a blog well past due

with the arrival of all my siblings into town, life living on my computer slowed down enough that i didn't want to waste the time typing out a blog when i could be taking pictures of my nieces and nephews. the following is a photo journal/blog of the past week with all my family in town:

the journey started in idaho falls. jon, tina, and co finished their tour of california and arrived friday night almost exactly when emily and i arrived. the parents followed shortly after the following day. while in idaho, we ate, laughed, cried, and smelled jonny's farts, but mainly just laughed. michelle and i sang in church, and i traveled home a day early to be back for work on monday. highlight photos from idaho:

baby jonas



maryn parading in her swimsuit



seth playing in the sprinklers



maryn looking oh so good (you'll see soon that she's my favorite girl to take pictures of)



i have found out that the two older nephews (zane and seth) both have nicky characteristics. while zane looks like i did when i was his age, seth kind of has my personality.

zane and i on michelle and brandon's bed:



i wish we would have taken pictures of me working in the garden for proof! but michelle will verify that i helped her with her tomatoes.

here is seth and maryn helping in the garden




seth and zane were getting a kick out of this shrek toy that would belch or fart. whatever the noise was, it got them laughing.



then maryn joining in on the fun, as always!



then a nice sunset to end the evening of fun



the week continued onward, children laughed, children cried, children slept, and then children cried some more over whatever toy it was that hour. at the end of the day, seth and maryn showed me who was boss!



seth sporting his armor



two of my favorites of maryn






the week steadily continued onward. saturday came, and the big trellis project has started. this time i have proof that i was working! the post digging was kind of a nightmare.



while i slaved away, the kids got to play in the water.













saturday was complete. sunday was a nice day to relax. michelle and i sang again in my ward this time. then the rest of the day was left to prepare for the next day. the posts had been set, and now was the time to finish brandon's creative brainchild for grandma gigi.

michelle and i did some drilling....





and the kids got otter pops.








while i just got dirty



and maryn was distressed, haha.



and then the project was finished!!!




needless to say, we had a lot going on the whole time everyone was together. as much as i joke about the day that they all go home, i really do enjoy having everyone together. our family has never all spent so much time working on one project. we must love grandma gigi so much :). but it was a huge accomplishment for us stone kids! (and bumbpa) it did help to have a good foremen keeping us in line, and making sure we didn't ruin anything, but i was proud. i was glad that i was able to take the time off work to just be around. so to jon and michelle, come anytime you want. just know that when you go, i'll be happy that you're leaving and looking forward to the next time we can all be together again.