Hawaii!!

Matt and I were lucky enough to go to Hawaii with my in-laws without any kids!! It was AMAZING! We had so much fun with Steve and Lauren and Pat and Dee.

The Flight... poor Matt was so exhausted. He had just worked a long overnight shift the night before, then flew to Utah where he met up with us at the airport, not having slept for a day and a half, and then we headed out on the long 7 hour flight to Hawaii. He was out the second we sat on the plane.

So were Pat and Dee

This was what we came to.... paradise

This is the view from our hotel room.. IT was beautiful

Punchbowl

The first day in Hawaii we took it easy most of the day. Matt slept all morning and most of the afternoon but after he was up we were ready to play. We decided to go to the Punchbowl for our first outing. The punch bowl is a military graveyard situated in what appears to be an old volcano. It was really neat to be able to read the stories of the men and women that gave their lives during WWII.

While we were there we hiked up to the rim of the punch bowl and found a coconut tree. We were all pretty thirsty so we had Matt climb up to get us a coconut. :)

And what do you know.. we got a coconut and I was able to take a drink.

(this look of mine according to my family and close friends would be called "the KA." Thought you all would enjoy:))

I love my sister Lauren

Our deep thinking men.. so hot

After the Punchbowl we decided to go on a drive and try and find a trail with a waterfall to hike... we never found the waterfall but we loved the hike. It was so beautiful!

K so for some reason in my board shorts I found this little knife, which we thought was so funny because we had no idea what it was for.....then while we were hiking we found some ginger root and thought it would be fun to take some home.. lucky for us we discovered a purpose for our little knife. Ha ha we couldn't stop laughing over this. Guess you had to be there. :)

Thanks to these two strong men, this tree didn't completely fall over.

WAIMEIA FALLS

This was such a fun little hike.. I don't even know if I can call it a hike, it was more like an adventure walk. That's my type of hiking.

Matt and Steve went "Tarzan" on us and went swinging on the vines that were hanging from the trees.

Isn't that just Beautiful!!

I had no idea that this was what a pineapple plant looked like! Well now I know and so do you :)

Where are Tana and Lauren??

Lucky for me they had boogie boards you could use to go over to the waterfall... I'm a horrible swimmer so I really think this was the only way I could get there in that freezing water!

Snorkeling

This was the first time I have been snorkeling. It twas fun.

Yes I know, odd picture of Matt and I. Whenever I have glasses on, my smile pushes my glasses up and makes me look funny. Plus Matt's eyes aren't even open.. Well it's the only picture of us. Enjoy :)

Laie Hawaii Temple

We were lucky enough to go to the LDS temple there in Hawaii. It was so beautiful and wonderful in every way.

Holly Smokes!!

So I don't have any pictures of this but it's a must tell. The morning that we went to the temple we were all in a really big hurry to try and get there by 8:30am. We were all ready to go and were out in the hallway but Pat had to use the restroom so as we waited and time kept ticking. Finally we decided to go and see what was taking so long. Steve opened the door and yelled "Holy Smokes!!!" and ran in and the door shut behind him. We could hear Steve coughing and gagging but we couldn't get in cause none of us had a key. Laur started banging on the door and when Steve open the door the room was filled with smoke!! I guess we had a bag of chips on the stove top and somehow the stove was turned on and the bag started on fire. The fire alarm went off and we were all just waiting for the sprinklers in the room to turn on. We all grabbed towels and tried to wave the smoke out of the room. It was quit a sight to see. Soon someone came up and then we took off cause we still wanted to make it to the 9'o clock session. Can you imagine what would of happened if Pat hadn't gone back to use the restroom!!? We would have burnt down the hotel! Thanks Pat for needing to use the bathroom. :) Well, we made it to the Temple, barely, and we all smelled like smoke.

Turtle Beach

Such a cool place. These turtles were huge! You could even look out in the ocean and see huge turtles floating around.

We went to this shaved ice place that had the longest line I have ever seen for shaved ice. To be honest, I didn't really see what the big fuss was all about. I guess if you like black beans and flavored shaved ice with sweetened and condensed milk on top, then maybe I can see why you would like it. :)

A Day out on the Sea

One day we went deep sea fishing. All I have to say is that I'm not cut out with see legs... Within 15 minutes of us being on the boat I got sick. It was one of the worst, helpless, sickest feelings I think I have ever had. I tried my best to be a good sport about it all. But most of the time I was in the cabin laying down on the couch with my eyes closed pretending that I was on a hammock and trying to fall asleep. :) It worked and I was asleep for most of the 8 hour trip!! yes that's right 8 hours of being sick on the boat. I don't think I'll be going on any more boat rides like that again!

I caught a fish!!

And then I lost it :(

And so did Steve and Laur. Luckily, Matt didn't let his get away. This is a real Tuna Fish!!





Then we were attacked by Pirates. Okay, we weren't attacked by Pirates, but we did see the Black Pearl, from "Pirates of the Caribbean." The real thing!! So cool.

Steve and Lauren had a book they were reading together and Matt and I joined in. We all went down by the beach and took turns reading out loud. We were all hooked!

How relaxing is that.

Isn't that just beautiful!

Random Pictures

You are all very lucky to be able to see the real me.. this is my hair if I let it air dry and then brush it out. Matt likes to call this look Hagrid hair. :)

Last day in Hawaii

I love this picture of Lauren and me.

But as I am putting this picture up I just noticed Matt in the background... lol.. I think he was playing football with Steve and we just happened to catch him in the moment, or he was trying to get into our picture, hmmmmm:(.

Thank you Pat and Dee for making making this wonderful trip happen! We loved every minute we were there.

Goodbye Hawaii... Until next time

New chapter in life

It happened. My child went to school, well preschool really and it only lasted 3 months but still I can't believe we have reach that point in life where our kids will for now on start to go to school.

It was a little preschool here that was at the local High school. It was wonderful! Both for him and myself. He loved going and playing with his friends and learning new things with the high school students and I loved having a little break and time with just McKay. Perfect for both of us. He looked so cute with his little back pack on that first day of school. I think it was as big as he was:)

He loved his backpack so much that even when he was home he would have to carry it EVERYWHERE! At one point he was even sleeping with it.

Last day of school!

Can't wait for next year!!

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!