Happy 24th of July 2015

We didn't light any fireworks on the 4th of July this year...and now I can't remember why.  So we decided we had better do some on the 24th.  We got together with Brad and Michelle (and their family) and Grandma Johnson.  We even waited until it was almost dark!  :)  (That's funny!)

I love this picture of Josiah, even though you can't see his face.  What would it be like to be a kid again and just casually sit on the grass and not have a worry in the world?  It's too bad that we're too young at the time to really enjoy it.

Woo Hoo!  Pretty cool fireworks, eh?  :)  (You can always count on the Jones family to have some wild parties!)  HA!

Grandma and Eric

I'm sure they were watching the fireworks too...

This is a firework I had never seen before.  It says "Doggie Doo Doo" on the package.  When you light it, it looks like "doo doo" is coming out the back end.  Picture the black snakes that you did when you were a kid.  Gross, huh?  But you can tell that Joshie loved it and couldn't wait to show it off.  :)  What a cutie!

Moriah came dressed in parts of 3 different costumes for the fireworks.  It was so cute.  Michelle said she couldn't make up her mind of what she wanted to wear...so this is a combination between Buzz Lightyear, a dancer (with a tutu) and a super hero mask. (I can't remember what the mask was...bummer.   But she is such a doll!

This is just a random picture that Kyle took of me.  I thought it turned out pretty good.  :)

Brad and Michelle

Grandma and Eric

We had a great time together!  We did have one mishap though.  One of the fireworks shot sideways towards the porch.  It was really crazy.  It was lit in the road, just like all the others, but instead of going straight up, it flew sideways, which is where most everyone was sitting.  It shot into our rose bush, then bounced off some of the brick on our house.  It even scorched a few places on our house and a couple of  burns were on one of our chair pads too.  It was REALLY loud.  I pretty much missed the whole thing.  I had just walked into the house when I heard a HUGE explosion.  I remember thinking, "Wow!  That was a loud one."  But apparently that's what happened...a firework went haywire!  Anyway, Todd told me it was probably a good thing that I wasn't out there, because I probably would have freaked out.  Me?  Really?  Ummm, yes!  

Anyway, after that happened we were done.  Luckily we had already lit off most of the fireworks.  Other than that, we had a great time! Happy 24th of July!  :)

Jacob earns his Arrow of Light July 2015

Jacob got his Arrow of Light in July.  It was awesome!  Here he is before the ceremony started.  What a cute kid!

Dad got to put the paint on his face...

Here he is getting his award...

And of course, I got the Mother's pin.

The new scout group welcomed him in as he walked across the bridge from being a cub scout to becoming a boy scout.  Exciting stuff!

Jacob and Dad

Mom and Jacob

I love his cute, painted face!  Dad did a good job!

Grandma and Jacob

I totally forgot to take a picture of the cake before everyone started digging in, so here is half of it...(sorry)

Can you imagine the other half?  :)

Congrats Jacob!  What an awesome accomplishment.  We are so proud of you!

Now onto boy scouts! (No more cubs for us...kind-of sad and WAY exciting!) HA!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

(These first couple of pictures were taken during one of our FHE's.  We made homemade root beer.  It was sooooo good!)

Happy Birthday to my Jacob!  Oh my word!  I can't believe he is 11 years old!  He is growing up way too fast!  

Jacob got a new game for his DSi for an early birthday present, so on his actual birthday he got a couple of books and a balloon kit where you can make animals out of balloons.  

The balloon kit was small, but it was pretty cool.  It came with lots of long balloons, a little pump, and instructions for how to put the balloons together to make the different animals.  He loved it!

Later that night, we went to Chuck-E-Cheese's for dinner and games.  That is where Jacob really wanted to go for his birthday.  And since he didn't get a friend party this year, I thought it was a good idea. 

It always takes forever to pick out a prize though...

Goofy Eric!  :)

One of Jacob's prize was a blow-up sword.  It was pretty cool and he was excited!

Happy Birthday Jacob!  We love you so much!  (Now slow down a little, will you?)  :)

Brandon goes to the MTC!

On July 1st we dropped Brandon off at the MTC and said goodbye for 2 years!  I'm going to miss this kid!

Loading up the van...

Last family picture at the MTC...

Unloading the van...

 Saying goodbye...

It's really crazy when you drop off your missionary.  It literally takes 2 minutes (or less).  You take a picture, hug (twice if you're lucky) and then watch your child walk up the sidewalk.  Then you get back in your car and you go home.  

We are really going to miss Brandon, but we are so proud of him!  We'll see you in two years son!  Until then, work hard!  We love you!

June Activities 2015

Once we got through the farewell/homecoming event, we only had a few weeks before Brandon was to leave, so we tried to squeeze in lots of family activities in June.  Wendy and Anthony were still in town, so that was awesome!  Of course one of our outings was to Spaghetti Factory.  (That would be like a sin in our family, if we didn't make that a priority!)  HA!  

Anthony took a selfie with everyone.  Way to go Anthony!

We had a great time eating and laughing!  :)

Here is a picture of Brandon in his missionary attire...so handsome.  I'm going to miss this kid!

Another thing we did in June was go with Brandon to the temple for his first time.  It was a really nice day.  We went to the Salt Lake Temple and then stayed to eat at the cafeteria afterwards.  It was awesome!  (Even Brandon enjoyed the meal...I think he got steak, if I remember correctly.)  :)

Eric and Brandon just had such little time to be together...so we took a few pictures of just the two of them...

These were taken the night that Brandon was set apart as a full time missionary.  It was a great evening.

I think these next two were taken the evening Brandon got set apart as an Elder.   I love this picture of my two oldest boys.  Declaring the work together...wouldn't that be awesome?

These next two pictures were taken when Megan Bigelow came to visit from Recife, Brazil.  The Bigelows have been gone for just over a year now. (President Bigelow was called to be a mission president and they left last summer.)  It was so awesome to see Megan.  She and Brandon and Zach Park got together and played Monopoly, they're favorite game.  It was a great night and just like old times.  I'm so glad that Brandon got to hang out with these two good friends before he left for his mission.

(I love this picture because everyone is laughing so hard!)  :)

This one is a little more natural...so cute and with such great friends!

Can you guess where we went next?  You're right!  Leatherby's!  I really love these pictures of our family.

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson

This picture cracks me up...I love Jacob's face!

June was really busy trying to fit everything in, but it was awesome doing so many things with our family.