Eric's home!!! June 2015

Guess what?  ERIC IS HOME!  For real!  

This is what the airport looked like when we walked in to wait for Eric to come off of the plane.  Apparently everyone came home on the same day!  :)

 We are waiting patiently....(sort-of)

Honestly, when families were greeting their missionaries, they looked like fools!  They were screaming and crying and making all kinds of noise, and I just knew that when Eric came down the escalator, I wasn't going to do any of those things.  I was going to keep my composure.  I was going to be calm....and not look like a crazy person.  Ummmm, I was wrong.  I was so wrong!

When I saw Eric coming down the escalator, I screamed louder than anyone!  I was thinking, "Who is making all of that noise?"  And then I realized it was me!  (So much for calm and collected!)  

Still screaming at this point...

And here he is!  

 There was a little rope/divider thing that was separating the people getting off the plane and the ones waiting...I grabbed that barrier strip/thing, whipped it over my head, and dramatically flung my arms around my son!  And then we both cried and cried!  (I'm sure I looked like the biggest weirdo of them all!  But I didn't care!)  :)

He's home!  See?  There he is!  From the moment we all stood together, my heart felt whole again!  It was so awesome!  Family...there's nothing better.

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson came to greet him too...

Perm-a-grin! (For both of us!) :)

Because the airport was so busy, there weren't any parking spots close by, so Todd ended up dropping us off at the door so at least someone would be there to greet Eric.  We were hoping that Todd would be able to park the car and still make it in before Eric came...but he didn't.  It was so sad.  Todd missed Eric coming down.  It wasn't long though before Todd showed up and it was an awesome reunion as well!  Tears all over again!

 

And these two only have 3 weeks to see each other before Brandon leaves.  CRAZY!

We had to catch a shuttle to get back to our car.  That's how far Todd had to park.  When we got on the shuttle, I noticed Eric's shoes.  They looked like they'd been used quite well.  Good job son!

Welcome Home Elder Jones!  We missed you so much!



We wondered how Ziggy would react to Eric when he saw him again after 2 years.  I thought for sure he would remember him....but, alas, that was not the case.  We had Eric come in through the front door, which already started a bark-fest by Ziggy.  When Eric came in...Ziggy didn't stop.  It might look like Ziggy is greeting him, but he's not.  He's saying, "STRANGER!  STRANGER!"

Eric tried to pet him, but he was still barking and acting very cautious.  Poor Eric.  Kyle recorded it on his ipad and it was pretty funny.  It was clear that Ziggy did not remember him.  So sad!

Still barking...HA!

 Welcome home Eric!  We are so proud of you!

Dallin graduates from 9th grade and earns the Kiwanis Award

Disclaimer:  These pictures were taken on my phone, so they aren't very clear, but they are all I have...so sorry.

Dallin graduated from 9th grade this year.  The school didn't really have a ceremony for the graduates, but they did hold an award assembly for all those kids who earned rewards.  Dallin got several awards.  He got a certificate for keeping a 4.0 GPA all 3 years of junior high and another certificate for having a 4.0 in Citizenship also.  

He also got an award for "Outstanding Academic Excellence" and another certificate of excellence for Music.  

That's my boy!

He also received the Freedom Leadership Award from Kiwanis International.  Only 12 students in the entire 9th grade are given this award.  It is teacher-nominated.  Dallin was really excited and I was really excited for him.  And so proud!  You rock Dallin!  :)

Here he is holding up the Freedom Leadership Award after the assembly.  This one was given framed!  Awesome!   

Way to go Dallin!  I am so proud of you!

And now on to Cottonwood High School.  I can't believe my third child is going to high school!  UGH!  Someone, please stop the madness! :)

Brandon's graduation 2015

Well, Brandon graduated high school!  Looking back over all of his cute school pictures, I can't believe he is all grown up (mostly).  :)  Seriously, it just went way too fast!

I made him a cute "graduation" hat, and put it on top of a glass jar filled with candy.  He definitely liked that.  I think it turned out really cute, if I do say so myself...and I do.  Ha!

And then this was my favorite part of his gift.  I couldn't wait to give him these.  Brandon has always talked about how when he grows up, he is going to have lots of "gold bars." He says he'll be rich and he will share some of them with the homeless.  

I found these "gold bars" on the internet and I filled them with candy.  They turned out great and Brandon loved them...Seriously, they looked pretty real!

I put them all around the glass jar inside the basket...

And then I added bundles of money throughout the basket as well.  It was pretty awesome!  We really didn't know what to get Brandon for graduation since he is leaving for his mission soon.  So we figured money would be the best thing.  He wasn't complaining about that!

Graduation was on June 5th at 1:00 in the afternoon at Cottonwood High School.  It was so crowded!  I have never seen the auditorium so full of people before.  We ended up sitting in the balcony and it was hot and noisy.  Plus, we could hardly see anything on the stage.  But we were there and we were proud of Brandon.  He was an awesome student and worked very hard through all of his years at school!  He graduated with a 3.9 GPA!  Awesome sauce!

Here are some pictures after graduation...

"I did it!!"

I don't remember the names of these kids...oops!

This is Brandon and "Agnes" (aka Stacy Bevan).  Cute picture...

Stacy, Brandon, Amber (band teacher), ?, Hunter, and Sully (choir teacher)

Sam, Hunter, and Brandon...such good friends.

Brandon and Amber...

I can't remember this girl's name and sadly Brandon isn't home for me to ask him...so it will have to wait for a couple of years.  Sorry (girl)...

After graduation, Todd and I took Brandon out to dinner at spaghetti factory.  It was awesome and yummy!  We came home afterwards and later that evening, Brandon left to go to the all night graduation party at Cottonwood.  

We are so proud of you Brandon.  Way to go graduate!!

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!