Big Man

I fight it daily with all of my children and I don't know when I will ever come to grips with it, but I am in a constant battle of them growing too fast.  I look at them often and wonder how we got to where we are so quickly.  I was just holding each of them in my arms and now most of them are too big to fit in my arms or don't want my arms around them! 

Kyle mowed our whole lawn by himself, with a push mower.  We have a lot of grass, almost 1/2 acre.  Which doesn't sound like a lot but for a 9 year old!  I was so impressed and he was pretty proud of himself.  Although I am sad to see him big enough to do this, there is a little part of me that is happy to pass this chore on to someone else!!!  Good job, my big man!

"The Wedding"

OK people, get ready to fall off your rocker, chair, stool, whatever it is that you are sitting on. This is the wedding of the century, maybe the wedding of all weddings.  Well, it took the cake for me!  By far the biggest and best I have ever seen or been to!  The movie does it little justice but will give you a small glimpse into the fabulous weekend that Jake and I got to take part in. We had a great time and felt lucky to be able to take part in such a wonderful moment for Melissa and Matt!

Jake has 8 siblings, 2 sisters and 6 brothers.  It is his 1st sister Rebecca whose daughter, Melissa, that got married.  She married a pro golfer who is on the PGA tour right now and his name is Matt Jones!  Yeah all the boys think their cool now because they have some relation to a pro golfer!  How funny that her married name is now Jones!  Just a little note on my dress and to give my friend props...my dress was sleeveless. You would have thought I could find something with sleeves, but trust me there isn't a lot to choose from. Anyhow my amazing and talented friend put sleeves on it for me and it is perfect.  Thank you Heather - you rock!

The Invite:

The wedding was just one of the 3 fabulous days. I do a short recap!  We arrived in Yountsville, California which is just a little north of Napa Valley, California. Napa is know for its wineries, but it some of the most beautiful scenery in the whole state.  Rebecca arranged for us to stay at the Bardessono Resort! Wow!  This place was off the hook!  We arrived in our room to a TV and phone that said "Welcome Jacob and Tessa Jones", fresh water (that I was later informed was triple filtered and came from their property!), and full tour and a tutorial of the room!  Friday night was a cocktail party at the hotel, Saturday was the wedding and Sunday was a brunch. I could keep going forever, but I'll spare you! 

Long story short- AMAZING!

Thank you Rebecca, Ron, Melissa and Matt for making an amazing memory for us as well!

The Colester!

Cole is a different child than the rest of the clan.  He came from a totally different mold. Which is odd in the Jones family because it is a very strong gene pool and most of the cousins look like they all could belong to one set of parents.  I could take 3 of my nieces and nephews all from different parents and no one would know that they aren't mine.  And the weird thing, it doesn't really matter what the "non Jones" spouse looks like, that Jones gene is dominant.  But than there is Cole. He is the only one that looks like he is actually my kid!  He is his own little self and while all of my kids are different, Cole stands out the most in this crowd. He has so many little quirks that are both maddening, funny, and sweet all at the same time.  He is the one child (although Kennedy might surpass him pretty soon) that constantly keeps me on my toes, constantly tries my nerves, constantly wants to be with me, and constantly challenges my every word.  The last couple days he has been especially trying for me and so I decided to try and funnel his energy into something that is an obsession in our family. Music is played in our house a lot. In the car, while we are doing chores, while we play in the backyard.  Cole has taken to a few songs that get played over and over and over. One is "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by the Scorpions (which is usually in the car)and the other is "Beat It" by Michael Jackson.When not blared from the radio, it is from the iPod. Here is a video of him getting his grove on!


 

I am not sure who is funnier, Cole or Kennedy just standing next to him. It is in black and white because Kate was playing with Jake's phone and did something weird to the settings!  He will listen to my iPod for hours and just walk around the house and sing!  It has become one of my "decompressors"  for both of us! 

After a full session of dancing, Cole is worn out and decided to take a nap, behind the couch! This one of kind kid is seriously one the most hilarious kids I know.  Thanks for keeping life interesting and me on my toes! Love ya Coley Boley Guacamoley!

Peaches, Preschool and a Party in the Park!

Peaches !Oh look at these babies! Those are some nice peaches, I like those peaches!  And how yummy there were!  We weighed in at 98 pounds of peaches!  Sounds like a lot, but not when 2-3 peaches are a pound and when I want them to last during the winter!  They were so good we went and got some more!  We will be eating peaches until next year- I hope!  We made some kick butt apple sauce with all of our free apples too!  I know, Crocker is my middle name!!

Preschool!  Cole was so very happy to be starting school with his best bud Owen!  And I am equally as happy that he is starting school with Teacher Summers. Ginger Summers has been a fabulous influence on our family. She is so loving and so kind and really wants to be a preschool teacher!  Kate did amazing in her class and I am hoping that she can work her magic on Cole!

Party in the Park!  Oh yeah!  The Spirit of Boise is back and we are very excited about it!  It is a huge hot air balloon festival at one of Boise's beautiful downtown parks.  You wake up super early (for us!) and head down to the park and watch the balloons inflate and take off in the morning  sky!  You can get really close and even get in a basket of one of the balloons if you want!  We have been going since we moved to Boise - except for the few years it was gone! This year we drug my sister and her family to the morning and to the night glow! The night glow is super cool! The balloons are already inflated and they burn their flame to make them "glow".  We brought popcorn and soda, chilled on a blanket and watched all the people! 

Farmer for a day

Okay maybe for an hour. Okay maybe not a farmer, just a picker!!  Last year I ventured into freezing fruit and juicing and all sorts of food storage stuff.  It was a pretty big step for me and in turned out fabulous!  So this year we are going bigger and better.  I only got one box of peaches last year - about 10 pounds. I was hoping they would last me all winter, you know have a little fresh fruit over the winter.  No way, 3 weeks - gone.  So we are doing 10 times that this year, well okay maybe not 10 times but at least 5 times.  Today my friend took my sister Ashlie and I out to the church orchards. 

We took our kids with us and had a good ol' time pickin peaches!  It was so fun and there were a lot of peaches! We went to pay for them and saw this lady with some apples and we asked where those were. She said they were down the hill and that they were FREE!  Oh yeah my price point for apples.  So we went and picked some apples.  I am so excited I can't wait for some peach pie and applesauce, not together though!