view from our deck

The view from our front deck is great! We can even lie in bed at look out over the valley. So we've take a few photos. One of sunrise, one mid-day, one at dusk and one of the beautiful snowfall mid-April. Then there's Mrs. Gray. We inherited her from our neighbors, much to the kids' delight. She's an outside cat so even Reed and I like her. She's calm enough to let Fienna pack her around but we don't see her everyday. We've found some wonderful dead surprises in our yard too. She's quite a hunter. Really a pleasant cat. And the little finch. He spent an afternoon tapping on our front room window. The other day there were 4 different finches lined up on the chains of the porch swing. There are quail living in the hedge and a pheasant that walked through our lawn. Even a skunk, which is much less appealing. Fortunately he doesn't seem to live here. I've only smelled him twice. So far Connor loves our great big yard and has even planted a full vegetable garden. Set up a sprinkler system too. He's anxious to get a lawn "tractor" too. Caitlin wanted to move back to MD the second time we made her gather tumble weeds. So I got her some gardening gloves.

Really, one of these days I'll post some interior photos. I just haven't taken any yet. We have one project nearly done. My dad came out and tore out the back hallway wall. He put in a wider exterior door too. Much nicer to walk in our back door now. But it won't be finished for a while. We need new flooring and some kind of cabinetry. And lots of other things...

Our House...

Someday we'll love it! And someday I'll post some photos. Maybe even tomorrow. Stay tuned...
Oh, I need a new title for our blog. Any suggestions?

Highlights from our LONG, LONG drive

So I uploaded in the wrong order. Oh well. Mammoth Caves in KY was our first stop. Fortunately or unfortunately the only tour left in a time we could attend was just of the very beginning of the dry cave. Where they collected bat guano during WWI. Somewhat neat. We didn't get a chance to go into the "wet" caves to see stalactites and stalagmites. Connor was pretty disappointed about that. Fortunately, the tour we went on was pretty short. No baby backpack are allowed so Reed and I had to carry Greydon and Fienna. So the wet tour would have been MISERABLE. It was 2 or more hours. The weather outside of the cave was beautiful so we took a short walk and crunched lots of leaves. Even stepped off the path - gasp! The next couple of days we just drove, drove, drove. Tennessee was pretty. Arkansas and Oklahoma, not so much. But New Mexico? We loved it. We'd love to go back and spend a few days w/o kids. Santa Fe is not a city for children. Ours were the only ones visible. And we did get at least one rude comment. Not really a comment, just a sound of disgust under some artsy-fartsy young beatnik's breath. I guess we were taking up too much of the sidewalk. We just wanted to see the floating staircase. Got there after the church closed though. There's a carved statue of the man who built the staircase and then disappeared before anyone could get his name or pay him. Fienna saw the statue and yelled, "Jesus!" Then the top photos are at the cliff dwellings.

OK, I can't figure out how to use this thing! I thought that the Arches photos would be after that first paragraph. I don't know how to put my journaling where I want it! Oh well, the words and photos are all here. So the top, top pictures are at Arches. The kids had the best time climbing the rocks. Even Fienna yelled that she loves rocks. I just let them go. The kids wriggled and climbed into spots that others weren't going. Some mothers were telling their kids to come down, now. That was high enough. Benign neglect, I'm telling you, it's the way to go. Everyone in the Jones family was happy.

But not always in the car. There were some tense moments but all in all pretty smooth. Traveling with 2 babies isn't highly recommended but what could we do? And the big kids are just as happy to fight with each other as they are to play. Thank goodness for the portable DVD player.

Trees Across the Country

So the first gigantic tree is at a rest stop in WV. The next kind of ugly one is in Arkansas, or maybe Oklahoma. Those 2 states kind of blurred together. Neither of them was very pretty. At least the parts we drove through. Reed did like the Ozarks though. We did have some stops other than rest area but the funny thing is, the kids will probably remember climbing trees along the way as well as they remember anything. The "rock tree" was just so neat I had to take a picture. It's in Baldelier National Monument in New Mexico. It was a GREAT stop. Ancient cliff dweller ruins. We spent several hours and hiked 3 miles. Climbed a gazillion steps up a very steep cliff to a religious site. Great way to start our day. The last 2 photos are trees in Arches National Park. Another great morning. We could have spent all day here. And it was the perfect time of year. Cool and sunny.

finally, a snow day

We finally got several inches of snow. Enough to close work for Reed. He took the 5 oldest kids to a nearby park for sledding. He met up with another family and even took 3 extra kids with him. What a great Dad! I was home sick, sick, sick. Greydon was sleeping thank goodness. The kids had a great freezing cold time and even got their dad to take a few runs down the hill. Apparently one of them didn't end so well. But no permanent damage.

FRIENDS

We never planned to have babies so close together...but I think it will turn out great. Hopefully Fienna and Greydon will be the best of friends. They seem to like the same things. Pacifiers, wearing pajamas all day, the same toys.

Our Next Move

Who knew that our next move was to the Palm Springs of Washington! We didn't. Until we saw the sign. The end of January may not be the best time to visit Yakima. But it was the time we had. Just a few short days to find a house that will accommodate a grand piano and 6 growing children. No easy task. But look at one option. It even has an above ground pool. Reed actually showed these photos to the kids, telling them it was the house we were hoping to buy. Caitlin immediately broke into gut-busting laughter. Alaina's jaw dropped. "You like this house, Dad? Do you really like it?" She was completely dumb-founded and awfully calm. Usually she has a lot to say. Never afraid to express her feelings. She simply declared that she did not like the house.

After several grueling days we found a house that we could see ourselves living in. It's 4500 square feet, 5 bed, 3.5 bath on 1.6 acres. It could use a new kitchen and master bath and we'll eventually get to those. The lot is completely landscaped with mature trees and plenty of lawn. Great for the kids. Connor is now talking about a riding mower. One of his dreams for the past couple of years. He also wants to split wood and since this house has 3 fireplaces his wish could come true. We put in an offer yesterday and are waiting to hear. Hopefully it all works out. Because there isn't much of a choice if this one doesn't work.