Merry Christmas 2009

A small announcement for everyone. Enjoy.

Thanksgiving

A little late getting some of these things posted, but I just wanted to put up a few of the highlight pictures that we took while on our trip for Thanksgiving to visit our family. As a disclaimer I must add that when you spend a total of 4 days in the car you have to get creative on keeping the kids entertained, especially when you are trying to stretch out the stop for a little while longer. LOL! Overall the boys traveled fabulously and the drive was worth it to be able to see some of our family. We love you all!

Relief Society an International Women's Organization

Another reason that this is my favorite time of year, is because it is the annual General Relief Society Meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is broadcast to all of the Relief Society women throughout the world, I always feel amazed when I think of all of the women all over the world doing the same thing at the same time. It truly is a wonderful organization of women and I am so thankful to be a part of it.

The messages that were shared were truly wonderful, so many good things. A few that really stuck out to me, is the purpose of Relief Society, the legacy of those who have gone before us, that we are all children of God and that he loves all of us no matter what stage of life we are in or what we have done with our lives, we all matter to Him, that visiting teaching is just the opportunity to go about the Lord's work here on earth, and many, many, more wonderful things. I am so thankful to have been able to see the support that is offered to the women of the church by our prophet Thomas S. Monson and his counselors Elder Eyring and Elder Uchtdorf. For some reason this stuck out to me so much more this time. I can't wait to read or listen to them again when they come out after General Conference sometime in a couple of weeks. It is going to be hard to wait that long.

Haircut

Jongr decided that he wanted to even out the front of his hair, it looked pretty even to me before he started, but what do I know. He went to the bathroom with a pair of scissors and even used a comb to help him, thankfully it wasn't all the way to the scalp. I told him that we were going to have to cut off all of his hair, he wasn't very happy.

This is the result, he got a buzz cut. Just in time for school pictures in 2 weeks. I am just glad that it has taken 6.5 years for our first experience with children cutting their own hair. Silly boy, scissors are for paper.

Happy First Day of Fall

I love fall and all that goes with it! Today felt very fall-ish for here, we woke up to rain, and it rained almost all day long. I was so thankful that it stopped raining so that we could walk to pick up Jongr from school though and not repeat this mornings forever long trip to school. (It took us 25 mins. to drop him off and we only live 1/2 mile from the school.)

To celebrate fall today, I made beef stew and cornbread. I think that tomorrow I am going to make some pumpkin muffins. I have been wanting to since the first of September. I think now is the perfect time.

Happy FALL to you!

Cross the Street 5 times One way

Today on our walk to school to pick up Jongr, Jontu asked me how many times we have to cross the street before we get to Jongr's school. So we counted, it is no less than 5 times. That adds up to 10 times for a round trip and since Jontu, Jonev, and I walk that route roundtrip 2 times a day, it equals 20. That would make a good math story problem. LOL!

Today we also went and read a story in Jongr's classroom. We took Pirates Don't Change Diapers to read today, since it is National Talk Like a Pirate Day this Saturday. We didn't walk this time though, we drove or else the math problem could have read; If Jonsu and Jontu have to cross the street 5 times to get to the school, how many times did they cross the street today if they walked to the school and back 3 times? Anyone that is looking for a good story problem for their kids? Maybe we could come up with a few more.

Falling

Jonev had a busy day yesterday, he fell and hit his head 3 times poor little guy. The first time he decided to jump out of his high chair. The second time he was running so fast that he didn't make the turn in between the recliner and chair and fell into the chair, this resulted in the red streak across his forehead. The third time wasn't so bad and he just tripped while he was walking. He has really taking to running as fast as he can all over the house and where ever else we let him. It is so cute! He was fine by the end of the day and the mark was almost completely gone, but I felt bad for him. It just wasn't his day yesterday. Today has been much better so far.

a few of our creations

While Grant has been back to school, I have been able to get a few things done that have been on my list to finish up. Here are a few pics of what we have been up to this week while Jonev has been sleeping.

I finally figured out how to make a self binding blanket thanks to this great tutorial. The one that I started back in the spring didn't work out.
Two baby changing pads with a matching burp cloths for a couple of my friends. When folded it makes a pocket you can tuck diapers and a wipe case into.
My new purse, thanks to this tutorial. I have been wanting to make it for a couple of years. It is smaller than my other purse, I think that I am going to make a little bit bigger one for the times when I need to carry my stuff plus the kids things. But I love how it turned out. I appliqued the oak leaves on and then machine stitched over them the leaf veins. It was fun to make!

Jontu gets quite creative with his lego building, today he wanted to recreate a picture that we took right after we moved here. Silly boy!

Welcome Home Daniel

My brother Daniel just returned from his mission to Taiwan. He speaks Mandarin Chinese now, how cool is that! It was so nice to be able to see him again and spend some time with him. The young jedi's missed seeing him too, but hopefully we will be able to all see him soon. We love you Uncle Daniel.

Congratulations Leonora and Kevin!

I was able to go to Idaho for the wedding this weekend of my sister Leonora to Kevin. It was so nice to be able to be there. I even got to decorate a little wedding cake. It was all so nice!

Just after they were sealed in the temple.

Cutting the wedding cake.

Into

Jonev has discovered a new past time, he likes to climb into things. Here are a few pictures of things that he has recently gotten into.

Snapping Turtles

This summer when we have been feeding the turtles on our walks we have been seeing a snapping turtle. The boys really enjoy watching it and trying to feed it more than the other 30 or so turtles that we feed each day. It is pretty cool to watch how it eats compared to the other turtles, I am sure glad that there is about 8 ft between us and the turtles so that I don't have to worry about anyones fingers getting bitten.

Monday when we went to go feed the turtles there were 2 other snapping turtles hanging out with the others. The boys were so excited to see so many in one place and couldn't wait to tell dad when he came home from work.

Wednesday we decided to walk like we were going to school and not feed the turtles, however we did see another snapping turtle when we crossed the bridge on the way to school. We rarely see turtles there, but there is was a huge snapping turtle. What fun!

Oh what do you do in the Summer Time?

Here are a few pictures from our fun this week with our cousins. Uncle Ben, Aunt Shanna, Rohan and Bruce thanks so much for all of the fun! Thanks for all of the good food and the late nights. We miss you already.

We played with the trains almost everyday.

We dressed up as Jedi's.

We went for a walk and...

fed the turtles.

Went surfing at the beach and played in the sand.

We enjoyed the 4th of July with sparklers of course.

We kept cool in the backyard on hot days.

Busy Week

We are enjoying a visit from Uncle Ben and Aunt Shanna and their 2 beautiful little boys. We hope to post some fun pictures from their visit here when they leave next week.

The boys are having a good time playing with their cousins and enjoying having some family around. It is so nice to have them here!

Kiki's Blankie

This was a good find at the library today. Jontu picked it out and it was written just for him, I think. It is all about a little monkey who has a blankie. He immediately identified with it, since he calls his special blanket, "blankie" too! Gotta love the library.

Also this is how Jontu picks out books at the library right now.

He goes down one or two rows in the children's section, and randomly pulls out books.

I add it to our pile and try to keep it within 6-8 (so the librarians don't have too many to put back

when he is done). Then we go to the table and sit and pick out 4-5 to take home with us. It takes him

all of a couple of minutes to do this and then he is ready to go. It is fun!

What did you do Wednesday

Besides our sunburns, we sure had a perfect day at the beach yesterday. It was really hard to leave even though we knew that the longer we stayed the longer it would take us to drive back home if we hit rush hour traffic. Thanks to our cousins for helping to make our day!

Jonev enjoying the water, he was giggling each time the waves crashed into him. It was so fun to watch him enjoy himself. He is such a happy guy and loves to laugh. This is the second time we have been swimming this week and he has just loved the water both times. In fact he was jumping into the pool by the end of the night on Monday. Yesterday I got him out of the car and before I could grab his bathing suit to get him dressed he already had his feet in the water and then Jongr tried to stop him and of course he sat down in it. He wasn't very happy when I pulled him out to change him and try to get some sunscreen on him.

Jontu, Jonev and cousin A playing in the sand. You can see that we were lucky enough to be able to find a beach that you can park right on so we didn't have to carry our stuff for miles. It was so nice!

Jonev enjoying the seaguls that were flying around the beach, he kept pointing to them when he saw them. What a cute boy!

Jongr spent most of his time either in the water with the boogie board courtesy of our cousins or collecting sea shells. He says the reason that he collects them is because they are so pretty. We collected a few special ones for Grandma Jones and some sand to send her too. She loves the beach in Ocean City, NJ and our day yesterday reminded us of all of the fun time that we have spent with her on the beach. We love you Grandma Jones!

Peach Picking!

Here are the pictures from peach and blueberry picking last Friday. It was so much fun and we have truly enjoyed the yummy peaches this week. It was truly worth it. I wanted to can some, but that didn't happen. We will probably eat the last of them in smoothies and peach cobler today and tomorrow.

The orchard we went to even supplied you with a wagon to help you carry your stuff around, Jonev thought it was so much fun pushing it around with big brothers pulling it.

A picture of everyone while we were trying to help the kids pick the ripe fruit and not the green ones. LOL!
Jonev heading off to join his brothers and cousins in picking the blackberries. He really thinks that he is so big.
He actually picked some, the first one he picked he used his mouth. LOL! Too bad I didn't get a picture of that for posterity. He loved the blackberries and had purple fingers to boot.
Here are the blackberries that we picked along with our cousins, Jontu looked down right as I was taking this picture. Thanks for the fun memories, it was so much fun! In fact I am thinking about driving back up there before the season ends and making some blackberry jam.

Yummy Carrot Pancakes

These pancakes are so yummy and a great way to sneak in some extra veggies. We have made them 2x now and I really like them and so do the boys. It makes plenty so that we have leftovers for a snack later. This recipe is from Recipezaar.com

Carrot Breakfast Pancakes

Ingredients

1. 1 3/4 cups milk
2. 2 eggs
3. 1/4 cup butter
4. 4 medium carrots, chopped
5. 2 cups flour
6. 2 tablespoons baking powder
7. 1 teaspoon salt
8. 4 tablespoons sugar
9. 2 dashes nutmeg
10. 2 dashes cinnamon (For cinnamon & nutmeg, I'm very generous with both, but be careful not to add too much)

Directions

1. First you will need to get your blender out!
2. Pour Milk into blender; add eggs and butter.
3. Mix briefly to put egg and butter through milk.
4. Add carrots and blend well (until carrots are completely mixed through; no chunks left!!) Add flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar; mix in blender until all ingredients are mixed through.
5. Then add nutmeg and cinnamon and mix for about 1 minute.
6. Check thickness; if you feel it is too thin, add a little more flour (Tbs or 2) Spray frying pan with cooking spray.
7. Heat to medium heat, and cook pancakes.
8. Make them whatever size you wish!
9. Cook until golden brown.
10. They will be a beautiful golden color!
11. Enjoy them with a small amount of pure maple syrup!

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Rural Pondering

Today we went to E and B Orchards in Hempstead, TX. It was so much fun! I will post pictures of it later. It was so nice to be in the open, rural space. It was so nice to see the farm fields, the cows munching on the grass, the slower pace that life in the country has. It reminded me of these old pictures taken on one of our visits to Idaho almost 2 years ago, we took my brother David out to the field that he moves sprinkler pipe in and while he was working we went for a short walk.

Here is one of Jonpa and Jontu taken in front of a field of potatoes in bloom.

Another one of Jonpa and Jontu with a cow in a field.
This is where my brother works, well one of the fields. He has to pick up each pipe and move it to the next spot and then hook it in to the main line all the way across the field. It is definitely good hard work. (I know, I have moved plenty of pipe in my days.) He is in the lower left of the photo.
Here is what you look like after completing the job, wet and muddy and tired, but with that good feeling of a job accomplished. What a great feeling!

Our walk to school

This is Jontu and Jonev in front of our house getting ready to get Jongr from the last day of school for this school year. It is a pretty typical day, Jontu has his stick (one that he has had in his collection since sometime around January I think) and Jonev is ready to see the world from the seat of the strolley.

Along the way we generally encounter at least 2 obstacles of some sort or another blocking the sidewalk. I really don't like this aspect of our neighborhood. Most people use their garage as a basement since we can't have basements here. For our northern friends and family try to imagine where you would put all of the stuff that is in your basements if you didn't have it anymore. However it is really annoying to try to maneuver about 80 lbs of boys and stroller around said obstacles and not roll into the street.
This is one of the many reasons why we do walk though. We get to enjoy so many beautiful plants and flowers as the seasons change. This is a lovely Crape Myrtle tree, it is almost as pretty as the lilac bushes, but doesn't have a fragrance at all. They can be purple like this beautiful one, pink, or white and so many people have them. I don't remember them blooming last year, probably because we weren't out of the house much since Jonev was just a new little baby. They sure made me smile this year though.
This is a view of the bayou that we walk along for a little while, we often see turtles, frogs, snakes, fish, egrets of all varieties, cranes, and even the occasional bird of prey (hawks or falcons) swoop in and pick up a fish out of the water. To me it is a small reminder of the country life I enjoyed growing up in so much. I am thankful for our own little preserve. You will notice the big white objects in the picture, it is the water treatment plant for our neighborhood. It is right by Grant's school and it doesn't always smell the best, sometimes we hurry through this little park a little faster than other times.
This is MonNa (her Jedi name this is not the best picture of her, we were trying to hurry), she lives near us and we walk home with her part of the way. We have enjoyed planting seed pods, racing across the park, watching the animals in the bayou and talking on the way home this past year. You can see the front entrance of Jongr's school behind them. A pretty normal looking elementary school building.

Last Day of Kindergarten

The last day of Kindergarten for Jongr, he is a few teeth short of his first day smile and a few inches taller and has learned how to read.  We are so happy for him. He is excited to be home for the summer. 

These are some of his buddies from his class, they kept moving and this is the best picture, it is truly a good representation of how active they are.  So fun!  He is really going to miss playing with them everyday. 
This is Ms. Cao (pronounced "cow") , Grant loves her of course and so do we.  She has been a great teacher for him, in fact he wanted to go to summer school so that he could have her for a teacher a little longer.  Silly boy!  

Slip-n-Slide Fun

Thanks to some of our cousins, we enjoyed the slip-n-slide this weekend.  Even Jonev decided that he loved playing in the water and didn't want to move out of the way for his big brothers to slide on it.  It was lots of fun.  

They still don't quite want to run and slide on their tummies, I don't blame them too much because I remember getting hurt on the hard ground when I was young.  However they did figure out how to slide and have fun their own way and that is really what it is all about.  


It is even good for drinking from according to Jontu.  LOL!  Silly boy.