Fun with the Jones'

We had so much fun with the Jones family at Christmas. The first morning there Blake's mom and I made all kinds of fun Christmas treats while Blake and Garrett went hunting.

Remi and Broden helped Grandma with her make-up, then helped themselves to the make-up too.

Grandma and Grandpa had so many fun toys, of course animals Remi and Broden's favorite.

Playing with cousins after family pictures at the mall.(Hence the matching outfits.) We were quite the site walking through the mall. Blake's mom, Jen(Blake's brother's wife) and I all in matching shirts carrying and towing along 6 kids, all in matching outfits. Fun memories! While we played at the mall the boys all went hunting together. KC(Blake's dad), Chez, Tyler Blake and Garrett. All of them. Probably the first time in a couple years that they have all been hunting together.

We got to go see Santa too. Remi was excited, but Broden was a little scared. Alissa loves anyone who smiles and holds her. Remi told Santa she wanted a horse for Christmas.

I love this picture of our nephew!

Alissa with Grandpa Jones.

Fun with the whole Fam at the Jones' house! We had a party the first Friday we were there with Blake's two older brothers, their wives and kids and his younger brother. It was a blast because the kids are all old enough now that they can go downstairs and play and the adults can actually play games!!!! We played a game where we each would take a turn and draw a name of a Christmas song out of a cup then the person had to draw it on a white board and try to get your team to guess what Christmas carol it was. It was boys against girls. It was a blast.

Christmas Eve we ate a yummy dinner at the Valentine's house. They are family friends. Blake's Grandma Jones(Grandma Great) joined us this year along with Patty, his aunt. We ate, talked and played Jeopardy.

Opening presents Christmas day with Grandma and Grandpa Jones.

Playing with presents with Grandma and Grandpa.(I think Grandpa is enjoying the toy the most:)
Remi got the coolest barbi. You can comb color into her hair. It is like you are straightening her hair but it makes color streaks. It works on our hair too. She tried it out on Grandma:)
We enjoyed a cross country ski trip with Blake's parents up by Kelley's Canyon Ski Resort. Alissa won't take a bottle so our trip was narrowed down to someplace close to a babysitter. Tyler and Jen live about 20 minutes from Kelley's. So Jen watched Alissa for us. Thanks Jen. We skied for about 2 hours and saw 3 moose. It was amazing and we enjoyed being in the mountains again.
Remi and Broden fell asleep together in Uncle Garrett's bed. Aren't they cute.We ended our trip with a visit to Blake's Grandma Webb in Utah. We enjoyed our visit with her, then headed to a hotel for some swimming and dinner before flying back to Cleveland the next morning.

Pre-Christmas dinner

Some of the kids at the dinner

The week before we left for Idaho we had a dinner with some of the young families we have become friends with since we have lived here. There were 9 adults and 9 kids. It was a blast! I cooked a turkey, rolls and pies and everyone else brought sides and appetizers. It was delicious and we got to enjoy turkey sandwiches for a few days and now we get to enjoy turkey soup from all the frozen turkey we have. Turkey soup and homemade bread bowls is one of our favorite meals.

Saturday when we were getting the house ready the lights in the upstairs started to flicker. The they went out. They came back on for a few minutes, then went out again and wouldn't come back on. We checked the breaker, checked all the wiring to the outlets and lights and switched out the breaker in the box. NOTHING would work. Not one light or outlet would work upstairs. So we took an extension cord and plugged it in downstairs, wove it through our hand rail to the upstairs, attached another extension cord with multiple outlets and plugged in our 2 lamps. So that was the extent of our lights upstairs for the rest of the week.

I felt like a pioneer carrying my lamp with me from room to room when I was packing. I would carry it from closet to closet gathering clothes, and to the attic to get the luggage, then to the bathroom to get ready and on and on. It was kind of a pain. We didn't want to deal with it before we went to Idaho, so we just left it.

We dreaded coming back here after Christmas and one of the main reasons was because we knew we had a huge project waiting for us which involved possibly tearing out our kitchen ceiling to get to all our electrical to find the problem. Not fun! But when we got home Blake flipped our breaker back on (He kept it off while we were gone) and everything upstairs worked except one outlet in the bathroom! What a huge blessing. I would consider that a miracle in our day. I'm not even going to try and find a reason it happened or excuse for it. I'm just considering it a miracle. We will try to find out how to fix it though, so it doesn't happen again, but for now we are enjoying lights and electricity.

Making Christmas treats

Broden dressed as a shepherd for the ward Christmas party.

Decorating gingerbread men.

Countdown to going to Idaho.

Making gingerbread men.

I'm just catching up on everything I haven't written about. We started getting ready for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. I told Remi in September that we were going to go home to Idaho for Christmas. She wanted to know when Christmas was, so I told her when it snows. So at the beginning of November when it started snowing she started asking if we were going to get on the airplane every time we got in the car. So we made a sign with candy hanging from it to count the days until we got to go home for Christmas.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we went out to a little Christmas tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree. It was so much fun, but of course I forgot our camera. When you get there they take you out on a horse drawn wagon to the area with the kind of trees you want. Then they give you a saw. You pick your tree, cut it down and carry it to the wagon and they take you back to the parking lot, where they shake off all the dead needles, put it in netting and carry it to your car. Then they have a big barn with a fireplace where you can cook hot dogs, smores and have hot chocolate. You can also get your picture taken and the next year when you go you can take the previous year's pictures. It was a blast! We even went back outside and rode on the wagon a second time, just for Remi and Broden. They loved it. Anyone who lives in Ohio, we would deffinately reccommend getting your tree here!

Horses and hunting

Just a cute picture of Alissa, since you can't see her in the other pictures.

When I looked back at Broden when we got back to the car, this is what I saw. He was obviously completely worn out.

Every time I got down to take a picture this is what the horse would do to me.

We went out to where Blake hunts and fed the horses, which is one of Remi and Broden's favorite activities. They always ask to go feed the horses. Then at home they will get apples out of the fridge and pretend to be horses eating apples and carrots. After we fed the horses we walked through the fields where Blake hunts. I carried Alissa in the baby carrier and pulled Broden in the sled. Blake carried the gun and pulled Remi. We didn't even see anything to shoot at, but it was fun anyway.

My sister's visit

Dinner at TGI Fridays

We went to an indoor water park at Niagara Falls. This is what Alissa did the whole time at the water park.

Broden wishing he was big enough to ride the tube slide. He liked playing in just the tube too though.

Our niece Katelyn on the slide.

Blake and the kids on the slide.

Remi and Kenzi on the slide.

Kenzi on the slide.

Broden on the slide.

Broden and kenzi.

Broden playing in fountain.

Kenzi, Katelyn, Nikosha and Remi getting ready to go to the water park.

Where all 5 of the older kids slept on our bedroom floor

Kenzi being silly.

All the kids, except Kyler.

Playing on the stairs.

We had so much fun when my sister Julie and her husband Nate came from Idaho Falls to visit us. They even stayed here in our house, which was a blast. They have 4 children, so there were 4 adults and 7 children in our 2 bedroom house. Crazy, but a blast! IF anyone ever wants to come visit you have a place to stay. Its tight, but we have lots of beds. 1 queen, 1 full, 1 twin, 2 cribs, 1 packnplay, 1 cradle, 1 couch, 2 camping pads, 2 other pads and lots of floor space! Come on out.

The things I've done-Jenny

I saw this on someone else's blog and I thought it was fun. What have you done in your life? The things I've done are in bold RED(jenny) Blue (Blake) and Green (both):

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (does Disney World count?)
8. Climbed a mountain (Table Rock in the Grand Tetons)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo(to my kids only)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House(on the street counts, right?)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating("helped my grandma when I was like 6)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life(my daughter)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby - as much as a male can!
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day - kids books 3 a night!