Sugar Cookies!

Just had to throw this last one in 'cause Ryan looks so cute and excited to have his picture taken:) I have to tell you, he wasn't going to help but then he seen my attempts to roll out the sugar cookies (which are not really my thing) and he quickly took over. What a fun domesticated Daddy! I love ya Ry! So anyway, Merry Christmas and love to everyone!

Christmas Time Fun.

Making sugar cookies for the neighbors.

Here is some pictures of my cute decorations my mom made and painted for me. These and the snowballs are my most favorite decorations I own. Isn't she one talented lady? Thanks Mom!

Just thought I would throw in a picture of my tree, it is much prettier in person.

Mazzy and her "crazy" Santa mask.

Here's a picture of our lit up house. You can't really see, but we have Santa runway lights going up our sidewalk, they flash red and green, but they are too fast to catch with the camera. (I try)

Remembering My Granny Goose!

This is just a fun picture of a living 5 generations.

These are the last pictures I took with Granny, just a couple weeks before she passed away.

It has been one year since my Granny left this Earth to return back to our Heavenly Father, family and friends. It has been a tough year without her for me. As most of you know, she meant the world to me. She was not just my Great Grandmother, she was one of my very best friends. I could go to her and tell her anything. It never mattered, she was always there to give me her advice, love, sarcasm, a kick in the butt, whatever it was that I needed, she was there. She truly was one of the spunkiest ladies any of you could have ever met. Even on her death bed she could make me laugh harder than anyone I know! I adored her and she adored me. She never missed any of my singing performances. Right before she passed away I was able to visit with her and she asked me to sing for her, so I climbed up in her bed with her and held her hand and sang her favorite song "Crazy by Patsy Cline" and she sang with me, oh what a beautiful memory I will NEVER forget. Yesterday, my sister and I sang for the Senior Citizens of Morgan (which we do almost every year). And it hit me like a ton of bricks. She was not there. So many of her friends were there and let us know how much they missed her. Needless to say, it was just a big crying fest afterwards. I thank God for every day I got to spend with that AMAZING woman! One of the greatest days of my life was to be able to name my daughter Mazryn "Ansta" Jones after her Great-Great Grandmother. They were two peas in a pod. Mazzy talks about her often with me and I hope that she will be able to retain some of the special memories she has with her Granny. This has been an especially hard season for me. Every Christmas Eve, since I was born, we have ALWAYS spent it at Granny's. It was just the way it was and I wouldn't and couldn't have gone anywhere else. Last year we buried our sweet Granny on my sister's birthday which is Dec. 22. It was officially my first Christmas without my Granny in 28 years of my life. I think I was very numb to it last year. It is really pulling at my heart this year though. I miss her so so much that there are times I can hardly bear it. Although I would never wish her back. Her life here was complete and full. This is just selfish things for me I guess. I just have needed to vent and let this out. I just miss her and wanted everyone to know what a wonderful and special person she is and was. As my mom took Mazzy and Bronson for a ride around Morgan a few weeks ago. They drove up around where Granny lived. (Now I have to tell you Bronson's favorite thing about Granny's was she always had M&M's for the kids, and she would get him a little cup and fill it up for him and they would sit and visit.) Well Bronson proceeded to tell my mom that he was hungry and wanted to go to Granny's for some M&M's and just couldn't understand why she wouldn't take him. Mazzy kept telling him that they couldn't because she was dead. Well needless to say it took everything my mom had to keep it together and when she told me I completely lost it! But how fortunate for my kids to have known their Great-Great Grandmother. I was so happy to know that Bronson remembered a part of her, it really touched me. Anyway, I feel so blessed and lucky to have had such a wonderful, strong, loving, caring, giving woman in my life. She has influenced my life for the better and I am so glad in my heart for the memories I have with my Granny Goose!

Fun at Grandpa and Grandma's!

My dad recently just fixed a little go cart for the kids. They had a blast just buzzing up and down the lane and in the barnyard behind my parents home. Thanks Grandpa Thayne for being such a fun Grandpa!

Alright, Last Post about Arizona!

I forgot to throw these in on the Iron Man pictures. One is just a picture of the "sea" of bikes, I don't know why, but I just thought it was a cool picture. And the other one is on our way to Arizona and I think that it speaks for itself, I LOVE IT!!!!! (Sorry Ray, I had to share, you were just too precious.)

Sight Seeing in Arizona!

Here are some pictures off the Navajo Bridge and a Cliff Dweller's home.
Also I had to throw the picture of me by the big cactus for Mazzy, she is really into them lately because she just figured out that she could draw them.

Long Time Friend!

While I was in Arizona I got to stay with my friend Lacy. We have been friends since we were 3 years old. I haven't seen her in probably 6 years and it was so fun to catch up and just be together. I want to thank her and her sweet husband, Chris, for their generous hospitality to us. Thank you for opening up your house to us!

I also got to go see another of my dear friends, Bonnie. I was so tired from the Iron Man the day before that I forgot to get my camera out and take some pictures of her and her cute family. But Thanks for the great dinner and company Bonnie, Dave and Taten!!! It was so much fun to see you guys!

Here's Iron Man Pictures, as Promised.

Natalie with 1 more lap to go.

Here is Greg thinking "What have I gotten myself into????????"

Andi, also known as "The Machine" smiling as though this was easy!

Just some shots of these guys' hard work and effort.
Here is the "Iron Man's" after they have finished.
Andi, Greg and Natalie, way to go guys.

Back from Sunny Arizona!

So we just returned from Arizona, where, by the way, is so warm! I don't have my pictures downloaded yet but I wanted to write just a little bit about the Ironman Ryan and I went to. We went down to Arizona to support Ryan's sister, Andi, his brother, Greg, and our friend Natalie, who were all participating in the Ironman in Tempe, AZ. The family was all there ready to support. We all had on lime green t-shirts so they could spot us out in the crowd while we yelled and cheered for them. They first started the day off at 7 a.m. with their 2.4 mile swim in Tempe Town Lake which took them all about 1 1/2 hours to complete. Then they were off to ride 112 miles on their bikes, which took them all 6 hours or more. Then they transitioned from their bikes straight into their 26.2 mile run. Andi finished her Ironman at 7:30 p.m. Greg finished at 10:20 p.m. and Natalie finished at 8:30 p.m. The cutoff time was midnight. It was such an AMAZING thing to witness. It takes so much endurance and persistence and training to do one of these. We found ourselves, towards the end of the run, cheering for just about everyone that passed us. You could see the hurt in their faces, in their run, in their limps, just trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. It was quite emotional at one point, Greg's little girl, Cassie, has Prader-Wili Syndrome. (on the back of our t-shirts it says "Race for an angel". Well Cassie is the angel Greg was racing for. He stopped to talk to her and still had probably 3 more laps to go, and told her to stay awake, he was going to finish this dumb race for her and they were going to finish together. As he was running away he got emotional, which of course made me emotional. Needless to say, Cassie was waiting for Greg at the end and they ran down the finish line together. It was a very memorable experience that I will never forget! So "Way to go to our 3 Ironman's!!!!" You guys were incredible and I still can't believe that a person's body can endure that much pain and suffering in one day! Thanks for letting us be a part of it! WOW!!!!!

A Motherless Child?

What do you get when you leave "Dad" in charge of his kids before they are dressed and ready for the day? You got it, a motherless child. I had to run some errands on Ryan's day off and this is what I came home to. Ryan also had to run some errands and took my child out looking like he had no mother. Oh well. Such is life right? You gotta love it.

Halloween Fun!

We had a great Halloween this year. Trick or Treating with the kids, spook alley at our house, scaring little children to death......ahhhh what fun! Can't ask for any better. As you can see the kids were very frightening in their costumes and got tons of candy! My Uncle Shadd and his wife and boys came out to help with our 3rd annual spook alley. It was not quite as elaborate as the past 2 years, but good enough to scare people into NOT wanting to risk walking past a "dummy" for candy. Needless to say, we had lots of candy leftover. David and Gabe did a great job acting as dummies.

Hailey is starting a blog?

I know, can you believe it? I have been wanting to do this for a while now and have finally bit the bullet! So bear with me, I am challenged when it comes to technology and computers. But it will be fun to inform everyone about the life and times of the Jones family.