Random Happenings!!

Well nothing too exciting going on in the Jones house other than a lot of work and school, but we can't complain things are good! We recently took a trip down to Parowan to visit my parents and of course go to the Iron County Fair which is a pretty big deal for a small town! We had a great time with my parents at the rodeo and of course had to get a Funnel cake! During the day we took a drive up to Brianhead and went on a few hikes and I had to show Tadd the cool visitor spots that overlook all the mountains. It is gorgeous and sometimes I forget about how close it is to my parents house, we really enjoyed it. I am pretty sure we go on hikes everyday or at least a walk somewhere, but we have to take advantage of the good weather before it starts to snow again ah! It was a quick trip, but a fun one at that.

Overlook at a visitor spot in Brian Head 

                                     Tadd & I

              I think Tadd is probably sick of all pictures I take, but he still poses for me:)

                                           On one of our hikes again

It's beginning to feel like fall, and we couldn't be more excited! I may be a little bit more excited than Tadd is, due to the fact that I want to decorate everything and am constantly wanting to craft! Which has worked out because I craft while Tadd watches his million football games on TV, so we are both happy with that arrangement. I already have Halloween decorations up and have made two wreaths and other things to make  our little home all festive. Intramural football has also started for Tadd, "The Purple Cobras." He gets so excited for these games, I came home from work yesterday and he was on the computer watching football clips to get pumped up, as he would call it! I love that he gets excited for these games and I enjoy going to them and watching with all the other wives. He did hurt himself pretty good last night and ending up having to go to the doctor and than the hospital for x-rays, but we were happy to find out that it was just bad bruising, so the poor guy is on a lot of medication, but is being a good sport about it and is still trying to do his homework and helped me with my math, and I can proudly say that I am finally understanding it!!
 We are excited for our trip to Arizona next weekend to visit Tadd's parents and to go to the ASU game! Other than the occasional getaways, we are staying busy and enjoying life!

                                Here are my attempts of being crafty!

Summer comes to end...

As we all know summer is coming to end and we are not very happy about it! School starts tomorrow and the nights where we have just been able to hang out are coming to end. We have had a great summer together and have already been married for three months! Time is flying by, but we are loving every minute of it! We have managed to fit in a few little trips in before life gets a little crazy again! We rented beach cruisers for a couple hours and headed up the canyon for a nice ride, tried to watch a meteor shower up the canyon, but fell asleep in the car with in a few minutes (I guess that's what happens when you get married, bedtime is at 10 ha), and were able to go camping up around Payson with our friends Austin and Ciara! It was beautiful up there and even found the coolest waterfall, but cool didn't we didn't take the camera, it was amazing! This summer has been one of the best summers yet and I am sure the fall will be just as good!

                                  Heading up the Canyon on the cruisers
                                   

                                    On one of our hikes while we were camping

Austin and Ciara

                                              Typical Tadd face ha-gotta love it

                                                 Trying to see the meteor shower

      We finally got a picture of the Mesa Temple with our last name put on it and we love it!

On a side note, just a funny! Any one who knows us, knows that I try to be healthy and Tadd makes fun of me and says junk is better. So the other night we were sitting on the floor and Tadd had been sick all day and was coughing so I got up and told him I had a surprise but he saw that it was a vitamin C chewable so he laid himself down on the flour and tightened his lips as tight as he possibly could while I tried to push it in his mouth laughing, I finally won and got him to put it in his mouth than he sticks it out and says, "Melissa that would be like me grabbing a spoonful of ice cream and shoving it in your mouth!" he smiles and walks away ha but I still won that analogy didn't work for me ha, love that boy.

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Chicago

After Jeff's graduation we tried to take advantage of being in Chicago. It started on a little bit of rough start, the car we rented was a Ford Flex and the navigation system is nearly impossible to use and I normally now how to use them, but this one was so different and the rest of the family did not know how to use it. So needless to say we spent most of our time lost ha. It was an adventure that's for sure. My mom and I tried to go to a Wal-mart that was just down the street but ended up being a two hour drive because we took every wrong turn possible ha but in doing that we got to see the most beautiful houses, (which I forgot to take pictures of) I have never seen anything like them. So at least we got to see the beautiful scenery and just laugh about our little excursion. The trip continued on the foot, but we managed to make it down to the Navy Pier, which was so fun! We went on a boat tour around the Pier on Pirate ship and enjoyed the summer rain and pirate stories. We also took a Train ride to downtown Chicago and had breakfast and later figured out how to use the Navigation system on our last day and took at advantage and headed toward Wrigley Field. That Field was amazing and I wish we would of thought about buying tickets sooner, because when we tried they were sold out! The Field is huge and it was so fun to actually be there in person, so we spent time walking around and going to all the shops. It was a great vacation and I am so grateful that my parents made it possible.

                                  Welcome to Chicago! The buildings are massive!

                                    Walking around the Navy Pier!

                                    Chicago Cubs!!

                                      Outside Wrigley Field!

Although the trip was so fun and such a good experience I was so ready to come home to this boy! It had been five days and I am pretty sure that it was the longest time we have been apart since we started dating ha! He had the house cleaned, car cleaned, and went grocery shopping before he picked me up at the airport! I sure do love this boy!

Little Brother enters the NAVY!

        This past weekend my mom, dad, sister, and I had the opportunity to fly out and see my little brother graduate from the Navy before he got sent off  to Mississippi for more training the next day. It was such a great opportunity and I have never seen anything like it. The graduation was amazing to see how hard all of these young men and women have worked to become part of the Navy! Jeffrey has come so far and I never seen him work so hard in my entire life and I am so proud of him for the decisions he is making to start a future for himself and all he has accomplished so far in the past two months. He is extremely happy that boot camp is over and he can eat real food again and to be able to talk to everyone on the phone instead of writing letters that half the time never got to him. The graduation lasted a few hours, than he had time off to come with us and explore Illinois a little bit before returning ten hours later than getting on a plane at 4am the next day to Mississippi. We wish we were able to see him longer than we did but we were so grateful that we were able to go out there and see him on such an important day of his life. I am so grateful that my parents made that possible for us.

                                         Jeffrey after the graduation ceremony

                                       Sharlene, my dad, Jeff, and me

                                     Jeffrey and proud papa

All of us right before taking Jeffrey back to the Navy base! We are all so proud of you and good luck on your  next adventure!

                                                  

Sundance..

In the end of July Tadd's parents were up and took us all to Sundance to see The Sound of Music! We all really enjoyed it and it was fun to do something different and to be able to enjoy the nice weather. The play was really good and it was beautiful up there! Thanks Kim and Willie for a great night:)

                                  Alexa, Tyson, Mckay, me, Tadd, and Grandma Judy

                                    Willie and cute little Mckay

                                  Tadd & I

                                  Willie & Kim

July updates...

So far this month we have just been trying to enjoy ourselves and doing as much as we can before school starts and everything next month! Nothing too exciting, but we are enjoying married life and being able to do things together. We have taken trips up to Salt Lake and walked around the temple for our Sunday walks, made our first fourth of July cake together and spent time with Family at the park. We are experiencing a lot of first holidays together, which has been so much fun, seeing how we started dating the end of last July! It seems crazy that is has only been a year!

Here is Tadd at the Salt Lake Temple on one of our Sunday walks/Drives

Right next to the reflection pond

Our First Fourth of July cake that actually turned out!

Tadd studying hard for his tests and getting bugged with me for taking a picture of him!














We just recently took a vacation up to Park City this last weekend for a couple days out of Provo. It was such a fun weekend and exactly what we needed to get away from school and work for a bit. We went around the outlets and went shopping, went on the Alpine slide, and went on the zip line! it was so much fun and I never done anything like that before and we both really enjoyed it. After we did all of that I gave in and saw Harry Potter, Tadd loves it and I never got into it, but it still was fun even though I didn't really know what was going on ha! We stayed at Stein Erickson lodge for one night while we were there! It was so amazing and we were so glad that my sister could get us a room up there! Needless to say our weekend was just what we needed and I don't really think were ready to go back to work tomorrow!

Tadd and I on the chair lift to go down the Alpine Slide and zipline!

Tadd and I outside of our room at the resort, ready for dinner!

Here is Tadd's impression of being rich and opening the "bubbly-sparkling cider" as Tadd would say!