Uncle Kyle Graduates

We're proud to say the Uncle Kyle has graduated from BYU.  We're especially excited for Uncle Kyle because he has been a frequent dinner guest in our home these past few years.  Our boys have looked forward to those dinners with Uncle Kyle.  He even has a place at the head of the table reserved just for him.  Now that he is graduated and has a real job we won't get to have him around for dinners anymore.

Congratulations Uncle Kyle!  We're proud of your accomplishment and wish you the best as you move forward with life.  And we'll miss having you around as our frequent dinner guest.

Chores

Donovan is getting better at doing chores.  Now, instead of just washing the window from the inside, he wants to wash the windows on the outside.  This just happens to be a classic picture of Donovan washing the window in his swimsuit.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to catch the little dance that went with the window washing.  He was standing on the window ledge doing his little jig.  If he does it again I'll have my camera ready.

Baby Boy Jones is Here!

We're excited to announce the arrival of Baby Boy Jones!  We don't have a name yet but he is 7 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches long.  Mom and baby are doing fine.  Michelle had another quick delivery with only 3 hours of labor, almost like clockwork.

Baby had some stuff in his lungs and the respiratory therapist was called in to help clear the lungs.  It took some rubbing, thumping and sucking to get him clear but now he's doing great.

Michelle finally gets her chance to hold her precious little bundle of joy.  We were hoping that upon seeing this little cherub and name would become readily obvious; it hasn't happened yet.

Baby Boy Jones' first bath.  Getting him all clean and presentable.

My turn with my new son.

The boys get to meet their new brother.  They are very excited to finally be able to see this little boy.  Amelia and Eleanor were helping to watch the boys while we were at the hospital.  It only seemed fitting that they should come to the hospital with the boys.

David and baby.

Donovan and baby.

Michael and baby.

Aleky and baby.

Quinten and baby (with help from Mommy).

Eleanor and baby.

Here is our first complete family picture.

All the Jones boys.

There was a photographer taking professional pictures of the new babies.  The pictures should be posted online for a few weeks.  The boys thought is was amazing work, watching the photographer work her magic.

We were concerned that Quinten would be upset and losing his "baby" status to this new arrival but so far he seem to be taking the news very well.  So far he is taking very good care of his baby brother and being quite protective of him; we'll see what happens when we get home.

We're excited to have our sixth son and hope to have his name very soon.

(finally posted 9/7/11)

Reading Before Bedtime

We are trying to be better about reading to our boys.  Some days get away from us before we know it.  But not today!  With such beautiful weather, instead of reading inside we moved out to the picnic table.  We even read a couple of extra articles from the Friend because everything was going so well.

Good night boys...sweet dreams!

(finally posted 9/6/11)

Foam Swords

David came home from Cub Scout Day Camp with a cool foam noodle sword. Michelle liked the idea so much that she create a whole set of swords for the family. This is a video of their first use.



(video)

(Posted 1/23/12)

What a Productive Day

Yesterday started off pretty normal as I headed off to work at 6:30 am. In fact, the day was going pretty normal until Michelle sent me a text message telling my that Grandma and Grandpa Petersen were coming down to help us with work around the house. I had just signed up to work a double when I received this text message so I quickly called back and removed my self from the work schedule. That's when the day went into overdrive.

Michelle had already been busy chopping down the sucker branches and cleaning up the lilac bushes in the back yard. I went up on the roof and fixed the swamp cooler pads so that it wouldn't leak into our house. Next was work on the new bicycles we found at the DI. I still need a tire for Michael's bike but we'll try to find one off another bike at DI.

Michelle was prepared with a list of tasks and jobs for us to accomplish during this work spree. After fixing the bikes I checked the list for the next job. The Petersens arrived and went straight to work. Grandma Petersen started with (finishing) painting the kitchen while Grandpa Petersen started on the vehicle maintenance. We replaced the gas filter on the suburban and the oil filter and a windshield wiper blade on the Geo. Next we did a quick adjustment on the lawnmower, planned a small electrical upgrade for the basement and evaluated needs for several other projects. Of course we had to make the obligatory trip to the store to get needed parts for the afore mentioned tasks. Michelle keep the family running while Grandma finished the painting in the kitchen. We had a dinner break for spaghetti, green beans and orange jello.

Grandma and Grandpa Petersen had to head back home before it got too late but we were able to take advantage of the extra help to get a lot of small tasks completed. After they left I was still able to get in a small exercise session. After a quick shower we were able to go to bed feeling very good about the tasks we were able to accomplish yesterday.

Grandma and Grandpa Petersen, thank you so much for your help!

Fun Summer Day

This has been quite the day!

This morning I didn't have to go to work so I was able to be home for our morning scripture reading and family prayer. I love being able to participate with the boys as they read from the Book of Mormon. It brings such a wonderful spirit into our home and things just go much better.

After scriptures and family prayer Michelle prepared a hot breakfast of oatmeal cereal. Then the boys finished their morning ADLs and David and Donovan get ready for school. We picked up Braxton and Brinley and I took them all to summer school for the morning.

The rest of the family ran some errands and did some shopping at the DI. First we dropped of some unneeded items and then swung around to see if we could spot any deals. We were lucky today because we found a small bicycle that appears to be just the right size for Aleky (who has been extremely jealous since we found a bicycle for Michael just a few days ago).

We raced home and managed to meet David and Donovan just coming home from summer school and we were able to go in and have some lunch. I decided that the day might get a little carried away so I took the opportunity to get a little exercise in before I ate my sandwich (that makes two days this week that I have exercised; up from 0 times in the previous few months!). Before i could make it downstairs to exercise the boys all began pleading with me to take them to 7-peaks water park. You can't really blame them since the temperature is rising and we haven't made it once this year. So I told them that if they got their chores done I would take them to the water park.

When I finally came up to eat lunch the boys were busily engaged in chores around the house. David mowed the front and backyard lawns; Donovan cleaned the kitchen sinks and washed windows; Michael was cleaning door knobs and spreading mowed grass in the garden; Aleky was helping spread grass too; and all the boys had helped collect and sort the laundry. The boys had also written in their gratitude journals. I didn't have any more excuses...it was time to take them to the water park.

We got our swimsuits on and started with the sunscreen. I was a little apprehensive about taking the boys since Michelle didn't want to go with us (due to the increasingly uncomfortable feeling of being 9 months pregnant). But taking 4 active little boys to a crowed water park was still a little unsettling. Fortunately I got back-up. Amelia and Eleanor were able to join us and Aleky just had to wait for them to show up to take him; I took the three older boys and I left Quinten home asleep.

The boys had a blast and the lines were far too long for them to adequately enjoy all of the attractions. David was fearless, Donovan followed and Michael tried to back out. We worked on the buddy system so the boys had to stick together but it stretched their mental acuity to the limits! We rode a half dozen slides and then hit the lazy river.

Things were going pretty good. Donovan could bob up and down in the river most of the way. There are a few drop-offs that caught him by surprise the first time around and he discovered at least 3 or 4 ways to prevent drowning in such circumstances. David was trying to race Donovan around the river. Michael was holding on to me for dear life.

As Michael and I floated around the lazy river, dodging tubes and swimmers, we came upon David sitting on the side of the river crying. He was holding his bloody foot. Somehow he had managed to slice his foot open while running in the river and was sitting on the side of the river in pain and agony.

I wasn't quite sure how to proceed. I couldn't leave Michael in the river, Donovan had already floated away and was long gone, and there was no life guard in sight to get a band-aid of even directions to the first aid station. So Michael held on to my neck as I carried David out of the water and in the general direction of help (once out of the water Michael had to walk). Fortunately a couple of the park guests could see our predicament and pointed us in the right direction.

It was at the first aid station that Amelia, Eleanor and Aleky caught up to us. Since I was still missing Donovan I sent Amelia on a search and recover mission while I kept the rest of the little ones. The EMT/First Aid guy bandaged David's foot and we gave them a quick report of what had happened. That was it, no glory or glamour. Just a large purple wrapped bandage on his foot.

Amelia found Donovan clinging to the side trying to get out at the next exit to the lazy river. I sent Michael with Eleanor and Aleky to the kiddy pool where he would be happier. David and Donovan were not done playing so they went back to the lazy river for more racing fun. Eventually we got all of the boys in the kiddy pool were we could keep an eye on them and we stayed at the park for a couple of hours.

Of course the boys were disappointed when it was time to go. When we got home we discovered that Michelle had arranged a dinner party (cook out/BBQ)! I had to run to the store to get a few missing ingredients and then chop the wood to get the fire started. We were eating with the Anderson because Richard didn't have to go to work (had the night off) and we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to visit with them.

The boys loved the fire (as always) and burned just about everything they could get to the fire pit. We had hamburgers and hot dogs, potato chips, fruit salad, bean salad, fruit juice and roasted marshmallows for dessert. We had to slowly extract the boys from the fun so they could bathe and clean themselves from the day, but it was a process that didn't even start until about 8:30 pm. Needless to say, the boys were finally in bed by 9:30 pm and went right to sleep.

Once the boys were in bed and the Andersons had gone home we quickly cleaned up the kitchen and headed to the shower so we could clean up from the day. After our showers we watched our Netflix DVD on the TV series Quantum Leap (Netflix didn't stream the first few episodes so we requested the DVD).

I had an absolutely wonderful day with my family. The funny part about this day was that virtually none of it was actually planned; it just kind of happened. Some of our best planned days haven't worked out quite so well but today worked out great. I spent time with my family, had a blast, got some work done around the house and even found a great treasure at the DI. It's almost a shame that I have to go back to work because I could get used to doing something like this every day.

Pack Meeting at Bridal Veil Falls

We had David's pack meeting tonight and the pack decided to have their pack meeting up near Bridal Veil Falls.  We almost forgot about cub scout but managed to make it just in time to going the pack and their families as they started hiking up to the falls.  My boys head out at the head of the pack.  Michelle and I play catch-up with the babies.

We arrive to discover the boys already having a blast in the pool at the bottom of the falls.  Donovan and Michael have taken off their shoes and are walking across the log bridge to get to the other side and to get closer to the falls.  David is already half way up the falls with some of his friends.

We figured that this was the quickest way to transport Quinten and the best way to make sure he didn't wander off without our knowledge. He was okay with the ride up and back but didn't like being confined with so much fun right at hand.

Donovan and Michael try to follow David up the falls but they hit the first big climb/drop and decide it best to turn back to more familiar territory.

David forges ahead and ends up at the mid-point of the falls and the top of the walking trail.  Obviously too far away from vocal interventions, David enjoys the freedom of throwing rocks down the falls!  (I thought we had taught him better.)

David finally makes it back down from the falls (barefoot).  We make it back to the ceremony part of the pack meeting late because we had to wait for David to descend.  That worked out okay; David didn't have any awards at this pack meeting.

Our family enjoyed the outing to Bridal Veil Falls.  All our boys returned safely and no one was injured by falling/thrown rocks.  All's well that ends well.

(Finally posted 9/6/11)

New Chores

We changed up our chore requirements a little to encourage our boys to want to help more around the house.  In order for the boys to play the Wii or any computer games they have to do 3 chores, write in their gratitude journal, and read for at least 10 minutes.  However, we also made a change that the boys had to do minimum level of work (based on their age; each kid must earn their age in chore money).

David, wanting to minimize the amount of work involved, has an entrepreneurial spirit and found a new chore that pays more than the others.  He can water all of the flowers in the front yard for $0.10.  Not only that but he's allowed in the front yard (without a chaperon)!  He thinks that's pretty cool.  He's been very diligent in keeping up with his new chore.

(Finally posted 9/6/11)

Cleaning the House is Fun to Do

The house was a disaster! There were dirty dishes piled in the sink, laundry strewn about the house, toys scattered to the four winds, etc. Not only that but with kids running through the house to use the bathroom after playing in the swimming pool, wood chips, grass and dirt the house was beginning to look just a little messy and it was beginning to wear on Michelle. The rest of us boys were taking things in stride; probably not the best sign.

Anyway, since I had stolen an entire afternoon from Michelle with her ultrasound and birthday date I felt like I should help repair the damage that time had inflicted on us. So I didn't work the extra shift that we had planned and we put the entire family to work. I did the dishes while Michelle sorted laundry. The boys had to pick up the toys in their room, front room, toy room and back yard. Then we converged on the kitchen and the boys got their first lesson in hand scrubbing the floor clean.

The boys thought this was the best part of the clean-up process. With the wet soapy water the floor turned into a skating rink. All it took was a little momentum and they could almost slide across the floor. We're working on getting them to wring out the rags before trying scrub the dirt from the floor. But they had a blast and the floor is clean at last!