Busy Summer

Where do you begin when life has passed you by.  So much has happened.  The end of May Trevor graduated and received the Melchizedek Priesthood.  We had lots of family and a wonderful time.

Then in June Ken and I and Trevor and Spencer went with the Briggs and Katie and Alex to California and had a wonderful time at Disneyland and Knottsberry Farm. Last Hurrah before Trevor left home.

The next day Trevor and I took off for BYU for a summer term - and this time I went and stayed.  The first night Trevor and I took in a BYU soccer game, after that he made friends and had a wonderful term ending with straight A's.  He loved BYU!   I spent the weekdays with Katie and Alex and attending classes and then drove home each weekend.  Everyone said I enjoyed school too much.  Is that possible?  I loved the classes I took and the interaction with teachers and students.  It was a nice break from my Independent Study Program where everything is done on my own.  I managed to pull out 2 A-'s and 1 A.  It was a lot of work, but very rewarding.  I hope to find a way to do a summer term again in the future.

The first part of August we took Trevor to the temple for the first time.  We went to the Draper, Utah temple.  He felt really good about it and has already returned quite a few times. 

As soon as school ended Melanie and I took off for Oregon to exchange cars with April and James.  They had borrowed our Suburban to move and we went to retrieve it.  We stopped by Nancy's first and then down to Bend, Or where James and April moved for him to teach Chinese at the Community College (it sounds like she might be able to teach some Math classes as well).  We had an enjoyable trip.

After returning home, the following week was Trevor's farewell.  We took no group pictures even though we had all the family here except James and April.  Even grandparents were all here.  The weather cooperated and we enjoyed everyone being here to say goodbye.  Then a week later we were off to the MTC for a quick goodbye and a new journey beginning.

So there you have the last several months in a nut shell.  We hope life will be a little slower this upcoming year, but we do have another senior to graduate.

Spring brings 2 new babies

Baby #1
Dylan Lamar Pay was born on February 16th - 1 month early and he ended up spending about 3 weeks in the hospital before he was strong enough to come home.  Melanie has her hands full with 4 young children and I enjoyed spending two weeks caring for 3 of them.  Bryton became my buddy and Aaryn decided I was tolerable.  Jayden, well he is growing so fast and thinks he knows alot.  One day I was going to give him a ride to school, but didn't want to dress for the day until I took a shower, so I was going to do what I often do - drive him to school with my robe on.  (Nick saved the day and decided to drop him off.)  I went to pick him up at noon and overheard him telling his teacher - "My grandma was going to drive me to school this morning in her towel."  I was horrified - she said don't worry I don't believe most of what kindergarteners say.  Apparently his mom never wears a robe.

5 lb 3 oz   17.25 inches

Mommy and baby - Gives you an idea of how tiny he was.

Jayden reading us a book online.

Baby #2
Wesley Russell Barrus was born on April 9th.  He weighed in at a meager 6 lb 11 oz and 19 1/2 inches long.  Chelsea was grateful for a smaller baby and a fairly easy delivery.  The Barrus' journeyed to Denver the first week and I had to wait until I wrapped up some things at home, so Wesley was 2 weeks old when I got to hold him and love on him.  He is a good baby who enjoys sleeping (Gavin is still struggling to figure that part out).  I spent lots of time with Gavin - he preferred we spend all the time ("in my room" with the door closed).  Gavin really loves the Avenger characters as well as Green Lantern.  He has many of the toys and even an avenger mask.  He talks really well and is alot of fun to be with.  We had a great time playing, shopping, and taking care of baby Wesley. 

Found a hat to match his shirt while we were at Walmart

Taking picture with Hulk

Playing with Grandma's phone - Gavin wanted to play all the time.

I have fallen Facebook Victim.  It's so easy to check in on what's going on with others and I have not been following the Blog world very well or keeping up with my own posts (which are my journal - by the way.  So it's time to play a little catch up.  Journaling twice a year is not the best way to go.

SENIOR NEWS

Trevor is a Senior and his life is changing quickly, so here's an update.  He has had a busy year playing Soccer, Basketball, and Track!  Track of course is his love as he aspires to be State Champ in not just one event, but several this year.  The team has struggled with a strange schedule, bad weather, and personal frustrations.  The weather this year has been very off season, so we were really hoping for great weather for division - and that is what we got.  A scorching 96 degrees, but no wind.  Trevor's biggest competition attends The Meadows High School in Las Vegas and unfortunately our schedule did not allow them to race before divisions, but their times were very close going in.
In both the 300 hurdles and the 110 hurdles Trevor led until the last hurdle where The Meadows guy was able to over take him and win by a foot or two.  So it's anybody's win at State!  The best part is his time was great and he was pushed to his very best.

White Pine Boys Track & Field 1st Place Division Champs

April took some pictures for us for his Senior announcements and graduation is just around the corner.

We have also been working on his missionary papers and they should be in this week sometime, so we should have his call by the end of the month.  Trevor has decided to go to BYU for the summer term and will leave 2 weeks after school gets out, so his life is changing quickly.  Graduation - College - then Mission all in the next few months!

Trevor has worked very hard in school and ended up 5th in his class.  He applied for lots of scholarships and received a total of 8 scholarships for $7000 - that is fabulous and will really help him get started. One of the scholarships Trevor received was Elks Most Valuable Student for White Pine and received a $1000 scholarship and was sent on to the State Level.  He won another $1000 scholarship at the State Level.  This is the essay he wrote that allowed him to win these two scholarships.

My future has been changed by the fact that I am a part of the Boy Scouts of America.  Scouting gives opportunities to learn all different sorts of skills.  As a young scout I learned how to be a follower in listening to the leader.  Later I learned to be the leader as I served in leadership positions such as senior patrol leader.  On top of leadership, scouting helped me develop skills in other fields of study such as citizenship, physical health, and financial planning.  All of these skills are used in the adult world and I will be better prepared to perform my civic duties, keep myself healthy, and maintain a budget to support my family because of the activities I participated in during scouting.
            Scouting has helped me gain confidence.  I have always been a shy person.  No matter how hard I try I have problems talking or asking questions.  Being shy can be crippling in situations such as finding a job.  Scouting helped me to overcome my shyness through my eagle project.  The responsibility to plan, organize, and see that the project was carried out became mine and I had to step up.  First, I needed to talk to the city manager about fixing up a city park.  This involved talking to someone I had never met and explaining an entire project that I had envisioned.  Together we were able to come up with a project that would benefit the community and I could oversee.  My second task was to get all of the required materials and manpower at the park.  This required phone calls and preparation which took me out of my comfort zone.  Lastly, I had to oversee the project and assign people tasks.  I was able to work on every aspect of the project but I also delegated different sections of the project such as cleaning, building, or cement mixing to others.  Even though these tasks were out of my comfort zone I was able to enjoy my project and learn to be a better leader.  Now I find it much less difficult to meet new people, share my ideas, plan ahead, and even take charge when necessary. 

            Being an eagle scout will affect me the rest of my life in a positive way.  An eagle scout is nationally recognized by businesses, schools, and even the government.  However, the main focus of scouting is service.  I have learned the value of serving others and know that it will help me in my home and my community. Understanding the value of hard work will help me be a better husband, father, and employee.  Lastly I have learned the value of being a better and kinder citizen.  Scouting has truly impacted my life, and armed with the skills I learned as a member of the Boy Scouts of America, I will have a brighter future.

The almost made it to the Christmas Letter Update

Well what about everyone else these last 5 months? April and James decided to stay in Ely for awhile and have found their own apartment (and a lot of work went with fixing it up). James is still looking for a permanent job and meanwhile they are subbing at the local schools. Everett is growing like crazy and is very inquisitive as most Toddlers are. We are enjoying having them close by.

Selina's job is going well. She is enjoying teaching middle school math in Arizona.  Bobby’s work has been a challenge as he works very long hours for low pay.  He decided to try his hand at a new job in Wyoming.  If it works out Selina and the kids will head there later.  Richie is doing great in kindergarten and learning very quickly.  Kamry keeps everyone in line as all little girls should.

Melanie and Nick are doing well and expecting their 4^th addition, another little boy in March.  The kids are really getting big.  Jayden is doing pretty well in Kindergarten, but wishes he could do what he wants all day and not necessarily what the teacher wants him to do.  He is very smart and can already read books only a few months into kindergarten.  Aaryn is making great strides with school and his physical therapist.  He is mellowing out some and has his own way of letting you know what he likes and doesn’t like.  His communication skills are really getting better all the time.  Bryton usually has a big smile and he has no trouble keeping up with his big brothers.

Chelsea and Zac are enjoying Denver and expecting their 2^nd boy in April.  Zac is doing great at his job and we expect he will make some great moves this next year as he seems to be very well liked and respected.  Chelsea of course has her hand in everything.  She became a Zumba instructor this past year as well as she is always baking and making the best stuff.  Gavin of course is a big ham and is lots of fun to have around.  He loves to talk and is going to be a great big brother.

Trevor had a pretty good soccer season even though his team struggled quite a bit.  He is currently playing basketball and working out in preparation for a great track season ahead.  He is doing well in school and just finished his Senior Presentation (a really huge thing they spend all semester preparing for.)  He is expecting to start his mission papers in March and receive a call by May – Oh my, what will I do another missionary will be leaving me before too long.

Spencer also played soccer this year and was an important part of the JV team.  He continues to improve his skills.  He is lying low this season as I try to convince him to finish a few merit badges and get his Eagle Project going.

Ken is doing well at work and keeping busy.  He was released as Young Men’s President and is now enjoying his favorite calling of Ward Financial Clerk.  And myself well, I stay very busy with subbing and working on my schooling.  I enjoy visiting my children and grandchildren and am looking forward to lots of great adventures over the course of 2012.

Well if you made it all the way through this – you deserve a gold Star!  Basically 2011 was a busy, wonderful, challenging and miraculous year.  We have been blessed in so many ways and know that our faith in Jesus Christ is what gets us through the ups and downs of life.

2011 Update

It is definitely time to update my blog. I am missing over 4 months of info and my blog book will be very lacking for 2011 if I don't remedy my slacking.

Last time I wrote we were preparing for the return of our missionary. Alex returned without any problems to a small group at the airport. We enjoyed a few days with him and then everyone arrived for his homecoming and family pictures. We enjoyed hearing him speak about the wonderful things he learned while in Texas, and we could see that he had grown into a man while he was gone. I love, love, love, having my missionary home. Sadly he was only home for about 10 days and then headed off to BYU for Fall semester. Fall semester brought highs and lows for him. He found he was no longer sure about majoring in Chemistry and is still seeking to find the right career for his future.

I'm sure his high was finding that he still enjoyed spending time with his best friend Katie and decided they should make it a permanent union sooner than later. By October he was engaged and the date was set for December 22nd in the Bountiful Temple. It was nice to be the mother of the groom for a change, and I didn't feel a lot of pressure until just before Thanksgiving when I realized I still needed to decorate and get all the stuff ready for the reception in Ely as Katie was not going to do that for me.

We pressed forward through the holidays and looking forward to meeting in Bountiful for the wedding just before Christmas. Everyone but Zac was able to attend. (We missed him.) The wedding ended up on a beautiful, sunny winter day. The skies were blue and the temperature was not too bad. This was all after days of inversion in Utah, so we were really blessed to have such great weather. Katie and Alex were sealed by her great Uncle Keith McMullin who is currently a member of the Presiding Bishopric. He did a wonderful job and we all enjoyed the ceremony.

Later we adjourned to the chapel for a Cafe Rio Catered Lunch (which was scrumptious) and then a reception later that evening that was wonderful. The day couldn't have been better. Everything was fabulous.

Then off to Ely on Friday as Christmas was only two days away. We were lucky to have everyone with us for Christmas except the Barrus' (sometimes we have to share) and we really enjoyed having the grandchildren for Christmas. Children always make the day more special. I felt guilty taking a day off from making pom pom's for the wedding, but thank goodness for everyone Christmas was on Sunday and I felt compelled to let everyone relax a little. It was a beautiful Christmas, made all the better by being with family.

This is what it looks like when the Jones' get together - games, games, games!

Monday we began the arduous task of decorating for the reception (at least we began the ceiling). I think I forgot how difficult ceilings are in these big buildings. With lots of wonderful help we survived and after two days of continuous work we were all ready on time.

The reception was small but enjoyed by family and those that attended. The new couple is now back and school and enjoying their new life together. We are grateful to have Katie as part of our family and know she will do a great job of keeping Alex in line and helping him figure out what to do with his life. Katie is currently doing her student teaching and we look forward to her graduation in April.