More Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas with my family January 3rd. My parents and LiLi came to our house for the weekend. Friday we spent the afternoon watching Texas Tech loose in the Cotton Bowl! (What a bummer!!) There is always next year right?!?

None the less, we were all decked out Tech style! Get your Guns Up!


Ian and London love the new picnic table from Grammy and Pop! We can't wait to use it more when it warms up outside! Thanks! :)

Saturday, Ian and London played Santa and helped pass out the Christmas presents!







London enjoys pulling her new suitcase and carrying her new bag from Grammy & Pop.


LiLi will be so hip sporting her new Uggs!


The Hotwheels suitcase and transforming car launcher was a total HIT!!! Ian has become quite the poser for the camera!



Saturday afternoon it was 89Degrees outside! Yes, folks you heard me 89 on a winter day in January! What crazy weather!! However, we sure took advantage of the sunshine and spent most of the afternoon outside playing! Here are a few photos of the kids enjoying the outdoors!



The next photo is my favorite of London in her hand-me-down bubble car!
Check out her hair! :)


Happy Hump Day to everyone!
Love,Mel

Our Christmas!

Christmas this year was spent in Aledo with just us...Mommy, Daddy, Ian and London! It was very nice. I worked the night of Christmas Eve. Ian slept with Justin through the night in anticipation of hearing The Reindeer on the roof top. Ian and I made cookies during the day and left them by the fireplace for Santa. Ian awoke Christmas morning around 6:45am and was sooooo excited to see if Santa "really" came and ate the cookies.

NOT SOOOOO FAST!!!

Justin had strict instructions from me to NOT let Ian and London see their presents until I returned home from work. I of course wanted to see their sweet faces and share in the excitement of "Christmas Morning". So there Ian was, kept in our room watching TV, mad, and not understanding why he could not see his presents. Terrible mommy, I know! Poor baby! Well, I arrived home around 7:45am and greeted Ian in our room. He was so excited to see me...of course he was...Now he got his presents!

I must say, he was the cutest thing ever! Ian totally "gets" the whole Christmas and Santa Clause thing. There he stood mesmerized by his gifts from Santa and all he could say was "Oh, My, Gosh!" We had really been talking to Ian about Christmas and the real meaning behind it and the birth of baby Jesus. We also talked a lot about being "thankful" for everything we receive and everything we have.

{Side Note} At one point about a year ago, I guess for his birthday, Ian had said something about not being satisfied with a gift he received from someone. It was not what he wanted. Well, I was appalled. From then on, I decided that this was something that needed to be addressed. We really try and stress to Ian the fact that we need to be thankful for everything we receive regardless of what it is. We consistently talk about how there are some people that are less fortunate and do not receive any gifts and how we need to be thankful for everything we have.

Back to Christmas morning...Once Ian had a glimpse of everything from Santa, he stopped what he was doing and said "Mommy, we need to say Happy Birthday to Jesus and be thankful for all this stuff"...I guess they do listen. :)













We opened our stockings then Justin and Ian passed out presents and we opened gifts from each other. After a couple of hours, I went to sleep and Justin played with the kids. I was also scheduled to work the night of Christmas day, so Justin spent all morning preparing our Christmas dinner. We had ham, broccoli casserole, home made {to-die-for} macaroni & cheese, okra and biscuits. It was so nice and just perfect. I then received a phone call from work giving me option to stay home. We had too many nurses scheduled that night. Of course accepted the offer and continued to play with Ian and London and all their gifts. It was a pretty perfect Christmas for us Jones family!!

A Special Treat...

On December 23rd, Mrs. Clause found time in her busy, busy schedule to come see all the kids at Ms. Mailea Stewart's school. (She is Ian's previous teacher in Keller, and mother to Ian's best girl friend Julia) We were lucky enough to be invited!

The children all gathered around the Christmas tree complete with a fire roaring from the living room and listened intently to Mrs. Clause. She read several Christmas books and ended with the story of Baby Jesus.







As you can see, London was not too thrilled with the idea of a photo with Mrs. Clause. Ian tried to make her happy, but the only way she was getting anywhere close to her was in her mommy's arms. :)




We stayed for lunch and most of the afternoon. It was sooo Great to catch up with Mailea. We miss her dearly!!!! Ian and Julia had a blast playing together with Cooper while London laid down for a nap. By the way...she is expecting her third baby!!! Yea for her and her family!

Hanging with LiLi

So, this past weekend Justin went hunting with my dad in Plainvew for pheasant. Ian has been with my mom and dad for the week. I stayed home with London and the dogs. I did have to work Friday night, so my sweet sister stayed with London at our house.
It was perfect...she totally took care of her Friday night and Saturday while I slept.

After sleeping on Saturday morning, I gathered up our stuff and the dogs and headed to the Mound for a slumber party at LiLi's. We had a blast! Brian came over and hung Christmas lights on Lin's house. Bridget and Jim came over for pizza and the Big 12 Championship. We put London to bed and all played Cranium, boys against girls! Bet you know who won?!...the GIRLS of course.

Thanksgiving Trip Update

Ok, so I am just now getting around to updating regarding Thanksgiving. None the less, we had a great time in Plainview! We arrived at my parents house Tuesday before Thanksgiving and stayed until Sunday. Ian stayed with Grammy for the week and Justin collected him the next week while he did some pheasant hunting with my dad. One entire week without Ian. While Mommy, Daddy, and London had some good quality time together, we missed Ian terribly. He had a fabulous time going to the movies, playing outside and delivering Meals on Wheels with Grammy and Mur.

Back to Thanksgiving...my mom cooked a fabulous meal for all of us including Mur, Grandad Doug and my Aunt Nancy. Justin and Dad fried the turkey! By the way, my grandad is home and doing better everyday! Yea!!!!!

Justin did some duck and deer hunting while we were home...and did I mention he caught my car on fire???
Oh sure! He had collected some tumbleweeds under the car that he did not see. While he was driving down the highway, the car lost power then began billowing smoke from under the hood. He had to call the Fire Department of po-dunk Floydada to come put our car out...ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD! There was 4 DPS troopers and a fire truck assisting Justin and my poor car! Can't you just see it now? What a fiasco!! He had to be towed back to Plainview and our car is still being repaired. Hopefully it will be returned to us later this week. I am just now to the point where I can sorta smile/chuckle about the ordeal. Thank goodness for insurance!

All that to say, yes we had a great time and yes, we are so thankful for so many things!



Our neighbor, Dr. David Wright took me, Ian, and LiLi up in his plane for a tour of Plainview aerial style.




Mom & Dad have acquired their #2 bike..."Geezer" is this Harley's name. They have stepped it up a notch & are riding in class now. Their helmets even have radios in which they can talk back a forth to each other! Notice the size of mom's seat, she can ride for miles and miles on that puppy!
What a name..."GEEZER"



Despite the runny nose, cough and goopey eyes, London did manage a few smiles while crawling in Roxy's bed.