Dad is 70!

We went on our annual dinner for Dad's birthday with his BFF Dwight.  (As I type this, Dwight passed away a couple weeks ago in March 2020-he will be missed.)

Neil and Bennett had baseball so the 3 of us went to celebrate at Bella Fresca!

We got Dad a custom made Smathers and Branson belt and he loves it!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Jersey Boys at the Strand

Jenn let us know that Jersey Boys would be playing at the Strand.  I knew my dad would love it because this is totally his type of music. I asked if he wanted to go and he said YES!  Well, I asked him while he was in the hospital, bought the tickets and 2 months later he had no idea.  I reminded him and he was pumped!  Neil had to coach a baseball game for Bennett so I invited Carol to go with us!

We went to Chianti before with my brother and then off to the show we went!

Sat right by the McGuires and right behind the Temples from Ruston!

So much fun!

SOLD OUT!

Dad's Neck Surgery

After waiting months and being in pain the whole time, Dad finally had neck surgery.  A neck surgery that put him in the hospital for over a month after  too much muscle relaxer.  He couldn't talk for 4 days, went to ICU for 4 days, regular hospital room for a week and then a rehab facility for 3 weeks and a feeding tube for almost 2 months because he couldn't swallow.  It was just terrible.  But, Uncle Mike came to town and so did my brother! It was nice to have the help!

Shoe Night 2016

The Christmas elf was good to us this year.  We got to put our shoes out at home and at Pops and Carolyn's house.  

Uncle Frank gave SK a cute, custom bow that is monogrammed!

Uncle Frank also gave the boys a rock to split.  They had so much fun hammering it and opening it to see the crystals!

The boys and Daddy got matching socks and Sister and I got matching socks!  They loved it!

I got some really nice things...3 pairs of socks, an avocado, a lime, and an orange.  My favorite Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan KIND bar was my favorite!

 We were up and at 'em and headed to Pops and Carolyn's house for breakfast and shoes.  Dad bought the kids the freshly squeezed OJ from Whole Foods because it is their favorite! He has pastries and Carolyn had a beautiful table set.

Lots of shoes, lots of fruits, lots of candy, and $100 for 1 person.  That person is Pops.

Our matching socks!!!

 We opened up gifts with them, too.

Henry got a Transformers.

Bennett got binoculars!

Sister was the best helper.

Pumpkins with Pops

Dad loves to take the kids to pick out pumpkins at Akins every year.  They LOVE it and I love having pretty pumpkins in my yard during fall.  Win-Win!  Thank you, POPS!

Past pumpkin picking:

can't find 2015

2014

2013

2012
2011

It was hard to decide!

How sweet!

Bennett kept wanting the $60 giant pumpkins.  We went with medium sized.  The rule was "if you can't pick it up, we can't get it!"

This little thing is the sweetest, most precious angel.  She is a real pistol too!

Pops is 67!

Pops is 67!  Wow!  Almost 70!  Happy birthday, Dad/Pops!

Carolyn had a fabulous meal planned with steaks, au gratin potatoes, salad, and cake for Dad's birthday.  Neil was the grill-master and did a superb job!  Carolyn said that Dad requested a carrot cake, but she thought no one would want vegetable cake so she got chocolate, too.  She's too sweet!  There was also delicious peanut butter pie.  Yum-O!

Everyone helped blow out the candles

Even sister and Bennett

Pops and his 3 favorite little people.

I think Dean is behind Reid's head!  How cute!

Christmas Eve Elf

Our Jones family tradition continues with the Christmas Elf.  Our elf has been filling our shoes long before the Elf on the Shelf.  I love it!  

The boys got fruit snacks and band-aid, SK got chalk and band-aids, and Neil received body wash and tootsie rolls. I got some hand soap.

Sarah Kathryn was thrilled!  She loves chalk.

And big brother feeding her fruit snacks.

My sweet 3!

We went to Dad's house next to see what we received!  A new addition this year was Carolyn's shoe...how sweet!

SK didn't know what to think!

Dad went and picked up a delicious breakfast of McDonald's and we enjoyed it together.  What a fun morning!

Happy birthday, Pops!

We celebrated Pops' birthday and it was a low-key good time.  Carolyn had a spread with lasagna, salad, bread, and delicious strawberry cake!  So glad to be invited!  The boys picked out all sorts of gifts for him at Dollar Tree.  They love being able to pick out just the perfect thing for their grandparents.  They even picked out the gift bags they wanted for him.

Henry was excited about the monster gift bag, baton, and green marker.

Henry picked out a Halloween decoration.  Bennett gave him a book light in a football gift bag.

Carolyn gave him knives and a knife block.

Happy birthday!

After dad received all of his gifts from the boys he said "what am I supposed to do with all this stuff?" and "are these called gag gifts?" RUDE!  Be grateful!

Sweet Summertime

We've been soaking up the last few days of summer around here.  But, that also comes with dentist appointments, projects around the house, and other random fun.  This was the first time Henry has actually let the dentist look in his mouth.  Great job, Henry!  He even got his teeth cleaned!

Thanks, Ray!

We got our kitchen cabinets painted white!  Yay!  Now, I just need to get my back splash done.  :)

Birthday parties galore

Neil changed out the medieval hall lights to these sweet drum lights.  He is so handy, he can do anything.

Happy 25 years!

Dad celebrated his 25 years of sobriety!  Raise your glass of any non-alcoholic beverage and say cheers to 25 years! Great job, Dad!

We celebrated with a delicious Peanut Butter Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache.  It was so good I thought it needed capital letters.  We all met at Port au Prince for a fun 2 hours dinner with 5 kids.  Since it was taking so long, Dad left to get to his meeting before he ate.  Memories.