Birthdays all Around!!!

Hunter has just turned 3 ... and Collin 5. It's been a whirlwind of non-stop birthday parties culminating in this weekend's extravaganza of a monster birthday get together for all spring birthdays on the Jones side. Aunt Angie made some very fancy cakes for the Whetstone party (Hunter had a Wall*E cake and Collin had a three-tiered BYU basketball cake!) We forgot our camera so we'll have to get some pix from Chris -- suffice it to say they were awesome and the boys were in birthday cake shock!

In like a lion ...

Wow, I’m not sure what to do with myself right now. Savannah is at tumbling, Collin took Hunter to his friend Carson’s house, Trey is taking a snoozer and Kelli is teaching her math class – one of those moments when there is so much I could do I don’t know where to start! So, why not write a blog entry since those have become few and far between since our move from overseas.

Life is really good these days. I think we’re finally coming out of our winter snow dumping. I guess it wasn’t as bad as last year, but just 2 weeks ago we had a snow storm that dumped 18 – 24 inch by the time I got home from work. It was really the first time that I felt an 800 snowblower would be well worth the money. Lucky for us we have some great neighbors we helped get the really slushy stuff from the road plows so we could get into and out of our driveway --- after 2 hours of shoveling that wet stuff

myself it was just a little tiring. Excited for some spring weather and chance to work out in the yard and an excuse to kick to kids off the Wii!

Speaking of the Wii, Hunter is hilarious. He navigates through the menus like he’s 18 years old. He knows every little character, how many weapons they have, if they are good or bad, and all the various levels. We wish he had some little friends to play with in the area, but now that he’s potty trained he figures he’s earned the right to tag along with Collin.

Collin is doing really well. He enjoys preschool and loves to come home and color his ‘homework’. Last week we went to the

BYU-Utah basketball game. He first of all has a count down chain to his birthday … and somewhere on there was the a chain for this game he’s been counting to for about 10 days … uh, oh – Trey’s awake … free time over! ……. And here it is nearly a week later and I’ve found some more time to finish this e-mail. Collin was a rabid BYU fan at the game whipping the white-out towel right in my face as the cougars moved ahead towards the end of the game (and a good sport at that). We had to make BYU and Utah pancakes the day of the game. He loves to play b-ball on his little hoop in the basement and is always making ‘squishes’ as he calls them.

Trey is growing in leaps and bounds. He hates Dad babysitting him twice a week because that means 4 hours without Mom and his food source. It’s actually kind of funny. I’ll hold him so his back is against my chest and he’s facing outwards. When he’s hungry he wants nothing to do with me. If he ever sees me or hears my voice, he automatically starts to cry. And he’ll only take formula once in a while. One thing I’ve found that works without fail is to play basketball with Collin and hold Trey in one arm. That pacifies him every time …

Savannah is doing really well in school, tumbling and loves to play with friends. We just attended her parent teacher conference and her teacher, Mrs. Shaw, says that Savannah is a joy to have in class and is very respectful. Savannah says that she only likes school a ‘little’ and that’s because she likes her friends and recess, but doesn’t like doing all the work. Mrs. Shaw says that they’ve really been driving the kids hard this year … almost too hard. So, Savannah is feeling a little burnt out. We’re really wishing we had the Australian school year so the kids could get more of a break (2 weeks between terms) and spread things out a little more. She did have crazy dress up day at school which she found very entertaining.

Kelli and I are doing well. Kelli continues to train for her triathlon in May and is teaching twice a week at the community college. I am enjoying work at ATK, training for a 100-mile bike race and ‘playing’ with the scouts and kids. All quite crazy and yet entertaining. And thank goodness we can finally see the grass again ...

... and Kelli

Kelli failed to mention that she has been doing a very diligent job of training for a triathlon this coming May. She originally started by doing some serious shopping - and I have to admit she looks pretty darn hot in her new biking and triathlon gear. I would post some pictures but first I'd have to be sneaky enough to take them and second I'd end up sleeping on the couch ... probably till may. The other night we went on a 'date' to the swimming pool and did some laps. She's doing great and is gradually building up to the 300 meter swim leg (then 12 mile bike and 3 mile run.) She's pretty determined and it will be fun to watch her and Jenny do it.

Our lives

I admit I've been a blogging slacker. No reason. Here are our most recent happenings in a nutshell:

1. Hunter is officially potty trained. No special tricks, just made him earn his Wii time by going to the potty and like magic it happened.

2. All four kids are currently sick with colds/congestion. We're actually grateful they all got it at once and they're not puking (knock on wood).

3. I went shopping (to the mall--hasn't happened in a great while). On my last stop, my credit card was denied. Turns out someone got our credit card number and decided to go on a shopping spree of their own. (Our bank's fraud protection squad caught it so quick!)

4. Jessy has been chosen to give a lecture to grad students. Unfortunately, it's on a subject he knows very little about. On the up side, he has studied up on this particular subject for the past two weeks and feels like he can actually do it--go, Jessy!

5. Trey has started laughing. He's very ticklish.

6. I found a recipe for baked taco salad shells. One of our new favorites. Yum.

7. Savannah has another wiggly tooth. Do you think she could get some new ones before losing any more??

8. Collin has come up with plans to paint a BYU football field in our backyard when the snow melts. The drawings are all over the house. And he has given several away to friends and family.

9. Our garage door opener is now fixed. Yea! The repairman just fixed a broken wire (shame on the first repairman who tried to make Jessy buy a $500 motor!!).

10. The kids are learning the 13th Article of Faith--Savannah's got it down, and Collin is almost there (we overlook the pronunciation--"birtuous" and "ammunition of Paul" are close enough).

Ice Running?

There was also a video of Hunter taking a few steps on his own with his itty, bitty skates, but honestly, something about Savannah's style cracks me up. I don't know if it's the oversized gloves or what, but something about her form makes me laugh. The best part is the last 10 seconds or so, sorry for the other 35 seconds of them standing around, deciding what to do next.
And here are the sideliners--Trey was very content (he'd just filled his diaper--of course he was happy!), and Collin quickly decided that ice skating wasn't for him. I guess hockey won't be one of his passions.

COULD IT BE TRUE???????

Rumor has it that my sister-in-law Stacy saw a package of cookies at Target. It was labeled as "Tim Tams" and also had "Australia's favorite cookie." She said they looked like the Tim Tams we sent them. If they look like Tim Tams and they sound like Tim Tams... This could be a dream come true (especially since Jessy doesn't know that Savannah and I just ate half of our last package!!). Good bye, New Year's Resolutions. Hello, Tim Tam slam!!

Good times at home ...

Thank goodness for Kelli and her willingness to keep up the blog in my extended ‘absence’. Actually, it’s been more like a confinement in the basement the past 3 months. Straight from work to downstairs – nailing wood, running wires (only got electrocuted once!), hanging insulation and the like. Thanks to the great generosity of many family members we were able to get the majority of the basement work done within the 3 months and before Thanksgiving. As such we were able to spread out a little more when the entire Jones clan came over for 4 days of family reunion bliss :) We had a great time enjoying one another’s company, playing games, doing activities and eating lots of scrumptious food

If you don’t mind a few moments of personal reflection – the last couple of months have been somewhat anxious and exciting all wrapped in one. With the economy in a downturn and a democratic president coming into office, one can only help wonder if moving from the government security to a private sector defense contractor was a smart move. My company seems solid and still moving steadily forward with our contracts. Our group of 10 people does a lot of preliminary design for new projects, so as long as the company is vibrant and trying to bring in new business, one can conclude that we should always have work to do. Right now we are doing the design on the replacement for the space shuttle. It’s a lot of fun and I’m really enjoying it. All the wondering and anxiety goes by the wayside though every time we have a family get together. I see the expression on our kids faces and those of grandmas/grandpas/cousins and the like and I get a feeling this is indeed where we need to be right now. We’ll just keep working hard and I’m sure things will work out.

The kids have been very good at their one line comments lately, but I haven’t been very good about writing them down. Collin just today during our tithing settlement had a pretty good one. The bishop turned to him and asked what we should pay. After some thoughtful contemplation he responded, “Uh, pay attention?” We all got a good chuckle out of that one.

We also had the opportunity to get some high school friends together. It’s been a long time since the old gang gathered in one place, so it was good to reminisce and have some laughs. We’ve really enjoyed the holiday season. We’ve been able to hang lights and decorate the Christmas tree along with all sorts of other decorations. We were even able to watch the first presidency’s Christmas devotional – live!

Trey is doing very well and growing by the day. All his brothers and sister are extremely helpful and good to one another. Savannah has actually mellowed out quite a bit since assuming the big sister role with the little one --- only to be replaced by Hunter who has had a harder time adjusting to having a new attention grabber on the scene. He’s become quite mischievous with everything – include peeing on the new carpet downstairs and hiding a video game under the plastic toy slide. Hopefully it’s just a phase :)

Well – till next time our thoughts and prayers are with all of you.