The Jones Family

Ellas First Day of Kindergarten

2011-09-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ella started kindergarten. She did great and I'm so proud of her.

She likes to pick her own school picture poses so here are a few.

With her sisters.

Next to her garden box and the pumpkin she is very proud of

Pictures from Summer

2011-08-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

We have had a fun summer and I have not been a good blogger. So here are some random pictures from the last 2 months. My next post will be our camping trips and first day of school pictures. (Hopefully)

Blueberry Hills

We spent a lot of time in the water between Chelan, the river, splash pads and pools

Ohme Gardens

4th of July

This is just a cute picture of Maddie that I happened to take this summer so it kind of fits in.

Rockin'

2011-07-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

Ella's Feet

2011-07-03T13:54:00.001-07:00

I found these pictures on my camera awhile ago and thought they were funny. I guess Ella was working on some foot modeling. :)

It's Been A Long time

2011-06-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

I have not posted on here for a few months so here are some pictures of what we have been up to since Easter. I'll post more in the next few days of other things we have been doing.

For Easter we went to Spokane to spend the weekend with the Kolbos. We had a nice relaxing time.

Maddie loved Miles
Maisy

Ella and Amy Joy

Maddie and Maisy turned 4.

All 3 girls had there dance recital and they did great. I don't have many pictures since we were not supposed to take any.

All 3 girls finished another year of Awana

Ella played T-ball and loved it. She told me her favorite part was the dug out :) Ella also graduated from pre school but I cannot find the pictures.

2011-04-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Bowling

2011-04-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

On Monday we decided to go bowling with the cousins to start off spring break. It was the girls first time and it was cute to see there different strategies.

Sledding with Cousins

2011-01-14T11:44:00.000-08:00

Over winter break we did a lot of sledding and the girls got to play with almost all of there cousins.

We went to Ed and Linda's where the girls played with 13 of there cousins

Maddie

Elliott and Zeke
Claire and Maisy

Hannah and Maisy

Maisy, Lydia, Ella

Abby, Maisy, Lydia

The Kolbo girls came over the week before Christmas and we had fun sledding with them at the park

Ella and Amy Joy

Maisy, Eden, Amy, Ella, Maddie

We also did some sledding with the other Jones family

Maddie and Jasper

Ella and Josiah

Funny Things From Maddie and Maisy

2010-12-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I heard Maisy ask Maddie "Was Jesus born on the cross or the hospital?"

We were night sledding last week and Maisy was looking for a reason to go home and she said "My eyes aren't even blinking anymore"

Maisy had a dream the other night about a grape, tomato and a fox came into her room...and that was all.

We went to a play that was a walk through Bethlehem a few weeks ago and Maddie keeps saying baby Jesus was born in Buffalo-Ham

Mustache

2010-12-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

Our girls found a new way to accessorize their tutus and princess dresses.

Masking tape mustaches (and eye brows)

Ella
Maisy

Maddie

Christmas Tree

2010-12-01T14:03:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we got our permit to go cut our tree and headed up the Icicle. It had just snowed and the girls had lots of fun playing and scouting for a tree.

Maddie making snow angels

Maisy taking a break

Jordan with our chosen tree

Ella after falling face first in the snow
The tree after the girls were done decorating it.

Berlin and Snow

2010-11-23T15:08:00.000-08:00

This is our dog, Berlin. We bought her last Monday as a really, super early Christmas present for our girls. She is cute but a punk, she'll fit right in. :)

Maddie

Maisy

Ella

I like seeing my kids all bundled up for winter.

Pledge of Allegiance

2010-10-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is just a cute video of Ella trying to say the Pledge of Allegiance

Ella's 5

2010-10-18T18:18:00.001-07:00

Ella turned 5 last week. We had a bird themed birthday for her and her Grandma and Grandpa bought her another parakeet, Fella. So now Kacey has a boyfriend. Ella before we blew out the candles

She was shy about opening presents in front of everyone We made bird feeders out of pine cones, peanut butter and seeds

The cake was a bird house and the cupcakes are supposed to look like nests.

I already put a picture like this on but her smile was so cute I put them both.

Flower Girl

2010-10-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

Ella was a flower girl in our friends Jake's wedding a few weekends ago. She did a great job and she loved wearing a fluffy dress and using rollers in her hair

So Sick

2010-09-29T08:52:00.001-07:00

Madelyn told me this morning "Mommy, I'm sick. My feelings hurt"

Dance

2010-09-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

Last Friday the girls started there dance class. They are taking a combo class with ballet, tap and jazz and they LOVE it.

This is there class, Maisy is in the front and Maddie and Ella are in the back row. There friends Sam and Haile are in the class with them too.

Maddie practicing using her tap shoes

Maisy was a little shy and I think she was the most excited to wear her ballet clothes

Pre-class poses (Maddie and Ella)

Maisy and Maddie

Maddie is front and center in this video, Maisy is by the teacher so you can't see her, Ella is behing Maddie

Ellas First Day of Preschool

2010-09-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday Ella started preschool at Discovery Learning Center. I asked her where she wanted to take her school picture and she chose to take one with Kacey bird.

Zucchini

2010-08-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

Maddie's new friend is a zucchini she thinks is a Volcano named Polly.

She carries it around in her giraffe backpack and takes little bites out of it...

It snuggles with her stuffies...
She rocks it like a baby...

Vacation

2010-08-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

These pictures of vacation are a little past due since we got home from our vacation 2 weeks ago but better late than never I guess.

We started our vacation camping on the WA coat, Ocean City. It was cold, I had envisioned the weather of CA beaches and this was not the same at all but we still had fun.

After camping for 6 days we headed for Seattle for 4 days. Our first stop was the Museum of Flight.

Then we went to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.

The girls loved sleeping in a hotel.

Ella

2010-07-26T18:22:00.001-07:00

Here's some likable pictures of Ella from the summer.

Random Maddie

2010-07-22T09:43:00.001-07:00

These are just some cute and funny pictures of Maddie from this summer so far.

She found the dirt pile at Grandma and Grandpa's. I think it's cute that my girls have to wear tu-tu's or at least skirts all the time but they still know how to appreciate a pile of dirt.

This is the day she fixed her own hair because she wanted to be "stylish". Mission accomplished!
I hope she is still this nerdy in high school

I just liked this picture

Riding her new bike

Just looking cute

On a hike in Leavenworth

Misc. Maisy

2010-07-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

We have had a fun summer now that it's finally here. Here are some miscellaneous pictures of Maisy.

At a friends pool

Pretending to be a scientist
At the park in Leavenworth

Dancing on a stage

Enjoying the mighty Columbia

On a hike up the Icicle River

Playing at Lincoln Rock

Just a Cute Picture

2010-07-16T08:59:00.001-07:00

Maddie and Ella

Boating

2010-07-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we spent the day on the Columbia. There was a fire in the hills so we were able to watch the helicopters fill there buckets right next to us.

I like this picture because Grandpa Marc is in the back on the wakeboard.

Jordan and Marc on the tubes

Ella and Jordan on the tube

Jordan and Maisy on the tube.

We were on the water for 6.5 hours and the girls did great.
Maisy asleep at the wheel

Ella on the subject of God

2010-07-03T12:52:00.001-07:00

Ella has been asking funny things about God lately. Here are a few conversations:

Ella: Who invented red means stop, green means go?

Me: I don't know, the law maybe

Ella: Who's that? God?

Me: Um, more like the police

Ella: Didn't God make the police

Me: Um yes... isn't this your favorite song (changing the subject)

Elliott was telling us about some gross jelly bellies he ate when they went to the Jelly Belly factory. A few days later:

Ella: I KNOW God didn't invent Jelly Bellies that taste gross so who does?

Me: The people at the factory

Ella: Does it make God mad that they do that?

Me: No he probably just laughs

Today Maisy is 3!

2010-06-10T14:43:00.001-07:00

At 12:08 this morning Maisy turned 3. Grandpa brought her donuts for breakfast, we took her to the park to ride her new bike, we had a picnic and went to Smallwoods to look at the farm animals and play on the toys.

These are just some random pictures of the many moods of Maisy.

Happy to be running!

Happy to be tall enough to ride on the "Awesome" Blossom rides Apple blossom)
Feeling pensive

Feeling unhappy

Looking sweet

Happy Birthday Maddie

2010-06-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Today Maddie turned 3. We celebrated by doing some of her favorite things; we went to Costco, rode her new bike at the park, ate lunch at the bagel shop that looks like a castle, saw grandma and grandpa and ate ice cream cones.

These pictures and video are from last week but they are of her singing and dancing which is what Maddie has spent the majority of the last year doing.

The Latest Makeup Trends

2010-05-28T12:01:00.001-07:00

It's been rainy around here lately and the girls are getting restless so I let them play in my makeup and this is what I got. I gave them all the makeup that I bought in the wrong shade or it's to light or to dark. They look a little clown-like but it was funny and kept them busy for hours.

Ella went a little crazy with the flashy lip colors

Maddie and Ella stuck with it the longest

Maddie even added some pink highlights in her hair with lipstick

Ella added some eyebrows

Maisy only played for a little while cause she is very paticular and thought the makeup was "to tight"

A Few Quotes and Unrelated Pictures

2010-04-28T13:36:00.001-07:00

Today Ella told me "I don't know what to do when I grow up! Should I be a shepherd, a butterfly or a baseball player?"

The other day we drove by an ambulance and Maddie said "Look! I see a helper truck!"

And I just thought these were cute pictures

Ella + Quiet Time + Camera =

2010-04-16T13:39:00.001-07:00

Easter

2010-04-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter this year. Here are some random pictures since still shots or posing (except Ella, she loves posing) is out of the question. I'll say who is who since I dressed them all alike.

Obviously Ella and Maisy

Maisy on the left, Maddie with the wad of gum in her mouth
Maisy
Maddie

Ella

Maisy

Wesley and Spencer, almost look like twins. :)

Baby Chicks Pictures and Video

2010-04-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

On saturday we went to Big R to show the girls all the baby chickens, ducks and bunnies. We couldn't resist, so now we have Katie, Cutie and Kyle (the red one)

Likeable Pictures

2010-03-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

These are just some random pictures from the last couple weeks.

Here are Maddie and Maisy at the college.

Maisy and her friend Sam
Maddie and her friend Stuffy

Ella and Maisy wrestling which is just another name for hugging :)

Maisy

2010-03-03T10:38:00.000-08:00

Maisy found a clever way to hold her blankets and stuffed animals and still be hands free. (also, she didn't get hurt when she fell off the bed)

Sunny Days

2010-03-01T13:39:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we went to the college to enjoy the sun. My girls love the college with the huge lawn, a building they think is a castle and lots of places to explore.

We collected some pine cones and made bird feeders

There are some great trees to hide behind...
Ella used the parking lot to practice riding her bike with no training wheels

Maddie and "stuffy" were happy running in circles.

Action Shots

2010-02-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

On Friday nights Ella gets to move her mattress into the babes room for a slumber party. They have lots of fun jumping from mattress to mattress to mattress

Made Up Verses

2010-02-15T18:39:00.001-08:00

Ella has been making up her own verses lately. Some of the cutest ones are "I will shine up to the heavens, Psalm 1:900" and "We will shine our smiles to the world to praise the Lord, Psalm 8:4" "Number 1, we will praise the Lord to keep us safe. Psalm 3rd 8 and 9"

Ella's little buddy

2010-02-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

Ella pretty much loves everyone but Jacey is one of her favorites.

Poor Maddie!

2010-01-26T09:17:00.001-08:00

Maddie has had a scratchy voice and a cough for a few weeks so yesterday I took her to the doctor to have a little checkup. I was expecting him to say it was nothing to worry about and it was just leftover from a cold she had awhile ago. But it wasn't. She has damaged vocal cords, possibly asthma and is probably going to need to have her tonsils out. We were not expecting that.

Hugs

2010-01-22T09:11:00.000-08:00

I think Ella is cute towards the end of this video when she kisses the tops of her sisters head

Pictures from Christmas Time

2010-01-08T09:58:00.000-08:00

The week before Christmas I got to watch the Kolbo girls and Posenjak boys so I took the opportunity to get a picture of all the cousins. The closest thing to a good picture was the one they were all being silly

Christmas day. Here's another silly picture with the other cousins
Madelyn, Ella, Jacey, Maisy in there matching pajamas. Josiah and Jasper got some too but I didn't have a picture with all of them

Ella cozy with great grandpa Lou

The day after Christmas we had a very chilly, icy sledding day

Maddie

Maisy

Josiah

Jasper

Jacey

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T22:38:00.000-08:00

Notice how huge Ella's mittens look

Funny Girl

2009-12-16T10:12:00.001-08:00

Ella was so excited about the first snow. I thought this was cute how she had her care bear peeking out the window.

Snow Angels

2009-12-15T12:42:00.001-08:00

My angels making angels.

Amateur Photographer

2009-11-29T11:24:00.001-08:00

Ella has been taking lots of pictures lately and I thought I should show off her skills. I have been trying to get her to think about what she is taking a picture of instead of just clicking away. So here is some of her work. I asked her why she took each picture and the quotes are her answers.

"I just took it cause it was cute and pretty"

"I just thought you would like it"

"I took that because I was starting to walk"

"It was just a princess horse"

"It was kinda funny" "They are having a tea party"

"the sheep is having a tea party by himself cause the unicorn didn't want too"

"they were nice steps to a nice building"

"it was from my birthday and it wasn't old yet"

Update

2009-11-27T13:06:00.000-08:00

So...It's been forever since we've updated the blog. With Facebook I don't keep up this site as much as I should. I just wanted to post some random pictures of the girls.

Hallow-rina's

2009-11-03T12:08:00.000-08:00

We decided to act on a whim and take our girls trick or treating. So we dug through our dress up clothes and came up with ballerina-princess-fairies (my mom got them wings but I didn't get any pictures with them). They loved it!

Maddie, Ella, Maisy

Here they are being frightful monsters. Scary huh?

Maisy's ABC's

2009-10-31T10:58:00.000-07:00

Bedtime

2009-10-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Madelyn's bed at bedtime

Maisy's bed at bedtime

Ella's 4

2009-10-24T11:02:00.001-07:00

On October 14, Ella turned 4 years old. She is starting to seem so grown up.

Staab Family Reunion

2009-10-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

So last week we went to a family reunion down in Selah at my Aunt Kristen's house. The girls had a blast riding a horse and playing with some cousins they don't get to see very much.

With some members of my family living on separate continents this was the first time in over two years where everyone was accounted for. It was a good time seeing everyone, I just wish some how we could stretch it out a couple days instead of only a few hours.

Show Off

2009-10-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Last part of Vacation

2009-09-29T11:28:00.001-07:00

OK, it's taken me way to long to post our vacation pictures but here are the last of them. We left Hollister and stopped and the Bensen's in Sacramento. We got to meet there little guy Carter, who is stinkin' cute.

This is the best picture we could get of the 4 of them.

Maisy loved Marilyn's bunny Gunner

Crescent City, CA

After Sacramento we drove way to long to get to Crescent City, but it was very worth it. We had a blast.

Jordan and Maddie

Ella drug this around for awhile. She wanted to bring it home with us but... pew

Maisy must have snacked on some sand?

Part 3- Monterey

2009-09-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

We spent a day in Monterey. While we were there we went to the beach, the Fisherman's Wharf, Farmer's Market and Dennis the Menus Park.

Dennis the Mennis Park

Fisherman's Wharf

Seaside

Part 2- Hollister

2009-09-16T14:50:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of fun in Hollister. The girls loved all of there cousins and there great grandma.

They had fun playing dress up with Natalie...

Looking up to the cool grown up cousins.
Maddie can actually pull off a pink cowboy hat.

Jordan, Joey, Hailey and Gracie in the hot tub. Hopefully the water looks yellow from the lights and nothing else?

Natalie was great at sharing all her fun toys in her playhouse.

Ella told me that Natalie is her best friend.

One of Ella's favorite things about the trip was picking oranges off the tree and helping great grandma make orange juice.

Vacation- Part 1

2009-09-14T09:44:00.001-07:00

Vancouver, WA

Our first stop on our vacation was seeing some of our favorite people, the Dodson's. We went to the park, picked blackberries, made smores and visited. My kids loved the big kids, especially Hannah.

Selah, WA

2009-08-25T08:22:00.001-07:00

The weekend before last we went to Selah for the weekend to celebrate some August birthdays in the JOnes family. Our kids had lots of fun with all there cousins.

The twins watching Nick and his cool remote control car

Ella and Parker at the park
of course the tu-tu

Ella playing with Parker, Josiah, Jasper

Sisterhood

2009-08-17T11:36:00.001-07:00

Even though they fight A LOT, I think they love each other more.

Little Buddies

2009-08-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

Maisy and Sam sam are the best of buddies.

Chelan

2009-08-06T09:11:00.001-07:00

Saturday night at 2am our air conditioner broke. It's an annual thing and always happens in the very hottest time of year. So, when we got home from church on Sunday we decided to head to Chelan for the day to avoid our hot house. (when we left it was 85 inside and when we got home it was 98 inside). The good news is my dad and Matt saved the day and had a window unit to put in. THANKS GUYS!

Jordan and Ella in the water, Maddie observing.

Maisy just being cute

Ella looking sly.

Ella and Maddie trying to catch the ducks

Ella, the budding photographer, took this picture of Jordan and I

Style

2009-07-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

This is Ella's idea of a great outfit!

Huh?

2009-07-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

This is Madelyn jabbering away but who knows what she is saying. I can make out a "do it again" a few times but other than that...?

The Farm

2009-07-16T14:23:00.001-07:00

We went to my friend Katrina's house and farm today. My girls are a little unsure of all the animals. They're cute cause they want to like it but they are just not so sure. I think I'm to blame, I don't really like barn animals so much (or at all).

This turkey walked up to Maddie and instead of screaming or crying she just covered her eyes.

Maisy liked riding the little tractor with Sam and Michael

4th of July Weekend!

2009-07-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Marc brought his boat up on Friday and we spent the day at Beebe Bridge with the other Jones', Grandpa Marc and Tammy.

Ella tubed with her dad and Uncle Chris (I'll put the video on soon)

Maddie drove the boat with grandpa, she tubed too!

For the fireworks we went to Walla Walla park. The girls had fun. Well, Maddie didn't, she kept saying "I wanna go home now"

Maisy

2009-07-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

These are just some cute pictures of Maisy.

AHHH... Naps!

2009-06-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

Silver Falls

2009-06-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

Last week we took the kids to Silver Falls for a little hike.

They were troopers and each got a ring pop for doing so well.

They wore there backpacks and carried there own jackets and water bottles.
The whole hike is right next to the falls which made it a little nerve wracking, but beautiful.

The girls and there dad. Ella wore her princess crown on the whole hike.

The Party

2009-06-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

we had a fun birthday BBQ on Sunday for the girls #2 birthday.

They got the hang of presents

Here is some of the crowd
Eating there dinner (Maddie is on the left by Ella)

Eating there really big "pancake" (that's what they call cupcakes)

Misc. Pictures

2009-06-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

Since my computer's video card blew (mysterious spill) I lost my pictures except for the ones on my camera. So here are the ones I have.

Cool tricks on the trampoline, That's Elliott on his head.

Ella looking so fresh and clean before church...
...at Lake Chelan...

...in her new goggles...

And with her little buddy Haile.

This is our new niece/cousin Jacey June born on Mother's day

And Then There Was Maisy

2009-06-10T12:25:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday number 2 Maisy Olivia. We love ALL that personality she has, even the strong willed part. :)

Happy Birthday Maddie!

2009-06-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

2 years ago at 11:58 pm baby "A" arrived, aka, Madelyn Grace. We love our Maddie, she brings sweet and funny to the Jones house.

The Many Faces of Maddie

2009-05-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

Tower Climbing

2009-05-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the opportunity to work on a cell tower. Gotta say it wasn't as fun as I thought it'd be but it wasn't as bad either - for someone who has a conservative fear of heights. Truly an experience though. I think if I had more rock climbing experience too that it would have helped.

Not only was it super windy and cold but we could see this gnarley rain storm rolling that thankfully blew around us.

The view from 62 feet off the ground.

Not So Camera Shy

2009-05-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

What do you think? Camera shy? I let the girls watch themselves on the screen of the camera and they think they're pretty funny. FYI: Madelyn is on the left, Maisy on the right

Bedtime story

2009-04-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

This is Ella "reading" a bedtime story to Maisy. (You might need to turn up the volume to hear)

Umm...

2009-04-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is Maisy's new thing. She comes up to us with her arms folded and says "umm..." and a bunch of other things we don't understand.

Miscellaneous Maisy PIctures

2009-04-26T11:55:00.001-07:00

Signs of Life

2009-04-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

Easter

2009-04-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter at our house this year.

We have a great yard for photos if we could get our kids to look at the camera, hold still,

and stay out of the dirt

Here's Maisy, Ella, Madelyn on the swing.
Maddie finding eggs

Uncle Chris helping the kids on the hunt

Ella, she has the idea of posing for the camera

Some Weather Fun For April Fool's Day

2009-04-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

So this was my adventure over to Bellevue last Wednesday. Snow and winter driving conditions. On the way home yesterday they had the pass closed for about a half hour due to avalanche control. WHat?! It's April. All of a sudden winter shows up again? Crazy.

Spring Snowmobiling

2009-03-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my dad and I went snowmobiling for the first time all year. I know your probably thinking - "What? Isn't it Spring time?" Yes. It is, which is why we thought we'd use them at least once this year!! Better late than never I guess. Here are a few pics of the ride.

Beauty snow eh? The first couple miles was like this in places.

Not bad up on the top, though!

And to think we used to sit under these antennas and eat lunch and take a break after we hiked out to the Microwave Tower from the Ridge to get fresh tracks.

Dad and I.

We sat and ate lunch about 100 yards away from these distribution lines and you could hear the electrical current running through them - it sounded like we were sitting next to white water rapids in a river.

Camping

2009-03-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was a sunny day so we decided to pack up the family and go camping. This was our destination. The Icicle. We ended up going a little farther to Lake Wenatchee since almost all campsites are closed during the winter.

Maisy got a lollipop stuck in her hair.
Our car was packed to the top with camping stuff. Mostly sleeping bags and blankets.

Ella stomped in puddles pretty much the whole time.

Peek

2009-03-05T18:08:00.001-08:00

I thought this was a cute picture of Ella's eyes

A Few Weeks Ago

2009-02-24T10:29:00.001-08:00

Over Valentines weekend we went to another wedding in Spokane. Ella was a flower girl with Eden and Amy. She was so excited to be a princess. She did pretty good for a 3 year old.

We stayed at Julie's and the babes found the piano. They looked cute poking at it.

Funny Ella

2009-02-09T15:34:00.001-08:00

Ella has been saying some funny stuff lately. Here is some of the things that make us laugh:

*Hand-a-burger- Hamburger

*Minchycados- Quesadillas

*Taptoo- Tattoo

*Skinny Pig- Guinea Pig

*Saturday she woke me up to tell me "it's time to visit the local library"

*An ambulance drove by us the other day and Ella asked if someone was hurt, I said yes and she said "will the people in the ambulance go give them a hug?"

Target Practice

2009-01-26T12:13:00.001-08:00

This last weekend my Dad and brother Chris and I went up into the foot hills and did some target practice and shooting. I finally got to shoot my gun for the first time! It was a good time in spite of the cold weather. Can't say much for my marksmanship, but it was a blast.

To bad other people can't clean up after themselves! This place was a mess!!

Me shooting the .40 Cal for the fist time.

Chris with his .22 Riffle

Dad with the .308. This gun was loud and impressive to shoot!

Chris with the .40 cal

And a big thank you to the local Union Electricians of Rosendin Electric for leaving this place a complete mess! Shame on you!

3 New Maddie Videos

2009-01-14T15:57:00.000-08:00

Maddie and Maisy Being Silly

2009-01-14T14:06:00.000-08:00

Giggles

2009-01-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

Kicker Session at Jones Ridge

2009-01-01T21:08:00.001-08:00

I've had this idea for two years now; to have a kicker session in our yard.

We finally got enough snow to pile together in the yard and make it happen!

I invited a bunch of friends and the neighbor kids came over too!

Was a fun time for sure! I hope the snow keeps falling!

I have another idea for a jump at the bottom of the runway.

**Speacial thanks to my father in-law Bud for letting me borrow his snow blower.

It helped to throw snow on the rock stairs that became the landing for the jump.**

Jake Mattes doing "trail maintenance" of the Bonsai.

Dr. Hughes checking out the jump.

Jake buttering out the drop in.

Dr. Brandon Hughes rocking the Method air.

B-rady Phillips getting some nice air.

Uncle Jordan proving to himself he still can hold his own - barley- with a 180 Indy grab.

Cameron going Tindy Air.

Daniel "The Neighbor Kid" scaring Uncle Jordan. These kids were totally a flashback to when I was their age!

Ingvar "The Other Neighbor Kid" spinning a backside air. This kid asked me if he could jump into the juniper bushes. I told him I didn't mind as long as he didn't impale himself and sue me. He didn't.

I had to put this one in. Ella LOVED going off the jump! She laughed so hard.

John with the roast beef.

Jake with a strait air.

Brandon trying to shine a little more light on the subject.We needed a couple more lights to make it work - next time.
Check out Amy's Christmas post on the next page. This post was longer than I thought it would be.

Christmas Celebrations!

2009-01-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas. We spent time with the Chris and Amy Jones family and had our own little Christmas before we went to the coast.

Ella and Madelyn

Jordan reading a Christmas story with the girls
and of course opening a few presents.

Christmas Eve morning we made our 12.5 hour drive to Lincoln City, OR. Ella didn't sleep at all and the babes slept for a total of 1 hour. It was a LONG drive.

Ella loved the hot tub...

And all her cousins.
Poor Maddie wasn't feeling well so she slept on everyone

This is where all the kiddos ate dinner...

and watched the waves

Eden and Zeke. 2 of the many cute kids

The Dodson family.

I wanted a family picture of everyone but this is the only one I got. Aren't they cute?

Maisy "coloring" with knitting needles

Decorating cookies. Between the ping pong table, air hockey, Wii, FIMO, cookies, etc. The kids were never bored.

Last Weekend and Stuff

2008-12-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

Brrrrrr...

Here's our backyard covered in snow.

It's so cold (7 degrees) our windows have ice on the inside

but our kids still like to play out there

Last weekend we went to Spokane for Mandy and Jon's wedding and Julie's convocation ceremony. Maddie loved Polly

Maisy liked her too

Ella and I at the wedding. Ella was cute, I was a bridesmaid but she thought I was a princess.

Amy Joy, Elliott, Eden making snow angels. Ella just followed her cousins around all weekend.

Maisy the Chatterbox

2008-12-03T12:04:00.001-08:00

Random Pics

2008-11-18T14:11:00.001-08:00

These are just some cute random pics from the last few weeks.

Maisy was cute wearing her tiara and reading a ballerina book with her baby. I never would have thought I would have such "girly- girls"

Wesley and Ella wanted to go play in the rain. Thier idea of playing was standing on the deck under the umbrella.

Our friend Sam- Sam has a new little sister...

Haley Marie. We love little babies around here. Ella can't stay away from her "tiny face"

Harvest Festival

2008-11-03T09:53:00.000-08:00

Last week we went to a harvest festival and here are some pics from the day.

Ella loves to pose and she's very photogenic

Maisy peeking around the maze
Maddie and Maisy playing in an apple bin

Jasper saying "cheese"

The Cat Whisperer

2008-11-03T09:46:00.001-08:00

We have a stray semi-wild kitten that shows up to play when the girls go outside. All the girls like it but Maisy LOVES it. She carries it around and follows it everywhere so I have been calling her the cat whisperer.

Birthday Girl!

2008-10-20T17:45:00.001-07:00

Our little Ella is growing up! Last Tuesday she turned 3 years old. We bought her a bike and spent the morning at the park learning to ride it. Then we went shopping and out to coffee (she had hot chocolate) just Ella and I. Then we went to Red Robin for dinner so she could be sung to by the Red Robin bird.

Saturday we had the long awaited birthday party. Ella has been waiting to have her Strawberry Shortcake party since May. She was a happy girl!

Chatty Ella

2008-10-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Ella was talking on her "cell phone" about a tire getting popped by a screwdriver (Inspired by Lindsey). I think the pauses like she is really listening to someone and her facial expressions are super funny.

Sleepy Head

2008-09-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

I love sleeping babies. Especially my sleeping babies since I never get to see them still and quiet.