Family Reunions...

June was a fun month for us, we were able to go to 2 family reunions... The first one we went to was in Idaho at my Aunts awesome RV park... This was our first Jones' reunion in a long time, and it was so nice. It was fun to see cousins and family we had not seen for years and to catch up. My Aunt and Uncle did such an amazing job making it so memorable for everyone.. We had so much fun, amidst the rain showers... We cannot wait for next year!!

Jones' Reunion

We also went to Blanding over Fathers Day for a reunion with Troy's family. We enjoy our annual trip down there to spend time with his family. It's so relaxing and low key down there, a real break from our fast paced life here. :) A little glimpse of our time down there. :)

Black Reunion

365 (Week 26)

Wow it seems like this week was only one day long... I really am going to post more than just these 365 posts, LOTS going on the last 3 weeks.. :)

Day 174 - 6/23/2009 Stockton with his Principal, getting the Principal's Pride award.


Day 175 - 6/24/2009 Nothing says Happy Birthday better than a Nothing Bundt Cake.. YUMMY!!!


Day 176 6/25/2009 Today no pictures, exhaustion setting in.. :)

Day 177 - 6/26/2009 Loved this rainstorm, look at the beautiful rainbow it left..


Day 178 - 6/27/2009 Miss Courtnee's piano recital... :)


Day 179 - 6/28/2009 All sacked out on Nancy's couch. :)


Day 180 - 6/29/2009 Today was award ceremony day at the kids' school.. So proud of all 3 of them... :)

365 (Week 25)

Wow this last week has been kind of a blur to me, but here is a glimpse of our week..

Day 167 - 6/16/2009 Today was Courtnee's school play, she was a servant, did a great job.. :)


Day 168 - 6/17/2009 I just love looking at all of the flowers in my yard, sometimes in awe of mother natures beauty!!


Day 169 - 6/18/2009 This was a sunset I captured while down south for a family reunion.. So pretty..


Day 170 - 6/19/2009 Courtnee & her Grandma at the Mountain.. Poor Court coughed her guts out today.. :(


Day 171 - 6/20/2009 This picture was taken at a lake, there were so many fish jumping it looked like the water was boiling.. Pretty neat.. :)


Day 172 - 6/21/2009 Although this picture was taken a few days before today, it's the cutest picture of Troy and Jaden enjoying the great mountain air. Happy Father's Day Troy!!


Day 173 - 6/22/2009 Stockton on an annual outing with Troy and his uncle shooting their guns.. :)

365 (Week 24)

Day 160 - 6/9/2009 Courtnee & my cute niece Kylee at her sweet 16 party.. :)


Day 161 - 6/10/2009 This kid has a new found love with popcorn.. His fave is the marshmallow microwave popcorn (A MUST, if you haven't tried it). :)


Day 162 - 6/11/2009 Stockton was Albert Einstein in his play at school..


Day 163 - 6/12/2009 Slacker today! No pics.. :(

Day 164 - 6/13/2009 Cole at our family reunion, more pics to come..


Day 165 - 6/14/2009 One of my loves of summer, painting fingers and toes.. :)


Day 166 - 6/15/2009 We decided to see how interested he is in potty training.. He was so proud of his new "unnerwear", he had to show them off.. :) Hopefully it comes sooner than later..

Miss Kylee...

Today I want to wish my sweet niece a Happy Birthday!!! She is turning sweet 16~ It seems like only yesterday she was a little toddler bouncing around at our wedding.. ;) Some of my favorite things about her...

- She is completely adorable in every way..
- She is so kind to everyone..
- She has an awesome personality..
- Cute smile..
- I love it when she comes to our house to stay..
- I love it that she loves to do hair and paint toenails..
- I love the spirit that glows about her..
- She is an amazing cook, (and only 16!!!!:)
- She loves animals and is so kind to them, wish I had more of this in me..
- I love how her and Courtnee are so close. :)
- She is such a good example to those around her.. :)
- She is always so happy!
- She is so much fun to be around, love hanging out with her!

Hope you have the happiest day ever! We are so blessed to have you in our family. We love you so much Kylee.. Happy Sweet 16!

365 (Week 23)

Day 153 - 6/2/2009 Such a silly boy!


Day 154 - 6/3/2009 He was so proud of himself for finding this stroller, and bringing it in the house.. Him and Cole have had a ball pushing each other around the house. :)


Day 155 - 6/4/2009 No picture today.. :(

Day 156 - 6/5/2009 Hot water heater having some MAJOR issues... Had to do dishes by boiling water, not so much fun.. Man the things I take for granted. After 5 days of mostly NO hot water I am so grateful to have hot water again!!!!


Day 157 - 6/6/2009 I figured since I took so many pictures today I was off the hook for missing 2 days this week.. :)

Helping Nancy & Levi set up their pool..



Courtnee eating her first piece of corn on the cob since braces... YEAH!!!


Stockton sure does love his hot wings.. :)



Day 158 - 6/7/2009 Jaden "took some pictures" with my small camera and it wasn't working today... :) Lil turkey...

Day 159 - 6/8/2009 I really do love summer time, but nothing beats a great thunderstorm.. Loved listening to it rain today.. :)

Pay it Forward (part one)

Well I have done half of my "pay it forwards". Here is a glimpse of what I did...

For Casey.. To start she is one of my very best friends.. I knew from the second I met her that we were destined to be friends... We have had some of the best times together... She is such an amazing person, so sweet, kind, happy, totally cute, loving, giving, funny, just a great person to be around... I am so lucky to have her as my friend/neighbor/etc... When thinking about what I could make for Casey, I thought of a mini book.. Casey makes so many mini books for other people that are totally amazingly cute, but has never kept any for herself... So that's what I made for her.. A friendship book... I was even able to find a few pictures for it.. :) Casey, I hope you enjoy your book as much as I enjoyed making it for you!



For Ashley... I have to say I met Ashley a few years ago in a card club, and knew right away what a sweet friend she would be... Ashley is seriously one of the sweetest, kindest people I know.. Did I mention too that I love the fact that she is always happy(must run in the family, since Casey is always happy too, and they are sisters).. Ashley just had the most darling baby boy a few weeks ago, and so when deciding what to do for her, I decided a mini book for her too.. I decided to make hers a family one, so that she can put pics in there of her cute new little family... Hope you enjoy it Ash as much as I enjoyed making it for you....


For Courtnee... I was so happy to see that Courtnee responded to my "pay it forward," I was so excited to make her something... Courtnee is my rock, she is my strength most days.. She is so giving and loving and has a heart of gold. I thank my lucky stars every day that I have her as my daughter... She is so beautiful, inside and out.. I love the fact that she sees only the good in people.. She is amazing and I sometimes forget that she is only 12.. :) What a great example she is to her brothers and her peers.. When making Courtnee's gift I had to be really sneaky, and do it while her and Cole were at school so he wouldn't tell her.. I decided to make her a can and fill it full of all her favorite goodies with it... :) Hope you loved it Gunderbutt!!!



For Nancy... I am so happy that Nancy also wanted to be in on my "pay it forward"... Nancy is one of my best friends, and I am so blessed to have her as one of my sisters.. Nancy is so caring, giving, loving, totally cute, the best auntie to my kids, just an all around great person... I love the way that she loves my kids, she is going to be such a sweet mommy someday... When thinking what to do for Nancy, I had to really think about this one... Nancy is not really into scrapbooking so I didn't want to do that... I finally decided I would test my hand at sewing... I decided to get all of my scrap material together and make her a pillow for her couch... Never having done this before, it was so much fun and I was pretty happy with the end result... Nancy loves anything outdoors, hunting, camping, fishing.... SO that's the pillow I made her... Hope you liked it Nancy as much as I liked making for you!! Love you!!!

365 (Week 22)

Another week in the life of us...

Day 146 - 5/26/2009 The boys sure love helping me make cookies.. :)


Day 147 - 5/27/2009 What a great kid we have.. :) Love it that she helps out and never complains.


Day 148 - 5/28/2009 Love getting notes like this in the backpacks. :)


Day 149 - 5/29/2009 Have I ever mentioned that Troy makes the best pizza on the planet? :)



Day 150 - 5/30/2009 Do they get any cuter than this? :)


Day 151 - 5/31/2009 Stock was helping Nancy & Levi dig down for their new pool.. :)


Day 152 - 6/1/2009 Just love having me an Orange Dream Machine from Jamba.. YUMMY!!!