Birthday Boy

Dear J-man,

I can not believe that you are FIVE! How on earth did this happen. How did five whole years go by so fast. How did you go from my sweet baby boy to my darling, handsome, smart, sweet little man? I really wish I could slow down time and enjoy you being little longer. You are quite the character and you are constantly cracking us up!

At your request you had a Pirate Birthday Bash. Your sisters were of course there, a few neighborhood friends, and a few friends from your pre-k class. We ate pizza, had cake, played pirate games, creamed a pirate pinata, and opened gifts. It was lots of fun!

On your actual bday we spent the day with Daddy going to the Maui Aquarium, playing in Lahania, went out for a birthday dinner, and then opened gifts at home. We loved that you were on Christmas break so that we could spend the whole day together celebrating as a family. We all love you so much and loved celebrating with you.

You are so much fun at this age. You have a very good idea of what you like and what you don't like. You love to be just like daddy! I love watching your relationship with your dad, he loves you so much and you adore him. You asked me recently why Jesus didn't want you to have a brother, oh it broke my heart, I REALLY wish you could have a brother. I told you that being the only boy is so special and that it means you will get to have dad all to your self for all of the boy stuff. You didn't love that answer at the moment but as you grow I think you will realize how great it is to be the only boy and how much your dad and I love all of the "boy" things you do because you are our one and only little boy.

Some of your favorite things right now are Lego's (boy do you LOVE Lego's, you could play for hours), you love to watch Power Rangers on netflix, I am not the biggest fan of the show, but you sure love it. You also love sports, playing with other boys (younger or older, you love every chance you get to play with BOYS), and dressing up in your pirate costume. We love to see you play and enjoy life.

J, I feel so lucky to be your mom. From the time you were born I could feel your strong spirit, you are an amazing little boy and I know you are going to grow into an amazing man. I hope that throughout your life we can have a strong bond and wonderful friendship. I want you to have the happiest, most productive, wonderful life possible. As much as it makes me sad to see you grow, it also brings me so much joy to see the incredible little person you already are. You are constantly complimenting me and your sisters, telling us how pretty we are. You open doors for women any chance you get, I love that you are a gentleman. You are also so sweet and tender with little babies, especially your own baby sister who you adore. I couldn't have asked for a sweeter, cuter, more fun little boy! You bless my life and our families life so much!

Happy 5th birthday little man!!

Love,

Mommy

Cruzin'

Courts old boss Royce came to town and treated us to a snorkel cruise. It was a total blast! It was our first time out in a boat and it was really neat to see the island from a completely different perspective. We got a sitter for baby E and I am so glad we did, she would have been miserable and we would not have had as much fun with the bigger kids if we were chasing a toddler around the boat.

J-man wasn't the biggest fan of snorkeling but that is ok because truth be told I don't love snorkeling. I love to see all the cool fish but my claustrophobia and those snorkel masks do not mix well together. J and I had fun staying close to the boat, going off the slide, and doing a little snorkeling here and there. The girls, Court, and Royce had a blast swimming all over to see the fish. I took a turn swimming with the girls for awhile and Lex and I saw a giant sea turtle. You can be fined $1,000 for touching sea turtle, well Lex was swimming away with her head down to see the fish and didn't see the turtle swimming right towards her, luckily another person snorkeling with us pulled Lex back before her and the sea turtle could go crashing into each other. It was pretty funny! When Lex popped her head up to see what was going on, her face was about 3 inches away from the turtles, ahhhh, it was so funny, talk about a shocker! The sea turtle was HUGE, but not scary thank heavens.

On the snorkel cruise they feed us a yummy lunch and we learned lots of fun facts about the island and sea life. We got to see tons of spinner dolphins and chased whales for about an hour. It was pretty exciting! I have never seen a Whale in the wild before, IT.WAS.SO.NEAT. Now that it is Whale season in Hawaii we see them all the time right from shore, the kids love to spot them from the beach!

We had such a great time having Royce stay with us. He is our kids "extra" grandpa and is such a great friend. I know the Lord placed him in our life for a reason and I am very grateful for all he taught Court and for the three years they got to work with each other, he was a wonderful mentor!

Gammie & Bompa

Courts parents came to Hawaii to visit in December. We had so much fun having them here and showing them around our island. This was their first time ever in Hawaii so we tried to squeeze in every once of fun we could into their visit. The kids had no idea that they were coming, it was SO fun to surprise them with their grandparents. The kids have missed them so much and there were LOTS of tears from the girls when they saw their grandparents at our doorstep, it was priceless! We did everything from decorating the Christmas Tree, to hiking the Bamboo Forest, to kickin' it at the beach! Court and I even snuck away to Honolulu for a night and a day to do some Christmas Shopping and go to the Laie Temple. It was a quick trip but we sure had a good time going to another island, being alone, eating some great food, attending the BEAUTIFUL Temple, and shopping for our Kieki (kids). It was my first time leaving baby E. overnight, she did great and was in great hands!

 

 

 

 

 

YAY FOR WONDERFUL GRANDPARENTS!

we heart the beach

Living by the beach, well... IT ROCKS!!! We are feeling so blessed to live so close to the water, there is nothing quite like it. I LOVE looking out our windows at the Ocean. There is something so calming, beautiful, peaceful, and magical about the ocean. I am sure to some people I sound corny, but really, truly, looking out my windows at home or as I go about my day running errands and seeing the beautiful beaches and the ocean just brings peace to my soul. Living here in Hawaii has really been so wonderful, I don't know how we are ever going to leave. It is going to be a sad, sad day when we have to say our goodbyes!!! For now we are livin' it up and lovin' it. Last Sunday I wanted to get some pictures of the kids on the beach, I have looked around for photographers and like everything else in Hawaii they are EXPENSIVE. I am no photographer, but I do have a good camera and edit pictures in picasa, so I decided to give the pictures a shot on my own. The kids were a little crazy, especially baby E. I did get a few great pictures, so I am HAPPY! By the end all of the kids were soaked, so I decided to jump in with them and have some fun. The ride home was wet and sandy! The kids stripped down and rode home in their undies. It was so much fun and an experience I will never forget. I am one lucky mama!!!

{Thankful}

The Jones family had a great Thanks Giving. It's been a little strange to think about it being the Holiday's with the warm weather and no family around, but it's also very fun to get to spend the Holiday's "island style". We had a teriffic Thanks Giving. We went to the west side of the Island and eat a delicious feast at a resort and then stayed the night. When the kids saw the resort they were giddy with excitment, they REALLY freaked out when they saw the amazing pool and water slides.

Court puts in a lot of hours at work these days and I put in a lot of hours at home, so we decided that we needed a break and that neither one of us wanted to cook. It was a great decsion because the buffet at the resort was awesome!! It was so nice to sit back and relax this Thanks Giving.

We had soooo much fun playing in the pool, going on the water slides, walking the boardwalk, and relaxing in hammocks. It was a fun, low stress Thanks Giving (just my style). We skipped out on black friday shopping and just enjoyed the resort for the day before we had to head home. There isn't much shopping in Maui anyway!

Here are just a FEW of the things we are Thankful for...

Court-

Is most Thankful for the health of our family, a great job, a promising future, and for a loving hot wife willing to love and support him along the way.    {his words, not mine}

Me-

I am feeling especially Thankful for our abundance of blessings both spiritual and temporal. I feel so Thankful for the beautiful life I have been given {family.husband.children.gospel.job.etc...}. I am also very Thankful for the trials I have been allowed to face that have strengthened my testimony and have taught me some very important life lessons.

Mac-

Is so Thankful for her family and to have the awesome experience to live in Hawaii.   {her words}

Lex-
Is Thankful for her family and is so thankful she can be on earth to celebrate all of the Holiday's. She is also thankful for Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and Heavenly Fathers, Father.   {her words}

J-man-

Is Thankful for his sisters, his cousin Bex, mom and dad, for his dads strong muscles, and for our camera.   {his words}

Baby E.- If she could talk I am positive she would say how thankful she is for her AWESOME family and for all of the LOVE and ATTENTION they give her!

road to Hana

On election day the kids were out of school and Court took the day off. We have a "Hawaii bucket list" and doing the Road to Hana was on the TOP of our list, so we decided to go on election day. We got up early, packed up some things for the day, VOTED, and then started our journey to Hana. The drive was BEAUTIFUL. We had so much fun stopping to hike and explore along the way. Once we got there we went to Black Sand Beach and the Seven Sacred Pools. We had a great day having fun as a family and exploring Hana. We saw so many beautiful water falls and it was really cool to see the rain forest side of the island. It was definitely a day that will go down in the Jones family history books as one of our greatest adventures!

All things lately...

I have not been very good about blogging lately. I really want to be better since this is my family history for my kids. I really don't have a good excuse as to why I haven't been blogging, 3 of my 4 kids are in school and baby E. is a great napper. Really I think my problem for not getting around to blogging (among other things I want to get done that I'm not) is that Court is working crazy hours and when I do have a little time to myself I really DON'T, ha! When I do have a second or two then I think about all that I could be getting done, laundry-bills-cooking-cleaning, etc... Well there will ALWAYS be something to "get done" so I am going to make an effort to blog more because I know in twenty years I wont care to remember if the laundry was done, but I WILL want to go back and read things I have written about our life.

I made some memory books for my kids for Christmas this past week. It was so fun to go through pictures of my kids when they were tiny. I loved going back and reading old blog posts about what was going on in our lives during those times. I am really grateful I started a blog all those years ago, I am terrible at journal and if it weren't for my family blog then I would not have written down all those memories. As I was reading what I had written I noticed that I use to be much better about recording little, everyday details, like funny things the kids said or things we did. I was reminded that life isn't about the big things, it's about the little things, it's in the details, it's in our day to day lives that eventually become a life time of memories. So I am going to work on recording the details, because it was a pure joy to go back and read about all of the funny things my kids did and said. The funny thing is, looking back I know in many ways those years were stressful with little toddlers and I KNOW there were days I felt like pulling my hair out, but what stands out the VERY most are all of the HAPPY times.

For the record, here are a few things we have been up to lately..

Court: he has been working so hard, he loves his new job and is really good at it. I miss our family time, but I am grateful when we do have family time that we are here in Hawaii and get to have these awesome experiences. Last week Courts boss was in town, he got to go golfing at one of the best golf courses in Hawaii, he got to go spear fishing (he saw several sea turtles and even got to see a whale breach in the water), and he/we got treated to some yummy meals.

Me: the kids keep me busy, busy, busy! I love being a mom, I really, really do, even if I don't always show it. I am trying to loosen up and have more fun with the kids. We love walking to the beach, swimming at the pool, watching movies on the weekend, etc... I have taken up "hot yoga", I LOVE it. It's a great workout and de-stresser for me. I can feel myself getting stronger and more flexible.

Mac: is growing up way to fast. I just bought her, her first sports bra (HOLY freak me out!!!). She is loving the fourth grade and has lots of cute friends. They have a little club at recess and write a newspaper together (it's pretty cute). She went on a awesome field trip today today, her class is learning about rain forests and got to visit an ACTUAL rain forest, how awesome is that! Court took her down to the abc store last night to pick out some special things for her,field trip lunch.

Lex: this girl is still spunky as ever! She is rockin' it in school, almost always getting 100% on her spelling tests and A's in all subjects. She spends her recesses jumping rope and running. She has several "crushes" but wont tell who. She has a kit of spunk, but also has a very fun side. She is so loving, always giving hugs and kissses. She is so cute with her baby sister and loves to play with her.

J-man: is doing so great in pre-k, I was so worried that going everyday would be hard on him. He is such a cute little man. Tonight we walked to the beach to play volley ball, as we were walking he asked me if he could go on a mission (for our church) right now, I told him he has to be grown up and asked him why he wanted to go right now, he said, "because I am so excited to be a missionary!!!" It was pretty cute.

Baby E: this girl is so much fun, one is such a cute age, but man she is BUSY, she is like a little tornado where ever she goes. I forgot how busy one year olds are. She is really starting to jibber jabber, it is so cute when she "talks" her baby language!! She is also a little MONKEY!! She climbs on the table, tv stand, end tables, etc... She's one crazy little girl!