Dear Santa?...I think not.

This was the first of two very traumatizing experiences meeting old St Nick for Bryn Leigh. Santa came to Easton's preschool to visit and my kids got to sit on his lap. Well Bryn Leigh wanted nothing to do with it. I however really wanted a pick so I put her up next to him and he held her there by grabbing her hood. This picture tells it all. She tells everyone who asks her about Santa "he pulled my hood!"

She really doesn't like the jolly old fella. It's bad enough to have to see him once but twice in the same season was more than she could handle. I think we are really worrying her with all the talk of him coming to our house in a few days.
But she did look very cute sitting on his lap all dressed in her Christmas tutu, even with the tears. And when all was said and done she did mention to him that she wants a "Jesse doll from toy story".

Easton was listening very intently, somehow this Santa knew exactly what he had gotten in trouble for in the past few days. Easton was intrigued by his knowledge of every little mishap he had committed. Needless to say, Easton has tried very hard to be a good little boy ever since his little chat from the big guy. If he does happen to make it onto the "nice list" he will be hoping to get a Iron Man mask.

My big boy, it's hard to believe this is his 7th Christmas with us. I can't believe how fast the time flies. This year he is asking for a guitar and a r/c truck. Sure hope he gets the truck, as for the guitar, I think it can wait a few more years.

Thankful Thoughts

I feel like I need to put into writing some of the many things that I am thankful for. Hopefully this will help me focus more on my blessings and less on those things I may be needing or wanting.

• My wonderful husband- I am so lucky to have married such an amazing person. Jason makes me be such a better person. He helps me to try harder to be a peacemaker and for that I will always be so grateful. He provides so much for myself and the kids. I admire him for persuing his masters degree and am so thankful for his education.
• My children- They make my life so interesting. There really never is a dull moment around them. I am thankful for Trenton's compassion and the love he shows for other people. He never ceases to amaze me with his ability to put other peoples feelings before his own. I am thankful for Easton's comic relief, he keeps us laughing and wondering where this child came from. I am so grateful that Easton joined our family when he did, just 12 months and 3 weeks after Trent. He was sent to us at the perfect time. I am so thankful for Bryn Leigh, my sassy little girl. I love having a little girl to shop with and dress up and just have as my little girl.
• My home- I am so thankful to have a warm home to welcome others in to. I am thankful for all those who make my home a fun place to hangout, even teenagers who drop by unexpectedly. I am thankful that I have a safe place for people to gather.
• Warmth- I am thankful for my furnace and on especially cold nights I am thankful for my jacuzzi.
• Gospel-I am thankful for my knowledge of our eterinal family, I am thanful for my childrens simple knowledge of the same thing. I am thankful for my gospel and for my callings in the church.
• Extended Families- I am so so thankful for my families, both my family by birthright and my family by law. I love having such a wonderful supportive family who is always there no matter what I may be in need of. I am thankful for their unending love of me and my little family.

Part II

The Nerd Herd! Jason, Mike, Trent and Easton blowing off a little steam from the long ride in the car.

We are a happy family, at least we are when we're not forced to ride in the car together.

I'm so glad that we drove all that way just so my kids could enjoy their time in the hotel elevator. I'm pretty sure that they drove everyone else crazy by riding the elevator up and down dozens of times. Oh well, cheap entertainment right.

The whole group of us, minus Dad, hiked our fannies all the way down to the bottom of tower falls. We tried to to get a group picture with the help of our handy little self-timer, but apparently these folks just thought we were a little odd standing in formation staring back at the little blue thing with the flashing light. Maybe where they come from they don't have camera's with self timers, oh wait, the camera was made in their home land!

No worries, we finally got the other tourists out of our way and got a good picture of our rough and tumble crew. Mike was pretending he was on an amusement park ride, not sure exactly why though.

This is one of the main reason's Jason and I go to Yellowstone in the fall, we love the leaves.

This was on our hike down to the bottom of the grand canyon of the Yellowstone. When we started out it didn't seem like that long of a hike, but after about 7 switchbacks we thought we might have gotten in over our heads. Then we saw a old man coming up from the bottom hiking with a cane and we all felt a little ashamed that we were being outdone by an old guy. So needless to say, we went all the way to the bottom and were definitely inspired. The views were amazing. This hike is definitely not for the faint of heart, Jason couldn't even enjoy it because of his fear of heights and water.

Little Trent was born to be a mountain climber, we kept telling him that when he grows up to marry an aerobics instructor so she can try to keep up with him.

1101.5 miles full of smiles- Part 1

After 3 long weeks of waiting we were finally off on our road trip to

YELLOWSTONE!
Jason is the super-cool driver of our little party wagon.

Bryn Leigh didn't make it past Lake Point before she was spent and had to take a nap.

After dinner and 4 hrs of driving, we were beckoned to this place...

It was quite a site to see from the highway. We had to make a slight 20 min detour in our trip to get these pictures at the Rexburg Temple.

After a good nights rest, we were ready to go see the beautiful creations.

While we were enjoying a nice little picnic lunch

We discovered that we weren't the only ones who had traveled a long distance to see this awesome national park.

This is the reason we came, well part of the reason anyway. These bull elk were enjoying a nice little rest on the lawn of the park rangers apartment buildings. They had no worries about the construction workers in the background.

The kids jumped at every chance they got to get out of the car and go for a hike.

This particular hike was longer than we had anticipated. We got halfway and realized that we still had about 3/4 of a mile to get back to the car. But the kids were troopers, they enjoyed every minute of it.

Bryn Leigh loved seeing the "hot hots" or hot pots as we called the.

Where does the time go?

I can't believe that my big boy is in Kindergarten already.

Trent started School on Aug 31. He got to ride the bus with his cousins, which was the highlight of his first day.

He is in Ms. Betsy's class, I'm pretty sure she's been teaching for about 50 yrs, no joke. But he is LOVING it! His best friend and cousin, Raynee is in his class.

I am so glad for him to be learning to read and meeting new friends. I just can't come to terms with my little Trenter being in Kindergarten already.

"And I thought I loved you then..."

Eight years ago today, at 7 am, Jason and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. The past eight years have been quite a ride. We laugh everyday at how we've gone from being 19&20 year old little kids to full blown adults, trying to raise 3 kids of our own. It really is a miracle that we made it through those first few crazy years. We were so young and had so much growing to do before we could appreciate each other. But... we made it, and learned great lessons from each other along the way.

It's funny how a song can sum up what you're feeling. But it's so true, just like Brad Paisley said "and I thought I loved you then". Boy was I naive, if that was Love, it was so in the most simple of forms. My love for Jason has grown by leaps and bounds and so has my respect for him.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of shooting a newly wed couple at the Salt Lake Temple, it was one of the rainiest days we've had all year. My sweet Jason was there as the official umbrella holder, which he did to perfection. While we were walking from one place to the other the bride and I were talking and she said to me

"what an great couple you and your husband are"

That was one of the most surprising and yet greatest compliments I have ever been given. It really is something special when others realize how much

LOVE

you and your spouse have for one another.

I love you Jonesy, thanks for sticking it out with me for 8 yrs.

Thrive vs. Survive

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth!

Nor have I been on an amazing Vacation

I haven't been ill

I haven't really been doing much of anything except;

Living, breathing,

Raising 3 kids,
Planning Girls Camp for 23 Young Women,

Supporting my husband in his endeavors and just trying to

"Survive".

Now that Camp is over, and my husband's endeavors have ended I still have my 3 children to raise but instead of just trying to

"Survive"

I'm going to try and

"Thrive"

at this game called

"Life"

Hopefully soon I will have it in me to update you on all that the past two months of

"Survival"

has brought.

I'm a Mom Because...

He made me a

MOM

-Trenton, August 28, 2004

He makes it funny to be a

MOM

-Easton, September 18,2005

And,

She is a

MOM in training!

-Bryn Leigh, February 18,2008

Good Luck Cowboys!

This weekend is the first games of the state playoff's

The kids and I are stuck staying home, we are all feeling under the weather!

But Jason is in St George with the Cowboy's Baseball Team

Hopefully there will be many more games to come next week.

If my husband is going to be MIA on
Mothers Day Weekend
Then the least he could do is come home with a set of wins!
Go COWBOYS!

PS~Jason, a set of wins isn't the only thing you had better bring home (MOTHERS DAY), Hint, Hint

Happy Bithday to You!

Hope you have a great #28!

We love you,

Amanda, Trent Easton & Bryn Leigh

Hello Spring...We've Missed You

Today, I packed up our

Winter CoatsI am trading in our

Hats and Gloves for

Sunscreen and Flipflops

I think it's about darn time my kids could play outside

without worrying about

FROSTBITE!

That's all for now, I'm off to play in the

Glorious Sunshine
with my kids!

I may even try to get a little

Sunburn

Just because I can!

Hoppy Easter!

Since this year mother nature decided to play a mean trick and snow on our

Easter

we had our egg hunt inside at Jered and ShaRee's House.

My kids didn't seem to mind and they got way too much candy.

I tried to get a good picture of my kids in their Easter outfits but

Uncle Jered kept getting Easton to make goofy faces.

So this is what we came up with.

What a great Easter we had and we are so lucky that we have such a great family to spend it with.

You're Killin' Me Smalls

Our Version of

"The Sandlot"

The CAST

Trent as "Benny"

and

Easton as "Smalls"

"The Beast"

played by

Murphy

and

The "Baseball"

It may not be signed by

Babe Ruth

but it is a pretty important piece of

"Jonesy's" aka Dad's

baseball history.
Thank heavens

"Benny"

was smart enough

to know that

"Smalls"

shouldn't play with

"Baseballs with pen on them"

And Thank heavens

"The Beast"

Has a short attention span when playing

FETCH!

On the Mend!

I am happy to report that we here at the
Jones household are back on the mend.




After a brief stay at Primary Children's with Bryn Leigh and a long drawn out week of coughs and colds with the boys.

We now can announce that all three children are once again healthy and happy.

We had quite a scare with little sister, the doctor ran tests to see if she had cystic fibrosis. That is not something that I was prepared for. I don't think anyone ever really could be. After 5 long days of waiting, accompanied my much fasting and prayer in her behalf we received word today from the Dr that the tests were all negative. It's just the dang old asthma that keeps getting to her.

But asthma I would gladly take any day over

cystic fibrosis.

Now, if we could only get some nice weather so that my healthy kids could play outside and stay healthy!

I feel so loved

I opened up my computer one day to find this sweet little heart.

It had been so carefully cut out and colored by the sweetest little 4 year old hands.

On the back it read:

mom

love easton

I am so lucky to be a mother of these 3 sweet little ones.

Sometimes I get way too stressed over things that don't matter and lose sight of just how important my kids are in my life.

Trent, Easton and Bryn Leigh

Love Mom

He's At BASEBALL!

Yep... it's that time of the year again.

Baseball has officially begun, tryouts are this week and the first game is next Monday!

What does this mean for our family you ask?

Well for Jason it means spending the next 2 1/2 months on his favorite pastime!

And for the kids this means lots of fun times outside watching baseball and meeting new friends.

Now, what does the start of a new season mean for me? I get to work on my tan while watching great games of baseball

AND,

just like the line from the great Whitesnake song

"Here I go again on my own".

That's right, from now until the middle of May I am a single parent while

my children and I share Jason with the

Grantsville Cowboys Baseball Team.

Don't worry, this is my third year doing this so I'm a seasoned veteran by now. Yet somehow, I still get the constant question "Where's your husband?" at almost all family functions.

So the next time you see me and the kids and Jason is nowhere in sight, just know that

HE'S AT BASEBALL!

Doing something that he loves

ALMOST

as much as he loves us,

Coaching.

I feel lucky to share such an amazing man and his talents with so many.

GO COWBOYS!