Sunday Best!!!

So, today was a typical Sunday at the Jones house...Sort of. I did the typical Bishop thing, Leave for church before everyone is up and don't get home until just in time for dinner, Especially now that we have started Tithing Settlement. This Sunday was a little different however. Nicholle called at Noon and said that she and the kids wouldn't be at church. They normally attend our home ward which meets at 1:00 while the YSA ward over which I preside meets at 11:00. We had had a pretty late night with Franny, so she had put the boys in front of a movie this morning but didn't wake up until right before she called me. So there was no way to make it on time. When I got to Mom and Dad's for the normal Sunday dinner and to celebrate Liz's Birthday, I was met by Batman, Spiderman, and Cowgirl. The kids really love to play dress up, the problem for me is that normally Mario wants to wear the dresses and be the Queen!! A little nerve racking for a dad of boys, however Nicholle and her child development books assure me that this is normal behavior for 5 year old boys and not to worry. If he does this at sixteen, I am writing the publisher!!! But tonight was pretty normal. Although we didn't get any pictures tonight, I thought I would post some of past dress up days just for fun...

Juan plays Spiderman

Mario's Homemade "Batman"

Juan started acting like a lion, so Mom made it official

Franny in "Hollywood" Diggin' the shades!!!

Adoption Day!

Well, yesterday was the big day!!! And what a day it was!!! National adoption day in Longview Washington is a big thing! In all the Cowlitz County Superior Court handled 30 adoptions that day, and we had 10% of them!!! They don't even hold court in the courthouse on this day. We all went to an annex building of the Catholic church, where they had gotten permission from the state court to hold court. All of the families were there together, with extended family and important friends. They had enough cake and cookies to create a sugar buzz for the entire city, I'm not sure that was such a good idea. Give kids of all ages candy cookies and cake, then expect them to go into a courtroom and sit through an adoption hearing. Fortunately, the hearings are only 10 minutes or so. They did them in some kind of order, and while we were waiting, they had a magician, 3 televisions set up with Nintendo Wiis for the older kids, toys for the younger kids, craft areas where the kids could make Christmas decorations and ornaments, (Franny made 5) and a coloring station for those who weren't about to go into a carb coma and had the attention span larger than a gnat...

As we sat in front of the judge and signed the paperwork, I was impressed by how great this all was and the attention paid to the children. During the program at the beginning, after Judge Johanson spoke, they actually had all of the children get up on the stage and give their name, and age, and talk a little about adoption. Of course, our children who are never bashful, clammed up and wouldn't say anything.

After the hearing, we got to take a picture with Judge Johanson, and then each of the children got a stuffed Teddy Bear, a mylar balloon with their name on it and a gift bag built especially for them by their case worker. Nicholle was given a single red rose as well, and I thought to my self, "yeah this is great, the kids get gifts, Mom gets a rose, and Dad gets 20 years worth of bills!!!" I'll tell you though, I wouldn't trade it for the world!!!

Sea Life Rocks!!!

So, since yesterday was a holiday for those of us in the banking world, we decided that, since the kids didn't have school, we would find a new adventure. So a couple of days ago we told them we would go to the aquarium in Seattle. They were very excited and Mario kept asking, "are we going to the Macquarium tomorrow?" Apparently it is an Irish aquarium... So the night before, as Nicholle and I were getting ready for bed, all of a sudden we here Mario crying. Assuming he had a bad dream, I asked what was wrong, and he all of a sudden decided he didn't want to go, because he was afraid of being eaten by the sharks. We solved that problem, and so yesterday we took off. As they entered and explored, there was no containing the enthusiasm. I only wish I still had that sense of wonder and excitement! It was fun living vicariously through them however, and other than a couple of timeouts due to overstimulation, we had a great day!!! They didn't even get eaten by the sharks! The higlight however was the touch tanks and the fact that we were looking in the underwater dome when the scuba divers came to feed the fish and sharks! Awesome! Maybe we can find some more adventures like this!

The beginning of something great!?!?

Well the sisters finally talked me into it, we are now on the Blogosphere! Just a quick first update, we have had a crazy summer!!! As most of you know Nicholle and I never do anything half way, and since all 3 of my sisters had babies in the last year, we were not to be outdone! We will be heading to Longview Washington on Thursday to finalize adoption of 3 children. Take that, Shanna, Liz and Bonnie!!! Franny, Mario and Juan came to us in July and have been living with us since then as foster children and we get to adopt two months early!!! What a rollercoaster!!! I am still trying to figure out if I am cut out to be a dad. I can handle teenagers and Young adults, but am having a hard time understanding the logic of a 4 year old. And his brother and Sister aren't too easy to figure out either!!! But life is full of ups and downs for us, and we are loving having them in our lives to share our lives and love with!!! The fun part is that within 1 year's time, Mom and Dad will have gone from 2 grandchildren to eight!!! This is the reason for the title of our blog!!!