Andrew & Alexis married in August

How beautiful is this couple standing in front of the San Diego temple?? Great place, great families, great food, great dress and GREAT shoes Alexis! :) Andrew (Duff's brother) looks a little to serious in this picture, I couldn't get another picture of them uploaded...I'm kinda special when is comes to bloggin' if you can't tell. But believe me he was a very happy man! They are such a darling couple...perfect for each other! We all love Alexis so much...and she just fits right in! And we are all so happy for them!
That was a really fun weekend for us...we made an adult only trip to Disneyland....oh the tower of terror is my FAV. !!!!! I think Kjrsten has pic of that ...some great pictures she took of us mid-ride.

Check out more photo's of them...or just check out their photographer...he was amazing! http://brionhopkins.instaproofs.com/

He did it!!!

Okay I have to admit that I had my doubts that Keith would ever be able to track down his true love......but he DID. Her name is Jenny Jones (my maiden name too....AND my other sister-in-law; my brother's wife is also Jennifer Jones) Jenny is simple the most darling girl ever. They are so perfect for each other. It's weird the similarities to Duff and I. They started dating in September...us too, they got engaged in November...us...October. And we got married in February...the month they are planning to tie the knot! And she is from a family with only boys...no sisters...me too! Weird huh? I am so happy for the two of them! And our girls could not be more thrilled to enjoy another new auntie! When Alexis and Jenny are together, I can see my girls just going crazy with excitement...as they love them both so much! I am so lucky to get such great sister-in-laws!

Duff put in the Thriller video in the car, on the way to trunk-or-treat and the girls "loved" it. Andee had never seen it....she looks scared. Lillian said to Sophia..."If you get scared, just take my hand". Oh, sisters! Cute!

Ya gotta love the hair...you decide which one. I am trying to hold up my fingers that say PEACE...I'm so original right? Duff wore this pimp costume at a stake dance last spring that his Dad was in charge of. All of his siblings plus spouses were there, so we all dressed up...it was so "hair-larius"

Matching hair

Oh...matching Afros how sweet huh?

Who and what

Andee Markward is a good friend of Emma's, we have her over almost every weekend. She is a fussy baby, who just woke up from a nap, I love the hair.

I had to talk her out of being a "Zombie" baby.

Bella picked the complete opposite character of her real self. I love the green face! And the green shriveled hand (compliments of Frankenstein)

Lillian our little tom-boy. She didn't want to wear the goatee for school,

but was happy to wear it for trunk-or-treat. This pirate comes complete

with a duck-tape/black marker sword...awesome!

When we first put on this whole costume...she looked at me

perplexed and said, "Mom, I can't fly?" Oh.... you gotta love

the innocence of babies! She is trying to fly in this picture.

Halloween fun

Emma the "Zombie" cheerleader. She said she got ran over by a football player. The girls all just jumped into character when the camera came out, with no prompting.

I have to say that the girls got very creative this year...no more princesses for us I guess. Sophia the bumblebee, Emma the Zombie cheerleader, Andee (our "weekend daughter") the fussy baby, Annabella the "wicked the witch" as Sophie would say, And Lillian the pirate.

Mommy hair

I have been wanting to go shorter for a long time...and

someday I will go even shorter...what do you think? Emma said it's purple?

Ha, ha.....David's fault if it is.

This is what happens when Macrae plays at my house....all the playing with girls just

plum-tuckered him out! Do you just want to eat him?

BIG SPIDER!

What the heck is this doing outside my girls bedroom window? Can you say arachnophobia.......ugh!!! This looks bigger than it really is....it was actually the size of a quarter. Who has the willies? Val (my animal- spider- crawly- thing -lovin' mother-in-law) wondered why I didn't put it in a jar? Right outside the window is plenty close for me! (willies again)

Our baby is three!!!

This was the reaction to the other

gifts (dresses)....um, go figure...my little tom-boy

Sophia doesn't know the fun ballons can provide....

...But Macrae does...he was rolling around like this for...ever

and it didn't bug him a bit.

"The prize" of gifts you ask??? Pajamas from Aunt Kjrsten....this was her same reaction to the jeans she opened up in the morning! She is easily pleased at this point.

Birthday pizza party with cousins

"Haaaaaa.......................

Yes...i used a christmas bag...what does she know? He, he.

I cannot believe that our Sophia is already three! Here she is opening her first package a few days early. When this arrived from Grandma and Grandpa Jones...she couldn't wait to open it. She loved the contents in it and even carried around the box and wrapping paper for days...even to the car...until Mom "misplaced" it.

This is Cortney...my good friend that I met when we were nannies in Connecticut. We tried to set her up with a friend of Duff's...it failed miserably, okay... just didn't work out, they parted as friends so it wasn't a failure. BUT it was SO great to see her! The last time I saw her was I don't know...two years ago? Any body know an available hunk? She lives in Utah!?!?!? As you can see, she is a hottie! :)

I'm so obsessed, I find myself pulling over and taking pictures with my
cell, this is on the way to Emma's school....love it!
I gotta go back and use the "real camera"!

Believe me this looks better in person, but I love this one by Anna's house cause each tree (right to left) is darker than the last....orange, red, deep red (again better in person), and almost black.

Is it me or are the leaves on the trees so much more brilliant this year? This is what we call our "fire" tree in our front yard. I am sad when leaves fall off the tree...but I find myself looking forward to having this tree show it's beautiful colors. It's reminds me of being in Connecticut (when I was a nanny for a year) in the Fall. Oh...it is so beautiful, I keep telling Duff that one year he needs to take me back there when the leaves are turning.

Better picture of Lillian on wakeboard...thanks to Aunt Marion! Lillian...you rock!

Before and .......................................

We all love the Macrae boy, Macraezee, Da boy, or Macracken! When Sophia was looking at the pictures of Macrae on my phone...she was hugging and kissing the phone. He is such a good baby! He will fall and get a huge bump on his head and fuss (not cry) for all of two seconds and be done! Is that what it's like raising boys? He weighs more than our Sophia, who is almost three! Ha, ha...just more to squeeze and kiss!

FUNNY FACES

What comes next is.......

scary funny, those with weak bladders....visit the potty first! This is the result of the beauty of digital cameras and knowing a college student. My sister-in-law Marion was telling us that her and her friends figured out that if you snap a picture while you blow out your mouth so that your lips move really fast (vibrate)....pretend your a horse....this is what you get........

Emma looks a little drunk

Is that Brandon??


Anna, nice touch with the "passing-out" hand
(the one you had while you
watched Kjrst give birth) This is special!

Look at Lillian on the wakeboard! Isn't she awesome!
Every time Sohia would throw the bowling ball, she would come running to Duffy and say, "I did it, I did it" What about mom you ask? She is a total Daddys girl!

Don't blame her...I kinda like him too!

Bella, Lillian, and Sophia....who is being an otter on the "otter-slide". This slide is so lame, they have to scoot their way down the whole slide.....we can't have the kids going to fast...they could hurt themselves! (I'm such a good mom) They have never seen all the crazy Jones' at West Piney slide, going down the what....60 foot slide?...with wax paper, so we can go faster and get it ready for the next slider! Those were some fun times! I have a great memory of Dad going down! Did Grandma Grace ever go down the slide? I can invision her being the one handing out the wax paper, in her younger years and being the last to go, so she could go nice and fast! She was such a crack-up huh? I miss Grandma! Good memories!

So you think she likes this? I am preping her to like thrill rides, so she can ride them with me...baby steps!

New toy in the park at the Point Defiance Zoo. (A little "dish" that you spin in) You see parents whipping their kids in it, to see how fast they can go. I was watching one day as a Dad spun his no-older-than one year old in it...and the kid FELL out! He picked him up and was looking around like....I didn't do that!

Notice the lady in the background with the blue pants....Sophia asked if that was me. I said "does it look like me?" She said "yes". "Does that look like my legs?" I asked. "Yes". "Does that look like my bum?", "No mommy!" Wheewww!

Lillian....she is amazing on the wakeboard....I think it took

her two or three tries to get up for her first time!

PIZZA FUN! Sophia with Grandpa.

When the bums were sore and numb from "blockin' " The kids went rollin', rollin', rollin'.....

The kids did some ice blocking at Lava Hot springs. Cousin Tristan borrowed the blocks from a bible study group....they were done with them! It was HOT! Look at Samantha and her cute smile!

A family reunion on my side (June 2008). We met my parents and my youngest brother Aaron, his wife Brek and Daughter Hailey, My other brother Ty and his wife Jen, with their kids: Tristan, Samantha, and Zach. We missed having my oldest brother Patick and his wife Susan and their kids, Katelyn, Sydney and Jayden. This is in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. My parents stayed at an old converted school house that was able to hold all of her siblings. It was a cute little "hotel", and good place for all of us to eat all together. We played at the waterslide park and braved river floating...going against Aaron's warning. He got hurt pretty bad at the last reunion...poor guy! It was really nice to see everyone!

Funny girls! This is near the end of the school year, when Emma was "dyeing" to spray her hair green. She wanted to participate in "crazy hair" day, and the new principle would not allow colored hair at school, so they settled for a crazy hair day at home. And yes, Sophia is always in pajamas. Well, these days it's pajama shirt and jeans, with a baseball cap on backwards! She is definitely Lillian Jr., and do you love the onesie sleeves hanging out? I love the craziness!

I'm pretty sure this is the first day of preschool for Annabella (fall of 2006)...oh, how they all love there Daddy! What a cutie...both of them!

Sisters....together....forever!

Man....I LOVE this picture!!! It makes my heart leap every time I see it! I'm sure it's because it's the first time they are all together! I just want to smooch them all! I love that they ALL look like babies. I hate that they are growing up...I need them to slow it down a bit. We have a neighbor that just dropped off her "baby" to college. She ask me how young my baby was, I said almost three...and she said...Oh, you have so much time, you are so lucky! And I really did feel lucky, and sad at the same time...thinking that I would be in her postition in a blink! How can us Mom's slow it down? For those of you who know Sophia...is Lillian so her twin in this picture??
FYI....Don't be jealous of the curtains, they can only be enjoyed while staying at Tacoma General.

We were able to take the girls to the Temple square in June, I have not been there since I was a kid! We were walking around in "non-church" clothes on a Sunday (we got on a plane to go back home right after this) , so when the missionaries saw us, they got very excited, bless their little missionary souls! One sister from Mexico said "Are you related to the church?" Cute!