keeping up with the jones-of family, mud, and food

hallelujah.

we are home and alive after flying with a toddler.

everton did pretty well actually, it's just not on my list of favorite things to do.

we are exhausted and still on east coast time.

we were only there for a week yet did SO much.

  let's recap our east side vaycay.

SATURDAY-4.13

it's been 3 1/2 years since i've been home and flying back felt so weird.  maybe it's b/c this time i had a kid with me.

like i said, everton did pretty well on the plane.  i like that he's more aware of things now and can be easily entertained.  he is now fascinated by planes and kept saying "wow" as we took off.  but he would start getting antsy and restless towards the end of the flight and that's when he would drive me crazy. oh yeah, he peed on me too whilst on the plane.  it was AWESOME.

SUNDAY-4.14

we went to church and holy crap was it trippy being back.  i loved seeing old friends and it weirded me out seeing kids that i thought were in primary but were going on/getting back from missions.  i didn't think i was gone THAT long.

then after church we headed down to harrisonburg, va to see my dad's side of the fam.  everton got to meet most of them and he was loving playing outside with the cousins.

this is the playhouse my uncle built, everton and hazel had a heyday.

MONDAY-4.15

we drove to maryland to get sushi, visit my aunt, and grab ice cream at one of our fav spots, nutter's.

brett commented how crazy it was that we drove to another state for dinner and ice cream.  but that's how we roll!

TUESDAY-4.16

we went to the D.C. temple for my sister erin's endowments before she leaves on her mission.  what an amazing day and an amazing experience.  being in the temple with my entire family was so special.  it was the temple brett and i got married in so i consider it my temple.

and those tulips!  these are my favorite flowers so it just tickles me seeing so many of them.

WEDNESDAY-4.17

my mom, being the awesome lola that she is, put together a little Easter egg hunt for the grandkids.  you can say it's mainly for her enjoyment.

then it was lunch at panera bread with my best friend, Christy, and my sisters.  panera bread is one of those things you never realized you'll miss until you live in a state where it doesn't exist.

then that evening was kyla's "surprise" baby shower

we attempted it to be a surprise till someone spilled the beans just a few hours before the event.  but it was ok, i think kyla was still super excited about it.  she's having a boy so she got soo many cute outfits!

THURSDAY & FRIDAY-4.18/19

we actually spent a majority of these 2 days preparing foods for erin's mission farewell party that sunday.  thanks to Christy for spending her day off with me chopping veggies!  

thursday night was our little jones' surf n' turf feast.

we LOVE to eat.

friday night, brett and i got to get away and go on a little date while my parents gleefully watched everton.  my mom often tells us that she really just wants us to go away so she can babysit everton; i will happily give her the privilege of watching one of the cutest kids on the planet as often as i can. 

brett and i went to what i thought was a swanky theater in winchester, va where they serve you meals during the movie and watched '42.'

SATURDAY-4.20

TOUGH MUDDER DAY

my dad did tough mudder again. LAST YEAR the event was in MD, this time it was in WV.  he actually didn't finish this time around.  there were crazy hills and the weather was so chilly.  we all got to be spectators and even then we all got a good workout trying to walk to a lot of the obstacles to watch my dad get close to death.  he's so hardcore yet freakin insane.  

brett and i were enjoying the fact that we weren't army crawling through muddy water under barbed wires before going into suffocating pipes.

the top left corner pic was my favorite obstacle name, "the arctic enema," where you dive into a vat of ice water.  again, so freakin insane.

and this is my cousin terri, who went with my dad and totally rocked it till the end.

watching this event live made me think, "yeahhhhh, definitely never doing this ever ever."

 and it was totally a mistake to bring the kids.  we were outside for about 6 hrs straight and thankfully they eventually sonked out.  my mom wrapped them in the foil blankets they give out, making the babies look like little baked potatoes.

and next year my dad plans on doing tough mudder in seattle, WA.  slow down crazy, slow down.

SUNDAY-4.21
erin's mission farewell!
erin gave a really good talk and sang a beautiful rendition of, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" in church.
then it was time to celebrate that erin is FINALLY leaving for 18 months!  jkjk i'll miss her so freakin much.

why so serious?  you can see poor brett's sunburned arms and face from tough mudder the day before.

and check out kyla's hot preggo bod!

everton can be a total grump face or a super cheeser.

so much work went into all this food.  i often think my mom is crazy for making ALL this food but in the end, everybody is well fed and leftovers are always a plus.  

hazel stuffin her face.

my parents had about 80 people over for the party.  yeah, they're still crazy party people.

 MONDAY-4.22

coming home felt like an all day event.  i was really sad leaving my fam and i teared up a little, which is actually silly because my parent's are driving out sometime next week!  sooo i need to suck it up.

everton fell asleep after busting his lip and nose face planting in the airport during our 3 hr layover.  the flight home was not bad.  i felt more relaxed than i did going out to DC.  also, thomas the train helped chill everton out. brett and i have become masters of changing diapers while in our seats.  i don't plan on flying on a plane with a kid anytime soon though.

TUESDAY-4.23

and here we are.  

i hope you're all still with me.

everton and i are still in our pjs, watching tv, and i've pretty much been putting together this post all morning. it's times like these i'm super grateful for freezer meals.  i don't have to cook all week!  and i really don't feel like doing anything right now. 

but today is when erin leaves for the philippines!!!  she'll actually be going straight to the manila, philippines mtc so she'll be immediately submerged in the culture.  when i last said goodbye to her we were both too tired to cry and i think we did some toddler and tiaras moves in our goodbye.  she is such an inspiration to me and she is totally going to rock being a missionary.

good luck girlfriend. 

we'll see ya in 18 months!

end of post.

thanks for hanging in there!