The Jones People

Talentless Talent Show

2011-09-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

Our ward has a Talentless Talent Show every year and this year Nick and I were asked to participate. It was a lot of fun! We are supposed to be at a movie theater on a date and the couples wouldn't move down so Nick and I could sit together! So we sit at opposite ends and send hugs and kisses to each other through the people in the middle. It was pretty funny and Nick did an amazing job. I would post the video but it is too large to upload. We are actually excited to show how talentless we are next year.

?Hmmm?

2011-09-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

Kyla can get herself in the strangest spots very, very quickly.

Not sure how she does it or why but it is funny to see most of the time!

Girls Night Out!

2011-09-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

We felt like having a girls night out and Kelli came up with a great plan. We went and got our toes and nails painted first. The salon where Kelli scheduled our appt. said that someone called in a cancelled our appt. so they had to try and squeeze us in!! Kelli and Susie got their toes done and then went over to the table to get their nails done. Me? I had to stay in the chair where they did my toes and he started working on my nails?!? It was crowded and a little crazy but fun.

There was some Really Funny stuff that happened on our way from the nail place to the show but I don't feel like sharinf because it is one of those "you had to be there" stories. I will say that we laughed so hard we almost peed and Yes this is a picture of Kelli and I in a bathroom.

There was this hallway of mirrors so we tried taking a picture of ourselves.

I didn't see the guys behind us that were offering to take our picture and just kept trying to take a good picture of us. Susie invited them into the picture! haha!

I finally figured out why they were in our picture and handed over the camera.

We had SO much fun. The Lion King was Awesome! I never realised how many "life" lessons there are in that show. It was done beautifully and I loved every minute of it. The kids have been so addicted to the Lion King lately that I wanted them to see it so bad, but I wasn't going to pay that kind of money :o) Thank ladies for the fun night, it was great!

Bubble Fun.

2011-09-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Jake and Kevin go to music class together on Tuesdays and sometimes they need a parent to go. So Moki and Nick take turns going to class and when Moki goes we watch her other two boys. The other day while Alex and Emmitt were at our house we decided to play bubbles!

Class is 45 minutes and we were shocked when we were still outside playing bubbles when Jake and Kevin came home. They were really excited that we were all outside playing bubbles and they joined right in.

The kids had such a fun time playing together outside and their imaginations were running wild. I love when the kids get to play with their cousins. I love watching their relationships grow. I know they will be friends that can depend on each other and help each other.

Thank you Villezcas Family for coming over to play. We love you!

Silly String Fight!

2011-09-12T15:01:00.000-07:00

When I was at the .99 cent store awhile back they had 2 cans of silly string for .99 cents. I snatched some up because I love silly string. Last time we played with silly string the kids weren't that into it but like I said, I love silly string so I was hoping to win them over.

The tops were really hard to push so the kids needed help. They had a lot of fun shooting the string but they were un happy when they couldn't do it all at the same time.

The other Jones' happened to be at our place and luckily I had enough cans so it turned into quite the battle!

Poor Uncle Nate kind of became the un official target and ended up being covered in silly string. He made it a lot of fun for the kids and I think they all really enjoyed it. There was lots of giggling going on.

Wyatt's kept jamming and wouldn't shoot out like everyone elses so Daddy cleaned it and Wyatt was SO excited when it shot all the way across the driveway ....

... and got Uncle Nate!

Even Katelyn wasn't safe from the battle.

We had so much fun and I am hoping to find another great deal so we can do it again. Thanks Jones Family for the fun and thanks Uncle Nate for being such a fun target!

Sleeping Angels

2011-09-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

We moved Kyla out of the crib and into a Big Girl Bed. She wasn't very excited about it so we moved Kevin's bed right next to hers and she was very happy. Kyla has to have a special blankie with satin ribbons and she has to have 2-3 baby dolls when she goes to bed. Kevin has been such a sweetheart and he talks to her, sings to her and holds her hand when they go to bed. Kevin really is such a big helper and loves his siblings SO much.

Wyatt has slept with this dinosaur almost Every night since he got it for his birthday. He loves it and is usally asks for things in a "Rawr". Kevin was not a blankie baby and I don't know why but I Love that Wyatt loves his blankie from Great Grandma Mac. He is just so cute when he carries it around and rubs it on his face when he is falling asleep.

David is an excellent sleeper. He usually sleeps about 6 hours so if I lay him down at 8 I only have to wake up at 2 and then not again until the kids come in, in the morning. It is such a blessing and I am very grateful. I love snuggling him in the night while feeding him and am trying to soak in the quiet time that he and I have together. I am trying to get him to nurse in the night so I don't have to feed him and then pump but he is NOT interested at all. I will keep trying but I don't have much hope.

Hope you are all having great nights.

Updates

2011-09-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Kevin is such a wonderful helper. He loves to hold baby David and he loves to play with his brothers and sister. Almost on a daily basis Kevin will say, "Mom I wish I lived at Aunt Mo's house. I love her house. She has great toys and snacks and movies. Can we live there?" And if that isn't enough to make this Mom feel bad, when he isn't asking to live at Aunt Mo's he is saying, "Mom do you remember when we lived at the Castle? The Castle is such a wonderful place to live. It has video games and a jacuzzi and movies and swings and we would all be so happy if we lived there"

This is all a little crushing to this Mommy's ego but I'm so glad that he loves his Grandparents and the Villezcas Family. It has made me want to make sure that I do a lot more fun things so I can make Our House the Bestest and Funnest house ever.

Wyatt has turned into a little stinker this month. He mostly ignores David and gets annoyed when he cries but he does come over every once in a while and wants to hold him for a couple seconds and gives him a kiss. Wyatt has been trying to get away with a lot more than usual. He still fights with Kyla on a daily basis but he is also starting to stand up to Kevin more and is a punk sometimes. The other day when we were in the van he reached over and slapped Kevin out of the blue for no reason! When I asked him why he slapped Kevin he said, "Heavenly Father told me to." What!?!? I tried so hard not to laugh and to give him my most serious face while telling him that Heavenly Father would Never tell him to slap Kevin! Even though Wyatt has been a little stinker he is still our biggest snuggler. He loves to curl up on my lap with his blankie and binkie and wants me to rub his skin. I love my snuggle bug.

Mekyla is Mekyla! She has so much energy and is always on the go. She climbs things I never thought she could and gets into more things then the other kids, Put together! She keeps us on our toes and keeps me very alert. I know that I can only let her out of my sight for 2-3 minutes before I need to check and see what she has found to get into. Kyla is fascinated with her nose and boogers right now. She always has a finger in her nose and when she actually finds something, she will hand it to you and say, "eewww" over and over again until you have cleaned her fingers. The boys are always very grossed out when she shows them. we are starting to worry about her teenage years because she is so interested in everything. We hope that we can help point that curiosity and energy in the right direction because if she puts her mind to it she could accomplish amazing things!

All the kids are in LOVE with the Lion King and Rio. Kevin got Rio for his birthday and I think it has been played everyday this month! Lion King isn't quite as popular but very very close!
The kids walk around the house singing,"Rio, Rio" and when I turn the music on they stop whatever they are doing and start dancing. Wyatt and Kevin have been pretending that they are lions and Kyla is just happy to play with them.

Holding his head up!

2011-09-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

David is turning into such a big boy. I laid him down today and he just popped his head right up and looked around. He wasn't bobbling or straining. He just laid there and looked around for a long time. I am not ready for him to not be a newborn!

Let's go fly a kite.

2011-09-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

It was perfect kite flying weather the other day so we headed up to the Castle where they have the best wind.

Mekyla had so much fun sitting with Grandpa and watching the kite. She wanted to hold it all by herself but because we didn't want it to go flying 'up to the hightest height', Grandpa did most of the flying.

Kevin thought it was a lot of fun too! He liked to see how far out it would go. He didn't like reeling it in at all but he would when Pa told him too.

After Pa talked to him and made sure he understood that he Could Not let go he handed over the kites. Kevin thought it was So Awesome to hold the kites all by himself and even more Awesomer to hold 2 at the same time.

Wy-Wy was not into the holding the kite thing. We are starting to think that he is afraid of heights. He doesn't really like when Nick holds him up in the air or when we lift him up to look over things. But he had a lot of fun exploring the field and hill.

Wyatt loves to show me how Strong he is. Nick always calls him his little Stud. Kevin is handsome but Wyatt can just melt you with a look and a smile.

Thank you so much Grandma & Grandpa Castle for letting us come play!

Happy Birthday Kevin

2011-09-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

I can not believe that my Kevin is 5! It seems like yesterday that we brought him home and started the parenthood journey, but at the same time I can't remember the little bundle we brought home. It seems like he has always been a big boy. I wish I had had my baby longer. That time wasn't racing by in the blink of an eye. I wish I could remember his chubby smile and his baby voice. I am saddened by how fast he has grown up but I am so proud of him and I am in love with the boy he has become.

Kevin is such a 'Good boy'. He has a tender Spirit and really feels bad if he makes me or Nick upset or if we raise our voices at all. He tries really hard to be perfect, and I'm not saying we expect him to be perfect, that is just the way he is. He loves to help out and he loves to make people happy. Kevin has a HUGE smile and he likes making new friends, but his cousins are his best friends.

Kevin always keeps us laughing. The things he says or the questions he asks are too funny.
Kevin: Mom is this a bad guy song? (while watching Anastasia)
Me: Yes it is. Why?
Kevin: Because I like it. (sad face)
Me: You can like it even if it's a bad guy song it's okay.
Kevin: Really? Oh good cause I really like it. (big smile)

Kevin: Mom when Wyatt makes that noise (high pitched screeching sound) it makes my brain go crazy! Like very very crazy ... like exploding crazy!

Kevin: Mom why are there no Dinosaurs on earf?
Me: Because they all died a long long time ago.
Kevin: Did Jesus shoot them all?
Me: What?!!!!

Kevin is 44.5" tall and weighs 47lbs and wears a size 11 shoe. Kevin would start Kindergarten this year but we have decided to hold him back a year. He is very smart and we know he would do really well but it is just better for boys when they are held back a year. We think it will be batter for him in the long run and I am NOT ready for him to go to school yet. I know he is growing up fast but if he was already going to school I would die. I have the feeling that once he starts school he will graduate leave for a mission and then be married and have a family of his own before I can even blink! We have put him in the Clark County preschool offered in Overton. He got to see a picture of his classroom on the computer and he is really excited to go. He asks everyday, "How many days until I get to go to my big tree school?". He will only be gone 2 hours, 2 days a week. I think I will be able to handle that much but we'll see :o)

We love our Kevy Kev. He is such a sweetheart and we are so lucky to have him. He is an amazing big brother and I think Wyatt Kyla and David will always have someone they can turn to for help and comfort. Kevin has a wonderful spirit and I hope that Nick and I can point him down the path his Heavenly Father wants him to follow. Kevin already teaches Nick and I so much. We know he is going to go far and we hope that we don't get in his way or make him stumble. We are sad to watch him grow but honored to be by his side while he does.
We love you Kevin. Happy Birthday!

Couldn't wait!

2011-09-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

Kevin has been wanting a new Big Boy bike. And the other day when we were at Jones' he got to ride Caiden's Big Boy Bike. He told us that was the one he wanted. We showed him pictures of others and even took him into the store but he never changed his mind. He wanted the green one like Caiden.

We decided to save Kevin's new bike and give it to him on his actual birthday. We thought it would be fun to wake up to his balloons and a bike. However that did not happen. Nick just couldn't wait another day so he got his bike on the 6th. It bugged me that we saved it and then just gave it to him on a random day, but he was excited.

He started helping Daddy put it together but then ended up just standing there and asking, "is it done yet. Is it done now. How many more pieces. Can I ride it?"

Daddy took it for a quick ride to make sure it wasn't too wobbly and that he had put it together right!

Mekyla claimed Kevin's old bike but couldn't figure out how to get it to go. So she just sat there and called, "Daddy .... DADDY.... daddy....DADDY!!!!"

As luck would have it, by the time Kevin's bike was ready, it started to rain! Kevin rode around in the rain for a bit and then came in. He went back out as soon as the rain stopped and gave his new bike 2 thumbs up :)

Here is a small cantaloupe we grew in our flower bed. It is about the size of a tennis ball. It was really yummy.

David's Blessing

2011-09-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

Luckily Kevin's Birthday party and David's blessing fell on the same weekend. Family had already traveled down and they were able to attend both on the same trip. Kevin Jones Sr. was dearly missed. It is on occasions such as these that we are painfully aware of him being gone. Nick said it was hard to think of his Dad not being there in the circle, to feel his ruff hand under the baby, to know he was right there, supporting him. Of course we talked about him being there in spirit, but sometimes you want the body there and not just the spirit.

We are grateful to the wonderful men who were there. Nick, Nate, Tom, Pa Castle, Arthur and Bryan were there. Nick gave a wonderful yet simple blessing. Nothing was said that really stood out to me. He was blessed to be valiant, to be an example, to share the gospel with others. he was blessed to serve a mission, marry in the Temple and to raise a family. After Nick sat down he said that he had the feeling that David would be a very simple person. Not dumb or weak just simple. He said that he felt like he would be a lot like his Dad. Unassuming, quiet, happy always in the background but someone that everyone depended on, strong, faithful and simple. I don't think that David could receive a better compliment then that and I hope he does grow to be a wonderful man like his Grandpa Jones.

David was great during the blessing. He didn't make a peep. He was drinking his bottle right before Nick took him up and he hadn't burped yet. David burps like a full grown drunken man and Nick was worried he was going to belch into the microphone. He said that if David did one of his manly burps into the mic that he was 1 going to laugh and 2 be slightly embarrassed because people would probably think it was him. No one can believe that such a big burp can come out of such a small baby. Luckily he held it in until after the blessing.

We had a beautiful Testimony meeting and my brother Bryan got up and bore his testimony and told my parents how much he loves them. It was a wonderful thing to hear because I think some of us doubt it sometimes. I always want to get up a bear my testimony after my babies have been blessed, but my heart is so full that I know I would just stand up there and cry so it wouldn't do any good.

After Sacrament we went back to our house for a luncheon and found our house full of smoke! It wasn't on fire but the casserole we had put in the oven overflowed and was burning. The food was yummy, the house smelled bad :o) But it was nice to sit and visit and enjoy the spirit of Family.

David Ibrahin Jones
Blessed September 4th
by his Daddy.
Booties made by Grandma Castle.

Kevin's party

2011-09-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

I like to have my kids birthday parties on their actual birthdays. We always put balloons in their room so they wake up to a floor full of balloons and we do the special breakfast and all that. Well this year it just wasn't possible do Kevin's party on his birthday so we had it Saturday the 3rd. Since it wasn't his Actual birthday we only did a couple balloons to wake up to in his room.

Kevin decided way back in July, while looking through a birthday express catalog, that he wanted to have a Sonic the Hedgehog birthday party. I am not sure how Sonic became so popular again after so long but it has and Kevin is addicted! We ordered his Sonic party stuff and when it came he was SO excited. I think he told everyone he saw for weeks about his Sonic Party.

Grandma Castle came over before naps and brought Kevin a Birthday surprise. All the kids loved Kevin's surprise and didn't sleep well for naps :o)

We decided to have Kevin's party at the park around sunset. We figured it wouldn't be so hot, the kids could just run and play (no games for me to plan) and then they could play with the glow sticks we brought. Well it was still pretty warm for all the kids, since they were running around like little hedgehogs, but I think everyone had a lot of fun.

We found this Sparkler candle for Kevin's cake and we thought it was awesome .... it was awesome ... except that we were done singing happy birthday and the sparkler was still going! Kevin tried to blow it out but we just had to wait for it to burn out.

Sonic attire was not required but almost all of the Castle clan came wearing Sonic shirts. Kevin thought it was the Best Party Ever! I was planning on there being some park lights to light up the tables so we could see to eat cake and open presents but there weren't!

So Daddy and Uncle Arfur grabbed out their flashlights and the party moved on. Kevin loved all the presents and didn't want the party to end. We did a Pinata at the end and oddly Kevin decided that he didn't want to hit the Pinata? He used to like them but all of the sudden he, "Just doesn't like them so much". He did have fun watching everyone else though.

Thank you to everyone who came. We had a lot of fun and Kevin said that he already knows that he wants another Sonic party for his next birthday! I'm thinking he will probably change his mind but then again he might not.

1 Month old

2011-08-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that David is already a month old. The time has flown by and I am sad to see my little newborn growing up. It is fun to see your first baby grow and learn new things. It is hard to see your baby grow because you already know how fast it goes by. I am really trying to just enjoy him. I hold him more, talk to him more, just watch him sleep more. He is as close to heaven as I can get right now and I want to soak it all in.

David is always active and very alert. He loves to watch his siblings and is always grabbing for things. I am always amazed at how long he will just sit there, quietly, and watch the kids play. It is like he is memorizing what they are doing so he can do it too. He is not smiling yet but we know it is going to be an irresistible smile when it comes.

I think this picture is so funny and deceiving! David has put on good weight the last month but he is still a small baby and is not chunky. This picture makes him look like he is 20+ pounds with endless rolls :o) He looks a lot like Kevin to me in this picture, but Kevin's rolls were real!

David is loved by his siblings and his parents. None of us can get enough of him and he just has a spirit about him that makes you feel lighter, happier, more relaxed. We have felt, even before he was born, that David was a special spirit, but very simple too. He is a simple baby, very easy, very calm and I think that is spreading through our household. We could definitely use some simple calm around here.

David has not been circumcised. Strange to talk about I know but true. It is not by choice, just necessity for now. He has the condition that Kevin had and is passed down through me, go figure, and we have to wait until he is 5-6 months old and take him into a specialist to have it done then. We are hoping to have it done before the end of the year because our deductible is already met but I don't see that happening because he won't be 5 months till the end of December! Oh well.

We love our Baby David and are grateful everyday that he has joined our family. Nick and I were able to go to the Temple and while there we both felt like we are meant to have 1 more but that she won't be coming for awhile. We are both very grateful for that and plan on enjoying our newest bundle as much as we possibly can.

New Paint

2011-08-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

Nick and I have been talking about painting our wall for a long time. We keep going back and forth on what to do. Finally one day Nick pulled out our Carmel colored paint and said, "I'm going to do it."

The kids really wanted to help but we weren't brave enough to actually give them real paint so I taped some paper to the wall and put food coloring in some water and let them go to town. They had a lot of fun for the 5 minutes they were interested and then off they ran to go play something else.

Nick learned a trick from his brother Nate about taping and getting a perfect edge so he was excited to try it out and see how it worked.

The trick worked great and we love our new wall. We think it makes the room not so dark and looks fresh and clean. So far nobody who has come to visit has noticed the color change but that's okay :o)

More Swimming.

2011-08-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

Alex is learning how to float on his back so Kevin thought he would give it a try. Kevin kept saying, "It's easy Alex. Do it like this" Kevin just didn't understand why Alex couldn't do it! We explained that Alex Wasn't using a floaty so it was a lot harder to float. Kevin thought about trying without a floaty and then changed his mind. He did however spend the rest of the time at the pool like this. I'm just glad he had enough sunscreen on and didn't end up with a burnt face!

Wyatt was so funny when we went to the pool with the Villezcas' and G. Castle. He didn't want to swim in the pool with all the other kids, he just wanted to swim in the little corner between the ladders. Grandma was great and she stood there and helped him jump in the corner over and over again.

Mekyla has really taken off in the water. I am still leery of letting her go swim on her own because I'm afraid if she tips over it will scare her and then she won't want to get in the water again. I am so happy about her enjoying the water, swimming and splashing that I don't want anything to scare her back into just hanging on the edge of the pool with her legs in. Aunt Oki was great to stay close to her and help her when needed.

My Dad has a picture of Alex, Kevin and Jake swimming with their colorful floaties on. Since we were all together we thought we would take a new picture for him to hang in his office.

It was fun going to the pool together. All the kids had so much fun.

Since I am not allowed in the water yet and the water was a little too cold for David, we sat and watched everyone. It was very warm outside and David's head was sweating on my arm or my arm on his head! Anyways when his hair gets wet it goes into these perm curls! They are all over his head and it seriously looks like he has a perm :o) Totally adorable! Wyatt has some curl, Kyla has more curl and David seems to have more then both of them. His hair might be interesting to do when he gets older!

Sleep Over

2011-08-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

We had a sleep over this weekend at Uncle Nate & Aunt Kelli's house. We had a lot of fun and need to do it again!

Caiden and Kevin are 6 months apart. It looks like Kevin is leaning against the wall so I don't think Caiden is really that much taller then Kevin but I wouldn't be surprised.

Rylan and Wyatt are 3 months apart. And in this picture Rylan is the one leaning so he really has Wyatt by a few inches!

Maddi and Kyla are 1 day apart and pretty nip and tuck with other. These girls are too funny, they are either best friends or worst enemies and it changes every 15 minutes or so!

Katelyn and David are 6 months almost 7 months apart and Katelyn is a tank! She looks like a normal chunky baby but that girl has got some girth! I am always shocked at how heavy she is when I lift her. But she is just as cute as she is heavy! David is small anyways but he just looks so itty bitty next to her.

All the kids started in the same room watching a movie but Nate and Kelli's kids all wanted to go to bed so they all ended up in their own rooms. All too soon we won't be able to get them to turn off the movies and go to bed! I'm happy that they each have a cousin close in age that they can be buddies with and create memories with.

The girls were so funny. The babies were on the ground and the girls were competing on who could entertain them better. Maddi started Peek-a-Boo so Kyla started to sing. Kyla gave kisses so Maddi started tickling. It was cute to watch but I had to put an end to it because it the competition was escalating !
Thanks Jones' for letting us come play, it was fun!

Misc Kid Update

2011-08-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

Kevin is such a funny kid. He keeps us laughing all the time. The other day at sleep overs he told Grandma, "You have old legs Grandma". When she made a sad face he quickly added, "Your face is fine and your arms and the front of your legs. Just the back of your legs look old"
Kevin is such a great boy. He loves to snuggle still and he loves to help out. He is a lot like Nick and gets really focused on what he is doing and tunes everything else out. It's hard to get his attention sometimes but he is always the first to go grab something or to ask if I need help.
I love this picture because it really shows how tall Kevin is getting. I put his information into an online calculator thingy and it predicted that Kevin would be 6'2". Nick says there is no way but my Dad says that Kevin is very stocky and one day all that 'stock' might just thin out and grow into a tall lean man. I just know that no matter how big he gets, or doesn't get, he will always be my favorite Kevin.

Wyatt is a color all his own. He loves all things girl but is such a boy. He isn't daring but is always the first to jump off something or start a wrestling match on the living room floor. He loves his Blankies, loves to have his skin rubbed and loves to climb into our bed in the morning and fall back asleep.
Wyatt gets scared at loud noises but is getting a lot better at how he handles it. He doesn't just stand there and start to cry anymore. He covers his ears, looks for the noise and then backs away if whatever is making the noise scares him.
Wyatt is starting to be a great helper. He gets upset when I ask Kevin to do something and not him. He will come up and ask, "what me Mom, what me" and wants me to ask him to go get something for me as well. If I could get him to share with Kyla as much as he wants to help me I would be one happy Mommy!

Mekyla is in heaven. She has a Daddy that is wrapped around her finger. 2 older brothers to torment and a baby brother to hold and squeeze and kiss. If she could get Mommy to let her get away with more I think she would be happier! Kyla's favorite thing to do right now is grab a box of toys from their room and take out every toy in the box. She just takes them out and sets them on the floor. Sometimes she will play with one but only for a minute and then back she goes to pulling toys out. It almost sounds like a good thing right? She quietly sits there and pulls toys out? Well she does it really fast and as soon as all the toys are out of one box she moves onto another and another and by the time I have fed and burped David, their whole room is covered in toys and almost every box is empty!
Mekyla does love to play outside. She wakes in the morning ready to go play outside. I love that all of my kids are outdoor kids and I need to get better at taking them out more. Kyla love to get dirty. She runs outside and if there isn't a mud puddle to jump in, she turns on the hose and makes one.

David is a WONDERFUL baby. He still only wakes once in the night and is sticking to a schedule really good. He is a very calm baby and very alert. He never really had that 'newborn' stage where they do nothing but sleep or cry. He sleeps a lot but he is also awake a lot and just lays there and stares at everything around him. And I KNOW he is focusing on things that he shouldn't be able to focus on yet! Nick and I have both mentioned how interested he is in everything and everyone around him. He isn't smiling yet but when you talk to him you can see his eyes twinkle. He is intoxicating and we can not get enough of him!

Nick and I are doing well. Nick is having fun at work catching as many DUIs as he can and I am trying to figure out how to spend the most time I can enjoying my kids and still get my chores done!

Here Horsey

2011-08-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

We have a pasture right by our house with horses. One of the horses is really friendly and always come over to see if we have anything for him to eat. So we went over the other morning to feed him some apples we had that were going brown. Our neighbor was out in the field and brought over several of the horses so the kids could pet, feed and even sit on them!

Kevin was really excited to get to sit on the horse. He beamed as he sat there and pet the horse and talked to him. He never asked to get down and didn't mind when the horse started walking along the fence to eat another apple he spotted on the ground. He is a regular cowboy.

Wyatt liked watching Kevin on the horse and said that he wanted to get on the horse but as soon as he was actually ON the horse he changed his mind! He sat very stiff and asked to get off as soon as he got up there. Our neighbor told him to pet the horse and so he did and then asked again to get off :o) I guess he is a cowboy in training!

Mekyla would NOT get on the horse! She loves animals from a distance!! She liked to pet the horse and liked to watch it but when he went to put her on the horse she grabbed onto him and wouldn't let go. She had her arms legs and anything else wrapped around him :o) So he just held her for awhile and let her pet the horse.

The kids had a lot of fun and I think we are going to do it often because it is good for the kids to get used to horses and it was something fun to do together.

Swimming

2011-08-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

Nick didn't put our pool up this year because he said we need to get a shade for it because after a couple weeks the water is too hot to swim in. So we planned on going to the local pool. However it took us 3 tries before we actually got to swim.

We meant to put Kevin in swimming lessons this year but missed the sign up. Nick worked with him but he kicks his legs like he is riding a bike not up and down so he sinks very fast. he loves to float on his back though and really loves jumping into the water. He doesn't need Nick to catch him buut sometimes he does just for fun.

Kevin wanted to jump off the diving board but the dumb pool rule is that you can not jump off the board with a floaty on?!?! But you can jump off and have someone catch you?!?! How totally dumb is that?? Anyways Kevin didn't want to jump without his floaty but Wyatt did! Which shocked us all. He went right to the edge and jumped without hesitating. I thought he would get to the end of the board, look down and change his mind but no. Wyatt's head never went under water but Nicks did for a LONG time. I was beginning to think he wasn't going to come back up and the lifeguard kind of sat forward but then his head broke the water and they swam to the edge. Wyatt wanted to go again but Nick said no :o)

Mekyla has never liked water. She hates tubbies, she hate pools. But all of the sudden when we went to the pool the other day she just jumped right in and LOVED it! She was having so much fun swimming around and jumping off the edge. She giggled the whole time we were there and didn't want to go. I think we might have another fish on our hands!

Nick is pretty talented. The kids would all line up and then count...123 jump! Kevin would jump off to the side but Wyatt and Kyla would jump straight at him. He was pretty good at catching both of them and they loved it.

Even though the pool is only open for 5 weeks and it is only open for 4 hours a day this year, the kids are having a blast and love that they get non stop attention from Daddy while they swim.

Just a little bit of water

2011-08-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

We were outside soaking in some 'not so hot' morning sun rays the other day and waiting for Daddy to get home. Kevin declared that he needed a drink of water and so Wyatt did and then of course so did Kyla.

So they all went inside and came out with their cups of water and stood there and drank them gone. Then went back in re-filled, came back out and drank away.

David and I just hung out in the sun while the older kids went in and out and drank their water.

We waited quite a long time ... 10-15 minutes ... all the while the kids are drinking away. Finally after finishing his 5th or 6th cup Kevin says, Mom my tummy is going to explode I don't want to drink anymore. Haha, funny kid.

So when Kevin stopped drinking everyone else stopped drinking and Daddy arrived shortly after and started wrestling with them and I hoped that Kevin's tummy wouldn't explode!

Misc Mekyla

2011-08-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Mekyla has decided that she Loves stickers. She is always getting into my sticker drawer and pulling out the yard sale stickers. She puts them all over her body while she talks and sings and pretends something. It is funny to watch her and a cheap way for her to stretch her imagination.

Don't know where she found the chocolate but she did and I'm thinking she enjoyed it!

Wyatt just figured out about 5 months ago how to use a scooter. Mekyla always goes over to the scooter and puts both feet on and then rocks her body back and forth to try and get it to go. Well the other day she put one leg up and one leg down and took off!! She is WAY to little to know how to use a scooter!

Nick got home the other morning and Mekyla would NOT let him let go of her. She clung to him and cried and threw quite the royal fit! So of course Nick gave in and held her and soon she was fast asleep. This was surprising because she had only been awake for an hour.

Well while she was asleep Daddy slipped off to bed and I checked her temp. Poor little thing had a low grade fever and she slept on the floor by me almost the whole day. She did a mirror performance that night when Nick woke up to go to work. She clung to him and cried, Please Daddy. I have NO idea how he walked away from her crying and reaching for him but he did and she snuggled me in my bed that night.

During the night her fever broke and she was able to sleep well. The next morning when she woke she was perfectly happy and played all the next day.

Great G&G Mort

2011-08-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Great Grandma & Grandpa Mortensen stopped by for a short visit to see David.

Grandma thought he was adorable and that he didn't look like my other babies. She thought that he looked more like his Grandpa Jones.

Grandpa held him or the longest time and David happily fell asleep on his comfy shoulder. Grandpa thought he was a cute little thing and gave him lots of kisses. We are so happy that G&G Mort made the long drive down just to see David.

Fun in the Sun

2011-08-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

Even though David got a clean bill of health we have been trying to sit outside a lot and soak in some Vitamin D. And this year is flying by SO fast that winter is going to be upon us very soon and we won't have the beautiful sun shine to play in.

But you can't sit outside and not play in the water because it is just too dang hot!! The other day when Daddy was home I suggested that we play with the hose on the trampoline! I was a little afraid of another broken leg but quickly got over it and into the fun. Kevin loved jumping and running around while Daddy 'tried' to get him with the water. He squealed and played until Daddy and I couldn't take it anymore and had to drag him inside :o)

Wyatt loved the water but was a little leery about the trampoline. I'm not sure how long it will take him before he isn't hesitant on the tramp anymore. Normally Wyatt doesn't like to be sprayed with water but he really seemed to enjoy it. He ran and bounced and giggled almost as hard as Kevin. He liked to try and catch the water in his mouth too which surprised me because he would almost drowned himself each time, but he did it over and over again.

Mekyla pretty much loves to do whatever her brothers are doing and thinks that if she is near them and copying them then they are playing with her and having a great time. She doesn't really like water at all but as long as Daddy didn't spray her too much and only her legs, she was pretty happy.

Kevin grabbed Wyatt and Kyla's hands and said, You can't get us Daddy. So Nick sprayed them and they all 'fell' unto the trampoline in exaggerated fashion while giggling and saying, Oh no you got us, curse you!

David seemed to enjoy the hot sun and always has his eyes wide open to watch everything. This is a picture of the straight line on his hand. He only has it on one and we are hoping that means he will be smart like his Daddy.

Misc layin around

2011-08-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

Sun bathing while the kids play and we wait for Daddy to get home.

Wyatt is such a short stocky little guy ... until you put him next to David. Then he turns into a Giant!

I just love this picture! David is just chillin while the big kids swim.

Tiny baby on our new Big bed!

I know Mekyla doesn't feel well when she curls up at my feet. She doesn't want on my lap she want to be down by my feet .. weird right? but very cute!

My kids.

2011-08-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

Kevin is in LOVE with his baby David! He is Always wanting to hold him and he talks so softly to him. "I love you baby David. You are so cute, yes you are" It is adorable and touching to see Kevin hold and talk to David so lovingly. I think he is going to make a wonderful Daddy someday. And when he isn't talking about his new baby David he is talking about his Sonic party that he is super excited for!

Wyatt love the baby but only a couple times a day for about 3-4 seconds and then he wants his Daddy to play with him. I feel bad for Wy-Wy. He didn't get to be the baby for very long before we had Mekyla and now there is another baby in the house. He loves David and is a big helper but he still wants/needs a lot of attention.

Mekyla is such a funny little thing. She love the baby too much and we have to keep an eye on her. She loves to give him kisses and to 'hug' him (which is more like just laying on him). She is really liking the baby things we got back out. She will grab one of her dolls and go lay in the swing for a long time. She swings back and forth and sings to her baby. She is trying to be a big helper and sometimes she is just too much help!

David is doing really good. when we took him in for his check up he was a little jaundice so our Dr. sent us home with a billie blanket. It was nice not having to stay in the hospital for 24 + hours. We held him for 2 days with that blanket and when we went back in he got a clean bill of health. He was already back up to his birth weight when we went in for his 2 day and he has been gaining 2oz a day. He is gaining weight fast and the Dr. is a little shocked but happy.

Aunt Mer

2011-08-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

I am a total slacker and only took 3 pictures of Aunt Mer when she came down to stay with us. And they weren't even good ones! They were of her playing bubbles with the kids during our yard sale.

Anyways Mer came down to help me out after the baby was born and to entertain the older kids and snuggle on the baby! It was a lot of fun.

She always had something for the kids to do and played with them all the time. When David woke for his night feeding I would take him into her and she would feed and change him while I pumped. It was so nice because I only had to be up for 30 min. in the night instead of an hour!

On her last day here she watched all the kids so Nick and I could go on a date. It was nice to just get out and watch a movie with no little voices interrupting!

Thank you SO much Aunt Mer for coming to help out it was great to spend time with you.

Misc David

2011-08-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

David is a wonderful baby!

He has such a calm, happy, soothing Spirit.

All of us are in Love with him and are so grateful to have him.

Daddy says that just holding him and looking into his happy eyes makes him feel better.

He really is very good. He eats well he sleeps great and he has so many admirers!

David Ibrahin Jones

2011-07-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

David Bryan Jones was born just after midnight on July 27th 2011. He was 7.8 lbs and 20 in. I was surprised that he was so small. My other babies were 7.6, 7.2, 7.6 lbs but they were all born at 37 weeks. David was 1 day before his due date so I thought he would be bigger!

David was born Starving! He kept crying and would nurse for 30-40 minutes straight. I didn't want to just keep nursing him when there was nothing there, but I knew he was hungry. Since I bottle feed my milk I told the nurse it was okay to give him some formula. He chugged down over an ounce before he would quiet down and go to sleep.

David was loved by his brothers and sister when they came to see him. They were all very excited that he was finally out of Mommy's tummy and that he would be coming home to our house soon. All three of them just kept taking turns holding him and giving him SO many kisses.

It seems crazy to me that we have 4 kids now. Our van and house are almost full and our hearts are over flowing with love. Nick and I had a different plan in mind for our family but we have learned that the Lord has a plan for us and that as we listen to the spirit and follow in Faith he sends us more blessings than we have room to hold. We are so grateful for the wonderful spirits that Heavenly Father has sent to us and for the things that they teach us every day. We love each of our blessings and hope we can raise them into the warriors that our Heavenly Father needs

David was originally supposed to be named David Samuel Jones. David for Nick's little bother and Samuel is a name his Mother loves. However as the time got closer it just didn't seem right. I talked to Nick and we had decided to name him David Bryan Jones, after his brother and mine. But as we sat in the hospital and stared at our beautiful new baby, the name still didn't seem right. I was looking online at baby names . com to see what David meant because I had never looked it up. I looked up Bryan as well and on the side saw that Ibrahin was a translation for Bryan. I really liked this and mentioned it to Nick. Nick called his brother who speaks Arabic and asked him if it was true and how to pronounce it. Jeff told us that Ibrahin is Arabic for Abraham and that Bryan is the English (not american) version of Abraham. Nick and I both talked and talked about it, if he would be teased, if it would be hard for him to have a different name, etc..etc... but it just felt right.
In a blessing Nick gave me while pregnant he said that Heavenly Father needed his warriors here on the earth and he was sending them to Mothers who would rear them in righteousness. I felt honored and very overwhelmed, but as I stared at David and said his name out loud I wondered if this was the name Heavenly Father wanted him to have because of something he would do later in his life. Perhaps he would be one of the missionaries to serve in the Arab nations, perhaps he would follow his Uncle Jeff lead and learn to speak the language and have a love for the people and work to bridge our nations together. I don't know but I am eager to watch him grow and help him along his path.
Welcome to your earthly home and to our home David Ibrahin Jones.

Our 'easy' delivery

2011-07-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

I woke up early Tuesday morning the 26th with Wyatt and felt more rested than I had in months! Wyatt sat with me on the couch and we snuggled while watching TV. I looked out the windows and saw a beautifully dark, cloudy sky that was calling to me. I love the smell of rain and the feel in the air as a storm rolls in. Wyatt fell back to sleep and the rest of the house was quiet so I slipped outside and decided to just walk and enjoy the still morning. As I walked I thought about my precious baby and what he was doing on the other side of the veil that was keeping him from joining our family.

I had walked about a quarter mile when my phone rang and Nick was asking me where in the heck I was and why had I gone alone!! I walked back home and Nick had the kids ready to go walk over and feed the horses some apples. We talked about if our little boy would ever decide to come on his own or if we should just go in and help him along. We decided that we had waited this long, we could wait a little longer. We walked back from feeding the horses and Nick started to water the plants while the kids played. As I turned to walk inside to help Wyatt with something I suddenly felt like I was peeing my pants! I stopped and clenched but there was still more, not a lot, just enough to make me feel wet. I hurried to the bathroom and told Nick about it. Since my water has never broken on it's own we had no idea if that was what had just happened.

The kids wanted to go to the store to get a donut and there was no more 'water' so off to the store we went. I called my sister-in-law because she is the only one who has had her water break and asked her if my water could break a little at a time?!? As we walked into the store I started 'peeing' my pants again and hurried straight back to the bathroom. Nick grabbed 3 donuts and we quickly left the store. We called our Moms and let them know we had made the decision to go into town. I was excited that my water broke on it's own and hoped that this delivery would be 'easy' because my body was obviously ready.

10 hours after my water broke I still was not having contractions. We started the lowest dose of pit and crossed our fingers that it would happen quickly. An hour later I had still made no progress. I decided to get an epidural so that we could be a little more aggressive with trying to get him here and I was starting to get really tired. I got my epidural and about 30 minutes later it started to wear off so my medicine man came in and gave me another boost. Suddenly my breathing started to echo in my ears, it was the weirdest thing I have ever heard/felt and I have no idea how to describe it. But it started to echo and then my heart started to POUND and then my legs started to shake and not just shake like shivering, they started to convulse.

It was scary and I seriously thought that I had, had a bad reaction and that something bad was going to happen to me. Immediately after I had a contraction and with it came the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life. It felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife and ripping open my abdomen. I tried taking a breath and my mask shut and sealed to my face, I couldn't breathe! I have a horrible phobia of things on my face and not being able to breathe, so the pain the echoing the shaking and now not being able to breathe ... I panicked! I look back now and I am embarrassed at how I handled it but it was so much all at once that I couldn't think straight. I kept begging for them to take the pain away, but there was nothing they could do. Nick saved me from going completely crazy and pulled my mask just off my face so I could take a deep breath. I couldn't focus and I couldn't do what my nurse kept asking me to do, but I could breathe! She asked me to push but it hurt 10x worse to push. I tried to calm down and focus but everything was swimming around me.

My nurse asked me to push again and I tried. It hurt like the dickens but my body wanted to push as hard as I could to just get him out. I pushed and pushed and then my nurse told me I had to stop but I couldn't stop, I was almost frantic to just keep pushing. She told me I Had to stop because David was having a hard time. It took everything I had to stop and it seemed like forever before my Dr walked through the door and gave me the okay to start pushing again. I didn't feel the ring of fire that I have heard about, but I did feel myself tear. I could feel the contractions and I could feel the pressure as he came out but I couldn't feel the shots she started giving me and they didn't take any pain away.

I was so grateful to see my beautiful, healthy, crying baby boy as they laid him on my tummy. He was the most amazing little thing that I had ever seen and he was finally here. I was still in pain, I could feel each stitch that was being placed but it didn't matter anymore. He was here, he was in my arms and everything I would have gone through it all again just for him. My Stake President told me one time, "It has been confirmed to me by the Spirit that Mothers reach through the veil and pull their children's spirits into this world" I truly believe that. David was there waiting for me to help him come into this world. I am amazed with the wonderful little spirit that Heavenly Father has sent to us and I hope that I will be able to help him fulfill his mission here on earth.

Misc Baby Post

2011-07-20T16:43:00.000-07:00

My wonderful sister came over and took some Tummy Shots for me. I haven't had any since Kevin and wish that I had, so we made sure to schedule some.

This pregnancy has been so different. My other babies moved and kicked and punched constantly, David never moves. I am constantly sitting down and counting his movements to make sure he is moving enough and a couple times we have gone into the hospital to have him monitored. They always say that his heart is strong and healthy but I need to eat some sugar and then sit and monitor. So the last couple weeks I made sure I ate 'enough' sugar and tried to relax and remind myself that he was healthy.

Nick and I are both very excited about the new little spirit that will be joining our family. Our family has not happened according to our plan, but we are just trying to enjoy the plan our Father in heaven has for us. Nick has mentioned his Dad so many times this pregnancy. He is always wondering how involved his Dad is in Davids preparation to come to earth, and if/when the veil is lifted if David will have a unique relationship with his Grandpa Jones because of the time they spent together. We have felt the spirit of Kevin close during this year and we have felt an overwhelming love for David before he has even gotten here.

My other babies came at 37 weeks and this little boy is in NO hurry. I haven't had any contractions, I haven't been put on bed rest and I'm not dilating very fast at all. My Dr. was for sure I would have him Monday night and she sat up till the early morning hours thinking the hospital would be calling at any moment. It hasn't happened yet :o)

So I asked people to guess when they thought the baby would come and here are the guesses.

Bro. Griffiths - July 9th
Angela - July 10th
Neisha - July 14th
Telisha - July 16th
Jenna - July 17th
Kelli - July 19th
Moki - July 22
Patrick - July 24th
Melanie - July 26th
Nick - July 12-20 (I told him he needed to narrow it down)
Me - August 3rd.

Go to the mattresses!

2011-07-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

Lately the kids have been pulling their mattresses out into the living room. They pile them up and then jump off the couch. They LOVE it! Wyatt always says, "high, high, high", which means, "I want to bring all 3 mattresses out and pile them"

Wyatt will jump onto the mattresses and then Kevin will jump behind him which then throws Wyatt up into the air and then both boys will giggle and giggle. I love sitting there and watching them have so much fun together.

Mekyla loves to jump just as much as the boys. She has just as much fun watching them jump as she does jumping herself. She doesn't like being thrown into the air like Wyatt does though.

Nick snapped these pictures the other day while I was in the shower. Wyatt and Kyla are getting along so much more lately. I don't know if it's because they are both getting older or if they are just finally get used to each other.

I love my kids!

More Rain

2011-07-09T16:36:00.000-07:00

We got to Auntie Moki's house and they were all outside playing in the rain that was running down their wonderful gutters. 10 minutes after we got their Nick called and asked where we went. The rain woke him up and he jumped out of bed to play in it with the kids, but we weren't there! Soon he joined us and gave the kids rides up and down the street on knee boards.

Kevin said it was a little cold but he was having so much fun he didn't want to stop. At first he ran around holding an umbrella but soon put it down to run free with his cousins.

Wyatt didn't like the BIG drops or how loud it was when they came crashing down, but when the rain backed off a little bit he went running out in the 'sprinkles' just like everyone else.

Little miss Kyla loved every minute of it. She loved the rain, she loved the sprinkles, she loved the puddles, she loved everyone running around. For a girl who hates water I'm shocked at how much she really enjoyed the rain!

Thank you so much Villezcas Family for letting us come over and enjoy your beautiful paved road, your gutters, the BIG puddle and the rain at your house! We can't wait for the next rain storm!

Rain, Rain, Rain

2011-07-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

The other day the kids were getting restless so we headed outside to play in the hose on the driveway. Kevin thought it was so much fun to fill up the big bucket and then sit down in it and watch the water flow over the edge. I couldn't help but laugh when I looked over and saw him with his hands behind his head just relaxing.

Wyatt always wants to do what his big brother does so he filled up the turtle and started relaxing. He had so much fun kicking his feet and watching the water splash out.

There wasn't another bucket for Kyla girl but she was okay because that meant she got to control the hose! She happily drank from, splashed with and filled the buckets with the hose. And Mekyla is in her brothers underwear because she hates her swimsuit and we were just going to play in the water for a couple minutes. She looks like a boy but she had so much fun!

After a few minutes of playing outside clouds started to roll in and threaten rain. We weren't concerned because it never rains. Then lightening and thunder started and I thought it might start to sprinkle. Then the wind picked up and the clouds got even blacker.

Soon the rain was coming down in sheets and we all watched it from the back of the van. As I looked at the muddy river in front of our house I remembered that Auntie Moki always says, "come to our house when it rains". So I looked at the kids and said, "Should we go play in the rain at Auntie Moki's house?" They all shouted yes and off we went...

4th of July

2011-07-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

This is the first year in SIX years that Nick has been home for the 4th! We were all so excited to have him there and he was excited to watch the fireworks with us and not watch them from his car as he drove into town.

Kevin decided that he wanted to sit on top of the van to watch the fireworks so that he would have a really good seat! After just a minute though he changed his mind and wanted to watch them from Inside the van with Kyla. He thought they were ' so awesome' but they were just too loud.

I thought Wyatt would have issues. He doesn't like loud noises and since his surgery his hearing is a lot better so I thought the fireworks would be Really Loud and he would hate them. But he sat on Pa's lap and just watched with wonder and excitement. He and Pa ooohed and aaahed and talked the whole time. I was surprised that he enjoyed them so much and didn't want them to end.

Mekyla was tired and fell asleep on the way over to the fairgrounds and was not happy about waking up. Before the fireworks started she hung onto Pa but clung to Daddy when they started. She was not happy and started to cry so we put her in the van and she instantly went back to sleep. She looked like a perfect little red, white and blue princess but just wasn't up to the part.

This was a great 4th of July and we hope that it won't be 6 more years until Daddy can spend it with us.

Water Fun!

2011-07-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

I didn't get any pictures of our tomato plants all heavy with tomatoes, but we got SO many tomatoes and had a lot of fun bottling 4 different kinds of Salsa. Nick got really good at cutting and draining tomatoes, sometimes Mekyla tried to help though and it ended up everywhere!

Jones let us borrow her water slide and keep it here so we could use it as often as we wanted to try and beat the heat. Kevin loves having a water slide at our house and has convinced Nick to put it up every weekend. He loves the hot, hot sun because it keeps him from getting cold.

Wyatt looks like a little bird to me in this picture! Wyatt loves the slide and is always asking for it, but I think his favorite part of 'the slide' are the snacks that we brings out to munch on while playing.

Mekyla is getting a lot more comfortable with the slide. She doesn't like going down it but she loves to play in the little pool at the bottom. She climbs in and out, in and out, wraps up in a towel, sits on Daddy's lap and just loves playing with her brothers.

More Swimming

2011-06-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

The Villezcas family invited us to the Spanish Branch party at the rec center in Mesquite and since we love the mesquite rec center we jumped at the invite!

Mekyla does NOT like to get IN the water, she likes to hang out on the side of the pool or just dip her toes in. This time she pointed at the slide and kept saying "side side" so Auntie Moki took her down. She loved the whole ride down, giggled and clapped but she didn't like the water part!

Kevin was cold and while he dried he played by the side of the pool. Just seconds after taking this picture, Jake grabbed the noodle and yanked. Kevin went flying into the pool and came out of the water shocked and even more cold! It was pretty funny. I just wish I had gotten it on camera!

Wyatt was so happy to have Pa there and when Pa got in the water, he was in heaven! He wrestled, splashed and rode Pa the whole time we were there. Pretty soon though all the other kids saw what fun Wyatt was having and they all joined in and Wyatt was only one little leech in the middle of a dozen or so.

Wyatt and Mekyla were worn out after. They each got a binkie, their favorite blankets and laid by each other on the floor. No toys, no playing, they just laid there and talked to each other. It made me so happy to watch them because they fight so much, this was such a precious moment to see.

Misc. Kyla

2011-06-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

Mekyla's hair is starting to get long enough to pull it all back into a ponytail. She is starting to look like a little girl. She has been going through a growing spurt lately and her legs are getting so long!

I know I say this every time I talk about her but Mekyla has SO much personality. She gets into so many things and can climb up on anything in the blink of an eye. The other day I left the computer desk to refill my water and when I came back she was Laying on the desk chowing down on chips that she had climbed up and pulled off the counter and snuck past me!!

The boys were playing "telescopes" with coloring book pages and when they were done, Kyla decided to play '2 broken legs'. It was so funny to watch her 'walk' all around the house with her 'casts'.

Mekyla loves 3 things, baby dolls, her ribbon blankets and sitting in weird things...oh and her Daddy so I guess 4 things! Kyla always has a doll in her arms and she loves the blankets I made her, she loves wrapping them around her shoulders. And she has started finding the strangest things to sit in/on. She is very creative and loves to explore.

Just Swingin'

2011-06-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

About 10 years ago or more, a tree started to grow down by my parents pond. It grew fast and BIG and my parents decided to put a swing on it.

Once the swing was all hooked up Kevin volunteered to be the first up and make sure it "worked right". As Grandpa pulled him all the way back I started to panic and could picture the rope coming un-done and Kevin flying and falling. So I told Grandpa to push him very soft and build up!

Soon Kevin was begging Grandpa to push him higher and higher and all the other kids waited impatiently for their turn. Mekyla was SO excited to get in the swing and she giggled the whole time. She loved every minute of it, the higher the better and was NOT happy when she had to give up her spot for someone else.

Wyatt was really excited to get in the swing but as soon as Grandpa swung him out over the 'drop off' he was not so happy! He kept saying 'smaller Pa, smaller'. He was the only one who would look down at the drop off and get scared. He wasn't ready to be done though when his turn was over.

Thank you G & G Castle for making an awesome swing and for letting us come play!!

Circus

2011-06-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

The Circus came back to town this year and we went as a big group! G&G Castle, Jones, the Villezcas' and the Jones'. The Circus was amazing to watch and all the kids had so much fun!

Kevin and Alex were best buds. I had a really hard time deciding what to watch. There was so much stuff happening on the stage and the kids were all being so cute watching the stuff that I wanted to watch them!

Jones gave each child $20 to buy something while at the Circus. Kevin and Wyatt chose these really cool swords that lit up and I thought were really fun. Well as soon as they got them and opened them they decided they wanted something else. Wyatt wanted an Elephant and Kevin wanted a different sword. We bought an Elephant snow cone and thought he would be happy with that, he wasn't! Wyatt begged and pleaded the whole time for an elephant. After the show we were dragging him past the tables with the elephants and towards the door. Nick took his sword and decided to just ask the sales guy if we could trade. He was very nice and let us trade, then Kevin walked over and asked to trade swords, he was a little more reluctant but traded swords too.

Nick is always a little jealous when we hang out with Nate because Mekyla picks Nate over Nick 8 out of 10 times. The girls were so fun to watch during the show. They were dancing and talking, pointing and laughing. We had so much fun and are looking forward to the Circus again next year!

Wyatt's B-day

2011-06-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that our Wy-Wy is three!! He seems to have grown up over night and is talking so much better that I can almost understand everything he says. He loves to copy his brother and fights with sister almost constantly. He loves sleep overs at the Castle and loves going to Jones' house for ice cream and chocolate milk. His favorite TV show right now is tough puppy and he is the master of "faces". He can pull SO many different faces. He wants to stand up to the potty like brother but he isn't quite tall enough to get over the top of the bowl. Wyatt loves to play in the water but doesn't like to be splashed. He loves shallow water that he can play with his toys in. He LOVES tubbies and would take one everyday is Kyla didn't jump in with him and totally bug him. Wyatt loves pink and girl toys. He still really likes Toy Story but doesn't beg to watch it everyday. He is really into Dinosaurs right now. He loves to roar and chase his other toys around.
Wyatt also has a really soft heart. If you look at him wrong or raise your voice at all, his face falls and big alligator tears roll down his cheeks. He is very much like me when I was young, so we have to be careful how we "talk" to him when he is in trouble, otherwise his little spirit crumbles and breaks our hearts!

We started a tradition that every year on the kids birthday day we fill the room with balloons. When the kids wake up the room is filled with balloons for their birthday. The kids always have so much fun waking up and playing in the balloons. Nick was working so I blew up 5-6 dozen balloons by mouth on my own. I was a little worried I was going to put myself into labor and was very light headed by the end!

For Wyatt's B-day party we rented the Mesquite Rec Center outside pool and slide. We were limited to only 250 people so we invited everyone we knew! It was so much fun swimming with everyone and having the pool all to ourselves. Wyatt loved the shallow end that he could run in and out of and not get too deep. He liked going down the slide a couple times with Daddy too.

The day we went shopping for Wyatt's B-day stuff we had a hard time finding the right stuff. While at Wal-mart he wanted the little soft plastic princess dolls with soft plastic clothes and a PINK Toy Story shirt. Nick said NO to both. While at ToysRUs we walked down the Power wheels aisle and while Kevin jumped on a 4-wheeler and Kyla jumped in a mini coop, Wyatt jumped onto the pink barbie 4-wheeler. At Costco we thought he would go for the Dinosaur cake but we were surprised when he went for the pretty Rainbow one :) Nick said NO so we got him to choose a different one and he liked the caterpillar.

While everyone was busy playing in the water I looked up to see Wyatt sitting happily at one of the tables opening up his presents. Well he wasn't technically opening them up, he was just moving the tissue paper to the side, looking in and then putting the package to the side. Well then he found G&G Castle's present and shrieked with Excitement, an XL T-Rex Dinosaur. He really did love all his presents and talking about how much fun his 'party' was.

Thank you everyone for coming. Wyatt had so much fun and we loved getting together with our family and friends.

The only dark cloud over Wyatt's party is that right at the end while we were cleaning up to go, Mekyla took a header off a 3 foot wall onto the cement. She hit hard and the thud was loud! She held onto the railing for a second which swung legs down first. Luckily she hit her knees first then hit her chest, knocked the wind out of her and then her head smacked the cement. She couldn't cry for a bit because she had no air and then Daddy was hugging her and kissing her and she just whimpered in his arms. We kept checking her eyes and soon she was running around, laughing and eating.

The Dad's decided to show the kids how to really slide!

Misc. Catch Up

2011-06-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

Kevin got these crab goggles and he LOVES to wear them while he swims and even when he is out of the water. Poor Kevin swims as long as he can but really quick his lips turn blue and then his whole body starts to shake so bad he can't swim anymore.

I'm not sure why he gets cold so quickly but he dries off, warms up and then jumps right back into the water.

Mekyla has never been a fan of water, but she is learning to like it very very slowly. She likes to just hang on the edge and dangle her legs in. She smiles, sings and kicks her legs and then RUNS when Daddy even looks in her direction and makes her think he is going to come get her. She does NOT like to be held and taken into the water AT ALL!

We love our Kyla girl and her big funny personality. She is so different then our boys and she keeps us on our toes and we love her for it.

Baptism

2011-06-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

The morning of Wyatt's birthday we traveled up to Bunkerville for Lacey and Durban's Baptism. It was great to see family and to see these two kids making a great decision and being a wonderful example. Nick gave the talk on Baptism and did a great job. He said that it was strange for him to be a witness because looking over and seeing Vay, he was struck that Dad was missing and should have been the one there.
Congratulations Lacey and Durban! We are very proud of you!

Uncle Nate made the girls/princesses their own 'High chairs'. They were so funny, talking to each other and acting like such Big Girls.

Afterwards Grandma Jones took us to see Kung Fu Panda 2 and all of the kids loved it. Thank You Grandma Jones!

Misc.

2011-06-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

The other day Wyatt found these Garage Sale price stickers and asked to play with them. I let him and he went to town. He had so much fun putting them on his forehead and wore them all day and then wanted to wear them to bed that night ... sure why not. And then he wore them the whole next day and the next night and the next morning I had to almost hold him down and rip them off. I thought they would just fall off because they are cheap stickers but they were actually very stuck on!! He cried and had a red marks on his forehead but they HAD to come off after 2 days!!

Kyla put a couple on but they came off a couple minutes later, luckily! Her and Wyatt are starting to get along a lot better. Often times I find them together playing some made up game, quietly and happily! What more could a Mom ask for. Wyatt is starting to be a great little helper when it's time to pick up toys and we can almost understand everything he says.

Here is our 1 broccoli that we got from our 'garden'. It was a lot of fun to watch it grow and Nick was really excited to eat it because he knew it was going to taste fantastic. However, after he had washed and washed and washed and cut apart and washed and then cooked and it was still COVERED in afids (sp?) he said he just couldn't eat all those bugs even if they were dead : ) So we don't know how it tasted but we are still very proud of ourselves and our little 'garden'.

I need to get pictures of Kevin playing video games because that is what he is doing when he isn't swimming or snuggling his little sister.

Misc.

2011-06-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

We have these "Littlest Pet Shop" toys that I keep up on top of our little kitchen. The boys will come ask for me to get them down, but not Kyla! She climbs up, throws them to the ground and then yells for someone to come get her down!! This little girl has a Big personality and she keeps us on our toes.

Kevin usually gives Wyatt a ride and then Kyla and the Wyatt and then Kyla, etc ..... well the other night while we were taking care of our 'garden', Wyatt & Mekyla decided they didn't want to take turns. Nick helped Kyla sit in between the boys and Kevin took off. When he came back from their short ride Kyla had climbed on Kevin's lap and was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Kevin was very good natured about it and just looked around her.

We tell the kids to be careful with Mommy's Tummy because there is a baby in there. The other day Kevin wanted to know when the baby would come out. I told him the baby still had to grow stronger and had to stay safe in Mommy's Tummy. He wanted to know what the baby's name was and we told him David, another baby brother. He said that made him happy : ) I think he can only handle one sister right now, hehe. Then he asked how the baby get out of Mommy's tummy? Ummmmm..... I haven't thought about how to tell a 5 year old.... we didn't want to tell him that it came out of my Belly Button like some do, so we decided to tell him that the Dr. takes the baby out. Now every time we go to the Dr. he asks, "Is the Dr. going to take out baby David today?". I love that Kevin loves his little brothers and sisters and that they Love him.

I love this picture because I remember doing this when I was little. I can remember laying on the hot ground, smelling the clorine and wet dirt and listening to the noise around me. I hope my kids look back on these moments and remember the simple joy of childhood and always attach this memory with fun.

Misc Catch Up

2011-05-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

When Daddy got home he was pinning for the beach and going through withdrawals so we headed to the pool. The pools in town weren't open yet so we headed to Mesquite and enjoyed their indoor, heated pool.

After we got there we realized that we had forgotten all of the kids floaties!!! Luckily the pool has a great shallow end, but both Nick and I were on edge watching them all like hawks! Kevin decided that he wanted to learn how to swim with out his floaties so Nick gave him a swimming lesson. He is a great little swimmer ... with his floaties : ) He can't keep his head above water without them. He moves his arms and legs great and just sinks! I think it is because he is so dang stocky, I mean he is built like a brick. We should have signed him up for swimming lessons this summer, but I forgot about it until it was too late!

Wyatt isn't a big 'swimmer' even when he does have his floaties on. He likes to just play in water and still be able to stand or ride on Daddy. Wyatt stayed in the shallow end by me and had so much fun playing with his dinosaurs. His dinosaurs roared and splashed and frolicked and giggled. Usually Wyatt plays for awhile but is ready to leave when we say, 'let's go', but not this time. This time he wanted to just keep playing and was un-happy to go.

Mekyla, in true girl fashion, sat on the side and looked cute while watching the boys be silly! She dipped her toes in a little and laughed at the boys, but when Daddy would come close to her she would get up and run away, she was so afraid that he would put her in the water!! If Daddy stayed back then she was happy to sit back in the sun with Mommy's glasses and just watch. She is such a funny little thing!

Even though we had fun while Daddy was gone, we were all VERY happy when he returned. Everything is always more fun when you have a Daddy to tackle and play with!

Kevin's Preschool Graduation

2011-05-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

In the fall we put Kevin into a little Preschool that was taught by one of our friends. It was a really small group and we were excited for him to get some great 1on1 teaching.

Kevin loved going to 'school' and he loved his teacher. He is so smart and loves to practice his letters and is very proud of himself that he can spell and write his own name.

Nick was gone when Kevin 'graduated' so I was trying to take pictures and video and watch the other 2 kids!! But it was a fun little ceremony and the kids all were very happy and proud of themselves.

Thank Joshlyn for letting Kevin be apart of your '10-'11 Preschool class. He loved it and we are so happy with the growth that we have seen in him. We are very proud of Kevin and I'm a little scared that he is getting so big. The other night I started thinking about putting him on the bus to go to school and I started to panic and almost cry!

Misc Catch Up

2011-05-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Kevin is our fish and always has been. He loves the water and could spend hours and hours playing/swimming.

He has a hard time leaving his video games behind but once he does, he has so much fun.

I feel bad because he would play a lot more if he didn't get cold so easily. After not much time his lips start turning blue then purple and his entire body starts shaking! When he just can't swim anymore he lays on the cement with a towel and dries off/warms up.

And as soon as he is dry and warm he jumps back in the water. Kevin is very much like his Daddy and Me at this age. We didn't have video games but we lived in the water.

Misc. Catch Up

2011-05-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

Kevin has become addicted to video games! The only thing that can tempt him away from the games is swimming. Last summer Kevin would BEG to play in water of ANY kind and this summer he actually stops and has to think about what he wants to do more, play in water or play games. It's funny though that whenever Kevin goes out in the sun he says, "Sunburn, Sunburn" and then runs for shade. I try to teach the kids that they HAVE to have sunblock on or the sun could give them ouchies and like everything, Kevin takes it literally and thinks anytime the sun is out and shines on him, he could get a sunburn. Silly Boy!

Wyatt was a champ when he got his cast on, no crying, no whining and was happy. When we took him to get his cast off!!!! It was totally opposite. He did NOT want them to take off his cast and he didn't want anyone to touch it. We tried talking to him before we got to the Dr. and let him know that his leg was better and that they would take off the "big bandaid". He kept telling us NO NO NO and we kept telling him it would be okay. He was already upset when they started touching the cast, but when they turned on the REALLY LOUD saw and started sawing it off, he FREAKED!!! Nick held him and tried to calm him down but he was very upset. After the Dr. cut off the cast he threw it away and then walked out ... so I made Nick reach in the garbage and pull it out because it was signed by all of us! He didn't want to but you don't argue with a pregnant lady who is holding a crying toddler!

Mekyla still doesn't really like water? She likes the hose on our front porch always and warm tubby water, sometimes, but other than that she hates it. She actually cries whenever we pull out her swim suit and runs when we try to put it on. She doesn't like to get in the pool even with someone holding her and she hates blow up water slides! She will hang on the edge of a pool and dangle her legs in and she will stretch out her hand and reach as far as she can so that just her fingers get splashed by water. We aren't sure were she got her hate of water because both Nick and I lived in water as children.

Misc. Catch Up

2011-05-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

While Nick was gone I had to fight this HUGE centipede that was luckily already dying! But even after smashing the heck out of him, he still kept moving and wiggling!!!! It was horrible! I think this is the moment I missed Nick the most!

Mekyla would wake up every morning while Nick was gone and go to the garage door and say, "daddy, daddy, daddy". She was kind of grouchy and wanted to be held but I was able to distract her with "outside" and letting her torture Fur .... just a bit : )

Kevin is getting so big! Nick told him that while he was gone, he wanted to Kevin to take care of Wyatt and Kyla and to help Mommy. He took it literally! Several times during the 10 days I would hear him tell the others, "I'm the Daddy so let me do it" or "Come here and let Daddy fix it". Usually he bathes alone because he is getting so big, but while Daddy was gone, he wanted to squeeze in with Wyatt & Kyla! They were so funny playing together.

Everyone kept asking me, "so what are you planning to do while Nick is gone?" and I always told them that I had no plan! I just 'planned' to go with the flow and have fun!

Cancun

2011-05-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know if Nick will ever write about his trip (I hope he will) but I wanted to get some pictures up. For the twins birthday, Jeff paid for and took them to Cancun!! They had a ton of fun and are planning another trip : ) Thank Jeff and Mer!!

Misc. Catch Up

2011-05-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

Caiden invited Kevin to be his 'plus 1' for his birthday party and so we decided to make a weekend visit of it! Nate & Kelli went with the older kids to Pump it Up while Nick & I stayed home and watched the younger kids. I had to laugh when I got out of the shower to see this! Nick was asleep and all the kids were happily playing around him!

Madi and Kyla mostly get along and play well together, but one thing they both can always agree on is that they LOVE Katelyn!! Poor Katelyn got so many hugs, kisses and face squeezes! I think that as long as Daddy doesn't give David too much attention, Kyla will be a great big sister.

Even though Nate & Kelli live close, we hardly ever see them! It is so much fun to see out kids together and having fun. Nick and Nate would live in the same house I'm pretty sure, so it's a lot of fun when we all get together and have such a great time!

Lacey was a great cousin and gave all the kids rides down the stairs. Wyatt had so much fun and wasn't happy about only getting 1 turn.

Thank you OTHER Jones Family for letting us come stay. We had a lot of fun!

Misc. Catch Up

2011-05-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

While the boys were having a sleep over at the Castle, Kyla took all of her 'nesting' things over to Kevin's bed and snuggled in. She has her favorite blankets with ribbons on them that she has to have and rub at night, but there are lots of other things that she wants to have around her. Nick and I call it her 'little nest'. She always has 3-4 blankets, 2-3 baby dolls a binkie and no matter how much we pull her hands away she pulls at her eyelashes!! Her 'nest' doesn't look like much in Kevin's bed but when it's all crammed into her crib it looks very nest like and I'm not sure how she sleeps with it all.

Misc. Catch up

2011-05-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Kevin has been such a big helper, well he is always a big helper, so I guess I should say that he is Still a big helper. He has fallen in LOVE with video games lately. Every morning he wakes up and asks if he can play. So I don't have to be the mean Mom and just say NO, we have started putting him in charge of doing some chores. He has to feed Fur every morning and he has to help Wyatt and Kyla get a drink of water and he has to practice writing his name and saying his letters. Kevin is such a good big brother and the best child ever. He is always smiling and always willing to help. He loves to snuggle and still wants his binkie when he is sleepy.

Wyatt stinks! And I don't mean that in like, he is a little stinker, I mean it like, he actually stinks! His cast can't get wet and so we have only been giving him spit baths and now that he is walking on his cast and playing and getting sweaty he is starting to stink! It took A LOT of convincing to get him to even step on it, but once he stepped on it a couple times he actually started walking on it. But then he went to sleep and we had to talk him into it all over again. I got desperate to bathe him so I wrapped his leg in a plastic garbage bag and laid him on his back. He was as happy as a clam to lay there and play.

Mekyla loves to be outside. She can hear the door open from the other side of the house and she will come running as fast as she can and if the door even looks like it is going to close then she dives for it and lets out a scream so you know she is coming. She doesn't like to be submerged in water, even in the tub. If the water starts to get too high then she whines and wants to get out. She LOVES water that sprays though. She loves to put her face in it, her hands, her toes. She has so much fun when Nick goes out to water his plants. Her favorite thing to do ... get down on all fours and LICK the water off the sidewalk! We have to watch her like a hawk and tell her no because if we take our eyes off of her for a second she hits the ground and starts licking it!!

Misc. Catch Up

2011-05-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

Wyatt has been doing really good with his cast. He crawled for the first couple days, it was really sad ( and cute ) to watch. He actually got really fast at crawling with it on and when he needed up he would sit on his bum and reach his arms up to you and just look at you with his big blue eyes. Like I said, sad but oh so cute! We have talked him into getting back on the trampoline but he doesn't like when brother is on there at the same time bouncing.

Kevin's Villezcas cousins have been really into Kung Fu Panda lately and so he has been on a Kung Fu Panda 'kick' lately as well. He loves to go out on the trampoline and practice his 'Kung Fu' moves. Some of them actually look pretty darn good.

Mekyla has been on a torturing streak lately and the person that she loves to torture the most is Wyatt. Not sure if it's because he is 'smaller' and 'slower' then her right now or because they are so close in age, but whatever the reason there is lots of torture. Nick has decided that maybe he should stop babying her and start being a LITTLE more firm ... we'll see how that goes!

Saturday Summary

2011-05-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying some beautiful weather lately so we talked G&G Castle into a little 4-wheeler ride. Wyatt and Mekyla were happy as clams before we even went anywhere.

We didn't go far or for very long but we had fun. Kevin was so happy that he got to ride with Pa and Wy-Wy loved 'driving'. Kyla wasn't very happy while moving because we wouldn't let her hang over the edge and watch the tires. She was happy though when Daddy let her stand on his lap.

On our way home Wyatt rode next to Kevin behind Pa. The cactus blooms were beautiful and there was amazing scenery. Thanks for the fun ride!

We went to the Spanish Branch Easter Party and got to see and pose with the Easter Bunny!

All the kids were excited. Kevin thought it was 'so awesome' and Wyatt was upset when we took it away. Kyla looks upset but she really isn't. She was smiling and giggling, it just looks sad for some reason?

Grandma Castle and Auntie Moki were painting faces/arms and Wyatt was addicted. He had both arms, his face, both feet, his toe nails painted, fingernails painted and was trying to get some art on his belly. Nick and I have decided that we need to start talking about tattoos NOW because we don't want him to come home with full body art one day :)

Dr. Gorman has heard a heart murmur twice while treating Kevin and told us he wanted us to get it checked out just to make sure it wasn't something serious. We took him into the "heart Dr" and found out that he Does have a murmur but it is an 'innocent" murmur. It won't affect him playing sports or anything and we never have to have to checked again. Yeah!

Nick has really been interested in planning our yard design. What plants, how many, what grows the best, how big they get ... etc, etc. Kevin Loves to pull the wagons around Star Nursery and Mekyla and Wyatt love to ride so it's a win/win!

That night we decided to keep enjoying the outside by jumping on the trampoline. Well somehow Wyatt landed on his foot wrong and it bent the Wrong Way! His face went white, his eyes went wide and something was wrong. Nick thought that he had just rolled it, which can really hurt, and that Wyatt would be up and walking the next morning.

Well the next morning we woke up and Wyatt was crying and army crawling out of his room. I called every Dr. in the Valley and Dr. Gorman got us in first. Wyatt was smiling while we waited and would move his leg, so everyone looked at me like, "you think it's broken? Pu-leese".

A little surprised himself, Dr Gorman came in and told us that Wyatt's leg was indeed fractured! Not big but it would need a cast. We had to wait until the next day before Dr. Thomas at NV Ortho & Spine (DO NOT GO TO HIM) could see us. He is the only Ped Dr. in the office and he lectured us that only ONE child is supposed to be on a trampoline at a time!! Hello?!?

The nurses that put his cast on were excellent and Wyatt did a great job! He didn't cry or whine at all. he just sat there and watched and then wanted his toy that Daddy promised him. He only has to keep it on for 3 1/2 wks.

The day before Easter we colored eggs. I'm not really a "stick it in some dye" kind of girl so I busted out the works! Glitter, markers, stickers, sprinkles, egg spinner, paint ... etc, etc.

All 3 wanted to use the egg spinner so Daddy helped them take turns "spinning" their eggs and I helped them explore their creative side :) We ended up with some amazing looking eggs. Our only problem? 18 were boiled 18 weren't and 'some how' they all got mixed up! So now when I grab an egg from the fridge I never know what I'll find inside :)

We tried to teach a lesson the night before about Jesus and what Easter meant. Wyatt and Kyla didn't care and Kevin was confused about how Jesus died and then was living again in Heaven. He knows that Jesus and Pa Jones are 'living' in heaven but he doesn't really understand that they died first. Oh well, he is still young and we have a lot more Easters, Sundays and FHE's to re-teach the resurrection.

Aren't they so cute? Church is at 9:am so the Easter Bunny stopped by our house while we were at church (while the kids were loaded in the car to go to church!). On the way home from church Nick asked, "do you think the Easter Bunny came?" and Kevin said, "No. he doesn't come today, it's another day."

Well he was surprised to find out that the Easter Bunny DID stop. Kevin thought everything he got was, "so awesome". The Easter Bunny had already gotten Wyatt's stuff before he fractured his leg because it was hard for him to play with the soccer ball and T-ball set! And the Easter Bunny totally failed Kyla because HE forgot her gift. Luckily the Easter Bunny's wife had made a special gift for Mekyla and she loved it!

After checking out their baskets the kids were happy to go to Jones' to hang out and have some fun.

It's been a busy and fun week. There is so much to be grateful for and to enjoy at Easter. We are grateful that Wyatt's leg was not hurt worse and that he is handling it all really well.

We are grateful for our Savior and for the sacrifice he made for us and that he has given us the gift of life after death. We are grateful to have the Gospel in our lives and the Spirit to guide us. We are grateful that our Heavenly Father has given us 3 choice spirits to teach and learn from. We are grateful for our wonderful family and for the extra mile you have gone to help us out. We love you and hope that you had a wonderful Easter.

Funny Friday

2011-05-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

The kids are so excited when Daddy comes home in the morning that they literally attack him!

They wrestle and run, have pillow fights and if Daddy tries to get away, the boys will grab his legs and giggle as Daddy 'screams' and drags them around the house. Usually Kyla just watches and laughs, but this morning she decided to get in on the action! When she jumped on Kevin's back he said, "Mom baby Kyla is too heavy and I can't hold on". He was only able to hold on for another couple drags and then Daddy broke free and the fun started all over again!

Funny Friday

2011-04-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

For FHE we were learning about Abinadi and King Noah. While telling the kids that Abinadi was telling King Noah about Jesus and to be nice, King Noah had Abinadi killed. Kevin crinkled up his nose and said, "Uh that's just rude!".

It was Kevin's turn to say family prayer the other night and he is starting to say them all on his own. His prayer started out normal ... "Grateful for Mom & Dad. Grateful for Wy-Wy and Baby Kyla. Grateful for Grandma and Pa Castle. Grateful for sleep overs at Pa's and for playing on swings at Pa's. Grateful for video games at Pa's ....."
He went on for a good 5 minutes about all the things at Pa's house that he was grateful for. I don't think he missed one little thing. I think that we know and Heavenly Father knows that Kevin is Very Grateful for Pa and Pa's House and All the fun things to do there!

Saturday Summary

2011-04-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I didn't publish this post! Sorry Ya'll!!

Clark County Fair April 2011
Well this year the fair was a little like this...

Thursday was WINDY! I couldn't even push the stroller because the wind was so strong. Luckily my wonderful husband took the week off and he used all his muscles to fight the wind :) Usually on Thursday we ride the rides but we changed things up and decided to look around INSIDE all the tents.

Kevin loved the kids science area in the Big white tent. He went around to every puzzle and tried to figure it out. He is a perfectionist like Nick and he loves to figure out puzzles like Nick too. I have a feeling he is going to be very smart.

They had a paint spinner art in the Big white tent also. Wyatt thought it was great. He would say "wow" each time he put a new color on the spinner. He was very proud of his art and carried it for a long time. All the dusty wind made his allergies act up. Poor little guy had huge boogers in his eyes all day but he was happy.

All our kids Love the Small Animals Building. We could walk around that building for Hours and none of them would get bored! The favorite, hands down the piggies. We stayed for a good 45 minutes while they looked at and pet the piggies.

Mekyla is such a climber. She will and Can climb almost anything in front of her. And she has no fear! We had to keep a close eye on her because she would climb to the very top of any fence and try to climb over. Once she realized we wouldn't let her climb over, she started trying to climb Through the fences!

Here is the annual Saddle picture. I need to pull out last years to compare, but I love taking the kids pictures on the saddle every year.

Friday was G&G Castle's 35th wedding anniversary. And despite all the warm love of their 35 years the day was terribly cold!

We got to hang with Jones for a little part of the day.

But then the rides opened up and I don't think we left the carnival area until after dark. My Dr. said I could ride any ride that didn't go upside down. However, Nick said there was no way he was going to let me ride, so he downed some Dramamine and said he would ride until he threw up. What a man :) Pa said he would trade off so that neither of them had to get very sick ... but it always seemed to be "Pa's Turn" when the easy rides came up!

Nick did amazing. He felt dizzy a couple times but he rode every ride the boys wanted to and never complained. He even rode the spinning ones back to back. Thanks babe!

Kevin loved every minute of the rides. He was cold sometimes (even with the 7 layers we had on) but he had so much fun with Alex, Jacob and his Daddy that he didn't want to stop. He would take bites of sandwich between rides, but he wanted to just keep going. He is still an inch or two too short to go alone on some rides, but he thought it was more fun to go with his Daddy.

Wyatt wanted to go on every ride he saw, even the Really Big Ones. He was so upset when the big boys would go on a ride without him, but Pa would take him and Jake through a fun house and Wyatt was in heaven. His favorite was riding the big boat with his Daddy.

Mekyla thought that she should be able to go wherever her Daddy went and had a hard time letting him go. She did get to ride the big boat and she smiled the whole time. She loved the little rides and had a blast. Nick is starting to worry because while riding the airplanes she smiled, batted her eyes and talked to the little boy behind her the Whole Time! She was such a flirt and I think Nick was truly jealous :)

Unlike Kevin, Wyatt took a break from the rides to rest for a little bit. When he woke up he was full of energy and ready for another round.

Well after dark we called it a day and packed up to head home. Kevin wanted to stay and ride more with Uncle Arthur and Alex but he could barely keep his eyes open and it started to get nasty cold. Before we were out the gate Kevin was asleep and before we reached the van, Wyatt was asleep. Kyla made it half way home before she gave in and nick made it 10 steps into the house before he crashed : )

Saturday we heard rumors of 'rain' but unless the forecast says 95% chance or more, then we never get rain, so we headed to the fair. Well while there it rained, snowed, hailed and slushed on us! It was crazy!!!

Kevin did the bungie/trampoline thing. He had SO much fun. The girl showed him how to do a back flip and once he figured it out, he never stopped. I was getting dizzy just watching him, he HAD to be dizzy from flipping so much! He was very proud of himself.

We thought Wyatt would love the bungie jumping thing, but he didn't want to do it. He wanted a gun! Nick didn't want to buy one because they were $20 each and were cheap, but we found a stall that sold smaller ones for $8 and they had lights and moving parts. The boys were in heaven!!

While running around looking at all the sites and trying to figure out how to get inside a fence, Mekyla slipped and landed face first on a metal bar. She came up screaming and was grabbing her mouth/nose. I thought she was going to have a broken nose and it looked like almost instant bruising under her eyes and across her cheek. Daddy calmed her down, kissed it better and there was no blood. 5 minutes later I looked at her and saw that her lip was sticking out a good inch or more! The color under her eyes had gone away (it was just from her crying) but her lip bruised and stayed swollen for a couple days!

I was alittle worried when she conked out 15 minutes later ... but no concussion just worn out from all the fun!

Even though there were 3 bad weather days this year, we still had so much fun at the fair. We love having something 'different' to do and running into so many friends. I can't wait for next year and Nick says the rides are all mine ... Wahoo!!

Funny Friday

2011-04-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

Nick let Mekyla play with his wallet ... I tried to warn him ... all of the sudden there was a rip and ...

Nick was 5 bucks short. Of course all he did was shrug and say, "isn't she cute?". If it had been a twenty he might have been singing a different tune!

I gave Kevin a sheet of stickers that I got in the mail and told him to have fun. He asked if he could put them on his Monster Truck ... sure why not? This picture was taken After Wyatt pulled most of them off, but it was Covered!! Kevin thought it was "awesome".

While helping Pa Castle move some dirt, they had a little conversation that went like this:
"Pa I'm tired and want to go inside"
"But we just started working"
"Duh Pa! That's why I want to go inside"
I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff!

While in the tub Kevin laid back and put the back of his head under water then at the top of his lungs yelled, "LOOK MOM, MY EARS ARE UNDER WATER AND YOU CAN'T HEAR ME!"
No my dear, I think everyone in the neighborhood just heard you : )

Grandpa taught Kevin how to tell 'jokes' recently and it is pretty much the only thing that comes out of his mouth.
Kevin: Mom, guess what?
Me: What?
Kevin: That's what. HA HA Gottcha!
Me: Oh man.
Kevin: Hello McFly!
Wanna hear a funny joke? Just come on over, Kevin will repeat his for hours!

Theatre Thursday

2011-04-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

Kevin and Wyatt have been addicted to the 70's cartoon Godzilla and the even older film! They are SO annoying to me and Nick but the boys think they are the best. And when we aren't watching them, we are 'listening' to them : )

Saturday Summary

2011-04-10T19:17:00.001-07:00

We headed into Vegas for Wyatt's follow-up appointment and to run a few errands. The kids had taken a long nap and were not very excited about the long drive home so we stopped at Aliente Park to get the wiggles out!

I was frantically trying to keep an eye on Kevin because he wanted to do everything! He went down every slide, climbed in every hole and ran through every tunnel.

After my nerves couldn't take anymore we took a stroll around the pond. The geese were really friendly until they discovered that we didn't have any food. Then they wanted nothing to do with us.

We were all really excited to see a turtle with a little tiny baby. We were surprised when we rounded the corner and found a couple dozen more turtles, of all sizes, bathing in the sun.

Since the swings, the slides, the tunnels, the dirt, the geese, the turtles and the walk around the pond didn't free the kids of all their energy, Nick ran the kids up and down a nearby hill. It was so adorable to watch. Kevin and Wyatt usually broke free and ran faster, but Daddy stayed by his little girl and they all had a blast!

Kevin asked me to draw a rainbow the other day while we were playing with chalk. He was very proud of himself when he was able to draw one of his own.

It was mekyla's first time playing with chalk and she went a little wild with it. The sidewalk wasn't her only canvas!

We went over to Jones' for Pa Jones' B-day. Poor Rylan didn't get to eat much of his cake because he kept giving Madi bites and Kyla kept helping herself.

After cake we went to the cemetery to release balloons up to Heaven.

It was freezing cold and windy, so the balloons flew off very fast. We tried to watch them for as long as we could but it wasn't very long.

And we all had a Mountain Dew for Pa Jones.

It still seems so crazy to think of him as dead and yet it is becoming 'normal' and familiar. He is living with Jesus as Kevin says and serving an extended mission as Nick says.

When Nick goes running in the afternoon we pack up everyone in the van and go with. The kids love to ride/run around the track and Fur just loves to be out of the backyard.

Wyatt noticed the 'bugs' soon after we got there but wouldn't touch them. Kevin thought the lady bugs were 'awesome' and loved watching them crawl all over.

We found TONS of 'bugs'. The grass looked like it was moving in some spots because there were so many! The kids spent a good half hour just watching and playing with them.

Mekyla and Fur are Nicks biggest supporters and really helpful coaches!

After all our fun we jumped in the tubby to wash away all the dirt and 'bugs'. Wyatt has even started taking tubbies with Kyla and is liking it : )

Hope you all had a wonderful week and next week we will tell you all about the fun we had at the Fair!

Saturday Summary x2 on a Wednesday!

2011-03-31T17:57:00.000-07:00

I have been a real slacker the last 2 weeks with blogging, but I have been busy. I have had a ton of pictures to edit for Kiss A Frog and Kelli has been using all my "internet" time to play Rummikub.

Kevin got to go with the Villezcas Family and Pa Castle to MONSTER JAM! He was SO excited!! He kept telling us, "2 more nigh nights" "1 more nigh night". He would list off all the trucks he wanted to see. He was really excited to see Taz, but when he got there, Taz was RED not BROWN and he was very disappointed!

And don't let this pictures fool you, he thought it was, "the most awesome thing ever" to climb up into Grave Digger. He talked and talked about it when he got home.

Thank You Villezcas Family for letting Kevin tag along and Thank You Pa Castle for taking Kevin. he thought it was "awesome".

Jones took us out to the Zoo in Moapa. It was cold and windy but it was a lot of fun! We didn't bring any fruit but there was a nice family there that shared with us.

Kevin was excited to see the "king Julian" monkeys, walked right over to them and stuck his finger in, just like he did with all the other animals. Well these ones were NOT nice and they bit him. He bled for a bit and wasn't too excited about seeing the resat of the animals.

The guy holding the snake kept saying, "come pet him, he's nice" so when Kevin walked over I was surprised when he pulled the snake away quickly and said, "don't pet him there or he'll bite you"....umm not cool. I wasn't very happy when Wyatt wanted to pet him, or Nick shoved Kyla in the "nice snakes" face!

Wyatt wanted the bananas that everyone was feeding the Kangaroos. He couldn't care less about petting them, just snatching the banana from their hand.

After the bite, the tour and seeing a HUGE porcupine, Kevin finally got excited about the animals when he saw the otters. He could have stood there for hours. He thought everything about them was, "so awesome".

His little heart almost burst when we went inside and he found out he could HOLD a baby otter! It was really excited and squirmed right out of his hands, but he thought it was, "so awesome"

From the moment we walked in Kevin asked, "do they have a Zebra?". Well near the end we found one. A little baby one, but it was a Zebra and it wanted to be friends.

Kevin shares Nicks love for birds. He took it like a pro when a bird walked from his arm to his head. And he had a blast when Daddy put another bird on his shoulder. He was so proud of himself for holding 2 birds! Wyatt thought it was funny, but didn't want Kevin to get too close!

Well there you have it. We will be at the Fair this week but I will try and get something posted on Sunday : )

Saturday Summary

2011-03-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

We hope you all had a wonderful and pain free St. Patrick's Day. Nick has 1 green shirt and it was in the wash, but he did have on the 4 leaf clover I bought him to wear with his uniform.

Wyatt Update: Wyatt is doing Extremely well. If you didn't know that he had surgery this week, you would never know! He has only taken 1 dose of pain meds each day and not because he needed it, I just gave it to him at bed time to make sure he had a good night's sleep. He sleeps silently and has the energy of 10 kids, never stops playing and is already starting to talk a little better. We are very proud of him and so grateful that he is better.

G & G Castle dug out some great soil from their pond so Nick went over and got a truck load, then went to Bryan's house to pick up some mulch. The kids had so much fun 'helping' Daddy with the new dirt.

After they unloaded the dirt the boys decided that it would be more fun to Jump in the dirt than to play in it.

Wyatt was afraid to jump by him self but Daddy held his hand while he jumped over and over and over....

Mekyla had so much fun playing in the dirt. She actually was putting the dirt in her diaper when I came out to check on them! The boys were just stripped and sent into the tubby, but Kyla had to be washed before she could even get in the tubby.

Nick wanted to plant a couple flowers to see if they lived, because we have really Bad luck with plants. when we got to the store we decided to skip the flowers and get veggies! If they live, we might get veggies, if they don't then we know that we have really brown thumbs. We are excited and hoping for the best. We aren't asking a lot just 1 tomato or 1 strawberry : )

All three boys enjoyed a pudding after lunch and were playing outside. Mekyla came into the computer room and grabbed the pudding that was sitting by me, I let her have it because it was closed. Well when Nick came in from outside he called for me. Kyla had gathered all the pudding and was shoveling as fast as she could before someone found her! I'm just happy that she gathered it all on the table.

We went to the Castle to let the boys play in the BIG dirt pile! They had a blast and then had even more fun in 'the pool'.

with all the jumping and splashing that was going on, 'the pool' had to be refilled. The water coming from the hose was FREEZING but the boys didn't seem to mind. They thought it was so much fun to play in.

It has been a great week. Thank You G & G Castle for the dirt and 'the pool'. Thank You Villezcas family for the fun!

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Saturday Summary

2011-03-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

All three of my babies have had these nasty mucus coughs that just won't go away. The Dr. said to give them 2 breathing treatments a day for a week....so we did....and they are still hanging around!?!?

After Castle Cousin sleep overs and the Castle we had 'Egg McMuffins'. Auntie Moki bought eggs, muffins and bacon. It was a great breakfast and we had a lot fun!

After breakfast every window blind in the living room was taken down, washed, dried and the hung back up!

It was crazy high and took All Day, but after 10 years, the blinds were in need of some TLC.

The blinds aren't the only ones who got a lot of TLC this week. Mekyla loves her brothers so much! Kevin stops whatever he is doing and returns the love. Wyatt stops whatever he is doing to push her away and then runs screaming!

Fur isn't quite sure what he should do. He really wants attention from Mekyla but then when he gets is, he isn't sure he loves it? we try to keep her from torturing him too much but.....

Sunday we headed into Vegas to see our newest niece Katelyn blessed. I'm not sure what I was thinking and why I didn't get a picture of her, but she was adorable! After church we went to Nate & Kels for lunch. There were A LOT of kids there and while eating out back they separated themselves into Boys and Girls.

While everyone was together we celebrated Caiden and Rylan's Birthdays. Again, I didn't get a picture of Rylan but Caiden really loved his new camera.

And here is Rylan waiting, patiently, with all the other kids for Uncle Nick to cut the cake! It was REALLY Yummy!

Mekyla didn't get a slice of her own, but she went around the house and finished off every piece that was left on an abandoned plate..... and I still can not figure out why my kids are sick :)

For those of you who don't know, Wyatt has snored since he was a baby. When he turned 1 it got worse and during the last 6 months it has gotten Really Bad! He gasps for breath all night long and never falls into a deep sleep. After going to a couple Drs it was determined that we had to take out his tonsils. He had to fast before the surgery so his 'last supper' was 3 of his favorite things; cheetos, donuts and Grandma Castles "tea".

He got a new book while waiting for his turn and he happily read it to his dinosaurs. When it was his turn the nurse let me walk him all the way back to the operating room door, but then I had to hand him over and cry as I watched him cry and call for me.

I sat in the waiting room crying until Nick came. We knew he would be okay because Nick had given him a blessing and felt confident that Wyatt would come through and heal quickly. I wasn't afraid that anything would happen I just felt so terrible that I had to hand him over while he was awake and scared.

When the surgery was over Dr. Goll came out and told us that Wyatt's tonsils were 'ridiculously large' and that he had to put tubes in Wyatt's ears because they were so full of fluid, infection, were swollen and he didn't think they would drain on their own. He also said they had some trouble waking him up but it wasn't a big deal. Well when they took us back to recovery, Wyatt was on oxygen and the Anesthesiologist called me over. He said that Wyatt had stopped breathing and that it took them 15-20 minutes before he would breath on his own. There was never a scare that his heart would stop, but they were really concerned about why he wouldn't breath on his own. He told us we need to follow up with our Pediatrician and that they were keeping him over night to make sure he never stopped breathing during his sleep. It was a little scary to see the Anesthesiologist so shaken, he said that he has been doing this for a long time and he could handle it, but he wasn't prepared for it.

It took Wyatt a long time to fully wake up from the anesthesia and to do anything but cry. After he took 2 good LONG naps he was awake, happy and ready for anything we would let him eat. He was so excited when they brought ice cream! He kept taking the spoon from Daddy because Daddy wasn't spooning it fast enough!! He went 36 hours without any pain meds! He never acted like his throat hurt, he never winced, never cried, never stopped eating or drinking. We are so happy that the surgery is over and that Wyatt is already breathing SO MUCH BETTER! He has been 'wired' since the surgery and we aren't sure if it's all the sugar or all of the deep oxygenated sleep he has been getting.
We love our Wy-Wy and we love all of you that prayed for us. Thank You G&G castle for watching Kevin and Mekyla. Hope you all have a very Healing week!

Wandom Wednesday

2011-03-09T09:53:00.000-08:00

I realized that my Saturday Summary didn't post, so here it is on a Wednesday!

Our trampoline has been in the Garage since Christmas and the kids have loved it. Mommy can't say, "sorry it's too cold" or "Sorry it's rainy". They can jump all they want in the comfort of our own home and watch the cold/rainy day from the window. However, Nick decided it was time to move it out back.

It is too big to talk in between our house and the neighbors so we had to take a hike! Down our street, take a right and then through a yard and over their back fence and into our yard. It was kind of a round a bout way of doing it but it worked.

Whenever we are in town we stop at Petland. They WANT you to pick up, pet and play with all the animals. They want them to be well socialized so we take the kids and let them play! Mekyla loves to run up and down the aisle and watch the puppies jump at her, but none of them actually touch her! Wyatt loves the birds and so does Kevin. Last time we went they pulled the parrot out and all 3 boys got to feed it some nuts... needless to say they all went a little nuts!

We had a gift card for Macaroni Grill so we headed on over after working up an appetite at the pet store. Anyways, after sitting, ordering, waiting, eating and being tricked into paying for something we would have gone without!!! We decided the only good thing about Macaroni Grill is the paper tablecloths. The kids loved them and didn't whine at all about the waiting or the food : )

We went into town a lot the last week and since we knew Macaroni Grill was a no no... we met up with Pa and went to Sweet Tomatoes. Kyla was in heaven and downed her Mac & Cheese, Wyatt's Mac & Cheese and was even eying the little bit Kevin had on his plate!

Kevin LOVES when we meet up with Pa for lunch. He thinks it is the coolest thing and they always have a lot of fun. Kevin loves salad, which is great, so he thinks Sweet Tomatoes is, "the greatest place ever"!

Mother Nature hasn't been able to make up her mind a lot the last month. We aren't complaining, but I always have to go walk around outside before I can dress the kids in the morning. We have been enjoying the days full of sunshine and warmth. All three of my kids love to be outside and could play for hours. I encourage this because, A: the house stays more clean and B: We are in desperate need of the wonderful vitamen D that has been far away for far too long.

Nick makes a big breakfast at least once a week and this week I told him to put some 'love' in it, so he did!

Nick and I decided that Daisy had finally calmed down enough and had learned enough to be able to go to another family. She is a gorgeous dog and we both wanted to keep her, but that was never the plan. We don't have a big enough yard or a big enough car and our kids are too little. We were able to find her a home with a couple guys who just lost a Lab they had had for years. They were in love with her! Unfortunately the 2 dogs they already had kept fighting with her so they gave her to a friend with 2 older children. They think she is the best dog in the whole world. They took her into the vet, got he shots, gave her a flea bath and have been spoiling her rotten ever since. I told Nick that all the training we did probably went right out the window! Oh well, we are glad that Daisy is happy.

Pa got a Kinect for his birthday and the grandkids have been more than happy to help try it out! It is a lot of fun to play but I think it is more fun to just sit back and watch.

Mekyla was so funny because she would run up there and copy what everyone was doing. I think she thought we were all just dancing funky!

Kevin wanted to play but didn't want to play. We finally talked him into trying it and he had a blast. He is a perfectionist like Nick and has a hard time when he doesn't do everything A+ all the time, but with some encouragement he calmed down and had fun.

Nick took me to St. George for my birthday. It was a BIG surprise! He took the day off and everything and that is a big deal because he Never takes the day off to just 'hang out'. We went out to eat at brick oven because I LOVE PASTA and Nick doesn't care for it, so we never go there. He took me shopping and just let me wander and Look at whatever I wanted and never reminded me that "we can't buy that". Then we went to a $1 movie and laughed and laughed about how spoiled we had gotten and how "old" this theater was. I would explain but it was one of those, "you had to be there" moments.

The kids have been sick again lately so all the running around and playing has really worn them out! We are going to really take advantage of this next week to rest up because it is going to get really busy here and we need some down time!

For Kevin

2011-03-02T02:00:00.000-08:00

It's been 1 year today since we lost Kevin. Sometimes the emotion is so strong that it seems like yesterday and at other times it seems like he has been gone for years and has missed so much.

It was hard to sort through the pictures I have of him and see that since last year, I have no new pictures to include in this slide. Because of the amazing love of our Heavenly Father and through the Spirit, we Know that he has been with us during every special moment in our lives this year. However this song sums up my feelings perfectly...

Dear Kevin,

We love you and we miss you. We know that we will see you on the other side in due time and that the work you are doing for our family is invaluable. We tell the kids stories and show them pictures but feel sad that they do not get to learn directly from you. Kevin reminds us all the time that you are not dead, you are just living with Jesus. But even in his perfect faith he admits that he wishes you would live with Grandma Jones again. We are so grateful for the wonderful moments we have been able to spend with you through the spirit and we look forward to the future, but sometimes it's hard because we just want to hold your hand.

Saturday Summary

2011-02-05T16:46:00.000-08:00

We were all feeling a little under the weather so we decided to go hang out in the nice sunshine and help Uncle Bryan burn some piles.

And Pa was there, it doesn't get better then Pa and outside.

Nick helped burn and rake piles. There were so many piles burning and when you looked across the field it looked like warriors coming out of the fog...it was cool.

Kevin LOVED the big driveway to ride his bike on. He rode and rode and rode and had a blast.

Wyatt was loving the out doors and was in such a good mood that he even shared his candy with Mekyla!! That never happens.....EVER!!

And when Kyla wasn't sharing brother's candy she was glued to Daddy's side.

After we helped at Uncle Bry's house we all got very sick. We have kept to ourselves this week and have just been trying to nurse ourselves back to health. So I have little to no pictures from this week and all of them consist of snotty noses and snuggling on the couch. We are feeling a little better and hope to introduce ourselves back into society this week, so stay tuned for more amazing Jones Family Adventures!

Theatre Thursday

2011-02-03T08:03:00.000-08:00

I came into the computer room to find the kids doing this.......I don't know how they all got, and stayed on there!

Sunday Summary :)

2011-01-30T22:01:00.000-08:00

This week was a Grandma and Grandpa Castle week for sure! We started out the week by going back to the middle school so Kevin could show Pa his awesome soccer skills. Kevin called game over after he made 6 goals, because, "that's just a lot"

Wyatt kept Grandma running around too. He was more interested in throwing the ball then kicking it, but Nick is sure he will win him over and that he will become a great soccer player :)

Later in the week we headed over to the Castle to play on their really fun play set. It has less germs then the park and we get it all to ourselves! Wyatt wouldn't go down the slide himself but he loved going down with Kevin. The boys would laugh the whole way down and then Wyatt would yell, "again, again" when they got to the bottom.

Kevin got a little bored going down on his bum so he decided to go on his tummy. HE thought he was so cool.

After going down with brother over and over and then watching Kevin go by himself, Wyatt decided that he was brave enough to go down by himself. He liked it but but he didn't go down very many times.

The next day we went over for dinner and Pa nibbled on Kyla for dessert. Mekyla loves her Pa. She thinks he is so funny!

Mekyla had some leaking and was all wet so Grandma threw her in the tubby. I ran to the post office and then home to grab some new clothes for Kyla. When I got back Grandma had Kyla all scrubbed and had painted her fingernails and toenails. I don't know HOW she did it but Kyla looked so cute and she loved it. If you ask to see her fingers she will show them to you.

A couple days later we were having Grandma and Pa withdrawals so we headed back to the Castle to help with some chores. The boys love to help and were really excited to rake up some piles and then BURN them. They thought it was great.

Mom and Dad's water heater started leaking and so Nick helped get it out of the house and up the hill.

While waiting for Pa and Daddy to make it up the hill with the big water heater the kids played in the back of the truck. They were having so much fun, we had to drag them away when it was time to go in.

While we were there and just hanging out Nick climbed up in the attic and tried to find out where in the heck all the water is coming from?!? After a lot of knocking and banging and talking through the intercom, they think they may have found the spot! Only the next repair job and rain will tell.

After all our hard work, and after Grandma and Pa left to go get a new water heater, we headed up to the roof and turned on the bouncy house. It was a beautiful day and since we have all been feeling sick we needed the vitamin D.

Kevin took my camera in the bouncy house and caught some of the action for me. He is actually turning into a good little photographer.

Thanks you Grandma and Pa Castle for letting us come hang out this week and for all the fun!

Saturday Summary

2011-01-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

We spent most of this week just hanging out around the house and playing.

Kevin is such a big helper. He loves Wyatt and Kyla and will get them whatever they want and if I'm not in the room I don't even know about it! I was hanging laundry one day and the kids were playing toys, Wyatt came in and said something to me so i looked at him and he had a bowl of dry cereal. i asked him where he got it and he shrugged his shoulders like, 'it's no big deal mom' and said, "Broder".

Wyatt has had some issues while sleeping which we think makes him tired and grouchy during the day, but then again I'm not quite sure if sleep or Daddy is what affects his mood. If Daddy will do nothing but play with Wyatt he is the happiest boy on the planet, ALL day long. Oh and if sister doesn't touch his dinosaurs!

When I pull the camera out and say Cheese Mekyla gives me this face.... gotta love it!

The boys LOVE playing with Daddy. Nick says it's only because I can't play with them like he does.... I think they simply just love playing with their Daddy. Moms are good for some belly laughs but they are their for snuggling. Dads can snuggle a little but they are best at playing.

Kevin has started really liking soccer, which Nick loves, so the other day we headed to the middle school to "practice". Wyatt wasn't so interested...

Kyla thought it was fun to try and "walk" Fur. He basically just walked around and she tried to keep up.

Wyatt stepped in to help but Fur just kept on walking. Kyla stepped in and they both pulled but Fur just kept walking. Wyatt gave up and Kyla tried something different.

Kyle decided it was a lot more fun to ride around and let Fur follow her. She would look over her shoulder and yell something at him and then shake her head "yes" when he looked at her. That girl has a mind all her own.

Kevin had so much fun playing soccer with Daddy. They took turns guarding the goal and shooting a goal. Nick taught him a couple different "drills" and Kevin was so cute trying to copy him.

When everyone was piled on me and starting to whine, even the dogs, I told Nick it was time to head home!

You know those awful parents that don't control their kids and let them climb all over things they shouldn't..........yeah that's us!

We were in Vegas and had some coupons so we headed to Chuck E Cheeses for some fun. Kevin loved this Dinosaur game and he was really good at it. He won like 300 tickets.

Wyatt of course loved the food. He liked the games but his favorite part about ANY game was just putting the coin in. The spongebob game lets you just put in coin after coin as fast as you can, I'm pretty sure that was his favorite :)

Mekyla loved the horse they had. Daddy had to hold the reins so the horse would "go" but she loved when the horse moved, if it stopped she would start rocking side to side to get it to go again. Her other favorite game was Hide & Seek. She ran away from us constantly! Luckily there was only 1 other family in there, but still we had to keep our eye on her the whole time!

So that's what we've been up to, just horsin' around and enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having. Hope you had a great week.

My Mom Monday

2011-01-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

So I told you that I was going to be doing a separate post to show you the amazing play house my Mom made. Well..........it's going to turn into 4 or 5 posts, because each side has so much detail and I want you to see it all.

So I'm starting with Mekyla's favorite side. This is the Garden. Mekyla loves to pull everything off and then watch her brothers put it all back on.

It has this adorable Apple tree! Each Apple is perfect with these cute little green stems.

They hook on by these little Velcro squares and I love the soft bumpy fabric that the tree is made out of!!

This is Kevin's favorite tree, a vegetable tree. It's so great that the kids have the freedom to use their imaginations.

One of my favorite things on this side is the personal stitching on the tree. I mean my Mom could have just sewn on the brown trunk and it would have been amazing. Kevin will say, "Mom look. This says Grandma & Grandpa love you"

Again the little details that you can find all around this play house amaze me.....have I said that word before? Love the Lady Bug!

Love the little Daisy hiding in the fun fringy grass!.

Love the "bricks" that are randomly all over the play house. And she didn't even straight stitch them on, she used fun stitching, which is harder to sew with.

Each fruit or vegetable has AMAZING stitching details that make each of them perfect.

My kids know what each one is without me telling them.

I find fruit and veggies in Wyatt's bed all the time :o)

THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM! We are all in love with the Play house and can't believe all the time, work and details you put into it!

Like I said I will be doing a post for each side because there is just so much to share, so check back next Monday!

Saturday Summary

2011-01-15T16:24:00.000-08:00

We went over to the Villezcas' house for Alex's B-day. It was Sponge Bob theme. Alex was pretty stoked!

We had Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Macaroni & Cheese and Cheese Doritos. My kids were in Heaven.

Alex is such a big boy and Kevin loves hanging out with "yak". Happy Birthday Alex!

Nick was working for New Years, of course, so we headed over to the Castle to celebrate the New Year with the east coast.

I picked up some cheap twist blaster things at Lins. I had never seen them before so I picked up one for each boy. They were Awesome!! I should have picked up ALL of them. Pa helped everyone twist their blasters so he ended up covered.

After all our blasted twisting fun we went inside and broke out the glow sticks. We had a ton and all the kids loved them. All those squiggle lines are Kevin.

Wyatt loved putting them on his arm. When someone put one down he would pick it up. He had like 17 on one arm.

Kyla was happy with just one glow stick and being held by her Auntie Moki. She was getting pretty tired because we aren't used to all this late night partying!

Happy 2011 to all of you. We hope you have a wonderful year filled with everything you deserve and need.

We will be welcoming another baby into our family in July. July 28th to be more exact. I'm hoping it's a boy, Nick really doesn't care one way or the other. We should find out in the beginning of March what we are having. We will keep you updated!

For Jake's B-day we headed to the Castle and had a HUGE bonfire!

Pa lit the fire an hour before we got there but we still spent most of the time like this.

Uncle Arthur braved the heat and made a smaller fire for us so we could cook dinner. Wyatt spent most of the night right here burning marshmellow after marshmellow and letting it drop in to the fire.

Mekyla was pretty content just sitting with Daddy and eating. Pretty much all she does these days is sit on someones lap and eat. We are hoping her hair is going to have a growing spurt so that's why she is shoveling food :o)

Here is a horrible picture of me and my already bulging belly. It kind of looks like I'm just standing with bad posture, but I promise it does stick out!

Time Travel Tuesday.......

2011-01-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

We are traveling all the way back to 2010. To the time of jingle bells, Santa and reindeer.

This year I wanted to make Candy Cane Reindeer. I loved making these when I was young and Nick has never made them. Kevin was very proud of himself and his favorite part was hanging the finished reindeer on the tree.

Wyatt had so much fun picking out the colors he wanted to use. After gluing on the antlers I told Wyatt, "Pick your nose". I looked over to see what color pom-pom he picked and he had his finger up his nose!

The kids and I used 1 color for the antlers, Nick was having so much fun he was using 2 colors and twisting them together. On his last one he went all out. He was by far the best looking buck on our tree.

We went caroling with the Castle crew and then the kids tried to calm down enough to go to sleep. We read about baby Jesus, we sang about Frosty, we said a Christmas Prayer and snuggled down in to our beds.

Christmas Morning was filled with so much joy.

and some disappointment too.

With all the rain we had the week before our backyard was a soupy mess. Luckily we had given Santa our garage code so he just dropped off our new trampoline inside the garage.

We called G&G Castle when the kids first woke up. Luckily they didn't show for over an hour because the kids jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped.........

We knew the boys would love it but we were shocked by how much Mekyla loved it. Even when the boys jumped by her and she face planted, she would just hop back up, laugh and start running around.

Mekyla got a little Furr-Reals Kitty and Grandpa thought it was real! He loved it so much more when he found out it was fake. He picked it up and held it the whole time he was at our house. it was so much fun to watch him.

Kevin begged for this Helicopter for weeks but we told him no because it was too close to Christmas. Thank you SO much Jones for getting it because it made this the , "Best Christmas ever"

Kevin wasn't very interested in opening more then one gift. Wyatt wanted to open each gift asap. Mekyla loved looking at the gifts once she got them but did NOT like the sound of tearing paper.

Again, Thank you Jones for Wyatt's Buzz Lightyear. This was the only toy that made Wyatt not want to open another present. He was in love.

Here is Kyla keeping a safe distance away from her Kitty. She LOVED it, she just didn't want to touch it.

My MOM is AMAZING!! She made this castle playhouse for the kids. I mean like hours and hours on a sewing machine. I am going to be doing a separate post and go into a lot more detail so I can show you just how AMAZING this play house is!!!

The kids thought it was great (and still do) and they even talked PA into coming in for a bit.

Thank you everyone for a wonderful Christmas. We love the Christmas Season and hope that all of you will help us keep it going all year long.

Saturday Summary

2010-12-18T21:44:00.000-08:00

With Christmas right around the corner our house has been busy with preparation, anticipation and lots of......

Sleep overs!

Nick was out on December 1st and got ALL our lights up. I don't have a picture of them at night but they look AMAZING!! The boys were very happy to help.

When we were done looking at our lights we headed into town with the Villezcas', the Mortensens and G&G Castle to drive through the lights at the Speedway.

All the kids were in the back of the van and they never stopped, "oooh look at.....did you see......Mom look at......I see it, do you see it," I'm pretty sure it's safe to say they LOVED it. I thought this was the best year, the lights were awesome.

After we saw the lights we went to see Tangled. It was an adorable show, I just wish it wasn't in 3D. I really don't like 3D. After the show the boys tried out the new Motion Seats that they have in the theater. The boys want to try them out, I think I'll get sick!

Jones, had a jammin' tambourine part in her school Christmas program. When she was walking off stage Kevin yelled, "Good job Jones" and she did do a very good job :0)

The next day Jones came over and helped us decorate our tree. Our decorations are silver and blue jingle bells. The kids LOVE ringing them and putting them on the tree. Daddy helped them decorate the high spots and Jones helped them un-cluster the other spots.

With all the shopping we have been doing the boys have discovered that they love riding under the carts. Works for me!

While in town we met up with G&G Castle, the Villezcas' and Great Grandma Mac at Opportunity Village.

We had some expensive cafeteria food.

And poor Pa spent the whole night waiting in line for the train. The boys would ride the train, go run through the maze, have a bite to eat, then race to where Pa was holding their spot in line.

After a dozen times on the train and maze the boys decided to try out the slide. They laughed the whole way down and Kevin wanted to go, "Again and Again and Again and Again......"

And since Mom and Moki had walked them up the stairs they had to come down too :0)

The LVMPD set up was very, VERY pathetic, so Nick and I were traitors for the night and posed at the Fire station.

The lights, trees, decorations and atmosphere was wonderful. It really seems like a magical forest. G. Grandma Loved this tree, it was beautiful in person and looked like it was leaning over from all the decorations on it.

Thank you everyone for a great time and wonderful memories. Kevin tells us every night how many more nigh nights we have to take before it's Christmas and 7 is just too big of a number, hehe!

Funny Friday

2010-12-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

Kevin was listening to some stories that Grandma & Grandpa Castle recorded for him the other night. When the book was over and the next one started he would say,

"Grandma is it this one? Wait Grandma, is this the book. Grandma wait."

Then he would look at me and say,"Mom, Grandma won't stop talking!"

After watching Pocahontas one day Kevin was dancing around the house singing, "Sandwiches, Sandwiches, dirty, yummy, kill them!"

Saturday Summary x3

2010-11-27T17:01:00.000-08:00

We went to the pomegranite festival and Grandma Jones gave each kid $20 bucks! They were really excited about it, they just didn't like standing there.

After taking a quick break the boys found wooden airplanes, boats, cars, marshmellow shooter and many other things to buy with their $20.

Thank You Grandma Jones and G&G Castle for the wonderful day. The boys had so much fun and love playing with all the stuff they got.

My Niece Myra got baptized. She was so excited and ready. Grandma Castle made her jump suit and Baptism dress. They were beautiful and Myra looked so adorable. We are so proud of her for her decision and for being just wonderful.

Later that evening Nick was in our ward Talentless Talent Show. He was in a syncronized swimming act with the Elders Quorum and a Primary Super Hero act with the Presidency.

He did such a good job. Both skits were hilarious and so much fun to watch. I have video of it but it is too big to upload onto blogger.

We bundled up and headed to the Veterans Day Parade. The boys LOVED the Police helicopter and talked about it the rest of the parade.

It was freezing cold so Grandma ordered some hot french fries, they were perfect!

Judy from Sugar's handed flags out. Kevin loves flags and he proudly waved it the whole parade.

Most of the floats were out of candy by the time they got to us but the boys were able to snag a few pieces. Wyatt was in heaven.

On the 13th we went to the Nellis Air Force Base Air Show. The boys, nick included, were really excited to see the planes.

However the excitement faded drastically after waiting in line to get on the bus for 2 hours! Everyone we knew got there just before us and got in the south line. We were parked right by the North line so we hopped in........they got in more then an hour before us.

Once in Kevin was enthralled by all the helicopters. He could have sat in the helicopter all day. he kept saying, " Mom step back so I can fly it". No guesses here on what he is going to do when he grows up :0)

Wyatt thought the planes were really loud but he LOVED watching all of them. He would point excitedly and yell, "Plane, plane" then he would hurry and cover his ears.

The bouncy houses were a very close second though.

We have had some really beautiful days in between our cold days, so we have been taking advantage of them by going to the park.

Kevin is so big, he is trying to pump his legs like Alex to swing himself. He is also still my little boy because after a couple minutes he wants to get in the "safe swing" and be pushed high.

Wyatt is so cute. He learned to jump up on the swing, hold his legs up and then just swing back and forth. He has so much fun and it's so cute to watch him jump as high as he can onto the swing.

Mekyla loves to do whatever her brothers are doing. She is afraid of nothing and will go anywhere they go. She loves to be outside and she really loves to be outside with her brothers.

I came out of "my office" the other night to see this. Daddy felt like Chocolate cake and the boys were more then happy to help out. They had just licked the beaters clean when I came in and Nick turned to talk to me. All of the sudden their beaters were loaded up with more chocolate, little stinkers!

Kevin is not much into sugar but he sure had a good helping of cake with Wyatt and Nick right along with him.

This year for Thanksgiving almost all of my Mom's family came to the Castle. It was so much fun to see everyone and to visit while eating great food!

The men braved the freezing cold wind to deep fry us a delicious turkey.

After eating the kids ran up to bouncy house the rest of the evening! They had so much fun. They came in sweaty with red noses and ears.
Thank You G&G Castle for the great food and the great Thanksgiving.

We woke up Friday morning early and tried to take advantage of some black friday deals. We got some great Christmas gifts that the kids are very, very excited about!

Freaky Friday

2010-11-26T21:18:00.000-08:00

The other day, Alex, Kevin, Jacob, Wyatt, Emmitt and Mekyla were all playing in the backyard. I was paying bills so I left the back door open and checked on the kids every minutes. Well I had just checked on the kids, sat back down at the computer and set my timer for 5 minutes. All of the sudden I hear Jake yell,
"Aunt Esther the baby, Aunt Esther the baby."
I got up and hurried outside. As I stepped out the door I saw Kevin step away from Kyla and realized she was soaking wet from her head to her waist!!

She was playing in the dog water, leaned too far over and fell in!!! Luckily for me Kevin ran over and pulled her out. I picked her up and she was frozen. She didn't cry she just stared. I put her in a warm bath, then held her and cried. She slept for hours and I just kept a hold of her.

Nick went out and tipped over the dog water immediately. I felt horrible all day. I thought that checking on them every 5 minutes was good, but if Kevin hadn't pulled her out of the water, she would have drowned before I came back out to check. It still makes me sick to think about it.

We are so blessed that her guardian angels were watching over her and that Kevin is sweet enough to listen to them. We would be lost without our Kyla Suits. We all were all singing extra songs of praise this Thanksgiving.