Happy 24th!

It’s been a week of happy occasions in the immediate and extended family – definitely enjoy writing and thinking about these kinds of weeks. The kids as well were up to their usual antics, but we’ll keep that for later :)

Last week we finally finished off our last birthday of the spring – we went from Hunter to Collin to Kelli and then mine. Poor Savannah is out on her own there at the latter end of the calendar. At least the new little one will be coming along to join her pretty soon! Well, relatively soon. Actually, it’s a long, dreary 180 days to go – but who’s counting. Guess you can tell who hasn’t proof read the blog entry yet, eh? So the birthday was ok, but the biggest news is that our extended family (Jacob and Robyn) had a new little baby girl the same day! Her name is Rya (R-I-A) Afton Jones. We are all very excited for them … now it’s double the cake, ice cream, party hats, pin-the-tail on the donkey. Just exactly what someone needs who is now moving through their 30’s … a little niece who will keep the lighter side of birthdays going.

Jacob and I also both found out the very same day that we’d been offered jobs. That was a lot of stress and anxiety gone for the both of us. We are going to end up at an aerospace company near Brigham City, Utah and Jacob is more than likely going back to the old stomping grounds and will teach math at the high school our PARENTS went to. So, yes, it was a happy day all around!

I do have to talk about one down side to the day. We decided to go eat out to celebrate the birthday and job. We don’t go out too much down here because there aren’t any Applebee’s, Outbacks (go figure), Olive Gardens, etc. If you want to eat out you generally go to a pub – yep, family friendly even. Our kids are generally monsters when we take them in public, so we rarely venture out so as to avoid even the slightest possibility that they will embarrass themselves and us. But, there is this nice looking restaurant near the city park where we live. It’s even called the Family Restaurant on Civic Park. Now how can you go wrong with a name like that? Well, we did. You walk in and you’re immediately hit with a nose full of seafood and Chinese food aromas. It was a pretty busy night and they were pulling card tables and whatever else out of the closets to accommodate anyone and everyone who walked through the door. As Kelli mentioned, I’m sure we surpassed the quota for the fire code regulations. But, it was a buffet and not very classy, so the kids pretty much could do what they wanted and no one would notice. The kids ate chips (French fries) and meat pies (which they probably bought from the local store and stuck in the microwave) and Kelli and I ate some of the greasy Chinese food. The bonus was the dessert rack which we let the kids go crazy on. I definitely had a headache by the end and it was one of those times you just couldn’t leave fast enough. We figured it was at least a memory to take with us.

As usual the kids have been full of it. Ever since we took Collin to the footy game he’s been playing all the footy he can. He uses the couch in the living room as his ‘goal’ and has to kick the ball over the couch to get points. Luckily his little leg can only carry the ball just over the couch, so thus far he hasn’t broken anything. Savannah has to temper her aggression a little more. We had one picture knock-down with her aim, but luckily it didn’t break. Hunter has also been sporting his athletic side. Every time he gets dressed (regardless of what he gets dressed in) he has do the ‘Collin dribble’ which is basically putting both hands in front of you and doing a jig while bouncing both hands up and down. It’s pretty hilarious. Hunter has also turned into quite the musician and will play Collin’s guitar while bobbing his head up and down and walking around the house.

We also bought season tickets to BYU football games. I’m a die hard Utah fan, but it’s more for the atmosphere then anything. Immediately after buying the tickets I made sure I found the UofU hats and told the boys that they need to keep their priorities straight even when going into ‘enemy’ territory. I’m sure they won’t mind wearing red. Collin just likes the uniforms and has a fancy for whatever color looks the best at the moment. He does like red, though.

A few one liners and funny happenings from the past week: Savannah went to a birthday party for a girl from church. It was only for the ‘big girls’ and Collin was upset that he couldn’t go. Kelli tried to distract him by telling him that when we get back to America he can have a party with his Grandmas/Grandpas/aunts and uncles. His response to that was, “NO!! I don’t want a party with them – I only want big girls!” Need I say more? Collin has also been watching too much TV lately. He’ll just come up with some of the most random sayings. The other day he told Kelli that, “Dad is clever because he can put on my missionary tag.” And then he said, “Ready and Action!” when we ready to start playing Guesstures. And lastly, from Collin again, we were asking the kids at dinner what we should call our new baby. Collin perked up and said, “SHICKEN!!” Kelli looked at him with disbelief and Savannah responded, “Who would call there baby CHICKEN!!” To which Collin retorted, “I didn’t say CHICKEN, I said SHICKEN!!” So, we’ll just call it the week of the Collin. He did start his first full week of kindy (3 hours a day except he ‘has Fridays off’ – as he puts it.) The kid is a kick in the pants … literally!