Christmas, Anniversary, and More!

If that title doesn't capture your attention, I don't know what will. Sarcasm. :) Really, I should start labeling my blog entries by season instead of by month. It's been awhile, but at least you know we are still here! Before I dive right into the pictures, here's a brief update: Kris is on his last semester of grad school! Hurray! The job search has begun. Tiffany is still at home and loving being a mom. Her most recent project has been decorating Kasey's room! (Julie, you'd be so proud - it's themed and everything!) Kasey is busy, busy, busy! He is learning so many words and talking like a champ. Some of his most recent words are "Molly" "berries" "dishes" "pooh bear" "cookie" and "attic" (He loves our attic!). Congrats Kasey - you've moved from one syllable words to two! Your future looks promising. :) Oh, and as always, he LOVES his grandpas. "Papa, papa!" is all we here from the backseat whenever we are going to visit grandpa.

Here are a few of our adventures in pictures:

Our 5th year anniversary was in December. As we all know, December is a crazy time, so we chose January to celebrate. We dropped Kasey off at his cousins' house, and we headed off for a winter adventure! We decided to try snow-shoeing for the first time. We picked a trail in Ogden canyon, and we were off!

We had the best time. Snow-shoeing is much like hiking, and we love being outdoors! Part of the trail was precariously close to the river, as pictured below. It's thrilling when you know you could slip into icy waters at any wrong step! The scenery was majestic as well.

We stayed the night in a charming little cabin at the Alaskan Inn. We got a group-on deal that we just couldn't pass up! The place had the perfect ambiance - soothing music played as we entered, chilled sparkling cider awaited, and the Alaskan decor combined to give the place a cozy, romantic feel.

We had the best time on a much-needed get-away!

A few other random pics (sorry, these are so not in order). Lately, Kasey loves to lay down next to Molly and snuggle up! Molly will put her paw on Kasey like she's hugging him. :)

"Please can we go outside now?"

When I went to check on Kasey during a nap, I found this. If you look closely, you can see Kasey's hand under the the pad (he's in his pack n' play at Grandma's, so no mattress, just a pad).

I laughed and laughed! Somehow he had wiggled himself under the pad and gone to sleep! I lifted up the pad and found him - zonked!

Kasey wearing Molly's leash. He must be ready for a walk! Another time Kasey grabbed Molly's leash and started walking her around the house. The funny thing is, Molly followed! (Sorry - sidewise - I'm really bad at this blog thing!)

Yeah for balls in playpens! A kid's dream.

Okay - here we are to Christmas. Kasey and dad, testing out Kasey's first remote control.

Kasey's new PJ's (See the little bear on his bum? Below are the words, "Bear Bottom.")

Dad modeling Kasey's new PJ's.

Kasey and dad in twiner Christmas attire.

When we visited my family, we decided to go skiing/snowboarding together. Poor Kasey had an earache, so Grandma opted to tend at the lodge. Here they are napping together!

At Tiffany's house - everyone showing off our brother/sister gifts! See my sweet new shoes from my brother Jake? He's awesome! I sure miss him. He left for his mission right after Christmas. He is currently in the MTC, but soon he'll be leaving for Budapest, Hungary. He is working so hard and doing so well! His faith and testimony uplift us in every letter! We love you Jake!

Back to the skiing trip (sorry, out of order): Kasey having a good time with Uncle Javan!

Playing in the snow with dad.

Wow, these really are out of order! Back to ski trip. :) Kasey, don't get too comfortable in those ski boots! Mom and dad are snowboarders!

With Grandpa Ted, sitting on the old tractor. (I'm not kidding when I say old - this belonged to my Grandpa Payne! We used to go on rides when we were kids.)

Kasey loves to hide behind the Christmas tree.

What better present than a popsicle.

With Grandpa Randy on Christmas.

Kasey loved opening the presents more than the presents themselves. After he opened a present, he hardly paused to check out his new toy; he was on to the next present to unwrap. We had such a wonderful Christmas holiday with both families. Thank you everyone for spoiling us and our son!

Christmas Letter 2010

As usual, our "Christmas Letter" turns into a "Happy New Year" letter! We wish we could send out formal letters, but we are seeking to simplify our Christmas this year. Hurray for technology! J

We have had a wonderful but busy year. Kris has been studying hard as a full-time MBA student at the University of Utah. He works part-time for USTAR, a government organization which assists start-up businesses. He is also involved with student organizations, and he fills the remaining hours with church callings and family time. He seldom has time for himself, although he did buy a Nintendo game the other day. He hasn't played it yet, but he did buy it! J We are so grateful for all he does for our family!

Tiffany is blessed to stay at home, managing the house and taking care of Kasey. She loves being a mom. She keeps busy with her sewing and scrapbook projects, book club, and neighborhood playgroup.

Kasey has grown up so much this year! At 14 months he is a full-time toddler and boy, constantly busy! He loves to get into everything. His favorite pastimes are taking lids on and off Tupperware, playing outside (he LOVES dirt and snow), reading books, getting into the dog food, and running around destroying everything he can. J His latest accomplishment was climbing up and sliding down the big kid slide at the playground – all by himself! Lately he has been learning new words all the time, including the dreaded " No, no!" One of his favorite words is, "uh, oh!" which he often preemptively declares before he drops his food off his tray. He brings so much happiness to our home, and we are so grateful for our son!

In other family news, Tif is seeking to make peace with her arch-enemy, Molly, the dog. J We have struck an agreement to co-exist for the benefit of all other family members, namely Kris, Kasey, and future posterity. Molly has grown to be quite the hefty bulldog. Despite her brute strength, she is gentle with Kasey and will tolerate all the tail-grabbing and eye-poking that Kasey gives her. She is also fairly obedient for her age as well as friendly and people-loving. She is turning into a good dog and member of our family. (By "good dog" Tif means she has hopes that someday she will view Molly in those terms. J She is still a puppy, after all.)

We have also filled our year with fun family adventures. We were spoiled by numerous trips to Lake Powell – both of our families are frequent Lake Powell visitors. We also filled the summer with a few hiking and camping trips. Kasey and Mom visited Aunt Heather and Uncle Javan in Virginia – Kasey's first flight!

We wanted to express our appreciation for all of you – our family and friends who are so supportive of us and add so much joy to our lives. We are so blessed! We wish you the best, and we are so grateful for your friendship.

With love,

The Jones Family

PS Christmas pictures coming soon!

Kasey and Athan

I forgot to include these pictures in the November update! Kasey and I went to visit my cousin Annie and her two darling boys, Athan and baby Ryder. Kasey and Athan had the funnest time playing together! Thanks Annie for taking such cute pictures! We had the best time!

Athan and Kasey

Pounding on Anne's nice glass table.

Hi there!

Grrr!

November Update

It's been a busy month, but only a few things are picture worthy. First, Kris' brother Tyler's wedding (did you follow that?) was at the beginning of the month, and Kasey was dressed fit for the occasion (with a fresh new hair cut, too!).

What a little man! (Thanks Janece for awesome pics!)

The family in matching wedding attire.

Yum! Kasey loves chocolate and cookies, of course. I never hear him say the word "more" as clearly as when I give him something extra tasty to eat!

Kasey all ready to play in the snow! (Does the movie A Christmas Story come to mind?)

Yay! Snow! Kasey can barely walk around in the snow, even with his new snow boots. That's okay with him, though. It's just fun to be outside, watching Molly run around and reveling in the new mysterious white fluff.

Help, mom! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Kris only has one more week of school! Hurray! (Well, until next semester starts again. Ugh.) He has been busy to the max lately, and we are so excited for Christmas break so that we can be together more! There is nothing like spending time with family. (Heather and Javan - we can't wait!)

Lake Powell Trip and Other Pics

Before I share Lake Powell Pics, here are few recent ones of Kasey:

Mmm! Dinner! (He must have really enjoyed this one, what with the food in hair and greasy-looking food mustache.)

One of Kasey's favorite treasures of nature: sticks!

As always, Kasey is ever getting into things. Literally.

Kasey and Molly are becoming best buds. Kasey gives Molly his open-mouthed kisses, and as you can see, Molly hugs him back.
Time to wrestle!
Hmm! The Old Testament manual looks like a good read.
Ready for church!
Here are the Lake Powell pics. This trip, we went a lot of fun places. This is us hiking down "The Crack." There is an incredible hike between two slabs of rock. From a distance, you would never know that you could hike through them!
The view from a top the crack.
Hiking through the crack. Hold on Kasey!
Dad has special skills.
I know this is a bit out of order, but this is the crack we hiked through!
"Get me out of here!"
Driving with dad.
Another one of our adventures was hiking up a beautiful narrow canyon. Here's Kasey with Grandpa.
Kasey with dad.
Check out this wall!
Mom look! I found a rock! (Rocks are akin to the treasured sticks in Kasey's world.)
My little sis Jenny walking through the freezing waters of death! (Check out the beautiful waved sand walls of this slot canyon!)
We are so blessed to be able to go to Lake Powell so much! And this time, we were able to enjoy the trip with both sides of our family! It was one of the best Lake Powell trips I can remember.

Kasey's First Birthday Party!

Tiffany was so proud of her nicely themed party and homemade decor. She had so much fun putting this party together!

We filled a tonka truck with cupcakes, and Kris decorated Kasey's cake.
Kris made a bona fide construction site, complete with access road and excavation!
Kasey: "Yum! When do we eat cake?"
Kasey and his Uncle Jake sporting their vehicles -they must think alike: both born on Oct. 17 and both a fan of lime-green and speed!
Mmmm! Kasey's first cake and ice cream! (Well, at least in substantial proportions. Dad has been known to give him a small taste from time to time...)
In the spirit of birthdays, Tyler decided to paint chocolate warrior signs on Kasey's chest. Molly was more than happy to help clean Kasey up.
Mom, in a chipper, sing-song voice: "Kasey, what do you think of your new fourwheeler?" Kasey, nonchalantly: "It gets me from A to B."
Testing out his new slide.
"Yeah! A new hat! Just what I wanted!"
Thanks to all who came and supported Kasey! Kasey was spoiled with so many fun presents and nice clothes. We had the best time!

Happy Halloween!

Here's Kasey with his pumpkin. Mom carved it to look just like Kasey: big bug eyes, two bottom teeth, happy grin, and often, food spilling out the mouth.

Kasey in Halloween heaven. Yeah for suckers! (He would not let go of it!)
You guessed it: Kasey is dressed as a little devil. We spiked up his hair, pinned on a red bow tie and tail, and placed his horns on his head. He carried around a red trident for part of the night (by "carried" I mean tried to stab people with it. Thank goodness it was made of felt!).
The 'Lil devil looking so innocent with dad.
The lil' devil trying to hit mom with his trident.