Thanksgiving Weekend 2009

This year, Thanksgiving was at my parents house. It was the year the Hone Family got together and celebrated as a family. We had a lot of fun! At about 10:30 everybody went out to a spot not far from my parents house and we did a bit of Skeet shooting. Everyone participated in the "Tournament". Cody Hone and Zach Hone were the winners, most of the time! There were a few people that this was their first time shooting at an actual moving target, so it was great practice and a lot of fun!! For Dinner we had all the usual Thanksgiving items. Thank you mom for preparing a great dinner :-). There were 16-18 people at my mom's house this year. It was great spending time with the Hone family.




On Friday, we took Cody to Bumblee Castle just outside of Cedar City. It is owned by Ree and Renn Zaphiropolous. My Uncle Chris works for them there. He trains and shows their Shire horses.

Here is Jordyn on one of the "Big Horses". She was a little scared, but then again it's a really long way to the ground!

Renn has a "Bentley House" on the property. And yes he does have a Bentley. Cody was in absolute love with this car. There were photos of Renn and Chris watching the process this car goes through to become a Bentley. The car took 4 mos to build, to his specifications.

Just a quick picture of Cody next to a Shire showing just how big they are!

Saturday, Cody and my dad took a Four Wheeler trip along the ridge looking over Snow Canyon. Cody said it was the hardest ride he's ever taken! They got rained on a bit, but saw some excellent scenery. Ashley and I did a bit of shopping while they rode. It was soo much fun just hanging out with Ashley, Jordyn, and Rusti.

Sunday we had Family pictures taken up in Pine Valley. It was windy so it was really really cold. Everyone was a good sport though and some great pictures were taken. We haven't had a family picture taken in about 13 years (not including weddings!) So it will be nice to have those up in frames soon!

It was great to spend so much time with The Family. It seems like we always have a good time, no matter what we do!!

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2009 started out a very busy Holiday. On Thursday Jordyn's preschool had a Halloween party for all the kids. I didn't let Jordyn wear her Tinkerbell hair to school that day. I just knew it would be off and torn apart before it even made it to Halloween night. She brought home so much candy I thought she may not need to go Trick or Treating!

Cody's office does a Halloween party for all of the Team members and their kids every year. This year, Jordyn got really involved! She was the first kid to "Bob for Apples"

She even got one! Without using her hands! Talented, I know!!!

Some of our friends from Cody's work dressed up! Christine and her husband, Brian, were (if you can't tell) Axel and Slash! Eunice was a Twister game :-). The office had hired a magician that all the kids loved. The food was pretty snacky and the kids also got a TON of candy from going from desk to desk within the office. Jordyn played tag with some of the other kids. One little boy kept chasing her all over the courtyard. I think he developed his first crush!! AWWE!

On Saturday evening, Taliah and Alan and their little baby girl, Lylian Jo came down to our house. We wandered over to the Fairgrounds where they were having a Trunk or Treat and other games. Lyli went as a baby Giraffe! She was sooo cute. Jordyn went through the Spook Alley twice. The first time she was fine, the second time, she was scared out of her Tinkerbell hair!! We hung out for a little bit, let Jordyn get yet more candy and headed for home. Once we got home we watched a scary movie and just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Sunday morning was Baby Rusti's blessing over in Orderville. Ashley and Tanner had his Grandpa Rex give the blessing. He did a very good job. The blessing was beautiful. The blessing took place at Tanner's aunt Dott's house! My grandma Ann came from Vegas, and my aunt Sharon and cousins Lacey and Jace made it from Cedar City. Tanner had a lot of family make it! Following the blessing everyone gathered for yummy dutch oven potatoes and 3 different kinds of chicken! What would a Hone event be without those two things?!

Since all of us girls hadn't had a picture taken with just us for a long time, we all got to endure quite a Photo Session! It was fun though :-)

And here is the family minus Tanner (he was cooking!) We'll get him next time! We had a great time with family and friends! I'm so glad I have such a great family and good friends that we can count on to enjoy Holidays and events with!

The Shark Reef!

On Saturday, Cody's office sponsored a golf tournament down in Las Vegas. Jordyn and I decided to go down with him, but to go over to Grandma Ann's and wait for him. We had to be down to Vegas at 6:30 which meant leaving Logandale at 5:15 a.m. I don't do well with early mornings on a Saturday. While Cody was "working", Jordyn, Grandma and myself went out to breakfast. Later that morning, after a much needed nap, we went over to the Halloween Store and got Jordyn her costume! At first she wanted to be "Belle", but just as we were about to check out, she decided she wanted to be "Tinkerbelle"! We got her the costume and of course she wanted to wear it right then. I don't know if she'll be able to wait until Halloween. I've had to hide it so she doesn't play dress up with it already!

At about 2:30, Cody was finished. Nobody had eaten since breakfast, so we were all so so hungry. What would a trip to Vegas be without eating at Yard House? So, off to Yard House it was! It's got the best food, and the atmosphere is so relaxing. They play older rock music while you eat. I've never been disappointed there! While we were eating, Jordyn kept saying she wanted to do something "fun"! Well, what can you do that's fun for a 3 year old in Vegas? We finally decided to take her to the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef. We didn't tell her where we were going. She just figured it out once we were inside.
These Jelly fish were one of her favorite things. I'm not sure if it's because of Finding Nemo, or if it's because the water they were in was pink so you could see them. I just don't know.

From the moment I saw this fish, all I could think about was Deuce Bigalow..."hey fishy fishy" Anyway it was neat!

And of course the Star Fish, was pretty cool also. I couldn't get any good pictures of the Sharks. They were swimming too fast and it was too dark.

Jordyn talked about the Shark place all the way home, and into yesterday. I think the Zoo has been replaced by the Shark Reef!

She's Here!!!

Rusti Kay Crofts has finally arrived! She was born on September 4th, 2009 at 11:00 on the dot. She weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and was 19 1/2 in long. She is such a beautiful baby! Ashley and Rusti went home on Saturday and are doing great. Ashley and Tanner are going to be such great parents. They are just absolutely in awe of their precious little one!

Jordyn was sooo excited to meet Rusti! She couldn't see her in the hospital because of the Swine Flu issue, so she had to wait 3 days before she saw her. She finally got to see her yesterday. She said on the way to St. George, "Do you think that my cousin missed me?" It was so cute. She wasn't quite sure what to think of her when she finally saw her in person, but after about 5 minutes she was following Tanner down the hall and kept a close eye on Rusti. It was pretty funny. She has a new doll named, you guessed it, "Rusti"! She just babysits that doll like I'm sure she would the "real" Rusti. We love Rusti and are so glad she's made it into the world healthy and beautiful!

On other exciting happenings, Jordyn went back to Preschool today! She started Preschool last February right when she was 3. They took a break for the summer, from about the 1st part of June until today. It was a long 3 mos. Some of the kids that were in her class last time, were back this time, others have already moved up to the 4-5 yr olds. Jordyn was so excited to be back. I was glad to have her go back also. She is just a happier kid when she's in school. She only goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-11:30, but that's enough for now.

All in all our family is great! Welcome again Baby Rusti!!

Ashley's Baby Shower

On Saturday, August 22, 2009, we had Ashley's Baby Shower at my mom's house. We didn't really think that she would make it to the Shower, but luckily she did! We had a pretty good turn out. She received so many cute things. This baby will be very well dressed! She has a pretty good start on diapers and wipes. All of her sisters went in on getting her a Travel Playpen that she really wanted. Our family does so many different activities through the year, that it's a necessity! We had the Shower as an Open House so people could just stop by, visit, have a few snacks and leave as they needed to. Well, there were actually a lot of people that stayed and visited for quite a while. It was very nice to visit with people that we haven't been able to for some time. Ashley at first didn't think anybody from Orderville (her husband's family/friends) would make it. About an hour into the Shower her mother-in-law and Grandmother came! She was so glad that they could make it, even if it was just for a few moments. It was a fun Shower! I thank my sisters, mom, and my Aunts for helping me with it!

I had one of my friends from Highschool make this cake for the Shower. She hasn't had any formal training, she's just taken a few classes at Roberts Crafts and read a ton of books! It turned out great!

Ashley is still feeling really great! Her Doctor didn't think she would make it to her Shower, and she did. He just said on Monday that he didn't think she would make to next Monday the 31st! I know she's getting excited. She's doing eveything she can to get things moving. I guess Rusti will come when she's ready. We are so excited to see this cute little baby and welcome her into our Family! I'll update as soon as I have any news!

Our Quiet Weekends

Finally! We've had some quiet weekends. And by quiet, I mean we have actually been home! On ThursdayAugust 6th, Jordyn got sick at Grandma Sharon's. She had a fever of 101, and threw up. Friday was about the same, except for the throwing up part. She had no appetite and was just feeling blah. On Saturday, she was feeling better, fever was down, and she wanted to go swimming. We hit the Logandale Pool for about an hour. At the end she actually said she wanted to go home. That's so unlike her. Usually we are dragging her out of there. We get home, I go to brush her teeth, (yeah I forgot in the morning, don't judge me!) and I notice that her gums are bright red, they are bleeding a bit and she has about 4-5 canker sores in her mouth. After her nap her toungue is white and leathery and really sore. She had 2 more sores on her lips. The rest of Saturday and Sunday were absolutely awful. She wouldn't/couldn't eat. Even drinking water sometimes hurt her mouth. On Monday, I took her to her Dentist in Mesquite. He confimed that she has inherited the lovely Cold Sore virus that runs in my family. He said that kids who experience and outbreak that young, usually experience a pretty brutal outbreak. He thinks that the one's that will follow throughout her life will be just like the one's we all get. I'm trying to find out if there are any Anti Virals that she can take when she starts getting an outbreak. So far, I haven't found out anything there. Poor kid, it took her until about Tuesday the 11th until she could eat bland eggs. Thursday she was back to her normal self and is finally doing fine!

This weekend, we went to the Washington County Fair! We had a really good time. There was Cody, Brieanna, Jordyn and myself that went. Jordyn had a blast, as usual! She went on every ride she could possibly go on. The little kid rides were not fast enough for her. So she went on a lot of the adult rides. It was so much fun having Brieanna go with us. She is seriously a blast!
Later that night, Cody and I went bowling with Chad and D, and Juan and Carrie. I bowled one of my best games. I bowled a 171! It was great fun! Last night was Carrie's Bridal Shower at Chad and D's house. Carrie seemed to have a lot of fun! That is about the extent of our past couple of weeks! Oh one more fun bit of news... Ashley's is really close to having her baby!! The Doctor doesn't think she'll make it to NEXT Monday! Her Baby Shower is supposed to be this Saturday. I'm not sure if we'll be having it Saturday or not! I'll update as soon as anything happens!!

Colorado July 2009

What a crazy couple weeks we've had! My family met up in Salt Lake City on July 24th to go to the Hogle Zoo. Cody has never been to a Zoo and Jordyn loves seeing all kinds of animals.

Jordyn loved all the animals there! On the way home she kept saying, "Guess which one was my favorite?" and then she would tell us about some animal. Then about 3 minutes later she would ask us again, and it would be a different animal. She didn't like the "Stink Bugs" (why they had those there, I don't know). She was so good to walk around and look at every animal exhibit. She never once complained. There was a bird show where the trainers had so many different kinds of birds trained to fly all around the audience. From one side to another, up, down. Jordyn was really in awe of that show.

Cody and I had a great time too. Since this was his first time to a Zoo, he took in all the sights!

I think he found his long lost relatives there!!! Quite the resemblance huh?

After everyone had taken in all there was to offer at the Zoo, we went back to Aunt Stephanie's house. Cody and I gathered all our things and got reloaded to head off to Colorado for a little get away! Jordyn stayed with my Family.

Cody and I drove over through Price and Castledale to get to I-70. It was mostly a pretty drive. The closer you got to Green River, the more desolate it got, but most of the drive was ok. So, we continue driving into the lovely state of Colorado. We get about 10 miles from Fruita, CO and the Jeep all of a sudden looses power. I have an engine light that is flashing and another light that is yelling at me to "check gauges". I panick and pull off at the next exit (in the middle of nowhere) and just sit for a few minutes. Knowing we need to at least try to make it to civilization, we continue down the freeway going about 50 mph. We make it to Fruita! Cody checks all the fluids, and yes even the gas cap! At this point, the engine light is on, but not flashing. We decide to drive to Grand Junction and have it hooked up to a computer in Auto Zone. The Auto Zone guys diagnose it and give us a referral to a garage that happens to be open on Saturdays. By this time it's 8:30 pm in Grand Junction. We find us a hotel and call it a night.

Saturday July 25th, this is where we spend 8 hours getting the Jeep fixed. There is nothing around this garage for us to do. Everywhere we wanted to go we had to walk. We walked to much that day. So 8 hours , $350 dollars, 2 new sensors and an Ignition Coil Pack later, Cody and I decide to cut Denver out of our Vacation. We head up to Paonia where his Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Terry live.

Sunday July 26th, we set out for a drive over McClure Pass. It's gorgeous outside! At the top of McClure it's 58 degrees and raining. Something we haven't experienced in a while. Our plan was to do a big loop from Paonia, over to Carbondale, back over to Grand Junction and back to Paonia. Well, the rain had other plans! It rained so much that it caused a mudslide! Yeah, that left us unable to pass! So we turned around and went back the way we came.

It wasn't a total waste though. We saw some beautiful views and stopped into a funny little town called "Marble". They have a marble quarry there (surprised?). Everywhere you looked there were marble statues. That town had a population of 85! Wow!

This is just a view looking off of McClure Pass into the valley. Kind of pretty!

Since we didn't make it through our loop. We decided to go to a Drive-In Movie that was playing in Delta, CO. For 7 dollars a person you got 2 movies. It was a lot of fun! We saw Ice Age and The Proposal. Both were cute and funny. It was so nice watching a movie from the comforts of your own vehicle. We turned the Jeep backward and opened the hatch. We had a few blankets and pillows so it was very comfy. That night we actually had to put on our sweaters. It got kind of chilly.

For the remainder of the trip we just toured around Colorado. We made it as far a Golden, CO. The weather was so beautiful and mild temperatures. We really didn't want to come back, we were really wanting to just have Jordyn shipped to us and to never leave again!

We made it back home to Logandale around 9:00 pm Wednesday. Both of us were dreading the next day when we both had to be back to work. Jordyn was glad to see us. I think that's the longest she's been away from us since she was tiny. I think it was a good trip for all of us! Very, very relaxing (after the first couple of days anyway)!

We brought back 16 dozen ears of corn to split between us and my family, along with a bunch of other fruit. Jordyn and I ended up freezing our corn. We got about 25 freezer bags. It will definetaly keep us till our next trip to Colorado next July!

We did have a good vacation. Not what we had originally planned, but it was great to get away with Cody. We talked a lot about things for the future and just other events that have been happening in our life. Sometimes the best vacations are the ones you least expect to enjoy!

Taylor Reunion

This weekend we went up to Cedar Mountain to the Taylor Reunion. It was so much fun! Cody, Jordyn and I got up there Friday about Noon. When we left Logandale at 8:30 it was 98 degrees. When we got up to the mountain, it was about 78! Amazing!!

Throughout the weekend, we rode Four Wheelers and just sat and visited with everyone! Jordyn of course loves the four wheelers. She even got to drive one (not alone)!

Cody and I went on a 4 hour four wheeler trip. We got pretty dirty! This is only about an hour in! When Amberlee got back to camp, she went in where Jordyn was. Jordyn took one look at her and screamed. Our faces were completely black! It was alot of fun though.

Saturday night we had a big dinner of Dutch oven Roast, potatoes, the Works! I heard someone say that they counted 26 people at dinner! I think the only person who wasn't there this year was Troy. He had just gotten back from London and needed to get back into Law School mode! We'll forgive him this time!

I have to say I have the greatest family ever! You don't hear of too many families getting together anymore and having as much fun as we do. Our family is really close and it's great to be able to see everyone's families grow!

It was great to get out of the heat and enjoy the "COOL" mountain air! Yes, we even had a little rain!

4th of July 2009

This past weekend was sooo much fun! We started it off by going up to St. George on Friday to get out of our small town and do a little shopping. We had lunch with Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Vic, Shawn, Michelle and Kiley at Pizza Factory. All the other Family members were on Cedar Mountain.

On Saturday, Cody, Jordyn and I went to Mesquite to the Casablanca Pool Party. Jordyn went down the slide about a million times. Each time was just as exciting as the first time. She's getting to be quite natural in the pool. As long as she has her life jacket on, she's good to go! We were there for about 2 1/2 hours. I think Jordyn could have kept going all day long if we had let her!

Later that evening we went over to Danie'l and Chad's home and had a great BBQ with family and friends. Jordyn met a friend there named "Gabby". They were just running through the house. Inside and outside. We finally talked her into going with us to the fireworks at the park. We got there at 9:20, the fireworks started at 9:30! We cut it a little too close! The Fireworks were short and sweet, but Jordyn thought they were neat. She kept saying" How come they keep coming toward me?!" She was quite entertained!

Yesterday, we hit the Casablanca Pool again! Jordyn got to the point yesterday that she would jump off the side of the pool and not want us to catch her. She went and stood in line for the slide all by herself, and didn't want us to catch her at the bottom anymore! I guess the next step is going to be finding swimming lessons for her while she's not afraid of the water!

All in all it was great weekend! Fun times, good food and great company!

"The Reservoir"

This past weekend, we went to the Reservoir in Logandale. It was such a hot weekend and we decided we needed a little sun! So off we went! We were lucky to find a tree that we could sit under to get out of the sun for a little bit and have a picnic.

It's actually a pretty place. The water is a very pretty blue.





Jordyn had a blast. With her Lifejacket and hat on, she was off! The Wasps flying around scared her, but being in the water is nothing to this kid. She likes to say "We were Swimmin Women"! She's such a goof!

Cody and I could've spent all day out there. It was sooo relaxing just floating and enjoying the sun. It really didn't feel like it was 108 degrees out there. After about 2 hours, Jordyn got a bit cranky and everything set her off. So homeward bound we went. Just in time for her to bathe and then crash in her bed.

It was great fun!

Kangaroos, Porcupines, & Camels. Oh My!!

Last Friday, Jordyn's friend Trinity had a birthday party at a little "Zoo" in Moapa. It was actually pretty neat. It was very interactive. You could pet or hold any animal they had there. This Kangaroo is actually the "Grandma". She's 9 years old. They live between 9-12 years. No Boxing Here!

Trinity wouldn't get on the camel unless Jordyn went 1st. So here is Jordyn and Trinity on a 2 year old camel. I thought she would be scared, but it was not even a big deal to her.

Yes, this is a Porcupine and yes the kids were able to pet it. These things are HUGE! I was more scared of these than the kids. They were able to look at the quills that fall out onto the ground. They are pokey, but not like you would think. These guys were busy eating Mangos, Bananas, and other fruit. I guess they can't see very well, so they rely on the sense of smell to get them to their food.

Other animals that were there were Otters, Zebra's, a ZDonk, Lemurs, Wild Bores, about 15 Kangaroos, just other Exotic animals. It was very interesting to see 15-4 year olds interact with animals they have never seen before!

Jordyn's New Earrings

Yes, We did it. Jordyn finally decided that she wanted her ears pierced. Ashley was going in to Claire's to find new earrings and Jordyn wanted some also. Ashley told her that she needed her ears pierced before she could get earrings. Sooo, Jordyn asked, and of course, Grandma said OK!! She was fine, until the first ear was done. After that, it was a no-go situation. Both my mom and I had to hold her hands down and hold her tight so the poor girl could get the 2nd ear done. It was an awful moment. After a promise of anything she wanted in the store she finally stopped crying.

She absolutely loves them now, but whoooeee it was quite the moment!!