The Bullocks are in Town

 Our Besties, The Bullocks, came to Utah to visit their grandparents for Spring Break. Nate's dad, Lynn, has a type of blood cancer and hasn't been well during treatments. It was Nate's 47th birthday and we got to spend the evening with them celebrating with Pizza and birthday cake.

Emma is a hard worker

Today I got an email from Emma's seminary teacher, Sister Reddish, asking parents to share a little about our child's talents. So...as I was thinking about that, one of the first things that popped into my mind was that Emma is a really hard worker and she never procrastinates. She works independently and dilligently and she isn't satisfied until she's done a practically perfect job. Actually there have been times where she has come to us and been kind of frantic about needing to get something done, and we have to remember to ask her...Emma, is this due tomorrow? She'll sheepishly reply, No...it's due in 2 weeks or something like that. That's how on top of it she is.
Well, anyway, about an hour after I had been pondering Emma's talent of working hard, I received this email from her English teacher:

Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Jones,

I wanted to take a moment and let you know how awesome your daughter, Emma, is.  She is doing very well in in Advanced English I and currently has the highest grade in her class.  She is a good reader and writer, but her efforts show that she is not willing to rest on what she has gotten thus far, but is striving to make herself better.  I appreciate a student who works as hard as she does.  I hope you are very proud of you daughter; again, I am.

Have a great day,

Carlos Baladez

English Teacher

AVID Teacher

Men’s Soccer Varsity Assistant Coach

Kuddos Emma for being so awesome!!

Broken Arm

Evan had some friends over and they were hanging from the pull up bar. Somehow he slipped and fell and  broke his arm. Fun way to start off the new school year! From the look of these pictures, it seems that he kinda likes the cast. Good thing he's a lefty. 

New York Church History

We planned our NYC trip around wanting to visit the Hill Cumorah Pageant. So, we left NYC on Thursday morning. We took the subway to a station where we could catch a train to the New Jersey Airport. There, we rented a giant white van. I think it was a 12 seater. They didn't have any 8 seaters, so we all got to spread out a little. From there we drove first to Pennsylvania to stop at the Priesthood Restoration site which was just recently fixed up. We watched a great film there that is only shown there. We got to see a replica of the home that Emma grew up in and walked down to the river where Joseph and Oliver were baptized.












Then we headed toward Palmyra and stayed the night in a town about 10 minutes away. The next morning we headed into Palmyra and first visited Joseph Smith's homestead and the Sacred Grove. While we were in the Sacred Grove, a thunderstorm came and poured buckets of water on us. We were thinking about just waiting it out, but Kate was freaking out. Im not sure if it was the thunder that was scaring her or the fact that she was getting drenched. We Southern Californians are not used to thunderstorms. We finally decided to run for the car. We got soaked, and Carter managed to get a video of Kate freaking out so someday she can look back and laugh at herself. We drove to the Palmyra temple and walked around the grounds while the sun was out. It didn't take long to dry off. We decided to go back to the Sacred Grove. It had felt like our visit was cut short from the storm. It was really neat to be there. I felt an appreciation for Joseph Smith and all he went through to restore the gospel. It was truly a sacrifice for him and his family.

After the Sacred Grove, we visited the Peter Whitmer Farm which was fun and went through the printing shop in Palmyra where the Book of Mormon was printed. Then, we headed off to the Pageant. I was so tired and at one point, I couldn't sit up anymore. I laid down in front of our chairs...we were just waiting for the show to start. The pageant participants were walking around and visiting with people, so when three ladies came and started talking to us, I woke up and visited. :) It was neat to see people come together from all over and put together the pageant in like a week. It was beautiful and fun to watch.

New York City

We had the opportunity to go on a once in a life time trip this summer to New York City. It turned out to be wonderful. Kelly came with us and was so much fun and a lot of help. I loved NYC. It was a lot cleaner and more beautiful than I imagined. At dusk, the skyline took on so many different colors. I felt safe. The subways were an adventure. It's definitely a different life style, but nice. After NYC, we drove to The Priesthood Restoration Site in Pennsylvania and then to Palmyra to visit the Sacred Grove and see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I really enjoyed those stops as well. It was neat to see where Joseph Smith lived when he received the first vision. It is a beautiful area with groves of thick trees everywhere. Here are some highlights from the trip...


Look at the colors in the skyline...they look unreal to me.

I loved Ellis Island. I love learning about history. It was neat to see this building and imagine the immigrants arriving from foreign countries...sometimes children without their parents. At times, there were a lot of people in this building!


This is the memorial to the world trade centers. Visiting the 9-11 museum was one of our favorite things. There was a definite reverence or awe in the museum. To me, it was an appreciation of all those who gave their lives to save others. There were so many stories of individuals helping co-workers find their way to safety, police officers and firefighters who didn't hesitate a second to do whatever it took to help.



This is a view from the top of the Empire State Building. Props to Becca for going to the top. Before we left for NYC, she insisted that she was NOT going to the top...too scary for her. She did it!!



Subway Pictures...We saw a few musicians playing for money down in the subway terminals and they were really, really good. I couldn't figure out why they were playing there and not doing something else with their talent.

Central Park is amazing. What a refuge...for New Yorkers to go to and escape the big city. It's huge and beautiful and peaceful. We had fun riding our bikes for a couple hours. It would probably have been a little easier without Kate. :) She couldn't decide between riding her own bike or being on a tag-a-long with Jon. She went with Jon and it's good she did cause I don't think she would have made it up some of the hills on her own.

 



Evan and Jon on the bus tour.


The apartment we stayed in was right by the Brooklyn Bridge. One day we walked from our apartment to the Bridge and to Brooklyn, We ate at a Pizza Place in Brooklyn. It was kinda funny cause we noticed it said "Cash Only." First of all, what kind of a restaurant is cash only. Anyway, Kelly had some cash and we would've been fine except at the end we ordered a bunch of desserts to try and that put us over the edge. Jon had to tell them that he was going to leave and go get some cash. They joked with him after he got back, that they were making bets on whether or not he was coming back.
While we were waiting for pizza, I guess Evan was playing with Becca's hair and had been putting the ends in his mouth. He does have a habit of putting everything in his mouth. So...while I agree that this is gross and girls don't want people to suck on their hair...yucky and stinky. It wasn't worth Becca getting as upset as she did. She was so mad and it looked as if she would never forgive him. Becca turned to Evan and said, "want me to spit in your hair?" In his very nonchalant, cool 6th grader voice, he said, "sure..what evs." So she did. Right there in the restaurant. Spat a big loogie right on the top of his head. This is when I knew that Kelly really did love us just the way we were, cause she didn't get up and walk out. She stuck with us through the thick and thin!

This is the view of our apartment from the Brooklyn Bridge. We are the red door, right next to the Brooklyn Bridge sightseeing store (bike store).

One of the highlights of NYC, was watching "Wicked." Everybody loved it. We had great seats and a great time together.

Sunriver 2016

Every year at Sunriver we try to find something new to do. Last year (2015) was an unusually warm year so we went to a lake about 30 minutes south of Sunriver and rented jet skis. This year, Kelly suggested we visit Smith Rock, one of Oregon's Seven Wonders. I thought it was beautiful!! There was a pretty rigorous hike that the more physically fit or older children went on with some of the adults. The youngers and elderly (grandma) hiked around the river at the bottom. The rigorous hike was super steep and there were times that Emma and Becca didn't think they would make it, but they did and the views were so rewarding. Towards the end of the hike there is a huge rock that people were climbing the face of...called monkey rock cause it looked like a monkey's head. It looked scary. Here's Becca...getting ready for the big hike. She doesn't know what lies ahead yet. :)








One of our favorite things at Sunriver...the deer. One year, Jon even fed the deer from his hand. Here Evan is trying to get close enough to touch it...he got about a foot away.












MY Favorite pastime at Sunriver...bike riding. I will never tire of a relaxing bike ride with beautiful scenery all around me.














Kick Ball is fun cause everyone can play. I'm worried about Stephen's dressing habits rubbing off on the nephews.









On one of our last days at Sunriver, we rode our bikes to Benham Falls. It was about a 6 mile ride. Kate made it all by herself...yay!!! It is one of my favorite places to go. Loved it.

FAMILY. TOGETHER FOREVER. I am grateful for my wonderful family. I am especially grateful for my mom and the importance she puts on getting us all together every year. It's really been amazing, actually, that we have all been there every year for the past 15 years or so. This is me...thinking about how much I love my family.