The Journey of the Jones'

Summer is sizzling to an end and we just wanted to post some photos of all that has happened.  We continue to post assuming (with some vanity) that someone is actually reading this! 

These photos are from our trip to the coast with uncle, auntie and cousin, bike riding, hanging out with friends, church camp, boating, and of course Ava's first American HAIRCUT! 

Hard to believe the summer is ending, it has been quite a ride.  Now we look ahead this month to the addition of our new baby girl, Ellis Mae Jones (it's official) and all of the joy and life change that she will bring! 

 

It is time!  The first day of school was monday and Ava nearly exploded with excitement!  So far so good.  Mrs King and class are everything that was promised.  She is so tired by the end of the day she can hardly keep her eyes open. (woo-hoo)

Monday when kate walked in to waked her up for her first day, she was laying there perfectly still with her eyes wide open just waiting! Enjoy the pictures!

Also included are some pictures of the flood damage to our basement.

We have just returned from a few not-so-lazy days on the lake in McCall.  The trip was great, our annual church camp, the girls had an awesome time.  In fact it would have been the perfect week away, if only our basement had not flooded while we were gone!  Thats right, a day or two after we left our sump-pump (grey water/sewage removal pump)  decided to release it's wonderfully smelling contents all over our downstairs.  Thank God for a few close friends and family that stepped up to the plate and did more than their share.  Thanks everyone who gave their time and resources to get it livable for our return we can't tell you how much we appreciate it (Mom, Dad, Kane, Tara, Jeff, Alan and the amazing crew at Xtreme Carpet Cleaning).  We have taken up the tack strip and deep clened the cement.  We moved the coach and TV back down and put down a few area rugs until we decide what to do next.  Pretty sweet!  I'm sure that basements have been flooding since the beginning of time, but still when it's yours it reall stinks (both literally and figurativelly).  I am posting a few pictures so you can get the idea!  Unfortunatly they haven't invented the tech for me to share the smell with you, so just use your imagination!

Kate's parents came down this weekend and helped us also, then we put together the girls new bunk beds, who new what a hit these would be!  They have been turned into forts, houses, mountains, you name it they've played it!

We, like the rest of the world, have been glued to the Olympics.  This is the first actual live TV (not a video or Tivo) that the girls have watched.  The are in awe of the swimming and gymnastics (aren't we all) and just can't get enough.  I can already see olympic rings bouncing around in Ava's brain.  She is not quite sure why all of these athletes do it, but she loves it!

 

Enjoy the pictures! (Kate took the camera to work!  I will post tonight)

We are back from the coast and trying to come to grips with the fact that the girls have been home for a whole year.  They have changed so much from they're accents (or lack there-of) to their health, size and weight.  It is truly amazing.  Leora could talk the hind leg off a mule, if she hadn't charmed him out of it first!  and Ava is getting so tall, I feel like we buy her new pants once a week.  Time is moving so quickly.

We bought a bigger car last weekend.  I know, gas prices, yada, yada, yada, but they made us a deal that we just couldn't refuse!  (it actually was a great deal)  Anyway, we are now the proud owners of a 7 passenger Jeep Commander.  Jeep, I know, seems odd for us, but it is working out great.  The girls love being able to see out from their seats and I have to admit I like the power and look of it!  The Passat was a great car, but since it was about to roll over 100,000 miles, I am glad to pass it on.

We head up to Summer Camp next week with the church and it should be a blast, the girls love camp.

We just bought bunk beds for the girls' room, I have yet to assemble them, but we own them none-the-less!  They are stoked to move their "baby beds" out and get big girl beds, ah, the little things.  Speaking of little things, this morning we brought an old wagon from our neighbors yard sale and Ava towed Leo around the yard for the entire day except for lunhtime and when they rode their bikes!  She is going to be tired tonight, then again Leo hardly moved her legs all day so...

 

 

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!