Book Reading Progress

February

11. Firegirl- Tony Abbott
12. Number the Stars- Lois Lowry
13. A Dance to Remember- Anita Stansfield
14. The Red Badge of Courage- Stephen Crane
15. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain
16. Vanished: A Maggie McKenzie Mystery- Lynn Gardner
17. Finding Noel- Richard Paul Evans
18. Race Against time- William Boyd Gardner
19. Pilgrim's Progress- John Bunyan
20. Heart of Darkness- Joseph Conrad

My favorite book form this past month was "Pilgrim's Progress". It was nothing what I thought it was to be about. I thought it was about the Pilgrim's trip to America and their life here. I was wrong. I's about religious pilgrims.
This book reminds me a lot of the things we are taught in the LDS church about gaining eternal life. It was very interesting. There are lots of Bible references that reinforces what is being said. I really enjoyed it and definitely recommend this for a good read. It definitely gives you a lot to think about.

To My Girls

Gabcast! MrJones #1

On days like today...

It's hard to do anything on those days when you just don't feel good. On days like today, I really like to see this:



It has been so nice lately that we went on a walk yesterday and then again when Jethro came home. I'm excited to go on a walk again today since it's supposed to be 55. I wish it was Spring already.

Those Crazy Russians!

From the Official Gmail Blog.

Pics of the Week

What a personality! I love her smiles! She is so much fun.

Katya is finally over 18 pounds and that means she's old enough
to eat her own Costco size pizza.

A Hopeful Experiment....

For quite a while we have gotten Cali t go to sleep by 11 and then sleep till 8 or 9 in the morning. It was great that she'd sleep so long but I was so exhausted. Katya and Cali share a room but it was hard getting Cali to sleep in her own bed because she would cry and wake Katya up and then they'd both just sit there and wail. That being said, Cali would fall asleep in our bed and then we'd move her to her room. Well, that wasn't fun either. We decided to try an experiment Sunday night. We decided to put them to bed at the same time. It worked, not once but twice. Knock on wood though. I'm afraid that it won't last for too long, even though I want it too. Cali now gets up with Katya at 7:30 or 8. Not too bad for a 3 month old. I just hope it keeps up. I can't be that lucky and have 2 amazing sleeping children in a row, can I?

A Pea in a Pod

We were given something called a "PeaPod". It is an indoor/outdoor travel sleeping tent. We hadn't thought much about it until last week. Katya kept waking up screaming and we were afraid she'd wake up Cali sleeping in the same room. We whipped out the PeaPod and it has been great Cali looks so cute in it too.

It has an inflatable air mattress in the bottom and it folds up kind of small. I think we'll keep it in our car in case we get stuck somewhere and need a contained sleeping area. I like it.

Girl's Night

On Wednesday, I had a girl's Night with Megan while Jethro was in class. We watched the movie "Sydney White"


ate pizza and drank Kool-Aid.

It was a blast. The girl's really liked seeing Aunt Megan. Thanks Megan for letting us come by and hang out.

My loves

Some people don't believe in true love, but I do. I found it when I met Jethro. Every morning when I make up and look at him, my love grows. When I think my heart can't hold any more love, Jethro does something that fills it even more. He is so sweet and so wonderful. I just love him so much and am so glad that I was fortunate to marry him. I love you Jethro.


Besides being so wonderful, Jethro has blessed me with 2 beautiful daughters. Because of this wonderful gift, my heart keeps growing. Just when I think that it finally is really full, there's always more to fill it. Jethro is such a good dad to our two little girls. They both adore him very much and love to see him. It melts my heart when I see him with the girls. I love it.


Katya opened up my heart to a new kind of love-the kind of love a mother has for her child. As she has grown so has my love for her. She brings so much to our family. She always knows just what to do to cheer me up if I'm having a bad day. Her smiles and laughter often fill her house and she is so friendly to everyone. She's our little social butterfly. I love how much joy she brings to my life.


Cali adds a different dimension to mother-child love. Her personality is so different from Katya's, but totally adorable. She is such a serious child, but all of the sudden will break into a huge smile. I melts my heart to see her smile. She always give me the look of "mommy I trust that you'll take care of me and I love you." I love that look. She is so cute.

Thanks Jethro for loving me so much and giving me two cute little girls to love. I love you.

I hate UDOT

That's right, I hate UDOT- Utah Department of Transportation. For the longest time they were on my good side. They were always really good about plowing the roads, getting them sanded, and cleaning things up. That all changed last night. I don't know if they'll be able to redeem themselves.

Last night we were in Provo. Jethro had class and I was visiting my sister Megan. We knew it was supposed to snow and that there would only be 3-5 inches and it would blow through pretty quick. It started snowing when I headed out to get Jethro at school at 2. No biggie. We got to Provo just fine it snowed for awhile in Provo and then let up. One of Jethro's classmates arrived 2 hours late because the roads from Eagle Mountain were pretty bad. He told me to check and see how the roads were before we left Provo. I jumped on the good ol' internet and went straight to UDOT's website. I checked their "up-to-date" road conditions map and they said that the conditions were pretty good with a few spots in the 50 mph range but everything else faster than that. No problem. We'd be home in 40-45 minutes. We headed out and were just going great down the 15 until Pleasant Grove then BAM! Total traffic jam. What the heck!? UDOT said there was no problem. I thought that it would clear up. WRONG! 4 and a half hours later we finally got into Salt Lake. That's right, 4 and a half hours. The wind was blowing and there was snow, but I didn't think it was too bad. The traffic sure sucked. Thanks a lot UDOT for your "up-to-date" winter road conditions map. That's the last time I listen to you!



Staci failed to mention that I had a training (for a safe walking path for students to our school using UDOT software) webinar online on Tuesday night with UDOT. They piped the video through the internet, but didn't do the audio. I had to actually call in and listen to them instead of just plugging my headphones in. Well, the only time they broadcast the training is when I have class. So, I couldn't sit there on my cellphone all through class. I am just dumbfounded that they couldn't pipe the audio through with the video. It just doesn't make sense. I had to watch it, but with out any audio, the screencast was not only boring, but useless. Then, to top things off, they just emailed me and said that we can supposedly watch the training online at any time. Apparently they forgot to to mention that earlier.

Katya's words and prayers

Katya is learning a lot lately. She knows how to sign please and is starting to sign thank you. She catches on pretty quickly. Hopefully that will help to not be so frustrated when she's talking to us. She loves signing please and now does it without us telling her to. When she wants food she'll sign more please. It is pretty cute. I love that she's learning.

We have been trying to teach Katya to fold her arms when we pray. We usually have to help her and she really isn't into us holding her arms folded. That all changed on Sunday. Suddenly she started folding her arms all by herself . Now when I say the word "pray" to her, she drops her toys and folds her arms. It is so cute.

My Wonderful Jethro

What is his name? Jethro Dean Jones

How long have you been married? 3 years 4 months

How long did you date? dating and engagement was 7 months

How old is he? 26

How old are you? 23

Who eats more sweets? both- I love chocolate and he loves ice cream

Who said "I love you first"? He did

Who is taller? He is

Who can sing better? Jethro

Who is smarter? We both are just in different area. For me it's like crafts and hands on things-like fixing things. For Jethro it's book and street smarts.


Who does the laundry? I do

Who does the dishes? Me usually, but we don't have a dishwasher so if Jethro's home when I'm doing them, he helps me.

Who pays the bills? Jethro earns the money and I spend it (i.e. pay the bills)

His guilty pleasures? Apple products (ipods, computers, programs), anything technology related, ice cream

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do

Who mows the lawn? Jethro

Besides you, who is his best friend? No idea. He has lots of really good friends from different stages in his life so I don't know if he considers any of them his best friend.

Who cooks dinner? I usually do

Who drives? Jethro does. He loves to.

Who is more stubborn? We both are in different areas.

Who kissed who first? I kissed Jethro first. He said that he wouldn't kiss me until I was ready. We were talking about it one night and he told me he wasn't going to kiss me that night even if I was ready. I really wanted to kiss him so I went ahead and did it.

Who asked who out first? We just kind of hooked up after hanging out as friends for awhile so a month after we'd hooked up we finally went on an official date.

What was your first date? First real date was blacklight bowling

Who proposed? He did. It was perfect, just like Him.

Who has more siblings? He does 6 to my 4

Who wears the pants? We share

What is your favorite thing about him? Everything, especially his passion. It way drive me crazy sometimes, but when he really wants something he goes after it and cares about it deeply. There are so many more things about him that I love like how much he loves me and the girls, the special daddy-daughter relationship he has, his spirituality, his dedication, his persistence, his desire to never stay in one place to long (career wise, intellectually, financially, all aspects), his service, and I could go on and on. I sure do love my m an for everything he is and everything he stives to be.

Sisters

They are both getting so big. I can't wait until they play together.

Sewing Projects

It may seem like I haven't done a sewing project for awhile, but I have been working on one. It has taken quite a while.

I love my couch, but not for the same reason most people love theirs. Our couch isn't very comfortable, cleanable, or really cute. I like our couch because it comes apart. That's right. It comes apart. We were given it by some friends when we got married and were told it came from IKEA. I love it because it is so easy to move and I don't want to buy nice furniture untilafter we move into a house. Well, after having two kids playing and spitting up on it, it is way dirty. It is too hard to take the covers off and wash them so I decided to recover the couch so that I could easily take the cushion covers off and wash them. It took a while to do, but I'm glad it's done.

Couch and Chair before:



After:

Do I have an accent? Where am I from?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Glad to see that I don't really have an accent.

Motherly responsibilities I hate

I love being a mom. Hands down, it is the best job on earth. But with every job there are the positives and negatives. Most things about being a mom are great, but there are some responsibilities I hate.

1. Cutting their little tiny fingernails. I still haven't figured out how to cut them
without it hurting them.
2. Bulb suctioning their noses. Even though it feels better, I sure hate it.
3. Watching them get shots. I panic when I see needles and it makes my heart
ache for them to have to get stuck by one. I've had 2 c-sections and blood
drawn and shots given a million times so you'd think I wouldn't be afraid of
them, but I am.
4. Changing their diaper when they have diaper rash. It is so sad to see it so
red and to hear them cry. I am not very good when it comes to my kids hurting.
5. Changing poopy clothes, bedding, and whatever else seemed to get it on it. So gross!

At least they tend to outgrow most of this stuff (at least I hope so) by the time they are 5. Even though I hate having to deal with those 5 things, I take them all on a million times a day just so I can have my girls.

The day I cried in front of a bunch of 7th graders

I am not a very emotional person, but sometimes, some things just get to me. Today was one of those days. This is a letter I got from one of my kids:

Dear Dad,
Here is a picture of me in all my cuteness today. I am having a good day and being good for mommy. I also wanted to send you a picture of my crazy sister Katya that was taken a few days ago [the picture in the post called "Hilarious"]. She is so funny. Once I learn how to laugh, I will start laughing with her.

Love,
Baby Cali

This picture was included. I don't know why it brought tears to my eyes...well, I guess I do. It brought tears to my eyes because being a dad is the greatest feeling in the world. People are often amazed and confounded when I tell them that I am 26 and have two kids under 2 years old. I am amazed and confounded when people tell me that they want to wait for the "right" time to have kids. I love my two little girls. They make me so happy. I could not imagine life without them. Thanks Staci for reminding me of that.

Hilarious!!

She makes the funniest faces. Whenever I have a piece of clothing in my hands, whether it's a shirt or a blanket, she likes me to shake it up and down so the air is in her face. She always makes this face. She is definitely a child who like the wind. Hilarious!

Hinckley Challenge

One of the best things about my mission was being able to talk to people about Jesus Christ and the Restored Gospel. It is something that I miss greatly. I still talk about the church and scriptures occasionally, but not nearly as often as I used to. We should talk about the Book of Mormon as we read it. To that end, I have created the BOM wiki. It is a place that everyone involved in the Hinckley challenge can go to and contribute their insights as they read.

I invite everyone to join with me in sharing your insights. Don't be afraid! It will be lots of fun.

I also encourage you to join wikispaces and have a username so we can see who is making great insights.

If you don't know how a wiki works, watch the video below:

Making true on promises

In a post I did last April, I told myself that I would read all sorts of books to educate my mind. Well, that didn't happen. I am a slacker. With my word of the year, I told myself that I would read/listen to more books. Well, the time has come to make good on promises to myself. I was afraid to say anything about it earlier, but since it has been going well, I thought I'd write about it. Instead of reading just classics, I thought I'd throw in books that I enjoy reading to keep me motivated. So at the end of each month I am going to report what I have read/listening to. So here starts my time of accountability.


January

1. Timeless Waltz- Anita Stansfield
2. A Time to Dance- Anita Stansfield
3. Saving Kristen- Jack Weyland
4. Dancing in the Light- Anita Stansfield
5. Adam's Story- Jack Weyland
6. Brittany- Jack Weyland
7. Dancing in the Light- Anita Stansfield
8. A Star in Winter- Anita Stansfield
9. The Giver- Lois Lowry
10. From the Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler- Elaine Lobl Konigsburg

I know many aren't the classics, but in February I have a lot of the classics ready to read and I'm really looking forward to it.

I am #1855, Staci is #1890.

Click here to join me. Leave what number you are in the comments.

How can you not love this face?

I am so glad that every morning I get to see this cute little face. Can I get any luckier than this?