Gingerbread House Fun!!!

Jason and I had this great idea to start a new tradition with my family.

We had the first annual Gingerbread house contest and were amazed at how creative my family is. Everyone was divided up into teams and given the exact same amount of material. They had a time limit and the rest was up to them. The only rules were no eating the candy and all the candy had to be used on the house. We had a blast! Next year is sure to be bigger and even better! I am so glad that my family was such good sports and everyone participated.

This is Toby's dog house to go along with the barn theme. Go figure it was made by Grandpa's team (Baylee, Shannon, Paula and Grandpa Warner)
This was the "S&W Christmas" (sorry the picture is sideways)
Yes they do celebrate Christmas in a double wide! Made by Guppy, RJ, Trent and Kenzie.

This is the guard dog for the S&W double wide. RJ made it out of one piece of gum and some royal icing. Oh and a lot of patience.

This is Christmas at the OK corral. Complete with a stream and yes a corral with a horse. This house was made by Dori, Graig, Tristan and Jaycee.

This is the Christmas Cottage. Made by the "Master Gingerbread House Maker" aka MOM and Jackie. Raynee was on the team for moral support. This house won the award for most "Christmas Like"

This was the winner for Best Construction. Made by Karl, Toni, Bo, Brek, Easton and Xander. Yes we stacked this team with most of the little kids, being that Toni and Karl have the most patience we figured they could handle it. This house was amazing, Karl even cut the pieces of graham cracker to make a chimney and dormer.

Team Grandpa. Making sure the animals aren't left out.

Trent trying his best to focus while Guppy constructs the house.

Shannon eyes up the house to make sure its all in square. Yeah Right!

Jackie and Mom look lost. Good thing they've already got the house up and standing.

Karl and Easton concentrate while making the cuts for their house.

Xander spying on the competition while Shannon attempts to assemble the barn.

Raynee is just here for the Candy!

Dori and Tristan are all smiles now that they have a original idea for their construction.

Guppy, Kenzie Trent and RJ are trying to improvise after the roof collapses on their house. Thus comes about the S&W Christmas, Double wides=Flat Roofs.

Thanks everyone for making this new tradition so much fun! Can't wait to see what we all come up with next year!

Small Town Christmas

As is the tradition this time of year,

The kids participated in the annual

Pine Canyon Town Christmas Program

This year Bryn Leigh was in it as well,

She was a doll, I know we say that all the time

But this time she was playing one on stage.

The boys were Santa's elves

They did so well and knew their parts perfectly.

I am so grateful that my Mom and Brandy Palmer go through

the trouble to put this on every year so that my kids can experience it too.

The Prayer of a 4 yr old.

Easton

Dear Heavenly Father,

thank you for this day, thank you for our house that we could live by grandma and grandpa. Please bless us that we could be big and strong. Please bless us that we can sleep good tonight and I could be a baseball player in the morning. Please bless me that I can ride my horse with my cowboy boots. Please bless Murphy (the dog) Please bless that Santa's elves will find all the ones who are on the noddy list, bless me that I will be on good list. Please bless that when we play football Trent won't tackle me anymore. Bless that when we wake up in the morning the toy room will be clean and that we can get a drink of water. Thankful for all of our blessings.

Say these things......

Afterwords, Jason and I were laughing so hard that we almost cried but yet it was the most heartfelt prayer ever. He wouldn't accept any help with it. He wanted to do it all on his own. He makes me so proud and laugh so hard all at the same moment. Only my Easton, can't help but love him.

No Flu Shot for Trent....Almost.

Last week I took the kids to get their flu shot. Unfortunately, Trent overheard me talking about it on the phone so he started dreading it early in the day. As we were waiting for our turn Trent tells me he has to use the restroom, which is just in the same room as we were in. Just as he goes in the bathroom the nurse tells us that she's ready. So first up was Easton, he did great, no tears. Then Bryn Leigh got poked. A little fuss but she was still pretty tough. We have one last shot but no Trent out of the bathroom yet. This is the conversation that followed.

Mom: "Trent you need to come out"

Trent: "I'm not getting a shot"

Mom: (thinking I could outsmart him) "Easton needs to go potty, please come out."

Trent: Tell him to find another bathroom.

Mom: tries not to laugh.

Trent:"I don't want a shot."

It just so happens that the health dept doesn't have a key to this particular door, or at least not that anyone can find. So for the next 20 min the nurse is frantically looking for a key. I try my best to persuade Trent that we can "talk" about whether he will still have to get a shot after he comes out. Not that I'm a talk-it-through kind of mom but I tried that tactic. All the while trying my best not to let on how humored I am by this little incident. Finally he comes out. I threw him over my shoulder and while he kicks and screams about not wanting a shot the nurse pulls down the waist band of his pants and gives him the shot. As I set him down after all was done and he says to me,

"Mom I really don't want a shot".

I said "Trent you already had it.

To which he gives me a puzzled look and says

"I did?"

Get your Christmas shopping started off on the right foot.

This is going to be so much fun. Lots of different vendors and refreshments. Bring your girlfriends and have a good time!

Nap Time?

Yesterday afternoon I put Bryn Leigh down for a nap,

About a half hour later I went into her room to put some clothes away.

She usually naps really well, she sleeps great while I put clothes away and straighten up her room.

Usually... I say, this day was different.

Apparently she figured out how to get out of her bed, and how to open up her closet doors.

She had a onesie on her head and a pair of pj bottoms on her feet.

All I could do was laugh. She is obsessed with dressing up. Maybe she will become a great clothing designer someday.

Early Bird Special!

Get your Family Christmas Portraits done early and get a $15 discount off a session fee, of a $15 print credit. Hurry! Offer ends Nov 7th , session must be completed by Nov 30th. www.amandajonesphoto.typepad.com or amandajonesphoto.blogspot.com

Contact me today or leave me a message in the comment section.

Happy Halloween!

My kids had a great Halloween. The boys both had super fun parties at school then they each had a costume parade.

Trent was a vampire and loved to run and have his cape flow in the wind behind him. His costume was all made by Grandma Warner. He looked so scary with his makeup on.

Easton was a scarecrow, he fit this costume to a "T". He is a little goofy and with a little makeup looked the part of a scarecrow perfectly. The funniest thing is he thought that scarecrows are supposed to be scary like his brother the vampire. Oh well, that's Easton for ya.

How sad, poor Easton had to have his parade in the SNOW!

Little Sister was a bumble bee, I bought this costume almost a month ago because I loved it. She made the cutest little bumble bee, and it fit her also because she is a bit feisty.

They had a blast trick or treating and the boys made me so proud when I would hear them say "thank you" after getting their treats. This was the most fun year yet, luckily we still have many more to go.

Amanda Jones Photography is Moving!

Amanda Jones Photography is in the process of moving to www.amandajonesphoto.typepad.com.
I hope this new site will help my clients view their images more easily as well as see more of the images from your sessions. If you have recently had a session and you cannot find your images on www.amandajonesphoto.blogspot.com please click the link www.amandajonesphoto.typepad.com
this should take you to my page, then click the link under your cover picture and enter your image gallery.

Thanks for your patients as I get all the bugs worked out of this new site. If you are having trouble viewing your images just send me an email and I will be happy to help you figure it all out.

Thanks again for helping me grow in this great new adventure!

Amanda

"Home" at Last

We've finally finished the
house!

I know you are probably grateful to not have to hear about our house building adventures anymore. We are just grateful to finally be able to enjoy the comforts of our own home once again. The Scott's are grateful to not have to share a home with the CrAzY Jones family anymore. Thank you Scott's for allowing us to invade your space for the past 10 months.

The kitchen, still needs a little cleaning up from construction. The cabinets by the way, came from Cabinetry Classics in Orem! The only contractor that I had a bad experience with. Don't use them!!!! Beautiful Cabinets=Terrible Service!!!

This is looking toward the kitchen and great room and upstairs to the bonus room.

This is one thing that I was going to leave out, my jetted tub. I had thought of saving a little $ and just getting a regular tub but my sweet husband, who's usually a cheap-skate told me to go for it and now I can't wait till I can enjoy it.

We have come so far in just a few short months. This was the old house in April. It seems like it's taken a lifetime but it's all worth it.

We are so fortunate to build this great house in the most beautiful lot in the whole world. We couldn't have done it without all the help we got from all of our family and friends. We are incredibly lucky to have had helpers around to pitch in anytime we had a deadline to meet or just when we needed an extra hand. We have truly been blessed with the greatest family in the whole world! I can't begin to name all the people who have helped us along the way. Thank you to all of you have helped us along the way. Please come and make more memories with us as we enjoy our new home! Easton made sure he got his face in all the pictures. He is such a weirdo, but we love him! This is him and Murphy sitting by the front door (which I have to brag only cost me $150.00 for an 8ft by 4ft alder door!!!I'm such a wise shopper) with all the pumpkins that WE Grew in the Garden. Yes that's right we grew our own pumpkins!!

Showcase of Homes Discount!

Get $20 off a 90 min. session or a $20 print credit when you book a session before Sept 20. Contact Amanda to take advantage of this great discount.
Session must be complete by Oct 31, 2009.

www.amandajonesphoto.blogspot.com

Our "UN"-Labor Day!

We did have one last outing before summer slipped away. We spent a whole day doing nothing to do with the house. That's right, all we did was play and rest. This was the first time we've had a chance to get to our camp spot at La Platta all year. So we lived it up while we could.

This is one of the kids' favorite pass times while the adults play horseshoes, the push the wagon down the (not too steep) hill from my parents camp.

We had a very serious tournament of horseshoes. Jason and I lost in the championship game to my two nephews. Tristan (9yrs old) and R.J. Yes we stunk it up, but it's a blast to play together.

Easton really enjoys nature, so much so that he wears it all over his face!

Bryn Leigh and her uncle KA, or as everyone else knows him by Karl.

Trent, Tristan and RJ being lazy in the hammock.

This is our little piece of paradise. I never realized how much I really LOVE it up there until I went a whole summer without enjoying it. Next year we won't miss out on spending our time up there.