EasterTime

Happy Easter Everyone.
We had a great day filled with lots of fun spending time together as a family. We also enjoyed a few fun events prior to Easter. And of course, we brought them to sit on the Easter bunnies lap. Jude did well, considering last year, the picture was of him screaming and reaching for mommy. He sat still, no crying, but definitely no smiling either. Here is a run down of our Easter happenings.

Visiting the good old Easter bunny in their Easter outfits.

On Saturday we had a fun little Easter egg hunt here in the town homes. Jude loved gathering a few eggs, and of course eating the candy inside. Olive also loved playing with the eggs, and hanging out. She loves being outside.

Jude got lucky this year and received a few fun gifts from the Easter bunny and from grandma's.

And Thanks to Grandma Taylor, I think Olive may be the hottest girl on the beach this summer!

Happy Easter Everyone.
Yes, next year we will be dying eggs, this year we ran out of time!

And I included a few fun shots of Olive and Jude. As i was cleaning the house the other day, she got stuck under the chair and was making some cute faces so I had to snap a few, and of course Jude had to sneak in too!

Disneyland Fun

This year for the Jones Family trip we went to Disneyland, my dad really wanted to go and see all the kids have fun. In fact a few weeks before he died, he had told Olive that he was so excited to see her at Disneyland. The trip was already planned, so although my dad was not here to join us, we still went and we had a blast. All of the kids LOVED it, and I myself am a kid at heart, and think I loved it even more. It is such a magical place.

We had a 3 day park hopper pass- for Disneyland and California Adventure. We also broke up the week with a few beach days, and went to Knott's berry farm. It was a very busy week with long days. but we had so much fun! Surprisingly the adults were able to have fun too, we went on lots of rides, thanks to the fast pass and rider switch passes.
Thank you so much Mom ( and Dad).

Here we are at the Newport Beach temple, what a beautiful and special place.

Our little family at the beach, it was both Jude and Olive's first time. Jude loved running from the waves with his cousins, flying kites and building sand castles, and Olive loved eating the sand. - we continued to see the sand for a few days in her diapers :)

Olive was just as happy as can be, after all she was in the happiest place on earth. She was a trooper, playing, sleeping and eating with a smile all week.

Jude loved all the rides, he could not wait for a new ride. It was so cute to see how excited he was. He was a good kid too. He is so happy when he is with his cousins.

We found Goofy at Toontown, Jude was so excited, but once we got close he was a little scared.
This was on the first day, by the end of the week, he loved the characters.

Jude and Jackson playing on Goofy's car.

As you can see, it was Spring Break for quite a few people. It was crowded, but we had a good schedule (yes, I planned our day out- I'm weird like that) so we did not have to wait in crazy lines.

One night we ate at Goofy's Kitchen where we enjoyed a nice meal with a lot of characters. Goofy, Minne Mouse, Chip (from chip and dale), the mad hatter, Aladdin, Pluto etc.
It was so much fun. Jude was in LOVE with Minne mouse, he would walk around the restaurant and follow her. It was so cute.

Here are the boys at Knott's Berry Farm, getting ready for their first ride of the day!

It was a nice trip, it is always fun to vacation with family.

Yes Please.

Yes, our little Olive has been trying to tell us that she is ready to eat. Grabbing at whatever food or drink we have. She has tried rice cereal a few times, with no success. She unfortunately would vomit everything out a few hours later, so we have moved pass that. For now we just give her tastes of what we are eating. I know what you are thinking- enchiladas, lasagna . . . of course not. Age appropriate foods of course. Jude loves to help out during feeding time.

A Celebration of Life

My dad is my Hero. He always will be.

Growing up he was a great example to me of what a good husband and father looks like. From daddy daughter dates, to holding family prayer and scripture study in the home, to attending all of my sporting and dancing activities.

3 years ago, my once active dad found out some devastating news. He had been diagnosed with ALS, or "Lou Gehrig" disease. ALS would eventually affect all voluntary muscle groups including his ability to breathe on his own. Thankfully ALS does not affect the senses, bowel function and his ability to think or reason. For the last few years, it has been hard for us to sit back and watch his strong body, get weak. The small limp in his right leg, progressed through his body and other muscles weakened, until he needed a lift to get him into bed and into his motorized wheelchair.
His love was his family, he loved his grandchildren. Throughout this diagnosis and his new life, he never lost sight of who he was, the Lord was so active in his life, and often blessed him with treasured moments. He was so positive, he accepted this trial, and still found joy in the journey. He felt an urgency in his life, so he spent his days with his family, his grandchildren, traveling with his childhood sweetheart, my mother, doing family history, attending institute classes, doing missionary work, and spending time in the temple. This year has been quite rough on him, after 2 boughts of pneumonia, a collapsed lung, and respiratory distress, his lungs were weak with minimal hope of recovery. His last 2 weeks of life he was in the hospital, until he asked to go home.

My dad was being called on a mission. He wanted to go home, his heavenly home. Our family flew out and met them at home, and spent his last hours and days by his side. We are grateful to have had the chance to be with him, to talk to him, and express our love. Although his body was ravaged by this awful disease his mind was still bright. He knew exactly what was happening. He was at peace. It was a peaceful passing.

The service was a beautiful celebration of his life. My mother and us girls spoke along with his best friends. He had the service program planned.
I know he is gone from this life, but he will always be with me.
I know he is happy, his beautiful spirit is no longer confined to his imperfect body.

Us girls after a long day. After the service, and burial, and luncheon.
It was back to the house to relax.

Our little family.

Jude giving his little sister a nice hug.

The following pictures were on display at the church during the viewing and service,

to celebrate my father and his life.

This one is my favorites. It shows my mom and dad's relationship in high school, with their school dance pictures, and his love letters he wrote in her yearbook.

I love you Daddy.
PS- Happy Birthday today!

What a year. . . so far

So I have not updated my blog in quite a long time, so here comes a update. It will be all over the place, so try to understand, that is kinda where my brain is at right now.

Let's start things off, with a typical Monday night around here.
Girls getting together and watching the Bachelor.

After a great snow storm, we headed out and went sledding with some friends.

Jude and daddy had such a great time, I spent most of the time in the car with sleeping baby :)

Olive sure loves her daddy. She gets so happy when he comes home to play.

Jude and a few friends over for breakfast on the weekend.

Jude loves to do anything that daddy does. His new favorite thing is to pretend to shave his face.

I know we spent some time in Arizona before Christmas time, but we went back to play early in January while John went to Colorado for a guys snowboarding trip. Here is Olive and her cousin Alex. We call him "Big Al", and her "Little O", I am sure you can tell why by the difference in their size. They are only a week apart.

And don't get me started on little Jude and his cousins. He LOVES them. I never see him while I am in Arizona, he is off playing with his cousins all day. He has such a great time. Here he is with his cousin Jacob.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Before we left Arizona, John was able to give Olive a beautiful priesthood blessing. It was such a nice blessing, and she looked so beautiful. The dress that I was blessed in, Olive was able to wear, so it was special for me.

My sister and I with our babies. Her 4th baby boy was blessed with Olive, it was nice to make it into a family event. Her boy Alex, was born a week before Olive.


On Christmas Eve, we had an enjoyable evening in front of the tree with our little family. We read Luke 2, and just talked about the true meaning of Christmas with our kids. Starting these little traditions gets me excited for many more Christmas' to come. Jude was excited for Christmas this year, so I know each year Christmas will be more and more fun!

Here is our little princess. She is getting so big!

And of course, Jude, who could not sit still for one minute!

Our little kiddos on Christmas Eve. . . Then Christmas Morning arrives.

We spent hours playing and playing with all of the new toys.

And when Olive was not sleeping, she was playing too!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

This past week we took Olive swimming for the first time. Jude loves to swim at the indoor pool at the YMCA, so we did a little family swim date. Olive loved it. She was just so relaxed, and enjoyed the water.

My attempt at a family picture :)

And a very happy new year too!
We had a few friends over for some late night games, and food.
We had a blast!