Jones Family Mortal Adventure

JONES FAMILY BEST And WORST 2011

2011-12-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

Jones Family 2011 Best and Worst

Joycie (8 months)

Best – puffy-cheeked raspberries - blowing food allover her tray - to announce that she’s done eating.

Worst – Family fights about who gets to have the first five minute turn with Joycie during long church meetings.

Quotes: “She WON’T grow up!” Sage,wishing for a better play partner, accuses Joycie of slacking off.

Sage (3 years)

Best – Watching her long hair swish as she dancesand sings to her eclectic itunes playlist

Worst – Watching the most impressive tantrums anyJones child has yet produced

Quote: “If you fall into this kind of potty. . . you’re GONE.” (Sage has healthy respect forcampground potties)

Mercy (6 years)

Best – applying all her good cheer, creativity, and intellect to raising Sage

Worst – subjecting all of us to the Annie soundtrack hundreds... and hundreds...maybe thousands... of times

Quote: “Which mommy do you want to rinse out your hair?” (Mercy speaking to Sage, meaning Holly-Mom or Mercy-Mom)

Oak (10 years)

Best – Another year of peace in his heart, without anger toward any other person.

Worst – Oak has yet to outgrow a messy streak -- don't peek under his bed or in his closet....

Quote: “Actually, Noah’s more of a hoodoo than a mountain.” (Oak’s scientific mind manifest inresponse to someone calling Noah a mountain)

Danny (12 years)

Best – Pushing ahead in math for the pure pleasure doing math -- He’sstudying with the kids 2 grades ahead.

Worst – Pushing Mercy’s buttons

Quote – “It was an accident!” (is it really an accident when Dannypulls a fire alarm in a crowded church for the SECOND time in his short life?)

Noah (14 years)

Best – Loves his experience at the German-speakingEFY, watching him toss and twirl his little sisters through the air

Worst – Too cheap to buy new Sunday shoes, Noah must at times be reigned in by the fashion police prohibiting him from wearing his navy blue suit with worn brown loafers.

Quotes – “You know, it is easier to be confidentwhen you always had a friend that was a girl who would tell you that all herfriends thought you were cute.” (boy,tough work being a teenager…)

Mike (39 years)

Best – Daddy Warbucks wows Noah’s friends with hisretro dance moves at a school formal.

Worst - Instead of watching fishing videos late into the night, Mike now watchesYouTube videos about coaching competitive boys basketball – new offenses, drills, etc. (Oak and team are the lucky beneficiaries).

Holly (39 years)

Best – Jumpshots at a deserted beach in Costa Rica at 5 months pregnant

Worst – No improvement on my 12-minute mile runningpace.
Quote from Sage, summing up so many sweet moments during 2011: “I a princess.” (pause, and taking my hand) “I YOUR princess, Mommy.”

FATHER AND SONS-- Flyfishing

2011-06-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

FATHER AND SONS

Flyfishing

James, Dad, Ammon, and I on Eagle Lake

Map of the Sixlakes Property

In June my Dad and two of my three brothers joined me at the Eagle Cabin on SixLakesUtah near Altamont, Utah for two days of flyfishing, feasting, and fun. We had originally planned the trip for last fall, but James' Father-in-Law, Joe Routt passed away unexpectedly and so we had to cancel the trip and reschedule for this year in June. To the credit of the SixLakes Property, they did not take my reservation fee despite our last-minute cancellation last fall. Since I had paid for the whole trip last year, it almost felt like it was free this year because the money was already spent out of last year's budget.

Aaron was not able to join us because he and Amy had already scheduled a vacation at the same time. Aaron was also recently called into his ward bishopric, making it doubly difficult for him to get away on the weekend.

The fishing was amazing. I caught huge Rainbow trout from Meadow Lake and Loon Lake. We all caught small rainbows from Totem Lake, and we caught a mixture of rainbows, brown, and tiger trout from Eagle lake and Duck Lake.

For any considering a family flyfishing trip or a guys weekend away, I highly reccomend the SixLakes property. It is in a beautiful setting and the cabins are more than comfortable. We enjoyed the fishing, horse shoes, rifle shooting, jogging on the country roads surrounding the property, and lots of great BBQing.

ARCHES NP and Rapelling in the DARK

2011-05-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

The kids had the day off on Friday and so we borrowed a 12-seater Van from some close friends and took our kids and two friends to Moab for the day. We were hoping to escape the rain soaked weather of northern Utah and we were ALMOST successful. Our main goal on this trip was to celebrate Oak's 10th Birthday. He had specifically asked to go on a family adventure including some rappelling.

Holly baked the cake, but didn't get it decorated before we left town. The decorations were added with the help of Mercy and Sage, while nursing Joyce on the side of route 279 between Moab and Potash. While Holly was decorating the cake I was helping the older kids rappel down a 70ft cliff in the dark. We ended up leaving the rappelling site at 1030PM and didn't arrive home until 0230 in the morning on Saturday.

We had lots of fun playing on the big sand dune just outside Arches National Park and then driving into the park for some sight seeing and a hike to Delicate Arch in the pouring rain. Due to the rain, we arrived at Delicate Arch and had it to ourselves for about 20 minutes. All in all it was a wonderful family adventure from which we have spent the remainder of the weekend recovering.

2011-04-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

With Holly just 10 days post-partum, and feeling better than she ever has at this point after a delivery, we decided to take a spontaneous road trip. Holly's brother and sister-in-law had just returned from a weekend trip to Lake Powell and Goblin Valley State Park. They had nothing but good things to say about both places and so we decided to explore Goblin Valley ourselves. We have wanted to get down there for a couple of years but have never made it happen.

I had the day off of work, and we decided a family road-trip was an excellent reason for the kids to play hookie from school for the day. Noah was the only one that had hesitations as he actually "feels responsible" for attending his ballroom dance, choir, and drama classes where his absence puts his partners and class at a slight disadvantage. He had no problem missing math, language arts, science, or history, where he feels he can easily catch up or do the work on the road. Anyway after showing him a few photos online of Goblin Valley, I had him convinced that the adventure was worth missing a day of school.

JOYCE JOANN JONES is BORN

2011-04-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

It's a GIRL!!!

JOYCE JoANN JONES

Born April 15, 2011
8 lbs. 11 oz
21 inches

Holly was amazing and is doing wonderfully. With the birth of Joyce JoAnn (baby number six), Holly has now given birth in three states, on two different continents, and under almost every variety of non-complicated modern medical care. (in-hospital natural birth with midwives, in-hospital birth with Ob/Gyn and epidural, in hospital birth with Ob/Gyn and IV pain control, and now natural birth in a birthing tub at a birthing center with direct entry midwife. She is my HERO and a shining example of the courage, strength, grace, and FAITH that all women must possess to undertake the journey to motherhood.

Holly just 24 hrs before going into Labor

Holly blames the above photo for starting her labor

Holly and Joyce at 0400 on April 15th, just 2.5 hrs after giving birth. This is our Midwife, Heather and her assistant, Jenee. We were home and asleep in our own bed at 0500 that morning. It was fun to have the kids wake up that morning and not even know that we had a new baby until they came into our room to say good morning.

JUNGLES, BATS, CLOUD FORESTS, ALLIGATORS

2011-01-28T18:16:00.000-08:00

JUNGLES, BATS, CLOUD FORESTS, ALLIGATORS


January on a secluded beach in Manuel Antonio NP, Costa Rica

Despite Holly being 6 months pregnant, we decided to start the New Year with a bang and took off for a week of jungles, crocodiles, monkeys, cloud forests, birds and beaches in Costa Rica. Why Costa Rica? Three major reasons: We wanted sunshine in January, we didn't have time to adjust to a new time zone, and we wanted more adventure and freedom to roam than you get with a Carribean or Mexican resort destination. Because Costa Rica is only slightly east of Utah, the time zone is only one hour different. Rather than book a package vacation deal, which probably would have been cheaper, we decided to go for spontaneity and freedom. We purchased plane tickets, rented a car online, and booked only our first hotel, planning to make up the rest of the trip as we went. It worked out great and we thoroughly enjoyed a week of adventures, some among throngs of tourists, and others way off the beaten path.


Another secluded beach in Manuel Antonio NP


The Costa Rican National Motto, the PURE LIFE

As with most destinations we have traveled to, we found more to do than we could possibly pack into a week. We promised ourselves we will return to this amazing country in Central America. Here is the introductory paragraph about Costa Rica from Wikipedia:

"Costa Rica, which means "Rich Coast", constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949.^[6]^[7]^[8] It is the only Latin American country included in the list of the world's 22 older democracies.^[9] Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in the Human Development Index (HDI), ranked 69th in the world in 2011.^[5] Also was cited by the UNDP in 2010 as one of the countries that have attained much higher human development than other countries at the same income levels,^[10] and in 2011 was highlighted by UNDP for being a good performer on environmental sustainability, and better record on human development and inequality than the median of their region. It was also the only country to meet all five criteria established to measure environmental sustainability.^[5]^"

^{Here are a few photos from our amazing adventure:}

Not quite Walmart, but it had everything-- at great prices!!

Holly on a suspension bridge in the Cloud Forest NP at Monteverde

The CASADO-- meat, fried sweet plantain, beans, rice, and salad, for $2-- this was our staple

I probably took 300 photos at the hummingbird garden just outside the Cloud Forest NP

Holly admires one of seven chicks being raised by six year old Jose. He keeps them warm in the family outhouse

Here is Jose's home. His grandmother, parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings all live here. They own a banana plantation and charge lost tourists for access to a local waterfall in the jungle.

On our second day in the country we drove about 10 km from Monteverde on a very steep mountain road. We found ourselves in a beautiful valley full of coffee plantations and home to the University of Georgia's Costa Rican campus. While driving along the road we passed a middle-aged man that looked American. We stopped to ask him what he was doing in the area. He explained that he was a biology professor from a small mid-western state college and had brought a group of undergraduate students to Costa Rica for a month-long study abroad. They were specializing in bat studies. He invited us to join them that night catching bats with mist nets and then studying their characteristics. We couldn't pass up that kind of offer and so after dinner we headed back to the UGA campus and joined the group. We caught 5 bats in 30 minutes and learned all kinds of fascinating stuff about the little mammals.

Our kind professor, examining a bat's wing for distinguishing features

On our drive down the mountain from Monteverde, we came upon some fellow tourists who had lost a tire. It wasn't just flat, it was gone. They had watched it roll away from their car and off the side of a 500 foot cliff into a jungle-fill ravine below. They had splurged for the full-sized SUV at the rental agency, but somehow the car didn't come with a usable jack or extra lug nuts. We were the first folks to stop and help, but as you see below, within 30 minutes we had plenty of other willing hands. I felt bad for this young couple who had planned a tight itinerary and were now going to have to spend a full day waiting for a replacement vehicle to be driven from San Jose.


Holly with our unfortunate friends as a tour bus driver explains the options

^{We gave them a ride off the mountain so that they could wait in a restaraunt at the base of the mountain rather than sweat it out in 90 degree heat with their non-functional car on this rocky, dusty road to Monteverde.}

En route from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio, we stopped and took a boat tour entitled "The Alligator Man Tour". I had to take some pictures of the locals fishing the waters that were infested with these monster gators. They were more than happy to pose for my shots and show me their catch.

Aptly named vessel "The Miracle"

Some Interesting Bird

Our tour was amazing for both the alligators and the birdlife that we got to see and photograph. I wish I could remember the names of these specimens, but I know I have never seen them north of the border.

American Pygmy Kingfisher

Southern Crested Caracara

That is a WILD ALLIGATOR.... Need I say more

A recent hurricane had really wreaked havoc on the trails in Manuel Antonio NP, so we just ignored the signs and found lots of VERY secluded beaches. :)

Road Trip to the Redwoods

2009-04-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

Spring Break Roadtrip to Redwood National Park

When we moved back to the USA in 2008, Holly and I promised ourselves that we would not stop traveling. While living in Europe, we utilized every school vacation to it's fullest and sometimes even kept the kids out of school for a few days to accomodate our family road trips. We decided that here in the America, we will do the same thing. We have decided to make the National Parks our major destinations and to explore interesting places as we travel between these National Treasures.

We had already made plans for Noah to return to Germany during this Spring Break and to attend school with his old classmates there. So for the first time, we took off on a road trip without our eldest child.

Sage was fascinated by the Salt Flats just outside Wendover, Utah

We stopped and tasted more than 40 types of olives in Corning, California-- The Olive Capitol of the USA


Danny collects huge pine cones along the Trinity River

Holly and I fell in love with Redding, California. What a beautiful small city in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The drive along the Trinity River from Redding to the California Coast was gorgeous, but the road was definitely not strait. We stopped many times to enjoy the beautiful riverside scenery and let the kids have a break from the car to prevent car sickness and the ugliness that follows.

2009-03-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

From 07 08

Noah will turn Twelve this week. How recently it seems he was our little toddler in the Bronx, responding to the question, "How old are you?" with the unexpected, "I'm Eightween months."

We have been fortunate with our oldest child. He has been fun and easy to raise and so eager to learn about and explore the world. For those who share our Faith, you can appreciate the thoughts we have as Noah passes from the ranks of a Mormon "child" including participation in Primary, Cub Scouts, and efforts to earn the Faith In God Award, into the brotherhood of the Aaronic Priesthood, Boy Scouts, and young-adulthood. We hope he is well-prepared to face the challenges of adolescence in this wonderful, high-tech, high-speed world with all it's amazing opportunities, but also it's intense bombardment with things profane, selacious, and negative.

He and I will leave tomorrow for a Fly-fishing Adventure on the Green River. I hope to make it a family tradition to take each of my boys on such an adventure at the time they turn twelve. I remember my Dad taking me on such a trip when I turned twelve. For me it included my first airplane flight, my first individual fishing adventure with my Dad, and many memories of my Father that have inspired me in my own attempts at loving and nuturing my own children.

Hopefully Holly will have a similar adventure with each of our girls as they reach that magic age.

We just returned from Noah's Orchestra concert. The music was superb and I loved the excited smile Noah gave me as I told him how much I enjoyed listening to the concert. He said, "It is pretty cool, uh, Dad."

I realized last week that I will likely never keep up with Noah in my knowledge of things. I may have a slight advantage now, only based on my extra 25 years of study and experience, but I am not a learner like he is. At this point he reads an average of 1,000 pages a month-- and that is without any pressure from school or parents. I only hope that his formal schooling will never get in the way of his education and love of reading.

The only thing Noah likes more than learning and reading, is telling others about all his thoughts and ideas. During a recent game of BLOCKUS with our boys, I was becoming frustrated with all the time spent talking between turns. I told Noah to "stop commentating and take your turn." Oak, our quiet observer immediately replied, “Noah is very good at commentating.” Oak our observer speaks truth about Noah our commentator.

2008-06-30T01:23:00.000-07:00

THE JONES FAMILY

From Jones Family Mortal Adventure

Holly and I met during our senior year at BYU in 1995. We were engaged on Angel's Landing in Zion National Park on December 2, 2005 and married in the Logan LDS Temple on April 26, 1996.

We lived in the Bronx, NY from 1996-2000 while I attended Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Holly studied part-time at the Julliard School. Noah and Danny were born during those years in New York City. We LOVED the BRONX and especially cherish friendships built during those years with incredible people from all over the world that we lived with, worshipped with, and worked with while living in that melting pot of humanity.

We lived in San Antonio, TX from 2000-2004 while I completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at SAUSHEC (Brooke Army Medical Center, Wilford Hall Medical Center, and UT San Antonio). Holly completed her Masters in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at UTSA and Oak was born during those beautiful warm years in Texas.

In 2004 we moved to Germany. I was assigned as the Brigade Flight Surgeon for the 12th Aviation Brigade on Giebelstadt Army Air Field in northern Bavaria. We found a magical home in the small town of Sulzdorf, just 7 km from Giebelstadt and 30 km south of the beautiful city of Wurzburg. Mercy was born during our time in Germany. Our adventure in Germany and Europe is described more fully in another post on this blog.

From March 2005 through Feb 2006 I was deployed to Afghanistan with the 12th Aviation Brigade. I left Holly with the 3 boys and 2 month-old Mercy. Thanks to Holly's amazing strength and love of adventure, she and the kids thrived throughout this separation. They remained in Sulzdorf and traveled throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland while I took care of the pilots and soldiers in Afghanistan. My adventure is detailed in another post on this blog.

In 2008 I left the Army and we moved to Pleasant Grove, Utah. I am a partner in the North Valley Emergency Physicians group providing emergency medical care to patients at IHC American Fork Hospital. We live just one mile from the hospital and are loving the easy access to world-class skiing, fishing, and hiking in the mountains that surround Utah Valley. We have also enjoyed living near my siblings and their families. Ammon and Aaron are in dental practice together here in Pleasant Grove at Jones Dental. James is the librarian at Orem High School, and Ani lives just around the point of the mountain in SLC with her husband and two children.