Super Daddy???

I've been grocery shopping alone lately. I find that I am much more efficient because I can focus on what I'm doing. I told Kevin I was going shopping today and he wanted to come. So we all loaded up in the car and went family grocery shopping. Kevin took care of the kids the whole time.
Who knew? All I had to do to keep my kids entertained was get one of these...
I love when he does stuff like this. It's so funny.

Happy Birthday Kevin!

This weekend we have been celebrating Kevin's 28th birthday. On Friday we took the kids to the $2 Theater to see "Up". It was the first time we took them to the movies. Perfect idea for a really hot day.
That night Kevin had a hockey game at 9:50 pm. Usually, I don't go to his game if it's that late, but I wanted to surprise him with a little party. I gave the kids a really late nap and we were ready to party!
I made Kevin's favorite cupcakes. Yellow cake with chocolate pudding inside and chocolate frosting. While Kevin was playing his game the kids and I broke into the locker room and decorated it. Hannah and Gavin were totally into helping me. They did a really good job cutting the ribbon on the balloons, giving me tape, and spreading the balloons everywhere.
I think we surprised him!
Saturday, Kevin's actual birthday, we went to the LA Kings Fest. I don't know who loved it more, Kevin or Gavin? Gavin loved playing hockey with all the other kids.
Check out the smoke from the La Canada fire! Pretty scary.
We met Luc Robitaille. He is one of Kevin's favorite players. He was a really nice guy and took his time chatting with us. Kevin told him that we were thinking about naming our son after him. He was a little embarrassed, but flattered.
The kids got to meet Bailey, the King's mascot.
Gavin met a lot of "hockey guys"
All in all, we just had a lot of fun doing everything hockey.

At night we met my brother, Grayson, and his fiance', Jayde, for dinner in Huntington Beach. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Duke's.
We love their Hula Pie!
We enjoyed walking down the pier since it was only 80 degrees there compared to the 104 at home.
When we got home, the kids gave Kevin their birthday cards. They really loved making it a special day for their daddy. It was just a fun-filled family weekend!

Welcome to the Aloha State-Day 1

Hawaii is just how we left it. The sweet smell of plumerias still fill Honolulu airport, the trade winds are still refreshing, and the sounds of the waves are still relaxing. Being in Hawaii reminds me of a phase of my life, the phase when I started my life with Kevin. Carefree and kid-free.
The hotel is amazing, this is the view from our room.
I've heard of fish ponds, but when I saw this I was shocked. The hotel has a hammerhead shark pond. The sharks are about 3 feet long, and beautiful to watch.
Kevin and I laid out and met some friends. The beach is awesome and the water is warm.
Luckily his friend Cory is here and they can be A.D.D. together while I can lay out with Cory's wife Jonelle. They are a lot of fun.
We had the "Aloha Welcome Dinner" last night. With a "Contemporary Luau" menu. Sounds too fancy right? It was just a luau dinner. I got my Hui Hui chicken and Kevin got his kalua pig.

Father & Son Camp Out

Kevin and Gavin went on a Father & Son's Camp Out last weekend. I was so excited for Gavin to go camping and talked about it all week. Hannah and I made plans to go to Disneyland, just Hannah and Mommy!
Gavin loved camping. He ran around with sticks "shooting" birds and trying to stab gofers in the gofer holes.
He loved the campfire and made s'mores with daddy.
Gavin said he was tired and wanted to go to sleep, so Kevin set up their bed in the back of my car (no tent, chance of rain).
Gavin had a really good time camping with Kevin. I'm excited for our beach camping trip in July!

The Best Husband Ever!

Kevin and I have our ups and downs like any other couple, but for the most part, I have the best husband. He is supportive of my academic pursuits, and likes to make me happy. I could give a long list, but I'll get straight to the point...

Kevin won a trip to Hawaii!!!

He was one of the top 2 people in Southern California! What can I say??? My husband is good at selling drugs! So in 3 weeks we will be packing our bags and leaving! Thank you Aunt Mar Mar (Kevin's aunt, Marilyn) for watching Hannah and Gavin.

We can pick one excursion a day while we are there. The first day, Kevin will go deep sea fishing. I decided not to go, my last deep sea fishing experience was 8 hours of puking and I only caught ONE fish! So instead I opted to get a facial. The next day we are going on a helicopter tour of Oahu. The last day... diving with sharks off the coast of the North Shore (in a cage). I'm most excited about that!

So thank you Kevin for working hard and winning this trip! You are the "bestest"!

Hockey Gavin

Today we bought Gavin's first pair of hockey skates. He loves them.
Kevin and I couldn't resist. They were too cute.
Here is Gavin trying out his skates. He's a bit shaky, but getting the hang of it.

Daddy Hockey Championship

Merry Christmas to me!!! I got a new camera! Thank you Kevin. Kevin and I never can wait until Christmas to give our presents to each other.
Last night was Daddy's Hockey Championship Game. The kids and I went. We watched them smoke the other team in the first period.
Then as usual, we all need a break, and go to the arcade for the second period.
We go back once the third period starts. Kevin is borrowing a jersey, he is #68 right now. It looks so weird to me because he has always been #22. I'll be happy when he gets his jersey. It's taking FOREVER!
Kevin played really well and scored some goals, but the best part is watching Hannah and Gavin get so excited to see him play.They are so proud of him. He is the coolest Dad! I'm proud of him too. I hope he keeps playing hockey.
Here is Kevin's team, the VIPERS!!! They are all trying to convince me to let Kevin go to Las Vegas on my birthday weekend for a tournament. We will see.
The season starts up again after the new year!

Touch Down!!

I'm still alive, but my camera isn't. I wanted to post pictures of Hannah's gingerbread house, but my camera went psycho and.... I just need a new one.
We have been crafting up a storm at the Jones house. It all started with my Black Friday outing.
I woke up at 6:00am and got to JoAnns by 6:15am. Total chaos. I pulled number 53, yes 53!!! to get my fabric cut. This was 6:25am. I bailed and went to another JoAnns. It was heaven there. I got all the flannel I ever wanted! It was on sale for $1.49 a yard. When I went to the register it all totaled to $149.00. I was so confused, did I really buy that much flannel. Oh crap!! When I told Kevin he FLIPED! He said (yelled), "you bought 100 yards of flannel!!! That's a FOOTBALL FIELD!"
I didn't realize how much I had purchased until he said a "football field." Ouch... I had the intention of returning some of it, but I keep using it. I made Hannah and Gavin Christmas rag quilts for their bed and pillow cases. Can't show you because of my camera. My sister-in-law, Rachel, came over yesterday and we finished off the last of the flannel making 2 Christmas rag quilts. We haven't finished the blankets, but they are turning out so cute. I love sewing with Rachel. She probably cut out 100 squares and I sewed them all. We just need to sew the squared together. So I have scored a touchdown, I have used 100 yards of flannel in about 2 weeks.
I would like to appologize to my husband. The house is messy, you are hungry, and running out of clean underware. I'm sorry. When you come home the house will be clean, and your laundry will be folded and put in your drawer. The house will be as it should be. And you can score a touchdown too!

Born to Hand Jive!!

Our stake had their 50th anniversary celebration tonight. Hannah participated in the entertainment portion. I have to give Kevin ALL the credit. Since I have school on Tuesday and Thursday night and I teach/train on Monday and Wednesday night, I was totally unavailable to take Hannah to ANY of her practices. Kevin took her to everything.Tonight when all the kids were getting dressed, Kevin made sure all the boys were put together properly. He was the only Dad helping out.During the performance he took Gavin and helped the kids get on stage so I could just enjoy the show. Hannah was so adorable! She did so well doing the hand jive. You can see her in the dark blue skirt.I loved every second of it. I appreciate all the hard work Hannah did and especially Kevin.

Dadda Hockey II

Kevin took Gavin to his first NHL game. I met Kevin and did the car seat switch, Gavin was so excited to go somewhere with just Daddy.
When they got home Gavin couldn't stop talking... using his limited vocabulary he told me he had the best time ever. He was awesome for the first period, but got a bit ansie for the rest of the game.
Ever since the hockey game Gavin has been carrying his hockey stick around everywhere... he even sleeps with it.
I let him run around the basketball court at the gym, he loves it. He just runs and runs and runs for 30 minutes straight. He even falls down like he's slipped on the ice.

Dada Hockey

I like to record the "firsts" in our family. First step, first tooth, first day at school... well, Kevin, at 27 years old, had a first the other day...
Kevin has played hockey forever. In fact, the first time I met him I called him "hockey guy" because I didn't know his name. After taking a brake from playing in college he is back on the ice.
At practice the other day, he SHATTERED the glass! It's pretty hard to do, tantamount to Shack busting the back board in basketball.And the repair
He was so proud of himself he took these pics with his iPhone so I could blog it.

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Kevin turned 27 on Friday!!! We have had a pretty crazy weekend with Marilyn (Kevin's Aunt) getting married. I felt badly his birthday was over shadowed, but we were all so excited for Marilyn.
Kevin did have a pretty awesome week. He went deep sea fishing on Wednesday with his dad, then he got to spend all day Thursday with his dad and us. We went to Knott's Berry Farm Soak City. The kids LOVED it!
Friday night we had dinner with Marilyn's new family! We ate a lot of meat at some Brazilian restaurant. Gavin LOVED it! He got to sit by his daddy and his uncle "Wawon" (Aaron).The best part for Kevin was I let him grow a mini mustache. It was a token of acceptance for Marlon, Kevin's new uncle. Thank goodness he shaved for the wedding... I am NOT a fan of facial hair on my husband.I think the best part of Kevin's birthday weekend was the fact he got to drive a Bentley Continental GT. This car is worth more money than Kevin has made in his whole lifetime.
The car belongs to our old bishop, who we adore! Marilyn had her reception at their house. I can't believe he let Kevin drive it. There were quite a few expletives said as he drove this amazing car. You could definitely feel the G force when you accelerated. It was nice... I wouldn't mind having one myself. I'm sure the monthly payments are more than what we pay for rent!Happy Birthday Kevin!!! I hope you had a great birthday weekend!

My Turn....by Kevin

I've spent the past year or so enjoying Courtney's blogging without providing any input of my own. I guess now is my chance. She did a wonderful job filling you guys in about our trip to NYC, but didn't quite do one thing it's justice. YANKEE FREAKING' STADIUM.

I guess she forgot to mention that she has now enjoyed a ballgame in the house that Babe Ruth built. The same field that the likes of Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Goose Gossage, Phil Rizzuto, and Roger Maris played on. Oh yeah, by the way, she was privileged to see Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez play. She even saw A-Rod knock his 538th home run. Does she realize this man will in the near future be the true Home Run King? Probably not, but she was one hell of a sport.

How awesome is Courtney? Well...let me put it to you like this. She let me take her to the game 2 hours early for no other reason than the fact that I couldn't wait any longer to get there. She walked all over that stadium with me taking pictures every 10 yards or so. When I said I wanted stand in the sun and watch batting practice, she was totally cool with it. She even came with me for a few minutes. (By the way, I did catch a ball) Then when she wanted to leave she was like, "Hey, I'm gonna go find the seats, want me to get you anything?" Yeah, she got me a huge Diet Coke in one of those souvenir cups and a Nathan's hot dog with mustard. Then she enjoyed one of the funniest mmoments I've ever had at a baseball game. Some guy was headed towards his seats besides us and lost his balance right in front of her and fell four rows straight down, landing ever so softly on this wanna be Paris Hilton and then proceded to keep falling row after row. Her hair was jacked up. The moment the shock of the situation ended, I busted out laughing so hard. Perhaps not the nicest gesture, but I couldn't keep it in. I felt bad for the guy, but I couldn't hold back any longer.

Following that moment Will Ferral, I mean, his look a like buddy sat down right next to Courtney. This guy was a legit Yankee fan. Total Mouth Breather. He proceeded to fill out his own lineup card with both teams and kept score play by play the entire game, while at the same time listening to the radio broadcast on his old school FM Walkman. He was amazing, not unlike all the other Yankee fans. They love their baseball there. Far more than all the cholo's in left field at Dodger Stadium, or the Cougars that go to Angels games and try to be a "fan"..... I digress, the best Yankee fan moment came as the dumbass Redsox fan walked up the stairs and without hesitation, the hundreds of fans who saw him all chanted, "Asshole, Asshole, ......" They then proceeded to pelt him with Ice, Popcorn, plastic beer bottles and any other object they could throw.

The seventh inning stretch at Yankee Stadium was unlike any other I've experienced. Rather than your traditional "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", they sang "God Bless America". When I say they, I mean the entire stadium. It was a pretty amazing moment. Probably the proudest moment I've had as a citizen of this Country. Of course it had to do with a sporting event, sorry Grandpa Brown...

As the game wrapped up and we paid our homage to the Yankee's, I almost shed a tear. A dream had been fulfilled. I sang along with Frank Sinatra's, "New York, New York", as is the tradition after each Yankee win. Thank you Courtney for letting me have this moment. I'm glad we were able to share it together. It wouldn't have been the same without you.

New York, New York (revised)

Kevin and I went to New York City to celebrate our FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! I can’t believe we’ve been married for five years.
“Phantom of the Opera”
I have wanted to see Phantom of the Opera since I was a little girl. At the end of the show I was balling like a baby.

After the show we went to the hotel with the plan of going back out to enjoy New York City night life. We were both exhausted, changed into our PJs and went to bed.
We stayed at a European style hotel, which meant we shared a bathroom with six other rooms. It was like camping without the tent and the campfire.
The next day we packed up our stuff and took a taxi over to Kevin’s boss’s hotel. She is living in New York City during the week for some type of educational program and she offered her place to us for the weekend. What a blessing that was, we were so grateful. We felt so welcome in her place, she left us notes and told Kevin he wasn’t allowed to work. The view from her apartment was amazing.
Grand Central Station
We started out on what would be the most exhausting 48 hours of my life! We walked to Grand Central Station. It was so beautiful.

Subway
The subway wasn’t as bad as everyone said it would be.
Statue of Liberty
We admired Lady Liberty from the shore. We hear she is going to open to the public for tours again. I wouldn’t mine going up to the top of the statue when they reopen it.

Trinity Church
I wanted to see Trinity Church because it's in National Treasure. It was pretty cool and pretty dang old. Kevin and I sat in mass for about 2 minutes, that was enough for us.
Trinity Church Cemetery
It looked like the Haunted Mansion (I think I go to Disneyland too much!) with the standing head rests. These were from people who died in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. Besides the La Brea Tar Pits, we don’t have stuff that old in LA.

New York Stock Exchange
Kevin wanted to see the New York Stock Exchange, since it was right there we decided, why not? We don’t have any kids with us!

First Capital of the USA
Across the street from the NYSE is our Nation’s first capital. George Washington took his presidential oath on the stairs of this building.

Ground Zero
After walking down Wall Street and headed to Ground Zero. Everyone is right when they say it is underwhelming. I think it will be a lot better to visit when the World Trade Towers are rebuilt by 2012; along with the monument remembering those who lost their lives that day.

Yankee Stadium
This was Kevin’s night to do what he wanted. He really wanted to go to a game in Yankee Stadium, especially since this is the last season they will play there. The Yankees are building an amazing, new, state of the art stadium across the street. We didn’t have enough time to see Monument Park so we headed to the team store. Kevin was amazed at Yankee stadium, he even caught a ball!

At Dodger Stadium, you eat a... Dodger Dog. At Yankee Stadium, you eat a Nathan's Dog.

Some guy walked past us to get to his seat and totally ate crap falling down about 3 rows. I felt bad for the guy, but it was so funny.
Here's the new Yankee Stadium.

After the Yankee game we joined the mass of people heading to the subway.

ESPN ZONE
How lucky is Kevin that his wife lets him eat at the ESPN Zone? Yes, the Yankee game was followed with dinner at the ESPN Zone in Time Square. I might as well be there by myself; Kevin is so enthralled with all the TVs around him. He said, “I want a room like this in my house one day.” I didn’t understand what he meant by that, but to clarify; he wants a room with a bunch of TVs so he can watch multiple games at the same time.
Time Square
We walked around Time Square after dinner, and headed back to the room. I walked straight into bed. I don’t know how Kevin could stay up to watch the Top 10 on ESPN.
Pfizer Headquarters
Saturday morning started a little more slowly. I did not want to put on my tennis shoes or walk at all… but we were in New York City! We walked to Pfizer’s world headquarters. It’s a whole building. Since it was Saturday we could not go in, but they have an amazing mural depicting medicine through out time.

United Nations


What an amazing place. There were many displays talking about some major problems in our world. From the destruction of the rain forests to the refugee camps of Darfur, it is amazing how much of an impact and influence the U.N. has for the world. It made me feel so good to know that there is an organization working on the problems of the world.

The U.N. goals are:
1. End Poverty & Hunger
2. Education for All
3. Equality for Women
4. Save Children's Lives
5. Make Motherhood Safe
6. Stop HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
7. Protect the Environment
8. Build a Global Partnership for Development

5th Ave.
Kevin was in heaven! All of his favorite stores in one place! Cole Hahn, Faconnable, Brooks Brothers, etc… yea, can you say champagne taste on a beer budget? We kept shopping, so we had to focus back to our list of things we wanted to do that day.

Central Park
We walked to Central Park and rested, we were exhausted; Kevin wanted to take a bicycle taxi, I said, “No, lets walk through the park!” Words I would regret later. I didn’t realize how BIG Central Park was.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
We walked all the way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Ancient Egyptian art is so cool because it’s sooo old, same as the Asian art pieces; I don’t really get excited about modern photography. My favorite painting was the “Death of Socrates” by Jacques-Louis David.

230 Fifth
Our last night in New York City we decided to check out the night life. We had dinner at this quaint little Mexican food restaurant, it was so good. We went to a night club called 230 5th. It was awesome. It was a roof top night club.

From the roof we could see the whole city, and had an amazing view of the Empire State Building.

On our way home we stopped at a couple of bars, Joshua Tree, an 80's bar... awesome, I love 80's music. Then a sports bar... they were playing Bob Marley... perfect for Kevin. We got home and CRASHED!

Madison Square Garden
Kevin wanted to see Madison Square Garden, so we walked all the way there. Oh how I hated walking.

On our way back we ate.... PIZZA!!! We just couldn't get enough pizza.

Flight Drama
We took a cab to JFK together. Since Kevin's flight left before mine, I got there quite a bit early. It turned out to be a blessing because my flight was canceled AGAIN! The airline people were telling everyone to come back tomorrow morning. Whatever! I want to go home. I buttered up my guy a lot. I said, "Let's work your magic! Are you a genius?" Then I asked the other girls if he was a genius. I tell you, he looked for a good 15 minutes to find a flight for me... meanwhile, everyone else was told to come back tomorrow. He did it!!! He found another flight. The problem was it was out of Laguardia and it left in 1 1/2 hours. I asked 3 other people if they wanted to share a cab. What an exhilarating cab ride to the airport. I asked the cab driver what his record time was from JFK to Laguardia, I had him all pumped up to beat it, turned out to be pretty scary. The cab driver was driving in the shoulder and almost got in 50 accidents. Amazing we made it there in one piece to find out our flight was delayed 1 hour... then 2 hours... then 3 hours... I thought I would never get home... Finally, our plane arrived. Everyone boarded and we all waited another hour to take off. By the time I got back to Cleveland I zombie walked straight to be since it was 11:30. At least I didn't have to wait with 2 kids! I enjoyed being by myself. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!