Daddy's Muffins

Emma: Mommy, I don't want this muffin (banana nut), I want one of Daddy'y muffins (chocolate).
Mommy: Well, you can't because those are Daddy's muffins.
Emma: No they're not!
Mommy: Why do you think we call them Daddy's muffins?
Emma: (without even a tiny pause) Because Daddy buys them and then lets me have them when I am good, and I am always good!

Father's Day!

Ross had a pretty good Father's Day weekend, if I do say so myself- which I do. We had a lot of fun and did a lot of kissing, some of which was captured in pictures. (that was a warning of make-out pictures to come if you didn't catch on. . .) Here are some of the pictures of Ross's fabulous-almost-as-good-as-the-Mother's-Day-weekend-but-not-quite-because-that-was-the-best-weekend-ever-but-still-pretty-amazing-weekend.

We started out Saturday morning with all-you-can-eat French toast at Kneaders where dad's ate free that day. It was glorious. We all loved it. Seriously- we ALL loved it.

Then we kissed in the car for a bit before heading out to some stores to run some errands.

We went to Savers to get some pants for Emma, Wal-mart to get a shirt for Sara (they are both short on clothes now, and Savers didn't have any good shirts), Distribution Center to get Ross some undies, and while we were over there, we stopped in at the Missionary Mall to get Ross a new washable tie. It took him a while to pick out the one he wanted. We were surprised at the vast selection of washable ties under $10.

I warned you- lots of kissing!

Ross decided he wanted to go to a matinee showing of Angels and Demons. We dropped the kids off at my mom's house and headed over to fill my purse with lots of goodies, including a footlong $5 subway sandwhich. The movie was ok, just like the book was.

After the movie we got some ice cream from Macey's, made out a little bit, and headed back to say goodbye to the girls.

That was my sneaky part of his weekend. I packed the clothes we bought for the girls that day, and worked it out with my mom and Dana to watch the girls over night, and take them to church the next morning. Ross was not aware of this fact until we drove up to my mom's house and I told him we were leaving them. He was very happy about this! We couldn't afford another hotel get-away, but this was fun too. Thanks for doing that for us, Mom and Dana! We love you!

The next morning, I got a sub for Sunbeams, and Ross and I headed out to go to church with my mom. We were a little bit late, but it was fun to be in my old ward again. There are a lot of new faces- but most of my favorites are still around. Emma and Sara even went to nursery together for the last hour.

After church, we went to Grandma Wallace's house where we changed, ate, kissed, and played some games with cousins, aunts and uncles.

Uncle Jay We played Curses, which is the most worthless game ever created in my opinion! Jay had to swat imaginary mosquitos wheneve he talked.

Lara had to give herself bunny ears when she read cards.

Marlene had to dance whenever it was her turn.

I cut the game short because I think Heather was the only one enjoying it. I must be lame.

Grandpa Wallace entertained all the little kids with the tricks that make all the mothers cringe- but it was Father's Day so we tried to hide our worry and pretend to trust that he wouldn't hurt them. I love you, Grandpa!

We then went over to my mom's house where Ross had a Father's Day nap with Emma.

When my dad got home from work, Caulene grilled us up some steaks, and we ate out on the deck. It was a great meal, and a beautiful day.

My mom made Dad a chocolate cake. When she told Emma that she had made a cake for Grandpa, Emma found some candles and put them on the cake with Dana's help. Obviously, if a cake was made for Grandpa, it must be his birthday! We sang Happy Father's Day to him and Ross, and Grandpa lt Emma blow out the candles. It was extremely cute and hilarious, and this simple re-telling does not do the adorableness justice. I love that girl! So much!

After we sang, Emma decided that forks were beneath her, and she used some of the candles to eat the frosting.

Heather and Dana loved the cake.

I think Sara is cute even when she cries.

After the meal was consumed, and our stomaches had settled a little, we headed back home and enjoyed a quiet evening playing with the girls.

It was a great weekend! I thoroughly enjoyed every penny pinching minute of it, and so did Ross. I love that man! He is such an amazing husband and father. The girls adore him, as do I. I am grateful that we have an eternity together to look forward to.

Happy Birthday and Father's Day Grandpa Jones!

My Grandma and Grandpa Jones stopped by Orem on a quick visit on their way to Salt Lake. While they were here, they took my sisters, my mom and my girls out too lunch at Los Hermanos. It was a lot of fun, and I am glad I was able to come down and see them. They live in St. George, so I just don't get to see them often enough. Sara and Emma hopped around to all the different aunts throughout the meal and scavenged their own full meal that way.

Heather and Mom were enjoying themselves.

Grandpa and Grandma Jones.

This is the only kind of smile I can get on demand from Emma now. Very posed, and not very smiley!

Dana ordered hot chocolate- the natural choice for a warm summer day.

I have cute kids- that is all.

My Grandpa's birthday was the next day, so Heather alerted the waitress to this detail, and they gave him a lovely (and loud) serenade. To be honest, it was pretty obnoxious, but the fried ice cream was worth it!

Heather was proud of her sneakiness.

Dana was grateful for ice cream- to follow up her hot chocolate, of course.

Now, the whole time while Emma was lap hopping, Grandpa kept trying to get Emma to take a turn next to him. She would have none of it- he was just too much of a stranger. That all changed, however, when he had a giant dish of ice-cream next to his plate. The minute she saw the ice cream, she started shouting "I wanna sit by Grandpa, I wanna sit by Grandpa." and she made a beeline for my chair (which was next to his).

It was a fun afternoon, especially since I followed it up with a trip to the Timpanogos Temple to do initiatories with my mom. Thanks for being born, Grandpa! I love you!

FHE Party

Last Monday, while Ross's parents were here, we had a little get together at our house. I say 'little' get together, but really, there were a lot of people crammed into our little house. my uncle Jay and aunt Lara came with their 6 kids, Jim and Melissa came with their 4, we had our two, both sets of parents were here, and 2 of my sisters came as well. It was awesome. I loved it. I think some people were annoyed with the big crowd, but I enjoyed seeing Jay and Lara and playing with their kids. We had ribs and hot dogs for dinner.

We tried to herd the 12 kids upstairs to the TV room- and I guess Dad and Caulene got caught in the rush. That, or maybe they just really like Mulan. . .

Downstairs, we played Balderdash- one of my favorite games EVER. It was harder with so many people, but fun, nonetheless. Jay won handily- and I heartell that it was the first time he had ever won.

I'm not sure what is happening here- but I love it.

Thank you everyone for coming. We will try and keep the festivities to smaller amounts of people next time.

Ross's parents spent the night at our house that night. I was not made aware of this fact until they got to the house. I blame Ross. This didn't bother me except for one thing- we only have two sets of bedding that fit a king sized bed (which is what they pretty much ended up on when we pushed two other mattresses together for them). One is plain jane white- the pair we got with the mattress. The other is leopard print. Take a wild guess as to which pair they ended up with. . . Poor Judy- last time she was here I put sheets with a half-naked fairy (Tinkerbell) on her mattress, and this time she had scandalous leopad print. They were good sports about it- at least they seemed to be . . .

It was nice to spend some time with them. It is hard having them all the way out in California when we just can't afford to get out there as often as we would like. The next morning they left for Syd's funeral. I am glad Emma and Sara got to spend some time with them.

Jake's Baptism

My nephew Jake was baptized on June 6th by his father. It was a busy morning as there were 9 kids all being baptized on the same day. I was pretty impressed with how well they organized everything though. We were only there for a couple of hours. My favorite part was when he came out of the water and said "Wow, that was fun!" What a boy! :) I also thought it was cute when Brooke started saying a prayer while he was being confirmed.

Here is the proud family. Future missionary for sure!

Grant and Judy came out from California, and it was a lot of fun to see them.

This is me NOT kissing Ross as requested by a number of people in attendance.

We went to Jake's house afterwards for another AWESOME meal of jerked chicken, rice, mango salsa, mint brownies, and other awesome goodies. Emma and Brookie are getting to be good little friends. I love it! I loved being close friends with my cousin Kandra when we were younger, and still miss her and our friendship often.

Max modeled every pair of shoes in the house for us. I mean EVERY pair too. He does pretty good in heels!

This is Ross being anti-social.

This is me STILL not kissing Ross while he is being anti-social.

Sara really liked the yellow flowers int eh back yard. i kind of like them too. Whoever decided to classify those as weeds will get a swift kick to somewhere painful if I ever meet him!

It was a really fun day, and we feel grateful to be so close to their family. We really love Jim, Melissa and their kids. (and Melissa's cooking. . .)