Only in Evanston, Wyoming......

The title is just for the picture above. Sorry, I didn't have time to zoom in, so just click on the picture and it will come up bigger so you can fully appreciate this picture. Because, as we all know, Liquor and Fireworks do go hand in hand!!!

Below are the pictures of the cabin at Bear Lake. This is the deck that Ryan has been working so hard on!! It is not completely finished in these pictures, but he did put all the finishing touches on it this last week and it is now all the way done. Can't wait for it to be warm enough to go up and play in the water!!

Mazzy's Spring Recital

Mazzy had her piano recital a couple of weeks ago and she did a great job!!! She is moving right along, hopefully she will take after her Aunt Misty (who is her piano teacher) because she is an amazing pianist! Her songs she played were a nursery rhyme medley which was Hickory Dickory Dock and Pop! Goes the Weasel. Misty combined the two for her to play, because she was originally going to play just Hickory Dickory Dock, but she had it memorized in a week of getting it, so Mist had to make it a little more challenging for her. And her other song was Sleeping Beauty Waltz. We were so proud at how well she did, it is always so nerve racking to do any sort of recital, I think anyways.

Preschool Graduation and Fine Arts Night

Wow, I am so behind on posts. There will be quite a few coming your way. Bronson graduated preschool and speech!!! YAY!!! We are so glad that we made the decision to wait and start him in Kindergarten. He needed this extra year to just slowly ease into things. We are so proud of how far he's come in just a short year. He's ready to kill it in Kindergarten!!! For his last day of preschool, instead of a graduation Mrs. Fisher took them all to the Fire Station and to the park afterwards. His best buddy Ty is standing on the other side of the fire truck in the red shirt. They have been like 2 peas in a pod together.

Mazzy had her fine arts night the end of May and her cute little 1st/2nd split class got their own slot to preform some songs that they had learned throughout the year. It was fun to watch. After, we got to go in the school and see some of her art work and get a snow cone woohoo!! I had to add the video of her class singing "Tom Turkey" the teacher Mrs. Butler didn't want to do it, because it is a Thanksgiving song, but that's the #1 song the class wanted to sing, so she gave in and I'm glad she did, because I thought it was the cutest, funniest song ever!!!

My Baseball Player and Other Stuff

In April Ryan's sister, Andi, and his brother Curtis ran and finished the Salt Lake City Marathon. Yes, the full 26.2 miles! I think this was Andi's 3rd time doing it and Curtis' 1st. Curtis is now following in the footsteps of Andi and Greg (Ryan's brother) and is going to do an Ironman in Tempe, Arizona, so we wish him luck as he continues to train! Anyways, they had a little get together afterwards at Curtis and Laura's to celebrate their victory and Renee's (Ryan's mom's) birthday. We didn't make it to the marathon sadly, but we got to congratulate them afterwards....so way to go guys!

Bronson above giving me the thumbs up while on first base.

Bronson has recently started baseball. He has been a great little slugger since he was about 3, so this year he was finally old enough to start playing. Last year no one was taking 4 year olds (which of course this year they are.) Anyhoo, it has been very, very entertaining. If anyone could use lots of laughs and smiles, just come to one of his games and it is guaranteed that you will have a feel good laugh!!! I wasn't quite sure if he would end up being to shy to participate in the games, but he has LOVED it and played very well in all his games so far. Last week he hit the ball out into the outfield twice......of course I forgot my camera, but I was amazed (even as his mother) at how hard he hit the ball. It was AWESOME!!! At his 2nd game Bronson's team was in the outfield and this kid on the other team hit the ball really hard and it flew past all of Bronson's team, well every kid (except Bronson, because Ryan had went to help him and told him not to move from his position) in the outfield followed the ball, they all left their posts, bases, everything and all piled on top of each other to get the ball....it was hilarious!!!

Bronson bringing it home!!!

Swinging hard!

The video isn't very good, I should have walked a little closer, but it is Bronson up to bat, hitting the ball and running to 1st base. Sorry you'll have to look really close.

The other video I had to put on here and share the UNDESCRIBABLE Happy Birthday song that the Jones family does! There are no words.....when you listen you will understand, (you will also understand why Bronson would almost cry every year at his birthday parties when we would sing Happy Birthday to him) please don't hate me afterwards!;) Also I have to dedicate this video to Miss Brenda Hansen who has a very special appearance at the end!!!!

The Basement is almost finished!!!

The shower floor. (Wes is coming tonight to finish the walls.)

We used the same green as the hallway and added 2 purple accent walls.Tile and where the toilet will go.

The tile in the bathroom and where the vanity/sink will go (it should all be finished by Sat.)

Looking out into the hallway from Mazzy's room. I thought it might show the green a little better, but not so much.

Here is the hallway, which is a very light sage color (it's hard to tell in the pic.)Yay!! Carpeted stairs...sorry it's a little dark and hard to see.

Some serious progress has happened with our basement the last 2 weeks. I have taken forever to get these pics taken. The kids have moved downstairs and have slept there for the past week, with no problems! They LOVE it!! Everything is moving along, just waiting on little finishing touches now. Like closet doors and bifold doors in the hallway (we will have to get a door at a time because they all have to be custom made which adds up to a LOT of money), curtains for both bedrooms, a bedskirt for Mazzy's bed. Like I said, just little things to finish up. The bathroom is the last big thing to be finished up. Wes thinks he will finish up the tile by Sat. A BIG thanks to him! And a HUGE THANK YOU to Brett for the AMAZING paint job he did with the kids room and everywhere else!

Here is Bronson's Transformer Bumblebee room. We haven't moved all his stuff in his room yet, but it's getting there.On this wall we are putting a 3 and half foot Bumblebee (from Transformers) wall cling.

Mazzy's fairy corner.

Mazzy's awesome little room.

Almost finished, just a little more decorating and it will all come together.

Progress on the Basement

A close up of the stairway, no holes or seams anywhere. Yay!

The hallway.

Mazzy's room.

Mazzy's room and closet.

Bronson's room.

We are making headway with project: basement! Tomorrow the sheetrockers should be all finished with everything. Which means trim and baseboards next. And hopefully painting should start anywhere from this Thursday to Saturday. Things are moving right along faster than anticipated, (which is never a bad thing). So here are some pictures to show how things are going.

This is looking into Bronson's room. Looking into the shower. (Yes this could possibly be the world's tiniest bathroom.)

This is where the vanity will go.

This is where the toilet will sit.

Looking down the stairway (no gaping holes anymore woohoo)

Happy Easter

Our Easter was wonderful! On Saturday the kids got to go and meet the Easter Bunny, Bronson wouldn't get his picture taken with him (of course). But they got a sack of treats and thought it was great! Then we came home and colored Easter eggs. This is always the kids' favorite thing to do. On Sunday morning we had an Easter egg hunt and got to see what the Easter Bunny left in the kids' basket. We listened to the 1st session of General Conference which was one of the BEST conferences that I have ever heard! Wow what amazing talks. Then we were off to make the rounds stopping at Ryan's parents to visit and see how Grandma Nae was recovering from knee replacement surgery. Then off to Morgan to finish General Conference and to eat a wonderful Easter dinner. It was a great day all in all.

Last week I finished memorizing and passed off The Living Christ. We did this in the Young Women's and tried to get all the girls and leaders to memorize it over a 12 week period. It was very fitting that we finished right at Easter time to reflect on the life and atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. We had a dinner for all the girls and their parent's and then those of us who passed The Living Christ off were given a Christus. Doing this was very challenging for me. I haven't memorized something since I was in High School. It was so emotional for me to do. There were many times I would be reciting it and trying to memorize a paragraph and just be moved to tears thinking of the words I was engraving in my mind and knowing the truth of those words. It has strengthened my testimony of my Savior and his atoning sacrifice for me and all mankind even more than I could have thought possible. It gave me such a wonderful mind set for the Easter weekend and made it so much more meaningful. I am so blessed to know that He lives!!! I know it, I know that he died for each and every one of us that we might all have eternal glory if we can just live our lives to the best of our abilities and knowledge! As the end of The Living Christ states, "God be thanked for the matchless gift of His Divine Son."

Life and Times of Our Family

It's been a crazy past 2 weeks. On March 20, Bronson started with a cough due to a sinus infection. By that Monday he went to the Dr. got some medicine and by Wednesday he was running a fever of 103.5. He was making a horrible crackling sound and coughing.....to make a long story short, back to the Dr., a trip to the hospital for chest x-rays, he has had a narley case of Bronchitis with Asthma on top of it. He has been using my nebulizer to inhale steroids and albuterol. Today is the first day he has woke up without weezing. It is so nice to see him up and doing things without gasping for air. It has been a LONG 2 weeks......a lot of sleep deprivation for mom.

In the meantime, Ryan has been crazily working on getting our basement finished. He is rewiring our whole house and running wires and connections everywhere. The drywallers are coming on Wednesday and we can't wait for this to be done so we can have our house back!

Today is Ryan and I's anniversary. Eleven whole years together and still happy!!!! I am so blessed to be married to my best friend! I have enjoyed this ride and I am looking forward to all the years to come! Happy Anniversary to us!!!!

I had to throw these pictures in, I couldn't just tell about them, it wouldn't do them justice. The first picture is of a drawing and painting Mazzy did last year in Kindergarten. When Mazzy first put the drawing on the fridge and showed me I said: "That is the cutest pig I have ever seen." Mazzy looked at me with disgust and said: "Mom, that is not a pig!!! It is a picture of ME with sunglasses and braids!" Needless to say it is going in her book of special things to keep. The painting is a painting of Darth Vader that she did for Bronson. I think it is hilariously adorable!
This is Mazzy's latest hobby...writing letters to family and friends. She wrote this letter at school for Bronson while he was sick. I think it is the sweetest thing ever! What a good big sister she is! (Click on the picture to enlarge if you can't read it.)

On Sunday I was feeling sick with a virus and migraine. She came into the room to give me this letter to make me feel better. Oh my! Did it ever make me smile! (Click to make it bigger, and if you can't read it let me know and I will type it up.)

I just have to say the I LOVE MY KIDS!!!! They make life worth living!!!! I LOVE my family!

What the What????

So my husband of pure awesomeness dug up our floor on Wed. before he started his long shifts at work for the weekend. On Mon. Timmy the plumber came over and piped out everything, Ryan and I loaded all the broken up cement and hauled it off, Ryan came back, covered in the trenches, and then Ryan and Brett covered it all back up with cement.....all in one day! No more hiking to do laundry....yay! And now he almost has the whole bathroom framed in! What a guy!!!!
In the meantime we got to celebrate Stryder's (my nephew) 7th birthday!!!! Happy Birthday buddy!!!

Wonderful Home Decor......

Don't you just love our new decor???? I LOVE having dirt piled in my basement, love it, LOVE it I say! We are finally finishing our basement and we have to plumb for our bathroom. Ryan spent all day yesterday jackhammering and busting out cement. I carried buckets full of broken up cement up the stairs and outside until Mark, our awesome friend came to take my place and help Ryan with the digging also. I do not like these kind of things and I am not loving all the dust and dirt that flew around downstairs that I am going to have to clean up, what a disaster!!! But it will be worth it when everything is finished. We are just excited to get things moving and actually having a basement we can enjoy.

Pretty. I know what you all are thinking, can Ryan come do this to our house? It's all the new rage!

This is what I looked like when I went down to see what Ryan was actually up to. (This is just a reenactment photo.)

On another note, Ryan and I have started running. No particular reason for this other than to be active and get in shape. Ryan started 6 weeks ago and I started 5 weeks ago. We both are learning to love it. And no we do not go together, there is NO way my short little legs can keep up with Ryan and his long legs and strides. We are just proud of ourselves for doing this consistently for this long. Ryan runs 3 miles every day and I am only at 2.7 miles, but we are continually upping our progress. For me this is huge.....I have never had great endurance for these types of things, and I suffer from anemia and fatigue most of the time, so I am happy with my success so far. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Well that's all folks, now you know about the Jones' awesomely boring life for the month of March!

Humanitarian Center

A couple of weeks ago Ryan and Mazzy were able to go to the Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake and put together hygiene kits to replace all of the ones that they had sent to Haiti. I had to stay home with Bronson because he wasn't old enough to go. It was a great experience for Maz. She has been so intrigued with wanting to help the people of Haiti. The first time she seen a woman being pulled out from under a building on the news, she immediately said to Ryan and I almost crying, I want to go there and help. We explained how far away it was and told her that even though we couldn't go, there were lots of ways she could still help. So she is donating her own money to send to Haiti. She jumped on this chance to help at the center to make the packets. While she was there she learned and was able to tie some quilts and was taken on a tour of the building. She found out how everything worked and where all of the packets and quilts and things like that go. I am so proud of her for always wanting to help. She is such a loving and caring little girl. Ryan said she worked really hard while she was there too! I am grateful she was able to have this experience, she really was so proud to be a part of it.