Keepin' up with the Jones'

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Merry Christmas from our house to yours

Well, I have failed miserably at getting Christmas 🎄cards out this year. It has been a little busy around our house. We have been in the process of building a new home 🏠 and selling our current home. Is has been stressful doing both. I swore we were not going to build again and considered this house our final house, but sometimes life has surprises…and this was ours. Don’t worry, we aren’t going far, just down the road a little ways. Let’s take a look at our year!

Maizy turned 16, became official driving the car 🚙, and is in her Junior year of high school. She continues to work at Denise’s and loves her co-workers. She has continued to work on her college certificate and is still not sure where she wants to go for college or what she wants to study. Hopefully she figures that out soon.

Zoey turned 14…going on 25. She is a freshman in high school and keeps busy with drill team as well as a few dance classes in Kamas. She started working at Denise’s this summer and has loved having her own money…which she easily spends on anything and everything.

Zander turned 13, which means we have 3 teenagers in the house. Heaven help us!!! He continues to be a whiz at computers and loves to be online playing games with his friends.

Casey remains at Smiths and is doing well getting up before the roosters. He has been a lifesaver making dinner most of the week nights since he is home first.

Briana continues to work in Park City in dermatology. It continues to be extremely busy, but has a great crew to work with, which makes it less stressful. She enjoys following her kids in all they do.

We started the house at the end of June. It has been stressful getting supplies and workers since Covid has caused delays and shortages. Looking at February for moving in. Our current house is under contract…thank goodness! It is hard to keep a very clean house ALL THE TIME, especially when your teenagers are not exactly the cleanest individuals or the best helpers! 😡

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Caribbean Cruise Feb 2012

Casey's dad and his wife were gracious enough to take us on a cruise, and it was fabulous. We were able to get some much needed rest and just relax. Although, I have to admit at first I kept thinking I was forgetting something, but the feeling quickly subsided and I was able to enjoy myself completely. Our ship was fabulous. It was the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas.

We visited 4 different ports:
Labadee, Haidi

Royal Caribbean has a private beach here and it was fabulous. Warm and peaceful. I did dip my toes in the ocean, and for those who know me, know that is hard for me to do. I mostly enjoyed laying in the sun, and then changing to lay by Casey in the shade. So relaxing!

FalMouth(?), Jamaica

My Father-in-law has been to another port in Jamaica and he didn't like it, but this one was great. The buildings were new, I'm sure the port was made just for cruise ships. We got some great shopping done here. The craft market it where I found the matching sundresses and shirt.

Grand Caymen

What beautiful water that surrounds all of these islands. It is too shallow around Grand Caymen, so at this port our ship had to dock off shore and we had to tender in. We did more shopping here and just enjoyed a little sight seeing.

Cozumel, Mexico

Well, we didn't see much of Cozumel as this was the only island we did an excursion, which took us on a ferry to the mainland of Mexico (Playa del Carmen to be exact). We went to the Tulum Mayan Ruins. Although it was hotter than Haides, the ruins were fabulous. It was a long day and we were exhausted by the end, but I am glad we did this excursion.

We spend 2 solid days at sea (one each way) which was nice just to relax. We had a great/funny cruise director and saw a lot of great shows. We got to dress up...which is a rare occasion for us. We bought Casey his first suit since we have been married for the cruise! I can't wait until Casey and I can escape again!

We had an ice rink in the bow of the ship and enjoyed a great show!

We brought back lots of small things for the kids. The girls got matching sun dresses and Zan got a shirt to match. We brought necklaces, bracelets, hats, jewelry boxes, etc. They had fun while we were gone, but were definitely glad to have us home.

Maizy turns 7 Jan 2012

This is the first year we have let Maizy have a friend party, and she was soooo excited. We did it on New Years Eve morning over Christmas break and she had a great turn out. They had fun eating pink pancakes, decorating their own cupcakes, painting each others finger nails, and dancing around crazy. I think it was a success!

On New Year's Day, we did the family celebration. I think she enjoyed this party as well. She chose a Harry Potter theme and I did my best with her cake.