Not much of a hurricane

Hurricane Earl has come and gone and didn't cause any problems here. The Koupals came to visit for the night and we woke up to blue skies and a perfectly clean yard. It didn't even really rain! No complaints here. My mom's flight gets in tonight and we are hoping for easy travel!

Stay away Earl...

Here we are, on the eve of yet another hurricane. The Jones family has been through it's fair share since moving east and south. First, there was Isobel in Virginia, then Ivan and Katrina in Florida and Mississippi, now Earl here. It could be a big deal, or it could be nothing. But nonetheless, we are watching it. My mom gets here Friday to visit us all and help relieve me from single parenthood. we just hope it doesn't impact her flight and force her to spend another night in Atlanta alone!

We have been busy. Here are some of the latest pics.


Emma and Kenzie came over to play today. Look at all of those pretty girls looking at the camera! And Piper is rocking her Madonna 1987 Who's That Girl World Tour onesie.


Josie's hair is now long enough to keep a clip in it! We are going to have to make Piper wear headbands because I am getting sick of the "oh a boy and a girl" comments. She's wearing pink, she's not a boy!


These girls love each other so much! Today while they were in their highchairs, they reached over to each other and giggled and giggled. I don't know what was so funny, but they love making each other laugh. They are also getting better and better with table food and starting to drink their bottles all on their own. We are going to try out the storytime at the library on Friday.

Kimzey's shower was here on Saturday. I will upload pics from that as soon as I get them!

Swinging away

We have been walking over to the little park down the road from our house. Cooler weather is FINALLY coming. Josie smiles sort of tentatively while she swings and Piper giggles, then cries.

Some cute faces

Weekend Fun

It was a busy weekend around here. Josie and Piper have a new playroom we spent lots of time in. We also had Dwight here visiting for the weekend and a minor disaster after he ate one of Jackson's pain pills. It doesn't bode well when a four-pound dog eats a 110-pound dog's medication! Luckily, the emergency vet did his job and Dwight is a-okay. We also read some books and did more running.



Piper with a girly bow in her hair. Two bottom teeth are almost all in!


Josie with her bow. Now teeth yet, but she says "na na na na"


Reading books before bed


We have more than 600 miles together in the BOB stroller!


Playing in the new playroom!


Our weekend visitor, Dwight

Playtime & Dinnertime

We miss Josh around here, but are doing our best to stay busy. Josie and Piper love their toys! Josh bought them both a new toy before he left - perfect teething toys which are always in their mouths. They also love their food and sitting up in their high chairs is always tons of fun! Especially reaching over to play with each other.

Goodbyes

Josh left for somewhere in the middle east for 3.5 months. Goodbyes are the hardest and saying goodbye to two sweet babies is no fun! We are hoping the time goes by quickly.


Saying goodbye to Piper


Saying goodbye to Josie


Sad daddy and sweet girls


Can't forget Jacksonboy


At the squadron getting ready to leave


Daddies and babies


I love this one!!

Long overdue update

I am resurrecting this blog after four long years. A LOT has happened, so we'll just start fresh as a way of chronicling our lives with Josie and Piper!

Viva Las Vegas

After about ten years of talking about getting together for a girl's trip, we finally decided to do something about it. Holly, Mindy, Suzy and I took a long weekend in Vegas, which was so much fun. We relaxed by the pool, shopped, went to the spa, saw a show, and ate too much. We also stayed up until 2 or 3 both nights chatting.

Apparently there was a minor snafu with our planning process because half of our group showed up the day before the other half. Perhaps not the best communication!

We promised that we won't wait ten more years to do it again. Hopefully we'll stick to that!



Holly and Suzy trying on clothes at the maternity store. Holly is not quite that pregnant; it's a pillow. :)


At the Mirage before we saw the new Cirque du Soleil, LOVE

This 'n That: Fall

Here are some random pictures of things we've been up to this fall in Washington.

We did some hiking with the Koupals. We took this pic up on Mt Baker, where the fall colors were in full effect. We also found some good hiking in the Chuckanut mountains.

Josh turned 30 on October 6th! We had a small party for him with a few friends and Nate & Jessica and the kids. He left a few days later for El Centro, California and spent the rest of October flying in the dessert.

This was taken on one of our whale watching visits to San Juan Island, during which we saw zero whales. We did get to see this seal though. A little boy scared him off this rock a few minutes after we took this and he was forced to find another, less comfortable rock.

Jackson-boy hasn't made an appearance on our blog recently, so I have to put him in for good measure.

Jim & Rebecca and the Mariners

Jim and Rebecca came to visit in September without their kids. We missed Amanda, Austin, Allison, and Anna, but it was fun to spend the weekend with them. We went to a Mariners game in Seattle and took them to San Juan Island.

It was Coast Guard day at Safeco Field and Nate was holding the flag as part of the pre-game Coast Guard presentation. We all made the trek Seattle to take in the game, but mainly to enjoy the Coast Guard festivities. For some reason, we thought we had time to eat before the game, and then even when we were running late, we thought they wouldn't be exactly on time. Imagine our surprise when we missed the entire thing and showed up when the game had already started. We felt quite guilty about robbing Kleigh of the experience of watching his dad on the field! Luckily Jessica was able to make up for it with a Mariners shirt as a bribe.


Jim and Rebecca on San Juan Island


We struck out once again whale watching at Lime Kiln State Park, but got some good pics


All of us at the game. Kleigh was so excited to get a new Mariners shirt and even moreso when he saw some cute girls with the same shirt on


Here's a good shot of Seattle from Safeco Field


Hanging out at the Mariner's game

Steve and Babs Visit

My parents came to visit us in August and we had a great time! They spent about five days with us and then went on to Victoria for two more days when we went back to work. We took them all over, to Seattle, Vancouver, San Juan Island, and up to Bellingham. I think they would move up here for good if they could! We are hoping they come back to visit our bed and breakfast before we leave here.


In an effort to provide a real maritime experience, and because I know my dad enjoys things like this, I took my parents to the Ballard Locks, which is a link for boats between the saltwater of the Puget Sound and the fresh water of the Ship Canal connecting to Lake Union and Lake Washington.


This sign at the Ballard Locks made us laugh. What exactly is a "car prowler"?


My dad under the Peace Arch, which is at the Canadian border.


The top of Mt Erie, which is the highest point in Anacortes and on Fidalgo Island. You can see the San Juans, the Cascade Mountains, as well as Mt Baker and Seattle. It was a clear day, so we lucked out on the views.


We took them up to Vancouver to check out the city and Stanley Park, which is a huge park in the heart of the city.

Jones Family Comes to Visit

There can't be a better place in the world than Anacortes and Bellingham in the summer, which is why we had visitors all summer. It was great! In July, Jer, Erika and Riley came to stay with us and Barb came to stay with Nate and Jessica and kids in Bellingham. It was the first time we have all been together in quite awhile and we took advantage of our time together seeing the sites in Western Washington. The whether was beautiful and they were able to escape from the hot Utah summer a bit.

Everyone who comes to visit gets a little taste of the San Juans with a visit to Friday Harbor. The kids loved the ferry ride over and we did lots of shopping and walking around in the village.

Jer, Riley, Jessica and Kloe on the ferry ride over. It was a typical morning, started out grey and cloudy, but turned into a beautiful day.

Kleigh, Barb, Erika, me, Jessica and Kloe in Friday Harbor.

Jessica, Erika, Kloe and Riley in downtown Bellingham.

This was on Mt Baker at a place called Nooksack Falls.

Kloe and Riley near Nooksack Falls. They had fun playing together.

This is what the top of Mt Baker looks like in July! There was a German family sledding up there. We were all wearing flip flops.

The Koupal family with Nooksack Falls in the background.