Trip to Oklahoma

On Wednesday I left to come to my parents house in Oklahoma for my younger sister, Megan's, graduation. I haven't been home in 3 years so it was nice to be back. I don't have much time to write, but here are a few pics of the trip so far.

My dad and Katya.


























My cousins Michael and Christpher with Katya. They absolutely loved playing with her and she loved it too.


































This is what Katya thought of her first plane trip.

































Megan and I right before graduation.




























Megan, Katya, and I at the Tulsa Zoo. Katya loved it!

SPT

can you guess the challenge?!? that's right!! - make new friends and keep the old. i like this because it is really two challenges in one. you've been challenged to answer the questions: who is an old friend? who is a new friend? how long have you known them? what brought you together? have you drifted then reconnected? where do you meet new friends?? but you are also challenged to do more than just tell us about them. in the spirit of national new friends/old friends week, make the time to let your friends know that they matter to you!! have lunch, send good mail, pick up the phone. this is "just because" connecting at it's finest!!


The challenge for this week really excites me. I love having friends and making new ones. I find it hard to make friends sometimes, especially good ones that you keep for years. Growing up, I lived in 3 different places and found it hard to leave my friends when moving day came. College was also hard having to make new friends every year. Now that I am married and done with college, I realize that without friends I would be so lonely. There are so many friends that come to mind when i read about the challenge. Let me introduce you to a few of them.

Dierdra has probably been my friend for the longest time. We met in 1996 shortly after I moved to Borger, Texas. I had a really hard time when I first moved there so I was really lucky I met her. We became fast friends and have been friends for almost 11 years now. We have fallen out of touch and then back in touch. We are so different- from religion, hair color, height, family size, where we live, and such- but we get along so well. I haven't seen her since she flew in for my wedding reception 2 1/2 years ago. I am so excited because I get to see her this Sunday. She lives near my parents right now and since I am going home for my sister's graduation I get to see her again. I am so excited to see this old friend again. I'll have to post some pics when I see her.

Another friend of mine is Noelle. We met in Fall Semester 2002 when we became roommates. It was awkward meeting a new roommate at first, but we became fast friends. We were such good friends that we ended up rooming together for 2 years and working together in the middle of nowhere for a whole summer. Noelle is one of those friends that you don't want to lose. She has such a personality that always made me laugh, and sometimes drove m crazy. She is such a caring person that I am so lucky to have known her. Now that we are both done with college I don't get to see her as much as I want to. She is always so much fun to talk to that I feel like no matter how long it's been since we talked, we never seem to skip a beat. She is such a great friend and I really miss having her around.

I never thought that I could be best friends with one of my sisters because I thought we were all way to different. I'm happy to say that my opinion on that has changed. My littlest sister Megan is 4 1/2 years younger than me, but I see so much of myself in her. I miss not being able to see her very much- it's been 6 months. I talk to her just about every day online and probably call her a couple of times a week. I feel like we can talk about so much and are on the same wave length. The age difference isn't a big deal at all. It feels like it doesn't really exist. Our relationship has changed over the past year from just casually talking to her for 15 minutes once a week to our calls lasting at least 45 minutes. She is going to BYU next year and I am so happy that she will be so much closer so that I can see her on a regular basis. I am also really excited because I get to see her on Wednesday and watch her graduate from high school on Thursday! I'll have to post some pics from home when I get back.


There are so many old friends that I wish I had kept in contact with and so many new friends that I'm making. It's nice that there is a whole week dedicated to celebrating friendship. As the week goes by, I hope that I can remember those friends and celebrate the old and new friendships.

SPT (Self-Portrait Tuesday)

I read lots of blogs (judging by all the links on the side) and often see SPT (Self-Portrait Tuesdays) on almost everyone's blog on Tuesdays. I think that it is a good idea, but have been debating whether my life is exciting enough to actually do it. This week I decided to make my life exciting and actually do it. It will give me something else to write about and to keep my blog updated. The originator of this concept is Lelly. I'm going to give it a shot and hopefully it will work and I'll be able to keep up on it every week.

Since this past Sunday was Mother's Day, the SPT of the week is talking about our mother. What a great idea! I love my mom and don't mind talking about her and letting you all get to know her more.

My wedding day

• She has 2 sisters and one brother. Her brother is 16 years younger than her.
• She moved around a lot when she was growing up because her dad was in the Navy. She even lived at Pearl Harbor.
• She served a mission in France and I think it's really cool to hear her speak French and I think it's cool that she still remembers some.
• She is such a good cook. It always makes me miss home cooked meals.
  
• She is a really good seamstress. It amazes me at what she makes and how well it all turns out. She's amazing. She made my junior prom dress modest and it looked so cute with the shrug she made for it.
• She makes the best homemade bread ever. Mine never comes close to how good hers is.
• She was always home for us when we came home from school. Sometimes I thought it was annoying, but I really appreciate it. It was so nice knowing that she would always be there for us and that I didn't have anything to worry about.
  
• She taught me how to clean, cook, sew, and be a good mom. I wish I could do all those things as good as her.
• She taught me to love reading. She was always reading a book and still always reads one.
• She forced me to get along with my sisters, which ended up being a good thing.
  
• She always made sure we ate well. We hardly ever ate out growing up, which is probably why I like home cooked meals so much.
• She always sends me good coupons.
  
• Her frog-eye salad, potato salad, and coleslaw are the best!
• She always took lots of pictures of us growing up.
• She doesn't let others have negative influence on her. She has her own style that hasn't really changed. I like it.
• She is such a great grandmother. She loves to hold Katya and take care of her.

• She loves babies and I bet she wishes that we would give her more grandkids.
• She has a lot of patience when it comes to dealing with babies.
• She finds good deals.
  
• She raised all 5 girls to be good kids- she sure did a good job.
• She always does a good job in her church callings.
• She doesn't give unwanted advice. She always knows where boundries are and respects that. She is not a pushy mom or grandma.
  
• She knows when her help and input is needed- it's like a sixth sense.
• She loves watching the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.
• She drove our car all the way from Oklahoma to Utah by herself. It was so nice of her.
• She came out right after Katya got out of the hospital and stayed for 2 weeks. She was amazing and such a big help to us. I am so glad that she came.

• She does so much for us kids.
• She made us wear matching outfits as we were growing up.
• She makes the best casseroles. Hers are the only casseroles that I like. I've tried to make casseroles, but mine turn out horrible and super mushy. Gross!
• She picks out the cutest outfits for Katya.
• She taught me to be modest.
• She is a convert to the church. I really admire her for that.
• She's smart.
• She has read the whole dictionary and knows the meaning of tons of words. It amazes me.
• She listens when I talk.
• She is the best mom.
  

I love you, Mom. Thanks for all that you do. You are such a good example and have taught me so much. Thank you.

My Mother's Day

I had a fabulous Mother's Day that was stretched over a couple of days. Jethro's preset to me was to get my hair done. I wanted to go back to blonde for so long but just hadn't yet. It felt so good to have my hair done at the salon and I absolutely love it.


Since I'm in the shade it doesn't look as blonde as it really is. (I can't believe how big Katya looks in this picture!)

Jethro has been really busy this past couple of weeks with work, school, and subbing on a donut route which meant lots of time when I was just home with Katya. He could since that I missed him and wanted to spend time with just him. Saturday was our special day together. He totally made me feel special. He took me to lunch at Gardner Village's Archibald's Restaurant. I had never been there before or really even heard of it. I loved it though. They have this super yummy California Croissant that has turkey and avocado. So good! They also have really yummy fries. It was so good. Afterwards we went to see Spiderman 3 and it was so good. It was so nice to spend the day with Jethro. Thanks Rebekah for watching Katya for us. We really appreciate it.

Sunday was a great day for a couple of reasons. First of all, a year ago on May 13, 2006, we were finally able to bring Katya home from the hospital- the day before Mother's Day. It was such a happy day. It had been a long process to get her home, which made Mother's Day more special. This year I was able to look back on the last year that we had her and makes me so happy. I love my little Katya and am just so happy that I am so blessed to be her mom. She is such a wonderful child that I just feel so lucky to have the chance to be her mom and to raise her. I just love being a mom and won't trade it for anything. I just love her so much. Another reason for Sunday being so great was because of my wonderful husband. He treats me like a queen and sure knows how to do the right things to make me feel so special. He took care of Katya for me on Sunday and even made me breakfast. He is also so sweet with his compliments. I just love him so much and am so proud to be his wife. He is such a good husband and father that it makes my job of being a mom so easy and worthwhile. Thanks for the great day(s) Jethro and for making me feel so special.

On Sunday afternoon, Matt and Rebekah were nice enough to have us over for dinner with all of Matt's family. We had some super yummy Fajitas and way good berry shortcake. Yum! All in all it was a great Mother's Day.

Always Chillin'

Ok, so I have been meaning to post this picture for quite a while but I keep forgetting. This was taken on Katya's birthday when we took her to the zoo. This picture totally cracks me up because this is how Katya likes to sit in her stroller. She also sits really funny in her carseat, but I have yet to catch a picture of that. She is just too funny.


She is such a lounger. I love how she always just chills and relaxes.

Weird ducks...

I'm being to think that things at our apartment can be a little weird sometimes, especially with the animals. This morning was one of those instances. I walked out to uncover the squash because it was cold last night. As I walked across the deck, I looked out to the grass and saw 3 ducks just chillin'. It looked a little odd and didn't expect to see them just sitting there. As i stepped onto the grass, they stood up and started to waddle away. I said to them, "Don't worry guys. I'm just going to uncover the squash. You can stay." They then sat back down. I thought that was a little weird. I figured they'd fly away while I uncovered the squash. As I walked back to the house, they were still sitting on the grass. As I approached, they stood up to walk away again and I told them the same thing. They sat back down and just chilled. It was so weird. I went to take a picture of them just sitting there but i was to confused by their weird behavior. If they come back again I will be sure to take a picture.

Happy Mother's Day!

Diana

Jo Anne



Thanks Mom(s) for all that you do for us. We love you. Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Gift!

UPDATE: Okay, I was wrong about Bejeweled 2 deluxe. I got the download link today for the original Bejeweled Deluxe, not Bejeweled 2 Deluxe. Bummer, 2 is better than the first, but that is okay, beggars can't be choosers.

Joystiq reports that PopCap Games will allegedly be giving away a code for a free download of the game Bejeweled deluxe for Mother's Day. They say it will be included in the Newsletter, so sign up here if you want a full retail version of the game for free. I have no way to verify if this is true, but I signed up for the newsletter, anyway. Hopefully it is not a ploy for more subscribers to their newsletter. I love this game and it will give me something to do during my downtime (which will come in 3-5 years).

Image from http://www.bubble-bobble-games.com/images/bejeweled-game/big1.jpg

One Year Ago...

Just one short year ago today, Jethro and I welcomed little Ekaterina Colleen Jones into our family. It was a much anticipated and exciting day. We were so glad when she finally arrived. The anticipation had been killing us for so long. As I look back on her first year, I remember so many happy moments and even a few scary ones. It has been such a joy having her in our family and we look forward to so many happy years with her.

Katya was born at 9:50 a.m. on May 1st at LDS Hospital. (We really couldn't have asked for a better place for her to be born.) She weighed 6 lbs. and was 19 in. long. She never cried when she was born and was a little low on oxygen so they took her to the NICU and Jethro followed. I wish I could have gone, but I was too hopped up on drugs from the c-section to really even move. They said something was wrong, but no one would tell me anything and I was actually pretty calm and not even panicking. We had our wonderful family doctor that came in shortly to talk to me and told me what she thought was wrong with our little girl. She thought it was Down Syndrome, but only genetic tests would tell. Most people panic when they hear something like that, but I was calm (and it wasn't because of the drugs). During the whole pregnancy, both Jethro and I felt that something was wrong and we just didn't know what. No matter how much Jethro would say everything is all right, I knew something was wrong, but I wasn't extremely panicked. When our doctor talked to me and told me what she thought, I felt totally relieved to finally know why I was so worried. Jethro and I were both okay with the diagnosis and weren't very phased by it.

I was able to see Katya about 4 hours after she was born. She was just the cutest little baby ever and she actually looked like my Grandpa Ray during that first day. She was just so cute and small with really long pointed finger nails that she kept scratching herself with. The next little while was hard, but Katya received great care. All the nurses in the NICU were great and Katya got off the oxygen after two days. She was moved around quite a lot in the NICU and was the biggest baby there. She struggled with eating so had to be fed with a tube for a while.

Katya had a ton of family and friends come and visit so it was wonderful. Jethro's dad was able to come and see her before he moved to Brazil and Jethro's mom came down to help out. I don't remember all those that came to see her, but there were so many.

I left the hospital on the 5th, but Katya had to stay. It was so hard to leave her there that I will admit that I cried. The nice thing about her staying in the hospital was that I got to heal and rest.

She finally came home on the 13th, the day before Mother's Day. I was so glad that we were finally able to bring her home. It felt like it had been forever. After she was home a week she ate from a bottle and slept through the night. She has been doing great ever since she came home.

At 1 Month (June) and 2 months (July):

At 3 months (August) and 4 months (September):

At 5 months (October) and 6 months (November):

At 7 months (December) and 8 months (January):

At 9 months (February) and 10 months (March):

At 11 months (April):

Katya is doing great now. She hasn't had any serious problems or complications of any kind. She continues to grow and develop daily. Her favorite word to say is "da-da". She loves being with her daddy and is always so excited to see him when he comes home. She loves to stand and tries to crawl, but never bends her knees, so that makes crawling a little difficult. I hope this next year she learns to crawl and talk a whole lot more, especially to say "ma-ma". Here's to next year!

Happy 1st Birthday, Katya!!!!!