Sunday, October 21, 2012

More Fall Fun!





Hollister School Centennial--October 13, 2012

The Hollister School is an important part of our family history, so I thought I should document it.  My Grandpa Jones attended when it was still K-12, both my parents attended (at that time it only went through 6th grade, then they transferred to Filer), and my sister and I, of course, both attended.  It's a beautiful, well-kept old school.  One of the traditions is that most students write their names on the back of the stage walls before leaving the school, so I had fun finding a lot of my friends and family!


Dad and his two brothers (Doug Jones, Carl Jones, and Keith Jones)

Ora Jones, my Dad's dad, and Teresa, my aunt

My friends and I

It was great seeing so many hundreds of people who attended this school, as well as so many generations!  I love being part of a community with such deep roots!

Fall Fun! October 17, 2012






Lilly's 2nd Birthday Part--October 14, 2012

Because we were on vacation during Lilly's birthday, we ended up having her party the next weekend.  I took terrible pictures, I was a little busy ;-), but she had a fun party!  Lilly opened only one present (a baby doll stroller), and then she had no interest opening anything else!  I felt like I was at a baby shower, opening all the gifts that were intended for her.  Once we got home, though, she really enjoyed all her nice new things!

My personal party decorator--Emma!  Thank you for all your hard work and cute decorating Emma!





Birthday girl and Daddy

Blowing out the candle!

Jackson got a new tool set from Grandpa Miller--he was soooo excited!





The only gift she wanted to open!

Happy Birthday, sweet Lilly!

(Here is the link to her birthday blog post--I tried to post on this blog that day, from a couple different sources and was unable to log in or post--so weird!  So I gave up and started a new blog...then, suddenly I was able to use this blog again, and I'd prefer to keep just this original one for printing purposes...so here is the link to the one entry on the other blog for Lilly!)







Jackson's PreK Field Trip--October 11, 2012

Nana was generous enough to host a field trip to her pumpkin patch for Jackson's whole school!  She said she would do it if I did all the planning and work!  The kids had such a great time...they picked out pumpkins, had a pumpkin-throwing contest, painted their pumpkins, and make caramel apples.  It was a gorgeous fall day and so fun to meet new kids!

Jackson's whole class with their pumpkins!

Lilly enjoying her caramel apple

painting pumpkins

Clover School Kids


Lava Hot Springs--October 5,6,7

We were able to get away for a weekend four-wheeling trip at Lava Hot Springs--it was relaxing, beautiful, and lots of fun!

While we were there we...

Celebrated Lilly's 2nd Birthday!

Rode four-wheelers





Enjoyed the beautiful fall views...




Slept!

And swam at the beautiful hot springs!  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that...but we obviously wore our kiddos out!

Monday, October 1, 2012

First Day of PreK--Sept. 4, 2012

Hi there!  It's been a seriously long time since I've blogged.  Here's what happened--SUMMER!  We had such an amazing summer, and by the time I felt like returning to blogging, I was seriously overwhelmed with the number of posts I was going to have to do to catch up.  So I decided not to do it at all.  Then I began thinking about how behind I am on scrapbooking, and how, at least if I keep up on the blog, it's sort of like being caught up on my journaling and pictures, and I decided I better just bite the bullet and catch up.  So here I am.  I will be doing a little at a time, and going back in time, from recent to less recent, since that seems less overwhelming to me.  For some reason.  Okay, so here ya go, the first in a series of many posts to come!

So, after much debate, Jake and I decided to put Jackson in preschool.  As an educator, and with Jake working in education, I thought we could definitely see to it that Jackson is prepared for Kindergarten without paying for preschool.  We have been working with him since Day 1 and he is really an eager learner. Jake and I are pretty intentional about teaching our kids, and they love books, crafts, projects...all things school.  Jackson is also very social, so we didn't think he needed preschool for social reasons.  So, you might ask, why is he in preschool?  Well, the kid loves being challenged, loves activity, and thrives on social interaction.  We also know that children often will perform even better for someone besides their parents.  We thought preschool would be a really fun and interesting experience for Jackson...so then began the challenge of finding an acceptable preschool.  We researched and discussed for MONTHS.  At one point we decided it was not worth it.  Then, randomly, a friend of Jake's stopped by our house and the guys began talking about our kids and how similar our boys are...and one thing led to the next, and pretty soon Jake's friend had mentioned Clover Christian School (which, in retrospect, we were like, why on earth didn't we think of that in the first place?).  Clover Christian School is an amazing little country church school...with an amazing reputation.  I immediately began researching it, and we liked what we saw!  So we enrolled Jackson, and have been VERY impressed so far.  He absolutely loves it, we feel that he is being pushed academically, and he is also learning Bible stories, Bible verses, songs...you name it.  We are so happy that he loves it so much.  (And Lilly is all ready to go too, she just loves Jackson's school!).  So here is the happy little Pre-K goer on his first day of school:

(He chose all his own poses...he was really excited about his gym shoes, I guess)

He looks pretty excited!  And he remains that way, so far!


This is Clover Church...so picturesque!  The school is across the little driveway.



Lilly has to be in on the action!

We are really thankful for this wonderful place and that Jackson loves school and learning so much!  I hope it continues!

Bram, Keshia, and BZ (Baby Zane)

Jackson freaking out on Santa's lap (with Tonia and Aide)

Most of the group at Christmas in the Nighttime Skies

Michelle's First Tree-Gorgeous Picture!

Still in Love *Sigh*

Me, Jackson, and Jake (and our tree)