NJB Basketball 2012

Trevor has joined the Ladera Ranch NJB for the first time this year.  I had to convince him to try it out since basketball is such a great pick up sport.  Plus Ryan still plays weekly and I know that he would love to play with his only son one day!

We got a kick out of his uniform...green and red...Merry Christmas...haha!!  His team is the Milwakee Buccaneers.  He has one of the best coaches in the league and for that we are thankful!  Trevor is enjoying the sport and hopefully will continue next year.  As of now he just wants to stick with baseball and football!

Baptism Program

Meredith's Baptism

Meredith was lucky enough to be able to get Baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on her actual birthday.  She was the only person from our Ward getting baptized this month so she had a private baptism.  The whole family got to participate!  

Meredith before her baptism:

Ryan baptized Meredith.  Here they are all dressed in white (which represents purity) ready for the baptism.

We were proud of her decision to be baptized!

The family....

 ...the real family!

Here is a picture of those in our family who were able to attend the baptism.  We know Elder Shipp was there in spirit as well as a few other family members.

The men who were in the confirmation circle:

She got her first set of leather scriptures with her name embossed on them from Grandpa and Grandma Wright.

I decorated with "winter wonderland" theme:

These were the cake pops Meredith handed out after her baptism.  There were 60+ people who came to support her in her baptism....she sure is loved....ALOT!!!

Happy 8th Birthday Meredith!!!

Our sweet "doll" is turning 8 today!  Today we reflect on the six weeks Danielle lived in the hospital, the trying to not have to deliver early and the sudden urgency to deliver Meredith at 34 weeks.  The doctor and family were all surprised when our 4# 10oz. 16" long baby girl was super healthy.  Small, but mighty!

 We did not know what to do with such a small baby that would fit into her Daddy's hands:

So we just gave her lots of love and she grew and grew.....

Into a beautiful, TALL, little girl!

In our family it is a tradition to get your ears pierced at the age of eight.  Meredith had anxiously awaited for this day to come!  We went to dinner at Farrell's.....

Then walked downstairs to Claire's (Meredith's middle name) and she picked out the perfect 4mm cz earrings!  Here is her before picture. 

The during shot!  She did not cry or flinch, however she said it hurt a lot more than she expected!

The After shot...all SMILES!  She thought she looked so different and grown up when she saw herself in the mirror.  We all agreed!

Happy Birhday Meredith!!!!

Coming up....Meredith gets baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on her actual birthday!!!!

Happy 40th Birthday Danielle

My 40th birthday started off with a bang!  I began the morning with a morning boot camp to get my old bones moving!  Then my good friend Erin organized a birthday breakfast for me at Cinnamon Productions.  I am so grateful for wonderful friends!  Appropriately I had oatmeal for breakfast...since I am soo old now!  Haha!  I loved the advise I got from my fellow "40's" club members....this is the age when you no longer "care" about all those minor details that use to bog you down.  I liked that advise the best!

After breakfast I came home to some wonderful homemade cards from Trevor and Madalyn.  I will cherish those forever!  Mackenzie posted a sweet blog post to me on her blog also which was touching.  

Then the family brought me upstairs to open my gift...... a new iMac!  My computer's (pc) hard drive is going bad so Ryan and I went shopping for a new PC last night.  However the sales guy really got me excited about a Mac.  As we all know Macs are about $700 more than a pc so I was so surprised when the family bought me an iMac.  I am so excited to learn how to use it!  if there are any mac lovers out there that could share some favorite features that I need to add I would really appreciate the advise!

Ryan was so excited to see if it works that he plugged it right into the wall in our bedroom and got to work.  Super simple set up!

While Ryan set up the computer with the help of Meredith the other three kiddos were busy laying on our bed playing with their electronics...hello...anyone home???  I think not! hahah!

After the computer was all set up we drove up to Long Beach to have dinner with my family.  Ryan had made reservations at Javiers at the Spectrum since Mexican food is my favorite,  but I was craving Soupplantation.  I got a bit teased for wanting to go there for my 40th birthday, but whatever! My soup and salad were delicious...hahaha!!  After dinner my grandparents and sister came over and we had yummy cupcakes and ice cream.  

It was probably one of my favorite birthdays because I able to workout, spend time with friends, and share the day with my family!  Thank you to everyone who made this day so special!  I am loving 40 so far!

Christmas Day!

Christmas morning was not a disappointment at the Jones home!  Trevor and Meredith woke up around 7:00 a.m. and they were able to convince the rest of us to get up by 7:30 a.m..  So the kids all came down the stair together to see what Santa had left them.  

Mackenzie got some Vans:

 Madalyn a pair of over the knee leather boots:

Trevor got an ipod touch.  Mom did not want him to get this, but I guess Santa had other plans!

Meredith got a Victorious Barbie Doll that sings.

Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year the family got all ready for church after opening presents.  We were grateful for the 11:00 a.m. time slot this year!  Mackenzie and I sang in the choir and our Sacrament service was wonderful.  It was a perfect way to start out Christmas..singing praises and hearing the story of Christ's birth.

Immediately after church we drove up to my mom's house for Christmas dinner and celebration.  The girlies loved the mini pillow pets for Great -Grandpa and Great-Grandma Dickison!

Meredith was so excited to get the navy blue Toms she wanted!

Trevor was most excited about the Bakugan arena and spinners!

It seems the family gets bigger every year!  This year my parents had to set up three tables so everyone could fit!  I think there were about 31 family members this year.  That does not include any of Jim's kids either!  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family on both sides!

Some additional gift highlights this year were...royal blue jeans, books, Bop-it, Madden Football, Fossil Fighters for the DS, 500 Days of Summer DVD and earrings.

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve was spent with the Jones side of the family.  We drove down to Carlsbad and celebrated with good food and family!  The kids put on the annual story of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Mackenzie was an angel, Meredith was Mary, Trevor was Joseph and Madalyn and Dallin were sheperds.  Rachel read the story out of Luke.

Since the family is small the Jones Brothers were the three wisemen!

All the Jones boys...what a good looking group!

 Trevor has so many similarities with Rodney so I had to get a picture of them together!

The dinner was delicious!  Prime rib, twice baked potatoes, salad, homemade rolls and lots of yummy appetizers!