Snip snip

I turn my back for one minute, and what do I find these boys doing? Cutting. Nothing in particular. Just cutting. Dad said "What? He asked me to cut with him!"

Gobble Gobble

Hanging out...

(Rychen likes to kiss everybody on the forehead...is that a normal Dad thing?)

Playing Uno, multi-tasking (at home I nurse her while I play!)

Waiting for food to cook, we looked over Black Friday ads. Rychen P. was saying he wants a little violin and a little guitar for Christmas... Before we knew it, Grandma was pulling out her "little violin," and had taught Rychen P. to play! He learned proper form and how to play the open finger notes (the 4 strings). I was really impressed, but I don't know anything about the violin so maybe this is really easy. We have a video if anybody wants to see...

Getting food ready... (I made blue corn bread, maple sweet potatoes, and a bean salad) BTW, Elisabeth is sleeping in the sling, covered by a blanket to make it dark - she is a light sleeper!

Grandpa with the bird...

After dinner... Rychen P. refusing to smile for the camera (for the first time ever). Doesn't he look huge in this picture? This kid is not yet 3 1/2.

If you want a headache, get a family picture taken

I hope you all appreciate your Christmas cards. I went to hell and back to create them for you! It's hard enough to get a baby to look toward the camera with a pleasant expression, but add that to appeasing a three-year-old's demands and making him sit still. What began as a cheerful "Hey, let's take a family picture!" crumbled into a desperate "Shut up and smile! Nobody is moving until we take a good one!" But I will say a few things.

1. Ha! I WON! There is no yellow star toy in our pictures!
2. Thank you Rychen for being the rock when all we wanted to do was throw rocks at each other.
3. Thank goodness for the awesome feature on our camera that enables us to freeze a video and turn a still frame into a picture.
4. Thank you to everybody who tried to reason with Rychen P., get Elisabeth to smile, and take endless pictures and videos of us, in hopes of making something work!

Just for kicks and giggles, here is one failed photograph:

Despite Elisabeth's cute expression, there are two reasons this photo didn't make the cut: the sour-puss on her left, and the fact that yes, the baby is indeed born, believe it or not! (This was Rychen P.'s obstinant refusal to smile, after getting in trouble.)


We started the evening with Elisabeth in a blue dress, but with as long as it takes to get a family picture taken, clothes get a bit wet, as you can tell. So then we had to dress her up with her white jacket. (I didn't bring a change of clothes for myself, so thank goodness we had a satisfactory pose by the time I leaked through.)

Thanksgiving Reflections

Five years ago, my boyfriend went home to his family for Thanksgiving and told them about me. They wanted to meet me, so they invited me to visit over Christmas break. In the meantime, Rychen and I grew closer and were speaking of marriage, and then meeting his family was the final confirmation I needed: I seemed to fit right in. I enjoyed them very much those first few days, and really admired them. I felt like I could be myself and be appreciated, in a way I had been lacking with my own family. This seemed to bundle up the package, things fell into place, and we became officially engaged.

Now 5 years later, Rychen and I are as close as ever, and we have two great kids to show for it. I am so thankful for my Jones family and the friendships I continue to develop with them. I am so blessed to be the wife of somebody who respects me, who cherishes me, serves me, and is sure to express this every single day. I have grown immensely as a person over these 5 years, and I have them all to thank for it.

And of course, Thank you to my Gremlich family for my home of origin, the endless patience and love, the wisdom I gained from you, the gospel light, and the challenges that made me the person I am today. I wouldn't trade my upbringing for any other, regardless of how many times I said I wished I could back then! Mom and Dad, I am so thankful for your sacrifices (I have one of my own, now I know!) and so grateful for the life you gave me.

Thank you to Rychen Parker for being the craziness that keeps me sane. I owe most of my growth to you. You are often my best friend, for we share so many things. I pray that I can treat you as the prince you are. Forgive me for when I fall short. Know that I love you.

Elisabeth, you are my angel, my sweetheart, my cutie girl Lissa-Loo. You are the culmination of personal goals, overcoming short-comings, and realization of faith. You are the purest thing I have beheld in this life. I pray that I can preserve that as much as possible. I hope you can feel my love for you every day.

Thank you Father in Heaven for the hair I have pulled out through my dealings with each of these people! I may be bald, but I am such a bigger and more whole person because of it.

Big Announcement!

See this?

It will soon belong to us!

Here are some photos along the way...

The foundation:


Laying cement into the framework:



The beginnings of a house... On this day, Rychen came home from work and said "Let's go see the house! There are big things happening!" and I said, "vertical things?" YAY!!! As we drove toward the house and I saw walls, I actually got emotional! I choked up as I exclaimed to Rychen P., "Look! That's our house!"




From the back... This corner on the left will be my garden!


Putting the roof on:





Exploring the inside...


This is the living room, the front door, and the hallway opening. There is a small dining room to the right, and behind the camera is the kitchen.










They said we had a choice of color. After many choices got vetoed, we finally understood: we had a choice between brown and grey. So we chose brown. Hooray for cookie cutters.



Here's about where we are now:

And this will be the front yard. I am standing on the driveway/walkway to the door, and beyond me will be the front yard.

Bathroom cupboards:



Here is the kitchen. We get a bar! Nice surprise, I didn't know about. The door on the right is to the garage.

It was really exciting to see the nice cabinetry put in the other day. I didn't realize we were getting such nice cabinets, closets, etc. We were really lucky with this house. I had brushed off the idea of buying a new house for a long time, until every other house was not working for us, and it finally dawned on me that a new house would be the SAME PRICE, and nothing would need replacing for several years... Um, yeah, makes sense! So we ordered a "stripped down" house, to get it as cheap as possible, but with this builder's reputation, his version of stripped down is actually really nice. So it's still a small starter house, but at least it is new.
I am also really excited about the yard. We are paying extra for a fence, that was just one thing I couldn't let slip. I get a huge area to garden in! There is a good sized yard to play in as well, and of course one of the first things we'll do is to plant FRUIT TREES! All this yard maintenence will take a lot of work but how fun, to have our own property, finally!

Here's what really appealed to us about this house. It is in a FLAT neighborhood where we can ride bikes. It's on a cul-de-sac, so Rychen can play outside with the neighbor kids. It is on a main street but this street is not busy, so there won't be traffic noise. And it's right across the street from church, where Rychen teaches seminary every day. Unfortunately that does mean that we will be leaving our ward, and going into Brush Hills ward. But we are excited to meet new people and get settled in for a longer duration (after switching wards every year since we got married!)

We close December 11th.
December 14th the kids and I fly to Las Vegas.
Then Rychen will move us in, and fly out the 18th.

And we come back to live in our new home at the beginning of the year!

More November photos

When will all the baby photos end? C'mon, they are so cute. Give me another couple months.

(this above is a quilt that Great Grandmother Huxford sewed)

This is a onesie Daddo bought Elisabeth on a business trip. He usually is against spending money, but loves to splurge to buy the kids souveniers, especially at ESPN zone!

And here are some cutey tootie sibling lovey doveys....

This is LION, "I call him Row-bert" (which means Wilbur, I think) the latest attachment object. First it was Teddy Bear, then Mickey Mouse, and now this random guy.

Uncles Joe and Andrew

We had a fun few days with Joe and Andrew...

Played a lot of Uno, and also basketball...

...and baseball with an imaginary bat

hanging out, and wrestling...

Went out to eat at a buffet...

(I wasn't quick enough to make the picture there)

And finally, played some cards with Madison (and Logan)

Blessing day

Sunday was Elisabeth's baby blessing at church. Here we are, the extended family that attended (minus Courtney and Madison). My 2 brothers from Las Vegas came in, and Joe was able to participate for the first time. Also, my friend Emily was able to come.