Ammon's Birthday the 24th of June

It's a PARTY!

Today I discovered that William makes really good silly faces when taking pictures. Here is a glimpse a of some of the pictures that we took.

I took the kids in the front of Grandma and Grandpa Jones yard and the kids had a blast rolling down the hill over and over and over and over again.

I have some fun videos of the kids that I am wanting to put up but I haven't quite figure out how to make them work on the blog yet. I'll hang on to those for the future when I can get them to work. 

As for life at the present moment I am loving life and spending as much time as possible with my family while they are in town. I am grateful that they have made the long trip to be here. Next week is going to be even better when the rest of my family gets to be here and we will all get to be together!

This little kid isn't so little anymore!

One heck of a day! Adam and I had a shoto phoot or better known to most as a "photo shoot" (these were taken Friday afternoon) but first a story...When Adam was little and David was going on his mission Adam was excited for him and concerned. So he made a deal with David, thinking that he was getting the better end of the deal. He said "I promise to go on a mission if you promise to not get married while you are on your mission". David gladly accepted. Here we are ten years later and it is almost his turn and he is fully planning on keeping his end of the promise. I mainly am just telling this story because it is a fun memory of our family...Now back to the shoto phoot!

Why hello beautiful ducks! What a relief to be able to finally see ducks in the wild life instead of snakes. I was so excited we had to take pictures.

Adam and I were talking along and all the sudden he takes off running and decides to climb this random big tree.
This is Adams version of climbing a tree.

This is mine...

This is Adams "Hey there beautiful" look. It is kind of obvious.

We ended up at a baseball field. Good times and good memories.

Wahhhhhhh what an awesome little bro that I have. I miss him so much!

This Break May Be Short but It Is Worth It!

You know she is fun when she is daring to go out on a hiking adventure with yours truly. Her name is Sara Hansen and we originally met in class at BYU. Thus far we have had 6 classes together and counting. Today is her BIRTHDAY and she deserves nothing but the best! Happy birthday to you Sara!

Yesterday Sara and I went hiking to the hot pots up the Spanish Fork Canyon. She brought these fun four boys (in the picture below). 

Two of them are hers and two of them are her friends. They were quiet entertaining and very adventurous. Starting out they were excited at the prospects of possibly getting to see snakes. Man did they ever...

 Ahhhhh SNAKES!!! 
I can honestly say that I have never seen so many snakes in the wild in one day! The first one that I saw was when we were walking to the hot pots and I saw something move, it was right between my legs! Yes, I almost stepped on it! It was a small thing and I don't think it was poisonous but it sure creeped me out. Little did I know that there were more to come...

This not so little snake (in the picture above) was hiding underneath the rock where we had set our things. Sara and I had been looking at a different snake that was about twenty feet away from our stuff. I was creeped out of looking at the snake so I decided to walk away. It didn't take to long until I was way close to this huge snake that was coming out and right in my path. I jumped high on the hill right next to me and cleared a good 3 free up in the air. Thank goodness Sara was there to help me down. She wasn't even scared at all!

On the way back down there was another snake that was across our path. You can't see the head but you can see part of the body and it was pretty long. Definitely over three feet long. In total we saw 4 alive snakes and 1 dead.

Yesterday these 4 boys made me so proud. I went up to the waterfall where the water was freezing cold with Sara's son Jace and explained to him how to stick his head through the hole in the waterfall. Without hesitation he went and did it and the other 3 boys quickly followed. It made me so happy!

Then there was a little cave at the bottom of the waterfall and we each took turns climbing in.

Me and the boys created something fun while at the hot pots. We found a small waterfall and I laid down to block the water. They would each take turns ducking down to get under the waterfall to hide in the air pocket that was underneath and I would let the water flow on and over them until they would give me a thumbs up and then I would lay back down so they could get back up (on the right Jace is ducking down and getting ready to go in this photo). 

Yesterday was my first full day of my break between the spring and summer semesters. I am feeling extremely blessed and I have been nothing but active, spending time with good friends and family, and loving every minute of it! My classes and work start again Monday so this break may be short but it is worth it!

Kathy Adventures

What do you do in you spare time?

Finals are over and I was in the mood to be out doors. In the middle of the day most of my friends were either working or studying for their finals so I decided to go on an adventure. It started off as wanting to go out on a bike ride but while I was driving I kept taking turns that were taking me to beautiful places and new paths to follow.

As I was driving I had to snap this picture. To me this is a little bit of heaven!

I found a random path and decided to take it. It had an incredible view but I didn't go that far down this particular path. Maybe another time on another day...

Most of these scenic pictures are for me because I want to remember the experience of what it looked like and how it felt. Pictures don't do justice!

I kept parking my car on random spots on the side of the road to go exploring on different paths to see various views.

I met some new people at the top of the mountain. They were teaching me all about hang gliding and I got to watch a man take off. It was a fun experience and I actually learned a lot.

I took a picture of these two nice people that I met. The guy holding his hands in the air is named Matt (which he has an incredible smile) and Natalie, she is down taking the picture. In her photo it will show up that the hang glider is in between his hands, which will look sweet, and in mine the hang glider doesn't even show up because he is so high in the air. 

Actively Filling My Life With Good Things

What is this world that we are living in? It changes quickly with each day, week, month, and year. We are not living the same life experiences that our parents did when they were our age. This is both for good and bad. We may have more advances in technology but when it comes down to it we are indeed faced with more challenges of evil. As a result I am declaring an all out war to block out bad things and actively seek out good in my life. It takes effort to keep being surrounded by good and to be increasingly trying to become a better person each day. I don't feel like there was anything particularly horrible I was letting in my life before but I definitely wasn't living up to my divine potential. I need to start reaching high and walking a little bit taller. With the blessings of the Gospel in my life I am continually reminded that "where much is given, much is required".

Something that I just ran across that I would highly recommend is this talk by Neal A. Maxwell titled "But For a Small Moment"http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1022&tid=7 it is a BYU address that he gave and it is perfect for me at the time in my life. I listen to it on audio so I don't have to sit down and read every word. Sometimes it is good just to hear it be spoken, especially when I am working on various assignments, cleaning, or driving in the car.

Blogging or Not to Blog...That is the Question (To Myself)

Blogging is an interesting experience. It is sharing part of my thoughts and the smallest portion of my life. It doesn't usually go into the depths of my soul, that's what journals are for, yet at the same time in the smallest way it takes an ounce of vulnerability to share. I don't know who all looks at my blog or even how often they see it. As well my thoughts are personal to me and therefore my automatic response is to guard them and keep them to myself.

This reminds me of when I started out on my mission I pushed me and my trainer to the max EVERY SINGLE DAY by living by the idea to "push myself outside my comfort zone every single day". Blogging in a way can be that for me. I think I have a good balance of what I put out there but it is still my thoughts and my life so I hope that as you read you recognize that this blog has been an adventure to me and is an expression of my gratitude to those of you who take the time to stop and take an interest in my life.

To the future, we shall see..."Come what may and love it!" -Elder Joseph B. Worthlin

How do you study for your Spring term finals?

It feels like winter is here and yet Summer is about to begin. Since I have my last final tomorrow for this Spring term it is time for me to buckle down and get geared up. The class is Music 378. 

I guess if I am going to have to study at this time of year I am going to do it in complete comfort and have a little R and R since this is the only night this week that I will be able to relax. I am excited for the many things I have to look forward to for this week but as for now I think I am going to cozy up next to this warm fire in my warm blanket and finish my assignments.

Those Little Studying Distractions: Blogging and Sheri Dew

Actually as of right now I am having one of those I LOVE SHERI DEW moments! Whenever I need a fresh perspective of who I am and what it is that I am doing I just turn to her words. She has such a way with words that refreshes my perspective in a powerful way that always turns me to God.

Speaking of Sheri Dew it reminds me of the time when on my mission I was serving in the area that she lives. It was late one evening around Christmas and I was out with a sister that was her old visiting teacher, could you imagine that kind of experience to be able to visit her once a month!?! Anyways, we were doing visits and I expressed my admiration of Sheri Dew and how she has blessed my life so much by the work that she has done. We were delivering some baked goods to people that this lovely sister had made and we had an extra so she suggested that we take it to Sheri Dew's house right before I had to head back home for the evening. So with my heart pounding and knocked on her door. I heard heavy footsteps and also a loud voice. She was on the phone and didn't answer the door. I was soo sooooo CLOSE! I don't blame her for answering #1 it was late #2 she lives alone #3 she was on the phone. I guess one day maybe I'll get the guts to write her a note and just leave it on her door saying thank you and leave it at that. I don't want to be a creeper but I do want to express my gratitude. I think most people enjoy hearing those two words "thank you" and to know that they actually do make a difference, no matter who you are.

I just heard her say in a talk "Satan is a snake"-Sheri Dew...No wonder I HATE them so bad! Hahaha it's just kind of cracking me up.

Jones Family Reunion 2014

Jones Know How To Have Fun!!!

Here are some pictures that I was able to snap this weekend. There are a lot of them.
ENJOY!

Barbara Hunt and I

She is my Mom's first cousin. I enjoyed so much getting to know her this weekend. She also put a lot of hard work into this reunion and make everything work, so a HUGE thanks to her! She was so much fun to be around. We had great conversation and I just wish we could hang out more often!

The Big Yellow Inn

If any of you are ever in Cedar City and wanting a place to stay I would highly recommend checking this place out. Man it is beautiful on the inside and out! Plus the owners are some of the nicest people you will ever meet!

 

www.bigyellowinn.com

This was my room at the bed and breakfast! I was beyond excited when they told me that I would be staying in this nice room and I would have it all to myself. It was my paradise for the weekend! They call it the "Bon Voyage". This picture doesn't do it justice for how adorable the whole room is and how it has such a cozy and welcoming feeling!

After waking on on Saturday getting ready and having breakfast everyone met up at the farm. There were a few of the activities that I was able to capture a photo and some I didn't so I'll do my best with what I have. Here are a few of the activities that we started off with at the farm:

When they said "tractor rides" they meant it! When I was a kid and they said tractor rides they usually came out with something half that size. This was the real deal! The kids LOVED IT!

An adorable air plane seesaw that the kids were continually playing on.

Barbara was creative and brought a parachute for everyone to play with. It was some of the kids first time playing with one of those and they loved it!

 

It wasn't long after the parachute was pulled out that they started bring out other fun things to do, such as the carriage ride. This was by far one of the coolest carriages I have ever seen! I don't have a copy of the picture but I am pretty sure we had over 15 people on it at once and we all went for a ride around the farm.

HORSE RIDING!!!

This was one of my personal favorites! I don't get to do it often but when I do it is great!

Going back to roots on this one!

The next few pictures are from when Scott was showing us how he trains the dogs to herd the sheep. It was really impressive how they work with the dogs and how the sheep respond. I hadn't seen it be done before and he was really good at it.

I couldn't resist the picture with the one black sheep in it. There's always gotta be one of them :)

Family relay races and more...much much more!

Tug-of-war!

 Los Tre Hermonos

These three sat down in the chairs and were sitting the exact same way and even leaning the same way.

 These are grand children of Will and Claire Jones, in other words my Mom's first cousins. This was my first time seeing this group together.

 FAMILY DANCES!

These families know how to get down and boogie! 

It was so fun to see what the families created together and performing it. I can't wait until next year because this was another one of my favorite events of the evening!

 I quickly snapped a picture of Grandma Grace Jones :) Isn't she the best!?! 

 Our family quickly grabbed some dinner at Cafe Rio before we headed over to Barbara's house for the family slide show and talent show.

And it BEGINS

My family was very creative in their performances and can pull off talents that I had no idea about. For example; there was one of the young boys who wanted to show us all that he could run really really fast. Now I thought that was creative and as he was running back and forth a quickly as he could I also couldn't stop laughing at how adorable it was. Then there was the talented uncle who could stand on one foot and grab a brown paper bag with his mouth that was super low to the ground, I must admit that I cannot do.

As for my family talent my sister ratted me out and made me do the worm for everyone and then I whipped out some balloon animals to charm the children. Yup, it gets them every time!

In the middle of the talent show Max came and sat by me. We pulled out the camera and I got him to make a few fun faces with me. Since this is my blog and I love looking back at it I mainly posted the rest of the pictures for me to have for the future but you all are more then welcome to enjoy them as well.

In the middle of the talent show I looked back and was laughing so hard when I noticed that it look like a dear was about to attack Ammon and eat his head off. It made for some good entertainment for me and the kids toward the end of the show.

To wrap this thing up I just wanted to express my gratitude for family. This particular family reunion was a first in many ways. It was first time we had a family reunion since I have been alive with my Grandpa Milton Jones, his siblings, and their kids. For this experience I am so grateful because of the eternal perspective that it has given me. This life is good but the more I meet my extended family and knowing that I am a part of their eternal family brings me such great joy in this life and excitement to look forward to after this test of mortality is over. The family that I already knew and that I was able to meet this weekend are top notch, fun, kind, loving, and family centered people. Thank you everyone that made this weekend possible and a complete BLAST!