Ready or Not Here I Come!!

On the night of the 26th I wasn't feeling very good and couldn't keep anything down and when I woke up the next morning I still wasn't feeling all that great but managed to keep a few glasses of water down and by the afternoon my contractions were getting closer & closer together until they were about every five minutes, I called the office and they said if they didn't stop soon I needed to get to the hospital. Of course we weren't ready so we hurried and packed a bag just in case and a call was made to Grandma & Grandpa Jones to watch our sick kids and off Darin & I went to the hospital. They checked me in and immediately hooked me up to an IV hoping that I was just dehydrated and that some fluids would stop the contractions, after 2 IVs and the contractions continuing every 4-5 minutes Dr. Lunt decided to come and deliver!! I'm so glad he did because he was going to be out of town for the next two days!! Talk about good timing, even though I'm not thrilled to have two Birthdays in December I'm just glad Dax is healthy and got here safe & sound!!

Daxton Ronald Jones

7pounds 1ounce 20.5 in.

December 27th 2011 at 9:38 pm

Look What I Got!!

Santa found us! and left the boys some cool stuff! Dillon got camping stuff and was super happy about getting a Bear Gryls pocket knife and than cut his finger 10 minutes after opening it! Santa obviously didn't OK the knife with us first!! LOL. Degan got star wars toys & a new scooter, he was surprised to find a scooter cause he didn't have that on his list!! Dusty got some trio blocks & coloring stuff but was happier about a bag of marshmallows from his stocking!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Another Christmas season is upon us and the kids enjoyed doing all the traditional things they get to do every year! They decorated the tree all by themselves, Degan's ribbon is my favorite! Granny's party is always the highlight, they love getting together with their cousin's to exchange gifts, decorate gingerbread houses and go caroling to the neighbors! Dustin was NOT happy about getting a six pack of root beer, He kept saying I don't want this I want a toy! (SPOILED) another favorite is decorating cookies with Aunt Carla and than Degan visits Stacy with the goods! So far the boys have been good so Santa just might not leave cole!!

Christmas Newsletter

First off let me just say how fast 2011 has gone by, I can hardly believe that 2012 is just a few weeks away! I had good intentions to get a Christmas card out and even took the boys out for pictures, but here I am sending you all an e-mail instead of a card, so don't be expecting a card from the Jones' this year!!

This year has been an eventful year for our family, In May we had a surprise when we found out we'd be a "party of six" instead of a party of five! We've had fun spending time together going on a few vacations throughout the summer! We go to Cali every June and the kids always look forward to our trip to the KOA and this year we added Lagoon in August just before school started and the kids now want to make that a yearly tradition as well (we'll have to see about that one!) With three boys there is never a dull moment around our house and they keep us busy! but we wouldn't have it any other way and we love them dearly!

Dillon- Is still taking piano lessons and is doing really good, we actually know some of the songs he plays now!! He's now in the 3rd grade and isn't to sure if he likes school or not! He enjoys playing basketball and is getting ready to start at the end of January!

Degan- Just started kindergarten this year and LOVES going to school everyday! He played T-ball & soccer this year and decided he liked soccer better! and I must say soccer is a lot more fun to watch!! He loves to dance, spin, & do flips! He has LOTS of energy and is going to try playing some basketball next month too!!

Dustin- Is 4 but thinks he's 6!! He thinks he can do whatever his brothers are doing and tries to keep up! for the most part he does pretty good and gets mad when Mom or Dad interfere with his plans! He loves wrestling with Degan and his Dad is his Best Friend!

Daxton- Will be the new addition to the family and is scheduled to join us January 5th! and we all can't wait to meet him!

Darin- At the end of September he had to have surgery on his neck to fuse his C5 & C6 due to some bulging discs, He enjoyed the whole month of October off work and is feeling much better! Now for that Honey do list to get done!!

Me- I've spent the last almost 9 months growing another little boy! and running 3 other little boys around! I love being a mom (most of the time!) and am looking forward to the craziness 4 boys will bring!!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!!

  Love the Jones'

As you grew, so did I!!

36 weeks

The countdown is on!! and you have been scheduled to be here on January 5th!! We are all super excited to meet you and see who you'll look like!! Physically I'm so done being pregnant, but on the other hand knowing that this is for sure the very last time I will ever carry one of my babies I'm sad to have it all come to an end. It's an amazing thing to bring a child into the world!

-Dustin is un"FOUR"gettable-

We celebrated Dusty's Birthday a little early and took him out to Chuck-A-Rama for his dinner! Than when he woke up the next morning we had his hot wheels car all ready to go!! He was so surprised when he saw it all he could do was hold his mouth open and stare at his new ride!! Dustin & his brothers have had tons of fun crusin his car around the yard!! I think we nailed it!!

All Aboard!!

I can not tell you how happy we are to have this beauty hanging in our home!! (especially Darin) We have admired it for years on the walls of Grandpa & Grandma Waters' home and thought it was cool how it's made of all kinds of different things!! They reportedly got it from a yard sale a long time ago, and we intend on keeping it as a family keepsake and will pass it down through the generations!! Thank You Grandma for the amazing picture we LOVE it!!

Raingutter Regatta

This is the first time Dillon got to do the raingutter regatta! He had fun painting and designing his boat!! He did really good until he started messing with his sail but he still got 3rd place out of 12 boys!! It was a good night of friendly competition and we went home and enjoyed his giant candy bar!!

Kool-Aid Get Your Kool-Aid!!

If there was ever a time I wished I had my camera with me, today was the day!! I went to pick Degan up from his friend Tucker's house and when I pull up Degan, Tucker, & Tucker's sisters are in the drive way with a huge igloo cooler full of Kool-Aid! and a sign charging their customers 25 cents a cup! So I of course hop out with a couple quarters in hand to purchase some of their yummy Kool-Aid and see that the cooler didn't have the lid on it and inside were some spoons they used to stir it with and they had a stack of hard plastic, non disposable cups for their customers to drink from!! I asked Degan who helped them get this business up and going he said: "we did it ourselves!" and "I tried the Kool-Aid and it didn't taste very good so we added 5 more cups of sugar!!" I'm sure it was really good and I'm sure the two customers they got really enjoyed it!!

A Time to Give Thanks

The day before Thanksgiving Degan's class had a "Pie & Poetry" program and I must say he was the cutest Turkey there!! When it was his turn to say what he was thankful for he said "My Mom & Dad" Ahhhh but we are more thankful to have this spunky boy in our family, he keeps a smile on our faces!! Love ya.

Thanksgiving Day we headed for St. George to spend the day with my Mom & Verl and the Spoerri's! We all ate way to much, the kids of course got to swim, there was multiple games of Jenga, than Darin, Tristan, Ryan, Saundra, Holly, & Emily headed out for some black friday shopping! Darin said it's the first & last time he'll ever go!!

The day after Thanksgiving the kids got to hang out with more of their cousins! they had fun running around Grandma Water's yard and then we brought them to our house for games & a movie!! All in all it was a good thanksgiving and the kids enjoyed being together!!

For some reason I can't get this picture to turn?? Oh well! In an effort to get my kids to really think about whats important in life we had lessons on different things we should be thankful for, and we decided to make a "Thankful Tree" Dillon drew the tree and they all added leaves with things they were thankful for! They all did really good coming up with things except Dusty kept saying he was thankful for crayons and his dad for every leaf!!

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.....

I'm not sure it's legal to leave a 9 year old in charge of a 6 & 3 year old but Darin & I wanted to see the newest movie out in the Twilight saga!! and after a lot of begging and pleading from the boys and some strict instructions from Dad we decided that they would be fine for a few hours by themselves!! I'll admit I was nervous leaving them, but when we got home we found two boys sleeping and Dillon watching cartoons!! I think I see a lot more babysitting in Dillon's future!!

You Have Got to be Kidding Me!!

What's Cookin?

As we were walking through the bakery section of Costco a few weeks ago Dillon ran up to me and said: "Mom I can't wait to eat Aunt Torrey's pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year!!" and ever since than I have been craving one of her pies!! so I asked her if she'd show us how to make her yummy pie and of course she said she would, so we made a trip in and she taught Dillon how to make her pumpkin pie!! He loved every minute especially making the "snakes" for the crust and eating it for breakfast the next morning! Thanks Torrey he can't wait to make your pie for Thanksgiving this year!!

In God's Hands

 It's hard to believe that my Dad has been gone for 20 years, and every year when this day rolls around I can still remember every detail of that morning. I feel my time with him was cut way to short, at 13 I still had things to learn from him and when I think back on all that has happened in my life over the last twenty years, I'm most sad that my boys didn't get to meet him and didn't get to go feed the cows with him or go horseback riding with him. I'm sad they didn't get to hear his stories and share in the wisdom that only a Grandpa has!

A Spooktacular Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year!! We went out trick-or-treating with the Andrew kids, to a couple of the subdivisions in town and as always got way to much candy!! I think they really enjoyed themselves because they got to run wild in the streets going from door to door!! There was a guy dressed in a gorilla suit at one house and as soon as Dustin saw him he raced back to me and spent the rest of the night in the car with Dad!!

Dillon was actually two things this year!! since no masks or weapons are allowed at school he was a vampire for the parade & a scary killer guy that night!!

Dare to Dream

One of the things I love about Darin is that he is a planner or a "dreamer" I sometimes call him! He always fantasises about winning the lottery and how he would spend his winnings! We've been making LOTS of trips to and from St. George and if he happens to have a little cash in his wallet he'll stop by the dam store in Arizona and buy a few tickets in hopes of striking it rich!! Than the whole way home we talk about what cars we'll own, vacations we'll go on, houses we'll have all over the U.S., how we'd help family out, and I think his favorite part of all is calling and quiting his job!! But they say your chances of winning the lottery are about the same as getting struck with lightening! But a guy can dream right, So keep on dreaming honey, maybe we'll get lucky and all our dreams will come true!

Horray for Birthday's!!

Degan celebrated #6 today, so we headed into vegas to take him to Cici's pizza for lunch and to Toys R'Us to spend his birthday money! We told him he had $50 to spend on whatever he wanted and he quickly picked out a few star wars & iron man figures that added up to $20 and than walked around the store and couldn't decide on anything and finally told his Dad that that's all he wanted and he was ready to go home and play with his new toys!! Granny & Papa met us at the house and gave him the best presents of all, a halo action figure and a halo lego set! He couldn't stop smiling or hugging Granny!! Than to top off the night we went to a surprise party for Uncle Jim's 50th Birthday!! I think Degan enjoyed being the birthday boy! The past 6 years have gone by way to fast, but I am loving watching him grow up!!

Outdoor Adventure

We had the Andrew kids come over and it was such a nice day we decided to pack us a picnic and head for Red Rock! and I'm glad we did, we ran into 10 big horn sheep! Something Darin & I have never seen in all the years we've lived here, It was pretty cool! The kids had fun climbing on the rocks and playing in the sand, they even made it to the top of easter egg!! It was a fun day and defiantly someplace we need to visit more often!

Brought to you by the letter "P"

Pumpkin Patch (grocery store parking lot!)

You've got to get a pumpkin somewhere right, if you don't have a patch the store is the next best place!!

Painting Pumpkins!

Dad wasn't up for carving this year and I wasn't up for the mess so we painted!! and I think the boys enjoyed this more than carving so we might have found a new tradition!!

Protective

It's no secret that these two brothers don't always get a long but when push comes to shove Degan is very protective of his brothers!! At Granny's Halloween party Tayia & Bailee weren't being very nice to Dillon and made him feel bad. Degan decided to have a little talk with the girls and told them that they weren't very nice and that they needed to use their manners and let Dillon play with them!! I'm sure a lecture from a 5 year old didn't mean much to the girls, but I was so proud of Degan that night for standing up for his brother and it let me know that as parents our words aren't falling on deaf ears!!

Having a Ball

Coach: Mike Totten
Ruger, Austin, Jared, Bradley, Degan, Robbie,
Jacob, Tahj, Dylan

Super Star

Degan really enjoyed his first year playing soccer!! He has tons of energy so this is a perfect sport for him! He never once complained about having to go to practice or the games, in fact he would've been happy to have practice everyday!! He was a lot of fun to watch and did really well as long as he stayed off the ground and wasn't doing random flips in the middle of a game! He took every position he played very serious, and was a good little hustler. In the last game he almost scored a goal but kicked the goalie in the hand instead. Mike did a good job coaching a bunch of crazy boys and by the end of the season they were looking pretty good out there!! Can't wait till next year!!

Boy Meets World!

I mentioned last post that Dillon opened up an account and with that account he got his very own ATM card!! He's pretty excited about having this card and thinks it's cool that it has his name on it!! I don't think he's going to get a lot of use out of it, but it's his first step into the real world!! and who knows maybe he'll learn a thing or two??

Happy Happy Birthday Dillon Dear!!

Dillon's Birthday was pretty low key this year, he agreed to take money instead of having a party!! So with the $50 we gave him he opened up his very own bank account! the day before his big day we went into Vegas and ate at Cici's pizza and went to a health fair where they got flu shots & got to go from table to table getting candy, pencils & all kinds of goodies! Dillon was in heaven (we think he's going to be a hoarder!) On the big day he ate his favorite dinner (teriyaki chicken) with Granny & Papa and I attempted to make a cake from scratch that didn't look so good, but was Yummy!! I can't believe this will be Dillon's last year in the single digits, but I have enjoyed all nine years with him!!

Wrapped in the Loving Arms of my Big Brother!

Dusty wasn't feeling very good last week, and I spotted this tender moment between brothers!! Dillon is so good at taking care of his brothers!

Body by Baby!

Dillon 6mo. -  Degan 7mo. -  Dustin 7mo. -  Daxton 6mo.

I have officially made it to my last trimester!! and am feeling good for the most part, Daxton measures right on track and likes to kick a lot. Everyone has felt him move except for Dillon, I think it creeps him out, but I have no doubt he'll be the most excited to meet little Dax!! Degan loves to sit and wait for him to move! and Dustin just likes to poke & yell at him!  I keep getting asked if I'm smaller this time around so I decided to compare and I think I'm about the same!

This Badge's for you!

Dillon got his Wolf badge tonight at the pack meeting! He worked really hard to earn his patch before his birthday and we couldn't be more proud!

Ouch!!

Has been Darin's motto for the last couple of years. When he started getting frequent migraines that were so bad they were making him sick and his left arm would get tingly, we knew it was time to get some answers and figure out what was going on. In May we started in St. George with Dr. Root who ordered a bunch of x-rays, a bone scan & an MRI and discovered that Darin had a bulging disc in his neck that would need surgery. After researching doctors to find the best we ended up in Vegas with Dr. Duke, who did his surgery! On the 27th  Darin was driving to work when the office called to let him know everything had been pre-approved and asked when he wanted to schedule his surgery, he said: "as soon as you can get me in" and she said: "well he has an opening this Thursday!" A little surprised Darin said: "OK, but let me make sure I can get it off" He got everything cleared and was at the hospital the next day getting registered and was ready for surgery on Thursday! It was all a little crazy and last minute and we owe a huge THANK YOU to Jon & Ann for taking our kids! I am so thankful for family that's so close and who love my kids, I'm glad Darin found Dr. Duke, I know he was in the best hands possible for this surgery! and we're both hoping for a speedy recovery!

Kicking off the season

Degan had his first soccer game bright and early this morning!! He did awesome getting the ball and being aggressive!! He tripped a kid on purpose to get the ball and was pushing the players when they got to close, he even got hurt when he was going to kick the ball and his cleat got stuck in the grass and he fell on top of the ball, but he jumped right up and started playing!! It's going to be a fun season watching him play!!

Hoooooop There It Is!!

How many people does it take to hang up a basketball hoop?

Dillon, Thayne & Richard against Darin!!

After being in our house for almost 5 years we FINALLY have something in our backyard besides sticker bushes and dirt!! We've had it up for a few days now and the boys are loving it!!

Degan...Degan...Degan...

Picture Darin & I shaking our heads in disbelief and laughing at the same time!! Today was like any other day until about 12 o'clock when I got a call from Shelby (Brekan's mom) telling me that Degan got off the bus at her house with Brekan!! Now this little play date was not prearranged by Shelby or myself! I couldn't believe that the bus driver would just let Degan off at a different bus stop but Shelby said it was a different bus driver they'd never had before! Shelby thought about putting him back on the bus, but she thought they both looked so cute walking up with the biggest grins on their faces!! (Ya because their little plan had worked!!) When we went to pick him up a few hours later and asked why he got off at Brekan's house he simply said "Well Brekan wanted to play with me today so I got off the bus at his house!!" I can totally see them sitting on the bus hatching their little plan!! I'm just glad he got off at Brekan's house and not some other random friend I don't know!!

Busy Day!

Saturday was a busy day, we started the day off at a local outdoor flag raising ceremony in honor of Constitution Day and so Dillon could pass off a few things in his scout book! FYI: I love that the "Jones" street sign is in the background!!

Dusty Boy saluting the flag, I tried to put his hand over his heart but he insisted on saluting like the veterans!!

While we were out learning about the constitution, Darin was at home overseeing the concrete pour for the basketball court! Can't wait to play on that!!

The boys left their mark! to bad Daxton's not here yet it would've been cool to have all their handprints!

Than to finish off the night and Sunday morning Darin & I went to the Hard Rock Casino to watch Brian Deegan & Dave Mira dook it out and some crazy drunk guys in the row in front of us too! The Mira & Deegan fight was much more entertaining though. It was such a close fight that after the 3 rounds they had to do a sudden death round to decide who the winner was, I thought it was a draw cause they both had good rounds and threw some pretty good punches, Darin wanted Mira to win but Deegan ended up winning! but when your fighting for charity it's all good and they both were good sports! I'm sure there will be a rematch in the future though!!

The Sick Bed

Whenever the boys are sick Daddy always makes them a "sick bed" on the couch right in front of the TV!! This last week the boys caught a lovely little bug from being in school I'm sure. Degan got it first and Dillon was taking really good care of him getting him ice packs and whatever he was asking for! He was running a fever and was shivering like he was cold, so what does Dillon do? Piles every blanket that we have in the house on top of him to keep him warm!!

Flashback Friday

Jean & Noah Hillstead

Grandma & Grandpa's House

I found these pictures of my Grandpa & Grandma's house tucked away in a folder labeled "really old pics" they were taken back in August of 2004 when I went to Wyoming for my Grandma Hillstead's funeral. Dillon was almost two and we made the long drive with Jim & Carla. Seeing these pictures brought back so many fond memories of my summer vacations spent at my Grandparents house as a kid! It always seemed like we were there during the fair, so we had to take Grandpa to the horse pulls, the rodeo and the races!! Krishna & I would spend our days outside riding horses or on an old ornery pony named Obleeo, who bucked every kid off who ever rode it!! I'm not sure why we kept riding him but we did!! We would play in an old wood shed with our cousins Adam & Anthony or go to their house and jump on the tramp or watch movies! There was a post office just down the street so we'd walk down to check my Grandma's mail and inside was a candy store with a bunch of penny candies to choose from! My Dad would take us fishing in all the creeks and when we were unsuccessful he would take us to the "fish farm" where we were guaranteed many fish, he would also take us to the Red Baron for hush puppies & ice cream!! My Grandparents house was nothing fancy but it was a place I loved to go and looked forward to spending those few weeks of summer break there eating my Grandma's homemade bread, cinnamon rolls, jams, & chicken noodle soup and helping her in the garden and with all her chores. When my family went to look around the house in 2004 it hadn't changed a bit the appliances were all the same and still worked! the box of spools we all played with as kids was still there in the same spot it always was, the Vaseline jar that supported the fridge was still there after all these years! The wood burning fire place and the chair right next to it I always curled up in to stay warm all looked exactly the same! You never would've known that my Grandma was worth over one million dollars when she passed away, she didn't need or want any of the worldly things, she was a wise woman, and a hard worker. I feel very lucky that I got to call her Grandma!!

I Work Hard For My Money

Dillon got his first official job picking up dog poop at Uncle Jim & Aunt Carla's house for $3 a week! They have 3 dogs so by the end of the week there is a lot of poop to scoop! He says he's saving up for an I-pad!! I know it's an ambitious goal but at least he has a goal and hard labor will make him appreciate it even more. Good Luck Buddy you can do it!!

The Cheesewagon!

Oh how Degan loves the Cheesewagon! I think he was more excited to ride the bus than the actual going to school part! He doesn't even mind the hour ride it takes to get home after school, he said him & Tanner get to sit in the very back and it feels like a roller coaster ride!! Hopefully he keeps liking it!

Back to Life-Back to Reality!!

-Degan's first day of Kindergarten-

-Dillon's first day of 3rd grade-

Back to School! The day started early for the boys because Dad woke them up when he got home so he could feed them breakfast in bed and see them before they headed off to school! Degan was super excited and couldn't wait to get there to see all his friends! (some how Mrs. Hammons got all of his preschool buddies!) Dillon I think was a little nervous but didn't want me to know cause he asked if I could drop Degan off first and go wait with him! but you can't blame the kid we didn't know his teacher or where his classroom would be, but as soon as he saw that he was going to be in a portable all fears were erased and he was excited! YAY for a successful first day of school and to be back on a schedule!!

Summer Wrap Up

In between all the fun vacations we went on this year, We made a few trips to the community pool to try and keep cool!

We built a lot of forts all around the house, but this one was the best one yet!! (according to Degan)

We developed an obsession with Avatar the last air bender and spent way to much time in front of the T.V.

We got on YouTube and looked up how to build all sorts of things with legos! and Dillon looked up how to draw the various cartoon characters! picture #1-Degan & his halo city. #2-Dillon's drawing of Danny Phantom #3-Dillon's drawing of the Avatar!

Degan & Dad did a little on line shopping and bought a backpack that was GINORMOUS! maybe he'll grow into it by the time he's in high school!!