First day of school August 19, 2015

 

Jacob is in 6th grade this year!  I can't even talk about how my baby is 11 years old!!! (So, don't bring it up.)  This is Jacob's last year at Arcadia Elementary.  That seems absolutely crazy to me!  No more Arcadia?  WEIRD! 

 

Oh....and I didn't even walk Jacob into the school this year.  He just wanted to say goodbye outside.  I tried not to cry as I walked towards the car to go home...sniff, sniff

 



Dallin is beginning high school!  I can't believe that either!  What is happening?  Dallin is in the jazz band this year.  (Remember all the early morning rehearsals with Brandon?)  Yep, he has to be to school at 6:15 in the mornings (Tues, Wed, Thurs).  UGH!  But he's excited.  He's got some hard classes this year, but he's ready to take them on.  

 

And Kyle is starting 8th grade!  I swear my kids are growing up behind my back...except right in front of my face!  How dare they do that?  :)

 

Kyle is in Chinese again this year.  He really liked it last year.  I guess we'll see how it goes.  Kyle does not play an instrument, or sing, so we won't have any concerts for him.  As busy as it always gets, it's a little bit of  a bummer.  But, I'm certain Kyle will find his "passion" sooner or later.

 



 

Here's to another school year!  Oh gosh...I'm really not ready for this!

 



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!