Yellow Smilies

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Life Skills

Todd decided that Eric should know how to sew on a button before he leaves for his mission, since we got him a little sewing kit and all...why not?

So, he gathered the boys together last week and had a "button-sewing" session. (I know what you're thinking....does Melissa know how to sew on a button? Yes, I do...barely!) But, I gotta say, I had a few tips here and there...go figure.

Here are all the boys with their pieces of material, string, and their buttons. I couldn't resist getting some pictures...

Way to go Dad! What's next, you ask?

Shining shoes and ironing!

End of the year concerts

Here are a few pics of Kyle's and Brandon's end-of-the-year concerts. This band concert (in elementary school) used to be my favorite concert because each year they would play Hot Cross Buns, and it never quite sounded like that....it would just melt my little heart. I used to just cry because the kids always tried so hard to play the tune...But now, they got new teachers and the band actually sounds pretty good. You can even tell what song they are playing. It was still great and it still melted my little heart!

Way to go Kyle...

Brandon's end-of-the-year cocert was great! The school hosted a spaghetti dinner along with the concert and it was wonderful. Brandon played in a little group during the dinner portion of the concert.

Then, onto the auditorium for the bigger groups...And what would a concert be without a pair of shades?

Brandon played in almost every song, including the orchestra pieces. He played 3 instruments throughout the night...flute, alto saxophone, and piccalo. Holy Cow!

Way to go Brandon! As always, nicely done! :)

Spring Fling

Well, Brandon got asked to Spring Fling on his 16th birthday! How fun! No sense in wasting time, eh? A friend of Brandon's gave him a note. This is what the note said...

"Are you "puzzled about who's going to ask you to Spring fling? More pieces to this "puzzle" will come soon!"

Then a couple of days later, a whole bunch of balloons were delivered to our house. Sadly I didn't get a picture of them before Brandon popped them all. :( Inside each balloon was a puzzle piece and a kit kat!

When you put the puzzle together, this is the name that it said. Berkley Blackburn. She lives in our stake and is such a cute girl!

This is the real puzzle (on the right side). Brandon LOVES Batman!

Oh, and here are the kit kats. I don't think they lasted long...

The dance was only like 2 weeks away and we didn't know how to answer her in a cute way, so finally, we came up with this. (my idea? putting papers inside the noodles. Todd's part? He made up the poem!)

"To answer your question, you might think us frugal,

But I first tried to find fun ideas on Google.

I skipped past pennies and pizza and strudel,

I thought about playing a tune on my bugle.

My internet searches proved to be futile,

I had to discard the whole kit and caboodle.

I decided against a herd of toy poodles,

And settled instead on a bowl full of noodles.

Now don't eat this pasta--that would be brutal--

Just find the clues inside every noodle.

This cheesy poem must end now--it's crucial,

I hope my reply meets with your approval."

So cute and creative, huh? Those Jones boys are pretty poetic!

And here's a picture of Blakely and Brandon just before the dance. So cute, eh? Do you notice the temple picture in the background? Just sayin...ha!

They had tons of fun and this was Brandon's first date! Since neither of them could drive yet, her parents took them to dinner and dropped them off (Olive Garden), then her mom picked them up after dinner and took them to Cottonwood. And after the dance, her dad picked them up and brought him home. (I so wish I could have been a fly in the car!) :)

And now...onto more dating, I suppose! How fun!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Happy sweet 16 Brandon!

Happy Birthday Brandon! I can't believe you are 16 years old! Look at you, all grown up (mostly)...And now are you telling me that you get to drive and date? (but not necessarily at the same time, right?) UGH! :)

Brandon had a great day!

These are the only pictures I could get of him. Brandon's friends gave he and 2 other friends a surprise birthday party the weekend following Brandon's birthday. Even though it was supposed to be a "surprise," Brandon knew all about it...funny kid!

Here's his present from us...a hand-full of cash! (well, a little hand-full of cash)

This is just a sample of all the gifts he got from friends. One of Brandon's friends gave him the Batman Trilogy, which included Dark Knight, which he has never seen...and I'm not sure I want him watching it....