011-07:00

"Dosh Damma! Her got a lotta tids!"

This is a commonly referenced quote in the Freestone family. I have heard multiple versions of the story behind this quote so many times that I'm not even sure how it really originated. But I think it had something to do with Natalie's baby sister Colette as a toddler commenting to Grandma Chapman in disbelief as she saw some lady getting a bunch of preschool kids out of a big van.

In our family, we feel this way often. Although 5 kids isn't really that many (I mean, it's less than, say, 12), it sure feels like it sometimes! I often look at Natalie at the end of a crazy night (usually bath night) and say, "Her got a lotta tids!" We really do feel blessed to have all these "tids".

And yesterday we celebrated our baby Katie's very first birthday! Oh Katie, what would we do without you? After having Chase, we didn't think we could handle any more. For a long time, he just wasn't any fun. Sorry Chase... it's true. So when katie came to our family and was so sweet and squishy, we felt like she was our little bonus baby. Like a really good prize.

It really is hard to believe we've had this little sassy pants for a whole year! So here's a little update on what our Kitty-Kate has been up to recently, as well as the whole documented birthday to prove that she did get her own birthday cake at least once in her life!

Katie has moved up in the world. She finally inherited the crib and got out of that dang pack-n-play she had to sleep in for almost a year (yes- we know we're white trash). The first night was a little rough when she realized we actually wanted her to sleep in there, and not just play and pose for pictures. She kind of missed that W.T. port-a-crib.

Natalie loves to play dress-up with Katie. Natalie does not want this baby to grow up. Katie is her little dolly. I tease Natalie that when she gets old she's going to be one of those little old ladies at a nursing home who just sits in their wheelchair and holds their baby doll, thinking they are really their babies.

From about 15 seconds after Katie came from the womb to now, Natalie has kept her dressed to the nines.

Katie's latest favorites: sitting in pans, making her squishy face, and poking eyeballs.

As shown below, respectively:

(Let's not worry about the small choking hazard in her mouth in this one)

For Katie's birthday, we had a family lunch party. We made one of our family favorites: Tom Cruise Pasta (before he went all crazy extreme scientology on us). Then we had some amazing cake by Natalie, blew out a candle, etc.

Katie got her own little cake to try.

At first she thought we were trying to feed her poo, and she kept fighting it.

Until she got some of that creamy goodness on her tongue!

That was a game changer, and she enjoyed many more fingers-full of frosting, resulting in a nice buttery face.

Opening presents was fun. Caleb and Amy went all out- Caleb made her a card and gave her a dollar (I was jealous), and Amy gathered up some of her old "treasures" to pass on to her little sister.

Chase was also jealous.

Parker, as always, was just happy to be there.

Sometimes Amy thinks Katie is HER baby and gets mad when somebody else wants her. Katie feels torn (It's hard to be poular... we should know!)

Mom and Dad gave her new jammies. Okay, I can't really take any credit. Natalie sewed them and I approved!

What a blessing this baby girl has been to our family! She has brought so much love and joy that we never knew we were missing. Happy Birthday Sweet Katie! We love you!

Double Digits

2011-09-25T21:46:00.010-07:00

It really doesn't seem like 10 years since this kid made us parents! Caleb turned 10 last week, which is obviously a big deal. Almost as big of a deal as his first poopoo in the potty. Yep. We documented it (thank goodness)!

Since turning 10 is really a big deal, we decided that in our family, when you turn 10, you get to go on a trip with the parent of your gender. So Dad did some secret behind-the-scenes planning and planned the perfect Caleb trip.

Before leaving for the roadtrip

Destination: Flagstaff, AZ

Detours: Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, and the Grand Canyon

Sedona really is a beautiful place! Caleb was totally impressed by the red rocks and kept asking how the rocks got so red. I guess I should have done a little more research because I had to make something up. Isn't that what dads do?

The drive through Oak Creek Canyon was intense. Caleb kept saying, "It's hard to believe we're really in Arizona!" Such an amazingly beautiful drive. Wish we would have taken pictures.

We stopped and ate lunch in Flagstaff before heading up to the Grand Canyon. Caleb and I both admitted afterwards that neither of us felt like driving 1 1/2 more hours to the Grand Canyon at that point. We kind of just wanted to be slugs and hang out in our hotel room watching cable TV. (I know... high rollers here)

But both of us were SO glad we made the trek up there! Even after living in AZ for basically my whole life, I'd never been to the Grand Canyon. Both of us had totally different visions in our minds of how it would be than reality. We had no idea the rim is lush forest! Caleb had to take a picture to document this finding.
It was a really great day to see the canyon, because it was kind of stormy, so the view of the canyon kept changing as different patches of clouds and storm cells moved over. We were comletely blown away at its size! Pictures cannot do it justice. But we tried to photograph every view of it anyway! Prepare to be bored.

It was a good thing Natalie wasn't there. She would have freaked at this point.

The next day we went to this old observatory in Flagstaff. It was... fine. We'll just say we're not as into outer space as we could be.

Kind of cool though.

The main event of the whole trip did not receive any photographic documentation. Caleb now loves rock climbing, so we went to a rock climbing gym in Flagstaff and spent the afternoon with Caleb scaling the walls like a Daddy Long-Leg. He had the time of his life!

On the way home we made a stop at Grandma Jones' and went to Nielsen's Frozen Custard for a birthday treat. Caleb loved every second of it. And so did I! It was really fun to hang out with Caleb and be able to focus 100% of my attention on him

Caleb's actual birthday began like this:

Then birthday breakfast and some presents...

Then that evening, we had our good friends, the Chapmans, over for birthday cake and ice-cream

Trick candles.

He got a little help from his friends to finally get them all out.

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Welcome to the double digits!

Hands Full

2011-09-17T14:09:00.007-07:00

So when people find out I have five kids, with a special needs child, and a resident husband thrown in there, they look at me like I am crazy and say,

"Wow, you've got your hands full!"

"You are a busy woman!"

or my favorite

"Have you figured out where they are coming from yet?"

Most days I agree with them. Life is crazy, busy, and I feel like I will never survive. BUT THEN there are days where we seem to find time for this....

Just FYI a wig is a great investment.
We have had this since we first got married from a white elephant party.
It has not depreciated in value.
It provides hours of fun.
And is cheaper than cable.

Chase is pretending to be a dinosaur here.

I realized that this picture might need a little explanation. Parker has respiratory issues and has to have vest treatments daily. So that is what he is wearing.

We aren't concerned about Chase's obsession with the pink tutu...yet.

Katie saw all the other kids putting this wig on and decided she wanted to.

She thought she was so funny.

Parker is such a good sport.

Another great investment.

Fake glasses.

Katie didn't fall for the "you're funny" trick this time.

My hero.

So....maybe I have too much time on my hands.

Book of Mormon Party II

2011-08-31T09:09:00.004-07:00

So we have never been big on entertaining at our house.

We don't really have many parties and maybe this is why.... Cause we don't know how to celebrate without dressing up, acting ridiculous, and making other people uncomfortable.

With that being said.

Welcome to our Book of Mormon Party!

We have started a tradition that every time we finish the Book of Mormon we have a party to commemorate the event.

We all choose someone to be in the BOM and then act it out.

Can you guess who we are?

Mormon passing the plates on to his son Moroni. I think Parker feels the seriousness of this responsibility.

Nephi trying to get the Brass Plates from wicked King Laban.

Nephi succeeding in retrieving the plates.

Abish helping the Lamonites realize that Ammon is a prophet and waking the queen and King Lamoni.

So Katie was suppose to be the queen, but Chase seems to be doing a great job.

The Brother of Jared

The finger of God lighting the stones that have been prepared.
(Anyone else notice that Jake and Parker weasled their way into 3 acts?)

Afterwards we ate unleavened sweetcakes (cookies) and played Book of Mormon trivia.

We had a good time and I was proud of my family for this accomplishment.

It hasn't been easy to gather the family each night to read the scriptures.

It seems like there is always something that tries to get in the way.

Like homework, piano, baths, sports, Parker puking, meetings, phone calls, screaming children, crying moms, etc.

But as we would sit and read I always felt a greater love for my family and a overwhelming gratitude for my many blessings.

It makes me feel like I at least did one thing right that day.

First Day of School

2011-08-17T15:08:00.009-07:00

The first day of school is always bittersweet for me.

After a summer of getting to be with my kids, all the time, it is hard to see them go.

However, after a summer of getting to be with my kids, all the time, I am ready for them to go back.

That makes sense if your a mom, I promise.

This was a BIG year for us...maybe one I have been dreading, ever since I was blessed with this sweet boy.

Parker started Kindergarten!!

I have been so nervous about this day, because I don't want Parker to get lost in the system, if you know what I mean.

I remember seeing the special needs kids at my school growing up and it didn't always seem like it was the best "quality care and education". That could have just been my naive perception of course.

Anyway I had been agonizing over this for years really.

But about three months ago I just got this overwhelming feeling that this is what Parker needed.

And it was something that I couldn't give him.

Right then I realized that my role as Parker's mother was changing.

It was now my responsibility to make sure Parker receive the best care possible and did not get lost in the system.

If that means getting up in people's faces (I hate doing, btw, despite what Jake may say.), then I will get all up in people's business!

Luckily I have not had to do that yet (or too much).

Parker is really loving Kindergarten!

Caleb started 4th grade! He is so old!

He has Ms. Ceisler and she seems to be a great fit for this shy kid.

Caleb came home today and told me he is on Student Council this year!

I had to do the happy dance in my head, cause Caleb has a hard time putting himself out there and I think this will be really good for him.

You know build up his confidence like Karate does (if you don't get that reference to The Phone Call or you don't know what The Phone Call is, then you don't belong in this dojo.)

Our Amy dear started 3rd grade.

She made me all nostalgic when she came down in her 1st day of school outfit. Hand picked by her weeks ago.

It totally looked like an outfit from Mervynns, where my mom would take us to do our back to school shopping.

Amy is loving being back in school, with rules, schedules, and planners.

She is in her element.

And this guy didn't start school

(does anyone want a 2 1/2-year-old that refuses to go to the "bafroom"?)

But he was sure excited to see them go...

Newport Beach... Round 2

2011-07-31T16:37:00.017-07:00

How lucky is it to have 2 trips to Newport Beach in one summer? Answer: VERY! So exactly 1 month after our first Newport Beach trip with the Freestone family, we did one with the Jones family! Melissa and Sara and their families rented a beach house, and Kirk found the rest of us an unbelievable resort to stay in down the coast. The whole time we felt so fancy staying at this high-end resort. I'm pretty sure we were like the Beverly Hillbillies though. But we sure enjoyed it!

Our first adventure was taking the ferry to Balboa island. That was a first! It was a little freaky to drive our car onto this little boat, hoping it wouldn't just topple over. Luckily, it didn't and we made it across just fine. One funny thing about taking the ferry was that 3 cars drive on first, then they just let all these people on bicycles and on foot get on, so your car is surrounded by strangers, like the nice boy looking on above. Would highly recommend doing this to anyone who goes there. It's only like 5 bucks for a van packed full of passengers!

Our excited ferry-riders

Once at Balboa, we splurged and rode the Ferris wheel. Well, Dad, Caleb and Amy did.

The view from the top with Brynn and Aly being so brave.

Another view from the top. Kev got there while we were on the Ferris Wheel, driving straight there from Mesa to join the fun.

Also down at Balboa: got hand-dipped corn dogs (not nearly as good as the kind from the frozen section of your grocery store), hand-dipped Balboa bars (amazing), fed french fries to seagulls, and people watched like nobody's business.

Later that day we hit the beach. Liz buried Amy which kind of made me claustrophobic, but Amy loved it.

This picture was so typical Chase. He's so transparent white that we have to keep him as covered up as possible. So he has this awesome hat that covers his eyes 90% of the time.

We built the second-coolest sand castle of the week.

Our "inner children" were having the time of their lives. Seriously, just romping in the ocean, building sandcastles for hours... it was heaven. And speaking of heaven, if you ever go to Newport Beach, you MUST go to Seaside Donuts. Honestly. Best glazed donuts EVER. For real. We can't stop thinking about them. When we we driving home, Amy said, "I'm so sad to be done with our vacation, because that means no more yummy donuts". It is very sad.

Kev riding it in.

Amy's cold tolerance does not exist. The water actually wasn't bad this time. But whenever Amy would go in the ocean, she would come out almost crying because she was cold. So she spent a lot of her time like this:

The kids also thought California was a great place to watch Disney Channel. I love Caleb and Amy's glazed-over expressions. Cable TV envy.

And since this was a Jones trip, naturally it included going to Costco. Because we really did need 8 more cans of black beans (to add to the other 8 at the hotel). Trust me. It seemed perfectly logical at Costco.

Chase and Sophia (or Macey as Chase called her) riding the cart. Poor Soph had to endure this kid being a booger on her finger the whole week!

The kids broke every rule of hot tub etiquette out there. To them, it was a really hot swimming pool. I'm sure the adults in there were really happy with all the splashing and horseplay. Nay.

So Chase just kept on going up to random people and becoming their friends. That kid has no concept of personal space. But for this little girl, it must have worked. He's just chillin in the hot tub and next thing I know, she's gettin' all handsy with him and tickling him! Smooth.

These kids could get used to this life!

This was the view from the pool. Incredible! It seriously felt like it should be illegal!

We could not get over the fact that people actually live there year round! 75-ish degrees at the end of July? And not much different in the winter! I'm sure they don't realize how good they have it. I'm sure they'd rather be dead in California than alive in Arizona (Arrested Development... anyone?)

So for this trip, Parker and Katie got to stay home with Grandma and Grandpa Freestone. We all had a better time with this arrangement. It was actually fun to smother Chase with all the attention he wanted and think he was cute again. Chase's favorite part was the Koi pond. He wanted to go every day. So we did.

We went back down to Newport Beach later in the week and found this very important building project going on. This was THE #1 sandcastle of the week. Possibly of all time.

Everybody labored intensely.

Pictures don't do it justice. The best part was when the tide (finally) came in and flowed through the tunnel and the canals. Engineering genius.

Chase played in the man-made reservoir and got a sandy crack.

And I snuck this shot of my parents that I thought was just cute. They are so good and kind. It was so much fun to all be together and have these wonderful memories. Thanks for making this happen!

Newport Beach... Round 1

2011-07-31T15:28:00.013-07:00

This Summer has been way more fun than we deserve, although we have not been the best at documenting these memories for our posterity. So since there is exactly 1 week remaining before the kids go back to school, we thought we would post what's been going on.

June kicked off with a week long beach trip to Newport Beach, CA. We stayed in a house right on the beach with the entire Freestone clan. The beach house was amazing and big enough for all 26 of us. And best of all, we literally walked out the back door onto the sand.
The drive there wasn't too bad, but we decided we needed a little rest stop in San Diego. We stopped at the San Diego Temple and enjoyed those beautiful grounds. So so pretty.

We kind of think Katie is cute (translation: we're a little obsessed with her!)

Parker was such a good sport for the entire ride. Such a buddy!

Amy and Parker chillin' on the grass.

Chase was... Chase. We had to run and stop him from walking right into the temple several times. He's so uninhibited.

Handsome Parker

This was supposed to be Dad with all the kids, but I think Chase was holding onto some random lady's leg at the time...

I'm hoping all the trouble to get this picture with all the screaming kids will be worth it in the long run. Grandma and Grandpa Freestone with all 16 grandkids, oldest to youngest:

Connor, Kelsey, Porter, Caleb, Amy, Julianne, Macey, Hallee, Allison, Parker, Taylor, Gage, Tyler, Chase, Kiera, and Katie

Parker was pretty ticked.

Chase was even more ticked!

Went to church Sunday at the chapel next door to the Newport Beach Temple. AMAZING temple grounds, and such an elegant temple!

Gage was kind of being a stinker and wasn't really into the temple. However, something in his nose was very captivating.

Fun cousins! Really. There's nothing like having fun with your cousins, is there?

Grandpa and his "Sweet little Parker", as Chase calls him.

So each night we had a family activity that one of the families put on. It was loads of fun. Our night was a talent... er, um, I mean, VARIETY show. We did a lip sync/dance (we're totally 80's) to "Win the Race", an old EFY song. Needless to say, it was incredible. And yes, Chase is wearing a pink tutu. It's fine.

Katie got a little stage fright on her solo part.

The rest of the week we pretty much just played and relaxed on the beach. We dug holes.

Read books.

Boogie boarded.

Dug holes.

Did I mention we dug holes?

And our camera died by Wednesday.

So this was the last picture we got. Chase being forced to get a picture with Grandma.

The week was so much fun! We made some great memories and had such a great time just being together and strengthening our family bonds. We are so grateful for the family we've been blessed with and for Mom and Dad for making it possible. Let's do this again!!!

Pathetic

2011-05-25T17:35:00.003-07:00

A little stomach bug has hit our house. I'd stay clear of these parts if I were you. These 2 little buddies were so pathetic today... all they could do is barf and watch Elmo all day. Remind me not to use that bowl for the potato salad at the next picnic. Actually, it would probably be safe, since not one chunk actually made it into the bowl at any time.

Tough Mud-er

2011-05-10T20:38:00.012-07:00

This Mothers' Day weekend, the tough Mud-er in our family accomplished more amazing-ness and ran her first 6-mile mud run! Natalie had been training for this for about a month, and she and our great brother-in-law, Cooper ran it together. Yep. 6 miles with a whole host of muddy obstacles thrown in there.

Clearly, this picture is before the mud.

During...

And after!
Everybody got a free beer glass as they crossed the finish line. Most racers went directly to the VERY long line to get their free glass of beer. Although I'm unfamiliar with beer's thirst-quenching properties, I can't imagine that would be a great thing after running your guts out for 6 miles.

Parker "enjoyed" the festivities in the shade. He was a good sport and didn't even complain. I think he was secretly glad that he'll never have to do a mud run.

After the adult race was all done, they had a kids 1K race. Caleb and Amy, along with a bunch of their cousins, ran this race. They were taking it very seriously until it got to the mud pool. Then they sort of forgot that the finish line was 10 yards away.

I just thought this picture of Caleb was so him. You might have to blow it up to fully appreciate his face, but you can't beat this happy-go-lucky look on his face. Such a funny little space cadet.
So then we drove home and relaxed the rest of Saturday, and Sunday we celebrated Mothers' Day by going to church, calling our Moms, eating great food, and adoring these cute babies that made Natalie a mother. Sorry, but that baby is really cute.
Natalie and I both have been blessed with such wonderful mothers. Honestly, I can't think of better people on this earth. They are so grounded, personable, funny, and always there for us when we need them. They are such wonderful examples to us. This old post is as true this Mothers' Day as it was 2 years ago.

And I'm pretty proud of these babies I'm growing in my garden. We've gotten 5 ripe tomatoes so far, and they are the best tomatoes we've ever tasted. EVER! Hopefully the birds won't get word of how tasty they are!

I Have Good Kids

2011-04-14T14:40:00.008-07:00

I overheard the following conversation......................

Caleb: "Amy, do you have all the Pinkalicious books?"

Amy: "Yes, but I think there is a new one at the book fair." Caleb: "Are you going to get it?"

Amy: "No, because I only have $2 in fun money, and I promised myself I wouldn't use the money from my mission fund, unless it was an emergency."

Caleb: "Like if our family ran out of food or something?"

Amy: "Yeah, like that."

Just thought I would add proof that we are not having a food crisis here.

Thanks to Costco and my coupon addiction Amy will be able to keep her seven dollars in her mission fund!

The Talented Scissors.

2011-04-08T15:39:00.005-07:00

So we never posted pictures from Amy's baptism. It was a beautiful day, with very few pictures. I took these the next day after church. I absolutely loved Amy's baptism dress her Grandma Jones made! I explained to her what I wanted and she turned that thought into reality! It is exactly how I pictured it! Isn't she pretty?

This is me trying to be a photographer...remember glamour shots? I always wanted to get them...this will be the closest I get. And don't you love Amy's long, blond, curly locks? Me too.

Well say goodbye to them because............................................

THEY'RE GONE!!!!!!!

Amy decided she wanted her hair to look just like her American Girl Doll, Kit.

She loves it!

Guess who's 32?

2011-03-15T01:09:00.013-07:00

NATALIE!

Today is Natalie's birthday. I was so excited to post this and talk about my favorite person. It was so much fun to dig up all these old pictures of her. I only wish I could have posted more. But I may be crossing the line with the ones here already, since Nat hasn't put her stamp of approval on any of this. Love you, Babe! So here is Natalie through the last 32 years! Isn't she a cute baby? Strangely, I see Chase in this picture. Which is funny, because he is the one who looks LEAST like her of all our kids!

According to Chapman legend, Natalie was... not rotten... Spunky. Yes, a spunky little kid with a (very strong) mind of her own. It is so great that she was and that she can remember being that way, because it helps her be able to relate to our Chase now.

Apparently, Natalie develped her love for falling asleep on the couch at a young age. This love continues to this very day!

Angie and Natalie- 1985-ish

Natalie still maintains close friendships with her sisters and cousins. Her sisters and sister-in-law are still some of her closest friends.

Natalie grew up being very close to her cousins too. I'm thinking the picture below is from her baptism with some cousins and maybe friends. I'm not sure who everybody is there.

I'm sure Natalie's mom spent a long time getting that hair to feather just right. How disappointing that must have been for her mom to then see these school pictures that were obviously taken after lunch judging by the peanut butter on her face.

Wasn't she a cute little 7th grader? Go Trojans!

And who DIDN'T want to get a photo session at Contempo Portraits in the early 90's? Luckyyyy.

I kept this senior portrait of her in my wallet while I was on my mission and would look at it often. Even though we were nothing more than friends at that time, I think I knew deep down that I wanted to marry that girl.

Yep. This girl. Who loved to put undies on her head.

Correction: LoveS

That was the main thing that attracted me to Natalie (besides her great skin) was her fun-loving attitude. She always makes me laugh really hard. I love her quick wit and slight craziness.

New Years Eve 1999- and we partied like it was 1999! Natalie and her cousin Amy (who is also seen above donning panties on her head) were hands-down the best dancers.

Even after missing my opportunity to kiss her for the first time that New Years Eve, I very smoothly did it the next night. Trust me. It was smooth... ish. After knowing each other for half of our lives, we became more than friends. We were so happy to finally be on the same page and realize what we each had to offer the other.

So at the old age of 21, Natalie was married. Then at age 22, she became a mom. Then just after finding out she was expecting baby #2, she graduated with honors from ASU. With the hard work and discipline she developed working her way through college, she is able to maintain a house of order. Her life changed forever as she began the wonderful new chapter of her life of nurturing her children.

Natalie with Caleb at about 6 months

Natalie never ceases to amaze me in her role as a mother and homemaker. I CANNOT believe how much she can accomplish in a short amount of time, usually with one kid in her arms and another hanging onto her leg. Unbelievable.

I think it's because she got such good practice with Catney and Lacy as a kid.

Happy Birthday Natalie!!!

We all love you!

Family Pictures... it was time

2011-02-12T11:33:00.007-07:00

We finally got some decent family pictures taken. We figured it was time since the only other recent family picture with all of us in it showcased Natalie in her lovely hospital gown after Katie was born. My fun and talented cousin, Amanda Porter of Pie in the Sky Photography took on the daunting task of trying to get us all to smile simultaneously and make us look better than we actually do. Result: She pulled it off! The best part was that it was actually a fun experience! What? Fun family pictures?? You bet.

Soon to come... Amy's baptism and other Jones events

Triple Whammy

2011-01-23T22:31:00.006-07:00

Okay friends! Today's post is three for the price of one!

#1: Amy's Birthday

Has it really been 8 years since this FAT baby was born?

Photo by Pie In The Sky Photography

Fortunately, our Amy Anne finally did grow into those thighs. Amy turned 8 this week. We are so grateful to have this wonderful girl in our family. She's our easy one. So thoughtful. So helpful. So fun and witty. So loving and kind. It's kind of hard to see her grow up, because it feels like we won't get enough time with her before she's off on her own. I totally call dibs on having her take care of me when I'm old and cranky and demented.

Grandma and Grandpa Freestone came for a visit to celebrate an early birthday weekend with Amy. Grandpa Freestone and her have a fun bond and it's fun to watch them tease each other.

On her actual birthday, Amy came down the stairs to find this:

She's been such a good sport about her awful bike that is so small her knees can't help hitting the handlebars when she peddles. Irridescant pom-pom streamers. It was love at first sight.

Also included in the loot was a used stuffed elephant from Caleb. Initially, his plan was to allow her to "rent" it for one year free of charge. He's... not as thoughtful.

Amy requested her favorite chocolate bundt cake, which we were all happy about. I like big bundts and I cannot lie!

#2: Pinewood Derby

It tickled me to see Caleb sanding his pinewood derby on the back porch, crossing his legs. This is just so Caleb. After checking a book out from the library containing a treasure trove of pinewood derby winning secrets, we were certain this would be our year. We even got the only copy in all Tucson, so we were sure that the advantage would surely be ours.

Yeah. It looked amazingly fast.

It wasn't.

But in the end, Caleb won a ribbon. It says "Participant" on it. Isn't that amazing? Oh, and he also won a certificate for "Best Decals". Boy were they. That's almost as good as when our ward roadshow won "Best Time Machine". Ours had the only time machine... but boy was it impressive!

#3: Trip to enchanting Thatcher, AZ

Our wonderful friends, the Chapman's, invited us to tag along with them for a weekend trip to Thatcher. Aubrey's parents live there and we thought it would be a good opportunity to trade off kid-watching and go to the temple there. Saturday afternoon, we took some of the older kids to some duck ponds to feed them popcorn. Those Gila Valley ducks are pretty snooty, because they didn't want anything to do with our delicious popcorn. They just swam away. So it just turned into a rock-throwing/skipping activity.

Needless to say, Chase (aka: Swamp-thing) jumped in. Jumped. Not fell. Anyone surprised? No. He was just standing by the edge 3 feet away from me and said, "ready, set, go!" and in he went. He seemed a little shocked at how cold it was with the water up to his neck. I went in after him and fished him out, but he didn't even seem to care that he was soaking wet with duck feather/poo water and freezing cold. He just acted like nothing even happened. Strange kid.

Weiner roasting.

If anyone can give Chase a run for his money for individuality, it's this girl. Ashlyn is a hoot. Surprisingly, she and Chase don't get along too well.

And the three matchy-matcher older boys. All came out with the same jammies on, so we had to get some buddy-pics. BFF's!

Fun times!

Free Spirit

2011-01-05T22:37:00.004-07:00

We're kinda in a blogging slump lately. Life continues to go on and we continue to try to keep up. Like having this little boy have a birthday 5 days after Christmas. Whose idea was that? We did manage to get some pictures of the event. I was going to try to post Christmas first... but the thought of going through all the pictures turned me off. We'll get to it... eventually... maybe.

Last Sunday we came home from church after starting the new church time of 8:30am (heaven-sent). When we got home I was trying to change Chase's diaper that runneth over. I swear, it's like trying to wrestle a pig in jello to change that kid. Needless to say, he escaped and was feeling quite liberated. Even though I tried to keep my annoyed tone on, it was funny enough to go and get the camera.

For Chase's 2nd birthday, a friend gave us a great idea of doing a birthday tree to try to attempt to make it special and memorable. So we took off all the decorations and replaced them with balloons and streamers. As always, Chase=not impressed.

Nor was he impressed with any of his really cool gifts. That is, with the exception of the Dum-Dum that Amy gave him out of her stale Halloween candy. He just pushed everything else away. Little punk.

Happy birthday little Lou! Thanks for making our life so "spicy"! We LOVE you!

Katie's Fashion Trend

2010-12-15T09:35:00.002-07:00

Swings and Bouncers were SO last month! It's all about The Bumbo now!

Okay, so maybe she started screaming like a minute after I put her in...but I sure got a lot done in that minute!

100% True

2010-12-07T16:34:00.011-07:00

I didn't write the following, but I wish I did...It's hilarious. The pictures are mine though, and pretty random, if Chase wasn't crawling all over me and I wasn't giving Amy a spelling test, and Caleb wasn't practicing his piano and I wasn't giving Parker a vest treatment (don't ask) and I wasn't nursing Katie...then maybe the pics and lessons would go together...oh well.

Are you ready to have kids?
A few lessons if your thinking of having children

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the newspaper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breast feeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior. Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favourite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.

Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Husky Little Rag-a-muffin

2010-10-26T14:46:00.007-07:00

People may be justified when they look with disgust at how many kids we have. And I'm sure they feel validated when they see Chase completely out of control with a snot worm coming from his nose. "Why do they keep having more if they can't even handle the ones the've got?" They say to themselves. Believe me, we ask ourselves the same question.

But it wasn't always that way! We used to feel a small thread of control... until Chase came along. Right off the bat he's been so different than our other kids. Where our other kids are skinny, docile, and shy, Chase is the complete opposite. A husky little cuss never afraid of confrontation. I was telling a friend the other day that I feel like Chase just needs to come with a disclaimer: Please disregard everthing that child (who may just happen to be ours) does. Or says. (One of his first phrases sounded exactly like "Ohhh Sh**!")

But he is just one of those little kids who just makes you laugh because he has a little mind of his own and SO much determination. Here's a little snapshot of Chase over the past couple days.

Decided he needed to ride Amy's bike (and of course wear her Bratz helmet). He was pretty ticked when I tried to get him to settle for a tricycle. Let's not judge our dirty garage...

Nice stach

Um, Chase plays with markers. And we sometimes don't stop him because we're afraid of him.

Which results in this:

He does have his sweet nano-seconds. He LOVES his new baby sister. He likes to pat her... sometimes hard, push her in her swing... hard, and put a blanket on her... hard.

He's cute.

Stay tuned for Parker's birthday post!

Girl Baby

2010-10-09T16:51:00.007-07:00

Introducing the newest Jones baby

Katie Olivia Jones

Born 10-8-10

Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz

Length: 19 3/4 in.

Natalie was a very impressive baby birth-er. She is one tough mother. And she's pretty excited that finally one of our kids got her dark hair (unless it all falls out and comes in blond later).

So all of this baby's weight is in those cheeks. Definitely not the other cheeks, which I did not take a picture to post on here. She got Grandpa Chapman's buns for sure= nonexistent. Which sure isn't a ghetto-booty Jones trait.

And about 2 minutes after she was out of the womb, Natalie started trying on her bows. I think she was excited to get a girl again.

The highlight of the hospital stay was all the siblings coming to see their new sister. Surprisingly, Chase was super excited to meet her and was really sweet. Very uncharacteristic.

Parker, on the other hand, our usually sweet and tolerant son, wanted nothing to do with her. He whined and pushed her away.

Amy dreamed of the day when she could get one of those babies for her own.

Caleb failed to show any emotion, but was very sweet with her.

Grandma Freestone seems to like her too.

When I looked at this picture, I couldn't believe that all these kids were ours! It looks like so many kids! Maybe we just need a dozen or so more and we could have an awesome reality show.

Uncle Cooper and Aunt Colette came down from Mesa to see her, try on some more bows, and to deliver sweet goodness (Nielsen's Frozen Custard). It was awesome.

Then after being kicked out of the hospital, we made it home with our little bundle. It will be nice to not have to have her vitals taken every couple hours, record times of feedings, diaper changes and all that. Not to mention sleeping in our own beds.

She won't mind being completely smothered, right?

And apparently in or absence, Amy decided to get hair extensions to add some blond braids. She got them at a birthday party and thought she was so hot. She's nuts.

We feel SO blessed to have this sweet little family, and to have this new addition.

It's Time

2010-09-21T14:16:00.025-07:00

So it's time for our Internet to be fixed, it's time to update our blog, and it's time to have a baby...so here we go....

Dr. Jones
Before school started the kids wanted to go see Jake's hospital. I was a little hesitant after the stories I had heard. Jake works at a VA hospital and let's just say he sees and smells all sorts of things that I never wanted to see or smell.

I decided to be brave (or really dumb) and expose my family to all sorts of diseases. We all survived and had fun.

Jake's office
Jake being the doctor when Amy's foot spontaneously started hurting. Very convenient.

Chase thinks it would be easy to be a doctor.

Parker
This little guy continues to amaze us! He started pre-school at a new school this year. He loves it! Loves riding the bus (even though Chase screams every time we put Parker on the lift...weirdo), he loves his teacher Ms. Jodi, loves his classmates and his therapists.

Parker on the first day of school-that is his excited face.

Also Parker Walks!

Parker started up therapy again this summer and did great and now walks! Well, with the help of me, some AFO's (ankle braces) and knee immobilizers.

Once again- that is his excited face...
We are so proud of him!

Back to School for Caleb and Amy!

We had such a fun summer, reading books, swimming, going to the movies, playing with friends, and visiting family. I was actually sad to have school start. I sure love these kids!

Say braces!

See ya!

Caleb's 9th Birthday

I was a little worried it wouldn't be HOT enough for a water party. Good thing I was wrong.

We played a lot of water games. A favorite was "Dry, Dry, Wet", played like "Duck, Duck, Goose", except you get to dump a bunch of water on the victim of your choice. We thought it might be a little juvenile for a bunch of 9-year-olds, but they loved it! Can you tell by the sheer joy on Caleb's face?

Our water piniata. Instead of hitting it, the kids had to spray it with water until it broke.

It was fun.

Thank you Grandma Freestone, Freestone Family, Cook kids, and Grandma & Grandpa Jones for coming from Mesa and celebrating with us!

Chase

What do I even say.

I love his cute moments when he sings "Ashes, ashes all fall down", "E-I-E-I-OH!", and give loves and kisses. We try to focus on those moments.

Baby Shower

As for me I am ready to have a baby. Some of my girlfriends were very nice and threw me a fun baby shower. I have to say, it was really fun and I am so excited my baby girl doesn't have to wear Chase's old clothes, which are really Parker's old clothes and so on. She got some way cute stuff and girls are fun! Thank you to everyone that came!

I am due in two weeks!

Blackmail

2010-07-04T12:15:00.002-07:00

We've got blackmail material to use on Chase one day. Forget the naked bathtub shot- this is terribly incriminating. First, someone stuffed a sock down his shirt to which Caleb said, "He looks like a lady!" Then someone suggested putting a tutu on him. Chase usually won't go along with being the freakshow, but strangely, he seemed thrilled about this...

I think we should be concerned. For now, the tutu is tucked away in a safe spot- only to be brought out for special occasions!

Proud

2010-06-21T21:55:00.011-07:00

Needless to say, I'm pretty proud of this project. My degenerative lower back isn't as happy now though. This is the before, during, and after. Be impressed.

Summer In Arizona

2010-06-08T20:45:00.006-07:00

This may be my favorite picture of all time!! If you look up Arizona White Trash in the Dictionary this is what you should find! Look closely, my sister Angie is wearing a headgear! Seriously, it doesn't get any better than that! In my mom's defence this was a fathers and daughters activity.

So we have had such a nice spring in Tucson that I fooled myself into believing that summer wouldn't be so bad, but 108 degree weather was a nice hot slap back to reality! AZ Summer here we come!

A Decade of Bliss!

2010-05-27T10:43:00.012-07:00

Today Jake and I have been married for 10 Years!

We always planned on going to Hawaii for our Tenth, but life being what it is, instead of drinking pina coladas (virgin of course) on the white sandy beach......we are home, with our beautiful kids, drinking Gatorade and Ginger ale, because we all have the stomach flu. Maybe for our twentieth!

So I thought I would document OUR STORY, since I am tired of watching Sound of Music.

Read on if you are bored:

How We Met

Jacob and I met in the summer of 1987 at a place called Philmont, in New Mexico.
It is a sort of scout camp that they use for church leadership training as well. Our families were in the same stake and both our dads were in leadership positions that brought them there.

I was eight years old at the time and probably looked about like this.

side note: I didn't try to find the homeliest picture of myself, this was actually the best...my mom made that dress and it was my favorite!

Jake was nine years old. Isn't he cute?

I first saw Jake on the playground at the camp. He was playing on the teeter totter with his sister, Sara, who was my same age. I don't remember much about Jake, but I remember thinking his sister was pretty in her Hawaiian print shirt and shorts. While they were playing on the teeter totter Jacob decided to get off while Sara was still up in the air, so she came crashing down and hit her head. After that I just thought Jake was a mean kid. The picture above is the only one I could find from Philmont. It is of Sara (in the awesome red jams and blue shirt) and I (in the purple cool-lots with my hands in the air). We had to do a skit, I think I was a turtle in it.

5-ish Years Later

After that Jake and I didn't see each other really until we met at Teen Elect, a stake sponsored event/ dance for 13 year olds to learn some manners. Even though Jake was not 13 his mom, who was in charge of it, still made him go, because there were more girls than boys. I think Jake had to go three years in a row.
They had a dance at the very end and this dreamy guy asked me to dance! I think it was the first time I dance with a guy taller than me and wasn't my cousin...I of course had an instant crush on him.

That summer I was reunited with Jake's sister Sara at girls camp and we became close friends all through High School. I remember always having a crush on Jake during those years, but didn't want anything to happen between us, because I thought it might jeopardize my friendship with Sara. Lucky for me, Jake had already lost interest....

We're Just Friends

I am so grateful that Jake and I had that time to get to know each other as friends. I always admired Jacob and the way he handled himself. He was hilarious and could laugh at himself. Can you find both of us in this picture?

Jake worked at Nielson Frozen Custard, the best, with some of his friends and I think they had more fun than anything. Ask him about his boss bathing in custard sometime.

(Brandon Hall, Jason Judd, Joel Wagenman, and Jacob Jones)

Jake had awesome friends in High School. I really hope my boys have friends like that someday. They were good boys, with great integrity, and knew how to have good, clean fun.

I still don't get why this picture is so funny, but I had to throw it in there to embarrass those participating. Notice anything unusually large or should I say extended about this picture?

Finally

So to shorten this story up, after Jake got home from his mission, he was really weird and started treating me different, like not telling me to leave him alone so I wouldn't scare the other girls off(he really told me that once).

He started asking me to go to these young single adult activities in our stake, so he wouldn't be the only normal person there.

And then he started asking me on dates.

It was weird.

So I went to BYU.

He was still in Mesa, AZ going to school so we wrote and talked on the phone (Thank you Uncle Phil and Aunt Liz for letting me use your long distance).

One day over the phone Jake confessed his love for me.

Bless his heart, I freaked out and broke up with him when he came to visit me after that.

I dated a few bozos

and Jake dated a few pretty girls

and then I realized that I was stupid and that I really did love him.

So I had confessed my love to him, when I came down to AZ for Christmas and he was a lot nicer to me than I was to him.

The above picture was at my Grandpa Harbaugh's house for a new year's eve party (best new year's eve party ever, hands down). I remember asking my cousins Nancy and Amy to take lots of pictures of me and Jake together, but not to make it look obvious.

The Proposal

So he came up to Provo a month later and asked me to marry him. I said yes.

I lived with my cousins Nancy Freestone and Amy Burnham at the time. They were so excited for the drama to be over or maybe to be rid of me....

The Engagement

I moved back to Arizona at the end of the School year.

Jake, Francesca, and I have been happy ever since.

This was one of our engagement pictures. Don't you love my freakish arm and hand? And Jake's tired eyes? Jake was working nights at UPS at the time and we had a hard time getting pictures with his eyes open.

The Wedding

May 27th 2000

We got married in the Mesa Arizona LDS Temple.

And I would do it all again.

Even knowing what I know now.

Life is crazy, life is hard, but I am glad I get to go through it with Jacob.

The other night both Parker and Chase were throwing up all night! And Jake said to me the next day "you know, while we were cleaning up puke last night, it made me so grateful for you and I realized there was no one else I would rather clean up vommit with than you."

Ditto Jake, I love you!

Isn't SHE lovely?

2010-05-13T13:54:00.011-07:00

Our little GIRL!!

We are so excited to be having a girl!

When we went to get the ultrasound this morning I was convinced we were having another boy, and I was okay with that. Jake of course thought it was a girl (he has been right every time!) The tech took forever looking at everything else, and then finally said, well do you want to know what you're having?

Uh, Yes!

This is definitely a little girl! Woo hoo!

This is her giving us the peace sign. Um, come on baby live in the now. I'll have to let her know that no one does that anymore, to avoid further embarrassment.

Her cute little foot that will someday wear shiny black little shoes, with a buckle and white tights! I'm kinda excited.

We stopped by Caleb and Amy's school to share the news.

Amy's reaction:

She was so excited she teared up a little, kept hugging me, and stared lovingly at the ultrasound pictures.

Caleb's reaction:
He looked at the pictures and shook his head yes.

I think Amy is in love.

My Convo with Amy

2010-05-10T16:09:00.002-07:00

The other day while I was doing Amy's hair we had the following conversation....

Amy- "Mom, I really, really hope you are having a girl!"

Me- "What if it's a boy?"

Amy- "Oh, I don't know, I just really hope for a sister!"

Me- "Do you think you could love another brother?"

Amy- "Yeah, I could. And I guess I do have 9 daughters to keep me busy." Referring to her lovely (and some of them freaky looking) dolls and maybe a stuffed unicorn or two.

Me- "Good thing, huh?"

We find out THIS Thursday if we are having a little brother or little sister!

THINK PINK!!

I Heart My Kids

2010-04-25T09:01:00.024-07:00

#1 The oldest, the craft maker, the Star Wars lover, the self proclaimed victim in every situation, the piano player, the reader, the amazing/random imagination, the jet pack obsessor, the ditch digger.

#2 The lonely sister, the gifted one (just ask her), the manipulator, the helper, the planner, the friend maker, the stuffed animal lover, the organizer, the self disciplined, the debate winner.

#3 The special one, the time consumer, the sweet one, the hand clapper, the constant test taker, the pureed food eater (that is actually yellow frosting on his face), the patient brother, the roller, the strong leg kicker (just ask my bloody nose), the pre-school lover.

#4 The crazy one, the defier of authority, the screamer, the biter, the hitter, the trampoline lover, the cuddler, the attention getter, the nap taker, Tupperware lover, the outdoors man.

#5!!!!!! The poor kid that has no idea what she or he is in for!!!

Due October 4, 2010

Life is good (aka: trying to cram lots of events into one post)

2010-04-09T22:38:00.010-07:00

Hi. It's me, Jake. I know it's been a while. But how eventful it has been these past few weeks! The Jones Family has been living life to the fullest lately, so here's a little recap of the past month's events that are notable (according to me).

We celebrated Natalie's 31'st birthday last month with a bang! We started it off with the best cake ever, which we have to give credit to Amanda Wilson for, since she's the one who shared the recipe with us after we first partook of its goodness. Mmm... seriously, this cake is heaven. The next day (Natalie's actual birthday, and the first day of the kids' spring break), we headed to CALIFORNIA!!! Chris and Pat were awesome enough to stay back with the younger two non-fun-lovers, and we took Caleb and Amy.
Monday we just drove, went to Huntington beach, and went out to eat.
FYI the Pacific ocean is cold in March

So this is Caleb and Amy NOT getting their clothes wet.

Have I mentioned how much I like this gal? She's fun.

On day #2 we got up early, enjoyed the hotel's free continental breakfast (which included boiled eggs, to my delight), and walked literally right across the street to Disneyland and stood in line for the park to open.

Took some pictures to pass the time...

Hmm... not really a good picture of any of us

Disneyland may really be the happiest place on earth!

We did the kiddie rides first so that the kids would think they were fun. Who would have thought that Caleb (yeah, he's 8), would be totally fine with space mountain, but be totally freaked out on the Snow White ride. That's Caleb for you!

Us stuck on Splash Mountain

But totally worth the wait!

Part B (the non-magical part) of our day in Disneyland included several near meltdowns, including this one by Caleb who really thought he needed a picture by himself. Amy had other plans...

There. Happy?

Next topic: Arizona gardening attempt #1

We dug up a really crummy dirt patch in our backyard, mixed in some compost and planted some tomatoes, jalepenos, basil, zuchinni, tomatillo, chili peppers, and watermelon. We are realizing that we're not in Iowa anymore, where we planted a garden, then left for 1 month for a rotation, only to come back to find bountiful amounts of all sorts of vegetables for us to pick. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. If it's a success, we'll post pictures of our results on here. If not, don't ask.

Next topic: New tile!

Sorry- no before or after pictures, just "during" pictures.

But FYI, it is all done now, and looks amazing! Seriously, what a difference a professional job makes! A shout out to Rick Morris Tile here in Tucson. Highly recommend them if you're in the market.

Next topic: Freshly painted house!!

Also no before picture, but believe me, it needed it in a bad way.

The front door is our favorite. It's black. It's dynamite. Maybe we go outside several times a day just to look at it. We're seriously addicted to looking at our fresh paint job. Props to Gila Painting for being $1000 cheaper than the the next least expensive bid and finishing in 2 days.

We've had several other projects going on, but we'll try to get some good pictures and do a "before and after" post sometime in the future.

Next topic: Random Chase

This kid is weird. And funny. And ever so busy. No real purpose to these pictures, but I just liked his drunk tired face above and his weirdness below.

That's all. Sorry it's so long and boring. That's what you get when we don't update for like 2 months. But stay tuned. We'll try to post excitement on here more regularly. Stay tuned.

Upd8

2010-02-20T15:12:00.022-07:00

Not much new here. Just thought I'd update what's going on around here.

Chase continues to entertain us. He's such an interesting child. So different and less inhibited than our other kids. I don't think the kid has an ounce of shyness in him. He starts up conversations with strangers wherever we go in his martian language.

Amy finally lost her front tooth. She was beginning to get very concerned because baby front teeth are SO kindergarden. She wiggled it like crazy, and finally it took Grandma Jones' touch to pull it out. It was the best day ever.

Caleb LOVES cubscouts. This week was his first Blue and Gold Banquet, where he earned two new belt loops, which he was very pround of. He requested that I take a picture, and would only stand sideways, so that his beltloops would be clearly shown.

Parker just beat pneumonia again. Bless his heart, he had a rough week last week. It was so great to have Grandma Jones come help us out.

Natalie somehow stays on top of it all, and we're all counting down the days when I'm done with my 4 month block of being on call 24/7. (Only 8 more days!!!)

Can You Feel the Excitement?

2010-02-02T16:21:00.007-07:00

Caleb's First Pinewood Derby Stats:

=2nd fastest car in Wolf Den

=Award for Best Sportsmanship

=2.5 Hours of Racing Fun

Does this picture remind anyone else of a Norman Rockwell Painting?

Fancy Amy's Birthday Party

2010-01-25T13:31:00.009-07:00

Our Amy girl turned seven a few days ago! I made her this birthday dress and I was quite proud of myself. I promise the necklace matched better in real life. When I showed Jake the dress he said it was made well, but not really his style. That is his way of saying he doesn't like it. I told him that I wouldn't make one for him then.

This is before leaving for the bus. Caleb and Amy are always terrified of missing the bus. Our rule is if you miss the bus you have to walk to school. If anyone knows my kids well they are notoriously slow, especially Caleb. So that is why we have this rule. They have only missed the bus once and had to walk to school, but that was enough. Every morning before they leave for the bus, we say prayers and Caleb and Amy's prayer always consists of "please don't let us miss the bus." So as you can see from this picture Amy is dying to get going.

and there she goes...

The Fancy Nancy Party

So I always promise myself (and Jake) that I won't get carried away when it comes to parties. I always try to keep it simple.

But somehow I always get carried away and before I know it.....

this happens.

That's right I spend hours making costumes for each guest, and stay up half the night decorating.

But then this happens and it's all worth it. Right Jake?

We had a Fancy Nancy contest to see who could dress and dance the fanciest. The girls weren't really into it, until I told them there was an extra cupcake on the line.

This is Amy pretending to blow out her candles since I missed the real thing....I think she might have a chance in showbiz with those acting skills!

We had a Fancy Tea (Pop) Party complete with real china!

Amy enjoying the delicate balance of sweetness and fizz in her Sierra Mist.

And we finished it off with a pinata. I usually make my own pinatas. We're talking strips of newspaper, paste made from water and flour, days of drying, then decorating it with paint and tissue paper.

Total time = 3 to 5 days.

This time I copied my smart sister-in-law, Sara, and wrapped a box filled with candy.

Total time = five minutes.

And no party would be complete without a picture with Eunice the Unicorn. Can you see the love in Amy's eyes?

Happy Birthday you crazy girl!

We love ya!

So...

2010-01-02T23:38:00.005-07:00

(Maybe it's the setting that's the problem)

Hmm...

We didn't send out Christmas cards this year.

Happy Birthday You Big Baby!

2009-12-30T09:17:00.007-07:00

Oh we sure love this baby. Here he is about an hour old. I remember all the nurses thought he was so cute and sweet. They said that they wanted to keep him. He shed those hospital manners the minute he got home though or maybe it was on the way home.

As Grandpa Huber would say "We all need a little pepper in the soup!"

Chase is definitely our pepper!

So I was just going to get Chase a toothbrush and a gallon of whole milk for his birthday until I saw this...............

And he liked it.

I also decided to make homemade donuts for his birthday, but then Krispy Kremes insisted on giving us a free dozen so we went with that.

My mom came down from Mesa for the day and to celebrate with us. We had so much fun and got a little crazy! Thanks for coming mom!

Happy Birthday Chase!

FUN

2009-12-17T16:29:00.014-07:00

So I downloaded a bunch of pics onto my computer, because Jake insisted that I learn how to do that...I still refuse to learn how to turn on the BBQ grill though. That's his job. Anyway, I realized we have had a lot of fun going on around here. I just didn't realize it. Here is the low down.

The Zoo

Awhile back we went with our fun Chapman friends to the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson. It was awesome! I thought it would be a lot of trash, reptiles, and cactus like the rest of Tucson, but it had lush beautiful trees and cool animals!I love how Amy is trying to look pretty while straddling a metal elephant. Not working.

I like peacocks.

I love this Parker face. Don't let it fool you. He had a great time.

Cute kids.We got to see some monkeys too! ...okay that was totally a mom joke.

The Park

So out of the blue Jake got home early from work. We celebrated by going to the park. Something we don't do very often.

Parker was so excited to be at the park that he favored us by singing some of his favorite ballads. Okay, not really, but it looks like he is.

Chase loves the park now and going down the slides and the swings.

He is such a dare devil

The Redo

Jake had to go to Phoenix for a conference for a few days. So I decided to do a little painting while he was gone. I decided I don't like painting.

Before

After

Thanksgiving

Jake was on call for Thanksgiving so my whole family came down to Tucson for the day. It was great! Even my brother and his family came all the way from Michigan! It was so fun to have everyone together. I love big, loud, crazy family fun! After everyone left I kept finding traces of pumpkin pie everywhere! It made me happy.

The kids put on a production of the first Thanksgiving. It was Oscar worthy! These are the Pilgrims with their wicked king.Here are the Indians. This must be before the feast, cause one of those Indians is looking pretty scrawny. I promise we feed him.Porter also taught us an old Indian chant.

My dad is a fun grandpa.

The Nativity

The Crum Family Party is the official start of Christmas. At the end the little kids play out the first Christmas.

So word on the street is that all the other boys were given the option of participating in the Nativity, except these two suckers.

Caleb was not happy about it....Merry Christmas!

How am I doing?

2009-11-18T13:14:00.014-07:00

So every once in awhile Caleb and Amy will say something that seems to put me in my place. It kind of gives me an idea of what they REALLY think of me. These are all within the week mind you.

Caleb is going through the I think I need glasses for attention stage, so he says to me: "Mom, I can't even read what time it is from here, can you?"

Me: "No"

Caleb: "Well that's what happens to old people." -yes since I am so old and decrepit, it's a miracle I still have all my original teeth and control of my bodily functions.

I tell the kids it's time for dinner and Caleb says "Ok, but can we have something not yucky?" -I don't know, that's gonna be stretch for me.

(Caleb had to go to the bathroom while I was taking this picture, can you tell?)

The phone rings, Amy looks at the caller ID and says : "Mom, it's someone to bug us. Do you want to answer it so you can yell at them?"
-just to clarify I never have or will ever yell at a solicitor on the phone. I may talk very stern when they are calling for the tenth time and I have asked them to take my name off their list!! But I don't yell at them.

(is it wrong to be jealous of your daughter? seriously, look at that hair.)

I go to pick up my kids from my friend Aubrey's house and she says: "I told the kids that they could borrow this movie, but they said you never let them do movie nights." Which I do, but I wonder what else they said about their mean mother.

On Monday I noticed Caleb and Amy forgot to take their turkey pictures to school for a contest, since they were due that day I dropped them off at each of their classes. When they got home from school that day Amy said: "You just wasted your time coming to our school, cause we didn't even win." Caleb said: "Yeah, you should have just stayed home."
-That's what I get for trying to be a nice mom.
It's a good thing I love these cute little punks!!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-06T09:42:00.015-07:00

So every year I try to make my kids wear themed costumes.....

Jane and Tarazan

(nice blue carpet, eh?)

Superman and Wonder Woman

(Superman didn't get a nap that day, hence the crabby face, it has nothing to do with how tight his red underwear are)

Peter Pan and Wendy
(lucky for all of you I can't think of anything clever or witty to say for this one)

Football Player, Cheerleader, and Wrestler

(this one was inspired by the stupid corrective helmet Parker had to wear, which didn't work by the way, except to give his bad head sores and make him cry a lot)

The past few years, I haven't been able to get Caleb and Amy to cooperate.

But this year I have been reading the Harry Potter series with them, well the first three books anyway, then it turns into Scary Potter and I don't think Caleb and Amy are ready for Voldemort nightmares....Amy still has bad dreams about the mean kitty on Cinderella..

This turned out to be one of my favorite halloweens!

Harry Potter and Hermoine Granger

I guess I am totally a Harry Potter nerd cause I was really annoyed when some people didn't know who they were or they only knew who Caleb was and called Amy Mrs. Harry Potter....I guess that's what you can expect from Muggles...

Parker decided he was too cool for themes and wanted to celebrate his Native American Heritage...he is 1/36th Navajo.

Chase was Norbert, Hagrid's Dragon, and these were the only pics I got of him.

Also Chase is talking now!

His first words:

"bum"

"dad"

"dumb mom"

"asia"

"bra"

He's so smart!

Parker 10-21-05

2009-10-21T05:16:00.028-07:00

Has it really been four years since this little guy came into our lives?

I know that with each child you have your life changes. I guess I had no idea how much my life was about to change four years ago.

The Rest of the Story

I started having contractions on the 19th of October. We had just moved to Iowa for medical school. My brother and his wife, Darick and Rebecca, lived there as well. Rebecca had put together a baby shower for me against my will. This is where the first contractions started. I remember I didn't tell anyone, because I wasn't due until November 1st (Jake's B-day). I figured they would go away. I went home and went to bed after the shower and kept waking up to contractions. I still didn't think I was in labor so I didn't tell Jacob. I continued to have them all day the next day, I finally called Jake at the school around 4pm and told him I was going to go have a baby if he wanted to come.

We were so excited as we drove to the hospital, I remember teasing Jake that the ultrasound could be wrong and we could really be having a girl. And if we were having a girl I wanted to name her Helen after my grandma Chapman. When we pulled up to the hospital the maternity unit was named after a lady whose name was Helen Powell. We laughed and decided it was a sign.

So I thought I would go in there pop my little baby out and be eating my jello within an hour...about 8pm that night I still hadn't had the baby and after being in labor for 24 hours I was ready for my jello and my epidural. They said no on the jello...and no on the epidural! Apparently no one told me that my platelets (something in the blood) were too low and I could get a blood clot on the spinal cord if I got an epidural. Thanks for the heads-up on that one. So after crying, wailing, and gnashing my teeth a little, I accepted the fact that I would be doing this all on my own. Luckily Jake was there and was a wonderful coach. He even told the mean nurse to leave, I was so grateful!

Then comes the long night. Looking back I wonder why they let me labor for that long? Maybe it's like the mean nurse said "These contractions, don't hurt that bad." That's weird, I didn't know she could feel them too.

I think I finally had Parker around 7am the next morning. I don't really remember, it's all a little cloudy. I remember having him and seeing this deep reddish, purple baby get whisked away from me. All of a sudden there was about twenty people in my room surrounding my baby talking in hushed tones. I knew something was wrong. Jake and I just sat there for about five minutes, not knowing what to do. I finally asked Jake to go see what was going on...more hushed tones. Jake came back and sat next to me and with his hand on my shoulder he said, "he doesn't have thumbs." And all I could say was "Why?"

Finally after what feels like hours they let me hold my baby, I found out later that he had to be resuscitated. They put this tiny baby into my arms and I can remember being so scared. Scared because he looked different, scared because I didn't know what to do or how to care for him. Scared that I wouldn't be able to love him as much as I love my other kids. I went through all these emotions in 30 seconds when they took my baby away again and off they went to the NICU to perform a million test. Oh, my little boy had to go through so much there at that hospital. After weeks of testing, poking, cutting, squeezing, listening, watching, and asking Jake and I a million questions (no, for the last time Jake and I are NOT related!) we were told that the medical opinion was that they had no idea what Parker had and why. Thanks, can I have my bill please so I can get the heck out of here?

Parker finally got to come home, but before we left the hospital the doctors told us that we would probably be back within the week and be prepared for Parker to die within the first few months of life. Okay....is that their way of saying congratulations?

Those were hard times in our life, never knowing if Parker was going to make it or not. Sometimes he would stop breathing and his lips would turn blue. He had to be on oxygen and there was this stupid pulse-ox machine that had an alarm that went off all the time. After awhile, when the alarm wasn't going off Caleb and Amy would hum the little tune of it. During all this time Jake was trying to not flunk out of medical school, when all he could think about were the different diagnoses that were being thrown at us. Parker had doctor/medical appointments everyday. Sometimes more than one a day. I remember pulling into the parking lot of a doc office once and Caleb saying "Oh good! This office has my favorite toys." Caleb was three and Amy was two at the time. Looking back I don't know how we made it through those times without having a nervous breakdown...or maybe we did...am I crazy and nobody is telling me??

I always had a vision of the type of mother I would be someday and how my kids would be. Clean faces and combed hair. Pretty, clean clothes all the time. I would smile, hum, and sing to my children and they would look into my eyes with love and smile. There would never be stress, my kids would always obey and nothing would ever go wrong...well it's sort of like that...we have faces...and hair...I never imagined being the family that everyone felt sorry for, or didn't know how to talk to, or had to pick out wheelchairs for my son, or change his diaper for the rest of his life, or so on. But I know that this was the plan for me all along. I was supposed to be Parker's mother and he was supposed to be born with severe challenges. This wasn't my plan, it was Heavenly Father's plan and guess what? His plan is better anyway. I love my life and I love my children and even though Parker adds a lot of challenges, and limitations, I would never change it. Never. Don't get me wrong, there are times I want to give up, or I question the plan, but I wouldn't change it. Parker makes me strong, he makes me slow down, he makes me tender, he makes me accepting, he makes me love others, he makes me grateful for every little blessing, he makes me rely on the goodness and mercy of others, he makes me want to be better. He is pure goodness and untouched by the things of the world. That truly amazes me.

So I guess what I am trying to say is Happy Birthday Parker!

I love you!

Biz to the B

2009-10-18T21:03:00.006-07:00

So last weekend we took a little day trip to explore the nethermost parts of Southern Arizona. Destination: Bisbee. And since Tombstone, AZ was along the way, we decided to stop there too. Well, we should have just kept driving through Tombstone except for the fact that the kids' bladders (okay, mine was the main one) were about to explode. Note to self: Jones sized bladders and 1 liter of water don't make for a great roadtrip combo.

Anyway, as you can see in the above picture, Tombstone is a happening place! That is, if you belong to the American Legion, use some sort of walker, and/or are a chain smoker. (Apparently Tombstone is exempt from the state-wide smoking ban in public places.)

Above: Tombstone trying to be picturesque

Below: my cute family being picturesque without trying
Okay, enough about Tombstone. Never need to go there again (unless it's to stop to use the restroom).

Thankfully, Bisbee did not disappoint! I had been there a LONG time ago as a kid. We went there with our Jones cousins and got to take a tour of one of the copper mines, and I remember it being really cool. This time, we didn't take the mine tour since it wasn't really wheelchair accessible, but we really had a fun time just exploring the town.

Bisbee was once the largest city in Arizona (and the largest city between San Francisco and St Louis, according to the nice 90 year old man at the museum who may have had some dementia), boasting a population of 25,000 (and that number changed every one of the 4 times he told me this little tidbit). It was back when they were mining gold, silver, platinum, and copper like nobody's business. The town is built in this narrow little canyon, so there are these little winding streets and houses just kind of on top of each other hanging onto the sides of cliffs. It's actually a pretty little town.

Natalie has converted Caleb and Amy to thrift store/antique shop junkies.

We had to hit just about every one along the way

Natalie, Caleb and Amy were in heaven searching for "treasures". I was in... that other place. Surrounded by all that junk with isles too narrow to get through with a stroller and stinky piles of junk everywhere...

But it all paid off when they each found a treasure or two to buy.

Then we went to circle K for hotdogs and Twinkies (WT?) and ate at the park that was carved into the side of a mountain.

Fun times were had by all

And Parker was such a good sport about the drive and was just so happy the whole time.

And speaking of Parker, here's wishing him a happy 4th birthday tomorrow!

And on a completely unrelated note, here are today's Jones family quotes I found amusing:

Amy: Dad, can I touch the dead lizard? It's so cute!

****

When I was talking to Natalie on the phone to tell her I was on my way home:

Natalie: Oh, I need to go... Chase is stuck in the dishwasher.

****

When I got home from the hospital and gave Caleb a hug when he came downstairs:

Dad: Caleb, I missed you today!

Caleb: I missed you too, Dad. Actually... I didn't even think about you today.

The Tooth.

2009-10-12T08:27:00.011-07:00

Okay, I get it now you have been TEETHING. Oh! That makes perfect sense. That is why you have been so "emotional" lately. That explains why you have been crying for hours during the night these last nine months. Why you have been writing on the walls with pencils, pulling your brother's hair until he cries, following me around screaming until I pick you up and then scratching my face, stealing your brothers toys, climbing the stairs and screaming when I take you off, destroying or eating all of the kids art projects, throwing the toys I give you back in my face, crying in the car whenever we go ANYWHERE, crying at the park while we're trying to play with you on the swings and on the slides, kicking your brother in the head,throwing things in the toilet, pulling my hair, breaking and eating my sunglasses, necklaces and bracelets and spitting food back at me. It's all coming together now. I guess I was WAY out of line when I called you a "stinker" and labeled you as "naughty". I apologize for not being sympathetic. So how many more teeth do you have to break through? Sweet.

Love,

Mom

Caleb's Baptism

2009-09-23T13:21:00.008-07:00

Caleb got baptized last Saturday in Mesa, AZ. We're so proud of him! We want to thank everyone that came and supported Caleb! It was a wonderful experience and we feel so grateful for loving friends and family. I just wish I would have got more pictures of everybody there....

I wish we got a better picture of Jake's jumpsuit. Think polyester. It was awesome.
Aren't we sooo photogenic?

Caleb got baptized at the same church his dad and his grandma Jones' got baptized in.

Aunt Miss (not pictured, but was wearing a very cute dress) gave the talk on Baptism and did a penny experiment. Caleb thought it was way cool. Grandpa Freestone gave a powerful talk and testimony on The Gift of the Holy Ghost.

Can you believe Caleb is a Cub Scout? He looks dang cute in his uniform! Thanks Grandma Freestone!

After the baptism, we took Caleb and his cousin Porter out for a day o' fun. This of course included Nielson's Frozen Custard. So good!

Caleb Is Getting Baptized!

2009-09-14T12:11:00.005-07:00

Our little boy is all grown up and going to be accountable for his actions! I hope we've taught him well!

His baptism is this Saturday September 19th (which is his birthday) in Mesa, AZ.

All are invited.

None are required.

Well, except our imediate families are required.

Living the good life.

2009-09-03T10:15:00.037-07:00

So Tucson...here we are. What do I say. So I promised my friend (you know who you are Amanda Wilson), that I would be better at updating our blog.

The problem is, I don't think there is much to say. It's hot, we sweat a lot (no visuals please), and Jake works a lot. Amy actually said awhile back "It seems like we don't even have a dad." Jake didn't like that very much. I assured Amy that we have a dad that is working very hard to provide for us. Yeah, that shut her up...

So I think I will give a play by play... starting with

Caleb

Caleb started 2nd grade this year. He was so nervous about getting lost, riding the bus, making friends, learning everything, and having a nice teacher. We actually practiced walking to his classroom about five times before school started and he was still scared he would not be able to find it on the first day. He did just fine though and only spent a little time in the nurses office with an upset stomach. Poor kid. On the second day of school he came home and said "I almost made a friend today." We miss you Keir!!! Caleb still talks about you almost every day! Luckily Caleb is a nice, likable kid and now has plenty of friends. At least that is what I told Amy last night when

she said "I wonder why I get more letters from friends than Caleb does, oh yeah, it's because I have more friends than him."

Little stink.

I wanted to tell Caleb he had my permission to slap her, but I didn't.

Amy

That leads us to our Amy and if anybody asks (or doesn't ask) she is doing great and has LOTS of friends. I don't think any of them have replaced Isabelle though, who was her best friend in Iowa. We miss her. Amy is in 1st grade and already knows everthing. She actually told me that sometimes her teacher forgets what they are suppose to be doing so she has to remind her...um..I'm sure her teacher loves that. She is a good girl though and such a good helper.

Parker

Oh Parker. I think this move has been hardest on him. He does not like change, heat, noise, wearing shoes, riding in the car, or big boy beds. He does like when I hold him and stroke his face and whisper sweet nothings in his ears. We are still trying to get him settled into his special needs pre-school and we are desparately missing his pre-school and the good programs in Iowa!

Chase

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! That kid is everywhere! Into everything and climbing and falling all day. When did this happen? I keep asking myself "Is this normal?" "Are babies suppose to be climbing out of there bouncers and up the stairs and getting on boxes at 8 months?" I guess they are, it's just been a long time since I have done the baby stages thing. We never had to baby proof our house after Parker was born. Chase is a little skunk too. He likes to crawl over to his brother Parker and pull his hair and laugh when Parker cries. What am I to do? Are cages illegal for children? That little baby can melt my heart though and he is too darn cute for his own good.

I am doing great. I cut my hair again really short and I nailed the "Jodie Foster, in her early homely looking phase," look. Which wasn't exactly what I was going for, but oh well, hair grows back.... well for some people. I love, love our house (more pics on that to come) and it was worth all the drama.

I feel spoiled everytime I open our garage door with a BUTTON!

Not my double gloved hands, a snow shovel, and all the strength I can muster.

But I am with the kids and miss my friends in Iowa and those that have left Iowa. Why can't we all just live by eachother....It has been fun to be close to our families though and our kids have loved playing with their cousins. They all get along so well!

Jake

How come this is the only picture I can find of Jake in the last 4 months? Jake is working hard at the VA hospital these days. He leaves around 4:30am and gets home around 9:30pm.

He has all sorts of gross stories to tell too. He will usually start in on one and I will say throughout "Did you wash your hands after that?" and he will say "Natalie! I was wearing gloves!" and I'll say "So...did you wash your hands after that?" I'm glad he's the doc and not me! He is such a hard worker and I am so proud of him.

So probably more than you wanted to know....

Not your typical first day...

2009-08-03T22:08:00.004-07:00

We've been trying to learn flexibility these days. Things have a tendancy in our life not to go quite as planned. Hopefully our kids are learning to be flexible as well, rather than being turned into serial killers later down the line. When we imagined the first day of school this year, we did not imagine either of these things. #1- That it would be on August 3rd. Come on, people! That's seriously still the middle of summer! And #2- that we would still be homeless. Our move into our new home got postponed one week... hooray for being flexible! So for the first day of school pictures, I got one in front of the Winfield's house (my Aunt and Uncle's house where we are staying), and then we stopped by our new house on the way to school and took a shot in front of it too. Didn't want it to feel bad or anything!

Campout!!!

2009-06-26T10:00:00.007-07:00

For a more interesting and detailed post of this same event, click here. Thanks to my sister Miss for beating us all to the punch in your camping post- well done. But if you want to read the boring version, knock yourself out!

With the disclaimer taken care of, here's my take on the family campout. I actually forgot that Arizona is really beautiful if you go to the right spots. A couple weeks ago, we had a Jones family campout at Blue Ridge Reservoir. My dad amazingly planned out every detail and carried it out with perfection. We're talking dutch oven deliciousness, s'mores, canoeing... fun! Since we're staying with my parents right now (much to their dismay, I'm sure), it was kind of fun to see my dad get ready for the campout. It sort of brought me back to my childhood with his planning for fathers-and-sons outings. Mostly is was seeing my dad's checklist that brought back the memories- that must be where I got my obsession with checklists! Thanks Dad for making this happen. We'll have to make this an annual thing- hopefully next year even more of the family can come.

Philip, Melissa, and Oakley... chillin.

Aly brought the swing which provided hours of entertainment... as you can clearly see on Caleb and Amy's faces!

Fuzzy the Catepillar was also a source of entertainment, being passed around to each kid several times. Finally, probably as a defense mechanism, Fuzzy played dead and stopped moving. Or maybe he was REALLY dead.

The kids also dug up a worm (I can't remember it's name) and played with it all afternoon, through dinner, and had him at the campfire too. Finally, Oakley announced that he "broke" and what was one worm was now two. And I think they may have thrown him in the fire...

The kids also made a "playground" which consisted of rearranging gigantic ant-infested logs. It was actually impressive that these little kids were able to move those things!

Caleb stated that he and Marissa "are like, 'best cousins'".

These kids are crazy. Amy has her "blowdryer" in this picture. Oakley is so cute thinking she's so funny.

Just kickin it around the campfire.

This was all of our family that was able to go. Natalie and the little boys stayed home because we thought they might ruin all the fun for everyone, and we didn't want to give them the opportunity to prove us right! Maybe next year, boys!

Kirk's jeep was a hit

Canoeing was so much fun! My dad took 4 of the stake canoes and we all paddled to our hearts content (and for some, much more than their hearts content... Amy).

Beautiful surroundings!

While Amy tapped out from her paddling duties after about 1/2 a stroke, Caleb hung in there and paddled the best that he could. Bless his heart, he actually worked really hard!

But sometimes I felt like every stroke he did was counteracting mine, because we would totally end up running into rocks, doing circles, or going backwards. I guess that was one of the perks of being in a canoe with just 2 other kids- I could blame our lack of speed and direction on them!

This is one of those above-mentioned situations where we got stuck against the rocks, unable to get turned in the right direction

And done!

Freestone Fun Farm

2009-06-18T12:26:00.008-07:00

We have recurring conversations in our home. One of these conversations is about farms. Caleb has been pretty set in his opinion about living on a farm. Usually, the conversation goes something like this:

Caleb: Dad, do you think it would be fun to live on a farm?
Dad: Oh, I don't know. It takes a lot of work.
Caleb: I don't think I want to live on a farm, because like you might step in poo a lot
Dad: Um, that's a possibility.

Or like this:

Caleb: Dad, do you think you would like to live on a farm?
Dad: (Trying to act engaged because we've already had this conversation about 6 times that day) That might be fun.
Caleb: I don't think I want to live on a farm, because you might get swine flu.
Dad: Th-
Amy: Caleb, it's not even really called that! It's H1N1!

The details of the conversations vary some, but the take home message is always the same: Caleb does not want to live on a farm.

But a few weeks ago we had a little adventure that may have changed his mind. After 4 years of living only 2 hours away from some wonderful Freestone relatives (Eric and Faith, their son Adam and his wife Claire and their cute little Ruby), we finally went down to their farm in Jameson, Missouri. And boy, it did NOT disappoint!

Cute matchy-matchers Amy and Grandma

After having the red carpet rolled out for us and eating a delicious lunch prepared by Faith, we headed out to the hidden pond for some fishing.

Don't be fooled by the nonchalant look on Parker's face- he had a great time fishing!

Uncle Eric gave Caleb a little refresher course and he was ready to go.

Caleb proved to be our best fisherman, catching a fish with nearly every cast

This was Amy's debut as an angler

But she quickly reeled in the biggest catch of the day

Grandpa held his own too

Natalie gets the award for the sassiest fisher- trash talking me the entire time. The fact that she caught one before I did was just fuel for the fire.

But notice how much bigger mine was than hers! Caleb is clearly amazed.

Chase didn't get the memo that it was supposed to be "Freestone FUN Farm" and crabbed just about the entire time. Yay. It's just a phase, I'm sure...

After fishing, Eric led us down some crazy trails on the 4-wheelers. Afterwards, Natalie and I each got to ride our own quad and race through the fields and forests. It was pure exhilaration! I totally caught air. Natalie said she couldn't remember the last time she did something fun and crazy like that.

He even got Chris and Pat out there- which is a small miracle if you know how cautious and practical they are!

We ended the day by driving 10 minutes to Adam-Ondi-Ahman. I highly recommend AOA by sunset- Amazing!!! Then on the way home the fireflies were going nuts and looked like glitter sparkling along the road.

At the end of the day, I said to Nat, "I totally want to live on a farm. Then we could just eat and fish and ride quads all day." Nevermind the other backbreaking labor from sun-up till after the sun goes down. But we appreciated them taking a break from their duties to show us a good time.

The Trek

2009-06-18T11:27:00.002-07:00

We knew the day would have to come when we would leave Iowa. We actually looked forward to it with anticipation, since we were moving to Arizona- where we WANTED to be moving to. But it was really hard to leave. So much so that I have been borderline emotionally unstable. (Yes, this IS Jake writing and I do realize that my masculinity may be in question at this point). We will always look back on our 4 years in Iowa as some of the best in our life, and we will never forget the wonderful friends we made there.

The move to Arizona went relatively well. We DID fit all our belongings into the largest (26 ft) Penske truck... barely. Um, so we may have sold half of our furniture on Craigslist, including the last minute sell of our couches when we realized that H-E-double hockey sticks would freeze over before they fit onto that moving truck. Caleb and I drove the truck 1389.52 miles in 27 short hours, averaging 7.7 miles per gallon. Our trip was pretty uneventful. The highlight was probably eating breakfast at Denny's on our second day of the trip. Thank you Nancy Lowman for providing the kids audio CD that we listened to probably 14 times during the drive. I now have every song memorized.

Natalie's trip was not quite as uneventful. Aunt Coco flew out to Des Moines and then flew from Omaha to AZ with Nat and the younger kids. We'll just say that Parker and Chase are never flying again. I think I just heard Southwest Airlines breath a huge sigh of relief.

Thanks to our parents for driving our cars for us. I honestly don't think we would have made it up some of those hills in that 26 ft truck towing our van behind.

Sorry for the boring post. I'm going to try to catch up now and post some more interesting stuff now.