Family Reunion in Beaver

First off I would just like to say...Who knew that Beaver Utah was such a hot bed of disease and infectious sickness? More of that later.

We had a Jones Family reunion in Beaver the week of the 4th of July. We played games, the men went shooting, the ladies made jewelry, it was an all around good time. There is something to be said about being around family. I think it is the genes. Everyone understands you and you can pass off your quirkiness as being hereditary. And lets face it...if you have snot hanging out your nose someone is going to point it out. Not only that but they most likely will make fun of you for it.

These are just the grand kids and not all of them at that.

Our cheap attempt at taking a picture of our children together. Laney is kinda smiling, Gavin looks like we are torturing him to smile and Canon looks like he just smelt something stinky. And this was the best one we got...you could imagine the worst. Rest assured there was crying involved by one or all children.They have in Beaver what is called Butch Cassidy Days. Cotton candy was about the extent of the fun. We stopped on the way home at Cove Fort. This is Maleah (my sisters little girl) and Laney. It was interesting to go and see the fort but I have to say that my favorite part was when one of the Senior missionaries called my sister to repentance. Only in Utah. We also got to go up horse back riding. Now don't act too surprised because I know that I look like a natural but this is my first time riding a horse. On the ride home the kids were full of joy. And really there is only one thing that will do that for them. Beauty and the Beast.

Boiled Hot Dogs

We are up and running again. Go and check it out and make some good grub for your family.

This week I am making food that has just a few ingredients so it should keep your grocery budget down.

Miss Me Much?

Well it has been a little over a week living here in Utah and to say that it has been smooth sailing would be a lie. It has been...well....hard. It has been hard on everyone. For the most part the kids have been good. With the exception of Gavin throwing more tantrums and Laney wetting her pants. It seems like all of the sudden we had a little puppy that would wet everywhere and we would have to clean it up. Lovely. We have moved in to a smaller place then where we lived before. Not that I am not grateful, because I am, it is just a lot smaller than our house. So with moving into a smaller place there has been some challenges. Like where to put our food storage, that I am pretty sure took up half of our moving boxes. There also has been boxes everywhere. Nothing is organized and well it was starting to make me a bit batty. For anyone that knows me well I am a self pronounced annal retentive person. Clutter and me are not friends.

As we were trying to organize our bedroom to make it more livable we had a casualty.

Sad. Blake is insistent that he can fix it. Pipe dreams I say. But he is insistent that he is going to try. I just hope that after he fixes it that one night while we are sleeping it doesn't fall apart and have us crashing to the floor.

Yesterday was our first day at our new ward. It is at 9 a.m. Not a bad time but it did mean I had to wake up extra early to get ready. As I was getting ready I realized that I had to go out to the car to get something. And to my delight our yellow car was sitting there with boots on. No...no fashion statements for the Squareback. The town homes where we live had put a boot on our car. Nothing says lets go and have a uplifting spiritual experience and meet new friends like a big orange sticker on your window and a boot on your car. Eighty dollars latter and a little more rule savvy we walked away the wiser and little more bitter. Grand.

I think I am starting to get sick...we don't have insurance. My tonsil is swollen and starting to get white. No fever. So I don't think it is strep. Fingers crossed.

I am off to make lemonade. Figuratively not literally.

What I Have Been Singing While Packing

You know I have been dancing down the stairs.

Now all I need is a red dress with some rocking bloomers.

We Are Out Of Here

It is official people. We are on the move. Good bye Las Vegas. You have been good to us...mostly. Blake got a new job in Taylorsville Utah so the Ungurens are leaving "Sin City" and are pioneering to "Zion." There are many things about Vegas that I will not miss.

I will not miss that down on the Strip that (as a friend put it) "illegals try to hand you nudey cards."

I also will not miss....

Cigarette smoke. Everywhere. I also will not miss the super red angry face that Blake gets every time he sees someone throw a cigarette butt out their window.Taxi cabs. Not because I mind Taxi's but because the billboard that they have on them. I will especially not miss the sign with the seven or so naked butts on it. Angry people. Blake and I are convinced that the "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" mentality breads unhappy people. The heat. Ooh the heat. It gets hot and that is no fun. Sometimes it feels like you are going to melt like the wicked witch of the west. No deodorant is strong enough to with stand the punishment of a hundred degree weather.But I will miss many things too. Like...

Blue sky. Every morning. It rarely rains. It never snows. And when it is cloudy it normally only lasts about a day or two. It is a lovely things to wake up to sunny skies every morning.Shopping in Vegas rocks. They have a gazillion different places that you can go. Outlet malls, indoor malls, outdoor malls, malls in Casinos...

I will miss the Bellagio atrium.

I will miss Christmas time and visiting the cactus garden.

I will miss our house. I have loved our home and am sad to leave it. (Anyone need a place to rent?)

I will miss our family and our friends here. A lot.

We have had two of our babies here. And even though most people think that Vegas is a strange place to live I have loved it. It has been...well...home.

No Steroids Needed

I know that they say that trials make you stronger. I am thinking that I am going to be pretty buff one day.

I Like These

I happen to like shoes a lot. I mostly like dress shoes. I have a lot of high heels and not very many everyday shoes. My shoes make me happy. Especially if they are bright or high or if they have something unusual about them.

(I like my shoes like I like my friends...minus the high part. (it is kinda sad when you get a good chuckle out of your own joke.))

Seriously how cute is that? With the little ants crawling up the side. Strange but cute.

These little white lovelies I will just have to swoon over a little longer. They are out of my price range but cute none the less.

He Might Whistle When He Talks

Check out those chompers. Braces are inevitable.

As If I Needed More Reasons To Love Him

The other night I was crabby. Really crabby. I had no delusions about my crabbiness. I accepted it and fessed up to it. Man, I was crabby.

So...as we are laying in bed ready to go to sleep Blake is trying to cheer me up. But really all it was doing was bothering me. I told him that it was bothering me so he stopped. Then in the normal every night fashion he leaned over to give me a kiss goodnight and said "Do you want a Lucky Charms chapstick kiss?" I kissed him and then he said "They're magically delicious."

It is hard to be "angry on the inside" when you have second hand Lucky Charms chapstick kiss.

She Got Her Style From Her Mama

Check me out.

I am bottom row third from the right. You know that I was rocking those socks and jelly shoes.

This Is Different...Even For Laney

Look how she can multi task.

Being able to see underwater and pick her nose.

Impressive.

Preschool Graduation

Gavin had his preschool graduation about a week ago.

(I know I am behind. I blame it on the strep throat, ruptured ear drum, and flu all in the space of a week.)

All the kids were so cute in their little graduation hats. These are all the kids in Gavins class.

From the top left: Jantzen, Gavin, Bailey, McClayn and Emma Lynn.

Since it was a co-opt when ever it was at our house Laney was sure that she was part of preschool. Julie was nice enough to include her in the graduation part by making her a little goody bag to take home too.

Smile At The Camera

We ALL have the flu. Seriously?! Where is Ashton Kutcher? I feel like I am being Punk'd.

They Tried To Make Me Go To Rehab. I Said "No, No, No."

Canon has got an obsession with his mom. I am not kidding. I am like his own personal heroine and he can't seem to get enough. Don't get me wrong...I love that he loves me but this is getting to be a little much. He follows me around the house crying if I don't pick him up. If someone else is holding him and he spots me, forget about it. There will be some whining and squirming to get to me. We got to break this habit so that I can get something done.Not the most flattering picture of me but this is just showing you what he does when I do pick him up. How could you deny him? That is pure adoration.

Three Wolf Moon

On Amazon they have this shirt and these are the actual reviews for the shirt.

• Dual Function Design

This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to 'howl at the moon' from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn't have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a wolf-shirt shouldn't settle for the first thing that comes to him. I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my wolves would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the wolves on my shirt, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you wolf shirt.
Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women

Cons: Only 3 wolves (could probably use a few more on the 'guns'), cannot see wolves when sitting with arms crossed, wolves would have been better if they glowed in the dark.

• Great compliment for my skin art

Unfortunately I already had this exact picture tattooed on my chest, but this shirt is very useful in colder weather.

• Why can't Amazon have more stars? 5 ain't enough!

So I'm looking for threads that say, "Hey baby...I'm real boss!" when I stumble upon this epic creation. The wolves spoke to me in a language all their own; it was like German, Mongol, and Bitchin all mixed together. I mean, one wolf howlin at the moon is major...but three??? I ordered next-day air (if only there was same day!), and, of course, a size smaller than usual to ensure the closeness of the wolves to my chest hair. When the package arrived, I tore it open, and I SWEAR angels sang. I think it was Freebird. I immediately removed my "No Fat Chicks" shirt, and replaced it with this finery. Lemme tell you: AW YEAH. I'll spare the details of my conquests since I started wearing this shirt; suffice to say, I'm swimming in a sea of babes the likes of which are usually found on those K-Tel infomercials. I'm also more confident at work, and expect to be promoted to cashier soon. I owe everything to this shirt (I should say "shirts", since I now own 23 of them).

Let's Start At The Very Begining. A Very Good Place To Start.

The same day that we had our garage sale we went to Bella's birthday party. She had a "scare-a-cell" party. It was a lovely day and we all had lots of fun.Canon started to cry if you even got remotely close to him while he was eating his pizza crust. I think being the third child is starting to show. I think he just assumes that someone is going to take something from him. Sad thing is he is probably right.
It's not my party but I will cry if I want too.

I'm too little to ride on that? Say What?!

I can eat all the grass I want...Righteous.

This could take all day.

I was a little leery that Gavin and Laney wouldn't even go near the "scare-a-cell" but I was wrong. They rode it numerous times. I did have to jump on once when it was going because Laney was on all by herself crying. We try to keep the traumatizing to a minimum at our house.

Update

Went to doctor this morning. Have strep throat. Yuck. Will be back soon.