Seminary Graduation for Brandon

Brandon graduated from Seminary on May 31.  He was asked to speak and he did a great job!  

Here is Grandpa Jones and Grandma Johnson.

Mom and Brandon!

He wasn't feeling very good that night.  He had been asked to speak several weeks before and the week of seminary graduation, he got sick.  Bummer!  He still did great though.  I'm so proud of him!

In other news, here is a picture of Brandon's graduation card I made for him.  So cute, huh? (If I do say so myself!)  :)

And this is the card I sent to Eric for his 21st birthday.  Do you see that cute little tie brad?  Oh, I love those!

And this is a picture of Jacob with the Honor Roll group at school.  What a sweetheart!  I can't believe he only has 1 year left at Arcadia Elementary! (Oh my gosh, don't get me started!)  :(

School is coming to a close!  Holy Cow!

Brandon's last concert 2015

Brandon had his last concert the end of May.  I can't believe we have attended his LAST concert.  Of course, just because he's done with high school doesn't mean that he won't still perform in his future.  I think music will always be a part of his life.  Yeah!  :)

Here's Sam  Hirst and Marche Ramirez (Brandon's friends) playing a duet together.  So cute!  (They're a couple too!)

And here's Brandon and one of his friends.  Sadly, I don't know her name.  But they did an awesome job!

The "Freaks" playing a quartet.  These guys rock!

 Cy Kitchens, Sam Hirst, Brandon Jones, and Hunter Durfee

And a couple more pictures of the same group (except Brandon is playing the Alto Sax in these ones).  

I must admit, I think I'm going to miss Brandon's concerts...even though there were soooo many of them.  :)

You're awesome Brandon!  Way to go!

Memorial Day 2015

We went and visited Grandma's grave on Memorial Day.  It was a really nice day and it was great to go and "visit."  We really miss Grandma Jones.  I can't believe she's been gone for almost 4 years!  Crazy!

And here's Matty's grave (Todd's little brother).  Jacob has the same middle name as him (Charles).  They also share the same birthday!  Kind-of cool!

We also visited Todd's Grandparents grave.

I always try to get a few pictures of our kids and usually they don't want me to.  But today I was determined to get some!  Here's my first attempt with Dallin.  

But I love this next picture.  Dallin looks a little defeated like, "Fine, I'll let you take my picture."  So cute!  Even though I pretty much had to force him, he is slowly learning!  HA!

Of course Todd is usually willing.  Love the shades, babe!  :)

Jacob is getting a little camera shy in his old age too.  UGH!  But he's usually a good sport!  I don't know why I'm not in the picture with him.  I didn't realize that we hadn't gotten one together.  For some reason I wanted to be in all the pictures.  What does that say about me?  (Don't answer that!)  :)

Try as I might, I couldn't get Kyle to take a picture with me.  And I really tried too!

I'm getting closer..."You will take a picture with me...even if I have to choke (I mean, lovingly force) you!"

And then he finally gave in!  Good choice, Kyle! 

And even Brandon took a picture with me...pretty willingly, I might add.

This isn't a very good picture because I'm a terrible photographer.  Plus, my camera isn't that great.  Oh well, I'll take whatever I can get!  I really love these boys!  :)

Happy Memorial Day!  We miss you Grandma! 

Graduation gifts 2015

I decided to make little gifts for a few of Brandon's friends for graduation.  I actually saw this idea on the internet, so I can't take credit for it.  But I thought it was so cute!  "Jones" soda!  Hilarious!

The attached note said:  

"Hats off to you" Graduate!  Here are some "nuggets of wisdom" for you to enjoy!

And then I got some Hershey's "nuggets" and wrapped a few of them with some wise sayings.  Funny, huh?  I actually think Brandon's friends really enjoyed them.

  I'm so grateful for Brandon's friends.  :)

Brandon got his mission call!

Well, after stalking the mailman for several days in a row, Brandon's mission call FINALLY arrived in the mailbox last Friday afternoon.  It had been almost 2 weeks since he had turned his papers in.  The waiting has been torture! 

Here he is proudly holding up his (unopened) call!



We couldn't open it until 7:00 because that's when we told everyone to come over.  Waiting until 7:00 to come was the longest part ever!  Even Brandon was pretty stressed.  Here he is pondering what's to come...Oh, and Ziggy!



I made Brandon take a picture of us before everyone else showed up.  I knew it would be crazy, so I'm glad we did that.  Such a cute picture!  (Even though we're both freaking out!)



Finally, at about 10 to 7, a few people started to arrive.



  We sent a notebook around the room telling everyone to write down their guesses of where they thought Brandon would be going.  It was pretty funny!



You can't see the clock in this next picture, but it was about 7:02 and Brandon was on the phone with one of his friends who was apparently lost and couldn't find our house.  I was getting a little impatient!  :)



So, we decided to go ahead and open the envelope!



Todd gave Brandon a letter opener tool, but Brandon didn't really know how to use it.  Plus he was way too nervous for such little details.  So he just ripped it open the best he could.  :)



And this is where he said, "Oh I just looked at the place I'm going."  Funny kid.  Then he finally read the call...

"Dear Elder Jones:  You are hearby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the Michigan Detroit Mission.  It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 24 months.  You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, July 1, 2015."

July 1st?  What the heck?  We were surprised that we have less than 6 weeks to get him ready!  (Oh my gosh!  We've got a lot to do!)  But we are thrilled with his call and we all feel like it's the right place for him to go.  He couldn't stand the thought of going somewhere hot, so Michigan will be right up his alley...in the winters, at least.  Brandon wanted to go to a foreign country, too, but the more we talked about it, the more we realized that even though this was in the states, it's still a new place for Brandon and it will probably feel plenty foreign to him already. 



After he read his call, we invited all the family and Brandon's friends to have some refreshments.  It was very crowded in our house, but it was really cool to have so many people there to support him.



Congratulations Brandon!  We are so happy for you!



And here's a picture of Brandon and "Agnes" (aka Stacy).  HA!  :)

Well, we'd better get to work!  These next few weeks are going to come fast!