Christmas Morning

Huh. For some reason this post never got published. Christmas in April :)

Caeden has been asking for a Wii for two years now and Santa finally brought one....think he's excited?

Christmas Party and Gingerbread houses!

This years Mike's family Christmas party was a lot of fun. We had a great time, relaxing, eating, exchanging gifts and even making gingerbread houses.......

The Mama.....

Of course, to an almost two year old, the packaging is always better than the actual gift.....

Each family got a house to work on together. The boys had fun decorating our gingerbread cottage, but I think they enjoyed eating the rock-hard cookies, glue-like frosting, and stale granite candy even better. To each his own I guess......

Proudly showing off the finished product.....

Hogle Zoo Christmas Light and Santa

This was a fun activity we did with my sister and her kids before Christmas......

I just had to post this picture of my niece, it's so funny. She was showing us how excited she was to go see Santa. I love her so much, she's so stinkin' cute!

Wayne's Birthday Party

This last week was a hard one for me and my family. It was my brother, Wayne's, birthday on Nov. 22nd, he would have been 33. This was the first year in my entire life that I didn't talk to him or see him on his birthday. We also happend to recieve word from the mortuarty that his headstone was finally in place. In honor of Wayne we gathered a group of family and friends at the cemetary to celebrate.

We sure picked a cold and windy day! We did it on Sat. Nov 20th and my dad found out that by sheer coincidence that day is the National Suicide Survivors Day, for those who don't know the lingo, a Suicide Survivor doesn't refer to someone who attempted and failed to committ suicide, it refers to the surviving loved ones left behind when someone succeeds with suicide......how appropriate.


We bought 33 balloons and each took a turn writing a personal birthday message to Wayne on our balloon with marker.

Our plan backfired when the balloons were so tangled (from the wind) that we couldn't get them seperated so we decided to let my two brothers release them as a bunch......and they promptly got blown into a tree. We just laughed it off and said that Wayne probably had a hand in that one....he loved to tease!

Afterwards we all had hoagie sandwiches and pumpkin pie, we always had pumpkin pie on Wayne's birthday.

Seeing this was tough.......

Even though it's been 7 months it still doesn't seem real at times. His name just does NOT belong on a headstone. I love him and miss him more than I can say. I think of him every single day. Happy Birthday Big Brother!

Memorial Day Breakfast & Aunt Margie

One of the (many) times that I got behind on my blog I skipped posting about a Memorial Day- Family Reunion- Breakfast that we had with my moms family. I got some great pics of her with her only surviving siblings. My Uncle Steve and Aunt Margie. I think I've mentioned before that I don't have very close relationships with most of my extended family. My mom is quite a bit younger than the rest of her family and they only seem to have get togethers about once every ten years. I know that my Aunt Margie's health has been failing so I thought I'd take some opportunities to get some pictures.

My Uncle Steve and Aunt Ann.....

My mom with her brother and sister......

Honestly, I almost didn't go. I woke up that morning and just wanted to stay home, I was feeling tired and since I don't know a lot of my moms family I feel uncomfortable and shy at their gatherings. I knew my Aunt Margie would be there though and I wanted to see her again so I went. I'm so so so glad I did because little did I know, this was the last time I would have a conversation with this beatiful lady.....

My Aunt Margie passed away on Nov. 9, 2010. I have gotten to know this wonderful lady quite well in the last few years and I grew to love her very much. I love my mom and nobody could ever replace her, but she and I are like night/day. We are so different. We don't understand each other at all. A little part of me always wondered why I didn't take after her more. That part stopped wondering when I got to know my Aunt Margie. We were so much alike! After we developed a relationship she really went above and beyond to keep it flourishing. She would call me all the time when I was pregnant or just had a new baby just to check up on me. She always made it a point to attend any showers/blessings/special occasions my family had. We would always hoard any apricots that came our way every fall so we could make/swap her famous Apricot-Pinapple-Orange jam. We loved to talk cooking and recipes. I'm glad she's out of pain and won't suffer anymore, but I will miss her so much!

I went out the night before she died, she was pretty heavily sedated, and I don't know how aware she was, but I got the chance to tell her goodbye and let her know how much she meant to me and how much I loved her. Her daugher came up to me in the hall and told me that a couple of days before she started going downhill my Aunt Margie had been talking about me and my boys and wondering how we were all doing. She said she wanted to see us. I wish I would have known. Never take those you love for granted. Make sure they always know how much you love, cherish, and appreciate them. You never know when a conversation will be your last.

I've had to deal with a lot of death this last year. It's been tough. I'm learning that I don't take it well. I have to fight to keep from sinking into a depression. It feels like the forces of grief are almost overwhelming. I'm so grateful to have the Gospel in my life. As heartwrenching as it is to lose somebody you love at least I know that this is not the end and I will see them again. I can't imagne the hopelessness death must bring if you don't have those convictions. I know I'll be with Aunt Margie again. In the meantime, I keep picturing her loving and maternal personality just enveloping Wayne and taking care of him for us. That thought brings me peace for both of them. I will always love her!

Margorie Jones Turner 1937-2010

Margorie Jones Turner, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, sister, aunt and friend passed away peacefully November 9, 2010 at her home in Magna Utah. Born January 5, 1937 to Charles Elvin and Helen Clawson Jones in Salt Lake City UT and attended Granite High School in Murray, UT. Margie married her high school sweetheart and lifelong partner Norman Edward Turner on February 11, 1955 at a ceremony at the "Jensen Home" in Salt Lake City. Margie and Norm lived in Jacksonville, FL, Bremerton, WA and San Juan Puerto Rico during Norms tour of duty on board the aircraft carrier the USS Franklin Roosevelt, then finally settling in Lompoc, CA, where they lived for 31 years. Margorie had a gentle heart and loved her family. An avid reader, she also enjoyed camping, crotcheting, tending to her rosebushes, and was always adding to her collection of rosebud figurines. Movie musicals were one of her favorite forms of entertainment and a passion she shared with her children and their children. A wonderful cook, special occasions always found her preparing one of her signature baked Banana Cream Pie, Pineapple Cheesecake, or Chocolate Cake with homemade frosting. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Marjorie taught primary school, and her loving nature led her to a calling as the Compassionate Serving Leader in the church Relief Society. Margorie is survived by her husband of 56 years, Norman; their three children, Raymond (Karen) Turner of Springbranch, TX; Ronals (Monica) Turner of Nixa, MO; and Trudy (Bradley) Ellis of UT; brother, Steve Jones, and sister, Patricia Bond. She will be missed greatly by her seven grandchildren; Emily and Audrey Turner of San Antonio, TX; Jennifer Hurlich and Nick Turner of Springfield, MO; and Trudi Anne, Amanda, and Orion Ellis of UT; as well as her five great-grandchildren, Jordan Turner, Jacob and Mckenzie Hurlich, Tyler and Adien Turner. She was preceeded in death by her parents; her son Stephen Lynn; brother Robert Jones; and sisters Geraldine Bons and Cherylyn Jones. Funeral Services will be held on November 15, 2010 at the Magna Stake Center. Interment: Utah Veterans Memorial Park.

Family Pictures 2010

One of my seriously talented friends started up her own photography business, Allyson Bos Photography, and she took our family pictures out at Wheeler Farm. I love them! Love-love-love them! I catch my breath looking at these, she did such a fantastic job capturing the boys..... I can't post all 60-something pictures she gave us, but trying to pick my favorites is really tough, they're all so good!

More pics of the boys.......

Me.....

Mike.....
Even though we have had the kids pictures taken now and then (not near often enough!), Mike and I haven't had OUR pictures taken for years. It's nice to have a couple pictures of just the two of us......

Halloween (very Belated!)

Am I the only person who shuts down when something overwhelms me? It's one of my biggest faults. You could walk through my house and spot out the areas that overwhelm me because I never do anything about them. Well, the blog is at that point right now. I keep getting behind and then I look at all the pics/stories I need to post and I don't know where to start.

Anyway, point of that tangent is I'm going to try and catch up (again) and that's why I'm posting about Halloween when it's getting into the Christmas season. Better late than never, right?

We had a great year, but we always do. I love Halloween. It's one of my favorite holidays......maybe even my favorite.

Me, the boys, and their Papa & Nana went to do the Witches Scavenger Hunt at Gardner Village. I had never done it before and we loved it! I'm pretty sure it's going to be an annual thing now.....

The annual Jarvis Halloween Party.....

I guess always being a princess gets boring and she had to kick it up a notch.....

No, the big ol' wrap on my finger isn't part of my costume. I decided to cut a big chunk off while preparing dinner and the only way we could get it to stop bleeding was duct tape.....that stuff really is good for everything.....

How cute is grandma?

Weston putting on his cousins thigh-high boots and trying to walk......

I thought this year would be a ruined mess because we got the mother-of-all-rainstorms early in the evening. There wasn't a trick-or-treater to be seen! The boys were done even though they'd only been out for 20 min. They were soaked and wanting to just go get dry. Thankfully the storm eventually cleared out and the kids and their parents came out in force!

We've started a new tradition of setting up a Haunted House in our garage every year. We had such a great turn-out for it this year......I think the word is getting out (yeah!!). Our two teenage nieces, Morgan and Tia, came and helped out this year. They did fantastic and I think they had a great time. It is just too much fun! I was coming down with the stomach flu that night so I didn't even think to get pics, but next year.....

I was a spider web and Weston was my spider.....

The cutest Indian/Harry Potter/ Mountain Man I ever saw......