30!

I turned 30. It was a hard day. I am not in my 20's any more, I have 5 kids and I am 30?
Wow...
But Kellen gave me a great party. We had it in my in-laws yard and all my siblings were able to be there along with Kellen's sisters and his grandparents.
 Kellen gave me a crown, and decorated and I even had a huckleberry ice cream cake from the best dairy in the world: Reed's Dairy!
Here are some pictures of the big day!

 In this picture above you can see my dad taking pictures. Steve and Geri often joke that he has more pictures of their family than they do, and I think they are right! I guess that is where I get my love of photography: my dad has always taken so many pictures. He has a camera with him at all times! :)

 I think that if you went back to all of my adult birthdays, you could find a picture of me like this. I don't know why I do it... maybe now it is a tradition...  :)

 Caitlin and Jake, aren't they cute?

 Emma was feeding Ellie. they became best friends on this trip!

 This handsome man was so great to throw this party. I warned him that he had a lot to live up to, but he did. He threw a great party! I love him!

Jenna has always taken care of my kids! She is a great aunt who we love dearly!

So, I am 30, flirty 30? I think not. But I am blessed to have a great family, and to be a mom to great kids. I have no regrets going into my 30's (well maybe the weight) but I love my life!

Brothers and Sisters

I have the world's best brothers and sisters. I am the youngest of 5. I was the surprise ending to my parent's family, coming after almost 5 years after my brother. My oldest brother was 15 when I was born and since my mom had to have an emergency Cesarian section while delivering me, and she was 41, and she got an infection from the hospital... my brothers and sisters started taking care of me early on, and they have never stopped.
Before we left for Michigan my oldest brother flew to see us. I am sad we didn't get to see his family (they visited Idaho a few weeks later) but it was so fun to see all of my siblings.

 One of my favorite things is to sit as siblings and talk about our childhood, make fun of each other (in a nice way) and laugh. I am sure the in-laws don't appreciate our inside jokes, but I sure love being around them and talking. Our family is not big on going and doing, being adventurous, or even planning activities to do. We are content to sit at my moms, talk, eat, and do nothing (this is another thing that drives the in-laws crazy). Maybe this stems from not having a lot of money while growing up. I don't ever remember going on vacations, or even going and doing things, we just had to learn to get along with each other.
We Jones kids can't make decisions either... we just aim to please others and we don't want to rock the boat (I can't believe the in-laws put up with us). You should see us try to pick a place to go to dinner! It would take us all day to decide, and when we do someone is always unhappy about it! :)
 But the one thing we do great and Jones is love each other and no matter what, we have each others backs, we support each other and have fun together.

 My sisters. Every girl needs a sister and I am lucky enough to have 2 great sisters. They are my best friends. They have always taken care of me, loved me when I thought I was unlovable, and they have been such great examples to me on how to be a mother. I am so blessed!

 My brothers have always compared heights, I think it was always a goal for Jake to be taller than Greg! These brothers are the ideal brothers. They have protected me, taken care of me, and loved me. To this day they still protect me. I am a lucky girl to have these guys as brothers!

 I just wish that I wasn't the fat sister, my sisters are so beautiful! And my sweet mom, what an amazing legacy I have to live up to with them!

This is my big brother Greg pushing my niece, and Ellie on the swings. What a great uncle! :)\

I love my brothers and sisters! What is your favorite memory of your siblings?

Cousins!

My sister had a conference in Boise this weekend, so we were able to spend some quality time with her kids! They came over on Saturday so we decided to spend time at the zoo! I love the Boise Zoo, it is just big enough for the kids to stay entertained, but not so big that is takes all day!



It was so fun to have them here. We did a lot of playing outside, and riding bikes. We also made a fun Mother's day craft so stay tuned!

Garden Party

My mother-in-law and her sisters are amazing! Every year we have a Garden Party for all the girls. Each party has a theme, and they go ALL OUT! They are in the process of getting a book made (Yes, a book, that is how great these parties are!)
They pick the theme a year in advance and start collecting items during that year. They cook, sew, bake, and craft all day long (with help from us- of course), we always start late but it is totally worth the wait. The food is DELICIOUS, the decorations are beautiful, but the company is the best part. As an In-Law who married into this madness, it is pretty overwhelming and I usually get the jobs that don't require much skill (like this year, I picked peas :)) But the girls love it, and to be honest so do I. I will have to dig up some past year's parties to show you how beautiful they are! But the party is not complete without our "Words of Wisdom" or our "Inspirational thought". This year, since it was a Peter Rabbit theme, we read the book and then talked about how we should obey so we can have blackberries for dinner (translation, do what is right, obey so we can have the Holy Ghost, and we can recieve blessings) And we also recieve our charms. Grandma Monson bought all the girls charm bracelets so we all have a charm representing the theme.
This year was so fun to have a girl! She loved the treats and looked so adorable! We can't wait until next year! :)

Yellow walls

On Father's day, Kellen was spoiled with fun man stuff,

And this yummy Oreo Madness cake which you can find the recipe for here from my friend Holly (click on desserts). What a busy, fun-filled week with a lot of late nights. We were so glad that my parents came to help and we were so very happy that Kellen got home safely.

We had an exciting week of painting the kitchen, finishing planting our garden, muliple trips to "The Man Store" (Lowe's) and Wal-Mart, playing with our cousin, visiting with 2 sets of Grandparents, all of this equals 3 sick kids, and 2 tired parents and Daddy wasn't even here! Do you remember the white primed wall? Now it is yellow!! I am very excited to have it done :)

Now I just need to get some decorating ideas to make it look cute around my hutch. Any ideas?

Idaho Falls

We had such a fun time in Idaho Falls that we extended another day! We got to town on Friday night, and stayed with Kellen's parents which is so fun now since we have the basement to ourselves. We really missed having Caitlin there because she was in San Fransisco with Choir. It was great to spend time with all the other aunts, uncles, and cousins! Saturday we went to Leo's place (pizza and playland) and had so much fun with my family, then I was able to watch my sister's girls while they went to the adult meeting for Stake Conference. It was fun to talk with my sister-in-law Becca while everyone else was gone and the kids were running wild! I let Kellen go to a movie with his brother for some male bonding time after they shot some clay pigeons in my parent's pasture. I actually shot Kellen's shot gun, but since my arms are so small, I now have an enormous bruise on my shoulder and it hurts to move it BUT- that evening I was able to visit with my friend Hilarie. We haven't seen each other in about 5 years! It was so much fun to catch up, and for our kids to play! Sunday was a great day! We went to Stake Conference with the in-laws, and saw a few people we knew and hadn't seen in a while, then we were able to witness the beautiful blessing of our nephew. It was great to spend the entire day with Kellen's family, and we especially love going to Grangma and Grandpa Monson's for the traditional Sunday night treat. I love being in their home- it is always filled with the spirit, and with love. Sunday nights are always better at their house! Monday I spent with my mom and sisters just talking and playing. I sure miss my best friends that I just happen to call family! Patrick was able to go to my sister's house and ride a 4-wheeler with Uncle Justin, and he was actually invited to go on a ride but when I told him we neede to go, he was very upset- we will have to plan a trip this summer so he can go with his uncles! That night Kellen's parent took the boys to FHE at BYU-I so we could go on a date. I love dates with my husband! The boys had a blast with all the girls at FHE- (Grandpa Z was just called as a student ward bishop). We had a wonderful trip! I smileboxed a few pictures of the highlights of the trip. We can't wait to visit again- but it might have to be a while since gas prices are so high- CRAZY!!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Conner Matthew Zollinger

Make a postcard - it's easy!

While in Idaho Falls this weekend, we had the opportunity to witness the blessing of Conner Matthew Zollinger, son of Matt and Korissa Zollinger. He was born on March 21st. He was a few weeks early, and weighed almost 8 lbs! He was in the hospital for a few weeks with a feeding tube but is doing much better! He looks like he might have red hair also- it must be something in the Zollinger genes! He is adorable, and we loved spending time getting to know Korissa's family better. The blessing was at my in-law's house because it was the only day that both sides of the family could get together when Korissa's family lives in Oregon. It was a beautiful blessing. I am so thankful for this wonderful family that I married into.