Santa Claus is coming to town!

Last week we had a family get together with the Jones/Knutson family and Santa popped in for a suprise visit. The kids were so excited to see him and he had gifts to top it off. I was just waiting for one of them to cry but no one did not even the babies. Here are some pics of my kids putting in one last Christmas request. Enjoy!

Kids say the funniest things!

Last night we were hanging out the T.V. was on but we were all in the other room except for Avery, she came in and said "Mom do we live in Utah?" "Yes" I answered next she says "What are oysters?" I am thinking where is this going? I explained to her what they are... then I said "Why?" She said " She said there was this guy just on T.V. and he said Get ready Utah a lot of new oysters are headed this way." I just started to giggle then we told her what he really said was "Get ready Utah there is a lot of new moisture headed this way." I seriously was laughing so hard. My poor bladder. So then a little later she finally said "Mom what is moisture anyway?" She is such a funny kid!

This morning I was driving to my babysitters (who by the way is the best babysitter EVER!!) anyway we are headed to my babysitters and Avery says "Mom can you change your name if you want to?" I am thinking oh great she wants to change her name to some crazy thing...So I hesitantly answer "Yes you can if you really need to but most people don't, Why?" She then said "Well you should change Aidan's name to Jesus." I again try not to giggle to much, I don't want to offend her and so I just played a long and said " Well that is a good name but we will probably just leave his name as it is. Why do you think we should change his name to Jesus?" She then said "Well it is Christmas and he is a baby." Duh, why didn't I think of that first......Seriously she is hilarious.

Ahh the Holidays.....

I have been kind of a Scrooge this year. I don't know why, I just have. Anyway my kids had been begging to put up the Christmas Tree and every time it was mentioned I groaned and would give them some reason we couldn't do it until later. Thank goodness for Ron or I don't know if we would have ever put the tree up. Any way here are some pics from this momentous occasion.
Along with some other holiday fun. Enjoy!



Here is tree right after the kids finished decorating. Please notice that the decorations only made it up as high as they could reach. I usually hover over them and move the decorations around to get our tree perfect but like I said I was feeling Scrooge like and didn't want to decorate the tree in the first place. I think it turned out great and they had a wonderful time decorating.





Aidan of course had no idea what was going on so I crawled over to his favorite spot and chilled there. He has a serious curiosity about heating vents. He crawls all over my house and takes them out. Silly Boy!



Here is the happy boy during all the decorating fun.

Here are Avery and Porter at the Wayman Christmas party. I know lame that we have already done Christmas together but trying to juggle the schedules of 7 families can be a little tricky. Anyway we had a great time and think the kids were thrilled to be opening presents so soon in the Christmas season. Just a side note, Avery and Porter get a long so good together, it is so cute to see them play together.

Most of the grand kids getting ready to open their P.J.s from Grandma and Grandpa.

We also celebrated Garrett Birthday. I seriously cannot believe that he is going to be one this month. I don't know if you can tell but the circle he is sitting in is actually a cut out so you can test the toy in the store. He was so excited he just dived right in. Happy Birthday Garrett!!!!

November

I know we have all had those times in our lives that are just endless days upon endless days. That is the way it has been around here anyway. I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner and how very, very quickly Thanksgiving has come and went. They say time flies when you are having fun, so if the theroy is true that means we must be having a blast!!! Here are some of the things we were up to in in no particular order in November. I am warning you this is long.......Enjoy!!!!







Here is Aidan enjoying a spoonful of brownie mix, I know this might not be the most healthy choice for a baby mostly due to the raw eggs but I had made brownies and let the girls have the bowl and they decieded to share. I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.......or at least a chocoholic! Thats my boy!!!!

Avery lost her 1st tooth on November 8th she was so excited to follow in her big sisters footsteps and of course to get some extra cash from the tooth fairy.

Okay you know you are tired when you fall asleep sitting up. Poor Aidan! This picture and the one following were taken at about 7:30 in the morning. That day he had woken up at 6:00 a.m. and we were going about our normal routine of getting ready for work, school etc... So at about 7:00 we put him in his crib to play and we could finish getting ready and get to where we were going on time. Anyway I could hear him playing on the monitor and after a while it got quite so I went in there and this is what I found. At first I freaked out thinking he had choked or something, but soon after I realized he was breathing I just had to giggle. I checked to make sure he wasn't going to smother and let him snooze while we snapped these pics. Poor baby!

This is a picture we took at Scotsdale Park near my parents house on Thanksgiving. It is a Wayman family tradition to take pictures at Thanksgiving dinner for the annual christmas card and while we were waiting for everyone we took these. Don't I have such cute kids?

Yesterday we decided to take the kids along with my in-laws to Temple Square to see the movie at the Legacy Theater and see the Christmas lights after. Here we are hanging out in the main street plaza.

Aidan chillin' in the stroller as we cruise around the temple grounds. It was so pretty and the weather was great!

Here is a picture of the temple Ron snapped after the movie. So pretty!

Yes I know this is upside down, but that is how we took it. My kids were rolling down a hill and this is how they ended up. Silly kids!

Another great temple pic along with the lights. It was so pretty and fun to go this early in the season. It really helped to get us all in the mood for Christmas. All in all it has been a great month I know I have left a ton out. It just make me realize how lucky I am to have such a great hubby and kids to be able to do such fun things with.

Fall Fun!

Last night for FHE we or I guess I decided that we should carve pumpkins. I remember carving pumpkins as a kid and thinking it was such a blast. So Ron came home and it was getting kind of late so we set right to work. Well of course like everything else I forgot what a HUGE mess it makes and seriously it can be slightly time consuming. The girls had a great time. I however forgot to document the actual carving of the pumpkins until they were done. Probably because I was elbow deep in pumpkin guts! Oh well better luck next year. Here are the finished products!

Alyssa's is the one that is spider web. Ron is Picasso what can he say!

Here is the pumpkin Avery and I carved it is more traditional. I have to giggle a little when looking at this picture, Avery looks like she is ready to head out on a date with her pumpkin. Silly Girl!

On Saturday Aaron, Kami, Lynne, Drew and Myself decided we were going to take our kids to "Boo at the Zoo" They should put a warning label on this when advertising this event, It was scary all right but not in the way you would think. It was total craziness! I have seriously never seen so many people in one place, not even in Disneyland. We went, we saw, we will not be going back. It was still fun to get together and see the kids in their costumes. Live and Learn right?

Sydnee dressed as a spider even though it is hard to tell since she is in the snugli.

Alyssa as a peaked Hannah Montana. Poor thing on the way to the zoo she got really car sick. She spent more time in the stroller putting her head back then taking part of the events.

Garrett dressed as a Zebra. He is playing with Hannah Montana's microphone. He is seriously so cute.

Aidan as Yoda, he is such a ham!

I had to chase Griffin to get this picture he was not in a photo kind of mood. He is such a cute "lil stinker" As I was doing this post I realized I didn't have a picture of Avery or Porter. Better luck next time. Sorry Guys!

I am such a glutton for punishment. After having such a long crazy day at the zoo, with all the car sickness and such, on the way home my kids begged me to take then to the Benson Grist Mill Pumpkin Walk near our house. So I did, they had a GREAT time! Perfect ending to a kind of wild and crazy fall day!

Double Tag....

So I have been tagged TWICE so I am doing a double update I guess. Hope this isn't to long. ENJOY!



BOOED!


What was your favorite costume you wore as a kid? One year my best friend and I dressed up as Lilly and Herman Munster it was awsome!

What is your favorite Halloween candy? Anything chocolate

Do you have a Halloween tradition? Just Trick or Treating and making my self sick with the spoils.

Have you ever played a trick instead of giving a treat? No. But this might be the year.

For this I BOO: Heather, Melinda and Stephanie

Husband Tag!!


1. Where did you meet your husband? Blind Date our mutual friends set us up.


2. How long did you date before you got married? only 11 months not long at all especially since I was a senior in High School (CRADLE ROBBER)

3. How long have you been married? 11 years

4. What does he do to surprise you? There are too many things to list. My favorite though and this is lame put away the laundry.

5. What is your favorite feature? His eyes.

6. What is your favorite quality? How kind he is I swear I have never heard him say a bad word about anyone.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Em or Hey woman ( Just Kidding)

8. What is his favorite food? Ruth Chris Steak and Cookie Dough not together though, I can tell you he doesn't like veggies though and that drives me nuts!

9. What is his favorite sport? Denver Broncos Football

10. When & where was your first kiss? In front of my mom and dads house. I kissed him. TEE HEE

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Flyfishing

12. Do you have any children?3 Alyssa 8, Avery 5, Aidan 7 months

13. Does he have any hidden talents? He is a great guitar player.

14. How old is he? 33

15. Who said I love you first? He did.

16. What is his favorite music? Country

17. What do you admire most about him? That he still loves me!

18. What is his favorite color? Blue or green

9. Will he read this? Not unless I pull it up and show it to him

Who do you tag? Kami, Lynne and Natalie

The Great Pumpkin!

Oh how I love the fall the cool crisp air, the excuse to be able to drink hot chocolate on chilly days, and the changing of the leaves. Usually we are lucky enough to have neighbors or relatives that have pumpkins for us to be able to carve up and proudly display on the front porch. Well this year we decided to hit the local pumpkin patch and go pumpkin picking. It was so much fun and so cheap. I was surprised how much cheaper these were then store bought pumpkins and the pumpkins we picked were good sized. The place where we went sends you out with a big pair of gardening scissors and you wander until you find the one that is just right. You then roll it over to the side of the patch and they will come pick you and your pumpkin up for a tractor ride. The girls had a blast!! I think this will be a new fall tradition for our family!

OUCH!!!!!

For those of you who have ever had the wonderful experience of nursing a baby will know exactly what I am talking about. Just recently Aidan has cut 2 RAZOR SHARP teeth. It is so cute to see his toothy grin but it is not so cute to wonder if I am going to need stitches by the end of each feeding. All I can say is OUCH!!!! I have tried giving him the what for when this happens but he just giggles. So not funny, I am hoping in the very near future that he will realize that tears I am crying are not tears of joy and lay off, until then I guess I will tough it out and if all else fails the bottle will become his fast friend.

Our Crazy World!

Okay, I just had to take a minute and just get a few things out there that have been bugging me, or I guess on my mind a lot. First of all I realize that I along with my family we are very, very blessed and in turn very,very grateful for all the blessings we have. I have had a great life and have great friends and family.

So while I have been living my great life I guess I have formed some kind of a bubble around me and just recently realized how very naive I am. So on with what has been bugging me, let me begin with saying I am not really one that watches talk shows on TV. I for one don't really care what the famous are doing in their spare time but will watch on occasion when they actually have topic that they are discussing. Anyway it happened to be one of those days that Oprah was have show about something instead of about someone so since I was feeding the baby and was basically stuck for 1/2 hour decided to watch. The topic of the show was about Internet predators and sex abuse of a child. I am not going to go into any kind of detail as to what the show discussed I am sure you could hop onto Oprah.com and pod cast it if you are dying to watch it but let me just say I didn't even make it 1/4 the way through the show and I was so sick to my stomach I was sure I was going to vomit. I had to turn it off I decided I wanted to be educated about this I am after all a mother with small children and maybe watching I will do better at protect my children from this kind of evil. All I can say is thank goodness for DVR because I hit the record button and got back to it later and it was educational but it kept on bringing me to think. Why? Why do innocent precious children have to endure the evils of this world in such a way? And most of all what can we do about it? Well after finally finishing watching the show later that week Oprah did throw out there that there is a bill going before congress called the "Protect our Children Act Bill 1738" and to write to your congressmen and urge them to pass it so that the government agencies that are working on tracking these awful people will have the resources to do it. So I guess I was feeling a bit froggy that day and good old Orin Hatch received an email from little old me. Anyway it has just been bugging me ever since I just want to save each of these children which I know is impossible but hopefully by me giving my two cents will make the difference. I don't know it shows me that Satan is so strong and getting stronger all the time.

The other thing that has been on my mind lately is that a good friend of ours was killed in a freak car accident on Friday leaving his wife and eight children. It of course as death always does brought me back to the realization that we are going to live together and how grateful I am for this as I am sure is our dear friends wife to have the surety of the gospel in our lives. And even though the sting of death is strong now and will be for a long time to come what peace and comfort that must bring to her and so many others at this time.

That is all for now I just had to ramble for a bit. I am stepping off my soap box.

Time to download!

I haven't had time recently to download my camera! So I finally got some time today and thought I would throw on some cute pics of things we have been up to the last little while. First of all for those of you that have ever had the opportunity to feed a baby his first baby food you will probably all agree that it is hilarious. We had given Aidan applesauce to start with the week before and thought that we would go to something a little more yummy? so we decided to give him greenbeans. Well as you can see by the pictures below he didn't exactly love them. I have seriously never seen a baby dry heave until now. We were all laughing so hard. What can I say we are easly entertained.




The one on the dolphine thing obviously has nothing to do with food, but Avery promised him he could ride it so I couldn't help but toss it in.



So school is back in session at the Jones household. Alyssa started 3rd grade this year and is loving it. Avery is in kindergarten and to my suprise actually likes it. Notice I didn't say loves it but she likes it I think her favorite time of the day is the bus ride home. I am enjoying having an afternoon with just me and the baby and sometimes even to myself if he chooses to nap.



During the first week in August we headed out for another camping trip this time with the Jones/Knutson clan up in the Uintas. It was so beautiful there and we had a great time. You can tell by the outfit it was a little chilly but it was sooo fun and the kids had a great time.



For those of you who read my blog remember me complaining that I couldn't ever get a picture of all my kids looking at me. Well TA-DA!!!



Avery and Alyssa at the Provo River falls

Me being a complainer!

Okay, I have a good life I do and I know I really shouldn't complain but.........
Last night I was doing somestuff for primary and had to hop online and thought while I am on here I would check out a couple of things. Well I am sure many of you have had the times where you inteand to get on for just a minute and then end up site hoping for what becomes a huge amount of time. Anyway long story short I was web hoping and kept getting onto these blogs and websites of women who are so talented. People who have complete websites dedicated to scrapbooking or jewelery making or cute crafts or all other kinds of fantastic ideas. So I am thinking to myself who seriously has the time to make these websites?? I barely have time to blog. And was thinking why can't I be one of those women who is good at everything. I am not even good at one of these things. I know, I know having us all be different is what make the world go round but seriously there are more gals out there with talent in their little fingers than I have in my whole body. So what is my calling ? I am not a scrapbooker that is for sure I have friends that can verify that. I don't make any crafty things or have any great ideas or run a buisness out of my home while, cooking dinner feeding the baby and keeping a clean house and at the same time look cool as a cucumber. Are these women all just faking it? Are their put together happy faces fake? Well wether they are or not, in my heart I have decieded that the are and must be. I know that there is no way anyone could pull all that off. Anyway I am still jealous of the extreme talents of the masses and hope one day to find mine.....Okay I am done whinninig.

HOLY MOLY!

Okay so today is our anniversary and we have been married 11 years. All I really have to say is HOLY MOLY! When we were first married I knew we would be together forever but didn't really put much thought into the years that were going to take us there. I am so grateful for Ron and all he does for me and our family. He is such a great husband and father and I am lucky that I have been blessed to have him in my life for 11 wonderful years. Hopefully he can put up with me for many, many more. Happy Anniversary Ron!

Say Cheez

Okay, so like any parent I had this great idea that I wanted to take my kids to go and do pictures. You know capture the moment so that we can look back fondly and remember these precious times. I had it all planned out in my head that how the day was going to play out. I had scheduled our appointment for 10:00 plenty of time before lunch so no one should be hungry the baby usually takes a nap at 9:00 so I was going to feed him at 8:45 and put him in his car seat at our scheduled leaving departare of 9:15 and he would sleep the whole way there and be every so happy and we would capture that beautiful baby smile in no time. Well this is how it went down. The baby slept in of all days, he never sleeps in I think he secretly new that I had to get up to get everyone ready and choose to tourture me with thoughts of being in bed on a saturday morning when I new I couldn't if this grand idea of mine was going to get off the ground. So the nap time was now going to be pushed back around an hour to 10:00 (yes that was our appointment time). I am thinking that is okay maybe he will still sleep in the car? Yeah not. Anyway we get to the studio and miraculosly everyone is still clean no one is crying (yet) and we are on time. This is going to be great. Even Avery my non picture taking child seems up for the challenge. Well as you all well know like a ball of string quickly starting to unravel this went downhill at a rapid pace. Soon people were crying or there were boogers, drool, spit up, tears or who knows what else gumming up the pictures. By the end of it Avery was crying the baby was passing out from exhaustion and my nerves were frazzled. Poor Alyssa she is just all so patient with it all, sometimes if it wasn't for her sweet little spirit I don't know where I would be. Anyway this is how they get you see they wait until you can't take it any more and then they sit you down to decide what pictures you are going to buy. So you are either so overcome with emotion because they actually turned out you over buy or your kids are still freaking out (usually the later) so you over buy. These are smart people these photographers, you can tell they have thought this out. Bless the girls heart that took them today I warned her at the beginning it was going to be a challenge and I am sure she was quite happy to see us leave. That being said these are the pictures we had taken today. I think they turned out well for what we had to go through to get them. Enjoy!!!!