I love to laugh!

Bode loves animals! Late last week we visited my Aunt Kathy' s house and we found out Bode just loves dogs. My Aunt has 2 dogs and they were running around and barking at Bode, he was laughing so hard and I was so mad I didn't have a camera. Tonight we were are my parents house and it was as though Bode had just seen their cat for the very first time. He laughed and laughed for almost 15 min. Scout (the cat) wound swing her tail in Bode's face then get up and walk away. Bode would crawl over a wait for her to do it again. I guess he doesn't mind if it is a cat or a dog. Good thing this time we caught it on tape.

Click here to see Bode and the cat:

http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/jjjoncas83/?action=view&current=October2006028.flv

I love frosting!

Today we drove to Payson to Abigail's birthday party. Abby is one of Bode's cousins and the daughter of my brother and his wife Connie. She will be one year old on the 31st of this month. What lucky girl born on Halloween. She is such a cutie and she really enjoyed her first birthday cake with yummy green frosting.





Bode was a big fan of the frosting too. Jeremiah put a cupcake in front of him and he crawled towards it and grabbed all the frosting off the top and stuffed it in his mouth. His cousin Parker, who is just a little older than Bode, really wanted a taste, but Bode was not going to share.

It has been too cold lately in Pinetop to take Bode to the park, but the weather in Payson was beautiful!! Not that Bode could really understand what was going on, Jeremiah took him down the slide and we took a ride on the swing. He was way more interested in why the little girl next to us on the swings was making so much noise.

Bode is going to be a dragon for Halloween. We put the costume on and he was really confused. We will have to get some better pictures of him. He has had swollen gums for a while now and it makes him so cranky. Hopefully soon those teeth will break through so he wont be so toothless.

Jeremiah and I are so dorky. We have been so bored lately that I decided to get a puzzle. My mom and I picked up a couple of really cute ones and now Jeremiah and I are obsessed. We almost have one done. We are like an old couple, all we need now are a couple of cats.

The days go by to fast!

I was looking through all of our family photos yesterday and I noticed that since Bode was born there are only pictures of Bode and Jeremiah. Then looking through old family photos I found that there are hardly and pictures of my mom in our pictures. So for the sake of prosperity, and so my kids to see me as a young lady (not an old bat), we took a couple pictures. I guess once you become a mom you are the person behind the camera.

Top 5 Signs You’re a Mom

1. You go to the grocery store and find yourself having a good time.

2. The laundry seems to have taken on an evil nature and you begin to feel that it's out to get you.

3. You usually go out wearing wrinkled clothes, bad hair, boogers, or any combination of the three.

4. You are a size 4 trapped in the body of a size 8 (or 10 or 12...).

5. You can't remember the last time you shaved your legs





Bode took his first little spill yesterday. We were at church and he was lying on the bench to eat his bottle. Jeremiah turned to ask me a question, then bam Bode was on the floor. Everyone around us tried to catch him, but he is a tank and just fell to the floor. It kind of shocked him for a min., and he screamed. I took him outside and he stopped crying and wanted his bottle back. He was a tough little boy and didn’t even shed a tear. One of many falls, bumps and bruises’ to look forward to I guess.

The Worm

Bode is growing so darnded fast. He has been up on his knees for while but not going forward. He was just scooting backwards until he got stuck in a corner. But yesterday he figured out he could go forward. He doesn't really crawl, but he does the worm. Soon he should be going everywhere just getting into trouble.

Check out the worm by clicking on the link.
http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/jjjoncas83/?action=view&current=S3010220.flv

Finally!!!!

You may think I am crazy for being so exited about the Hobby Lobby opening in Avondale, but really I am. For those of you who don't know Hobby Lobby is the most fun store. It is like a Michaels, JoAnne's and all fun craft and decorating stores times 100. They have some of the cutest home decor things ever and I cannot wait to go. They are all over the east and across the Midwest, and it is finally coming to Arizona. My mom and sisters love it so much we were planning to make a 5 hour trip to Farmington NM to shop. (Farmington has the closest one to Arizona)It opens sometime in November, and all the girls in my family are dying to go. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

My boys...

Not to much has happened this week at the Joncas home. We have really enjoyed not having much to do right now. It is kind of like the calm before the "holiday storm" comes. Today is the first Saturday in a while that we got to sleep in and just relax all day long. Very nice, but a little unproductive.

Jeremiah is doing good. Work is work, like always. He is taking a class at NPC and will probably, if all works out, be reffing high school basketball games this winter.

For me volleyball is coming to an end. Bitter, sweet, I have loved doing it, but I am ready to have a break. I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to be involved with the volleyball program and I hope that I can keep on doing this for years to come.

Bode is a happy kid. His new favorite this is to grunt and yell so you will look at him, then he flashes a huge toothless grin and giggles. He consumes my world, in a great way. Wow, what did I ever do before I was a mom.

mmm...mmm...good!

This kid loves to eat! Bode has really enjoyed experiencing new foods. He loves everything. So far he hasn't gagged or spit anything out, but just rolls new foods over his tongue for a second then begs for more. He is starting to use a sippy cup with a little apple juice in it. We gave him mashed potatoes on his high chair the other day and he had a fun time grabbing it and sometimes getting it in his mouth. He is so much fun, but a little cranky right now because he is cutting some new bottom teeth.

We love the mountains!

Every year for General conference the Merrill Family spends at least one session of conference up on the mountains. This year was no exception. We went up Sunday morning with Dad, Mom, Lee, Tim's family and ours up to have a cook out and listen to conference.





The trees and beautiful as always. This year there has been so much rain that on top of the leaves changing there have been yellow flowers everywhere.



Bode is growing like crazy. He is just about 7 months old and he is getting up on his on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth, so maybe soon he'll be crawling. Crawling will be fun, but that means baby proofing and keeping a better eye on him.

Bean isn’t Bean any more… she is the whole burrito.

Lee went to her first homecoming, and she looked beautiful. She got asked the week of homecoming to Mom and Lee had to frantically put together something for her to wear to the big dance. After driving all over the mountain, the ended up going to Wal-Mart to pick out some material to make a dress.



Mom whipped together the dress in a couple of days an it turned out beautiful. She played volleyball all day on Saturday, rushed home, showered and we got to work to made her dance ready. I did her hair, and thank goodness Brittany was there for make up. Lee looks pretty good all glammed up.

What a whopper!

Jeremiah has gone fishing quite a lot lately. And although the fish he has caught won't win any medals he is sure proud of them.

Can 17 people survive 1 family vacation… YES!

Family vacation this year was a lot of fun. It was the first year the whole Merrill family has gone to Silverton together. We had a blast.

This year we decided not to camp but to rent a house instead. From the outside it looks a little small, but it was able to fit all 14 of us comfortably inside.

While Mom, Dad and Aunt Coleen set up camp a few miles out of town in “grandpa's bus” also known as the motor home.

The highlight of the Colorado trip was (the Hobby Lobby, oops, I mean) the 4x4 jeep trails. This year is was especially beautiful because there were so many flowers. The boys has fun showing off their killer driving skills. What a fun ride. We always drive into Durango to watch a movie and eat some Serious Texas BBQ.

While most of us drove into town, both the Merrill families took the train from Silverton to Durango. Between fishing, birthdays, movies, trains and jeeping we had a great family vacation.

Home Sweet Home!

We bought our first home this year. It may not be much but we feel very lucky to have it and not throw money away on rent anymore. We have been busy painting and fixing up thee inside and next year we hope to

tackle a little landscaping. But for now our main front yard attraction are weeds. After putting up trim and some carpet cleaning our biggest (or I should say my biggest project) has been refinishing the kitchen cabinets.

After two coats of red paint, a lot of primer

and some much needed help from my mom

and sister, it is finally finished!

Next project the guest bathroom.

What an amazing year it has been. 2006 has brought many changes for our family. Starting with the birth of our first child. Bode James Joncas was born March 14, 2006, 8 lbs. 4 oz. at exactly 12:00 am. His birthday was actually meant to be on the 12th but a huge snow storm hit and dumped 4 feet of snow the day before I was to be induced. So the hospital called and rescheduled us to come on the 13th. We got up on the 13th went to the hospital and after a long wait he finally came.

Coming Soon