Looking forward (but not before looking back)

Change is in the air at the Jones abode. Within the span of the next 8 weeks we'll be welcoming a new son (and brother) into our house and into our lives. Given the momentous nature of this pending arrival it is probably understandable that much of our time these days is spent looking forward to the changes ahead. There is a certain quality of quiet frenzied energy which exists in a household that knows it will grow by one very needy member in the near future. The calm before the storm? I think we are in it.

However, before we plow headlong into the month of August and all of it's excited baby preparations- it's probably fitting to take one quick look back at a July that included (among other things) a sweet little trip to a sweet little cabin in Maine. I've got some pictures to show you. You'll find no captions here though, because really, what is there to explain? Eat, sleep, read, swim- there, I just summarized the entirety of the Maine cabin experience. Although, hang on till the end of the pictures and you can see a video of Aiden demonstrating his casting skill. Fish of West Grand Lake, be on notice: next year we may actually put a hook on the end of his line!

Summer Fun

Here we are raising a glass with our new neighbors and old friends Kyle and Rachel.

They just moved into a new place that is only a few doors down from us!

This picture is already out of date as this big empty room is now totally painted and moved into and looking awesome.

We also went on a recent trip up to see a Reading Phillies game with the whole family. It was a beautiful night.

There is the best view of all.

Aiden was pretty into the game (as long as we let him munch on a constant supply of ballpark treats.) It was a phenomenal night of watching baseball, eating hotdogs and relaxing. Perfect.

Refrigerator Updates

We're trying something new here on the blog today. It's called:

We just don't have enough hours in the day to keep the blog fully up to date with the latest goings-on here. So we've decided to delegate.

Take it away Refrigerator....

Well, first of all, it's

so that is good. There has been lots of outside playing, eating and lounging going on- so yeah it's definitely summer. No big surprise there though.

More interestingly, it is now only a few weeks until the family's yearly pilgrimage to the cabin in

which is very exciting for everyone!

This may not be news to many but we are expecting the arrival of a new baby in a few months, and we were thrilled to find out that the new baby is a

And (hows this for an update?) after much debate and discussion we have finally come up with the perfect name for boy #2. Yahoo!

And the name is....

Whoops! That's not right. Hmmmm, let me fix that.

And the name is...

(seriously)

And that's all for this round of refrigerator updates! See you next time!

It's a picnic!

Memorial Day this year found us celebrating picnic style at Mom and Dad Jones' new house. There was a full compliment of family members as Mom and Dad Jones, Mom and Dad Weidner, Bethany, Aaron, Gwyn and we three (four?) were all in attendence. It was a great day with lots of grilled food, kiddy pool time, and tons of horseshoe playing action. Fun and sweat were in plentiful supply.

yum.

Spring Sing: The Video

As a followup to yesterdays picture post, here is the video of Aiden's spring preschool concert. It's about nine minutes of preschool singing goodness, so sit back and enjoy!

Spring Sing

Well, this week was an exciting one in Aiden's young academic career. Not only was it the last week of his first year of preschool, it was also the week of his spring concert! Expectations for adorableness were quite high, and we were certainly not dissapointed.

Heading out the door in his concert duds.

These pictures jump right to the concert "after party" in Aiden's classroom, but I will be posting video footage as soon as I can load it.

A proud mom.

Everyone was taking pictures. Even Aiden's classmate Leah was getting in on the action.

Aiden's wonderful teachers: Teacher Melissa and Teacher Lois.

And finally here is the after after party which involved lots of cake eating and general mayhem.

Phew! Another great concert, and a great year of pre-school coming to a close. We are all looking forward to next year!

L.A.

Here are some seriously overdue pictures from our recent trip to sunny southern CA.

On our first full day we got to see our good friends Dan and Laura. It had been a long time (too long) since our last visit together, but we made the most of this one! They gave us a tour of their town and the school (Loma Linda University) they have been attending for graduate school. Our time together was amazing, but unfortunately ended all too soon.

The next day gave us the opportunity to visit with Jen's Uncle Bob and Aunt Val who also live nearby. They took on us a coastal excursion to the beautiful Balboa Island/ Penninsula. The weather and scenery were spectacular, and we had a great day together.

Throughout the week we had the extreme pleasure of visiting with and being hosted by our amazing friends Mike and Rhianwen. Although we were only in town for a few days we had a great time seeing their neighborhood, catching up on new stories, meeting some of their friends, and just hanging out in their cool new apartment. Thanks Mike and Rhi for taking us in! You were great hosts!

This picture says it all. I'm just not sure what "it" is.