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!!

A Womb With A View!

19 weeks

And What a view he gave us!! I had a feeling it would be a boy because I've had a few dreams about 4 boys! I wanted it to be a girl only because Dillon & Degan wanted a little sister so badly. Now to find a good "D" name we can all agree on! wish us luck!

Dad Said YES!

Dusty Cruising around wal-mart with Papa

This picture has nothing to do with this post but it was just to darn cute to not be put on the blog! Dustin's new thing to try and get his way is to tell me that "Dad said yes" even if Darin isn't around or if he's sitting in the next room and I clearly heard him tell him NO Dustin will look you straight in the eye and say "Dad Said Yes! He does it to Darin too and every once in awhile he gets him!! While we were on vacation in Utah he got my sister a few times too!! You can't help but laugh, he's getting way to smart for his britches!

One Last Summer Vaca

We hit the road for one last big vacation before the kids have to go back to school! We took over my sister's house for almost a week while they were in Idaho, my kids were in heaven in the cooler weather and spent a lot of time outside playing! they also loved tormenting Tristan & Tristan's hamsters and Austin's dog Teeko! Dustin liked the doggy door and refused to use the real door!

The main reason for our road trip was to take Papa Jones up for his surgery on the 8th. The surgery went well and he was always up beat and happy when we stopped by to see him! but when it was time to head for home the Dr. decide he wanted him to stay close by for another week so we had to leave them behind in the comforts of a hotel room and the Andrew's brought them their car the next day cause you know Granny can't go a whole week without a trip to Wal-Mart!!

Of course if we're making a trip to Utah we HAVE to go to the boy's favorite place......The Nickle Arcades! Granny gave them all $5 to spend! The older boys played all the games that would spit out the most tickets and Dustin just wanted to ride all the little grocery store rides! and hour and a half later we left with two fake stabbing knives, a wormy, a bunch of laffy taffy's and three very happy boys!

Finally what we'd all been waiting for, our day at Lagoon with the Overson's!! LeAnn was the official roller coaster adult seeings how she was the only one who could go on them with the kids! Me being with child and Cord & Darin's motion sickness and of course Darin's bad neck, LeAnn was the go to girl!! Both Dillon & Degan surprised me and went on all the big coasters they were allowed on and just when I thought they'd chicken out they'd follow LeAnn and get on and come off with the biggest smiles and begging her to take them again! In fact we had so much fun we were there until closing and the kids decided it's their new favorite place besides the KOA of course! It's funny how an amusement park is so much more fun when you have a buddy to ride the rides with!!