Don't be "Crabbie" vote for "Maddie"

At our elementary school the kids have to take a test if they want to run for an office on Student Council. If they pass the test they are eligible to run. Well, Madalyn passed the test and is running for Vice-President! Now the excitement begins with posters, campaigning, and speech writing.

Since school was closed last week Madalyn was notified via email of her eligibility to run for V.P- however the poster, speech dates and requirements did not show up on my computer until Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. (because of technical difficulty with Madalyn's computer). Well, I was so surprised to learn that the posters were due Monday morning at 7:45 a.m. What is a girl to do who does not shop on Sunday to get a poster done? Well, after lots of phone calls I was able to drum up two poster boards- thanks Sarah- you saved us!!! Madalyn knew what she wanted her slogan to be so I had to figure out how to make a giant crab- for those who do not know, Ryan is the artist in the family and would be perfect for the job, however he conveniently was out of town to miss all the excitement :o)!! So at 8:00 p.m. we got to work and you can see the final product- not too bad for an amature who was exhausted at the time. (For those who do not know I had the Sacrament Presentation that day and family over for dinner/pumpkin carving).

Monday morning came (today) and we headed for school with our unlaminated, no zipties, or duct tape to hang it up. I am so blessed to have really generous friends who's children were also running to share with me! I am usually on top of things, but this time I must say I blew it in the organized arena- I will say though, you never would have known it by the look of the poster. So in conclusion I can say just one thing- DON'T BE "CRABBIE" VOTE FOR "MADDIE"!!!

Becca "BOO"

So forgive me for posting about my dear niece again, but this just proves how special she is to us! Today my older girls were so bummed to have to walk home in the smoke filled air - they had what I call "attitude" :o)! (For those of you who do not watch TV or listen to a radio, we have two fires burning within 10-15 miles from our house. Neddless to say everything is covered with ashes-ugh) Back to the story: When the girlies got home they discovered a package on our doorstep! They wondered who it could be from....so once inside I opened it and inside was a card and a big jar of candy!!! Well the mystery about who it was from was quickly solved as Madalyn ripped the envelope open! Becca "boo'd" us all the way from BYU Idaho- go Becca! We have been lucky to be boo'd three times this year- our family is really looking out for us :o)! My mom boo'd us from Long Beach- though she won't admit it!


Our package and card


They were so excited!

Because of the heat all these fires are causing the candy was melted so we had to put it in the fridge to harden the chocolate!

Classic BYU student during finals!

So I do not have anything "new" really to post so I decided to post about one of my favorite nieces Becca! My kids absolutely adore her and we REALLY MISS HER while she is away at school. We thought she was there learning and growing both academically and spiritually, however as you can see from this picture her experience has been far more "electrifying"! So here is our tribute to our dear neice/cousin Becca! Life without us is not as bad as you make it look (above) :o)!! See you in Maui.......

P.s.- any single guys out there?!?!?!?! Here is a keeper!

What have we been up to???

I have not posted in awhile- life is just crazy now that school is back is session! So, excuse all the post in one day- I actually had some time to catch you up on some of what is going on at the Jones home. Well, at least the fun stuff......enjoy the next four blogs...

Happy Birthday Grandpa- BIG 60!

On Friday night my mom had a surprise 60th birthday party for my step-dad. She invited all of his children to come into town to help celebrate. Two live in Utah, one lives up North, and one is serving in the war. Obviously Richard could not come, but the other four were able to be there. We all met at Jim's favorite Chinese restaraunt- Peking Wok. Jim does not like surprises, and this was no exception. However I think he forgave my mom after a couple of hours :0)! We had a delicious and filling dinner, good company, and the lady at the restaraunt even made Jim a hat out of fortune cookies- boy did he love that - ha ha!

Here is Jim with four of his kids- we really
missed you Richard!
(l-r) Lara, Jim, Brad, Scott, Lisa

Scooter had to read the cards as Grandpa could
not read- you know, the eyes are one of the first
things to go!

At the end of the celebration Deeanna presented Jim with a very special memory book. She had all of us kids write memories and letter to Jim and give her pictures of us with him. She was also able to tract down some growing up and mission pictures and documents. Anyway, with all the stuff she gathered she made the most beautiful scrapbook! It is really amazing! Truly something he will cherish. Thanks for all your hard work Deeanna! When are you going to make mine -lol!?!

So as a tribute to my wonderful step-dad- if you do not know him, you are missing out on knowing one of the greatest men! He would drop anything for you, he can fix anything, he is so accepting of all his children, and is THE BEST GRANDPA EVER!! I have only known him for 17 years, but it seems like a lifetime. Thanks for being such a good husband to my mom and a wonderful "dad" to me and my family! We all love you!!

Our kids dream houses!

Madalyn would like her "own" home for Christmas so anyone who would like to donate to the tune of about $10,000 can purchase this one for her. Or if you so choose you can buy the "white picket fence" home (below) for about the same price! The best part is that they come fully furnish so you will not need to pay additional to furnish it lol!

Future TV Stars!

So, my Sister in law Cathy has a nephew (Matt) who works for BYU TV. He is filming families in different parts of the United States for a new ad on BYU TV called "This is the place". Well, because of Cathy we are the family that represents the Newport Beach Temple. What did we have to do to become so famous?!? Well, we showed up at 3:00 p.m. sat by the fountain and told jokes to one another as Matt filmed us. Never mind that my eyes are probably closed the entire time because the sun was blasting us in the face. Anyone who knows me knows that I live for my sunglasses! Anyway, after our "joke" session we walked around casually with the kids and just pretended Matt was not there. It was very quick and the kids were pretty good for it all! So look for us to be in an "intersticial" between programs on BYU TV- the ads should start running around General Conference time. As a disclaimer- he filmed 99 other families throughout the US- so maybe we will get cut. Matt says we will definetly be a part of it, but we will wait and see....

Thanks Cathy for the referral! We had a good time at the Temple, then we went over to Fashion Island for some dinner and a tour of the Habitat for Humanity Playhouses! All in all a great day!

Kick it like Beckham!

Trevor is #6


Here he is on a break away to make a goal!

Meredith's favorite reason to go to the games-
orange's at half time!!


Soccer season has begun and so our Saturday's are spent watching Trevor play. This is the first year that we have only one child playing YEH! It really feels like a welcomed break! In fact, we sometimes wonder what to do with our extra time on Saturday's - not really :0)! Watching boys play is so exciting. It is amazing the difference between a five year old (beehive ball!) girls game and a five year old boys game (do whatever it takes to get that ball and run with it)! It is alot of fun.