July 4th Fireworks 2013

On the 4th of July, we got together with my Mom and Dad and Brad and Michelle's family.  First we ate ice cream sandwiches!  Yum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we lit some fireworks...

 



 

And some more...

 

And then a few more...

 

until...

 



 

 

they were all gone!

 



Happy 4th of July!  :)

Family Vacation 2013--Disneyland/California Adventure

Happy Jones Vacation!

At the end of June, we finally made it to Disneyland!  We even went to the beach one day!  Sadly, Eric didn't get to come.  We had originally planned to go the end of May, but because Eric's report date to the MTC was on June 12, we just felt like there wouldn't be time.  Plus the other kids had end-of-the-year tests, concerts, and other obligations....so we postponed it.  Yes, Eric was sad...(but he's on his mission and he's doing great.  I think he forgives us...hopefully).

 

These first few pictures were taken with Todd's iphone because my camera suddenly stopped working in the middle of our trip, so they're not great...UGH!

 

This was in front of California Screamin' in California Adventure.  And just so you know...I went on it and loved it!  Go figure! 

 

This is the hotel swimming pool.  It was nice and surrounded by palm trees.  Very secluded and totally fun!

 



 

 

This isn't a very good picture, but it was quite hilarious.  It was the shot of us at the end of Space Mountain.  Soooo funny!  (It's probably good you can't see it too clearly...I looked pretty scared--Ha).

 



 

 

Todd found this cool "Lone Ranger" hat in one of the gift shops.  He put it on and I had to get a picture!  The "paint" was a special effect from the computer...hilarious!

This was our very first ride...the safari ride.  The first day, my mom and Wendy and Anthony and their family were here with us.  The weather was perfect.  It was an overcast day and it was only in the low 80's.  We couldn't have asked for a better day!  (We tried, but sadly, that was the only "cool" day we got the whole trip).

 



This was a very cool aviation ride in California Adventure.  I think it was called, "Soarin' over California."  It was one of our favorites!

Driving the cars at Disneyland...Jacob got to steer in Todd's car, and Kyle got to steer in my car...it's good they have to wait until their 16 to drive for real!  It was just a little bumpy...

Iron Man exhibit.  Eric was jealous of this one...

 



Kyle and Jacob were fighting right before this picture was taken...they don't look too happy, but it cracks me up that Dallin and Brandon are totally smiling in the middle!  Funny stuff!

 



  It was a fun 5 days in California!  Yahoo!  (we did miss Eric though...sorry Eric)

Family Vacation 2013--Beach

 

 

  We went to the beach one of the days!  It was a really nice overcast day...

 

This is the first time we have ever been to a REAL beach!  Exciting stuff!

 



 

 

Dallin couldn't let the time go by without building a sandcastle!  Okay, this one is pathetic...he actually built a better one than this...it will be in a future pic...

 



 

Brandon hurt his foot at the hotel earlier that day, so he didn't go into the water much, because the salt water stung his owie.  :(

 



 

 

Ahhh, there is a better sandcastle.  I told you...and there's even a feather on top!

 

Way to go Dallin!

 



The kids loved the waves!

 



 

 

Sadly, we all got sunburned, on different parts of our bodies...

 



It was quite a windy day, but it wasn't so hot!

 

We still got burned though.

 



 

Scary hair!  But it's vacation, right?

 



 

 



 

 The day we went to the beach was lots of fun, but we were miserable afterwards because of our sunburns.  Apparently I didn't do a very good job with the sunscreen.  Ugh!

   When we were driving back from California to Las Vegas, it was triple digits (in the middle of a heat wave) and several cars were pulled off on the side of the road because of their cars overheating.  We had to go slower, and turn our air off a couple of times so we could make it.  It was crazy and soooo hot!  When we drove home from Vegas, we decided to leave late Sunday night, and drive through the middle of the night, so we wouldn't have to deal with the heat.  We left at about 10:00 pm our time, and got home at 4:45 am.  It was a long night, but there was very little traffic, and it was much cooler!

On the way home from our trip, I bought this souvenir in Mesquite, Nevada at a Chevron station.  We saw it on the drive up, but I decided to wait to see if I found anything I liked more on our vacation.  I couldn't decide what to get, so I got this on the way home...I was so glad we found it again...and that there was still one there!

This is what it looks like on the back!  How stinking cute!

 



 

 

It was a successful family vacation!  I'm so glad we got to go!

 

 



The Setting apart and the MTC

 

We had the setting apart on Tuesday, June 11th, the night before Eric left for the MTC.  The stake presidency came to our home, along with the Bishop and the grandparents.  It was such an amazing experience.  The minute that Eric sat down, he turned to me and said, "I know Grandma Jones is here."  I immediately agreed.  It was very tender and sweet.  I really missed her, but could feel that she was still a part of this experience. 

 

President Bigelow (our stake president) talked to us for a minute and told us that we are witnessing something really amazing in the church right now with regard to missionary work.  There has been so many young men and women who have wanted to serve and each week, there are roughly 900 new missionaries entering the MTC (and that's just in Provo).  It's quite a historical event that so many missionaries are heeding the call to serve.  I'm so grateful Eric is a part of that right now...

 

The blessing he received from the stake president was awesome and very comforting.  After the blessing, President Bigelow asked Eric to bear his testimony.  That was amazing!  He was so excited to begin his journey.  He was ready and willing to serve.  I was even ready to let him go... (mostly)

 

Eric is pictured here with a friend's special tie from our ward.  His name is Jake Cameron.  He gave this to Eric to wear and called it his "lucky tie."  He even wrote a special message on the inside.  It was so sweet!  We LOVE the Cameron family!!

 

 

 

In the morning, Eric got up bright and early, got dressed in missionary attire and began his first day as a missionary.  He did not watch TV, he did not text on his phone, he did not play video games, he did not listen to his ipod...it was awesome!

 

He even wrote a few thank you notes...Yippee!  (I love how you can see Eric's CTR ring in this picture.  It's got the notes to the song, Choose the Right, engraved on it)

 



 

Here is a picture of Eric's luggage!  Sheryl Cameron (who we love and adore) made those little smiley faces.  She crochets them for all of the missionaries in our ward.  They are what sets his luggage apart from all the other missionaries, so he can always recognize them right away.  But guess what?  Sheryl didn't even know that I LOVE yellow smilies!  I couldn't have picked those out better myself!  Ironic, eh?  :)

 



 

 

The morning before entering the MTC...still wearing his lucky tie!

 



 

 

These pictures were taken right before we loaded up the family to go to Provo to drop Eric off...

 



 

 

"Thumbs Up!"  It's kind of an Eric Jones trademark...

 



 

Loading up the car...

 



 

 

On the curb at the MTC.  I've gotta say that dropping Eric off was so amazing.  It was so organized.  There were hundreds and hundreds of missionaries lined along the curb...some of them were greeting the new missionaries, some of them WERE new missionaries.  The feeling in the air was electric! You could feel the faith of every person and it was so overwhelming and humbling.

 

What an awesome sight!

 



 

 

See ya later, Elder Jones!  We love you and will miss you!  But you are in the right place!  Good luck and we'll see ya in a couple of years!  (ahh)...

 



 

 

I only cried a little bit on the way home.  I'm so brave.  :)