Neglected Blog

Hey, it's Jones. Well, we obviously suck at keeping up with this blog. So, time for our extremely overdue update!

Havilah

Havilah is in her second year as a 3rd grade teacher at Alpine Elementary. In addition to totally killing it as a teacher, she is also taking night classes every Tuesday night in order to get a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) endorsement for her teaching certificate. This also will count as Master credit for her eventual Masters in Education.She is working her butt off to provide for our family. Other notable accomplishments are not having killed me yet, becoming a Bear den leader for Cub Scouts, and stating to play video games (Splatoon on the Wii U, specifically). In short, she's still awesome.

Ruth

Ruth is in sixth grade at Riverview Elementary. She just registered for middle school. This makes me feel old. She is doing quite well in school, and has decided she wants to be an author. She's also big into drawing, reading, writing, reading, listening to music at a way to high of a volume, and also reading. So, like her mom, still awesome.

Gareth

Gareth is currently in third grade Chinese Immersion at Riverview Elementary. That means he spends half his day speaking and learning exclusively in Chinese, and half the day learning in English. Its a pretty incredible opportunity, and he loves it. Well, the Chinese part at least! Gareth just turned nine last week (again with the making me feel old) and likes to play with Legos and video games, and listening to audiobooks. To continue the theme, he's awesome

Ronan

Ronan is in first grade at Riverview Elementary, where he has not one, not two, but THREE teachers. He loves them all. He's still getting into the swing of things as far as school goes, but he has a good time and is learning lots. He is interested in whatever catches his attention at the moment, but like his brother, is big into Legos and video games. From the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to sleep, he is a bouncing ball of energy. So, in a word, awesome.

Jones

Stay at home dad, part time audio/visual tech. Maker of dinner, washer of clothes, taker of children to see Star Wars. It was awesome.

Notable Events

Havilah and I went to San Francisco last year for our anniversary.

Then, for some strange reason, a month later Havilah and I went to Hawaii to visit my mom and dad, 

And this year we're building a house, so we're not going ANYWHERE for the foreseeable future

 So, that's what's happening with the Jones clan. Maybe I'll try to update the blog more. Maybe not. We'll see.

Grrrr

Battle Creek Falls Hike

We decided to go on an adventure today.  So I Googled, "Easy hikes near Utah County."  Battle Creek Falls was one that popped up.  It is only a half-mile up a cute little canyon and the falls are beautiful.  As far as easy goes... the kids and Jones didn't complain.  I almost died.  But I guess that's not saying much...  ;)

Anyway.  It was the perfect day for a hike.  The sun was out but it wasn't too hot and there was a nice breeze that kept us cool.  Once we made it to the waterfall, we hung out for about an hour and let the kids run wild. 

I was very pleased with this adventure.  I've been worried about my children not loving hiking and being outdoors as much as I did as a kid because we don't take them out into the 'wild' as often as we should.  Also, they always complain and whine any time we walk anywhere farther than 50 yards.  Our plan this summer was to take them hiking a LOT so that they would get used to it and stop complaining any time we have to walk somewhere.  The kids surprised me and were happy and excited the whole time.  Don't worry though.. we'll still do a lot of hiking this summer... my difficulty with completing the 'easy' hike proves that we need to get out more.    

Look at that awesome view of the valley and the lake!

Where's Ruthie?!

Where's Ruthie?!

The older two had fun climbing the rocks and finding ways across the river without getting wet.  Yes.  They got wet.

The cool breeze and water droplets felt great.

Resting on a bridge about halfway up the trail.

Sentimental Saturday - Airplanes, Brothers and Miracles

Today I was cleaning trying to clean out my closet.  I got a bit sidetracked when I found a drawer FULL of letters from the olden days when people didn't use email and texting and blogs and facebook.  It made me think a lot about how we communicate a lot more now than we used to, but (to me, at least) those communications are more easily lost and forgotten.  I don't know... maybe if I go clean out my email inbox or read my facebook timeline, I might change my mind...

Anyway...

So I found a letter that my mom sent to me in November of 2000.  This was just a few months after I had left for college in Logan and my family had moved up to Portland.  The world was so different back then.  This was pre- 9/11.  My brother, Aric, was still living in Provo and he and I were all set to go up to Portland for Thanksgiving.  This would be our first time seeing my parents' new home in Oregon.  This was also my first time flying on an airplane since I was a young child and I was pretty nervous to be doing it without an adult (technically, I was an adult... but I didn't think of it that way... I was barely 18).  I was glad that my brother would be coming with me.

So this letter I found was one my mom had sent giving me instructions on how to check in and get my ticket (this was before you could print it at home).  If I wasn't checking any baggage, I could just go to the gate to check in.  (I know... it doesn't work like this anymore).  I was to meet my brother at the airport and MAKE SURE TO BRING MY ID.  I wouldn't be able to get my ticket without an ID.  I was also instructed to "make sure Aric checks in too."    Sounds pretty simple right?

Well.  I was pretty nervous that night.  I was worried I might be late to the airport or I might forget or lose my ID or Aric wouldn't show up on time or HE might forget HIS ID or the plane would fall out of the sky randomly or... anyway, you get the point.  Aric and I hadn't spoken before this, (this was before it was 'normal' to have cell phones and neither of us could afford to call 'long-distance')  (MAN I FEEL OLD!) and my mom had promised me that he would be getting a ride to the airport and would meet me at the gate.

I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  I decided (against my mother's advice) to check my baggage.  I went to the baggage check in, checked my bags and was issued my boarding pass.  Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.  Still no sign of Aric.  This worried me a little bit because he was notorious for being a little bit unreliable (sorry Aric... it's true) and I had no idea how he was even planning on getting to the airport.  I decided to head to the gate and wait for him there.  I made it through security (simple process back then) and found the gate.  Aric wasn't there.

I sat down and nervously waited and watched.  With a good half an hour until the flight was to board, I saw the crowd part and Aric was there walking towards me.  My brother ALWAYS has a smile on his face -and he had one on this night- so I wasn't prepared for what he said to me after he hugged me.  He left his ID at home.  I didn't understand how someone could FORGET their ID when they were leaving to the airport to get on a plane.  What were we going to do?!  How was he going to get his ticket?!  I didn't want to board a plane without him!  I was too sacred to do it alone!  AHHHHHHH!

All of that went through my mind in an instant.  But my face remained calm.  He sat down next to me.  We both were realizing that he wouldn't be coming to Portland for thanksgiving and we were both sad.  For some reason I decided that I should check my boarding pass.  I don't know why but I had the outrageous idea that maybe they gave me HIS ticket instead of my own!  (I know... impossible).  He thought I was pretty silly too.  I looked at my ticket.  It had his name on it. Not mine.  This was insane.  It couldn't have happened.  There is a distinctive difference between my name and his.  How could the lady mix up my boarding pass and his?  I handed him HIS boarding pass and went to the desk at the gate.  I handed the lady my ID and told her that I was checking in for my flight (she didn't know that I was checking in for the SECOND time that night).  She looked me up in the computer and printed off my boarding pass.  Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

I don't know what you want to call this, luck, maybe? But I consider it to be a miracle.  I know that I have a loving Father in Heaven who is aware of me and he sends tender mercies to remind me of his love.  I needed my big brother with me that day because I was so nervous and I wasn't ready to be an adult and fly by myself.  I would have survived with out him, I'm sure, but I am so glad that I didn't have to.  :)

Updates

I think 5 months is a good amount of time to neglect the blog.  Don't you?

A lot has happened in the past 5 months.  The first 12 weeks of the year were pretty crazy.  I was student teaching.  This required me to be away from 7:15 AM until 4 PM every week day.  Ruth was super busy as well.  Between practicing for knowledge bowl and attending rehearsals for Annie Jr. (She was on the stage crew), she was at school every day until 5 or 6 pm.  My student teaching and Ruth's knowledge bowl and play practice all finished up at the end of March.  We were all happy to survive and learned a lot from our experiences.

April was full of finishing up my major capstone project and submitting for graduation.  Once this was complete, my time was filled with the stress of the job hunt.  I was so blessed to be offered a job after my second job interview.  In August, I will begin my teaching career at Alpine Elementary as a third grade teacher.  I do not have enough words to describe how excited I am and how perfect this opportunity is for me.

The kids have finished school and are now on their way to a fun-filled summer.  It's hard to believe that in just a couple of months we will have a 5th-grader, a 2nd-grader and a kindergartner on our hands.

My goals this summer include:

• Update this blog and neglect facebook more. (Facebook updates are all well and fine, but they are what keep me from updating the blog.  They are short versions of what I COULD be writing here on the blog and I KNOW that 15 years from now, I will be so sad that I didn't write it all down here).
• Prepare for school.  (There's only so much I can do, but becoming an expert on the third grade core and coming up with a classroom management plan will give me a great head start). 
• Help my kids avoid the "Summer Slide" --In case you don't know what this is... kids tend to lose a lot of what they've learned in school over the summer--especially in reading.  (I'm mostly concerned about Gareth.  His reading has come far this year.  He finished the year right on grade-level.  Our goal is to keep him there throughout the summer.)
• Go camping AT LEAST twice.  Last year we put a lot of effort into getting equipped for camping and we only went once.  
• Swim a lot.  Let me know if you want to join us.
• Use sunscreen.  If you follow me on facebook, you know why I have this goal.  Gareth's sunburned legs are finally healing up nicely.

So there you have it.  Keep watching.  I've got some fun stories to tell coming up!

2013 Family Newsletter

 “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

Eleanor Roosevelt

Well it is the end of another year and we are all amazed at how quickly this one has passed by.  Our family has had many fun adventures during the past year and we are all happier and closer because of them.  We had a fun little family trip up to Idaho in April to celebrate Aunt Audra’s graduation.  We also loved our first successful camping trip in June and were happy to share it with some wonderful friends from Arizona.  The rest of our fun adventures were closer to home.   We spent a lot of hours at the dinosaur museum, and Thanksgiving Point Gardens.  During the summer we enjoyed lots and lots of swimming and running around in the sun like the crazy people that we are. 

Ruth is a very grown-up 4^th-grader and loves every minute of school.  She has the best teacher and a good group of friends.  In March, Ruth competed with her third-grade team in the Knowledge Bowl.  They won 2 out of the 4 matches.  The topic was The Arts and was very difficult—we were super proud of her. She is preparing to compete again next spring by studying as much geography as she can get her hands on.  Ruth continues to kindle her love of writing and has recently discovered a love of and talent for writing poetry.  Ruth is very helpful around the house and can always be found with her nose in a book, writing and directing plays with her brothers or running around outside with friends.     

Gareth is a proud 1^st-grader and loving his experiences in the Chinese Immersion Program at his school.  He spends half of every day learning in English and the other half learning in Chinese.  He has amazed us with how much Chinese he already knows and is happy to show off to anyone who asks.  Gareth is becoming a wonderful reader (this makes Mom and Dad very proud!) and has very good penmanship. Gareth is the sweetest kid you’ll ever meet but he is not without his redheaded temper!  Count yourself lucky if you’ve never seen his rage!    

Ronan is a happy little 4-year-old.  He loves to play with legos, trains and puzzles.  He started preschool this year and is doing very well.  He can already write his own name and can recognize and name most of the letters and numbers.  Ronan is constantly singing and humming at the top of his lungs and is always a happy kid.

Havilah just finished up her last semester of classes and is all set to begin student teaching in January.  She will be student teaching in a third-grade classroom up at an elementary school that is about a 2-minute drive from the house.  She will be completely done with school by the middle of April (finally!) and will be ready to begin the search for a full-time teaching position for the 2014-2015 school year.  The end is in sight! J  

Jones is being the best husband ever with supporting Havilah in the craziness that comes with the final semesters of college.  When he is not cooking, cleaning, and fulfilling any and all other parental duties, he continues to work for PSAV as an A/V Technician in Salt Lake City. 

Looking Forward to 2014...

January: Havilah will begin 12 weeks of being gone ALLL DAY (for student teaching)

February: Celebrate 2 years at our home here in Saratoga Springs (we still love it here!)

March: Gareth will turn 7 years old, Ruth will compete in her 2^nd Knowledge Bowl

April: Ruth will turn 10, another trip to Idaho for Uncle Marrott’s graduation

May: Our 11^th Wedding Anniversary

June: Ronan turns 5

July-ish: A family trip up to Sequim, WA to visit the Jones Grandparents

August: Ruth starts 5^th grade, Gareth starts 2^nd grade, Ronan starts Kindergarten, Havilah (hopefully) starts teaching

September-December: Hoping for a month or so of down time…(is that even possible?)

So yeah.. you might have noticed that I didn't publish this until AFTER the new year.  But since y'all know me so well you weren't too surprised now, were you?  :)

Halloween

This year for Halloween, I slacked off.  Usually I make the kids' costumes, but because of my upcoming deadlines with school, I knew it wasn't possible.  I ended up buying Ruth and Gareth's costumes and Ronan wore the costume we made for Gareth last year.  It worked out well.  

Ruth was dressed as Cleopatra.  Her favorite thing about the costume was that she got to wear make up.

Gareth was Luke Skywalker.  Picky people who are nerds about Star Wars would probably point out that Luke's light saber was green.  Target only had blue.. so I got blue.

Ronan was dressed as the red Lego Ninja from the show Ninjago.

We had a fun-filled Halloween.  Ruth and Gareth had a Halloween parade at school and class parties.  Ronan had a class party at his preschool.  Right after school, we went over to my parents' house where we played Munchkin and had dinner.  We then went trick-or-treating.  The kids got a lot of loot--mostly chocolate!  The Halloween Fairy came for a visit that night and took all of their candy and left them each a prize.  Ronan and Gareth each got a fun Batman toy and Ruth got an umbrella (she's been wanting one for a LONG time).  

We were happy that the weather cooperated and we weren't too cold while trick-or-treating.  Halloween is so much fun.  We're already planning our outfits for next year! :)

Here's a fun pic my sister, Keli took.  Luke is using the force on Cleopatra.