The Jonz Family Blog

Kyle Turns Five

2009-04-08T05:33:00.001-07:00

Wow! I can't believe the little guy is FIVE already! That must mean I'm... old. Ouch.

Kyle is fun. Kyle lives fun, he breathes fun, he sleeps fun, he walks fun. Kyle enjoys life so much that he can barely contain it. I've never seen a kid that can go as fast from crying to all out belly laughing like Kyle. I know that as he gets older this amazing ability of recovery will serve him well, but as a parent it DRIVES ME CRAZY! How can a child cry over a discipline and 2 seconds after he stops crying (and GENUINELY crying at that) he's bouncing off the walls looking for the next adventure. It's amazing.

There is just too much fun to be had in Kyle's world for such things as waiting. Like waiting to get up. Who needs sleep? Picture this, every morning between 6 and 6:30 Kyle is standing next to your bed smiling at you while you sleep. I don't think Brandi even opens her eyes anymore, I think her body just goes on autopilot and sends him to the toy room to play quietly. Naps? Yah, right! I remember one night this year we had some friends over and they stayed late playing games. It was almost midnight and the kids were just going to bed. Kyle had been going full speed for HOURS. He's laying in bed saying his prayer and he falls asleep mid-sentence. I took a picture, he literally wore his poor little body out.

High energy. Lots of messes. Lots of laughs. And absolutely lots of fun.

And he is going into kindergarten this year... oh my, I don't know if kindergarten is ready for Kyle!

Happy birthday, Kyle, I love you tons big man! Hope your day is as entertaining for you as I am sure it will be for the rest of us.

Good Video

2009-02-11T07:50:00.001-08:00

A good video, sent to me by my non-Christian friend that seems to get emails from all of his Christian friends with cool stuff like this in it.

I keep trying to tell him that God is telling him something.

We had a GREAT Christmas!!!

2008-12-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

The only thing that could have made it better was if the rest of my family was in town, but hey, I got to talk to both of my brothers and wish them a merry Christmas. Also, contrary to what my wife said they both got their Christmas presents on time! Yeah for me the master procrastinator!

Anyway, we captured some very special moments on video this Christmas and here they are:

The first one is of my mom when she openned a picture of all 8 of her grandchildren together in one spot! It was classic because when we first gave her the package she thought it was the Christmas picture of just my family, the look on her face was priceless and we even got a few tears... always a good indicator when you are giving a present to your mom. Thanks to the Curleys for helping make this one possible.

The second one is of my precious little niece Caridee. She has only laughed a few times and not for very long, but her crazy cousins (that's MY BOYS!) got some really good giggles. Too cute!

I hope everyone's Christmas was as fun and memorable as ours! Merry Christmas and happy new year!

SEVEN!!

2008-12-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe that this day 7 years ago Brandi and I were eating breakfast at Bill Johnson's Big Apple while she was having contractions. They had been going all night and she wanted to get some good food in her before we went to the hospital. We were getting ready to drop Hunter off at Kim and J's house for their first adventure in caring for a two year old.

Jacob was a cute baby, in fact his picture hangs with several others on the wall of the labor and delivery area of Banner Baywood. It was a quick delivery, in fact we have Aunt Amber on tape saying, "That's it! I could do that!" B and I both gave her the look of death for that one. The deliveries were never bad for B, it was the nine months leading up to it that was HORRIBLE.

Jacob was an easy going baby and not much has changed since then. He's still a good looking kid and seems to be a favorite with girls in his class. Although we haven't had quite as much of an issue in 1st grade as we had in kindergarten. I think the girls have gotten a little more reserved (thankfully). Hard to believe it's been seven years. Wow, I think I'm getting old.

Jacob is an awesome kid and is such a help with everything. He doesn't complain much and is quick to help out. He has a great attitude and a laugh that is absolutely infectious. He will make himself laugh and before you know it he is laughing uncontrollably... and so are half the people around you. Basically he is a great kid and a joy to be around.

Happy birthday big man! It is a pleasure to be your daddy. :)

Uh oh. Only one more year...

2008-12-03T04:09:00.000-08:00

Wow, Hunter turned 9 yesterday. NINE. As my wife said, he's almost in the double digits. And of course HE reminded me, that there is only ONE more year! He didn't have to say what was going to happen in one more year, I knew very well what he meant. You see when my son was three years old I made a rash promise to him, thinking to myself that the child is just three, he won't possibly care about reptiles in SEVEN YEARS. I promised him that he could have a snake when he was "like 10!" Well, that's next year. And he's been counting down for the last SIX years. Oh boy.

In any case, nothing turned out like we had planned yesterday. First of all we figure out Sunday night that the rash that Hunter developed over the weekend is actually the final stages of fifth disease. Okay, that's not good, especially since we had three sets of grandparents expected to arrive at our house for a HUGE spaghetti dinner in honor of Hunter's b-day. Well, we decided to contact all of the grandparents and just give them the information. Unfortunately that meant that any grandparent that expected to be around our niece Karidee in the next week or two, really should not be hanging around us. Two sets of grandparents dropped out. Hey, you know, it will be fine, Granny and Papa were still coming over to celebrate. Then on the way home I got a call from my sweet wife who had just been hosed down with projectile vomit from little GB. I called Papa and informed them that our house is evidently the Bermuda Triangle of illness lately and advised them against setting foot inside. So, we picked up Prince Caspian from the DVD Play and headed home. The gift that Brandi and I ordered for Hunter still had not arrived. Bummer.

The whole thing was just NOT turning out like we had hoped for our little man. But, the beautiful thing is that Hunter had a GREAT attitude through it all. He was not only still happy about the whole evening, but he was grateful and expressed gratitude for picking up the (plan B) movie and the great spaghetti dinner (with the noodles that over cooked). I am really proud of the way he handled it all.

Grandparents still showed up to the house to drop off presents and Hunter met them at the door to say thanks and open the present so that they could see him.

It's amazing. This same little kid that use to have such a problem controlling his anger and would have poor B in tears with frustration as she would apologize to other parents after our two year old 'beat their kid down' in the McDonald's play area has grown into this sweet and wonderful nine year old. He has his moments like anybody, but I have to say, he rocks!

This year has been a big one for us. God works out his plans in amazing ways. With all of the back issues that B has struggled with for the last year, I really don't know what we would have done without our five foot, super strong, Hunter to pick the baby up and carry him all over the place. How amazing that Hunter is in the upper 90th percentile for all of this measurements, and GB is in the lower 25 percentile for all of his. God knew we needed him.

I have to say that the biggest and best moment of the year was when B and I got to hop into an inflatable pool with our big kid and baptize him. What a moment. What a year. What a great kid! Thank you God for our Hunter! Happy birthday big guy!

GB Turned One

2008-09-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

GB turned one yesterday. Our last little boy is growing up so fast. He still lives up to his reputation as a Good Baby. He is fun and adventurous and moving at the speed of light. He likes to get into cupboards and find whatever he shouldn't have.

He is a little more of a cuddler and seems to like stuff animals. So for his birthday Brandi found a huge, super soft stuffed dog at Sam's Club and we gave it to him yesterday. I would say that he definitely liked it.

He is such a blessing. It's been a very crazy and sometimes tough year, but Gabe has definitely been a shining light of fun and happiness during all of it. Happy birthday little man.

Good afternoon yesterday

2008-09-17T04:17:00.000-07:00

The weather was perfect. The sun was a little bright, but the fields were in great shape and we were able to find some shade. A bag of sunflower seeds, our camping chairs, some crackers for GB and waters all around. We were ready for some baseball!

Little league anyway.

Hunter and Jacob are on the same team this year (praise God!) which is so nice. Coach Dirk is great! He is very encouraging and positive, and the kids are really learning a lot. Awesome stuff.

The first game was last Saturday. Both of the boys struggled a bit. I think it was just first game jitters. We went down to the park Sunday afternoon and practiced hitting. They were both in the groove last night, Hunter was three for three and Jacob was two for two.

Granny and Papa were able to come out and watch the fun. It is so great to have them both out here now!

Anyway, a good time was had by all. The other team was pretty good. Definitely some good hitters there, but after the pitcher hit one kid and struck out half a dozen others (yes, it is coach pitch :) I think we took home the victory.

I haven't quite worked out the kinks of taking pictures or video with my new phone, but here is Hunter. The very next pitch went into right field.

Funny kid

2008-08-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

GB is a very entertaining little guy.

And his infamous headbutt trick.

The best first :)

2008-08-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

I am way behind on my family blogging, so I thought I would start with the latest thing that has happened, which also happens to be the best. :)

Last night, my sweet wife and I had the INCREDIBLE privilege of baptizing our son Hunter. He has been asking to be baptized for months now. We've talked with him a lot about it. We went through scriptures. We went to the baptism class.

I really had some concerns because he is so young. But it's really not complicated, even though we always try to make it that way.

It was a great thing. GREAT thing! Praise God!

Today I got to be the storyteller for the K -4th grade classes at the 10:30 and 12 services. We talked about honoring Jesus OUT LOUD.

This is my son, Hunter, honoring Jesus OUT LOUD!

There is something very special about being a parent and having this special moment. I remember my own father baptizing me nearly 20 years ago. Awesome God stuff.

Hunter said when he came out of the water he felt so lite! I picked him up. He was!

God bless you my son. May God guide you throughout your life. I am so proud that you are my son. I love you so much! Thanks for letting mommy and I share this with you.

Are you ready for this?

2008-07-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

I woke up last night as Brandi was sitting up. She was in a lot of pain and was holding the side of her head. "It felt like a bug crawled in my ear!" she said and got up, obviously in pain. I got up and checked on her, she said she could hear a popping or gurgling sound and was in a tremendous amount of pain. You know we live in the internet age, because the first thing I did was go to webmd and see what I could find out. Not too much. It sounded like maybe she had a serious ear infection that had caused her ear drum to rupture. She had a little blood in her ear and shooting pains. I finally called our doctor and talked to the "on call doctor" who said that if she couldn't get comfortable and wait until morning that we needed to go to the ER or Urgent Care.

Things seemed to get better but she was having pain off and on all night. Finally this morning we got an appointment with the PA and Brandi went in. On the way there she put in her praise CD and practiced for kids' large group tomorrow where she is supposed to lead worship. The pain came back tremendously and she was very grateful that she was headed to the doctor's office.

When she got there the PA took a look and was quite surprised to find... an earwig. No, not hair in her ear. A bug. We use to call them pincher bugs because they have a pincer on their tail. Brandi always called them earwigs. The PA was able to remove it and get this, it was still alive. Brandi was TOTALLY wigging out (pun intended). They gave her some antibiotic drops and checked the other ear. Everything is fine now. The PA said she had NEVER seen that before.

Yes we get our house sprayed for bugs regularly from a reputable company (although I think I will be switching now).

Brandi stopped by the store and picked up and extra large pack of ear plugs. I guess she isn't taking any chances.

Think about this video as you go to bed tonight, I know I will, I've been thinking of this ever since she came home and told me. Skip ahead to 8:20 if you don't want to wait.. Pleasant dreams. :)

So sad, it's over

2008-06-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

I came home tonight to a quiet house. The kids are all pooped. They were sitting like lumps in front of the T.V. watching cartoons when I got home. They definitely are missing the cousins. I think over the next couple of days they are going to be very sad. B and I will be sad as well because both of the girls were an especially BIG help with the baby. Not to mention the fact that it was really great to see all of the cousins playing together so nicely. They definitely formed some bonds this year.

Check out a couple more pics and a video. Josh is describing a sword fighting game that I let the kids play at AJ's. Good stuff. Memorable moments. A bunch of great kids.

Round two continues

2008-06-25T09:41:00.001-07:00

I know the pictures have been getting rave reviews (mainly because of the ADORABLE children in them), but I'm afraid these ones leave a lot to be desired. They were taken from my phone because I forgot the camera. Bummer.

Anyway, round two is a lot like round one. A movie, pools, and of course Amazing Jake's last night. Faith opted out because she had plans with friend of hers. B stayed home with the baby. So it was just me and the four boys! We got their about 4 and left when they closed at 9:30.

Needless to say I'm a little sore this morning.

We are going to another pool this evening for a sunset swim from 6-8.

The kids have been having a really good time playing together. I get the feeling my kids are going to be really bummed when the cousins leave.

more pics

2008-06-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

Round Two has begun

2008-06-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well, we just completed the big switch. We met up with the other kids and their Nana and Papa at Texas Roadhouse. A veritable cornucopia of soda, ribs, chicken fried steak, gravy, hamburgers, steaks, chicken fingers, fresh baked honey rolls, and of course peanuts filled everybody up.

So we snapped a few pictures while we were there. It was very busy having all of the kids in one spot, but they all got along very well, as you can see.

more pics

2008-06-21T14:43:00.001-07:00

Of course not everyone has been thrilled with all of the activity. When Speedy gets irritated his "beard" can get a little darker. I don't think I have EVER seen it this dark(no this is not photoshopped). Oh well, he'll get over it.

Crazy week... good times

2008-06-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

Well it has been an absolutely crazy week. Seth and Kylee got here Tuesday. Fortunately, I stayed home from work that day. Unfortunately, I stayed home because I was sick.

Wednesday was bring your kid to work day, so I took some Advil Cold and Sinus and packed up Hunter, Jacob and Seth and we went to On. The kids got all kinds of neat little toys and got to see more of 'the plant' than most employees. They saw a brief tour of the zener/rectifier wafer fab. A hands on walk through of the packaging lab, where they got to hit the buttons to run the di bonder and the wire bonder, even getting to take home their own silver plated copper lead frame with 15 mil aluminum bond wire (I know, control your excitement!) As boring as that all sounds, the machines themselves are pretty fun to watch and the kids had a ball. By lunch time they were saying that they were the On employees and that it was bring your dad to work day.

Thursday was a real work day for me and rather tedious at that considering I was still feeling very much under the weather. During the day the kids have been visiting a variety of public pools, the library, and just generally hanging out with B.

We let the kids pick one BIG thing to do. So last night we all went to Amazing Jakes for dinner and fun. It was a ball! We played and played and ate :).

We got home and went to bed about 10. Three of the kids were up at 6:30 this morning. I guess it wasn't as exhausting for them as it was for us.

Here are some pictures.

Our budding artist

2008-06-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

Some times when your kids bring stuff home you go, "hey that's pretty cool" and you don't really think about it again.

Well, Brandi and I were both REALLY impressed with this one from Hunter. Obviously it is the Statue of Liberty and one side is supposed to represent what it looks like when the sun goes down and the other side when the sun comes up. Nice.

The last days of school

2008-06-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

The boys have ONE more day of school tomorrow. So we had Hunter's last cottage fair on birds, which was VERY cool and we personally learned a ton of information, even though I have to admit, having grown up in a house full of parrots, birds are not my favorite topic. Hunter did a science/research project on eagles, condors and hawks. Awesome stuff.

Jacob had his kindergarten graduation, which was very cute. They sang several of the songs that they had learned this year, including the song about "My Dog!" A little out of focus, but very cute.

We just got the boys some nice short summer hair cuts, so they were all looking good! I tell you what, I may be a little biased but these are some good looking kids! A little goofy, but then again, I am there dad, so they come by that honestly. :)

Jacob also had some pictures taken with some of his peeps... and his teacher.

The last little girl actually flagged us down in the parking lot as we were trying to get into the car. What can I say? He's a Jones!

G.B. can stand for lots of things :)

2008-06-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

Usually G.B. stands for Good Baby or Good Boy, but the last few days it has stood for Grumpy Baby! Poor GB got sick and then on top of that started cutting teeth. Ouch! Poor little man. Unfortunately this is an accurate representation of our little man the last few days.

The Last Hurrah!

2008-05-27T07:23:00.001-07:00

Well, we finished off our visit with Charlie and Stacey with some good food and good times! Aunt Stacey had the great idea to get out of the house after the weekend of rain, so we packed up the kids and took them down to the pool for a couple of hours.

Then last night, it was fondu! Our first attempt into this arena and it was a raging success. Cheese with apples, bread, and cauliflower. Then some tasty steaming broth for the mushrooms, shrimp, steak, and chicken. Throw in a few dipping sauces and a couple varieties of wine and OH YEAH!

After dinner we put the kids to bed, broke out the cards and played a hand before we broke out the chocolate fondu, strawberries, bananas, pound cake, and marshmallows. Oh my. And let me just say that my wife came up with the best chocolate fondu I have EVER tasted. So good.

Oh, of course there was also the game... but I think you can probably figure out who won that. :)

Final for the weekend:

Guys (aka the WINNERS) : 4
Ladies : 1

Ouch.

Last night

2008-05-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

Well, it was decided that we would continue the game from the night before and after a game filled with suspicion of cheating by the ladies. They were able to squeak by with a razor thin victory.

So, then we started fresh and the tables quickly turned. There were some brilliant and memorable maneuvers by the guys (otherwise known as the Winners). Which leaves the score so far at:

Winners (gentlemen) : 3 (after generously removing the .5 victory from the night before)
Whiners (the lovely by whiny ladies) : 1 (which is really being quite generous considering the game was broken up over more than one day)

Well...

2008-05-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

We had to cut the game short after two hands, since we went out with some friends to Dave and Buster's, but...

Guys : 2.5
Ladies : nada

Running Total

2008-05-23T23:06:00.000-07:00

Well, last night it was Phase 10 and Keith eked out a win.

Tonight, our friends Ann and Tracy came over. Six people, guys verses girls, the game was Canasta and the girls got taken to SCHOOL!!!! Completely shut out of the last hand they never even got on the board, they actually had negative points from the cards in their hands. It was beautiful, but not unexpected.

Guys : 2
Girls : Hey they're trying (0)

Unlce Charlie and Aunt Stacey Come to Visit!

2008-05-23T07:40:00.001-07:00

Uncle Charlie and Aunt Stacey flew in from Kentucky and were greeted by typical AZ weather, rain, hail, and a cool 70 degree May day. Huh? Our first good rain since February showed up about the same time as they did and has been hanging around for a couple of days now.

So, yesterday we checked one of the restaurants on Uncle Charlie's list off and went to Kittie... I mean Filiberto's for lunch. Actually according to the stickers on the window they serve only Angus Cat... I mean beef now. Uncle Charlie says, "if they can make cat taste like that, I'll eat it!"

Then we went and checked out the new Narnia movie. Sa-weet! But very intense.

Then we headed home, ate some spaghetti, put the kids to bed and played some Phase 10!

Here are some pics of the fun.

I guess you can see what happens when you feed Uncle Charlie Mexican food. It continued all night.

While I couldn't actually get video of the act, this was pretty close.

Star Wars Lego Battle

2008-04-16T18:24:00.001-07:00

Good Young Padawan is in a battle with a ti fighter and pulls close to warn the pilot that he is about to be destroyed. In a desperate move, the ti fighter tries to brake free from Good Young Padawan, but is no match for the incredible skills of the young jedi warrior.

Moments later the fighter was destroyed and disintegrated into a cloud of cosmic dust.

Unfortunately, back on planet earth, immediately after this picture was taken the intricately crafted ship of Good Young Padawan was destroyed in a tragic accident when Daddy accidentally bumped the hand of valiant Hunter.

The Gooch Hits FOUR!!!

2008-04-08T07:46:00.001-07:00

Wow, amazing to think that little Kyle is 4 years old today. I tell you, Brandi and I knew that we were in trouble when we watched his ultrasound and he was doing back flips and finally came to rest with his feet above his head. I remember thinking, "Good grief, is he okay like that?"

He's been a little rocket ever since. Kyle learned how to run at 9 months! He learned how to walk at 10 months ;)

Brandi and I were watching him take his steps going, "hey, it's okay, just slow down and take it easy... no need to rush!" What can I say, it's been an adventure. I came home yesterday and Kyle had climbed into Gabe's crib and bent the frame that holds up the mattress. Of course it wouldn't be that big of a deal other than the fact that Gabe was IN the bed at the time and this is the SECOND frame that he's bent. Oh my. Praise God both of the were fine and I was able to restore the frame and get it back in the crib.

The Gooch is a handful!

But he is also the most smiley kid you will ever see. If you are looking for fun, Kyle is your kid. He has a smile and a laugh that is absolutely contagious. He gets his fair share of bumps, bruises and oh yes, whoopins, but... he recovers fast and can go from crying to laughing without taking a breath. Kyle is a great kid! He is fun to hang out with and he is turning into a great big brother to Gabe and IS a great little brother to Hunter and Jacob.

We've survived four years laughing, smiling, spackling, painting, bandaging...

I pray that God will bless us with grand children that will be as much of an adventure as their daddy is! Not JUST for the payback :) but because he's a lot of fun!

Happy birthday little man!

BTW... he got out of bed at 5:55 this morning... this could be a long birthday. ;)

Bunch o picures #2

2008-04-05T13:36:00.001-07:00

So the deal on all of the pictures is that we hadn't had all the boys' pictures taken in a long time so we went to a studio and bought a package that included the CD. Kind of nice that way. There were 126 pictures, these were some of my favorites. Enjoy.

Bunch o pictures

2008-04-05T13:30:00.001-07:00

Kyle's UFC carreer is over...

2008-04-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe he wasn't in the ultimate fighting championship, but you have to admit it is quite the shiner.

I'm sure you are wondering what happened. It was pretty basic. Just Kyle being Kyle he managed to wack himself with a little wooden baseball bat and got quite the black eye. You can't see it in this picture but when his eye was closed you could see a lot of bruising. Poor little guy.

WARNING: Pictures that will one day get me in trouble

2008-04-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

The kids think this is cute now, but wait until they start dating and I pull these up! Aha!

Okay, I thought that this one was just kind of a special picture. Almost brings a tear to your eye.

Quick Video of the Giggler

2008-04-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

GB is a really happy baby, but for some reason it has been hard to get on video. This one is okay, just ignore the big loud guy holding the camera.

A couple of goofs and a tooth

2008-02-04T19:01:00.001-08:00

Don't worry it came out right after this picture. That's a first for Jacob! And yes that is the permanent one right behind it. He's kind of a shark like that.

One more...

2008-02-04T18:38:00.001-08:00

Yes, I used another outfit on the kid's head to try and keep him warm. I didn't have a beanie (not that he likes them anyway) and it was freezing outside. I thought it was creative. Gabe didn't seem to mind.

more pics

2008-02-04T18:28:00.000-08:00

Gee thanks for all of the little pieces, granny ;)

I'm a little behind on these...

2008-02-04T18:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I put a baby picture up (sorry mom), so here you go.

Today's the day!!

2008-01-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

Nope, not the Iowa caucuses, although those do go on tonight. But today is something much more monumental. 10 years ago today, I convinced my breath-taking wife to marry me. It's kind of funny because a lot has happened in the past 10 years, I mean, good grief, a lot has happened in the last year alone! But despite that, it still seems like it was just yesterday. At the same time, I can't even remember what it was like without her and I don't want to.

Sometimes in relationships, someone looks really great at the beginning (hear me out). They are not only attractive, but they seem really nice and fun to be around, but the more time you spend with them the less you want to. The more you get to know them the more you realize what a jerk they are. The complete opposite is true with my wife. Sure I thought she was pretty at first, good grief, I thought she was gorgeous! And not just pretty, but amazingly attractive (yes there is a difference). Anyway, after 10 years of being married to my sweet wife I can honestly and whole-heartedly tell you that she is not only even more amazingly beautiful today than she was 10 years ago, but she is every bit the incredible person that she seems to be. She is the most loving, big hearted, genuine, wonderful, giving, generous, tender, and fantastic person I know. My wife's beauty goes well beyond skin deep. On the contrary, her beauty comes from deep within her heart and radiates out to encompass everything about her. She's a phenomenal Christian woman. She's an incredible wife. She's a wonderful mother. And she's my very best friend.

It's been a great 10 years. I can't wait to see what the next 10 bring us.

Hickaboom!!!

2007-12-19T10:43:00.001-08:00

Six years old today! That's just crazy! I mean, come on, I remember being six years old. Hard to believe that my SECOND son is six. Not only that, but he starts baseball tonight! What an exciting day!

Six years ago today, we had been up most of the night with contractions, then went to Bill Johnson's for breakfast (the chicken fried steak is KILLER). Anyway, we dropped Hunter at Kim and Jason's house then went to the hospital. Later that day, after some contractions, an epidural and 10 minutes of pushing, Aunt Amber says, "What? That's it? I could do that!" Oh yes, we have it on tape. Anyway, little Hickaboom was born and things just haven't been the same since. Jacob is such a loving, ocassionally mischevious, but usually peaceful and always friendly kid. It didn't take long to discover that he had the infamous kavorka and we've been pushing little girls away ever since. :)

He's awesome. We are truly blessed to have him in our house and part of our family. It's an interesting dynamic between all the brothers and it just wouldn't be the same without our little Jacob.

God has blessed us with four wondeful and lively boys!

Praise God it wasn't four girls!!! :)

Hunter Lee Jones

2007-12-02T14:19:00.001-08:00

Hard to believe. Our little Bubba is eight years old today. Man, how time flies. We've watched him grow so much in that time. Not just physically, but in so many other TREMENDOUS ways.

I couldn't be more proud of him. He's a great kid.

It seems like every time we turn around Brandi and I are left staring at each other in shock to hear the amazing observations and then conclusions that Hunter draws and articulates. I keep having to tell myself how old he really is. When a kid is as big as a 12 year old and then suddenly pontificates like some second year psychology major you have to remind yourself that he's only in second grade.

Thank you, Lord. Thanks for eight wonderful years with our Bubba. Eight exciting years as parents. Good stuff.

Cooking Tip

2007-11-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

You may not have EVER expected to see that title on a blog maintained by me. But I have to tell you about this stuff. It is the best seasoning ever and we use it on a ton of stuff. Get it. Use it. Love it. Remember who it was who spilled the beans about it. :)

It's the original one we like.

Post bath hair

2007-11-06T06:08:00.001-08:00

Gabe came out with a full head of hair and after every bath he gets a wispy little fro (for lack of a better term). It just cracks us up. Sorry for the quality of the pick, I took this one with my phone.

Halloween

2007-11-01T18:19:00.001-07:00

Our friends Jamie and Corey came over for dinner with their son Colton. A good time was had by all. Good food (turkey, mash potatos, stuffing, corn on the cob and Brandi's home made rolls) and tons of candy.

Before the trick or treating began a mighty battle waged between two knights, Spiderman and the grim reaper. :)

Hunter drew and carved the three eyed monster all on his own. We attempted to do the outline and carve kit for the other two. Jacob had the alien and Kyle the dragon.

The sleeping baby

2007-10-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Gabe is a pretty good baby. But it doesn't matter how good the baby is or even how old the baby is (I still watch Hunter sleep sometimes), they all look like little angels when they are sleeping.

p.s. if you can't tell from the picture, he has finally put on a little weight. Almost 9 pounds at his doctor visit today.

Kyle's Hair

2007-10-29T20:42:00.001-07:00

He cut it.

So then I cut it.

Not too shabby.

Something new

2007-10-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, so evidently I don't have enough to do (which certainly doesn't seem to be the case) or I just have so many thoughts roaming through my head that I have created my own blog. I know, you are thinking, well what am I reading now? This of course is the family blog, mainly for pictures and stuff about the kids, pets, house, yada yada yada.... The problem is that most of the stuff in my head revolves around God, church, politics, pens, coffee, shaving... you get the idea. Stuff that just doesn't seem to keep with the theme of the family blog.

So if you are REALLY bored, you can check out my other blog. Mainly a what's inside my head blog. Although it does have a really nice picture that we took during our trip to Oregon. Good times....

Anyway... It's here : www.keithjonesblog.com

Transitions

2007-10-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

We are definitely a family in transition for all kinds of reasons. One more transition that you should know about is that our blog now has a new (not to mention MUCH easier) URL that you can go to to get what you are reading now.

www.jonesfamilyblog.com

The old blog spot address still works, so you can use easier, I just got tired of explaining it to people.

:)

Thanks!

From the mouth of a three year old

2007-10-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Kyle has been really good with the baby, definitely a little more needy lately, but not too abnormal for Kyle. He has been really excited about the baby though.

He especially thinks it's cool when the baby is nursing, but its the way he says it that makes us laugh.

These are the two that have cracked us up the most:

Is that baby done milking yet?

Is the baby going to get all milked up?

Classic.

The sweetest thing

2007-10-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this has to be the sweetest thing in the world. My mother-in-law decided that the older kids need to get out for some grandma time, so she picked them up and took them to Peter Piper for some pizza and games. Brandi and I and Gabe went to lunch and then came back. Brandi went to the store and picked up a couple of things and then came back and took a nap. She took Gabe in with her and when I openned the door to check on them this is what I saw. Does it get any more precious than this?

That... long morning look to him... no coffee yet...

2007-10-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

Big brothers

2007-10-02T07:36:00.001-07:00

The boys are really digging little brother.

Couple more pics...

2007-09-30T17:31:00.001-07:00

Gabriel Wayne Jones (Gabe or Peanut one of the two...)

2007-09-29T18:41:00.001-07:00

Okay, here are some quick picks. The basic story is that it was a long labor, short delivery. Mama and baby are doing GREAT! We are home now. I would have blogged sooner but the hospital is way out of date and doesn't have a wireless connection, what's up with that!?

I have to say that the fourth one was just as amazing as the first one. Being a dad is great stuff.

The best in people

2007-09-17T11:35:00.001-07:00

Okay, if you haven't seen this video before, get a kleenex.

This came from my good friend at Medtronic.

Ada boy Steve! He was the same one who sent me the flaming saltwater and the handpuppets. Good thing Steve doesn't have a blog, I would just be linking to his. :)

Contracting...

2007-09-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, Hunter and Jacob don't go to school until 11am. So before they leave for school in the morning both of them have a whiteboard with a list of chores that need to be done. If you don't finish all of your chores for the morning, you have to finish them in the afternoon AND first offense you get fined 75 cents. If you have back to back offenses it's 1.50 and you have additional chores in the afternoon to complete. We're slave drivers I know. All of this stems from the kids just sitting around in the morning and Brandi having to get all over them just to get the basics done.

Anyway, so yesterday they get in the car and start out for school and Jacob says that he did four of Hunters chores because Hunter said that he would pay him $2. Hunter then says that he's not going to pay because Jacob didn't find his socks (one of the four negotiated tasks). Evidently not squealing on Hunter wasn't part of the deal.

So when I got home the contractor had to pay his sub-con $1.25 for his partial completion of the chores and the contractor got docked his entire week's allowance for pawning off his chores on his brother. He'll also get extra weekend chores to make up for the ones he failed to complete himself.

Good grief. I don't remember ever doing anything like that when I was a kid. So am I wrong here? Should I reward the delegation as long as it's a fair deal and the sub-con gets paid. Our take was this is an example of laziness that we are trying to purge.

Of course Daddy just started contracting out the yard work... maybe I'll back off on the extra chores this weekend...

Any help here?

Book Reports from Hunter

2007-09-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

Hi my name is Hunter. These are my books.I read these books in two days .Oh maybe not two days. Well I guess that is not a problem at all. The one on the right is an ancient Greece story and there is Pegasus the flying horse. Annie was caught but the ancient book saved them. Annie was caught because there were no girls allowed in the Olympic Games, but she borrowed a costume from the outdoor theater and dressed up as a knight. She sat down and said, "Go, go, go!" They found out she was a girl because of her pony tail.

Annie and Jack were almost hit by a bunch of furniture but they made it to the magic tree house just in time. When the Titanic sank many people died. Annie and Jack heard from the book that many people died on the third floor, so they came down from the deck and saved the people who were on the third floor.

They are great books, but you should definitely read them to find out everything that happened.

The end. Bye!

Way beyond a sheet and a flashlight...

2007-08-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know every kid does stuff like this at some point.

Nice to say that somebody was able to make a career out of it. Of course I don't think mine were ever that complicated... I like the bunnies.

That's my boy!

2007-08-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, pretty much anyone who knows me, knows what a... well freak I am when it comes to pens and my handwriting. Well, it would seem that it runs in the family. The other day Hunter wrote a story, which is nothing new, he actually writes and especially tells, a lot of them. He tells stories almost as much as he draws pictures, which have filled up books and folders. I thought this one was especially good and detailed, although it does indicate that I am 18 years older than Brandi... hmmm....

Anyway, I loved it. Check it out.

Hey now! You're a rock star!

2007-08-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

This was pretty cute. In Jacob's Kindergarten class they have the "student of the day". Well, Jacob had his day earlier this week and as part of their day everyone in the class draws a picture of the student and the teacher or one of the helpers writes on the picture what they like about the student. I must say this turned out to be very entertaining. Evidently Jacob has about 3 or 4 girls that think he is very "handsome and cute", but my favorite one was
"I like Jacob because he is a rock star and we play freeze tag!"

Classic.

The funny thing was when ANOTHER kid said something similar! Evidently Jacob IS a rock star.

Kids are hilarious.

More cool stuff from the minds of brilliant Americans!

2007-08-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

I've seen stuff like this for a couple of years now. I have lots of questions, like what is the actual efficiency of something like this i.e. how much energy does it take to generate the radio waves? In any case, it's pretty cool stuff!

This is the craziest thing EVER!!!

2007-08-03T07:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we have watched MORE than our fair share of nature shows, but this one takes the cake. Captured by some tourists, it is AMAZING. I know it's long, but you have to watch.

Forgive me if I almost started cheering when "the family" starts coming back. It's like watching the mob move in on someone.

Crazy stuff!!

No Bueno

2007-07-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I was out and about on Tuesday, looking for a good place to get a salad for lunch and evidently wasn't paying enough attention. A couple cars up there was a big collision and someone actually ended up crossing all of the lanes on my side and going over the curb and hitting a young man that was working on paving a sidewalk. All of the good drivers in front of me were able to stop, but I ended up hitting the person in front of me :(

Praise God they were not only good drivers but good parents, they had their little girl buckled in the toddler car seat, right in the middle of the back seat. Praise God no one was hurt through my carelessness, but their car got a little goober and the CR-V got munched pretty good.

If you get a chance pray for the man who was struck by the first car, the whole situation was not good. Thankfully the first responders arrived very quickly and were able to get him out of the sun and off to the hospital.

Here's my little Honda. Not too bad off, mainly plastic. It goes into the shop tomorrow.

The Party!

2007-07-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well the kids' birthday party was great. For whatever reason the camera didn't come out of the bag at the pool. Sorry. We did however get some pictures of the cupcakes. Brandi is the designer although she did contracted some of the work out to me... but don't worry they still came out GREAT! They all got eaten, but not by me. I held true, even with frosting on my fingers, I resisted. Ouch.

Hunter's were Spiderman cupcakes. I did the red, Brandi made the web and Hunter placed the spiders!

Jacob's were sea creatures, of course some creatures live only in the water and some go ashore sometimes, so we have some half and half cupcakes and some all sea cupcakes. I thought they were pretty cool looking.

All in all I would say that a pretty good time was had by all.

Oregon - The Stephanie Inn

2007-06-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

Well, Oregon was green and BEAUTIFUL. It was just so overwhelming that you just can't capture the splendor of it in a picture! We tried. 93 times we tried. Here are a couple of some good ones.

The seaside was incredible. A huge beach that went for miles. The big attraction is Haystack Rock that has all kinds of living stuff on it, from birds to sea stars. I know it looks small in the pictures, but is actually 235 feet tall. Can you say... 'Goonies'?

The Inn itself was very nice. Very elegant. Very pampering and just a wonder to look at. All kinds of flowers and just awesome stuff.

The last day it rained, which would make you think that the day was ruined and too foggy to see anything, but it actually made some of the stuff even MORE amazing.

We saw a bunch of other really awesome stuff, but I just can't post them all here. The BEST part of the trip... BY FAR... was getting to hang out with my best friend... my wonderful wife :)

South Beaching it...

2007-06-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm on to the South Beach Diet. It's kind of like Atkins without the fat and a few more good carbs.

A little rough though after coming off of the vacation diet... you know, blue berry scones, fresh cherries, strawberries, mango, pineapple, kiwi and every other fruit you can think of. Steak, baked potatoes (the worst carb on the SBD), shrimp, pasta, sourdough bread, rosemary bread and every other type of baked item you can think of. Tillamook Ice Cream (I didn't even know it existed before this week, but it is a wonderful thing).

I skipped the customary Friday morning bagel with cream cheese and went with an egg, bacon and spinach panini (minus the panini). Then lunch was In-n-Out burger! Protein style! Ice tea. Not bad. I think I can handle this. Just ate my 15 almonds and I'm sipping some coffee (black). I think I can do this. Brandi is making tacos for dinner (no sour cream and romaine instead of tortillas). Good stuff. I think I can hang with this. Phase one is good.

Harsh reality

2007-06-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

I think you know what I'm talking about. The alarm goes off on the first day after vacation. It takes a good minute or two to realize what is happening, then another minute or so to convince yourself that it is real. Ouch.

Oregon was fantastic! I will try and upload some of the pictures tonight. Quite a shocker walking out of the airport into 105 degree weather at 8:30 at night. That's just wrong!

I sat next to a sleepy little boy on the plane ride over. His name was Gabriel. Hmmm. Gabriel Wayne is definitely a contender.

Kidos

2007-06-24T21:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is the second time I have given the kids a hair cut. The first time went really well, so I assumed that it would go equally well this time... of course, I wanted to do it a little bit different. They didn't turn out quite as well as I hoped, but hey, they look better than they did with their 'hippie' hair.

We also recently purchased some REAL beds for the kids! They were very excited. Up until this point Hunter's bed had been a box spring and matress on the ground. We also played musical rooms. Kyle went in with Jacob and Hunter moved into what used to be the office. We decided that this would also be a good time to get them all some bedding. Finally the camo wall in Jacob and Kyle's room actually matches with the beds. It looks great! I love it! ...and the kids do too :)

Names for baby #4

2007-06-23T15:18:00.001-07:00

Okay so we are thinking about kid names and we are stumped. There are a few that we are bouncing around right now.

Stephen Wayne
Austin Davidson
Christian Wayne

Any preferences?

It's GO TIME when I get back!

2007-06-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

I am on a weight loss kick. Part of my new year's resolutions, which this year I have really been doing grea... okay, well better than average.

I'm in a weight loss contest as well. I'm down about 25 pounds right now and I'd really like to drop at least 30 more in the next 7 weeks (after the vacation of course).

Anybody got any good weight loss tips? I'll be reading the South Beach Diet on the plane ride over to Oregon. I've already read the Zone and the You Diet, along with half a dozen other ranging from a method of losing weight by breathing and a special exercise plan created by the guy who was in charge of training the Israeli Defense Force. What can I say, I'm kind of a junky when it comes to this kind of stuff. Always looking for the BEST thing!

What's your method?

Back on board...

2007-06-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned. We are starting to pack for our Oregon trip! Yeah! Well, my wife said that we need to pack, but come on, it's three days in Oregon. Ten minutes tops! I don't know any guy who would take longer than 15 minutes to pack for a three day trip, and that's if you have to throw a couple of shirts in the drier with some Febreeze for 10 minutes. Not that I ever do that :)

What's your fastest packing time?

Still trying

2007-03-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, one of my new year's resolutions is to lose weight, which I haven't been doing very good at. I'm down, but only a few pounds and way off my goal. So I was searching around this morning and I found this REALLY cool webpage that gives you not only the caloric content of food, but a breakdown of percentages of carbs, protein and fat. It also gives you a visual representation of the nutritional content and gives it a score for how satiating it is by calorie. Pretty cool info and a really neat site for dieters. The site is NutritionData.com. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Ahhh, very nice...

2007-03-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

Man did it pour last night. I went to the store to get Brandi some decaf green tea. It wasn't raining too hard at the time so I just took an umbrella and walked. When I came out it was pouring, so needless to say, even with the umbrella I got a little wet, but I was excited because I knew exactly what it would be like this morning. When I woke up I wasn't dissapointed. I came into work this morning with the windows down and smelling the amazing smell of the desert after a storm. There is no other smell like it in the whole world and it is one of my favorite things about living in AZ. If you've never smelled it you are missing out on something spectacular (and rare). If you have smelled it you know exactly what I'm talking about. What a perfect way to start the day! God is good.

Brandi has had two better days in a row. Much fewer trips to the bathroom. She's still been feeling awful, but... if she isn't actually vomiting, then we have hope that she will improve and have more energy.

I tell you this week has been something else. We have had our Christian family reach out to us in a wonderful and amazing way. The concern and service have been both humbling and very touching. I haven't cooked a meal all week (maybe that could be contributing to Brandi's improvement), sweet women from Gateway have been cooking us meals, watching kids and cleaning the house. I've really been blown away. I don't know if any of them actually read this, but if they do, thank you very much. I don't know how people make it through difficult times without Christian family, it truly is a blessing.

The big velociraptor! (by Hunter Jones)

2007-03-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

This is Hunter Jones, back in my secret place. The velociraptors led me to this cliff. I did not know that there is an ankylosaurous under neath the cliff. And I did not know that there was tons of water already from rain when it just started. As you can see, there is a big rock that is holding most of the water away, while a lot of it is from the rain. After the ankylosaurous has whipped a velociraptor it tries to climb a rock and knock the big rock out of place so that the water will raise and the velociraptors will drown. Gotta run, there's a big wave of water behind me.... gurgle, gurgle, gurgle... whew, glad I'm safe in my home now. Sorry I have to go clean up my toy room.

Dinos in the Light (by Hunter Jones)

2007-03-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Hunter, I am in a secret place where you can find dinosaurs. I found a T-rex that is eating another dinosaur. This dinosaur is a good prey because it has no weapon. It is a smart dinosaur because it knows if it kicks its eggs out of the nest they will stay safe from egg raptors. The blue flower in this land (lower right hand corner) is a poisonous dart flower because it can shoot poison. As you can see I found a waterfall in this island and a volcano. And I found terradactyls in the sky. This secret place is very unusual because I have velociraptors chasing after me right now! Gotta go! Ahhh!!

Who is the idiot who...!?

2007-03-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

I don't have a picture for this one, because it's just not something you take a picture of, but I would just like to know who the idiot is who named it "morning sickness". I mean, come on! Are there really people that only have this in the morning? Because my wife is not one of those people.

If you aren't already praying for her, please take a moment to pray for my wife. She is having a really hard time with this pregnancy. So far it's not as bad as the first (I mean, after all she's still alive) but it's a lot worse than the second and looks to be as bad or worse than the third. Not just because of the vomiting, but she has had headaches almost everyday. Several of them have been severe, including at least three migraines.

This is just further reason why God was so wise to have the women have the children. Women tend to downplay there pain and suffering over time. "It really wasn't that bad," my wife has said on many occassions. While men on the other hand tend to... shall we say exagerate, maybe... even embelish our pain just a little bit. If you have heard the story of my in-grown-toe nail proceedu... I mean, surgery, you will know exactly what I am talking about. I mean, come on it was touch and go there for a while!

Anyway, keep her in your prayers if you would. I mean, if I throw up, it will be at least 24 hours before I get out of that bed, let alone 4-5 times a day for two months now. Yuck. Historically speaking she has 2 or 3 more months to go.

On that same note, keep my kids in your prayers. They have been eating a lot of MY cooking... poor little guys.

What do you think?

2007-03-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

Well, there is the trouble maker! Hunter got to go in with mama for the ultrasound. Due date is Oct 6th and everything looks great. BTW these are just three pictures of ONE baby, not twins (Kristen). Of course, everyone wants to know what it is...

The answer of course is that it's a baby! It's too early to tell what the sex is, B will have another ultrasound in about 10 weeks to find out if we have another little hooligan to tear the house to pieces, or if we will finally have a little girl. Only time will tell...

Morning sickness has taken a rough turn. It's looking at least as bad as it was with Kyle, not quite up to the first pregnancy, but definitely not the easiest. The migraines have been an unwelcome addition however. Brandi has at least her third migraine of the pregnancy today.

Ugh. Gotta go finish the laundry and check on the kids. They are supposed to be 'cleaning' up their toy room. Right.

...you guessed it. Here's Kyle!

2007-03-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

The conversation went something like this:

Daddy: "Kyle, what do you want to write about your picture?"
Kyle: "I want it on bog."
Daddy: "No, what do you want to write ABOUT the picture?"
Kyle: "My two names by my self, I don't need help. I be right back. I clean up payroom."
Daddy: "Kyle, what do you want me to write on the blog about your picture?"
Kyle: "My picture right here! I want write bout Cammie and Tywer. Hey guys! grrrrrr!"
Daddy: "Kyle, come back! What do you want to write."
Kyle: "My fammy! Cammie and Tywer! Jacob n Cammie... Tywer. I have be right back."

The rest is unintelligible noise. In any case, I can say I put in on the blog with his brothers.

Kids...

Jacob's turn...

2007-03-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

This girl she's... uh very evil, she fights everybody. This guy is named Jacob, he's trying to block the bomb. He tried to stab the girl, but he couldn't. He saved the princess. He tried to kill the bad guy but he couldn't, she was very powerful. She um, uh. He was the biggest fan, he was great at drawing. He played the violin till he was thirteen and he did the sword fighting till he was eleven. He fighted when he was eighty. He was young when he first started. He started out feeding dinosaurs and laying baby eggs. He had no confidence in her. She had no detail on her drawing, she just scribble scrabble scribble scrabble. She started to fight when she was one. She had green hair and she had no, no, no, uh a thousand men, Jacob fight all of them and killed all of them. He was a very good fighter. He was in kindergarten when he, he helped people in kindergarten. He had very good confidence and he liked to draw. The end.

The funny thing is that when I read it back he corrected me on some of the content. This is exactly how he wanted it to sound.

We're B-A-C-K!

2007-03-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

Back by popular demand (meaning that my kids demanded it) we are blogging again. Here is a picture of a Kiki fossil. From what I understand there was confusion in the scientific ranks when this fossil was discovered. In the upper left hand corner you can see the image of what the kiki was thought to look like with a bone protruding from the kiki's head. However the great fossil hunter, Hunter discovered that this was actually part of the tail. A picture of Hunter can be seen at the top, scolding scientists for not figuring it out earlier.

(being dictated to...) Here is another good fact about the kiki: it would eat other dinosaur's eggs.

Sorry it's been so long, even I can't keep up with the Jonzes lately...

2007-01-07T20:14:00.000-08:00

Well I have to say that Christmas was fantastic! My Christmas movie bug finally wore off and I just finished putting away the tree and all of the decorations. This year we tried our best to make something special for those who were close by, so jelly and bread were made in large quantities (I'm going to try and ship the jelly out to mom and dad tomorrow, but sorry no bread :) Seriously though, check this out! Isn't my wife amazing! These are two of the beautiful loaves cooling. The receivers all raved, in fact one partially enjoyed loaf almost cost a very nauty dog his life according to one report.

Christmas eve was spent with the in-laws which was great. The food was fantastic, king crab legs, steak and shrimp! We were livin' it up baby! A good time was had by all and a mountain of presents was had by my kids. Of course, they enjoyed spending time with the family too.

Looks like Santa came through for Hunter and got him those two front teeth after all. Which was good because there was a lot of yummy food to enjoy.

Christmas morning was all for us. Which was really nice. No running around, just openning presents and hanging out with the kids. This is the living room after our half hearted attempt to clean up the carnage.

But hey what can you say? Most of the day was spent hanging out in the "basics". I worked on teaching the boys the finer points of playing video games, although it wasn't long before Hunter started saying things like, "come on Daddy, you gotta come over this way... don't do that." Wow, I'm getting old.

B will kill me for doing this, but hey, she looks great in those new "festive" jammies I got her.

And Kyle he had a ball too... of course, didn't matter which toy he played with, his brothers', his own, or nothing he had a time that only Kyle can have. What a crack up.

Well that as the holidays at the Jonz house. Pretty normal for us. Crazy, fun, food, friends and family. Sounds just about right!
Oops! I almost forgot Speedy! Man, I would have heard about that one. This is Speedy, the newest addition to our family and the pride and joy of our reptile loving child. I'm not big on lizards, but there is something cool about watching a bearded dragon down 30 crickets in just over 2 minutes. Go Speedy!

2006-12-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

Wow, man these kids grow up fast. Seems like just yesterday I was bringing Hunter home from the hospital. Now he's singing all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

Jacob, well, he's kind of whiny some times, but hey aren't we all. This time he wanted popcorn. Come on dad, I'm hungry! So much for getting more work done when I work from home...

And the there is Kyle. Wow, I finally caught a picture of Kyle at his best.

The kiki in all of its glory.

2006-12-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

Hunter has created his own animal. It's called a kiki. From what I've been told and told and... they can be as small as an egg and as big as 30 feet. Kikies eat meat and vegetables and scorpions. It will eat dead animals. It will kill it's prey. It likes to try to munch scorpions (can you tell I'm being dictated to?). It can breath under water and on land. The kiki is a nice animal if you don't mess with it and if you mess with it it is not a nice animal.

Yes, Jacob IS standing up.

2006-12-12T18:03:00.000-08:00

The elves were all elf size, in fact this one in particular was really elf sized.

2006-12-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

We were blessed by Kenny and Sandy Wheeler with an invitation to go to a special even at T.C. Eggington's (the best breakfast place ever!). Mr and Mrs Clause were present, as were a couple of the elves and Rudolph. Hunter wasn't too sure about the "little people". As I'm writing this, Kyle is in my lap saying, "Daddy that's Rudolph!"

This is us!

2006-12-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick post to get us started. A picture of the kids! Aren't they great!