Anna's getting baptized!

I tried to get some fun photos of her, I think I'll try again when the lighting isn't so harsh. But for now I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

mother's day

I'm so lucky to be the mother to these 4 kids

they make my life so fun

We went on a nice Sunday walk after the awesome dinner Chris & Everett made. I love my neighborhood. It's perfect for Sunday walks. We ended up at the holding ponds. The kids (and Chris) could throw rocks in water for hours. Paul found this "prettiest rock" and gave it to me with a kiss and a happy mother's day. I think it was my favorite gift of the day.

I love being a mom
And I love all the mom's in my life. Thank you Bonnie, Lori, & Judy!

Rachel's Baby Shower

the beautiful momma-to-be sipping on some pink guava soda

all the shoes from all the guests

the gifts and take homes (thank you Tiffani & Jenae!)

So happy with the cute girly outfit from H&M

our beautiful straws that we just HAD to have

the spread...with Rachel's cute belly in the background

It was soooo much fun to plan and prepare for this baby shower. Rachel was the funnest guest of honor, she helped me decorate, weed, clean, & make my home beautiful. We all love Rachel and can't wait to see her sweet little girl (soon).

Happy Easter

9 am church is hard to do on Easter morning with 4 kids (especially when mom is speaking in sacrament meeting). Luckily Grandma Judy was here to help, and Chris skipped his meetings (sick). So here is a picture of the kids after church.

all four kids hunting for eggs

Paul was so super fast. The boy didn't stop running. I loved watching him!

Anna found an egg

Ian picking an egg from a prickly bush, ouch!

all 4 kids with their loot

Easter is such a nice holiday. This year we tried (like every year) to teach the children the real reason we celebrate. We had a family home evening about the resurrection the week before. I didn't know if they really understood. Later that week Paul told me he and Anna found a dead rollie pollie, so they buried it and rolled a big rock over it. The next day we were outside and Paul found a live rollie pollie in the same dirt, he said "it was resurrected!" Too cute. I guess they do listen.

Ian's 2nd Birthday

Ian turned two years old! This was the day after he got his cast removed...perfect timing!
Ian is obsessed with Thomas & friends, so we made him a cake like the island of Sodor. I think he liked it.

In the morning we let him open his Thomas flash light

that came with James & Percy pull back racers

choo chooooooooooooooo

Grandma & Kellie & kids came over to celebrate. We love having family close!

Happy Birthday Ian James!!

March MADness

So before March could end, we had one more injury in the family. Four days before Ian was scheduled to get his cast off I was playing in my indoor soccer game. I LOVE soccer, and have been playing 2-3 times a week for the last 6 or so months. It is so much fun and such good exercise, and I have so much fun with the girls on my team. Chris & I played on a co-ed team for a session, and that was a ton of fun too. Anyways, I blocked a shot of a super skilled strong forward and tore my ankle up. Dr Duff said I tore all my tendons, most my ligaments and a muscle. It was one of those "really bad sprains" you hear about. Oh and Duff said if he looked long enough at the x-ray there was a fracture in there too. Awesome, huh. So for the next 5 weeks or so I stayed off my foot and hobbled around on crutches. I think I just wanted to give Ian some company.

The next Monday (3 1/2 weeks after breaking his femur) we headed in for it to be sawed off. Ian had really thought he'd be in his yellow pants forever. So when we told him they were coming off he was excited. But then when the assistant turned on the buzz saw his excitement faded, quick. We tried to cover his ears and distract him with the iTouch. It sort of worked.

After his cast was off they x-rayed him again. The bone was thicker, and stronger, and we were all thrilled (especially Anna).

Here is Ian right after it came off. Oh, and did it stink. It was like cracking a rotten egg open. Ian of course isn't rotten, well he was kind of spoiled rotten, so maybe it was fitting. I love how his legs are in the exact place they were while in the cast. He was crossing his feet before we left the office, we were all so happy to have his legs back.

I kind of thought he'd be up and running right away. He lost so much muscle and his joints were so stiff that he was happy to just crawl around without hauling the yellow pants with him. He could stand up to the couch (kind of like an eleven month old), but really was just happy to bend and sit and cross his feet like he loves to. He was walking about 2 weeks after the cast came off (sooner than mom). He looks a little bit like a stiff legged robot, but he is a happy robot and we love him!

Ian's broken leg

On March 3rd, 2011 Ian was running in cowboy boots on the basketball gym floor at church when suddenly he slipped and did the splits. My friend saw it, and said he looks like he's hurt. I ran over to him, he was shaking and in pain. He calmed down on the ride home and I thought maybe he was just scared and not really hurt. After getting home I tried to see if he would stand or move his leg, and he wouldn't so I called his pediatrician and scheduled their next appointment. A couple hours later the Dr looked at him and said he probably just pulled a muscle. I had called my brother in law (the ER doc) and he said if he wasn't putting weight on it in a couple hours to take him in for X-rays. So I asked the doctor if he could have broken something. He said the only way to know would be to have x-rays. So I said, "yes, please." And we headed over to the orthopedic clinic. There they x-rayed him and a PA looked at him. A couple hours later the Doctor came in. At this point Chris was there and I had a soccer game in a half hour. I was certain he was just fine and we had all just wasted a lot of time and money. So I said to the doctor, "I have a soccer game tonight, if he's fine can I leave?". He laughed and said he had a hokey game to get to and then he examined Ian and took a look at the x-rays. Then he said, "He has a broken femur." Wow, we were all surprised! And I was a little embarrassed that I was worried about missing my soccer game. They put a temporary cast on (see pic above) and scheduled us for a hip spica cast for the next Tues (it was Thurs). We went home and Ian was pretty content (see pic above) and even comfortable sleeping that night.

The next morning the other doctor from the clinic (who had done his fellowship in peds probably 40 years ago) said he had taken a look at Ian's x-rays and wanted to cast him today, in the OR. He asked if he'd eaten anything, I told him I had just handed him a bag of fruit snacks. He told me to take them from him, but it was too late, he'd eaten them all. (: So we brought him in. Checked into the hospital. Signed his life away. Then watched them wheel his cute little blond head away on a giant hospital bed. I was scared, Chris was calm, and about an hour later Ian was awake and mad! He had some sweet yellow pants on, but his thought hurt (they put a breathing tube in) and he didn't understand what had just happened. We finally calmed him down and took him home. That first night was hard. He didn't sleep well at all. this was just before they wheeled him away
In good news, that morning his big sister lost her very first tooth on the bus ride to school. She and I sewed up a little tooth fairy to put her tooth in and she was thrilled to be as cool as every other kid in her 2nd grade class. Ian adjusted quickly. He didn't complain much. His vocabulary exploded. He learned how to say "yessss" when we finally guessed where he wanted us to take him. He played a lot, and stunk a lot, and was spoiled a LOT! So many people helped during this time. Lots of dinners, toys, and thoughtful words. We're so thankful for good friends and family and ward members. This was the first broken bone for our little family. And I'm guessing it's not the last. I picked up a doughboy from Sluy's bakery up in Pouslbo, I added a little pair of yellow pants so Ian had a look a like.

Seattle with Grandma Judy

Grandma Judy had a birthday so we headed over to Seattle to celebrate. We went to the children's museum (where Anna fed grandma some tacos) then went for burgers, fries, and ice cream at Dick's. That was our first visit to Dick's, and will not be our last! Happy Birthday Grandma Judy, we love you!!

Lopez Island get-a-way

We are so lucky to have family who own a little piece of heaven and are generous enough to allow us to stay. I've been visiting Lopez Island every 6ish years since I was a little girl. It was the big Jones reunion trip, and we always looked forward to it. This past summer we stayed and while talking with Mrs B, it came up that we lived here in Washington. When she heard that she said, "you should come here more often." And so we will!

The island is a perfect get-a-way. We had no internet connection, no tv, and loved every quiet minute. Well, as quiet as 4 kids and 2 parents can be in a cute little cottage while it was 30 degrees out. But the sun was shinning and we just sat back and enjoyed the view.
We visited a few beaches and collected some pretty agates.

we painted pictures, my grandma Jones was a painter so this was extra special.

we checked out the view and the sheep on the other islands with our cool spotting scope.

This picture sums up our weekend perfectly. Beautiful, scenic, fun, peaceful, and pretty much perfect. We all came home feeling recharged.