WHAT?!?!? Another Post From The Joneses?!?!

You'd think someone is having a birthday!

Twenty-four years ago today, Jessica was born by scheduled c-section. Jessica joined our family consisting of 2 1/2 year old Amy, 6 1/2 year old Shelly, 9 year old Scott, and some guy with black hair.

Jessica was shockingly scrawny at 6 lbs 11 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. Up to that point, our babies had ranged from 8 1/2 lbs to 10 1/2 lbs. Jessica, in comparison, looked positively puny.

 Scott, age 9, and positively puny Jessica, age 2 weeks

Jessica was walking well by the time she was 10 months old.

When Jessica's hair finally grew in it was quite curly.

Jessica, age 2

Jessica always looks so sweet and feminine. That look is so misleading. It's hard to believe now, but Jessica was firmly in terrible two stage from birth through age 6. We used to call her "The Child From Heck", and that was on her good days. As a child Jess was especially fond of telling me how much she hated me. It warped me for life. But Jessica overcame that little quirk and today it's nearly impossible to believe she was ever so difficult.

Jessica, age 4

Jessica was baptized by her big brother Scott.

Jessica, age 8, Scott age 17

I can't tell--do you think Jessica is having fun?

Jessica, age 10, with cousin Spencer 15, and Megan, age 3

Before there was Jimmer, there was Jesser. When Jesser started playing basketball in elementary, she was so much shorter than everyone that she quickly learned to shoot from 3 point range where her shots wouldn't be blocked by tall girls.  It wasn't unusual for her to shoot (and make it) from half court. She frequently was the high scorer for her games.

Jessica, age 11

By the time Jessica got to high school, she had a ridiculously enormous crush on LeBron James.  She was sure she was going to meet him, convert him to Mormonism, and marry him in the temple. 

Thank you, Jorden, for saving Jessica from herself.

Jessica, age 17

Jessica also played softball as a high schooler. One day I got a call asking me to pick her up from practice.  Seems she'd run into a fence while looking skyward and running full speed in an effort to catch a pop-up ball. I rushed to the school, fearing the worst, and there was blood.
 Lots and lots of blood.
Her teammates were screaming, but Jessica was laughing. She was left with a black eye, a cut lip, a bloody nose, and the imprint of chain link on her face.
The coach loved her. Thought she was tough. She is!

Jess, age 15

Jessica had a ridiculous fondness for our yappy mutt, Mikki.  I was sure she was going to wear her lips out from kissing that wad of fur. I always told her no boy would kiss her if she kept kissing that dog.
Yeah, I was wrong. Even when I told Jessie's boyfriends she was cheating on them with the dog, they didn't seem to care...

Jessica, age 15

Jessica was a joy as a teenager--she went through her teenage angst as a toddler and got it over with.

Jessica, age 17 with Dad

This is a picture of the infamous "Pancake Incident".  Ashley and Jessica thought they needed to get into a "who can eat the most" pancake competition one Saturday morning.  They both ended up eating so much I thought I'd have to take them to the emergency room to have their stomachs pumped.  After they couldn't eat another bite, both of them spent the rest of the day laying on the couch and groaning before finally falling into comas.
 It was pretty pitiful. We don't allow them to eat pancakes unsupervised anymore.

Ashley, age 15, Jessica age 18
I'm glad you're using the low calorie butter, girls!

Jessica, you are so cute!

Jessica at 18

Since Jessica loves pink, we decided to eat our cake (and have it too!).

Imagine our surprise when Jessica came all the way to Montana to eat that cake with us!

 Which is nothing compared to the surprise of all those grandkids from Sioux Falls, Idaho, and Montana coming over to sing to her!

Happy Birthday, Jessica, we love you!

Keep reading for more long-winded posts.....

The Party's Over

It was a dark and stormy day....and then Megan graduated.

Typically, I try to get an "outside, pre-graduation graduate picture".  It is pouring rain today, so we settled for a quick-pic-on-the-covered-porch shot.

 We got there an hour before graduation started. All the good seats were already gone. I guess we should have slept there last night.

Waiting for the fun to start.

Here they come! Even though they are graduates, they apparently need that girl in the front to tell them where to walk and where to sit.

I see her! She's the one wearing that blue rain hat and ill-fitting robe with a gold curtain tieback around her neck!

There she goes!

 The all-important blurry close-up.

Next came awards, speeches, songs, speeches, songs, speeches, blah blah, and oh look! There's Megan on picture right headed up the stairs!

They're handing her a diploma! She DID pass Anatomy!

And could it be? She made it down the stairs without tripping!

The class of 2011 is coordinated, too.  They all switched their tassels from left to right TOGETHER!

First glimpse of our new grad!

The Jones girls.

Megan and her old fogey parents.

Megan and her young fogey sister Jessica

and Shelly,

Sadly, I didn't get a good picture of Megan and the normally awake Pearsons.

Some people got really good seats for the event.

Here's Megan and that guy who was telling her rabbit stories at her open house.

Megan is off to a day of parties, followed by the all-nighter at the school. Happy Graduation, Megan! We are SO proud of you!

How Many Pictures Can I Take During One Event?

Before the Party

Today was Megan's graduation Open House.  We had a two hour party and 17,983 people showed up.

Ava got ready using the same hairdresser Makayla uses.

The two year olds--Krew and Chase--came ready for fun.

We sliced, diced, rolled, stabbed, cut, mixed, scooped, folded, cooked, cooled, arranged, and then we really got to work.

The cousins worked hard to burn off some energy.

Caden and Krew guarding the cooler.

Kailyn thought the table looked a bit plain. She suggested curling little bits of ribbon and sprinkling them on the table with Jordan.  It looked really cute.

Did I mention how we sliced, diced, rolled, stabbed, cut, mixed, scooped, folded, cooked, cooled, arranged, and then we really got to work?

The twins-- Ashley and Ava.

The party food (and lunch, dinner, snacks, and, um, breakfast).

Ashley and Ashleyette

During the Party

Let me just say, none of us had any idea Megan knew so many people.

They just kept coming

and eating

and coming

I believe everyone in Megan's graduation class showed up.

Suddenly I understand why Megan is always too busy to do homework.

I found someone scary to do crowd control.

Some people thought the party got a little boring.

Conner telling Megan a story about rabbits?

The honoree.

After the Party
Hailey gives free belly rubs.

This sign has been around for awhile.  It officially retires today.

More bored party guests.

Cousins carefully coloring cards for Megan.

Cousin bonding time.

McKay was, hands down, the most popular Uncle here today. Never mind that he was the only Uncle here, he was still the most popular.

More two year old cousins.

Poor Krew could not stop bumping and falling and bruising. Note the bruise on his right forehead, the scratch on his left forehead, and the bruise over his left eye.  That represents three separate traumatic events.