Finally catching up!! LOTS of pictures!!!

Well, our life has been EXTREMELY CRAZY the last few weeks!! But I'm finally updating our blog. There has been so many things going on, so sorry about the MEGA POST!!

• June 18th: Jesse had to get his ONE wisdom tooth out. He knew he only had one, but it had never come through, well the beginning of the week it started to come in. It hadn't broke through his gums but he could tell it was starting to come in and he didn't want it to move his other teeth, since he's had work done on them. How funny that it started coming in right after Gentry got her's out and while Hunter is teething, I guess he was feeling left out:). He had quite of bit of bleeding but otherwise did well. Lucky he just had one and I never had any! (I know what you're thinking. . .no wisdom/explains the blonde roots j/k) My mom never had any either, lucky us!! So hopefully this will be to our kids advantage!
  
• June 19-20th: I ran and SURVIVED the Ragnar Relay!! The Monday before, I went on a longer run, since I hadn't trained very well d/t uncooperating weather, not having a treadmill, and being too lazy to get up early enough to go to the gym. I ran 8 miles Monday evening, and Monday night my left foot was killing me, I could hardly walk on it. I went to bed and when I woke up the next morning it still hurt, but off I went to work on my feet all day. It really hurt until about 1/2 way through my shift and then it didn't bother me again. I didn't run any more that week, to let it rest for the big race! For those of you who don't know what Ragnar is, it's a relay that goes from Logan to Park City with 12 team members who each run three different legs. Here's a map of the whole race.

I was runner 1/12, but Brooke actually ran the first leg because it was cooler for her with her being pregnant, it worked out better that way and I ran her 4th leg. So I started in Paradise, right by the old church and ran to Avon just past where the dirt road starts. I started at about 12:30 pm and I'm not used to running in the heat, so it kicked my butt. It was 5.1 miles at I did it in about 50 minutes. I didn't time these to the exact second. Here's the map of my 1st leg:My second leg started at Snowbasin and I ran down in to Mountain Green. This was my long one. It was 8.5 miles, all downhill though, except the first mile and it was about 7:30 pm, so it was the perfect temperature. The only bad thing was after my first run, my foot was KILLING me!!! It didn't hurt at all my first run, but holy cow I could hardly walk on it. But, I just kept going. It took me about 90 minutes, so about a 10.5 minute mile, but I thought that was okay considering I was running crippled. I'm so mad though, because I know I could had done it a ton faster, oh well, at least I finished. Here's the map of my second leg:My last run started in Oakley and ended up in Kamas. I ran 4.8 miles in 45 minutes, and yes my foot was still killing me. I had a girl tape it before I ran this time, and that help for a little while, but it really hurt. Here's the map of my 3rd leg:

I finished running about 9:15 am, Saturday morning, in Kamas and Jess and my my dad were there to watch me. My dad got a condo for the night in Midway so they would be closer. Jess had to come pick me up because I had to leave early. I was sad I didn't get to stay until the end, but it was okay. It actually poured on the last 2 runners, so I don't even think they got team pictures, next time right! This was a huge accomplishment for me and I can't wait to run it again. We had a ton of laughs, not much sleep, (but good solid sleep for 3 hours on a church lawn under the stars in Oakley), more that enough spit baths, some other things that we won't talk about, used WAY to many port-a-potties, ate too many bananas and carbs, had some mice join our party at Snowbasin while eating dinner/resting, made goods friends, and definitely got some good excercise-now if I could only get going again, my foot finally feels better. Thanks so much for all your support Jess, Dad, and Mom!! It makes such a difference to have people cheering you on!! Van #1: Amy, Kasey, Mindi, Brooke, Fern, and Melissa. Here we are Friday morning at the starting line, I guess this means we're really doing this. I had butterflies in my stomach like crazy.
Here I am waiting to start my first run in Paradise.

My mom and dad watched Hunter while I was running and Jess was working. They were so nice to come and support me. They cheered me my whole first run! Thanks again for all your support.

Brooke, Fern, Melissa, Mindi, and Kasey at the top of Liberty. Amy was running up that wicked hill in the heat of the day.
Fern, Kasey, Mindi, Amy, Brooke, and Melissa in Oakley after only 3 hours of sleep. This is the exchange where I started my last run.

• June 20th: After my 3rd leg we drove back to the condo and I took nice hot bath, after no bath/shower and 3 runs later. I could hardly walk at this point, but boy did the bath feel nice. I got a quick nap in when we got home. Saturday evening Gentry and Tyson took out their endowments! What a neat and special experience it was!! It was a really great session.

• June 21st: FATHER'S DAY!!! We went to church, then went to Grant and Carol's for lunch and to celebrate. Then we went to my parent's to celebrate again! We have such wonderful father's and Hunter is SO lucky to have such a wonderful father!!! And I'm lucky to have such a hottie for a husband!!!
This is one of my favorite pictures of Jess and Hunter together. Hunter was almost 2 days old in this picture. And who wouldn't love a dad that would just let them sit on his head:) Jess loves to wrestle and Hunter's getting really good at it. And here's my dad and I. I just want him to know that I love him so much and I'm so lucky to have him as my dad. He does SOOO much for my family and I. Thanks for all you both do, Jess and Dad!! We love you!!


• June 24th: JESSE GOT A JOB!!!!!! Well, more of a career type job, 'cause he's always had a job. He's been working for The Lawn Doctor for the last few months and has really enjoyed it, but has been applying for lots of jobs with his marketing degree. He had an interview June 12th and then a second interview June 18th with Harris Research. He called me Wednesday while I was working and told me HE GOT THE JOB!!!! We were both SOOOO excited and relieved. He's been applying for jobs since before he graduated last December and had many interviews. With the ecomony, searching for a job has been rough and competative. Jess even interviewed against a couple internal people, so we feel EXTREMELY BLESSED that he was hired on. He will be their Product Sales Manager. Jess will be a great addition to the company. He started working on July 1st and has been putting in long days. He feels pretty overwhelmed, but likes it so far, and will do a fantastic job!!!!! Honey we are SOOOO proud of you!!
  
• June 27th: Tyson and Gentry got MARRIED!!!!! It was a wonderful ceremony and a beautiful day!!! Congratulations you guys!!!! We are so proud of you and we love you!!!

Aren't they so cute! I was kind of on the side lines trying to take pictures, so they weren't looking at me.
Here they are at their luncheon


And here's a bunch of pictures of Jess, Hunter, and I at the reception





Hunter really looks like he's enjoying himself, doesn't he:)


He was happy as could be running around free on the grass


A long day and night makes for a very tired mommy and baby

• June 29th: We went to Lagoon with Dustin, Sheena, and Brody. It was so much fun!! We weren't there for a long time, but it was just right for Hunter. I haven't been to Lagoon for a few years. We didn't go on any big people rides, but it was so much fun!! We got to take Hunter on a bunch of kiddie rides, some he liked and other's not so much. He lOVED the boats and the cars the best! He and Brody were so funny. They're gonna be little potlickers in a few years! We also spent a little time at Lagoona Beach, and that was SO nice, because it was SO hot!! June 29th is also my mom's birthday, so we celebrated her birthday that night!! We had pizza for dinner and cake and ice cream for dessert!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Dustin, Brody, Hunter, and Jesse getting ready for the first ride of the day

The dad's buckling the boys in

Hunter's not quite sure what's going on. . .hope he likes it!

Brody wasn't so fond of the whales

Mindi, Hunter, Sheena, Brody waiting in line for the new dragon ride in tne kiddie land

Just getting started. I'm pretty sure Sheena and I were more excited than the kids were

Holy cow!! That was one fast ride! If you look close, you can see me holding on to Hunter's leg. I had a hard time even staying in my seat. Maybe we'll wait a few years before we do that one again!

Hunter, Jesse, Sheena, and Brody waiting in line for the boats

Hunter LOVED the boats!!! These two were so funny together!

Dingin' the bell

The next ride was the helicopters. If you pull that bar it makes it go up and down, but it's easier to pull it from where Hunter's sitting. We tried telling Hunter to pull the bar, but he's just not quite big enough to follow those kind of directions. So they just rode around in the low position.

Dad and Hunter on the merry-go-round

Family picture of the day!

These look like two bad boys with their guns

This was Hunter's other favorite ride! He and Brody came around the corner, both just looking at each other and smiling and laughing. It was so cute!

Here we are at Lagoon Beach! It was SO stinkin' hot, so this felt so nice!! We mostly float around the freezing cold lazy river and played in the kiddie area for a little bit. Jess and Dustin did go on one water slide, but they had quite the line to stand in.

And what better way to finish off a fun day at Lagoon than with ice cream from Pioneer Village, especially when it's FREE (thanks to Nucor)!! Asleep in the stroller sound pretty good too! I was jealous!!

MOM's Birthday!

That night we celebrated my mom's birthday!!!! We had Pizza, salad, and breadsticks and then chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert!
Here's my BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL MOM!!!! This picture was actually taken on Father's Day, but I didn't get one that night.

Singing Happy Birthday

Here's grandma with her 8 beautiful grandkids!! From L to R: Logan(who's almost not in the picture), Kirsten, Ella, Kyler, Grandma, Hunter, Lincoln, Kaden, and Kenna. We hope you had a WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!! We love you so much and can't thank you enough for all you do for our family!!!!!!

• July 1-3: Jones Family Vacation to Midway: With all our crazy schedules, our whole family was only together for a day beacause everyone was coming/going at different times, but we still had fun! Originally we were going to vacation the weekend after the fourth, but then some condo's opened up the weekend of the 4th and it worked better for most people to go over the holiday weekend. With my lovely work schedule requests that are due 3 months ahead of time, I had already requested to work the weekend of the 4th and not the next, so the rest of the fam stayed until the 5th, but it still worked out. We had a great time!!
  

-Wednesday we (Dad, Mom, Hunter, and I, and Jason's whole family) left around noonish. We did some shopping at Target on the way down and then on to Midway. That night we went grocery shopping, ate dinner, went swimming and hung out!

-Thursday we went to Hogle Zoo and Tonya and her kids met us there. After the Zoo we hit the outlet malls. That night we had yummy Spaghetti dinner and then did some swimming. Jess and Jeremy drove down that night after they were both done with work. I was so excited Jess was able to come!!! We weren't sure what his work schedule would be or if he would get Friday off.

Hunter and Grandpa in front of the elephants. Hunter was more worried about trying to get down and run around.

Lincoln, Mom, and Hunter in front of the camels

Mom and Hunter in front of the black bears

And here's the whole group of us! We even survived a monsoon rain storm!! Thanks for a really fun day Mom and Dad!
Hunter and I in front of Hogle Zoo


-Friday we went on the Heber Creeper. Everyone's gotta do it at least once! It was pretty fun and Hunter did pretty good. He loved to look over the side.
Just leaving Heber City

Here we are with Deer Creek Reservoir behind us. I was wishing I waterskiing right about then, it was pretty warm that day!

This is my all time favorite picture of the train ride. Hunter and Dad just chillin'. Hunter just looks like a little man.

Hunter was SO tired and finally gave in

Dad was about ready to give in too. He was pretty tired!

Looks like dad gave in. Here's Hunter, Jess, Logan, Jer, Lincoln, Tonya, Ella, and Grandma on the way back.

And on the other side of the train-Grandpa, Jason, Kirsten, Kyler, Les, Kenna, and Kaden

On our way back we got hijacked. . .they were looking for their money:) They even took some hostages. In the first picture, I don't know if you can tell what the guy in the trenchcoat's holding, but it's a toy bird. This was what he pulled out of this trunk that they carried off of the train which where their money was supposed to be. It was pretty funny!!! Friday afternoon, the boys went golfing, then we had a yummy steak dinner and Jess, Hunter, and I headed home.

• July 4th: I was supposed to work, but was cut. This was bad because no money, but good because we got to play! HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!!

Jess was working on sprinklers and doing yard work. So, Hunter and I went to the traditional Hyrum parade. However I didn't take any pictures of the parade, I know it's so unlike me. Jen was nice enough to let us come watch the parade from her aunt's house who lives right on main street. So here's out 4th of July picture after the parade and her aunt's house. Thanks again for letting us intrude on your party and for the wonderful food.

I was really sad we missed the Logan fireworks, because we were driving home from Midway and what's a 4th of July with no fireworks, so we headed over to the Brigham Fireworks with Kevin, Jen, and Jorie. We all piled in Jess's truck so we could ride together, and it was quite funny watching us finagle two car seats and in just the right spots and 4 adults plus all our stuff. In Kevin's words, "Here comes the circus". It was pretty funny! We stopped at Maddox to pick up our food and then some girls that Jen works with who live in Brigham were nice enough to save us an up front spot on the grass. The fireworks were awesome and we were right under them, so that was really fun. We decided that's going to be tradition.


Hunter did not want to sit still on the blanket, imagine that, so we did a lot of walking while we waited for the fireworks to start.

Hunter and Jorie just playing

Kev bought Hunter and Jorie glow necklaces. Hunter was so funny with his!

He reminds me of Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumber when he does that bird lookin' face.

And here he looks like he's singing at the top of his lungs!!

And here's the two little potlickers

Now we know that the dad's are smart alecs. . .but these two stinks must be theirs. I didn't notice this until I loaded these on my computer that all 4 of them are making funny faces!!

Our cute family

Hunter wasn't so in to the fireworks, mostly because we were right under them so they looked HUGE and they were pretty loud. He did okay though, I held him really tight, held my jacket over his ear, and sang to him. I looked at his face to see what he thought of the fireworks and he was watching the fireworks with his glow necklace over his face. I thought it was so funny! I know I look really mad in the first picture, I was concentrating on taking the picture. We hope everyone had a very Happy 4th of July!!! We love our country and are so greatful to for our freedoms and for the men and women who defend them!!!! I have been thinking about this A LOT lately!!! Jess has been serving in The United States Army Reserve for almost eight years now!!! I have been looking forward to the day he's finished with his term, so I don't have to worry about my husband and our father being deployed. I have come to realize how selfish I have been. Jess is thinking about resigning to continue to serve our country. I think this is very noble and I have not really showed that to him. I'm so proud to be soldier's wife and will stand by his side no matter what. As hard as it might be for me, I do enjoy the freedom we have and hope we may always have it. It is very selfish of me to enjoy these freedoms but not want my husband to be a part of it, especially if he wants to. A few Sundays ago, on Father's Day, a high council member spoke in our ward, and to be honest with you I can't remember the words he spoke, but his talk made me realize that I need to support Jess in this decision, it's not easy for him either, I'm sure. The closing song was Families Can Be Together Forever, of course I bawled my eyes out-I always do in this song, but I am so greatful for the gosple and for the plan of salvation. Then last week I was driving to work and the song "American Soldier" started playing from my ipod and I just lost it. This is one of Jess's favorite songs, and I relate it to him every time I hear it. If you have or haven't listened to that song, I think you all need to listen to it again. I love our country and I support our troops 100%. May we all pray for them and for our country!! I'M PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!! Honey, I love you soooo much and I'm so proud of you and I'm so thankful for all you do!!!!