Life As We Know It

 Life is good, and lately I have had an even greater appreciation for all of the goodness in my life.  On May 14th, Paige turned 15!  She was especially delighted that her sister, Sarah, and her husband, Shawn, worked so hard to make a video of her growing up years to commemorate her receiving her Young Womanhood Recognition Award.

 On May 17th, Kaylee and I had the opportunity to go to Prescott, Arizona, on the 6th grade field trip, sadly, my last, sniff, sniff and have lots of fun trying new things and enjoying nature.

 Sometimes, Kaylee tries to tell people that she is shy, but don't believe it.  In fact, does this pose make you think of her as a shy person?  Of course not!

 This is a picture of Kaylee after her 6th grade graduation.  I may have to rent myself out to walk children to the elementary school in the mornings when school begins again in August.  I have been walking children to elementary school for so many years that I won't know what to do with myself. :)

 On May 30th, my mother, Mae, turned 86 years old.  She and I celebrated by going to St. George, Utah to visit my 2 brothers and their families.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

 This is my brother, Kenneth, and his wife, Mary.  They hosted a fun BBQ for all of the Utah family while we were there.  Thanks for letting us stay with you and being so kind!

 This is my mom with 2 of her friends, Melba and  Louis.  They hadn't seen each other for years and enjoyed catching up with each other.  Aren't friends great?

 This is my brother, Dave, and his wife Sue.  We were so glad to get to spend time with them and see most of their grandchildren.

 Here are just a few of the great grandchildren that my mother has.

 While we were gone, demolition and construction of our downstairs bathroom began.  This is what used to be in our pantry.  Now, it is in our living room.  The beauty of this is that nobody asks me "What's to eat?" anymore because they can easily see what we have to eat. :)  We are considering keeping all of our food in the living room, it is quite a conversation piece.

 I was very naive when I left town and actually thought I would come home and see much more construction than demolition, but I was wrong.

 This is what our bathroom looks like right now.  All of the gray stuff on the floor is concrete that has been jack-hammered out to move pipes.  I can't see the vision of how it is all going to turn out, but thank goodness Richard can.  He assures me often that it will be beautiful and I believe him.

This is what our pantry looks like now.  Kind of like Old Mother Hubbard except we really do have things to eat, we just have to go in the living room.  Even though our house if messier than usual, we sure are blessed to love each other, have the knowledge of the restored gospel and have plenty to eat...in the living room. :)

The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth! (Mostly)

 A couple of months ago some of my friends from Sunday School and I started holding a monthly "Sorry Championship" to see which of us has the most Sorry playing skill.  I have yet to win the plaque, but in my defense they gang up on me and are always sending me back home. :(  This month Brent won the right to take the plaque to his house.  Amazing, he was the only guy playing against 3 girls and he still won.  This is just a small representation of the many people that usually play to earn the right to call themselves the Sorry Champion.

 This is our awesome Sorry plaque that I hope to someday proudly display at our house, but it isn't looking good for me.

 Kaylee just finished playing a season of baseball.  She had lots of fun and the season ended just as it was starting to get hot.  Why are there only 6 players instead of 9?  Because they are that good.

 Kaylee also participated in the school talent show this week.

 She and her friend, Tobie, sang a song by Taylor Swift.  Way to go Kaylee!  You are brave, beautiful and talented.

 This is my Mom, Mae.  She moved in with our family at the end of April.  We love having her with us.  She loves playing dominoes and turning our dog against us by feeding her hamburgers. :)

 This week is Paige's 15th birthday!!!!  I am happy to report that since turning 14 she has learned how to expertly apply her makeup and she no longer looks like this.  Look for some stunning pictures of her later this week.

 I am also happy to report that after a year, yes a year, my hair is beginning to grow and I no longer resemble Edna from the Incredibles.

 I still love going on adventures and am excited for summer so that we can find even more things to do.

And, last but not least, I still love "juggling" to make time for everything and everyone in my life. 

Oh, The Places You'll Go

Wow, Dr. Seuss wasn't kidding when he wrote the book titled, Oh, the Places You'll Go!  We sure have been to a lot of places in the last 2 months.

 In March, Sarah, Paige, Kaylee and I went to Utah to visit Meagan and Hyrum and their children.  While there we did one of our favorite things which is "poppin tags".  Here is Sarah and Brigham riding horses at Savers.

 Kaylee loved being close to Teanne.

 I did too!

 Paige might have won the competition for "favorite Aunt".

 We were only 1 sister short of having the full set.

 This is a cake that Kaylee and her friend, Natalie made and decorated and delivered to their YW leader.  Isn't it cute?

 In April, I took my mom to the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch and we took a ride on this monster truck.  I was a little scared because I am a big chicken, but my mom LOVED it.

 1 ostrich egg equals about 20 regular eggs.

 Here I am with my mom and her friend, Nellice.

 In April I also took Paige and Kaylee and 2 of their friends to the Tucson Zoo.

 Paige thought feeding the giraffes was hilarious.

 Kaylee, Natalie, Paige and Leigha had a lot of fun at the zoo and even more fun stopping to shop all the way home.

 In April, Richard and I snuck off to San Francisco and had a wonderful time.  Look at all of these sun bathing sea lions.

 We went on a harbor cruise and saw the sights.

We rode on a trolley and 1 day Richard even rented a tandem bike and we rode all over San Francisco exploring.

 We visited China Town.  Boy, was that place interesting.

 In April I got together with a few of my friends and we volunteered at the summer Special Olympics.  We really enjoyed meeting and working with the athletes.

This team was named "team awesome" by some of my friends and they really lived up to that name. I can hardly wait to see all of the new places I will go in the next few months.  Hope  you are getting ready to enjoy your summer and visit some awesome places yourself. :)

SnOw Much Fun!

 Last month, we drove to Payson thinking we would find some snow to play in.  Unfortunately, Payson had very little snow, but as we drove further toward Strawberry, we found just what we were looking for.

 Paige and Kaylee had so much fun playing in the snow and trying out a sled/snow board thing that we bought at least 5 years ago and that had sat in our garage all of these years just waiting to be used.

 In fact, the only person who probably had more fun than Paige and Kaylee was ME.  Who knew snow could be so much fun?  I took plenty of turns riding down hills, dodging trees and hanging on.  I am sure Meagan and Hyrum are laughing at this post because they deal with snow every day, but for us Arizonans it sure is fun to experience snow.

Quarterly Catch Up

 On General Conference Sunday in October, Meg gave birth to her 2nd child, Teanne.  Paige and Kaylee and I (and my sister-in-law, Debbie) drove up to Provo to see Meagan and Hyrum's family.  While we were there we went to Provo Canyon and had a fun cook out.

 Provo Canyon was absolutely beautiful!  The weather was nice and we had lots of fun.

 Here is one of the last pictures of Kaylee as an 11 year old.

 Here is Auntie Paige holding/squishing her new niece, Teanne.

Then we hurried home to help with the final preparations for the marriage of these two goofballs, Sarah and Shawn Garrison, who were married October 20, 2012, not quite 2 weeks after Teanne was born.

 Meg and Hyrum then drove to Arizona for the wedding.  Teanne was already growing up and turning into a big girl.  Isn't she cute?

 We even had time for a quick trip to Tucson to see all of the animals at the zoo.

 Hyrum and Brigham had lots of fun looking at the animals.  The weather was really nice while they were here so we even got to BBQ and try out our neighbor's hot tub.

 In November we had a family reunion.  Here are some of the Jones cousins playing a minute to win it game where they had to move an Oreo from their forehead into their mouth.

Of course, Devin Fletcher won the contest.  Was there ever any doubt?

 Here are Chad and Allie at the reunion.  Can you believe that they have almost been married a year?

 Here are the newlyweds, Shawn and Sarah.

 Here is Emily with Julia and Brennan Crist who were visiting from Idaho.

 Here is Laura and Gabe Fletcher.  We miss you guys and hope you have fun in Texas!

 Kaylee and Sarah.  What cute sisters.

 Our cousin, Kurtis, and his brothers, entertained us by wearing their kilts and showing us how they compete in the Highland Games.

 Here is my mother, Mae.  She enjoyed the reunion and loved talking to some of her nieces and nephews.  This reunion was to honor her side of the family, the Blacks.

 Here is my sister, Sharon, and her grandson, Tate.

 Paige with her newest brother-in-law, Shawn.

 What a cute bunch!  We were all wearing red to signify that we come from my mom, Mae's line.

There were so many of us that some of us got cut out of the picture.  Can you believe that all of these people came from Mae and this doesn't even come close to representing all of us.

 In late November Kaylee turned 12!  She had a party with her friends and got her ears pierced.  Best of all, she is old enough to go to mutual and girl's camp and she gets to go to the temple with us every week and do baptisms.

 Look at all of the snacks she had at her party.

 Richard had a birthday in October.  Here he is in his "man cave" enjoying a book with his "girlie" dog, Dixie.

 I bought this candy machine for Richard's birthday to assure that he will not be the "scary, out of town Grandpa" when the grandchildren come to visit.

 In December, my mom hosted her annual Christmas party.  We had a white elephant gift exchange this year.

Santa even made an appearance.

 I snuck away the 2nd week in January and flew to Utah to help Meg celebrate her 25th birthday.  Meg is 25 and has a 20 month old and a 3 month old.  It is pretty hard to create any more fun than she is already enjoying on a daily basis.  Her children are so fun!

 Teanne is getting big and changing her look all of the time.  She is such a happy baby.

 Here is Brigham.  He was a little skeptical of this lady named Grandma who came to visit.  He decided he liked me because I had snacks in my bag.  Brigham loves nuts!

 My arms were not long enough to get any really good pictures of the 3 of us, but it didn't stop us from trying.

 This is what Brigham does every time he is asked to smile for a picture.  It is as if he can hardly stand it, but he sure does like looking at the picture after you snap the shot.

Like I said, this little girl is one of the easiest babies I have ever watched.  She is very calm and smiles the most beautiful smiles.  She even put up with me for a whole day and took a bottle while her parents went skiing.

Here is Hyrum and Meg on Meg's birthday, suited up and ready for a day on the slopes.  It was Meg's first time to try skiing, so it was mostly her buns on the slopes but they had a good time.  I had lots of fun visiting and hope to get back to Provo a few more times before this year is over.