Mommy's Little Helpers

Who knew cleaning could be so much fun? 

I have found Adam vacumming our floor when I have left the vacuum out, he loves to clean the mirrors in the bathroom, loves to help with cooking, and he loves to dust, but Adam and Brandon's favorite is the Swifter Wet Jet.  I just don't know how I am going to afford the liquid refills, they love to push the magical button that squirts stuff out so much!

You'd think my house would be much cleaner than it is with this kind of help.  H/H!

Brandon taking his turn and below is Adam "supervising."

  (I'd hate to do white glove cleaning checks on his watch)

Adam helping paint the picture frames for his room.

I love this stage where they want to be so helpful!  I know it takes longer to let them help, but I've got to enjoy this help while I can!!

Hearts to You!

 For Valentine's Day this year we decided to make some sugar cookies.  I have never done that with our kids before and it was a lot of fun.  Papa Jones was over, so he got to help too.

 Cutting,

 Rolling, and Frosting

   It was fun to see Adam enjoy it so much.

Our Traditional Red Dinner

We did our red dinner with Erin and Mike this year.  It was a bit fancier this year with decorations, candle light, lasagne, shrimp, cherry cheesecake and raspberry chocolates, and mood music to top it off:)  Erin is so good with the final touches.  It was a lot of fun and really good too!

I think it was enjoyed by all and is such a fun tradition.  We were glad we could do it together!

On a personal note:
Not to embarrass David, but he was so sweet and hid hearts all over the house with little messages on them.  I am still finding hearts even days later and it brings a smile to my face! Thanks Sweetie!!  

Gotta Get Out!

January has always been a hard month for me, so getting out has been the best thing to cope with it!

SNOWMOBILING

 David has always wanted to go snowmobiling with me ever since we got married.  It was always so expensive, but thanks to a good deal on KSL, we were able to go up for a day (and I was able to surprise him with it for a birthday gift!)  We went to the Cabins at Bear River in Christmas Meadows, UT. 

 We rode up the Mirror Lake Highway in the Uintas.  On our way up the road, we ran into a moose!  It was so cool to see the moose, but after a while, he would just NOT move out of the way!  He was blocking our path, so we had to keep turning around and coming back until he finally decided to move off the road somewhere.  

It was an absolutely beautiful, clear day!

We made it to Mirror Lake and ate lunch there. The lake is actually behind David in the picture below. 

 There sure was a lot of snow, but amazingly and thankfully, the bathrooms were still open:)

 It was a great day to just get out and enjoy!

SKIING

 We all got free passes to go and ski at Deer Valley.  It is such a nice place to ski and we got to go with family!  It was so much fun to go as a big group.  Our nephew who is only 6 years old even came with us and showed us how it was done:)  I didn't get a picture of him though unfortunately.

I was walking down the stairs to the lodge when all of the sudden my boot just completely snapped off and broke!  Thank goodness it was at the end of the day, but still pretty embarrassing, especially at Deer Valley.  I guess that's what you get for buying $5.00 boots from the DI.  H/H! 

ICE SKATING

 Our friends told us about Ice Skating at the Olympic Oval, so we thought we would give it a try for Family Night.  They let you take your stroller out on the ice and had a walker for Adam.  It was still pretty hard for Adam, but he sure loved it when Dad pushed him around the rink as fast as he could.  It was a fun night out together.

So here's to January (and the beginning of February): You weren't able to get me down this year:)

HAPPY WINTER TO YOU ALL

Jones Jingle Jog 2010

The Annual Jones Jingle Jog

I was able to convince those who were in town this year to continue the tradition of the Jones Jingle Jog:)  We ran it at the indoor track again, and it worked out great! 

This picture of Ryan cracked me up.  I think he was ready!

We didn't do girls against boys this year, but it still was a competitive match!  No matter how much we say it is going to be a fun run, everyone seems to get a little competive edge.  H/H! 

Everyone got medals at the end.

After it was all said and done, there was still time for good ol' cousin Fun!

Thanks to everyone for being such good sports and keeping the tradition alive:)