So long Americopy and hello Bank of America!

For those of you who don't already know, yesterday was my last day working at Americopy. It was definitely time after 2 1/2 years. I don't have to work with mean customers anymore. YAY! I am so excited for that. I will miss seeing all the regulars though that just make your day better when you see them. It was fun seeing people that I haven't seen in a long time, and you run into them at Americopy. My mom told me she doesn't like that I am quitting, because now she is not going to know how everyone is doing she hasn't seen in years. I would always tell my mom who I saw at Americopy, and it would be someone that she or my dad haven't seen in years. Everyone knows I am a Jones.
I am excited to move on and start something new. I will be working at Bank of America. The hours will be better, as well as the benefits. I will have Saturday's off. YAY! I am so excited for that. It will be delightful having a weekend. I haven't known what a weekend was since I moved way to college.
Thanks for all the good times Americopy. Its been real.

Santa Claus Been Here!

Paul and I had a very enjoyable Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my family. We had Christmas dinner, and then went to look at the Temple lights. I always love going to look at the temple lights. They are so beautiful. Christmas morning we headed over to my parent's house to open gifts. Paul and I opened our gifts to each other at my parent's. My parents got us the crock pot I have been in need of. The one we have now cracked. Sunday dinner is tough not having one, when you have 12:30 church. We also got some money from them and my Grandparents. Paul's mom gave us stuff for year supply. I love that she does that, because we need to start building up our year supply. Paul gave me a food processor so I can make oreo balls. YUM! My mom laughed when I told her I wanted a food processor just to make oreo balls. Paul also got me a few movies, and games. Paul was so hard to shop for this year. I got him some games he likes to play, a gift card for hats, and two movies he wanted.

After we opened gifts Paul stuck around for a little bit longer, but then he headed down to Thatcher, so he could see his family from out of town. It was nice for him to be able to go down and see his family. He hasn't seen them since the summer. While he was down there he got to see the progress on the temple. He said it is beautiful and small.

My sister and her family came for Christmas, so it has been fun having my little nephew around. It was my niece and nephews first Christmas, and it was so much fun to be able to celebrate it with them. Even though they had no idea what was going on it was still fun. We missed my nieces and nephew from Utah, but hopefully in two years we will have everyone home for Christmas, when Ethan comes home.

We hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year.

And He's Off

Ethan left on his mission today. No gonna lie....it was emotional. I can't believe my little brother is actually gone now. He didn't look old enough to serve a mission, while walking through the security check point. He sure is missed. It is just too quiet around my mom's house now. He will be a great missionary, and put forth everything to be the best he can be. I am sure of it. He has been so excited for so long, to serve a mission, and now it is here. Here are some picture of today while saying our goodbyes.

Here is a little update for now.


What a stud.


My family (the ones that live here)


Ethan waiting in line at the security check point.

Well that is about it. Good Luck, Ethan! We have started a blog for his letters and picture updates. I have it linked on the side of my blog, Elder Ethan Jones. But here is the address as well. ElderEthanJones.blogspot.com.

Update

My sister told me she laughs every time she sees my blog, because I always update my background and never blog. So here it goes.
The past few months haven't been very eventful, but some exciting things happened.
In August Paul and I celebrated our 3rd Anniversary. We both had the day off, so we went to dinner, and the mall, and just enjoyed being together. I decorated our apartment with love/appreciation notes. It was a lot of fun do that for him. I truly have the best husband. He is the love of my life. I am so thankful for him, and all that he does for me. I can't believe that it has already been three years. Time flies when you are having fun. He is just so wonderful. I love you, Paul!

My sister-in-law had a very healthy baby boy. He is definitely a Jones baby. They named him Travis Rondal Jones. Rondal is after my dad. He is just a cutie and I can't wait to meet the little guy in a couple weeks, for Thanksgiving. Here is a picture of him.



He's a keeper.

My sister also came and surprised everyone. I finally got to meet this little man.



He's a keeper, too.

They came while I was at work, so they came to visit me. They did get my reaction on camera, but unfortunately I don't have it. James probably thought I was some crazy lady and didn't know what to do. I know I wasn't the only one though, because my mom made him cry when she saw them. They were only here for a week, so I am happy that Christmas is almost here, so I can see him a lot longer. He is a cutie.

In September nothing really happened, except a lot of birthdays. The last week of September we have five birthdays, out of seven of those days. We had a big birthday bash at my mom's house.

One of the birthdays we celebrated was Paul's. I know am a bad wife for not blogging about it sooner, but life happens.

Paul's birthday was very relaxing. I had the day off. I thought I did really good on his gifts, too. Paul loves the Atlanta Braves, so he got Braves car mats, and a nice Braves window sticker for his car. I scored this birthday. HE LOVED THEM! We went out to eat, and then came home. He just wanted to be at home together, since we never see each other with our schedules. It was really nice.

In October was filled with really nothing. We were able to go to our Ward's trunk or treat. We took my niece and nephew. My sister also came with her little girl. I do have to say that, she makes the cutest little lamb.

Now that we are in November and the holidays are coming, I will probably have more to blog about. That's it!

Summer Vacation is O.V.E.R

I can't believe how quick summer vacation went by. Tomorrow I will be starting my kindergarten aide job, again. I love this job! Working with these kids is so rewarding. It will be more challenging this year, but it will be okay. We have 27 kids in our class right now, but that could change within the first week of school. Most likely we will be getting more students. The teacher I work with is amazing. I have definitely learned so much from her, and I look forward to learning more. I should be in bed right now, but I am too excited that I can't sleep. Well that's all for now. I am going to go try and get some sleep.

Happy Anniversary

I can't believe it has been three years already. Time sure does fly, when you are having fun. It has been the best three years being married to this man. My life would not be complete without him in it.



I am so grateful to have him in my life. He makes me a better person everyday. I love you, honey. I am so lucky to spend many more years with you, and being with you for eternity.

Called to Serve

On November 5, 2009....he's leavin on a jet plane.



He has been called to serve in the



Uruguay Montevideo West Mission. He will report to the Argentina MTC.

I am so excited for him. He is going to be a great missionary. I love hearing him getting excited about serving a mission, and dedicating two years to the Lord. Congratulations Ethan!

Happy Birthday, Miss Hazel!

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday Dear Hazel, Happy Birthday to YOU!


I just love this little girl. I can't believe that she is already 3 years old. She makes me smile all the time. She just brightens your day whenever you talk to her. I love you, angel girl.

Celebrate!

Paul and I have had a lot to celebrate this last week or so. First and most important, our nephew Rhett, returned from his mission on June 26th. We were both able to go to the airport and welcome him home. He was serving in the Milwaukee, Wiscousin mission. Secondly, and also very important, we went on Vacation. We went to Thather for a week and enjoyed spending time with LOTS of family. Most of Paul's siblings were there so it was kinda like a family reunion....I guess. We saw the Gila Valley Temple site, and what they have started on. The best part of the whole vacation was not thinking about work, and doing absolutely NOTHING! Now that we are home, we don't want to get back to the grind. We did bring back a few extra kids though. Our niece and nephew have stayed with us this weekend, and our niece is staying until next Sunday. YAY!

We also celebrated the 4th of July. We went over to our brother-in-law's house, and we had a yummy BBQ. We opted out of seeing fireworks, and went bowling instead. When we got there, they had firework wall-murals, so we still saw fireworks. They were the best fireworks ever. Bowling was so much fun. Our nephew, who is only 7, was tearing it up with and without bumpers. He was making me and my 15 year old niece look bad. Way to go Brandon!

So there you have it....a long, overdue update.

Unprepared....again!

As many of you already know, Paul and I teach primary. We love our class and they are always teachings us. We have some very smart children in our primary. I am just amazed at all they know. Not only are they smart, they also say the darndest things. Here is the conversation that I had with one of them today.

Me: Okay everyone, when the class comes out I am going to go in there and do something for the lesson. I need you to stay out here and be reverent while I do it.

Molly:(sighing/grunting) Did you come unprepared, again?

Me: (shocked/laughing) No, I came prepared. I can't do what I need to do when there is another class in there.

Molly: Well why not?

Me: I would disrupt the class if I did that.

I was really surprised when she made that comment. Paul and I both laughed. I definitely caught me off guard. She was still confused why I had to do it that way, but oh well. I guess I need to be better prepared. I thought I was prepared every week, but apparently not enough. It made us laugh.

OOPS

I forgot to add in my last post, that my mom and I saw Elder Richard G. Scott in the Mesa temple. It was so awesome. What a great place to run into an Apostle of the Lord.

WANTED: May!

Dear May,
Where did you go? You came and left so quick. While you were here, some exciting things happen.
The 1st thing that happened....I turned 23 (see my birthday post for details).
The 2nd thing that happened is, we celebrated Mother's day. I know this is really late, but better late than never. Here is a shout out to my mom. Thank you so much for all you do....you are #1 in my book. I am so grateful for your love and example you show everyday. You have given up so much, making sure your kids had what they needed, first. You have been put through a lot raising 9 kids.... but no matter what, you still loves us for who we are. YOU ARE AMAZING!
Here is another shout out to my Mother-in-law. She is definitely a great example of faith and selflessness. Thank you for raising my wonderful husband.
My third shout out goes to both of my grandmas. If I do say so myself, I have two of the best grandmas in the world. My grandma's are so crafty. Thank you for your love and compassion, and even your spunkiness. I love them so much. Thank you for all that you do. YOU ARE THE BEST!
My last shout out goes to my sisters. They are also great mothers I look up to. P.S. they have given me some stinking cute nieces and nephews.
The 3rd thing that happened is that Paul finished his first year at ASU....I am so proud of him. He has worked so hard this first year. 1 year down - ? to go. YAY!
The 4TH thing that happened in May was that school ended. My first year of kindergarten ended; I had a great year. The teacher that I worked for was so much fun to work with. I also learned so much from her. I hope that I work with her next year. I will miss the cute kids I had in class, but I am ready for a break.
The last thing that happened is that my brother, Ethan, graduated from high school. CONGRATS ETHAN! It was windy and rainy, but totally worth it. I was afraid that it would be moved and only two people would be able to go, but it went on in the rain. YAY! I had my umbrella so I didn't get too wet.
Now that May is over I am taking advantage of my summer vacation and reorganizing our apartment and cleaning a lot of stuff out. YAY! We are also going to visit family in Thatcher for a week. Our nephew is coming home from his mission this month, so we will be able to see a lot of family while we are there. We excited and ready for a much needed vacation. So May, as you can see we have been busy. Please return soon, and please don't leave so quick next time.

Sincerely,
Jennifer

Happy 23rd Birthday to ME!

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday and I had a very enjoyable day. I have the best husband in the world that made my day great! He is such a sweetheart and I am so lucky to be married to him. He was so lucky to have my birthday off, so he secretly got the number to the teacher that I work with. He asked her if it would be okay if he surprised me. He definitely surprised me and brought me beautiful pink roses. I just love him. He stayed for awhile and met my class and the teacher that I work with. My kids just love him. He is so good with kids. I know I have said it before, but our kids are going to be so lucky to have a dad like him. After work we went out and enjoyed the day together. We went to the movies and then to dinner. I love going out and being together. We couldn't stay out too late because I had work early today.

When I was at work, the kids were just so cute. They kept singing happy birthday to me, and telling everyone it was my birthday. They all kept drawing pictures for me/about me, and giving me tons of hugs. They are so cute....I am going to miss them. When I first got to school, I was coming around the corner to the classroom, and saw one of my student. She proceeded to tell everyone "She's coming, Mrs. Battraw's coming!" It was the cutest thing. They totally help make my birthday special. They also kept telling me that they had a big surprise for me, but they couldn't tell me. The surprise was Paul. Thank you for all the birthday wishes, I had a great day.

SAY CHEESE!

Work In Progess

I am giving my blog a much needed makeover, and figuring out how to do stuff. It is definitely a work in progress. I am trying to figure out how to add to slideshows to the side. If you know how, let me know. I didn't want it to be a post....but that is okay, too.

Spring is in the Air

Here are the Top Five reasons (in no particular order) why I love Spring.
1. Everything is fresh and new
2.Beautiful flowers
3. The smell of fruit trees blossoming
4.SPRING BREAK
5. SPRING CLEANING

Spring does bring pretty flowers and pretty smelling blossoms, but I love Spring break so I can play catch up and Spring clean. While I am off from the school this week, I am deep cleaning my apartment and cleaing a lot of stuff out. I love it. Don't worry I still love relaxing, but it is so nice just to catch up with everything I have let go. I am still working at Americopy during the day, so I clean before and after work. Can I just say I LOVE the smell of pine sol. My goal tomorrow is tackel my spare bedroom and organize everything.

I am really excited about this week because I have Friday off and so does Paul. We haven't been able to go to the temple together in awhile because of school, work and our crazy schedules so we are going this week. I love going to the temple. I am trying to get all of my cleaning and organization done by Friday, so I can spend the whole day with my hubby. We don't get those many days, so we enojoy them when we do. HAPPY SPRING!

They Messed With The WRONG Person.

Today I took our car in to be worked on (fun fun) that should be under an extended warranty. This is the second time that we have had to take it in. The first time everything that they had done was not covered under the warranty (ANNOYING). Today when I took it in I thought for sure they would tell me that it was covered, because it had to do with the engine. Well, IT WASN'T COVERED! I am extremely frustrated because we haven't had this car very long. We have forked out a lot of money in the short amount of time we have had it, than we have on our old car since Paul bought it before we were married, AND our old car is a '97. Why must car dealerships be so frustrating? Now, I have to deal with them taking advantage of us and try to figure what is covered. I am hoping we get money back from everything. If anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with them let me know. We have never had to do this before so we would like to know.

Despite all of this aggravation, I am excited that I have a full day off today from both jobs so that I can catch up on housework. Have a good day.

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope all of you had a nice Valentine's Day, Arizona Statehood Day, or whatever you celebrate. Paul and I had a really enjoyable day. We both had to work in the morning but we were able to have the night off. It is always so nice to get away from everything and just be together. We went to the mall to pick up our wedding rings and a walked around for a bit. By the way, I had no idea Down East Basics opened a store in the mall. It is my favorite place to shop now. Anyways, we attempted to go to Olive Garden but it was CRAZY busy. We ended up going to Mi Amigos away from ALL the mall traffic. We had a very nice time. I love going on dates. Paul also gave me this really pretty diamond heart necklace. He didn't get me flowers but that is because I tell him not to on Valentines Day. They are triple in price and they are going to die in a week anyway. RIDICULOUS! He surprises me with them throughout the rest of the year, that I don't need them on Valentines Day.

On Friday the 13th, my sister, Emilie had her baby girl. They named her Brisa Lanae Tryon. 7Ibs. 9oz. I was able to go see her today; she is so tiny. I am use to big Jones babies. It felt like she was going to fall through my arms. I don't know about all of you, but I think Friday the 13th is pretty lucky if you ask me. I think it is time for me to call it a night.

The Favorite

Everyone keeps telling me I need to blog more. I know, I am sorry. It is mainly people in my family. Well, while I was talking to my sister and brother-in-law in Canada, they said something that made me so happy. I even thought that it was blog worthy. Okay, are you ready? I am officially the favorite auntie to my new little nephew, James. He is the cutest little stud, but I am a little biased. I have only seen pictures of the little man, but one day I will meet him. It will probably be when he is old enough to not know who I am and think I am one crazy lady. But until then I will continue to be his favorite auntie. I wish I knew how to post pictures of the little stud from my sister's blog to mine but I don't. Maybe I can figure it out sometime. Valerie, this blog is for you.

P.S. Sorry I haven't posted pictures from when my adorable nieces were here. I don't know how to do anything when it comes to blogging.