Dallin and Emma--Monster Mash 2015

Here's Dallin waiting for his date, Emma, to pick him up for Monster Mash.  And by the way, Emma's dad drove for the evening. :)

They dressed up as 1920 gangsters.  They both looked really cute! :)

Emma and Dallin

After Emma (and her dad) picked up Dallin, they went back to her house for dinner.  They doubled with another couple, but I don't know who they were. (Oops!)  Then they were driven to the dance and after it was over, they went back to Emma's and watched the movie, Poltergeist.  SCARY!  They weren't able to finish it, but I know Dallin had a lot of fun on his first date!  :)  I'm sure there are many more to come...Oh, give me strength!  HA!

Dallin got asked to Monster Mash! What?

But first, here are a couple of pictures of Eric on his first day of school.  :)  He is currently attending LDS Business College!  I can't believe I have a returned missionary son in his second year of college!  UGH!  But he's so cute! :)

Some things never change...

So Dallin got asked to Monster Mash!  We were all just having a quiet evening at home when suddenly Dallin received a message from one of his friends, telling him to go look at the moon outside.  "Okay, I will."  And he did.  And this is what we found on the front porch...

It's kind-of hard to tell what it is from the pictures, but it's Luke Skywalker and that crazy animal from the movie, Star Wars.  It was all on a big poster with a secret message that had to be decoded...it was pretty cool!

Here's a close up of the key to solve the message...

The message said "Monster Mash?"  And then it was signed by Emma Jones

Dallin was pretty excited.  After all, he had just barely turned 16 the week before! 

This is how Dallin answered her back.  We didn't have a lot of time to spend on creativity, so I told Dallin that every girl loves flowers, so he came with me to the store to pick some out. 

Pretty, huh? :)

We also got a pack of donuts and put this on the top..."Doughnut" you know?  So cute, huh?  :)

And then we bought some glow sticks and made them into light sabers and Dallin drew this picture of Darth Vader.  Amazing!  On the back of the picture it said, "You don't have to 'force' me to go to Monster Mash with you.  I'd love to."  It actually turned out quite well, if I do say so myself.  And it was all accomplished in one evening!  

Here it is all together...

                

Whew!  Now wait a minute.  Are you saying that Dallin will be going on a date now?  "But who's going to drive you?" I asked.  (Neither one of them has their license.)  HA!  I guess we'll see what happens!  In the meantime, I can't believe that my third son is old enough to date! UGH! :)  I'm getting so old...

The Living Planet Aquarium Labor Day 2015

We decided to take a last minute trip to the Living Planet Aquarium in Draper on Labor Day.  Todd and I have always wanted to go there, but we never have.  It's not very cheap, that's for sure.  But we had a good time walking around and seeing all the different animal displays.

 

Toucan...

 

 

 

Turtles

 



 

They had this rope/bridge thing that you could go across.  It was high up.  I decided to just go to the other side and take pictures...pretty smart, wouldn't you say? :)

 



Funny kids!

 



 

Here is a blue frog.  I'm not sure why I felt compelled to take a picture of this little guy, but since I did, I couldn't leave him out...

 



 

 

I believe this is a picture of a crocodile (or alligator).  Can you see his eyes sticking out just above the surface of the water?  Creepy!

 



 

 

More turtles...

 



Turtle...and me and Jacob.  (I must secretly like turtles.)  :)

 



 

 

I have no idea what kind of birds these are, but they were sleeping (well, trying to) and they were so cute standing on one leg. Does anyone know why they do that?  I would definitely fall over...

 



 

 

This is a dolphin.  They were so cute.  We loved watching them swim and "waddle" around on land.

 



 

 

The shark tank was at the end.  I love these next two pictures of the kids, as they are taking pictures themselves.  Kind-of cool.  :)

 



 

 

And here is everyone!  We definitely missed Brandon!

 



 

Having a rest before we went home. 

 



 

 

Sharks...

 



 

...and more sharks.

 



 

We had a good time at the aquarium.  I'm glad we went.  Happy Labor Day! :)

 



Happy 16th Birthday to Dallin!

Dallin turned 16!  (Oh my gosh, what is happening?)

 

Dallin wanted pizza for dinner, so that's what he got. :)  Grandpa Jones came over during dinner and that was awesome.

 

 

The birthday boy and his amazing cake!  I mean, really, how much more spectacular could that cake be?  (Well, there could be decorations, candles, and bday greetings, but besides all of that...)

 



Smile for the camera, Dallin. :)

 



 

Yea, boy!  What's better than kit kats and a rapid ramen cooker?  HA!

 



And chocolate milk....let's not forget that.

 



His real present, however, was a phone!  That was Todd's idea (mostly).  I just went along with it.  :)

 

Dallin loves having a phone! 

 I think this is the most I've seen him smile in a very long time. :)

 



 

Me and Dallin

 



 

Dallin and Grandpa Jones

 



 

Grandma Johnson and Dallin

 



 

 

Grandpa Johnson and Dallin

 



Happy Birthday son!  We love you!  And we are so grateful that you are a part of our family!

Jones Backpacking Trip August 2015

The weekend before school started, Todd took all of our boys (except Brandon, of course) on a backpacking trip.  They had a lot of fun.  They went to Twin Lakes in the Uintahs.  That is where Todd has been going for years, even when he was a kid.  I've never been there, but apparently it's pretty awesome! :)

 

Here is some of the camping gear...they're getting ready to load up!

Oh, I just love this picture.  All my cute boys! 

 

Jacob is prepared with his walking stick!

 



 

And here are some pictures of them at their camp.  Matt and Rob joined them the first night, but then they went home the next afternoon.  They all had a great time!

 

Matt, Eric, Jacob, Kyle, and Dallin  (I love the toilet paper in the picture right by Eric's foot...that's funny!  Don't leave home without it!)  HA!

 



Dallin, Eric, Jacob, Kyle, Matt, and Rob

 



 

It really does look pretty there.  Cool!

 



 

 

One of the new activities they have started doing the last few years is stacking rocks.  There are tons of rocks around the area where they camp and they try to stack as many as they can without them falling over.  The crazy thing is that they are all different shapes and sizes.  It's really all about balancing them.  Physics at work... :)

 



 

Todd loves doing this activity and it seems that he's pretty good at it too.  Pretty awesome. 

Good job honey!

 



They all had a great time and they all survived.  Whew!  And what did I do, you ask?  Well, let's just say that I had a whole 48 HOURS to myself and it was over way too quickly!  :) HA!

 

BUT, I was glad when they came home.  Life is meant to be shared with families! (Of course, breaks from families are good too...just sayin'!)