SO, I caught the blogging fever from my cute cousins and my brother-in-law. I blame them for all future procrastination that takes place on this blog!
In the world of Chelsea, A LOT has been happening lately. Namely, I am a junior theatre student at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
I am definitely loving it- it is wonderful to be so close to my family and especially my
sister now that she will be giving me a little niece or nephew soon. Being a patron of the theatrical arts, and a HUGE fan of Shakespeare, you can imagine my joy when I found out Baby J, as we lovingly refer their little blessing, will be making his/her sure to be dramatic entrance on none other than The Ides of March, March 15! E tu Brute?
I was actually here for my momma's birthday this year! She turned 29. Again. My dad got her a charm bracelet and each of us children got her a charm. My mom, Cami, and I spent the day shopping, that was fun until pregnant Cami got Baby J nausea, and I got sympathy nausia. Poor mom- we were such debbie downers!
It is also nice to be close to Lance. We have been dating off and on since March of 2006, and I couldn't be happier than I am right now. This last weekend, he and I went to my parent's house in Prosper to watch
General Conference with them- what a fun experience that was to watch the prophet and apostles speak on the importance of family and other spiritual matters with those I love most!
My family is doing very well; in light of the suckishness of the economy right now, I think we are turning inwards and recognizing the importance of the things that are important!
Newport Homebuilders is my dad's company and it is indeed a family affair! Seeing as how about 80% of the company is
LDS, they have monthly Newport Night at the
Temple, which from the outside looking in, I can see has made a difference in demeanor. The Lord surely does bless those who follow the commandments!
This is part of the Newport crew at the Mongolian Grill post temple. It should be noted that Cami was also there, but due once again to Baby J's nausea, had to skip out on dinner.
On 16 September, my family received the disheartening news that my
Grandpa Jones passed away at 3:56 in the morning, Arizona time. My whole family gathered together that weekend for the funeral; it was wonderful to get together to share our favorite memories of grandpa- he was feisty until the very end, and I hope that is a quality I received and will maintain until my the very end- just like him! Just a little anecdote, the day before he passed away, he was checking into the ER; when being asked the routine questions he cooperated politely until they asked him if he smoked or drank, to which he replied, "Do I look stupid?". He was never afraid to set people straight... Here are some of my favorite pictures from that weekend:
Here are the cute boys of our family at my Aunt Melodee's house. There's also a great picture of trevor sitting on my dad's lap with a smirk on his face- in the interest of maintaining a good relationship with by darling brother, I will refrain from putting it up. I'm not sure what Kevin is doing here though...
And here's one of the girls!
Can you see the family resemblance?
You know how they say when children are quiet, they're probably making a mess... here is photo evidence! This is Aden and Westin, My cousins Celeste and Harmony's little boys, finding fun in dominoes. They are too cute!
This little beauty is my cousin Connie's daughter Kaydance. This was taken at the Arizona temple when we were taking family pictures.
Here are all the cousins with grandma.
These darling little girls belong to my cousins Jared and Ashley. Their Grandma Neeenee, my aunt Lisa, got them these precious dresses. They both LOVED the flowers on the temple grounds.
This is the ever-energetic Kade. He is my cousin Shalynn's son, and he is a HOOT! At the viewing, he was running up to everyone in the line, introducing himself and shaking their hands. This was when he was all introduced out. What a cute kid...
These were the Navy men present at my grandpa's grave site service. Their salute was so neat to watch, I'm sure Grandpa was proud :)
My cousins, the pallbearers
My cute Aunt Kim and her girls Jamie and Annie. At the funeral we had an arrangement of red roses, one representing each child, grandchild, and great-grandchild. When everything was all said and done, we each got to keep our rose.
Clayton, with his rose.
One of my favorite pictures, the Arizona temple with some beautiful yellow flowers.
This is at my Tick-Tock Grandma's house. I have so many memories around this table!
My family, sans my momma, in front of the fireplace where we always take pictures.
Trevor being so cute and musical. Family Von Trapp anyone?
The Little Red Caboose was my daddy's favorite book as a child. He rediscovered it, and read out loud to us, this was such a cute moment that I hope to always remember!
Another nostalgic moment: my grandma, in an effort to clean out, had this little memento from my daddy's childhood sitting on the trashcan. When my dad walked up to the house and saw his Bobby Hall Hockey game heading for the city dump, he let out a, "Nooooo!" then he turned to my grandma and said, "you're not throwing this out, are you?" It was a cute glimpse into my dad's sentimental side- he has memories of playing hockey tournaments with his dad and brothers. This is a picture of Trevor and Daddy carrying on the father-son tournament tradition.
All the fabulous baby paraphernalia for Baby J. She has so many cute clothes- we displayed some of the ones that matched the pink and green color scheme on a clothesline above the fireplace. It was a big hit!
The favors were candy bars with custom wrappers that had Cami's name and due date on it. Chocolate is always well-received among women :)
This is the diaper cake, it was the center of our dessert table. We served cheesecake with different drizzles and toppings. The diaper cake turned out pretty cute. The cheesecake turned out pretty delish!
Grandma and the mother-to-be. They matched!
The hostesses with the guest (and a half) of honor! Apparently I missed the "wear black" memo...
Cami and Bestie Sarah.
Long time friends Denise and Heiki. We've known them for years and years and years. LOVE them!
This is Amy Jones, Cami and I both had her as a teacher at Shepton- She and Cam have stayed in touch since Cami had her her sophomore year (2000?). She is a magnificent woman!
