The Journey of the Jones'

o we have some sad news.  Last month we found out that our precious (though annoying) bulldog Ruby had cancer, and this last week she died.  It was very sad, but we are so glad that she is not in pain.  The girls miss her but they are excited of the prospect of getting a puppy in the future. (because puppies aren't dogs you know)  Ava, who never really cared for Ruby, said "we don't have a dog now, that's great!"  I have to admit, I am sad this week, she was my dog (christmas 2003) and kind of like our first child (or at least she thought she was). 

Enough with the sad stuff, We are settling in to the house just fine and it totally feels like home.  the neighbors are sweet and helpful and already we have had an exploding sump pump, broken sprinklers and the wall paper removal from hades!  Aaaaahhh, home ownership.

We celebrated the girls birthdays in style with a joint party and all their church friends.  It was mass pandamonium[sp] and completely overwhelming for all of us.  It was fun having grandma and grandpa there as well as nana and papi and auntie, uncle and cousin from Washington.  Woo Hoo!

The girls just had a great week at VBS, though Kate and I are thoroughly exausted.  Next week we head to the coast to celebrate our Gotcha Day with the girls.  Hard to believe it has been a year now.  We feel so blessed to have our girls here with us and we don't take our blessing for granted. Chris and Mandy are joining us at the coast, and we are all looking forward to a little R-n-R, the ocean, and some all-night scrabble.  After that it's off to Summer Camp on the lake in McCall and somehow after all of that, Ava gets to start kindergarden at Monroe which she is totally excited about!  And her best friend Cassie is starting kinder. there as well!  So fun. 

It's good to be back in the Land of Blog, I will talk Kate into bloggin g again soon i'm sure!

 

From snow to the warmth of April all in one blog!  So much has been happening lately that we are sorry to say that we left everyone behind here in Blogland.  Our little house sold in just 41 days (a miracle in this market) and we moved 2.5 weeks later into our new house!  Much like our old house, it was built in the same year but this one has twice the space, a great back yard for the girls, covered patio (for us) and the general old-home quirks and cuteness required by it's new owners.

The girls are loving it and now have a "bedroom" for their toys and a bedroom to sleep in.  In her typical type-A style, Kate got us painting the house the day we moved in (almost) and we were finished in a week.  We still have a few small things left, but all of the living space is complete and put together.  None too soon either, as we hosted Easter at our house this year!  It was a little crazy, we know, but what we lacked in organization we made up for with extra square footage.  Just before Easter, I had to go to Baton Rouge for a conference, which was excellent but it was the longest I have been away from the girls yet and that stunk.

They are growing so much and Leora is speaking very clearly (clear is a relative term at our house) and Ava is funnier everyday 9yesterday she renamed Ruby "Ruby-Michele" just like her moms name, they are such a joy.  A joyful handful.  Kate is working about 2 days a week, it is ok but she hates being apart from the girls.  I take them with me to work most of those days or someone watches them for us. 

I  have to get the camera out of the car to show you pictures of the house, hopefully that will happen today!  Today the girls and I are working in the yard, cleaning it up for spring. If this 70* weather is any indicator, summer will be here before you know it.

More soon, we promise (I know, you've heard that before)

 

So it seems like this has been a GOOD snow year in Boise, as I am writing this right now it is snowing like crazy!! I think that God cares about the little things, like two little girls who needed some snow fun.  Ii has been years since I have been sleading and playing in the snow.  We went last week to Brent's Aunts and Uncles in Garden Valley and went sleading.  We played until their little lips where blue, and then on the truck ride back to the house we get stuck in the snow.  It took us about 45 minutes, and a tractor to get the truck down to the house.   I dont know which Ava thought was more fun... sleading or a bunch of adults trying to get the truck un-stuck, she sat in the cab and had a grand time! After that day I went to buy my little snow bunny (Ava, she really likes to roll, dive, eat, etc in the snow) some snow pants,  we found a pair at Target that fit just right... THEY ARE 18 months!!!  My 4 1/2 year old wears 18 month snow pants!!! She loved them because they were purple, so we got them.  She did agree that next year she would pass them onto Leo and get bigger ones :)  

This week (with our new snow pants) we went sleading at Camel's back park... the hills are small, but fast and fun.  My brother, Mandy and Malachi were in town, and all three of the kinds played like great guns.  Ava took to screaming all the way down, and Leo thought that she should do that as well.It was really cute. Leo was much braver on our second sleading adventure, and almost pushed her sister off the slead a few times (she is not a huge fan of waiting her turn, but what 2 year old is?).   Malachi had just gotten a kids snow board and was trying it out, we had some good falls, and lots of fun.  Both Malachi and Ava ran into hay bails that were strapped to trees, but jumped up like champs!!! I'm hoping to post a few good snow fun pictures.

Happy new year to you all...

I was just looking over our photo albums from Africa until now and was blown away by the amazing year that we have had.  God has been so faithful to us every step of the way.  He provided a way where there was no way and brought us together as a forever family. 

The girls are SO excited about Christmas!  In their Sunday School classes and at home we have been talking about the Christmas story non-stop for weeks!  Highlighting Ava's intense interest in being born!  She talks about it all the time.  From our friends that are exspecting, to Jesus being born to Mary and all of the many Christmas songs that have the word "born" in them (there are many we have realized), it is definately a hot topic around our house!

We went a got our tree and had a blast decorating it.  The girls have made several ornaments for it and we love to walk in to the room and see them both just standing there silently staring at it all lit up! 

They are singing two songs with the big kids during the Christmas pageant at church and Ava practices several times a day.  They love to come to Worship Team practice with us and sing into their little microphones and dance.  Leo likes to play a few notes on the piano while I am playing.  It makes for a nice duet.

Leora has been under the weather but she is on the mend and fiesty as ever.

They are both stoked about our cousins (Justin and Jennifer Jollife) who are leaving the day after Christmas to bring home their little girl from China!  The girls fly their little airplanes around the house and the other day I heard Ava say "see you later Leo, I'm flying to China to bring home my baby"!  Yes, I cried a little!  They look at China on the globe all the time and they asked if we could go and see them at the airport when they get home.  Her name is Kaili (kay-lee) but the girls call her China Baby.  Please pray for Justin and Jennifer and the family that all will go smoothly for them in China and back at home!

 

This time of year we like to be near those we love.  With friends all over the place that makes it a little bit difficult.  We love you all and hope to see you or talk to you soon.

 

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year From the Jones'

 

Brent, Kate, Ava, Leora (& Ruby)

For our first Thanksgiving together as a family we packed up the wagon and headed north to Spokane to visit Kate's family.  The long drive makes the girls a little stir crazy but the promise of seeing Poppi, Nana, unca Chris, auntie Mandy and Malachi does much to ease the pain of the 7 hours drive.  We had a great time and they played their little hearts out with their cousin and poppi, it was loads of fun! 

While there we tried (emphasis added) to get a family picture taken... right.  Anyhoo.  We all ate more food than we should have, except the girls who prefered chicken nuggets to turkey and stuffing, shocking!  This week the girls really started to zero in on Christmas (who needs Thanksgiving anyway) and on Black Friday KAte and I and Nana and Poppi headed out into the land of malls, target, weird promotions, and tired, crazed and overstuffed shoppers to pick out a few things for the girls christmas.  The girls must have sensed our intent because when we called to check in with them and their auntie at home the first thing they asked was "what did you get me"?  Oh how American they have become in just four short months!

Leo is talking so much and the scary thing is that you can understand her!  Everyday they seem more and more at home and peaceful.  They love church and sunday school, Ava especially loves her friends!  She talks about them all the time.  Ava is also very much into her birthday since she has attended several b-day gatherings and saw the gifts!  She was particularly enthralled with grandma's birthday party a few days before we left for Washington.

The Ava and Leo-isms continue on a daily basis with hysterical facial exspressionas and great words like "lesterday" (yesterday) and "shersh" (finished) and to Leo, Kate and I are always referred to in plural; mommies, daddies and of course my time-saving favorite; mommiedaddies.  Good times had by all!

Everyday we are more and more thankful for these amazing little being that have taken us by storm, God has blessed us more than we could have ever imagined possible.

We will try to post some pictures of our trip asap.

Hope you all had a great holiday!