Sisters retreat

In March my sisters and I decided to go to Tennessee to surprise my sister Kimberly for her 40th birthday. The months leading up to it were so fun to figure out all the details. There were even a few times that we almost let it slip but luckily she never caught on.

The plan was that my sister Tiffany was going to drive there with her kids since they live the closes to Kimberly. Kimberly did know this part so at least she was expecting company. I flew in to North Carolina to spend a few days with Tiffany and her family before going to Kimberly's.

Tiffany had this little kid shaving kit that she let Ammon use...

He took it very seriously. :)

Our sweet little Ella

I feel so honored and lucky to be able to see her again. She is just beautiful in every way!

After a couple of days at Tiffany's, Michelle came in and we started are long drive to Tennessee. It would of been so fun if it weren't for McKay and the STOMACH FLU!!! The whole trip consist of him throwing up and having diarrhea in the car. It was so sad. So for us to be driving 8 hours in the car with him like he was, was not fun at all. I kept praying that it was a 24 hour flu but it wasn't. Poor McKay.

We made it to TN. Tiffany had arrange to have Kim's best friend watch her kids, well all of our kids, and told Kim to meet her at a restaurant. I think she thought it was a little odd that Tiffany wouldn't just drop the kids off at her house but she went along with it anyways. Shawna, Michelle and I were all setting in the back of the restaurant waiting for Kimberly to come. We had the whole restaurant in on it which made it even more exciting. Finally she made it. Tiffany greeted her at the door and sat down at a different table.. we had to do that because DeEttes was running late and we wanted her to be there for the big revile. She made it and the waitress had Tiffany and Kimberly move to our table. We all were giggling with excitement as she was walking towards us. When she saw us all standing there she was in shock! It was perfect. There were many tear and hugs.

We also had planned a surprise Birthday party for her with all of her friend and ward members.

All the Jones girls

Shawna, me, DeEtte, Tiffany, Michelle and Kimberly

Sarah wasn't able to make it out. We all missed having her with us.

I love my sisters!!

As we were there we decided that we would use our woman skills and redo Kimberly's upstairs bathrooms.. They turned out beautiful.

The girls bathroom

Master bathroom

I loved being with my sisters on this trip and only wish that we all lived closer so we could do this more.

McKay turned 1!!

On March 18, 2010 our little McKay came into our lives...

Newborn

Perfect little angle

One Month Old

Drove out with us to St. Louis to find a new house. He slept the whole time and was so easy to have around.

Two Months Old

We moved to St. Louis... Everyone was always so busy with packing and moving and we would just put him in his swing and he was as happy as can be.

Three months old

He became our happy little boy. He started to smile more and love to be held. This month he was given a blessing by Matt for our church.

Four months old

He started sleeping like a dream for us! He also is starting to smile and laugh more to.

Five months old

Tried his first solid food... didn't know what to think about it at first but we think by the end he liked it.

Six months old

McKay found his voice and loves to use it. He's sitting up on his own and is trying to crawl, or more like army crawl, now.

Seven months old

He has two cute little teeth. He's crawling everywhere now. He even got to go with me to Ohio and California this month.

Eight months old

I loved this month with McKay. He was so happy and couldn't stop smiling. Every morning when I would go in his room to get him out of his crib, he would be looking up at me and smiling like crazy. Even though I was so tired in the morning he always made it a good start for the day.

Nine months old

This month he started to be more interested in what Ammon was doing. He loves to watch him and play with him. He such a happy boy!

Ten months old

This is the month that he became a wiggle worm! He would get into EVERYTHING. He won't sit still for anything and he hate getting his diaper changed. I felt so bad for him this month because he had 3 ear infections.. so sad.

Eleven months old

McKay's walking everywhere now! I couldn't believe he started walking so soon. This month was a hard month for us, because he had so many ear infections we had to get tubes put into his ears. It was so scary for us but he did so good.

One Year Old!!

I can't believe he's 1!!

This past year has brought more happiness then I think I could ever feel. It's crazy how your heart can grow and grow with each day you spend with your kids. That's why this year has been so wonderful! I love my little McKay.

He is the Sweetest

most gentle,

laid back,

Loving, and the

Happiest little boy I know.

McKay Loves Cars so obviously I had to make a car cake for his birthday.

It was so funny to watch him with his cake.. He was so excited about it that he dove right into it. He was a mess afterwords.

For one of his gifts we got him a big blow up ball play pin. He loved it and I loved having all these kids help blow it up. :)

Happy Birthday my little man!

I LOVE YOU!

swimming lessons

Ammon started swimming lessons a couple of weeks ago. At first he hated it because he hates getting water on his face and hates being cold. He was so skinny compared to everyone else and was always shivering cause he has no fat to insulate him from the cold. We're working on getting him more plump! We figured out that he needed to have a swim shirt on which helped a lot. As time went on he started to enjoy it more, although I frequently had to bribe him to stay for the whole lesson with ice cream cones from McDonalds. Whenever he thought about stopping the threat of losing his ice cream cone was enough to get him right back on track. Is that bad of me? By the end of the season he was doing so much better. He would even jump in the water!! That was a very big step for him!

This is what would happen if water got on his face

very sad

Grandma Pat

I was lucky enough to have my mother-in-law come and visit us for a week. She was so fun to have around to keep me company during my every day agenda. She was able to come with us to the magic house, Ammon's favorite place, where there are all sorts of neat things to see and play with. We also went to Ammon's swimming lessons and Ammon got to show off for her.

We love when Grandma Pat comes to see us. The boys loved having her with us, and so did I. We were so sad to see her go.

No more ear infections!!

After WAY to many ear infections for McKay we finally decided to have him get tubes in his ears. I think it was one of the best decisions that we have made. I'll be honest it was a little scary to have your baby go under anesthesia, but I knew it was a short and very safe procedure. The morning of the surgery was such a LONG morning. Because he was going under anesthesia he couldn't eat or drink anything for 8 hours before the surgery. His surgery wasn't till 11:00am so to have a baby not be able to eat or drink till after that time was so hard to watch. He was starving! Poor little guy. We arrived at the hospital, just McKay and I. We got him dressed and Matt came right before he had to go into surgery. Everything went smoothly, but he still came out agitated, screaming and crying. Eventually he felt much better.

Winter pictures

Just some random pictures from the winter!!

January

On new years day the family and I traveled to .....Utah. Shocking isn't it since whenever we get a vacation we end up going there. :) Matt had one week off from work so we used it wisely. The first half of the week we spent with my family. The first day we were there we met everyone at the Bounce House in Lehi. Ammon and his daddy had a blast climbing and tumbling over obstacles and sliding down inflated slides. Such a fun place. We were there with the Adam & Michelle, Brett & Sarah, and the kids.

The second half of the week we spent with the Nelsons. We had a great time. Matt got to go snowmobiling with his Dad and brothers and I got to spend time with my in-laws and all of Ammon and McKay's cousins. When Matt got back we all went out to eat, went and saw some movies and had a grand old time. We love going back to Utah.

We visited Grandma Nelson while we were there. She is so great with the boys. We love her.