Jonesville Adventures

getting caught up

2011-09-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

It's been over a year since I last posted something, wow...But since then I have faced many of my personal fears, 2 of which were: Running in the 10K Homer Spit Race this past summer, continuing my exercise programs to stay healthy & NOT grow old or be sick, & relearning to swim *still in process. As well as tackling the dreaded OFFICE disorganization & mess with many of my projects that have somehow become stumbling blocks due to my own procrastination and taking on too many things all at once. My new years resolution LAST year was: to get ORGANIZED! hm...let me see...I see huge progress in my office but its not completed yet. I've moved things OUT of my working areas for scrapbooking, crafting, painting/artwork so now when I want to do a project I have the space to sit down and do it, but FORCE myself to put everything back where it belongs after so there are no more NEW piles of things to 'put away later'. I still have several LARGE piles & boxes I've strategicly place in the doorway and entrance to my living room area so it FACES me daily and creates a 'in your face, take care of soon before I drive you crazy' feeling. So far I've dwindled the piles down...one at a time (& yet there are still more to go through & organize). Through out this process I found projects I started & ment to finish, but didn't find the time. Now I have a section of 'projects to do' & have set a goal to complete them all by the end of next year..one project a month. As for the rest of the house,..ITS SMALL...so de-junking is a never ending process as my children and myself included seem to bring in more than there is room for. I've visited the local Salvation Army to donate many bags of usable items over the mast few months which feels really good. The trick is to not continue to let my 'stuff or things' get out of control over the space i have to use it & keep it in.My walking buddy Pat Evarts & I often talk about how to gain controll over our lives and help encourage one another to better managing our time & our talents. We both are so busy, but it helps when we remind each other...
..."just take it one pile at a time, one project at a time".
SO........as I face the up coming holiday seasons with many changes happening in my house hold I am determined to do it with OUT panic or becoming overwhelmed with too many projects I can not accomplish.I started with this process with a cute little notebook where i'm writting down all my ideas & projects to keep them straight with supplies/ ingredients/how many need to be made & time frames to get them done in. I don't like my own handwriting so this isn't easy for me as I cringe at the imperfect look of my scribbling, but I'm trying to follow through with a lifetime of advice to WRITE IT DOWN and check it as I go to stay on top of things.
The changes happening the Jones family household is as follows:
Our oldest daughter Jessica, who has been nannying for a family down the street (3 adorable native children: Jack age 19 months, Ava age 3 & Kyra age 4) will be moving with the Levit family(Jody & Barry) down to Whidbey Island, Washington at the end of the month. They will drive down the Alcan highway, catch a Ferry in Bremerton and continue down to their new home. Jessica signed a contract till Spring so she's going with them. I will miss her terribly!!! She is over at the house with and with out the kids at least 2-4 times a week and it will seem so quiet with out her around. I love her energetic attitude, which is always so very contagious & even when she's down we all rally around her and HANG OUT as Jones & get lifted just being together, even if its nothing other than us all reading books snuggled on the couch together. The other big change happening is Krystal my next daughter is moving down to Salem, Oregon to live with Rob's sister Sharla & Marty Havran to find a job, work/save & have a different life experience before she turns 21 in April and goes on her mission. Jessica & her have both talked about submitting papers in the spring (although Jess isn't committed yet, as continuing at B.Y.U. is still in her future plans but everything depends on the earned funds to pay for it). BOTH Jessica & Krystal have paid out of pocket for the education they've achieved so far and will being heading into their next faze of life OUT of DEBT!
PLUS....Rob & I will be going to Hawaii for 2 weeks just after both of them leave. We've been planing this trip for 2 years now and are really excited to go. The other trips to Hawaii we've gone on have only been for 7-10days...this time we'll be gone for 2 full weeks! My only concern is leaving Wendy (who is 18 & recently graduated from Highschool, but actively involved in FFA as a state officer *which includes a fair amount of traveling) & Brittany (who is 16, a junior in highschool & gets bored so easily).Two weeks is a long time to be away, especially after the older sisters have left. For the holidays Krystal will remain with Sharla & Hav, & Jessica will try to get over to join them there in Salem, Oregon, so Christmas will be celebrated with only 2 of our 5 children at home....how strange & so very different. I've already been planing the special care packages I'll send to each, but that wont take the place of them not being WITH us during the traditional celebrations.
Change is good, it's apart of life...I don't want to remain stagnant...but its never easy and this time I'm feeling it inside...a slow ache of missing my kids even before they've gone. THANK GOODNESS for modern technology so we can Webcam and visit/chat online so we can keep in touch and reconnect. Family is everything and I love mine with all my heart!

Getting out of my comfort Zone!

2010-07-23T18:03:00.001-07:00

I give advice to people that in order to grow you sometimes have to get out of your comfort zone and do new things. Yesterday I did that in a round about way... I went Dip Net fishing on the Kenai River with Rob, Fred & Carol Kaatz. I haven't been on a boat in a very VERY long time for a good reason,...I get sick easily! The whole idea of being in an environment that mimics the way I felt while being pregnant is the LAST thing I would go do for fun. But Rob was going fishing with Fred, and Fred suggested that the 'wivess come along' to spend time with them, and according to Fred...Carol wanted to go . So I didnt' want to seem like a wimp, & I'm not one to back down from a challenge. Fred just talked the idea into a invitation before I could explain my self out of it.
SO I DID IT! Got up early (grumpy since I didn't have my morning quiet time to wake up, or workout and shower)...was a bit snippy when I couldn't find my hat that I knew I'd need to cover my head/ears with. Rob said I kind of through a tantrum & wasn't very sociable. OH WELL~! (I appolagized to Fred later for being grumpy but said he had come 30 minutes too early and hence saw/heard the real unprepared for company CJ!)
We drove to Kenai..(1 & 1/2 hours away)to the river.Stopping by a store briefly prior to pick up a new net.At the dock, I took possition in the middle of the boat and concentrated on NOT feeling queasy with the movement of the boat on the water. Then after we got out a ways I was moved to the front where I took charge of one of the dip nets. With a 6 foot handle and a 5 foot circular net it was fairy heavy and difficult to manuver with the river drag. Rob was driving the boat and Fred was handling the other dip net, while Carol was in the back. I struggled with the net and didn't catch anything..and Fred managed to get 4! He was really excited untill ...by complete accident the "D" ring detatched and he lost the new net down the river.
We'd been out for 4 hours and decided we needed to eat. So we pulled the boat out, took it to Rob's Dad's place not too far from the river and parked it there. We droce into town and found alittle Chinese restaurant and ate,...but after discussing our plite,..we decided we spent enough effort to drive all the way to Kenai and rearange schedules that we shouldn't waste the opportunity & decided to go buy another two new nets and TRY our luck at more fish.
The weather had been cloudy but not rainy, so the afternoon seemed to spread the clouds out so that the sun shown and warmed things up a bit...but the WIND was still out and I was NOT warm at all. With the new nets ..we began to catch more fish quickly and by the end of the day we had 36 salmon totall between the two couples to share. When the water was calm I had no problem but every time a boat wold zipped by us.. the WAKE would create huge waves that surged my queasiness back to the surface... I felt sick more often than not,but struggled to just look up at the horizon and breathe the crisp air and focus on stuff that WASN'T moving! With the two nets on each side we balanced out the drag, but as soon as one net caught a fish and was brought up the other would drag the boat into a circle..so the other net would need to be brought up as well. Fred did most of the catching, switching off with Rob. I did however catch about 8 and once had two in the net at the same time. But standing there manuvering the heavy net & pole was exhuasting to say the least and at the last pass through the channel to catch ONE more fish..we found our selves acccidently caught up on a sand bar. Rob & Fred jumped out into the shallow water, pushing us back into the main part of the river again. But in the process Rob accidently tripped over the net handles and fell, getting wet up to his hips in the muddy silt. We were all tired and glad to call it a night as we headed to the dock/ramp by 9pm. Then of course we drove the 1 & 1/2 hours home. My headach from day 4 of my monthly cycle and sleep deprivation after taking care of Wendy from being sick with the flu for a week had taken its tole on me,..so I simply crawl into the shower to clean up and then into bed..with the floor seeming to still sway to & fro! Oddly I woke up with the same sensation..but not as strong. I hope it doesn't last long! Rob, Fred & Carol fillet the fish and put them on ice in coolers to tend to by this evening, after Rob, Fred & Jessica took another trip up to catch more fish. (they returned home with 8 more..not alot, but every FISH COUNTS when your hungry in the winter time!)

SO I went DIP NET FISHING on the Kenai River, didn't throw up and came home with another adventure under my belt. I'm sore, tired and exhausted even a day later. Who know FISHING could be such a workout!

Mother's Day card using Carolee Jones's graphics

2010-04-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

Ok I know this is a bit self promoting but heck it's my blog right?
So I made a cute Mother's Day card using my new "Modern Mom" graphics from PcCrafter.com (plus one image from "Cluckin kitchen"). The basic victorian envelope is in the creatable set and I just added some of the images and typed in addresses to mail out using Wendy Medium font. The hard part was deciding which graphics to use since they were all so stinkin cute! Plus how do you use ONE image to show all the things a MOM does? My mom did it all and I am finding I am following in her footsteps to do the same,...us SUPER CHICS have to remind each other how much we apprecate the examples of those that have gone befor and made such big shoes to fill. I hope I'm measuring up to the potential of what my Mom was and is and what I can be.

Basic Bread Recipe by Carolee Jones

2010-04-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

Preheat oven to 370 degrees
*Mix together and let rise 15 minutes or until yeast is fully bloomed
1 cup of warm water
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of honey
2 Tablespoons of Yeast
*In a glass measuring container or bowl heat milk in microwave for 1 1/2 minutes
2 cups of milk (you can substitute water if desired)
*slowly add milk to yeast
*add one cup at a time
approximately 6-9 cups of flour
(* I grind 2-3 cups of wheat into flour then add remaining white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt (add this after the 6th cup of flour)
*Remove dough from mixing bowl - it should be still slightly sticky.
*Kneed just enough flour into the dough to make it elastic.
*Place dough into a large greased bowl & cover & let rise till doubled!
My house is hot so it doesn't take more than 30 minutes, but the more wheat you have in the recipe the longer it takes to rise.
*Punch dough down from sides into middle, dump dough onto counter and divide with knife into 4 equal parts, place in bread pans & cover to let sit and rise.
Bake @375 for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
*if using a convection oven Bake for only 15 minutes.
***optional***I like to throw in 1 cup of wheat germ, 1/2 cup of ground flax seeds, & 1/2 cup of zoom hot cereal uncooked. This just gives it extra texture and crunch.
***for my crescent rolls*** follow recipe but use only white flour. After mixing dough divide into two equal parts and roll out into 18" circle. Brush olive oil over surface and using a pizza cutter cut from the outside in making long triangles. Then Roll each from the outside inward and place on a greased baking dish. *I've used a pizza circle pan, and placing rolls like a big floret design, or same placement in pie tins.Let rise till big and puffy & Bake @375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
ENJOY!

Happy Oven card

2010-04-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

I craft & make projects all the time, but always forget to take pictures to show so ..here's one you might like using a recent NEW design from ME (*Carolee Jones) with ART GONE WILD
http://www.agwstamps.com
and using Michelle Cutts new CLEVER CUTTS small inset box Template. The supplies used are:

AGW Happy Oven set
AGW What's Cookin' set
Acrylic block
The Clever Cutts Small Inset Box Template
Scoring tool, .5mm pencil and craft cutting knife (all available as part of the Clever Cutts Starter Kit)
Straight edge
1/8" or 1/16" foam tape
Adhesive
Card stock: White to stamp images onto, Paperbag Tan Brown for card base & coverage of oven insert on the inside of the card, Baby blue for saying above stove and inside oven backing behind cookie sheets, Dark Brown to frame saying, Red Plaid pattern paper for front
6" Red see through 1/4th" wide ribbon
Coloring pencils/ markers (* I used COPIC alcohol based markers cuz they leave no streaks when blending)
Inkssentials blending tool
Tim Holtz Distressed vintage photo ink from Ranger
Inkssentials non-stick craft sheet (*great to blend the ink and not waste or ruin counter work surface)

I've included some links conected to ART GONE WILD's website to where you can purchase the Happy Oven, What's Cookin' sets along with the Clever Cutts starter Kit that has the foam matt & cutting/scoring tools needed. The blending tool, craft sheet, & distressed ink I purchased at Stampers Anonymous:
http://www.stampersanonymous.com/acc-index.html
I shared this card project with some of my family on a recent trip to Utah a few months back. It recieved great reviews and we all had fun making it! GOOD TOOLS make all the difference in a great project!

INTOXICATING!

2010-03-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

YUM! I love the smell of home made freshly baked bread! Brings back fond memories of when I was about 3 years old. Living in the quads at BYU with my folks. I would be down in the courtyard playing on the playground and I would hear my mom call me home, and the closer I got to the apartment & the higher I climbed the stairs the stronger the scent of the freshly baked bread would be, to the point I was trying to run up the stairs to get to it. Then my mom would bring to me a THICK slice of her bread still warm, with melting honey & butter spread over it. I'd sit on cool cement landing outside the apartment door and take a DEEP breath IN... almost becoming dizzy with the overwhelming YUMMINESS that steamed into my nose as the heat licked my cheeks. Then the taste...as I took that first bit,... soft and warm, while the honey & butter dripped down my fingers and tiny hands. AHhhhhh such a GREAT childhood memory!
And today, I STILL LOVE,love, love that first slice and to ooh and ahh over the smell, the texture and the taste of HOME MADE BREAD!
The recipe comes from my mother in law, Vivian Jones and even though I make bread all the time, I've never ventured to make WHEAT BREAD, as it was always too tough and dense. I got another recipe from my girl friend Alicia and the two recipes were very similar. So with the added element of using a convection oven and freshly grinding my own wheat into flour I attempted to try and risk my mother in laws infamous reputation for the best bread maker in the world ( that came from ROB...who I've heard that from for years!!!) No disrespect Mom..but I think with the right tools and the freshest ingredients with YOUR recipe ANYONE can make AWESOME BREAD, and yes compete..just a little bit with your reputation for being the ONE & ONLY to make the worlds BEST BREAD!
(*this rates right up there with my love for creme' brulee' YUUMMMYYY!!!!)

SNOW snow & more SNOW!

2010-03-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

SNOW, SNOW go away, come again some other day...
preferable NEXT YEAR!
yes yes yes I know I live in ALASKA, and we should expect snow.
But we've had a snow/wind storm blow through the Kenai Peninsula & especially here in Homer for the past week or so that has dumped so much snow, it seems way out of the ordinary. Here are some pictures around our house and across the street. It's only March 10th & from the weather forecasts we should bunker down and ride it out, it isn't stopping any time soon.
On a good note, my Son Bobby & his new wife Kylie are flying up from Logan, Utah this weekend to Anchorage where we'll drive up from Homer (only a 5 hour drive) to pick them up and drive them back down here for a OPEN HOUSE (next Friday evening @ 7pm) to celebrate their wedding back in January. Bobby is really excited to show off his stomping grounds to Kylie and when I told him of all the new snow he was tickled WHITE! Yesterday there were a few avalanches on the main road near the pass to Anchorage that blocked all vehicles, but have since been cleared. The marina/boat dock was even closed due to the bad snow burns and accidents blocking the passage way to get out to the spit, so Rob got to stay home and be on stand by. Seminary has been canceled for 2 days, School was canceled yesterday and Church was canceled Sunday.Everyone is trying to dig them selves out of the contant dumping of new snow and the wind that keeps moving it and piling it up in places that make it hard to go and do much at all.
However..as i sit here listening to the hum of the big snow plows down the street it is a comfort to know the city is trying to clear the roads at least in town. I sent Rob & Krystal out to the grocery store yesterday for a few essentials since I was baking bread and needed a few things. When they returned they both vowed unless we were dying they were NOT going out in that stuff again! Apparently the roads were a mess and tons of people out in it who didn't know what they were doing.
SO ENJOY the snow pictures. I'm headed back to the kitchen to make myself a hot cup of herbal tea to go with a slice of pumpkin bread(with cream cheese frosting) one of Krystal's friends, Jed, who helped bake with us yesterday, shared a favorite family recipe with us and WOW,..it has officially been added to ours as well, YUM~!

YES YOU CAN LIVE BY BREAD ALONE...well almost

2010-02-02T19:17:00.000-08:00

February 2nd, 2010:
My parents gave us a wheat grinder for Christmas, and we were so excited to start using it. I made several batches of bread successfully but only by babysitting our old oven to the temperature that kept fluctuating and made for a long sit to wait and watch and keep changing the controls to keep the temperature consistent enough to bake my goodies. Then one day just before I was ready to put the puffy raised bread in the oven, I opened the door to black smoke. I turned it off tried to scrap off whatever was causing the smoke on the bottom and then tried to turn it back on,..NOTHING, nauda,...just beeping sounds and no heat at all. My oven had officially DIED! I called a neighbor and borrowed her oven to bake that batch and then came home and frantically spent hours doing research to what was available and how much and what features. It was all very frusterating as we are so limited up here in Alaska for appliances and most things are ordered with a 6-8 week wait. THAT WAS NOT AN OPTION for me. I looked for a freestanding electric, glass top, white, convection oven of 30" width. However, our emergency fund was only $400, and an average oven with the features I wanted was at the bottom price level of $1000.00- up to $2500.00. Plus the liklihood of any store having what I needed IN STOCK and available with in a week or so was next to impossible.I did however email the store in Kenai where we had purchased the dead oven from and got a response of what they had and didnt have and how much. Guess what, they had something I could use and it was ON SALE! The reason was because it had been dropped and dented a bit, mostly cosmetic but considering what every one else had to offer it seemed the only deal. I still had no idea how we were going to come up with the money ($750 +240 *5 year warrenty=$990). THEN MY DAD called who had a strong feeling we were in need and he happened to have some funds available after the final signing and closing of their house selling in Washington. He called my mom, to talk with her first and she had been having the same strong feelings, so when he called he had NO IDEA ..he was a literal answer to a prayer, only moments before. I talked to Rob, told him of my parents offer, then had him double check what I had researched, get a hold of the store and asked permission if they'd stay open an hour past closing time, so he could drive up the 1 1/2 hours drive to Kenai and pick it up. This was on Saturday late afternoon, and if this wouldn't work out, we would have had to wait another whole week since Rob coudn't get the time off from his work in time to go get it durring thier store hours. So with in a few hours of my Dad's call and a few other calls to the store in Kenai, Rob drove up and picked up a new stove for us! He stopped in to see his Dad & Mina and didn't get home till almost 10pm. After church on Sunday two friends stopped by and helped move it into the kitchen, where Rob had to take off the power chord to the old one and attach it to the new one. (*did you know that you have to by the chords SEPERATLY??? thats so silly, glad there was nothing wrong with the old one). By that evening I had ground some fresh wheat into flour, with our new wheat grinder (ABSOLUTLY LOVE IT!) and made two batches of bread already. The only problem was..I had gotten use to the old oven NOT working that I almost burnt it.The new oven WORKS..it's HOT and stays at the same temp you set it at and the convection setting realy does cut the time in almost half!

I'm including some pictures of our NEW wheat grinder and of a GOOD batch of mini bread loafs, Lasagna (*we had for dinner tonight) and some Cinamon rolls I made that turned out great!
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
MOM & DAD!
You are generous beyond words and always seem to be the ones to deliver answers to our families prayers. I feel indebted to you ....for so much!

The NEW YEAR ...& a trip to UTAH for Bobby's Wedding!

2010-01-18T16:11:00.001-08:00

The first of this year has been no less that a whirlwind of events as per usual with the Jones household! We started off the year with a FAMILY trip to UTAH to attend Bobby & Kylie's wedding January 5th, 2010! We left Homer, Alaska & drove all the way up to Anchorage (5 hour trip) then flew to Salt Lake City, Utah (6 hour flight) . LONG trip!!! Bobby & Kylie met us at the airport and took us to the Binghams where we visited with Kylie's family. Jessica took the bus up to somewhere close and Kylie & Bobby picked her up and brought her to where we were and we had a mini reunion! First time all of us were together like that in a long time. WAS GOOD to see all my children together again.
We then went over to the Scherzinger's where we met up with Julie who graciously allowed us to stay with them for the week. Her house was like a catalog and I felt like we were staying at the ritz! The wedding was that evening at the Quirrh Mountain temple. We arrived in time to take some quick before pictures of the family in front of the temple and then proceded inside for the ceremony. The ceremony was beautiful and the only glitch was when it came time to exchange the rings.. Bobby couldn't find the wedding band, just the engagement ring. He had accidently dropped it out of his pocket in the other room. Kylie was so cute as he poked and poked both his pockets in a feeble attempt to find it and she just shook her head and sighed. He put on her finger what he had and after the guests were congratulating them..one of the patrons at the temple came hurridly into the room holding up the missing ring. It had fallen on the floor and due to it's newness was found easily as it sparkled on the floor. SO GLAD it was found, and what a cute story to add to their wedding day adventures to tell as they get older.Afterwards the Binghams ward provided a very simple and YUMMY breakfast dinner at their ward building for all the wedding guests. It was a perfect way to end a long, busy and beautiful day.
The rest of the week was spent traveling back n forth between Provo where Jessica was living and going to school. Then back n forth between the Scherzingers in Jordan where we were staying and the Binghams in Kearns (where Kylie's family lived, then on up to Kaysville where Rebecca lived(Rob's adopted sister)and Rob's mom Vivian & Ray & Sharla (Rob's brother & sister) were also staying...Rob made the equivilant of 4 round trip drives from Homer to Anchorage durring the one week we were in Utah in that blue rented Suburban driving back n forth to all the family and get togethers! The Scherzinger's family was delightful and gracious to allow us the whole bottom half of their home. They had food and games and made us feel so welcome. Bobby surely made lifelong friends with them on his mission while he served in this area and we will deffinatly stay in touch! We also took time to go shopping at the University Mall and let the girls see the book store on the BYU campus and all the handsome eye candy(boys) along the way. Wendy & Brittany got their ears pierced andRob's sister's son Christopher joined us and helped man the video cam to document the whole procedure! We drove up to Rebecca's place and played Wii , snacked and enjoyed being with Rob's side of the family in the Berrett's new house. Every night we were up late and up early each morning, trying to fit all the family and events we could into our ONE week in Utah.The reception was on Friday evening and the Binghams did a lovely job decorating the chapel. Stephen, Kylie's dad had his 4th round of Chemo treatment and arrived back in time to catch his breath and be there for the reception. He looked a bit under the weather but we are glad he was with us and doing as well as could be expected. He will have one more chemo treatment and then see how well the cancer is contained, if not then its onto bone marrow transplate surgery. We are praying its contained and he'll be well enough to join us up in Alaska for the Open house for Bobby & Kylie in May.
The morning after the recpetion we joined Bobby & Kylie at the Binghams where they opened their wedding gifts and we oooowwed and aaaahed! Then we drove up together to Kaysville where Rebecca had a BIRTHDAY party for Vivian and the family that was there. The kids played more Wii and the rest of us eat and visited. Then we headed up to Logan where the NEWLY WEDS appartment was and helped unload all the gifts to their cute little basement appartment under an old farm house up on a hill. It was dark when we passed through Logan but from what we could see it was very quaint! We then went to Chili's for dinner then back to the Scherzingers to sleep one last night. The last day we went Temple Square with Bobby & Kylie and viewed the Christous statue inside the visitor's center. It had been 23 years since I had been there and was neat to have all my 5 children & new daughter in law with me & Rob there together. We took TONS of pictures but here are a few to see our crazy-g0-nuts FAMILY trip to UTAH for Bobby & Kylie's wedding. WHAT A WEEK!

2009 Jones Family Christmas Tree WITH a picture

2009-12-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

ok.. I feel silly now..got all the way through the long process of uploading and accidently in my excitement closed the box and the site and LOST the pic..... UGH!!!!!
*sigh... taking a DEEP breathe and counting to 10...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...OK lets try this again.

pics of the tree & ornaments

2009-12-22T14:17:00.001-08:00

its been a while since i posted.. can you tell! Somehow I did something wrong on the first post and the pictures didn't load up, then posted a second time with pictures only /no text and somehow they got lost too. I'll post ONE more time and see if 'three time's a charm'....

2009 Jones Family Christmas Tree

2009-12-22T12:46:00.000-08:00

I did it... I allowed someone to HELP me or rather DO it (Decorate the tree) for me this year! Rob unstrung the 1200 lights, found the dead ones, and restrung the old n new so that Krystal could start the decorating process. We have lots of fun ornaments and they all have meaning and the girls usually like to help reminiscing over who's was who's and why. But this year everyone was too busy and too tired. We all went to bed before that job got taken care of...but in the morning we awoke to a 'Santa helper' who decorated the tree all by herself and put around the base, all the wrapped presents she had helped buy. (if it wasn't for Krystal's generosity & kindness it would have looked sparse under there for sure!)With Bobby & Kylie's wedding in January and most of the $$ going to the tickets to get there, Santa's pockets were almost empty this year. So here is a picture of our tree...

2009-12-12T20:16:00.000-08:00

ok... I'll just be brief!
I'm in the middle of making 108 Christmas cards, with various parts n pieces, this year using some of my own artwork. My daughters have helped and it's been fun. I started out thinking I only needed 75, then I updated my list..and it went up to 108!!!
I'm also in the middle of several Christmas projects...helping the girls MAKE things for each other.
I'm also OF COURSE,..in the middle of wedding things. Working on 300 "Hugs&Kisses from the NEW Mr. & Mrs." tags,...with pictures and flowers and brads..and some inking. Only half way through those. Then there are the 150 THANK YOU double sided Post Cards for Bobby & Kylie,..they are mostly designed..I just need to resize and add the new P.O. Box they just got last week.
My old printer DIED on my right before I had to leave for Washington/Idaho and so while i was outside.. I contacted my good techno goo-roo and asked him to do some research and shopping for me, since my parents computer internet connection is slower than molasses, and with his help ordered it online and it arrived shortly after I got home. I LOVE MY NEW wide format Workforce 1100 EPSON printer. It's so quiet and efficient and the quality is ..WOW! I've already put it through several BIG projects and its doing great!
I'm also keeping up with the holiday baking and trying to make something every other day if possible. The house smells great, but isn't quiet clean... that is something I'll always have to work on. I spent a few hours in there this afternoon to get it ready to bake some more..but I still have some other projects to do before its bedtime.. the baking might just have to wait till tomorrow after church.
Right now Krystal & Rob are attempting to take off the old 1200 lights and see what works and what doesn't... then restring the good ones on. I"m doing fairly good at NOT stressing...with allowing them to do that job that usualy is MINE!... But I can feel silver hairs popping up on my head as we speak.. I may have to just go in the back room and chill!
OK.. better get my rear in gear and not sit too long.. everytime I do.. I tend to fall asleep.

It's better late than never...right?

2009-11-23T09:08:00.001-08:00

November 23rd, 2009
WOW... talk about procrastination, I have it BAD!
HOW did I let my life get so busy that I completely forgot to update my family blog! ugh...oh well, guess it's never too late to start today and catch up. SO for a new beginning, I'll simple post some text and say A LOT has happened since last year about this time and there's no flippin' way to type it all or share it all. You'll just have to wait till the family news letter comes out with the Christmas Card that will be sent in a few weeks. Which in itself will be different this year as Rob is composing it,...and he was only here half of the time. I gave him the assignment to write the family news letter because I'm trying a new thing called "DELAGATING responsibilities"... of my many holiday activities so that I'm not so stressed out this year. With so much happening by the first part of the year...starting with a trip for ALL of us Jones's to Utah for Bobby & Kylie's wedding. Plus with Rob home every night (with his new job @ Petro Marine Services), he has had a better view of the crazy harmonal up and downs that this Jonesville adventure ride takes every day. Some days...it's "UP, UP & AWAY "and other days its ..."aaaaaaggghhh slip, sliding away... where is the break peddle"! And the schedule is constantly changing so even if you THINK you have it all planed out, its NOT! Somethings bound to come up and make you bend over backwards to fit into another tight corner of last mintue to do's!
SO with that said you know there is going to be alot of interesting things to hear about.

some NEW pics of our Elder Bobby Jones on Christmas

2009-01-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas time also brought us the infamous call home from
our Missionary,
Elder Bobby Jones. We were all excited to hear from him and listen to his voice (wow he sounds so much like is dad!), and then the very next day Sister Julie Scherzinger, bless her heart, emailed me pictures taken of him and his companion, Elder Nielson ( from Alberta, Canada), and their family where they spend Christmas day at. You'll see in the pictures that her son Bradly and Elder Jones get along like two peas in a pod. THANKS Julie for adding to our holiday JOY with those pictures you sent to us and for being Bobby's saragate family and doing it so well! BIG HUGS!
(*ps... I should add to this post that Elder Jones officially turned the "BIG 21" on the 18th of December, I can't believe he's that old already...I'm sure I'll be shocked enough when he comes home in just a few months by his transformation in size and spirit. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO YOU SON!)

JESSICA is an Official CNA now~! (thats a Certified Nursing Assistant)

2009-01-05T15:27:00.000-08:00

Drum roll please...... tada tada tada... Anouncing the graduation of Jessica Jones in her quest to become a CNA which will help her earn some moolah to pay for college!
She actually graduated a few weeks back and is now officially working at the South Peninsual Hospital here in Homer 3 times a week in Long Term Care. It's only part time but a great start to her future! Here are some fun pictures of her graduation party and her at home after her first day of work.
We are SO PROUD OF YOU JESSY!

THE FLU hit our house over the Holidays

2009-01-05T12:57:00.001-08:00

First off, all us girls went to see the new TWILIGHT movie and had a great time! The movie theater is close enough we all walked there and back. Then after wards Jessica, Krystal & Wendy drove out to the Haas's house for a slumber party, ...sadly to say Jessica wasn't there long when the flu bug hit her hard. Poor thing was throwing up all night long! Wendy drank from the same soda and popcorn so she was a bit queezy....so after they returned home late the next day, Jessica tried to recover and just when Wendy thought she had skipped it altogether it got her too. In fact I took her to get her Birthday 1 hour Swedish Massage and after wards to Two Sister's Bakery for a treat, she had one bite and one sip and said she felt sick. I brought her home and sure enough...she had the flu too. So we just laid low and skipped the cake, party, pictures and festivities while she threw up and slept. She did open her gifts that evening and we all sang the monkey song to her.
"Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
You look like a monkey
...and you smell like one too!"
It was funny cuz all of us looked bad and felt horrible,...we laughed and called it a day. So Wendy made her cake a few days later and Jessica took the picture of it and Wendy who was still recovering from the flu bug (hence the half smile).
HAPPY BELATED Birthday WENDY!!!!! Let's hope NEXT year is MUCH MUCH better! (*on a good note she absolutely LOVED the massage and wants to do it again real soon!)
Also I forgot to mention, I normally don't allow myself time off to just sit and read books. I normally multitask in order to keep up and feel productive and since I'm not a fast reader and it takes A LOT to keep my interest to struggle through a book and sit that long, I only do it about once or twice a year. After seeing the TWILIGHT movie, I decided I was going to read the 4 books in the series. I had NO IDEA they were so long. Over 600 to 700 pages on some of them. So during all the flu bug ickies at our house... I crawled into bed and read and read and read and got up to pee and eat briefly and back to bed to read and read and read some more. I got very little sleep but finally finished all four books with in a three day period. I LOVED the books!!! Can't wait to see how they create the next three movies to cover the story line. The movie condensed parts and moved some sequencing around, but over all did a good job at portraying the charactures in the story. I'd see it again if it were playing here. It's one we'll definitly buy for our collection for sure!
Then a last note about what me and the girls did to celebrate 2008! Since no one was feeling up to a big party and I was done baking goodies for big parties and church/community events, I decided to treat us ALL to a 1 hour swedish massage at the Homer Day Spa on New Years Eve day. I sent Jessica & Krystal to get theirs first adn they came back glowing with rave reviews to do it again! Then Wendy & Brittany and I went to our session. The two younger girls were in a room together and I had the yurt. I LOVE the smells of the essential oils and the feel of my skin afterwards. Being warm and letting my muscles get the attention they need to relax and rejuvinate is uterly amazing! We tipped big and decided we'd start a tradition and do it again next year! If your interested check out their website. The summer months are booked months in advance since they are a hot spot for tourists that come to enjoy Homer, Alaska, but the winter months...they have LOTS of openings and the pretty view from the bluff is amazing as well.
http://www.homerspa.com/
HAPPY NEW YEARS everyone!

Merry Christmas...

2008-12-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

December started off on 'fast forward' to celebrate the holiday season early when Rob called from the slope to let us know he would be coming home for the holidays...SORT OF... but only for a week and then he would have to return back to work for three more weeks after that to finish out some 'end of the year contract jobs' for the company. So we moved up all our holiday festivities & celebrations and prepared to cram them all in the one week he could be home.
Tree & house decorated, (60=cards/family photo/family newsletter-printed, folded & stuff, shopping done, presents wrapped & labeled, holiday songs sung, Santa came, presents opened, massive amounts of goodies baked, eaten, and shared, girls happy with getting & giving, and most of the mess cleaned up. So that 'one week home for rob' has come and gone (we will miss him the rest of the year!), and I sent him back to the slope this morning, needless to say I'm just a little bit tired!
The girls still have one more week of school ,holiday concerts, another church potluck & a few dinner invitations and Christmas parties to attend to, an orthodontist appointment in Soldotna and helping me stay on top of the laundry, dishes and more holiday baking still yet to be done...so the festivities aren't completely over with, and the word "BUSY" still applies to the Jones household name for the month of December.
Next comes the other big project I do every year...the family calendar. It was put on hold while Rob was home and I will dive back into it as well as two other artwork deadlines this and next week. So I might find time to post again before the end of the year..but if not... here's wishing you and yours a very MERRY CHRISTMAS & a HAPPY NEW YEAR from the frozen chosen Jones clan up in the great white north of Homer, Alaska!

Climbing the hill...ROB 46! Jessica 19!

2008-12-15T13:28:00.000-08:00

A tad behind am I for posting new news! Sorry about that. This time of year I'm running around with a zillion and one things to do and that list keeps accumulating & adjusting daily,... it's hard to keep up with everything. So to start off we had two birthday's at the end of November.
Robert's and Jessica's birthday was on the 27th of November (and on Thanksgiving day wahoo!), but due to the fact that Rob wasn't going to be home on the actual day (because of his work schedule up on the slope)...we celebrated it early and had a full blown Thanksgiving meal with all the fixin's with his Dad n Mina who drove down from Kenai to celebrate with us. GOOD company, GOOD FOOD! We ate till we just about burst! The day before we also had a Thanksgiving potluck at the church, so after two meals in a row to celebrate the turkey day..come the actual day of Thanksgiving, we were almost turkied out! Then the Clutt's family knew Rob would be out of town and invited us to their annual feast out at the Anchor River Inn where I was requested to bring my famous homemade crescent rolls and various pies (I think I made over 14 pies in all). After all that food and stress...it was nice to indulge in a little R&R with a side by side hour swedish massage at the Homer Day Spa with Jessica the following day. Jessica said it was one of the best birthday presents she had ever had!

Our Missionary, Elder Jones*(just under 5 months till your home again)

2008-11-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you all keep up with the updated emails I post here of Elder Bobby Jones on his mission, but if you happen upon our family blog and scroll all the way down to the bottom that's where you'll find all the most recent scoop of whats going on with our Missionary. So for today I thought I'd share some recent photos he sent home in his last few emails to show you his great big smile, and for all of those who have asked about how he is doing ... see for yourself...He's busy busy busy... sharing the restored gospel with all the passion of his personality and LOVING what he's doing! and here's a quote from him in one of his previous emails ..."This has been a great experience to see the Lord mighty work through his servants (the missionaries) to bring about the eternal life & happiness of his children! I truly am grateful to be apart of that and for having an awesome family and great friends like you all back home cheering me on. I couldn't ask for anything more!" Elder Jones

She did it Again!

2008-10-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

Wendy auditioned for Borough Honor Choir and All Sate Choir along with Northwestern Choir. She MADE it into Honor Choir and performed this evening,..singing 6 songs in 4 different languages (English, Swaheelee, Hebrew, Spanish) singing under a guest director from New York. We were very proud of her! Then she informed us that she made it into ALL STATE CHOIR! (*we wont know about her status of the Northwestern Choir for another month or so)
Here is a picture of her happy smile AFTER the concert was over.
CONGRATS WENDY BIRD...we LOVE to hear you sing!

2008-10-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

FALL is in the air! And the girls were getting restless...So late one after noon last week a few of my girls decided to go for an Autumn walk, but by the time they got dressed and was done goofing off... it was starting to get dark. They took the camera and here are a few shots of them being silly!

And here are a few more pictures of the girls being silly...it must be something IN THE AIR~!

2 new clipart sets Released by Carolee Jones from PcCrafter

2008-09-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

PcCrafter released two new sets from me. One last month called TRAVEL BUG OUTDOORS, and one just yesterday called PiRats
For more details...click on the links below and then the preview link under the cover page. There will be arrows to click forward to view all the images included in each set!
ENJOY!
TravelBug Outdoors
PiRats

I've been TAGGED!

2008-09-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law Tagged me and normally I don't do these sort of things...but figured I might as well ...but NO blackmailing or teasing of any kind afterwards!!!
Here goes:
What was I doing 10 years ago?:
My memory isn't what it use to be, but that would be 1998... the year we bought the CUSTOM LETTERING & SIGNS business.EVERYTHING changed after that and I became a stay at home working mom on top of everything else. If I did not know how to multitask or dovetail my responsibilities as a mother, wife,' professional do everything business , church & community.' person...I learned quickly to sink or swim that year! I DID BOTH!
Whats on my -TO DO LIST- for today?:
* Call and check in with Rob @ 5:30am
* Get girls up for seminary & school @6:00am
* Exersize (40 minute Turbo Jam Cardio tape) remembering to wear the weight gloves to add that extra umph of effort!
* Reheat soup from last night for girls to take in their thermoses for lunches ( Two of the 4 girls are suffering from head colds-poor things)
* Make breakfast: scrambled eggs, English muffins, sausage (*note, remember to defrost and cook up two vegitarian sausages for Brittany, who won't do red meat)
* Help with girls lunches if needed ( * If they have food for the day they wont be as cranky when they come home...saves me A LOT Of grief!)
* Check my emails, send off a few replies
* Take my vitamins & drink a whole bottle of water BEFORE my walk
* Eat my own scrambled eggs n sausage sandwich (on my walk)
* Go for a 2 1/2 mile walk with Janeal ( it's Pat's bowling day so she's wont be joining us today)
* Shower & Eat a snack
* Check emails and visit with Friends online briefly
* Check to see if Bobby emailed us so I can update the family blog
* Continue working on line art in prep for painting artwork for PcCrafter (* 30 images due with in a weeks time)
* Call Mom and check on her
* Be aware Wendy might call and need to be picked up from school not feeling well. ( she made a bargain with me she'd go..as long as I'd come get her later in the day if she couldn't handle it with her stuffy nose and congested sinus/head thing)
* Visiting Teachers coming to visit at 3:30 (*make sure Jessica stays put so she can be taught too)
* Check with girls about homework load and turn the TV OFF after an hour of down time after school
* Fix Tacos for dinner
* Eat with the girls and be SURE they all have something!
* Do two more loads of laundry
* Unload dishwasher and reload it
* Continue drawing/painting on deadline for PcCrafter
* Call Rob and report days events
* Have Prayers with the girls and get to bed before midnight...again!
* ... go over list of things to do in my head before falling asleep!
3 Things you might not know about me:
1. I love being in the SUNSHINE, feeling it on my face and soaking into my skin till it warms up my very core!mmmmm (*so YES I suntanning weekly and dream of far off white shores and bluegreen waters often)
2. I dye my hair every three months, under those pretty warm chocolate, brown sugar and honey colors are shiney silver strands that my kids like to call 'magic' which comes from stress and of coures my genentics from both my mom and dad's side of the family. Both my grandmothers were completely gray by the time they were in their mid 20's and 30's. I just turned 40...Yikes!
3. I always wanted to illustrate a childrens book ...who knows... someday it might happen!
3 Bad habits of mine:
1. Over annalizing things and forget to take time out to breathe
2. I fold my clothes..but often place them in neat piles on the floor, not in my closet
3. Talking too much in detail ( people don't always want that version)
4 TV shows or Movies I Love:
1. CSI (I'm always intriged by the trail of details that lead to the end)
2. The Mentalist ( a new TV show *all about noticing the details!!! and the main character is a hottie!)
3. So you think you can dance (I LOVE to watch and critque)
4. Rachael Ray (she has great cooking recipes and tips)
4 Books I love:
*gosh I don't make time to read very often but the few I have read are:
1. The whole 10 books from the "Tennis Shoes Amoung the Nephites" series, by Chris Hiemerdinger (his writting style is complicated with several story lines all going on at the same time and he leaves you hanging in suspense at the end of every single book. Plus I've never read anything that motivated me to go into the scriptures and read deeper about the details that might be inbetween the written words.
2. "Take Two Chocolates and call me in the morning", by Emily Watts
(*I just attended a TIME OUT conference where she was a speaker and WOW, she's better in person! LOVE how normal she is and how I relate to fighting that "GUILT Trip" daily!)
4 Jobs I've had:
1. Paper route (hated this one cuz I had to get up early and after rolling the papers it left INK all over my hands that felt dry, and... then at the end of each month I had to ask the people to PAY me...I still hate asking for money wether its due to me or not)
2. Busser at Jaspers (in Kent, Washington as a teenager)
3. Graphic Designer (self employeed with our Sign Business CLS)
4. Art Teacher at a Charter school for a year ( LOVED this job,but still got butterflies each morning worried I wasn't good enough to teach)
...and I know it only said 4, but...
the last one to note is my BE ALL/EVERYTHING JOB as a Mother & Wife. If I had to break down my specific jobs I'd have a resume that was endless, but typical of all the other mom's I know WE DO DO IT ALL!
4 Places I've lived:
1. Downey, Idaho
2. Kent Washington
3. Texas (not sure where and I was ony 3 months at the time)
3. Haines, Anchorage and Homer, ALASKA
5 of my Favorite Foods:
1. Kraft Maccaroni & Cheese, green beans and a green salad
2. Land's End- Clam Chowder & famous sour dough bread
3. Deep Dish PIZZA with the works (minus the little fishes and peperoni)
4. Those little oven roasted italian appitizer baggets with the tomatoe, spinich, motz and fresh basil with olive oil and meditranian balsmic vinegret on top YUM!
5. Creme' brule' * and when ever I go out to eat, if they have it, I order it first and enjoy every mouthfull as if it was heaven ( Rob always tells me to keep it down or the other customers will get jeleous!)

SO THERE YA HAVE IT! I did one! now TAG your it!....

a NEW doo for Jessica

2008-09-02T17:13:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention that after 5 years of growing her hair out, Jessica finally decided to cut her hair. Most of her friends were headed off to college and one of her best friends cut her hair too, so in the excitement of all that she got hers cut as well! It was fun to see a GROUP of friends all show up at the Elcipz Salon to watch & support Jessica as she had almost 12 inches cut off and trimmed to a new sassy style. Here are the pictures of it straight and naturally curly with the fun of being able to run her fingers through it and flip a few curls here and there.
I have to admit...she sure looks grown up in her new hair doo!

Gathering of the Jones family WINTER FUEL

2008-09-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

During Rob's last week home, he managed to get all his girls but Krystal and go up to a friends place and load up the large trailer full of logs from trees Rob had previously bucked up.
So here are a few pictures of the family (minus Krystal who had to work that day) standing atop of the wood pile that will of course need to be split on Rob's next time home from the slope.
Our good Friend Nate L. and Rob share a splitter and take turns using it, so I'll have to be sure he can bring it into town and find time to get all the girls together and help cut up that pile of wood for our winter fuel. Everyone knows how MOM likes to be warm and when the momma ain't happy the whole house ain't happy, so the girls will willingly HELP, once I remind them of that fact.

What a beautiful Smile!

2008-09-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

Just look at that pretty smile!
On Thursday last week, we drove to Soldotna (and hour and a half drive away from Homer where we live) and visited Dr. Justin Moore our family Orthodontist, where Krystal had her braces taken OFF!!! She was so excited and you can see it in her pretty smile! I see a slight resemblance to her older brothers broad smile as well. "Hey Elder Bobby Jones...what do you think?"
Wendy is next in line to have her brace treatment completed and we'll update you all when that event happens for her. But in the meantime as a proud mother of some knock out- dead- gorgeous girls I'm taking a few moments to spot light and show off the hard work of Dr. Moore & Krystal...and of course to say...
THANK YOU GRANDPA BATSON for your generous funding to pay for her pretty smile. Now the trick will be to keep the boys at bay, its a good thing Krystal doesn't know how cute she is or we'd REALLY be in trouble!
CONGRATS to a happy healthy smile sweatheart!

HAPPY 40th Carolee

2008-07-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

On the 18th of this month I turned the big "40", I can't believe I'm that OLD already!
It all started out with an early phone call from my mom who was down in Idaho helping out my sister after just having her 5th baby. Mom n my nephews, Mitchell & Logan and niece Mykala all sang Happy Birthday to me. Then Rob called and managed to rope all the 'guys' on the slope he was working with to sing to me as well. Next I headed out for a extended walk from my house to the end of the spit (*about 7 miles) with my walking buddy Pat Evarts. Then I went to the Homer Inn Day Spa for an hour body massage by Adam, YUM! (*was nice to have the knots and tight spots worked out after that long walk and stressful work week). Then I went to my tanning appointment and soaked up some quick vitamin D and heat! In between all that I received a few more Happy Birthday wishes via the phone from other friends while lounging in the sunshine on a public bench in front of the family theater in town.
Then I walked down town and met Brittany Bug my youngest daughter for lunch. After which we walked over to Sunny Service where JJ, our neighbor and mechanic had just finished working on the fuel pump on the Suburban so I could drive home and pick up Wendy and be back in town for an afternoon matinée at the movies ( we saw GET SMART). After that we went to Jessica's work place and waited till she got off so she could come home and join the party where Krystal had just got off her work as well (she biked home from the spit and was resting). Then we had a little family celebration with white roses from my girls, ice cream & chocolate & caramel syrup, cheese cake and strawberries for gifts and some nice cards. Then we all got dressed up and headed back out to Land's End (a nice restaurant, but also the place where Krystal works...we had to drag her back out there for some reason), and had dinner together! YUM We took some pictures and videos and then headed home to snuggle up in pj's on my bed and watch some TV/movies together.
All in all it was a GREAT DAY with beautiful sunshine (*of which I was in desperate need of) my lovely girls and a day full of recreation and relaxation! The only thing it was missing was Rob, who just got home early this morning and missed the celebrations by a few days. (*He promised to make it up to me and I wonder how he'll do that...*wink*)
SO now that's over...I wonder what the next 40 years will bring.

FINALY...some organization to my work space!

2008-07-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

FINALLY,... I have some order & organization to all my 'stuff'. This has been an on going process but as I've accumulated I haven't really designated a home for all my tools and a space to actually WORK or PLAY as I call it. So with the help of my husband to build some shelves and some much needed plastic containers and drawers I put almost everything in a permanent space. I still have a few remaining piles of supplies to go through and put away in the living room where it was temporarily stashed till I could get to it, but WOW what a good start hu! Now I have a drawing/painting work area and a crafting/scrap booking/stamping work area and if i have a project I shouldn't have to move it or put it away so the space can be used for something else, which was the problem before and my projects just kept getting moved from place to place never having a real home. NOW MY STUFF HAS HOMES! ha ha ha..don't we all need a place to call our own! So with out further a dew.. here are some pictures to show off what I did so far. I still need to add some lighting over each area but again.. I'm excited to just have gotten this far! Now for the rest of the office...ugh thats going to be my next big project and hopefully it won't take me so long.

Some get made, some get even, some clean, some go Bike riding!

2008-07-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since I posted whats been going on in our family so I thought i'd post and share some recent pictures of it all. To start off our family celebrated the 4th of July with the Carol Family up in Soldotna as Coltin's mom ( the boy that Jessica is seeing) invited us, and even though both Krystal and Jessica had to work till almost 4pm we still took the drive and joined them. I managed to bake two large pan full of homemade crescent rolls, one wheat one white, a large pot of calico beans, and a raspberry Jell-O dessert with us. The weather was nasty so none of the girls dressed for water sports, unfortunately when we arrived the Carol's were sporting rides on the tubes and boats. We just visited and ate! Then we stayed late to make smores by the fire near the edge of the lake at their house. It was peaceful but we sure wished we had better weather. Anyways Coltin thought we were leaving (since Jess had to work early in the morning) and took off to hang out with some other friends and left Jessica wondering, so needless to say she was a bit steamed. So the next day afterwork she conned Wendy into a long 20 mile bike ride to blow off some steam ( hence the title of this post!)
Here are some before and after pics of the two girls.

Employeed by CH2MHILL

2008-07-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

We should announce that Rob is now officially employed again, and is actually on his second shift up on the slope with the new company.
CH2MHILL
You can check out their website to learn more about them at:
http://www.ch2m.com/corporate/default.asp
It's a fairly large company and he has an official title of: GMT= General Maintenance Technician, which means he fixes everything. Prior to this job, he was working for CCI, Inc. a native corperation that leased him out to ch2mhill. He had several assignments with that company that encompassed a wide range of oil support, hazzwop ( hazardous chemicals) clean up and even carpentry and various maintenance jobs to fix and build things. He was so good at what he did that he was known to do anything, and work with anyone, even the difficult persons. So when CCI, Inc. informed him there was going to be a 8 week layoff, I panicked of course, but Rob did some inquiries and found out ch2mhill was serious about hiring him full time to keep him at Camp Milne Point, North Slope, Alaska. So he put in his resume and was hired! YEAH!!!(it took a few weeks, but the wait is over)
He has a permanent room of his own ( well he shares it with 4 rotating co-workers) but at least he's not a gypsy having to cart his gear back and forth each shift never knowing for sure where he's going to bunk or for how long. Job security is a BIG DEAL to me and our family and this job was an answer to many prayers!
So now Rob's back on the slope again and we are crossing our fingers nothing breaks down or quits while he's away (as is per usual when he's not here).
SO CONGRATS to Rob on his new employment!

News about Bobby...

2008-06-19T13:28:00.001-07:00

I try to post a weekly update of our son's emails to this blog so he doesn't have to mail out massive mailings and you all can come here to read up on his current well being and adventures as a LDS missionary. Tuesdays are his P-days (preparation day) and is when we get his emails. So when I'm on top of things by the next day or so I have it posted.
This week we also received an email from the Rider family whom Bobby was working with in his last area. He got special permission to go back there to attend the temple and be a witness for their sealing on the 17th. I've included her letter to us and a few pictures to share. It's wonderful to see such happiness and know our 'Bobby' was apart of it!
Love ya SON!

Here is Sister Riders email:
Hi Sister Jones;

I wanted to let you know that we were able to attend the Salt Lake Temple on the 17th. It was absolutely wonderful. We barely made the date because I had to wait for my sealing cancellation. It arrived on Friday the 13th. Definately a lucky day for us.

We were especially blessed to have your son with us. He is truly a blessing to our family.I'm sending a few photos. All I can say is "Thank you" to you and your family for the sacrifice of having your son so far from home.

Tammy Rider & the entire Rider family

Mr. Green Thumb

2008-06-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

Spring has arrived and summer is trying to bud her way into our weather patterns which means it 's that time of year again...the infamous planting of the garden!
Last summer we let the garden plot sit for a season due to Rob's busy work schedule on the slope, and me and the girls were out of state. So when he went to get the soil ready, it was a big mess! He ended up renting a rottotiller (since ours was broken) and spent a good part of a day preparing the soil, digging through almost 6-8 inches of sod & weeds. It's amazing how fast the land tries to reclaim itself without constant tending to.
We also have two long rows of raspberry bushes along the one side of the garden and Rob found shoots off those all the way to the middle of the 25' x40' garden area. He promptly gave the raspberry bushes a 'crew cut pruning' and dug up all traces of weeds and such to make his cute little rows for his seedlings and seeds.
excitedly Rob went to the local Wagon Wheel store to purchase the seedlings he wanted and dug out his seed stache to plant from, but...........
There was so much to do in the past few weeks that finding time to actually PLANT the garden seemed to slip by, day after day, Rob was so frustrated! So finally, just days before flying back up to the slope for work, he snuck out to the garden, (after already putting in 10-12 hours of other work) he'd start digging away and planting.
I would watch him from the girls back room window TOTALLY engrossed in his hobby, content and happy to be playing in his DIRT. He'd come in exhausted, stained with black knees and hands but content.
How my man loves his dirt! Now the trick will be to keep watering and tending to the precious little green things till they are big and strong and we can EAT THEM in the late summer and fall.
To all the Green Thumbers out there...we wish you plenty of RAIN, and lots of SUNSHINE to nourish your efforts!

Ear piercing SCREAMS of Delight!

2008-05-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

On Friday, only two days after school was out and in the midst of settling into a busy summer schedule with our sign company and having the kids home again the phone began to ring off the hook. The noise level was ever increasingly LOUD all day long. Then one of those phone calls created massive amounts of screaming and jumping up and down by Wendy, our 4th child.For about 5 minutes we couldn't figure out what her problem was, good or bad her high pitched screaming was loud enough the neighborhood could hear it! Apparently her girl friend called to congratulate her on making the cut into SWING CHOIR!
During the last week of school, Wendy had auditioned for the very exclusive Homer High Swing Choir . She was pressured by her friends to do the audition, even though she didn't think she was good enough, despite the fact she qualified for Borough Honor Choir and ALL State Choir this past year ( we all think she's Good Enough!) Funny how we are all our worst critics, so needless to say she wasn't expecting anything from it. During the audition she even forgot some of the words to our national anthem from being so nervous. She told me afterwards,..."its no big deal, I"ll try out again next year" (as its most common for Juniors or Seniors to get in NOT Sophomores).
So drum roll please....our Wendy is now apart of a special singing group (for the next three years) and one of only TWO Sophomores! We are so PROUD of her! Way to go WENDY!

Jessica Graduates

2008-05-27T13:56:00.001-07:00

Well its official another of our offspring crossed the line to adulthood.
Jessica Kimberly Elaine Jones (our second of five children) graduated from Homer High School on Wednesday evening May 21st, 2008th. We are so PROUD of her and how she's turned out so far. She has plans to stay in Homer to work and save money for college in winter/spring quarter. She's applied at several schools but hasn't decided yet. In the meantime she's working at BAY VIEW INN, doing housekeeping. She's not too thrilled about the type of work but its a job and a means to an end. She said she's interested in Nursing as her direction for schooling so we'll see what that brings. Whatever she decides...from being a teacher to a nurse to an astronaut, she's smart enough to do anything she puts her mind to! WAY TO GO JESSY!
*Jessica would also like to say Thank You to all those that sent cards and money to congratulate her, she is very grateful for your kindness and generosity!

MOOD SWINGS!From weary blue, to roses red, to...soul Sunshine yellow!

2008-04-25T10:18:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning to a SNOW STORM! I guess living in Alaska, that is to be expected every now & then, but yesterday I was wearing capris and flip flops for crying out loud!
So as I started my day... I felt weary and blue. Not seeing the warmth of the sunshine and knowing we'd have a few more days of cold temps really put me in a funk. Then I looked at the beautiful bouquet of red roses my dear husband surprised me with yesterday for no reason at all, and smiled (* a little 'soul sunshine' he knew I needed). Then I opened an email from my sister-in-law to find the most uplifting Mother's Day message that I just had to share with you:
http://www.tonyrobbins.com/Marketing/Mothersday/mothersDay.html#ec=135534

Make sure you have a few tissues on hand while you watch it. I had tears rolling down my cheeks... but afterwards felt uplifted. It's been a long time since my children were that little, the powerful love and emotions that a mother feels spans the threads of time. This reminded me of my own son, who is now grown and off serving a church mission. He's been gone a year, but I remember the day as if it were yesterday when he was little, sitting on my lap at bed time reading stories, all squiggly and smiling as we snuggled. Just look at you now.......... I LOVE YOU SON! you make me proud to be your mother!

The frozen chosen Jones clan kickin' it way up in the Great white North of Alaska!

2008-04-24T09:46:00.001-07:00

Newest Creatable by Carolee

2008-04-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

Check out...
'TRAVEL BUG' by Carolee Jones
released on 04-17-08
found at: http://www.pccrafter.com
or just click on this link to take you directly to the shopping page to view and or purchase all the cute images with in this set http://www.pccrafter.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=2426
This set includes 30 images of relaxation and vacationing fun.

The first step is always the hardest

2008-04-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well here we go, this is my first official post to my new blog. I have been inspired by many other blogs and wanted for some time now to create one of my own, ...just hadn't made the time to make it happen. But there is no better time than the present!
I hope that as I learn more I can post news and pictures and current projects and artwork so that this will be a fun and exciting place to frequently visit.