CL&KDJones

2011-12-08T16:05:00.000-08:00

standing L to R: Chad, Ashley, Leah, Brek, Rob, Camille, Nolan holding Tenley, Vanessa, Natalie, Weston, Elise
sitting in chairs: Craig, grandma Jones, grandpa Jones, Kelli holding Brynlyn, Bethany
sitting on the ground: Scott, Rachelle, Zach holding Sydney, Heather holding Sawyer, Mallory holding a doll, Jessica, Justin holding Camryn

Craig & Kelli’s Christmas Newsletter 2011

Hello! It’s Happy Holiday Time again! We hope you are all enjoying the 2011 Christmas season with your families. Here is a very short update on all of our kids and family happenings the past year:
Kelsey Family: Zach, Heather, Sydney, Mallory and Sawyer. Our only grandson, Sawyer, turned 1 in September! He is growing up to be a handsome young guy to match his 2 gorgeous sisters! The Kelsey’s live in Twin Falls, Idaho where they work(Bank-Zach, hospital-Heather), play and go to school! Sydney is in 2nd grade and Mallory is in Kinder.
Chad & Ashley Jones Family added a beautiful new baby daughter to their family in November of this year! Her name is Presley Kay and she is a joy—she gets lots of baby kisses from all of the rest of us! She is our 7th granddaughter! The Joneses live, work at Verizon (Chad) and at the Gila Valley Hospital(Ashley) and play with baby Presley in Thatcher, AZ.
Pollard Family: Jessica, Justin, Brynlyn and Camryn. Camryn turns 1 on Dec. 14th! She and Bryn keep mom and dad busy with learning to walk (Cam) and broken elbows(Bryn)! Justin works for San Tan Collision as an estimator and Jessica works at home! The Pollards moved from San Tan Valley back to civilization in good ol’ Mesa, AZ.
Hurd Family: Rachelle, Scott, Tenley and Elliotte. The Hurd’s moved from Twin Falls to Salt Lake City, Utah this past summer for Scott’s job selling real estate. They and the Kelsey’s miss each other as they used to live a mile apart. Their 2 darling daughters keep Rachelle running at home along with her 2 or 3 home businesses she has!
Bethany lives with us in St. David but works 2 jobs in Sierra Vista. She works at Fort Huachuca in their hair salon and at Hastings, which is a music,video, book store. She hardly has time to do anything else, so she must enjoy what she does! We are working on the words “boyfriend & marriage” with her but she claims she is too busy!
Haymores: Leah and Brek. Leah keeps busy being a P.E. Teacher, Middle and High School volleyball, softball and basketball Coach and Middle School Athletic Director for St. David schools and Brek keeps busy, but safe, working for the US Border Patrol—he helps keep us safe too! They live in Sierra Vista, AZ, but are rarely there!
Hatch’s: Vanessa and Nolan moved from Tucson to Sierra Vista for a better job for Nolan at Dish Network. Vanessa is taking a break as a massage therapist and working at a bank until their firstborn child arrives in early May!! We are so excited even though we unofficially know it has to be a girl as the Jones family rule is “you must have 2 girls before you can have a boy”!! They will find out for sure on Dec. 22.
Bryants: Camille and Rob live, work and go to pharmacy school in Glendale, AZ. Camille works at a optometry office while Rob attends pharmacy school—he recently got his “white lab coat” promotion! Yea Rob! They live close to where the Phoenix LDS Temple is being built!
Elise is living and working in Thatcher and going to Eastern Arizona College. She will finish up her associates degree this spring and hopes to go on a mission for our church—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She works at Home Depot in the wee early morning hours before her classes start! From her facebook page, we can tell she is having a great time at college!
Natalie is a senior in high school living with us in St. David. She is student body president as well as active in more clubs besides taking 3 online college classes and filling out scholarship applications! She won a trip to Washington D.C last summer and really enjoyed that trip. The St. David girls softball team came in 2nd in state last year in 1A with Natalie as starting pitcher—WootWoot!
Weston is a sophomore in high school and lives at home with us in St. David. He is playing varsity basketball this year with his sister Leah as his assistant coach! Weston loves all things electronic, but occasionally takes time to ride his skateboards and play his guitar. He thinks our 2 bigger dogs exist to pull him down the street on his skateboard! He calls them his “mush dogs”!
Kelli is still the special education preschool teacher in her 9th year at St. David school. She is glad the job is only ½ time because working with 3 to 5 year olds tires her out! She enjoys genealogy and family history on the side as well as taking care of the 3 family dogs (all females!! Noelle, Cocoa and Daisy). She loves going shopping for the 7 granddaughters and 1 grandson!
Craig continues to work at Open Text in Tucson AND be bishop of the St. David ward. He is rarely at home and when he is, he is working on one of his many “projects”(self-imposed—not honey-do!) Currently he is putting together a playhouse, a jungle gym and a basketball court for all of our grandkids when they come down on Christmas eve! Let’s hope he finishes it in time!
The family picture above is one that was taken at Grandma Jones 80th birthday party this summer at G & G Jones home in Canoga Park, Ca. It is current except for little Presley Kay, so we are also attaching her picture with her mommy and daddy. We are so grateful for all our blessings this past year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ this Christmas. We are thankful for our Savior’s birth, life, and atonement that He made on our behalf so that we could live with Him again.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Chad, Ashley and Presley Jones

Hello to a new granddaughter and Goodbye to an old car!

2011-01-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

The most exciting news of the past couple of months has been the birth of Miss Camryn Brooke Pollard! Born to Jessica and Justin Pollard on December 14, 2010 weighing in at 6 lbs. 15 oz. She is a darling baby and her older sister Brynlyn adores her! Here is a picture of both of them about a week after Camryn was born.

The other good news, but not near as exciting as a new baby is that Craig FINALLY sold the MR2!!! It took several months on Craigslist (pun not intended!) but he finally found a buyer! As part of the selling deal, Craig got an old 1996 Ford 150 as part of the payment! We don't have a picture of it, but we do have one of the sale of the MR2 and the buyer!

Here are some other fun pictures of Brynlyn when she and Jessica were down visiting in November:

Jumping on the Trampoline

and climbing on the bunkbed!!! What a Monkey!!

We Have A Wonderful Family!!!

Happy Holidays 2010

2010-12-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays 2010

Here we are at another year's end about to write another Holiday newsletter! Wow! That went by fast! The biggest family news of this year is 1st--the marriage of our #6 daughter Vanessa to Mr. Nolan Hatch, 2nd--the birth of our #1 grandSON Sawyer Robert to Heather and Zach Kelsey and 3rd--the impending birth of our #6 granddaughter Camryn Brooke to Jessica and Justin Pollard. What could be more fun than adding family members to your posterity?!! We have 7 of our 11 children married with 4 to go. We have 6 beautiful and sweet grandchildren with one on arrival any day now. As you can see from this family picture taken at the Provo, UT temple in October that our family is down to 2 kids at home. Actually, Bethany moved back home as of Dec. 1st due to the tough economy and the need to get back on her feet. We don't mind because she keeps us from looking too "frumpy" with her beautician skills although she claims to only be a beautician, NOT a magician! (Sassy girl!) You will be able to read about all our other children through their blogs (hopefully) so we will only update you on the 2 in the picture and us (the parents!). Natalie is a junior in high school and smart as a whip. She studied her brains out to win an all expense paid trip to Washington DC set for June 2011! Awesome!!She enjoys reading and flirting with the boys in her high school classes! Weston is a high school freshman who grew 7 inches this past summer and is now almost 6 feet tall. One more inch or so and he'll be taller than his dad and brother! He can play basketball more easily now if only his legs would quit aching due to shin splints or knee problems from growing so fast! He has also taken up skateboarding and can do several cool tricks with coordination and balance! Kelli continues to work at the school teaching preschool. With 33 students split into 2 classes, she only works "part-time" (ha, ha, ha). In her spare time she works with the kids in our ward and also enjoys knitting (yep--she's old!), crafting and organizing. Craig is in his 8th year at Open Text killing computer bugs and in his 4th year as bishop of our ward. This time of year is very busy for him, so guess who is writing this?!!! He doesn't have any spare time, but when he thinks he does, he likes to work on old junker cars that should be painted yellow!!

We are thankful for our friends and family. We are especially grateful for our Savior who came to this earth to show us how to love as we celebrate this Christmas season. We Love You!!

A Fall Trip to Utah and Idaho

2010-10-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

The 4 of us(Craig, Kelli, Natalie & Weston) decided to travel (by car) to Twin Falls via Queen Creek, Cedar City,Provo, Salt Lake City & Bountiful to visit the Kelsey and Hurd families. We left Friday 10/8 in the afternoon and visited with the Pollard family in Queen Creek. We had fun teaching Bryn the phrase "Who ya gonna call?. . .Ghostbusters!!" Saturday we drove as far as Cedar City, Utah and spent the night. Sunday took us to Provo where we walked around the BYU Campus and drove through all Craig and Kelli's old haunts when they were students there anciently! We then went up to Bountiful where we stayed with Uncle Tom & Aunt Jan Jones and enjoyed their company and lots of fun Halloween decorations! Monday we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City and played "tourist"!! Here we are at the top of the Conference Center looking down at the temple and grounds. The 2nd picture is us in front of the huge skylights on the top indoor floor of the CC. They were beautiful!

Tuesday morning we drove up to Twin Falls just in time for Mallory's 4th Birthday party! We got acquainted with all 5 of our grandchildren who live there and got to meet our newest grandson, Sawyer. Tuesday through Friday were spent playing with grandkids, eating Heather and Rachelle's yummy creations, going Bowling and to "Hop to It" and to a corn maze, playing pool on the back porch, playing softball in the backyard, going swimming, and just generally "hangin' out" and enjoying each other's company! Here is Rachelle and Ellie just chillin' One night we made caramel apples! Here is Sydney with her creation! Delicious!

Ellie and Mallory enjoy a swing!
Grandpa naps with Ellie on the giant beanbag!

Ready, Set, . . . . .GO!! Last one through the corn maze is a rotten scarecrow!

"I hear monkeys!!" Mal kept saying!!

On Friday we took a sightseeing trip to the Twin Falls on the Snake River and enjoyed seeing them even though they weren't running very high. Rumor has it that at certain times of the year, the runoff is so high that a person standing where we were in this picture could feel the mist of the waterfalls! Cool!! (Weston just ate a fly!)

Grandpa Jones gets to know his first grandson, Sawyer Robert Kelsey

We all had so much fun! Thanks Kelseys and Hurds for the fun times and great memories!
Saturday we drove as far as Las Vegas, spent the night and then Sunday 10/17, we drove home to St. David where our dogs Cocoa and Noelle were anxiously awaiting our arrival! We fell into our own beds greatful for the experiences we had just had.

Our First GrandSon!!

2010-09-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

We Have A New GrandSon

{The count now is 5 granddaughters (with 1 due in Dec.) and 1 grandson}

Welcome to Sawyer Robert Kelsey!!

born 9-15-10

by C-section because he was breech!

weighing in at 7 lbs.

21 inches long

The New Family

Big Sis Sydney

Big Sis Mallory

Here He Is!!

Isn't he cute! We think he looks like a combination of his two older sisters! We can't wait to meet him in person!

Man Stuff

2010-09-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

OK, take a good look at this photo cause this baby is going to get painted--finally!!! (And yes, it is going to be painted lemon yellow in honor of it's status as a LEMON!)

This month's title is "Man Stuff" because Craig has been working on cars nonstop and has been up to his elbows in grease. So this month's blog is dedicated to him and his passion for mechanic work! This photo shows him BEFORE he started to work on any cars! Notice--no grease!

This is a silly picture of Craig that was taken when he was just a babe. Somehow he got that one finger up to his eyebrow with that surprised look on his face like he is thinking, "oh no, someday this photo will be posted to my blog--I know it!!"

AAAHHH...sweet bliss after a day of mechanic-ing! Gettin a shiatsu backrub on the "daddy chair"!

The long shot---snoozin' after hard workin'

Cocoa is taking a break with him!

Doesn't he look relaxed?!

Thanks for all your hard work, willingness to get greasy and for all the $$ you've saved us over the years!!! We Love Ya!

2010-08-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

A Tribute to Teddy

9-4-96 to 8-12-10

Some of his nicknames were: Teddy Bear, Rascal, The Character, Padfoot, Bear-Bear, & Stinky

He was always the defender--on the lookout for any stranger coming into the house so he could bark and growl and make himself seem larger than he really was!

I love this profile of him--it shows how proud he could be yet sweet at the same time.
This silly puppy loved to mess up throw rugs and then make himself a little bed in the mess!
He was a good, loving companion who gave his kisses freely.
We will miss him greatly.

We Love You Teddy!

Crazy Kids!

2010-07-26T15:57:00.001-07:00

What have we been up to this summer?? Well, here are a few pictures to satisfy your curiosity!

Here is our lil' cowboy cousin posing! Can you guess who he is?

This is one of our crazy family photos taken at Weston's 8th grade graduation and Elise's 12th grade gradution!!

Ok, so one time when Weston was a little bored this summer. . . .

If we've told them once, we've told them twice. . .

NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!!!

(Busted!!!)

Hope you are having a fun summer!

(Oh, and if you are a Jones or Hansen kid reading this--update your blog!!

Some of them are 3 months old!!!)

More Summer!

2010-07-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

Some bittersweet moments from our summertime.

Jess and Beth with their former stepfather Kevin--

a meeting of forgiveness and healing.

Kevin, Kalin & Kelsen reunited.

Kevin, Kelsen, Jessica, Bethany, Kalin, Kelli

we met for a sad event--Kiersten's funeralin Simi Valley, CA

Sometimes Summer is Fun!

Bryn snugglin' in grama's bed with her big teddy bear and a soda--what could be better?!

Actually snugglin' with Grama! That's what could be better!!

GRANDKIDS ROCK!!!

Summer in Southern Arizona!

2010-06-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

A Corny Poem

by Kelli

Summer in Southern Arizona is always hot,

sometimes the clouds come through and then it's not.

We love it when the clouds bring rain,

But then we get muddy streets--what a pain!

I guess the weather never makes us happy,

So why do we live in Arizona? Cause we're all a little daffy!

A Monsoon is A'Brewin'

Grama Higgi gettin' some lovin' from Natty, Leesy and Beth

The Jones family "unposing"

The Jones family "posing"

Can you tell the difference????

Summers are always crazy at our house. Weston just turned 14 and went on a "High Adventure" trip with the teacher's quorum to Roosevelt Lake. He jet skied, water skied, fished and camped for 4 days. Now he thinks he is a pro water sports dude!! (He probably IS better than any of us--but don't tell him that!!) Elise is getting ready to move to Thatcher to start her first year of college! Go Elise!! Natalie is writing a book which she hopes to finish by the end of the summer. Get ready to read! Kelli is catching up on all the things she put off during the school year and poor Craig STILL has to go to work every day. We feel sorry for him but are glad he is willing to do it! June is almost over and that means 1/2 of summer is already gone :-( How does it always go sooo fast??!! Enjoy what's left of yours everybody!!

7 down, 4 to go!!

2010-05-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

Vanessa and Nolan Got Married!

April 29, 2010 @ 4:30 pm.

It was a beautiful wedding and a beautiful day!

Vanessa poses with the 5 grandgirls in their special dresses Aunt Rachelle made!

The Whole Gang on the Mesa, Az Temple steps

A New Family Picture

Seven Down, Four To Go!!!

And as an extra sidelight--there are 2 more grandbabies "in the oven" due to arrive before 2010 is out!!!

#5 Granddaughter Arrives March 29

2010-04-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

Little Elliotte Joy Hurd made her arrival into this world on Monday March 29th! We are so excited to meet her when the Hurd family comes down for Vanessa's wedding at the end of April. Speaking of the wedding, Nolan Hatch will join our family when he and Vanessa are married on April 29th. 2 additions to our family with 1 month--that's awesome!! We are excited to see all of our family as all the Jones and Hansen kids are expected to come for the wondrous occasion! Even Grama and Grampa Jones are flying in from CA!!
We are dilligently trying to fix up our back yard for the reception but the weeds are trying to take over! Maybe the guests won't notice the weeds with all the sparkly lights and pretty wedding decorations! Our next post will include some family reunion & wedding pictures.
Happy April to everyone!

We Have Grass!

2010-02-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

After 2 backbreaking days of hard labor, our backyard finally has grass (no, you can't hide your weed in there!!)! Thursday 2/4 night at 8:30 our sod arrived from the Phoenix valley. We were supposed to get it the week before, but we'd had so much rain that it was too wet to harvest---so we had to wait a week. Craig took off work Friday and Natalie volunteered to skip school so those 2 and Kelli worked on putting the sod down until it was too dark to see anymore. On Saturday, Craig and Kelli finished up the job as all 3 kids had "prior comittments" and couldn't help. It's being watered 3 times a day for a total of 45 minutes and it had BETTER stay GREEN since it is winter grass overplanted on summer grass! WE ARE EXCITED!! The dogs love it too!

It's 2010!!

2010-01-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010!!
The week after Christmas we traveled to So. Cali to visit Grandma and Grandpa Jones in Canoga Park. It was a very fun visit especially for Elise who hadn't seen her G & G or her Cali friends in over 6 months. As usual, Grandma Jones had some delicious homemade chicken noodle soup ready for us when we arrived at their house at about 7 pm on Sat. Dec. 26th! YUMMY!
On Sunday we went to church with G & G and Elise connected with a few of her church friends and Natalie and Weston got to meet them. Later that evening we got to visit with Warren and Lynn, Brad, Lindsay and Sam when they came over to have dinner with us.
Monday we took a drive through Topanga Canyon to the ocean. Elise wanted to take some senior pictures in a natural setting, so we brought the camera. It was wonderful to smell the ocean breezes again. I decided that I need a yearly vacation to the ocean/beach to get rejuvinated! Here are some pictures from the beach.

Elise and the beautiful pacific ocean.

Natalie enjoying the sand and surf!

3 Joneseys lovin' life. Who is the tallest now??!!

Kelli wasn't feeling her best, but she enjoyed being at the beach from the car!

On Tuesday we went to California Adventure and spent a whole day there. The first ride we went on was the whitewater rafting one and we all got wet, but Kelli and Elise got the wettest--yuck! It took us all day to totally dry out! Later that night, Natalie and Kelli even rode the Tower of Terror and lived!! (yes, they thought they were gonna die and were surprised when they didn't!!) Weston, Elise and Craig went on the fast roller coaster that shoots the riders out at 5o mph. They said it was "no big deal"! Weston and Elise rode the Maliboomer and came back with green around the gills but they wouldn't admit it!! All in all we had lots of fun and don't need to go back for another 5 years!

Wednesday found us helping G & G get their Christmas decorations down and put away. While we were doing that, Elise and Natalie went with Elise's friends Raul and Jason to "hang." It was a rainy day but they went to a park and hiked a hill to see the view from the top anyway. Both girls came home with muddy shoes and pants and lots of fun stories to tell!

New Years Eve was spent playing card games with Brad, Vicky, and Sam. Elise and Natty went to a dance in Arcadia with some Young Women friends and had a blast. We all stayed up till midnight and then listened to all the gunshots going off in SoCali! We didn't dare venture outside, but enjoyed the "festivities" from grandma and grandpa's warm, cozy home!

Friday, we drove back t AZ to get ready for the groundbreaking of the new St. David chapel and then work and school--the vacation's over!!

Phall Phun

2009-11-11T14:44:00.000-08:00

PHALL PHUN 2009

OK, I've been promising a picture of Craig and Kelli's Halloween costumes (for which we won Best Adult Costume, I might add) so here it is! We went originally as hippies, but we got named as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin! I'm not sure Janis had dred locks, but that's what Kelli wore! We had a lot of fun at our community "trunk or treat" helping with a game of "ghost bowling" and handing out/eating the treats! Peace Out everyone. See you at Woodstock 2010!

Kelli turns the Big 5 0 !!

See how much fun Kelli is having as she turns 1/2 a century old!!!

Kelli isn't very happy. . .

but she will be after she opens all her presents

(with Bryn's help!)

Whose toes are these?

Here's a hint---they aren't from 1 person!

"Every Orifice Except the Eyes"
Our Budding Genius, Weston
Aren't We Proud of Him!!

Hope you are having a Phun Phall and are enjoying 80 degree temps that we are in Tucson!!!

Our Family Is Growing!

2009-10-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Our Family Is Growing!

We just heard within the past 2 weeks that 2 new grandbabies are "in the oven"!!! The Hurds and the Pollards will add to their families in early April and early June respectively! We know that a few more of our married children are planning to add to their families in 2010 as well, so our family might be growing more than we presently know ! How exciting! There may even be couple of wedding in 2010 for all we know! (Update as of 10/21/09 The Pollard family is going through some medical problems and a miscarriage :-( We are sad and our thoughts and prayers and support are with them. They are doing fine and understand that this is nature's way of dealing with problems sometimes. They are happy to have their sweet Brynlyn and hope to add to their family at some time in the future.)
During Fall break last week, we worked really hard on our back yard. We got the windmill water pipes unplugged with the help of 4 huge rigs and lots of sophisticated equipment, Craig got the solar panel tower welded and put up, the kids pulled weeds till their hands bled, and Kelli sneezed from all the dust and weed stuff in the air till her eyes swelled almost shut!! No pictures of any of this yet, but are forthcoming (minus the swelled eyes!)
Happy Halloween Everyone!

Still Feels Like Summer!

2009-10-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

We haven't taken any pictures since we've been home from our RV vacation, so I thought I'd share a few more of those! We should be adding to our picture library real soon as fall is my favorite time of year and fall pictures show all the pretty colors that Arizona offers.
This pic to the right shows Weston holding an indian ruin in his hand! Well, at least it looks that way from this side of the camera!

The picture below shows 4 tired,sweaty, smelly hikers who just got to the Mesa Verde ruins. They don't know just how hot, tired, sweaty and stinky they will be after they have climbed UP the mile high trail!

A cute family picture below taken at the Riordan Mansion in flagstaff. We are all smiling

except for Weston!

Elise and Natty enjoying the scenery at the Painted Desert.

Grama & Grampa walking down the train tracks with the Brynnie grandgirlie! Good thing there was no train coming!!

Wow! September already?!

2009-09-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

Just some more pictures to add to our blog!

Happy September

Fall is almost here! Wierd Weston playing Frankenstein with a few of his buds.

Four Generation picture of Brynnie, Jess, Beth, Kelli, Grama & Grampa Hansen taken this summer in Monticello, Utah

An Awesome pic Kelli took of a hummingbird in mid-flight in Alpine, AZ

Craig's latest weekend "hobby"--fixing all our broken down cars!!

Greasemonkey! (It was worse than it looks--you shoulda seen the back of his pants and shirt from laying on the garage floor!)

Another picture as evidence of what happens when a parent leave his camera unattended with 2 teenage girls in the house. Not sure what they ate---probably something GROSS!!

RV-in' it across 4 states

2009-08-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on our RV vacation to the 4 Corners area these past 9 days! We left Tucson for Queen Creek and then headed to Monticello, Utah for a Hansen reunion and 24th of July celebration. It was wonderful seeing all the relatives that were there. Go Big Four Tractor! From there we drove through Cortez, CO and onto Lake McPhee where we spent the night and then on to Durango which is where the first picture is taken. We went swimming and enjoyed seeing/hearing the Silverton train go right past our RV park several times a day. Then, on to the lovely city of Farmington, New Mexico (cough, cough). We met some missionaries in our RV park and learned that this was part of the Albuquerque mission. We had fun exploring a children's museum there and tired Bryn out completely! Then, on the way to Shiprock, we got a little lost and had to backtrack through the rez about 20 miles. . .but we did get to see the rock (or shipwreck, as Craig calls it) and made it to the 4 Corners monument. We droveto Canyon de Chelly in Chinle and spent the night really roughing it with no hookups at Spider Rock campground. It was a beautiful campground and Weston built a lovely 2 story red sand castle that he topped with a cactus and got needles on every finger on his right hand! He won't do THAT again, I'll bet! Then on through the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest and some cool photos and then to a KOA in Flagstaff where our camping neighbors were a cross country track team from Mountain View High School in Mesa!! Small World! Nat and Leesy kept peeking out the windows at them---I wonder why?! Then on Friday, July 31, we drove back to Queen Creek and Sat. we turned our vacation home on wheels in. We were glad to sleep in our own comfy beds Saturday night and use a REAL flush toilet! Good Memories, Good Times!

This is our Cruise America RV parked in a beautiful spot in Durango, Colorado. It was a 30 footer that seated 9 and had the possibility of sleeping 8. With 7 adults + a baby for 2 of the nights and 6 adults + a baby for the rest of the trip, we were pretty crowded! We all loved the fact that we could use the bathroom while traveling (especially Natty!) and we didn't have to make any potty stops! We also enjoyed being able to cook our own meals in it although we did eat out a couple of times. We all even showered in it even though it only held 6 gallons of hot water at a time. I don't think anyone had to have a cold shower though!

This is the Blue Spruce House at Mesa Verde, Colorado--an ancient Anasazi ruin that we hiked down to (a vertical descent down and heck to climb back up!) and got to roam around in. That is rare that people are allowed in the ruins--usually we just had to look only, but we got to explore this one and it was way cool!

At Lake McPhee in Colorado, Natalie cooled off by reading her book IN the lake!

Leesy took Bryn out into the cold, but refreshing lake where Bryn promptly bit the dust and fell into the water and scraped her knees up on the rocks! It took her about 15 minutes before she would step foot in the water again, but she did!

Some of the gang at the Petrified Forest sitting on a petrified log/rock. Notice the happy smiling faces even though this is the 3rd National Park we visited! Kelli and Bryn stayed in the RV and enjoyed some 1 on 1 time together while everyone else traipsed to all the sights.

We took lots more photos, so if you want to see them, you'll have to come visit us in St. David!

Back from Girls Camp

2009-07-14T10:59:00.001-07:00

Alpine, AZ--July 6-10, 2009

We love being in the cool pines but,

this is how we all looked at the end of the week after 4 days at girls camp!

It kinda makes ya stir-crazy!!!

This picture is of the stake leaders doing a bit of Michael Jackson's Thriller--notice the blue gloves on their left hands?! Pres. Kartchner, Merrill and Curtis got into the act too! It was pretty funny!

"Indiana Jones" and his 4th level gals and airplanes he had them make.

Miss Natalie on her horse "Waylon"! She also went Aussie style rapelling (as well as regular style), and "superman" traversing! Awesome! You Go Girl! (. . .and she was nervous about having to "rough it". . .)

On the way up to camp, Kelli was driving a load of 7 people plus a trailing luggage rack on the back when her car had a complete blowout of the back right tire going 75 mph---AAAAAAARRRRGGGGG!

Not just a flat tire, but a complete blowout along with a shredded to the metal tire, a ripped off side trim and a shattered right rearview mirror!!! It was pretty scary, but we are pretty sure she had some Heavenly help getting the car safely to the side of the road with no rim damage to the tire. 12 girls and 3 leaders waited on the side of the road for our hero--Bishop Jones--to come and rescue them! (The leaders tried to jack the car up to change the tire themselves, but it was so flat that they couldn't get the jack under the car safely and without going into oncoming traffic to jack up the other side.) Our Hero came with his floor jack, got the car jacked up, took the tire off, went into Wilcox (about 2 miles away), bought a new tire, came back and put it on. When we tried to start the car to be on our way, IT WOULDN"T START!!! The battery had died during all this trauma! So, we went on a hunt for jumper cables, but to no avail--no one had any! So, our Hero, drove back into Wilcox and bought some along with a new battery and some extra tools. Just as he was returning, the Highway Patrol FINALLY showed up and gave us a jump! (Our tax dollars at work!) Our Hero followed us to the next off ramp to make sure the car wouldn't give us any more trouble and then he turned around to go home. Thank goodness he was still at home when Kelli called at 7 am to come rescue us and thank goodness his boss said he could work from home that day rather than drive into Tucson after the rescue!

All went well on the ride home--no blowouts or dead batteries!!!

We loved going up to the cool mountains, but are glad to be home too!

The Dog Days of Summer are Here

2009-06-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, the dog days of summer are here. The skies are gray and threatening rain, but never deliver! It just keeps getting hotter and more humid (is humider a word?!) Here is a picture is a quail family that frequents our birdfeeding area. The poppa bird is on the table keeping watch over the momma and babies that are feeding on the ground. If any other bird comes and tries to join them, poppa quail scares them away! Behind them is the beginnings of our garden which the birds like to eat from too! So far we have bellpeppers, green beans, corn, squash and assorted melons starting to grow. A little cottontail bunny that likes our garden ate our 2 strawberries that were growing. Oh Well!

ELISE IS HOME! Yep, Elise came back to St. David after her 6 month stint in So. Ca. with G & G Jones! We REALLY appreciate grama and grampa for taking such good care of her and we know you must be missing her. We are glad to have her back and right at this moment, she is playing the piano and singing at the top of her lungs---oh how we missed that!!!! (Teddy isn't impressed with her modeling pose in this photo!)

Before Natalie went to Idyho to visit her 3 sisters that deserted Arizona, she had a mishap on our scooter! She went around a sandy corner too fast and BIFFED IT! Right in front of a group of people to make matters worse! She was fine, but they kept asking! Her hand and knees did get a bit scraped up and here is the proof!! Hopefully by now both hands and knees and dignity are well on the way to healing!

OUCHIE!

Dead Windmill

2009-06-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

Our windmill died :-(
While Craig was in Idaho and Kelli & Weston were in Queen Creek and only Natalie was home (but not at home at the time it fell), our windmill head bit the dust--literally!! We did some research and discovered that it weighs about 1300 lbs and costs $ 6,300 to replace!! We are going to hammer the dents out of it and put it back up as purely decorative--not functional--especially since we now have solar panels to pump our well water!!

While visiting Idyho, 2 girls (ages 25 and 21) got ahold of their dad's camera and decided to take some "glamour shots"!!! I guess dad's camera is too much of a temptation for even 20 something year-olds!! (what's that in your nose, V?!!)

Craig with his 3 beautiful grandgirls; Sydney, Tenley and Mallory. Cute Smiles!

We found a momma coyote and her 3 babies out in our front yard and Natalie and Weston thought it would be fun to howl at the moon with them. . .

It's Springtime in Arizona!

2009-05-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung in St. David as you can tell from all the Mesquite trees behind the ballfield where Natalie is pitching during one of her softball games! Yep, it's hot and windy and dry and we may not last through another summer!!Speaking of Natalie and softball, she had Athletic Awards last night and got the award of Rookie of the Year for her pitching abilities as well as being able to be a versatile member of the team and play 2nd base and right field! Purty excitin'

Weston continues to grow up (not that this picture shows any maturity!) He is taller than any of the girls/women in the house now and if family tradition continues, he may grow as much as 4 inches this summer like his dad did between 7th and 8th grade!! He was comparing his school picture to Chad's senior picture and said "I'm looking more and more like Chad!" You can decide whether that is a complement to Chad or not!!

We got to spend some time up in Queen Creek with the only Arizona grandchild when Craig took pictures at Justin's sisters wedding. Kelli got to be the main babysitter and loved it! Bryn is becoming such a character with her own definite personality--it's fun to watch her grow up!

Here is Craig's MR2 which he has totally fixed up and is very proud to drive. The last thing to do is to get it painted and he is thinking about silver. What do you think? He loves to drive it to work and around St. David because it "goes fast!" Kelli thinks he should get a customized license plate that says "CMDCC" which stands for "Craig's mid-life crisis car." Craig doesn't think that is very funny!!!

At the last report, it was 102 in Phoenix and 99 in Tucson today! Anyone brave enough to come and visit us in AZ??!!

Happy Easter

2009-04-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

The whole state of Arizona is in the middle of a high wind advisory with gusts up to 30 & 40 mph for our Easter weeknd! My windchimes are getting a really good workout!

Here's a couple more random pics to keep you up to date!

Below is Padre Stadium in San Diego taken from our hotel room on a night when there was a Baseball game there. If we'd have had our binoculars, we might have been able to watch the game from our room!

Here are our 2 crazy mutts; Teddy and Noelle doing what they are best at--eating and sleeping. I thought it would be in bad taste to put in a picture of their other best activity--pooping. You'll just have to use your imagination!!

Noelle likes to smoke cigars too!
Teddy is a snuggler and likes to cuddle up on soft rugs wherever he is!

Dad and Natalie looking at Elise's blog!!!

(just teasing Elise!)

either that or they want us to check their throats to see if they are red! Crazy peeps!

For Easter Weekend we are going to the Annual Higgy Reunion out at the farm on Saturday morning, if we don't get blown away first. I doubt there will be swimming in the irrigation ditch this year because it's just too cold for us Arizonites yet! There will be lots of eatin', boatin' and egg huntin'! Have a wonderful weekend too!

More pics from our Cruise Vacation

2009-04-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

This is a pic of us in front of one of the museums at Balboa Park in San Diego. We spent one day there going through a few of the museums like old people do! We didn't even go to the zoo!

Here is Craig standing by his rebuilt Toyota MR2!! Noooooooooo, not really--it is a Lambourghini from the Automotive Museum---he wishes it was his!

Craig---doing what he does best on all of our vacations---flip through the channels on TV!! He had to constantly be reminded that he was on a cruise and could do LOTS of other things besides watch TV!

Kelli and her animal loving ways--made friends with a Mexican Tabby in Ensenada!

There are wild Bison in the interior of Catalina Island--they were taken there for a movie shoot, but as soon as they were unloaded from the boat, they all took off into the interior of the island and were never used in the movie! Here is Craig standing by one that decided to return to have it's picture taken with all the tourists.

Cruisin' on the Ocean

2009-03-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Craig and Kelli's cruise to Catalina & EnsenadaOn Catalina Island with a view of the "Elation" behind us

(it's way bigger than it looks! It held 2,000 guests plus another 1,000 crew!)

Our stateroom was in the back of the boat on the floor right below all the restaurants! We had a great view out of our window.

Here is Craig eating Sushi on board the cruise ship. Food is available 24 hours a day and it's an all you can eat type thing! Craig is a sushi lover, Kelli is not, but Craig had Kelli get a plateful so HE could eat that too!

In Ensanada, we went horseback riding way out in the country with beautiful views of the bay and surrounding land. Here's Kelli on "Nobelito" who turned out to have a little bit of a temper and liked to nip the other horses behinds and kick them! Craig's horse was named "Dos Equiz" after the beer!

The movie "The Pirates of the Caribbean" and 2 sequels were filmed in Ensenada and The Black Pearl is permanently docked there. This is a picture of it out of our bus window--pretty awesome!

Back home to San Diego rounding Coronado Point where there was a beautiful sunset.

Some other cruise highlights were that neither one of us got seasick!! We bought a new bottle of motion sickness pills and didn't even have to open it! No chumming the ocean this time!

To Mexico for Spring Break!

2009-03-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

See this ship at the top of this page?? Well, Craig and Kelli are going on a cruise to Catalina and Ensenada and are going to be on a ship just like that!!! (Well, hopefully a little bigger!) We will post some pictures when we come back from our relaxing adventure without any children! Before we go, we have to go to the store and get Craig some Dramamine cause when we were in Kauai on a small boat, Craig got seasick and hurled his lunch into a little white bucket that the "helpers on board" chummed into the ocean---gross!! We didn't see any sharks though, so they must not be too hot on human hurl!! It's the blood they crave, I guess. Maybe this time, if he's medicated, Craig won't be apt to get seasick and chum the ocean! . . .to be continued. . .

A Stinking Experience

2009-02-21T19:24:00.000-08:00

(This is Cocoa and the chair she sleeps in before her skunk experience!) Now, both of them are outside!
Cocoa (our dog) had a run-in with a skunk the other night and got sprayed straight in the face!!!!! We smelled the skunk smell outside and didn’t realize it had gotten her before we let her in the house so. . . . . .THE WHOLE HOUSE SMELLS LIKE SKUNK NOW!! We didn’t realize it till the morning and she had already slept on one of the chairs in the family room all night. Once we realized the odor wasn’t going away and was coming from her, we quickly put her and the chair outside. I sprayed them down with a recipe we found on the internet for skunk odor—50/50 mix of white vinegar and water and set out a crockpot of apple cider vinegar on high for 2 days. The vinegar masked the skunk stench but made the whole house smell like we were dying Easter Eggs! The odor was still lingering so I bought some extra strength Febreze and sprayed that on the chair and gave Cocoa a bath in another internet recipe—1 quart of peroxide, ¼ cup baking soda and 2 tbsp dishsoap. She still stinks! I asked the vet what they use and they sold me a bottle of “Skunk Out” and I used that on her too—poor dumb dog. Her head still smells where she took the brunt of the spray, so I think she will just have to be an outside dog until the stench totally goes away! Good thing the weather is getting warmer so she won’t freeze at night! That is a raunchy smell—I can’t get it out of my nose!!! Weston must think the smell is coming from him because he keeps using more and more AXE body spray on himself!!!

A Snow Day In St. David???

2009-02-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

Yep, it snowed enough in St. David for the schools to close and call it the first official SNOW DAY since we can't remember when!! Of course, it was mostly all melted by noon, but the kids sure had fun playing in it and having a snowball fight! They even had "nature-made" snowcones with syrup flavors leftover from summer on them! We also saw a few dirty, stickery snowmen around town too!

This series of pictures is of Weston and Rob. They were acting like they could touch the ceiling and I guess they did cause they cheated and started from the ottoman! 22 or 12, boys are all at the same age mentally!!!

Happy 52nd Birthday to Craig wayyyy back on January 18th of this year! This is a rather mild/calm shot of him with his birthday cake. I WAS going to put in a pic of Craig with his finger stuck up his nose, but he said he'd get even with me if I did!! I'm not that brave!

6 down, 5 to go!!

2009-01-09T17:50:00.000-08:00

Cami and Rob got married on January 2nd in the Mesa, AZ LDS temple. It was a beautiful day and they are a darling couple. Here are a few photos from that day. Above is our family picture minus Justin cause he had to earn a living that day!

The Jones and Hansen girls give Rob a boost on his wedding day!

Camille gets one too! These are all 9 of our beautiful daughters.

Here are the "Ladies in Waiting"** Kelli was the flower holder and Natalie was the train holder and both were the dress straighteners! Craig was the photographer!

Here's the happy couple!

(It looks like Rob is gonna suck Camille's cheek right off!!)

2008-12-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

Gettin' ready for Christmas 2008

Here is Elise modeling!

Natalie and Weston got ahold of the camera again!!!!! Pretty scary looking!!

Natsky and her best bud posing

A beautiful December Arizona Sky!

Merry Christmas to all!!

2008-11-26T15:51:00.000-08:00

Here is an official engagement picture of Rob and Camille. We only have 6 weeks left to get ready for their wedding!!!!!

Our latest family news is that Sister Bethany Hansen returned from a successful mission to the Detroit, Michigan mission 6/4/07 to 11/19/08.
On the flight home, since she left out of Detroit and had a layover in Chicago and it was 28 degrees when she left, she wore lots of warm clothing AND a pair of fuzzy lined boots. When she flew into Tucson, it was 86 degrees and she began to sweat!!! We teased her that she didn't remember what AZ Novembers are like!! When she got home, she immediately got into her suitcase and changed her shirt and shoes to something a little more cooler! She is home and doing well and will be living in St. David and working in Tucson for the time being. She reports on her mission on 11/30/08 at 2 pm and all who want to come are invited!

Camille is engaged!!

2008-10-22T15:00:00.001-07:00

This is a blurry picture of Camille and Rob, but it gives you an idea of what a cute couple they are! Of course we will be taking lots more pictures of them and will post a better one when we get it! They got engaged on October 11th in a very romantic setting (so we hear!!) They are planning a January 2, 2009 wedding date, so it looks like the Holiday Season will be extra busy this year! We are excited for them and know that they will make a happily married couple because they already are a happy couple!

Now, this next picture has nothing to do with the last one!! Just want to make that clear!! Elise and Natalie went out to light the barbeque on Sat. and I heard Nat scream and then Weston say "Go get the camera!" I didn't know why, but if Nat screamed, then it HAD to be about something dramatic!! When they opened the BBQ, they found a very fat black widow spider who had evidently sucked all the juices out of a very dead and dry grasshopper that was still wound up in it's web down on the grill! I took a picture and then we pushed the grasshopper through the grill bars and the spider decided to high-tail it out of there before we lit the grill!!
See all the exciting things that happen at the Jones house!!!

Happy Fall

2008-10-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

A tree that looks like a poodle (actually 3 trees) A serene pastoral scene in St. David.

This is our windmill and scenes from our backyard. This is a scene from Fernan Lake in No. Idaho from our August visit,

Fall is my favorite season and time of the year! I have to force myself not to decorate the house until the official start of the autumnal equinox--this year was Sept. 22nd! October is my favorite month of fall and not for the obvious reason. I like it because the air is finally cooler here in AZ and we can open our windows at night and let the cool breezes blow through the house. I like it because the colors are changing and we do have trees here that change colors brilliantly. I like to have my camera in the car with me during fall so if I see a pretty scene, I can pull off the road and take a picture. I like fall because I love the scents of the season--apples, peaches, pumpkin pie, cinnamon and "harvest smells"! I burn lots of scented candles this time of year to add to the natural scents around our little village. I like fall because I like to dress up at Halloween with my preschool class--it gives us adults license to act like kids again!! Anyway, above are a couple of my favorite fall photos that I've taken the past couple of years

Here is Elise and Cami when they did their hair in "spouts"--and I don't think it was even Halloween!! This is a silly picture of Weston and a rubber band! He stole the camera again and was taking self-portraits of his lovely mug! He took several, and this is the "best" one, I think. When do boys actually grow up???

Trip to Idaho

2008-09-17T16:45:00.001-07:00

Craig and Kelli got to go up to Idaho in August for 2 special occasions: Kelli's parents 50th wedding anniversary in Coeur d'Alene

AND to meet our 4th grandgirl Tenley in Boise!

Jessica and Justin and Brynlyn got to fly up to Idaho with us and it was sure fun to get to be with them for a whole week. (Well, at least we think so--they may not!) We spent some time on the Lake Cd'A boardwalk enjoying the cool lake air and beautiful scenery.

And in Boise we had fun at the zoo with all 4 grandgirls!

(Hurry--take the picture before they all escape!)

Back at the Corral, the 3 kids at home who didn't get to go to Idaho because they didn't want to miss a whole week of school, had some fun of their own with big sis Leah. Chad and Ashley came down one of the weekends too and we are pretty sure a huge party was thrown at our house while we were gone! All evidence was cleaned up by smart children before we got home!

2008-08-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

8/8/08 This is our silly dog Teddy who decided he didn't like being segregated from the rest of the family while we were eating dinner and found a way to "peek" out from under our very dog -resistant barrier! What a nut!

Let's hear a BIG HOORAY--the kids went back to school yesterday!!! HOORAY!!

We only have 3 in school --2 in middle school and 1 in high school. Weston started 7th grade and already he says his favorite class is "Performing Arts". Who would have guessed that?! Natalie is a freshman and is very sore from starting volleyball practice last week! Elise is a junior and is getting ready to cheer at all the fall sports games. She'll be one of 11 cheerleaders this year!

Camille is getting very close to moving away from home and going to EAC in Thatcher--she will leave on the 16th or so. She and her dad have had a very frustrating car experience trying to get her "mobile" in Thatcher. Cami bought a car that needed some work that Craig and she have been working hard on all summer. It still needs more work and she is ready to leave for college! It is taking more $$ than she wanted to spend, so we made her a deal. Together, we bought her another low-budget car and when the MR2 is done, Craig will drive that one! It will get lots better gas mileage than the truck he drives now and at $4 a gallon for gas, and a drive to Tucson daily, that will sure help. So, both Cami and Craig are happy. Elise is not because this all means that we have to sell the car she was going to drive to high school so we can pay Cami back all the $$ she put into her 2 cars. Elise gets to drive the scoot! Here is a picture of Elise when she decided to play dress-up like a model one boring summer day. She could pass it off, couldn't she?!

Here is a picture of a couple of very wierd kids on another boring summer day. This is what happens when parents leave the camera around and the kids get ahold of it to take "self-portraits." Not a good idea!

So, one evening during scripture study, our dog Cocoa decided she wanted to be a part of it, so she slowly climbed onto Kelli's lap; so slowly and imperceptibly that Kelli didn't even notice till Cocoa's whole doggy body was already there! OK, so we have 2 dogs that are nuts!

This last picture is of some of the Jones gang when they went camping on Mt. Graham this past summer. Craig had to go to Bishop's night at scout camp so everyone went up to join him and they set up their own camp site. Chad and Ashley joined them up there for some fun. They got to go fishing and hiking and enjoy some "time in the pines" that we desert rats don't get very often. Ask Elise and Natalie about the black bears next time you see them!!!

We Started a Blog!

2008-07-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

We Started A Blog!! Yea, we know, IT'S ABOUT TIME!! Well, better late than never, as we say here in the country! This picture is of some clouds that were over one of our neighbors houses that we thought were awesome! The colors and lighting were really vivid and later, this cloud and many more, opened up and rained on us for a good long time! We didn't mind as we need the rain.

We have a website where we have posted lots of pictures, but most of them are 5 to 7 years old, so part of the goal of this blog is to post newer pictures for your viewing pleasure! Hopefully Kelli can do it mostly by herself without having to wait for Craig, the computer wizard, to help her!

Here are some pictures of our 4 GrandGirlies! We have a brand new one that just arrived last week and she is first. . .

This is Miss Tenley Louanne Hurd

born 7/23/08

to Scott and Rachelle Hurd

(look at those chubby cheeks!!)

This is Miss Brynlyn Madison Pollard

born March 4, 2008

daughter of Justin and Jessica Pollard

(love the headband!)

These are Misses Sydney Malia and Mallory Jade Kelsey

born April 2004 and October 2006 respectively

daughters of Zach and Heather Kelsey
(cute matching dresses!)

We are blessed with lots of girls in our family: 9 daughters, 1 daughter-in law, and 4 granddaughters!

We also have 2 sons and 4 sons-in-law! We need some grandboys, but will patiently wait while we spoil our grandgirls!