Virginia

Hey y'all,

I know several of you are pretty upset with me.  I want to take a minute to explain the blog process.  It is pretty time consuming for me.  I have to sort through all the pictures I have taken.  (Yes, I probably take too many, but I enjoy it.)  Then, I have to load any pictures I want to add to the blog.  This post is a bit bigger than normal, but to give you an idea, it took an hour and a half to load these pictures.  This hasn't always been the case.  The files are a lot bigger on my new camera.  It takes 2-3 times longer to load pictures now.  I am not complaining because I love the better quality pictures.  However, it is difficult to find the time when I can load and then, when I want to load.  Things have been busy lately.  We traveled quite a bit this summer and I have been preparing for school for the last month.  Once the pictures are loaded, I spend about 30 minutes or so adding the text, proof-reading, etc.  I hope now you understand that as much as I enjoy maintaining this blog, it's a lot of work and takes a lot of time.  I want to continue making updates as often as I can, but as the kids get older and school takes more of our time, it may not be as often.  The kids and their school is my priority.  

Now, on to the fun....

Once again, we went to Abingdon, VA for a Jones family gathering.  It's such a beautiful area!  It was so wonderful to see all my nieces and nephews.  (Including the one still in a tummy!!)  The kids had a blast playing together.  Mom had fun activities planned, namely tie dye!!  We had an impromptu baby shower, well sort of... :)  It was super fun!

Colin made a picture for Uncle Ben and Aunt Elizabeth and brought it to them.  It was a picture of Winnie (their dog) with mosquito bites.  Yeah, I said mosquito bites!  :)

One of the shirts we got for my new niece due in November.

Sweet Sophie

The rock star of the girls!  Nina has a following in our family, every other girl!  They LOVE her!!!

 

Abigail, Rachael and Molly with their favorite little cousin, Nina!

AJ is definitely the boy rock star!  Here, he and Johnny are playing together.

Ping Pong was once again a big attraction at the house.  All the kids had so much fun playing.  

 

Nina getting some love.

I took so many pictures of Nina like this.  Every time I tried to get a picture of her smiling, I ended up with this!  

Molly tried to help me out a little.  She stood behind me and made faces at Nina to try to make her laugh.  Well, at least the fingers are out, but the silly girl made faces back!!  This may be one of my favorite pictures of her!!  :)

It rained.  Hard!  Colin got a little wet.  Ugh!

Beautiful ladies!!

Super Jack!!

Uh, (as Molly just said) what are they doing?!?!

Oh no, they've been caught!

Michael tried to get to the camera, but I was too fast for him.

Poor Stina!  

Molly strumming Uncle Sam's guitar.

Ready to tie dye.

Ben making a shirt for "Baby Bean."

The house.

Down at the lake

Making a splash

Allen doing a little fly fishing.

Sophie taking a bath.

Johnny prayed for us Sunday morning.

Sam played a few praise songs for us to sing.  And, a few non-praise songs.  "Just a good ole boy..."

The finished tie dyed shirts. 

Our group

Sophie and Nina.  I took this picture for my cousin Judy.  My grandma was Nina.  Her sister was Sophie (Judy's mom).  These two are their namesakes.  Beautiful, aren't they?  Just like their great-grandma and great-great-aunt.  

We had a blast and hope to do it again next year!

Until next time...