(L to R) Excitement at receiving KU gear for upcoming March Madness; an adorable outfit from Gma; copying the musical dog head nod; risque Cmas wear from Gma!; modeling H's new purse; cool boy with his surf shirt from A/A; playing with Cmas toys (sans coffee pot!); posing with Mr. Snowman- a legend from my childhood; opening gifts & the frenzy of getting them out of the box; watching Elf with cousin Emmie; beautiful Gma in bubble wrap; fun in a new outfit!
We had a great time celebrating Christmas Eve with Dave's family: an amazing turkey dinner, sledding, church at Clover Lutheran where Dave grew up, & some wonderful gifts (Noah loves his light up book & I love my Pampered Chef!) Merry Christmas, Jones fam!
(Dec. 22) All bundled up & ready to venture out again! (The secret to keeping Noah happy while getting him 'winterized' - let him watch The Little People!) And yes, those are my slipper socks on his feet - that was the only thing I could think of to close the gap between his snowsuit & boots!
Dave did a great job of keeping our walk clear throughout the storm. Nothin' like a good cowboy hat to keep your hat warm! And the boys loved watching their crazy daddy from inside.
(Dec. 21) It has snowed a bunch lately - much more than I ever remember before Christmas. Dave & I decided to brave the elements & take Noah & Mars for a walk to the Maverick to get a redbox movie. We were the only ones out! It was beautiful & so cold.
(December 17) Noah loves to help do laundry - this time he was collecting our dirty clothes & throwing them in the dryer. A little misdirected, but helpful nonetheless!
(December 5) We picked out a Christmas tree & put it up over the course of a few days while Noah slept. He went crazy when he came downtairs to find it full of lights and ornaments! His favorite: the wienie dog ornament (he pants at it). And Noah helped Dave put the star on top!
(December 3) Sometimes, Dave watches Noah's cousin Olivia. Noah has such a wonderful time playing with her! They are so cute together.
(Last year we gave him a flock of ducks.)
Okay, so we're not actually giving him a sheep - we're giving one to an impoverished family on his behalf, through Heifer International. And in return for receiving that sheep, the family will give one of its offspring to another needy family in their community. That family also agrees to give away one of their sheep's offspring - and before you know it, the whole village has soft, warm wool & the hope of self-sufficiency!
Advancing the cause against hunger & poverty - a sweet Christmas present!
Santa visited our house early this year & left behind some lovely gifts! I have a shiny new Professional Series Kitchenaid mixer on my counter, and Noah has "Ike", our ROOMBA vacuum, to play with! (We almost called it "Mr. Belvedere", since it not only cleans the house, but babysits, too!) He loves following it around & letting it bump into him. Every morning, he goes into the office & points at it so we'll turn it on. Clean floors with the push of a button - that's my kind of housework!
Noah Jones is on the move & in the groove! 
This year, we returned to Boise the day after Thanksgiving (after getting up really early to do a bit of shopping, of course!) To properly ring in the holiday season, we went to the Boise Holiday Parade on Saturday morning. It was our first time, and it was so much fun! (Well, until it got really rainy & cold & I wimped out.) We're going to make this a tradition!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, celebrating with both the Jones & Redman families (and eating two turkey dinners in one day)! But don't feel bad for us, because they were both delicious. Noah really enjoyed both meals & had a great time playing with the turkey leg bone, too!
Noah had a great time messing around at Grandpa's that weekend - he especially enjoyed loving on Jigs (Grandpa's cat) & taking wagon rides with his cousins!
(Grandpa with Noah & Mars last September; Noah was 2 mos. old)
(4 generations of Jones men, in April)
Here's something to give thanks for: Halloween pictures of Noah Jones! 
Eeyore & I drove to Twin Falls, surprised my Mom, & went to the harvest festival at my parent's church. He had a great time watching the other kids, eating saltines (no candy this year!) and playing a few games. His favorite: the Bible story walk, complete with a burning bush & adults dressed as Moses, sheep & shepherds (kudos to the Bybees & Gentrys)!
And then we returned home & had fun handing out candy. He was absolutely enchanted by a beautiful, 4 year-old princess who came to the door (he reached out & touched her hand!) We had a great Halloween!
(October 30) Noah loves working on the computer. With just a few clicks & presses of a button, he shows us new features we didn't even know existed!
(October 25) To celebrate Dave's Dad's birthday, we spent a weekend on the farm in Castleford. It was beautiful weather! Noah had a great time down watching the cows down at the corrals, playing in the cattle trailer, working on the lights & 'driving' the truck, and having a morning cup of coffee with the boys at Grandpa Jones' house. It was a really nice weekend!
(October 24) Noah is so funny when he falls asleep - he goes & goes, and then finally just crashes. I went into his room the other day to find him sprawled out with his legs up over the crib bumper, sticking clear out of the crib!
(October 21) My sister Heather came to watch Noah while Dave was out of town for a few days, and Noah loved it - they played, and played, and played! She captured a few pictures of their silly times together. Thanks, Heather!
(October 18) Taking advantage of a wonderfully sunny & warm fall day, Dave & I decided to take Noah to a pumpkin patch/farm near our house.
Noah loved it - we took a hayride, went to a petting zoo, walked through the pumpkin patch & studied the tractor pulling the flatbed full of people. It was fun!
On Thursday, Dave decided to take Noah to the zoo, and boy were the animals happy to see him! They all came out as soon as Noah & Dave arrived. Noah loved the animals, but was especially excited whenever the planes flew overhead. (This kid loves watching planes!)
The Lawrence Welk Show is on PBS on Saturday nights at 7. Why do we know this? Because Noah loves him some Lawrence! When he was little, Noah would sit in his car bouncer & watch it while we ate. And last week, he was flipping channels (gotta watch out when he gets control of that remote) & found Lawrence. He bops along with the music & claps with the audience when each song is over!
Two weeks ago, we went to Twin Falls to celebrate my sister's birthday. (My younger sister & her husband flew in from CA as a surprise!) It was so much fun having the whole family together. Noah especially liked playing with one of Heather's presents, a nesting (stacking) doll. I can't believe how big he's getting - he doesn't look like a baby anymore!
My mom got Noah this adorable outfit awhile ago - it's so comfy & perfect for lazy Saturday mornings!
Remember the light snow I mentioned last week? It turned in to a significant snow, with big, beautiful flakes. I can't remember the last time it snowed in October!
And here's what we didn't reckon for: you can't plant a tree on a slope.
For the record: I helped (I worked on the irrigation trench), but my husband did almost all of the work. (Thank you, Love!)
Today, Noah & I had a great time playing on both sides of the sliding glass door. We left lots of face-prints! (You'll have to excuse the dirty glass & the flash - these were too good not to post!)
