What are we going to do now?

Here are the picutres from Brian's convocation last week. We are so proud of him. I can't believe it is over. It has been so nice to have Brian home at night again. It was a great day and we had so much fun with family. The ceremony was a tad long for the boys, but they did great and cheered really loud for their dad.

Go Devils!

Yes, that's the "baby bump" finally showing itself.Baby Lukey got so big over the last two years.

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it to support our little family. Afterward, we went out for lunch with family and then went to dinner and a movie with friends from school.

On Thursday we had a suprise party for Brian and Robb with 40 of our closest friends and family. We feel so blessed and grateful for all the help and support over the last two years. THANK YOU! (You know who you are)

"Schools Out Forever!"

WE DID IT!!!! Somehow with three kids, a more than full-time job and a pregnant wife, Brian will recieve his MBA on Saturday. I am so proud of him. Here are some pictures of Commencement on Wednesday.Brian and Robb (his highschool buddy) looking all schollarly, hoods and all. Go Devils!

Waiting for Commencement to begin. I have never seen so many people in one place!

Despite your moral/political views, when the announcer says "Ladies and Gentelman, the President of the United States" it is a pretty special experience. It ended up being worth braving the heat and crowds.

Just how old is this guy? Thanks to Alice for entertaining us while we waited four hours to hear Obama and watch the boys stand when they announced the Master's Grads. Thanks to Matt for the hilarious commentary of the rest of the entertainment!

More pics to come when the real celebration happens on Saturday. Yeah!!!!!

Name them one by one

Other than my sub-par camera that seems to always focus on the wrong things, life doesn't get much better than this! My Mother's Day Weekend was filled with flowers (paper and fresh), breakfast in bed, getting my hair done, hanging with family, shopping and tons of cute hand-drawn pictures accompanied by hugs and kisses. There are somedays I can't get over how I got here. With all its ups and downs I love my life and am grateful for all that I have been given. I am filled with gratitude for the oppportunity to have children, for a husband that supports my efforts and for family and friends that show by quiet example the way to be better. I am also grateful for my mom that still rubs my head when I have a bad day and leaves lipstick marks on the cheeks of my little men.
In addition, I continue to be inspired by those who deal so gracefully with the heartaches that motherhood, or the lack thereof, can bring. Thank you for your powerful testimonies of hope, that constantly remind me the source of all the blessings in my life.
Happy Mother's Day

Happy Birthday Jeffers

There are days I just can't squeeze my Jeffey enough. From such a rough beginning, he has turned into the sweetest, most tender little boy. He is so thoughtful of others, especially me and is happiest when he is surronded by all the people he loves having a good time. When I asked him who he wanted to invite to his birthday party, he said: "Let's invite all of Ben's friends and he will be so happy when he comes to my party". When he got his birthday money he was counting it out to see if he had enough to buy Ben a snake and Lukey a turtle. When I am losing at a game, he reasures me that there is another turn and it will be okay mommy. He loves animals, especially dogs and asked me the other day if he could see his heart "beeping". I never understood when people said that you love all your children the same just in different ways until I had all three. I love Jeff for his wonderful heart and his sweet soul. We wanted Jeffey to get big for so long and he hit the 30% for weight this checkup and I was so excited, but when I look at these pictures I wish for a minute I could have my "Jeffer babies" back.

When did this little baby turn into...

This four year-old boy?! We love you Jeff and are so happy that you are part of our family. We can't beileve you are getting so big. Happy Birthday!

And we celebrated...

I love birthday time and we tend to celebrate A LOT! Jeffey's birthday this year was no exception. It started with a dinosaur cake at the ranch (lots more pics to come) with 38 immediate relatives on Daddy's side. Yep, thats how many Jones' there are now! Jeff loved the dinosaurs and sharing his cake with William. Thanks Grandma.

We took cupcakes to school and he got a pretty cool hat and all his buddies sang Happy Birthday to him. Preschool rocks!

We took a trip to the zoo with Noah and Avery to celebrate the cousin twins birthday. Here is Jeff aboard the dino.

The highlight of the zoo trip was eating snow cones before we went home. More great cousin time.

Then on Jeffey's actual birthday we had a party at the splash park with some of his friends. It was his first party just for him and he thought it was great.

We had a Doggy party and sweet Jeff loved his presents and having all his friends in the same place having fun. Thanks to everyone who made turning four pretty neat!

(Thanks to a dead camera battery, I have no record of the super cool birthday dinner we had at Red Robin. We got balloons, ice cream and "monies" from Papa and Grandma, what more could you want?)

Easter Fun

We had a great Easter week this year and enjoyed having dinner at our house. Aunt Cletty had an Easter egg hunt for the kids.

My cute mom and my boys. Instead of matching dresses I got them matching shirts and they looked so handsome!

I love these little men.

And I love the man who thought to bring me Sprinkles cupcakes from Scottsdale for Easter. Way to go babe!

Earlier that week we had cousin Natalie's Hannah Montana brithday at our house and decorated eggs. The boys had fun and were more than happy to let the birthday girl take home all the decorations.

To prepare for Easter we gathered and painted rocks with our cousins and talked about the stone that covered the Savior's tomb. It was actually really effective and later that week we watched a movie that showed the tomb in Jeruselem and the boys made the connection. Score one for mom! Thanks Aubrey and Colene for doing my dishes and making long days seem not so long. I got so lucky when I got six more sisters when I got married.

I just love this picture of the kids cheering on the teams for a little backyard baseball. A very Happy Easter had by all.

Happy Belated Birthday Daddy

Over a month ago we celebrated Brian's 31st birthday. We went out for dinner with friends and had dessert at our new house. We also celebrated Matt and Darin's birthdays.

The cute wifeys!

Everyone chillin at the restaurant. Thanks for making it a great night!

Because of school we celebrated Bri's birthday the night before with his favorite Banana Cream Pie. The next morning Brian got the new Pearl Jam CD and lots of birthday hugs.

The boys had a blast decorating the pie for Daddy. We love you babe and are so glad your in our family. Go Jones team!!!