Matt Turns 18!

I know, I'm a little late to blog about Matt. He turned 18 on November 5, but what can I say, he was more than a little late making his entry into this world. He was supposed to be a Halloween baby.

Matt is our third child and our only boy. Richard sure was happy when he found out we were having a boy.

Wasn't he a cute kid? This is a rare photo of a boy who is actually squeaky clean. Boys sure can get into a lot of messes.

Here he is on a school day when he was in kindergarten. I was going to say that it was a first day of school picture but the candy canes in the background remind me that it couldn't have been the first day of school. There he is with his pal, Sarah, who is only 15 months younger than Matt.

Matt used to wish and wish for a brother until.... he figured out that he would never share a room or wear hand-me-downs. Pretty smart, huh? He does his share of teasing, but all in all he is a good brother and pretty patient considering that he has 5 sisters.

Matt is a lot of fun and we are so glad that he is in our family.

His birthday didn't start out all that great this year. His mean mom took him to MCC where he took his placement tests and enrolled in an online class next semester. Matt is 1 year away from serving a mission and I kept telling him that he will be glad when he gets home from his mission to have all of his English and math out of the way. I don't think he was very glad, but he was a good sport and took the tests and enrolled.

After that, we went to YC's Mongollian BBQ. When you look up the definition of the Word of Wisdom it will never say anything about YCs because even though the food there is mostly vegetables they give you soooooo much.

Last, but not least, Matt and I celebrated his birthday by going to Megamind, which we both enjoyed. It was fun to spend the day with you Matt. I hope you have a wonderful year. We love you!

The Best Uncle Ever!

Allie took a huge step in her life this month and became the parent of one of the cutest little newborns I have seen in quite some time. In fact, I'll have to say he is adorable as you will see later in this post. It is scary taking on that much responsibility, but we think Allie is definitely equal to the task.

Meagan and Hyrum announced last week that they are going to have a baby in May and after seeing this post they may decide to enter their child right into the witness protection program upon departing from the hospital.

Here is Matt, the best uncle ever. Earlier this month when we became foster parents to the 4 Jones cousin chickens, Matt was right there to greet them and welcome them to their new home. He is such a good guy! No matter how many sisters come into this family he somehow adjusts.

Here are the new chickens in captivity.....

And here is Matt helping them to adjust to their new home.

This is Allie's new baby. I don't know if he really has a name (or even if he is a he) because everyone seems to call him something different. Allie brought him over so that we could meet our new "grand turtle" and it was definitely love at first sight. Isn't he cute?

This gives you an idea of how small he is. Allie says he is going to be one of those huge turtles that you see at the zoo. Hard to believe.

Here is Matt, the best uncle ever, making a new home for his turtle nephew. The Jones family may recognize the cage and if you really want it back we will give it to you, but we are going off of the possession is 9/10ths of the law rule for right now.

This is what our grand turtle came to us in. Can you believe a cardboard box for a house? We almost had to turn Allie into TPS (turtle protective services) but we decided to help her out instead.

Look at turtle in his new home, doesn't he look happy? If we could get a closer shot and he would stop pulling his head into his shell I'm sure you would see his smile.

Matt even bought him this cute little, fake, cactus so that he can feel like he is out in the desert.

Here is turtle all ready for Halloween this year. He is considering being a clown. Yeah, it will probably be a long time before Allie lets us have visiting rights again and Meagan and Hyrum may cut us off completely, but it sure was fun having a "nephew" and a "grand turtle" for 24 hours. Thanks for sharing Allie!

The Best Of Both Worlds

No, this is not a blog about Hannah Montana. It is about my family. Much more interesting than Hannah Montana could ever be. This is a picture of my parents and my two brothers and two sisters. As you can see there is quite an age gap.

Here we are again at a family wedding. By the time I was 10 years old all of my brothers and sisters were married with families of their own. So, the first half of my growing years were spent with siblings where I was undoubtedly spoiled and the second half of my growing years were spent as an only child. At times all parties involved used to scream "foul play". Some of my siblings felt that I got all of the money and of course I always felt that they got all of the time, meaning that when they were little they went on camping and sledding and fishing trips and by the time I came around we didn't always do those things but we did travel and stay in hotels.

Well, time passed and as the years have gone by I am freely admitting on this blog that I really did get the best of both worlds. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters, but I was mostly raised as an only child and I probably did get a lot of material things that they may not have had growing up. I don't know that I always appreciated the one-on-one time that I had with my parents when I was growing up but the upside is that Heavenly Father allowed me to have a second chance. When I was young and complaining about having to mow the lawn my Dad used to tease me and tell me that he had me later in life so that I would be there to take care of him and Mom in their old age and specifically so that he would have someone to mow the lawn. I would never have believed then that I would grow up to marry a man who is a landscaper and a horticulturist and that there would actually be a time in my life when I would love working outside and planting things and yes, even mowing lawns. In fact, the smell of fresh mowed grass is way up at the top of my list of favorite smells and smells that I associate with great memories. It reminds me of my father and my husband, both great men.

Well, my dad's prediction kind of came true, although I'm not sure if I take care of them more or any better than they take care of me. My parents are 85 and 83 now and I get to spend every Monday and Thursday with them after I get my children off to school and Mondays and Thursdays have become my favorite days of the week. I'm grateful that I now have a chance to go on adventures with them and listen to family stories that I didn't always take the time to appreciate when I was younger. I've heard it said that youth is wasted on the young and that might actually be true. Don't get me wrong, being young is great, but as I have gotten older I have taken more opportunities to think and reflect on the many blessings that I have enjoyed in life and come to more deeply appreciate the many blessings that Heavenly Father has allowed me to experience. Here is a picture of my parents taken about 9 years ago. They ride these motorized scooters pretty much everywhere they go and I run a lot faster to keep up with them than I ever did to keep up with my children when they were little. These scooters allow them to still go on plenty of adventures and we always have a great time together.

My parents always host a fun Christmas party in their home every year where Santa makes an appearance. We all love these parties and my parents are especially grateful that "Santa" makes the effort to come.

They also love to have visits from their grandchildren and now great grandchildren.

Here is a picture of my dad and my sister, Sharon. Sharon lives about a mile from my parents and is one of my heroes in this life. She works harder than anyone I know. She was 18 when I was born and even though there is quite an age difference she was so good to me when I was a little girl. (And the kindness hasn't stopped even though I am all grown up.) She used to actually wake me up early on Saturday mornings and watch cartoons with me. How many sisters in this world would do that? I think one of the first words I ever learned to say was "She on" and when I went to bed each night she always told me the best stories.

I know my brothers and sisters may have thought at times that I was the favorite child, but it absolutely isn't true. Even later in life, my parents adopted a little girl named Tipper and she is definitely the apple of their eye. Here is a picture of my mom and Tipper. If you think I was spoiled you should meet Tipper. That dog wants for nothing and she is great company for my parents. I am so glad that they have her, she keeps them young.

My parents have really tried to be at the crossroads of all of our lives. Here is a picture of my parents with my nephew, Edward, on the day he returned home from his mission to Brazil. Can you see the love, pride and sheer relief on their faces that he served honorably and that he returned home safely. My parents are very specific in their prayers and all of their posterity is definitely watched over and prayed for.

My mother is very creative. She is definitely the "Lucille Ball" of the 2000's. She can come up with more ideas for fun or things to make or do than can possibly be accomplished in a lifetime. My dad tells me often what a good choice he made in his marriage partner.

Here is a picture of my dad with a "Santa" that he loves very much. In the background is a picture of my sister, Sandra. Sandra died of cancer 6 months after this fun, family Christmas party. My parents were so kind to Sandra and her family during the time that she had cancer and her son, Daniel had leukemia. My parents helped Sandra by staying with her and Daniel in Tucson during the time that he was getting a bone marrow transplant and cooking and washing clothes so that Sandra could focus on Daniel. My parents gave service to Sandra and she gave service to my parents by allowing them to love her and help her. There were times when she was so sick and I would watch her eat some favorite food that my mom had made for her even though she and I both knew she was going to throw it up later but she did it because she loved her parents and she wanted to show her love and appreciation for all that they were doing for her. I have no doubt that Sandra left this world knowing that her parents loved her and that is truly one of the best gifts anyone can give their child.

On most mornings you can find my parents sitting at the kitchen table playing a game of dominoes. When I was little games used to be played so that chores could be assigned. The loser was assigned a chore and my parents played to win. That is probably why I like to play games and also why I might be accused of being a little too competitive. Now, the morning game is played to see who gets to be "in charge" for the day and who is "right" if any disagreements may arise. I think the whole concept is hilarious and I am proud to say that both of my parents still definitely play every day to win. My dad always smiles if I come over while they are in the middle of a game of dominoes because he knows that my mom will start talking to me, become distracted and he will win. I know it and he knows it and maybe my mom even knows it, but she usually does visit and my dad usually does win. This walk down memory lane just confirms to me that I really do have the best of both worlds. And so, I will take this time to publicly tell my brothers and sisters, "you are right, I really do live a very privileged life." The beauty is that Heavenly Father let me and my parents live long enough so that I could realize that blessing in my life. I am so grateful for my family!

49 And Still Divine!

Those of you that think Richard is so serious really need to get to know him better. He is downright goofy.

What do you get for the man who has owning a BMW on his bucket list when you just don't have that kind of money? 2 tickets to ABBA MANIA! Those of you that know Richard know that he is a huge ABBA fan.

Happy 49th birthday, Richard.

Here he is taking us on one of our many family adventures. He is always such a good sport.

Here he is with his father, Bill, on their motorcycles. They have had so much fun riding together. Last summer they took a week and rode all through Colorado.

You are looking at 3 generations of goofballs, but we love them.

Richard and I have been married 24 years, so that means next year when he turns 50 he will have been married for half of his life. Zooey Mamma!

So many guys like to tell fish stories, but this is the real deal here. Have you ever seen a fish so big? No, he is not smoking a cigarette that is a sucker in his mouth.

He is a chicken lover, but what he really loves is Hot Tamales, Junior Mints, Boston Baked Beans and Good & Plenty. I think he learned to like some of those things because he knew that nobody in the family would ask him to share them.

Richard almost always has the highest bowling score when we bowl and he doesn't even wear brightly colored knee socks for luck. That is true talent!

One of the reasons I love him so much is because he is always willing to help out around the house.

He doesn't take enough time to unwind and relax but when he does he sure has fun.

He has an amazing sense of style.

Here he is with his mom, Terri, and his step-father, Les.

He loves to travel. He has been to England, Japan, Canada, Holland and Mexico.

In this picture, the lead rope on this horse is about to come undone and this horse is going to take off galloping. Richard was right there to rescue Paige and Kaylee and give them a priesthood blessing when they got hurt. We love our Dad, he is always there when we need him!

Richard doesn't always show his silly side to a lot of people, but I am lucky enough to have seen it often over the years.

If you ever wonder where the kids get their attitude, now you know.

Richard loves roller coasters almost as much as he loves his family.

I'm pretty sure this is sunscreen that hasn't been rubbed in well enough. The children probably told him he looked fine.

Who is that attractive couple?

The kids love their "poppy". Would you like to know a secret? Everyone thinks Richard is so tough, but the kids know that he is really a softy. The strict one is the Mom in this house. Shhh, don't tell his secret.

I guess I should have shown this picture of him looking tough and serious before I revealed that he is a softy.

Here he is with his Grandma Cluff. She has been gone for several years now and so she can't defend herself from any of the stories Richard tells about her. He claims that she used to have him work all day gathering pecans and that she only paid him a penny a bucket. I guess we have her to thank for his incredible work ethic. Happy birthday, Richard. We love you!