Wayne County Fair

On Friday night we enjoyed some time at the Wayne County Fair.  Lily got to see her first rodeo and we walked through the animal barns.  She was scared to get close to the horses, cattle and sheep but when it came to the ducks and bunnies, she thought that was pretty fun!  Her favorite part of the rodeo was the buckin' broncos.  It was a beautiful night to be outside!

Lily was not havin' it. 

 At least we got a smile out of her when we came to cousin Riley's goat. 

Riley won Grand Champion with this one!

 The sunset was spectacular!

Bathtime Cutie

"Keep-Away" From Jax

Apparently babies are attracted to Jax's toy and he just can't get a break.  We watched our friends, Bryce and Rachel's little guy last night and he quickly took to liking Jax's infamous orange dog toy too.

Doesn't this picture of Wes and Jax........

look strangely familiar to that of Lily and Jax........

At least he's a good sport about it!

Smoothies

Our favorite thing on the menu these days: Smoothies!  Ever since we bought a Ninja, I've been making Lily one every morning and lately I've been incorporating even more of those not-so-tasty veggies that she won't give a chance on their own.  Especially now that I've learned the trick that with the super hearty vegetables like kale that you first of all need to add it piece by piece with plenty of water AND THEN add everything else, it comes out nice and smooth!  Yesterday's smoothie (this morning Daddy made it while I was getting ready for church so I don't know what he came up with!) consisted of peaches, pears, pineapple, carrots, kale, strawberries and wheat germ.  Lily slurps 'em down like nobody's business.  Is there really any better way to get all the fruits and vegetables into your kiddo that they need in a day?  Plus they are simply refreshing!  And that's why the Joneses are a little obsessed with smoothies right now....and hopefully always.

Happy Belated Birthday to Jax

Jax celebrated his 6th birthday last Saturday.  And not only did we forget about it that day but he was locked in his kennel for 12 hours while we were gone the entire day.  Well, good thing he's a dog and doesn't understand those things.  But IF he did understand, here's what I would tell him.....

Dear Jax,
Let's face it - before Lily was born, you were our baby.  You've given us a lot of extra joy over the years.  And it's been a sweet thing to see you and Lily interact.  You make life more fun (except when you incessantly bark when someone comes to the door) and we hope you're in our family for many more birthdays.  You have a special place in our hearts, buddy.  Happy 6th! (or 42nd, however you want to look at it.  You're over the hill now!)

"Mmm.  This looks delicous" {licks lips}

Date Night with Friends

On Wednesday night we ate dinner downtown with some friends and then walked around the sculpture park for a little bit.  We had a great time and realized that we need to make it more of a priority to have couple date nights!

 Scott & Liz

 Doug & Marisa

Us! :)

 Happy (early) Anniversary to these two!

Celebrating 7 years on Sunday!

LOVE this photo of us....except for the giant scary spider.  Guess we should have been a bit more selective with our background.  

 Our manly men

Motherhood Is A Calling

My friend posted this article on Facebook the other day.  I needed to read this.  It helped me to center my thoughts around the beauty as well as the responsibility of motherhood.  I hope to say one day that yes, my hands are full - full of good things!

"Live the gospel in the things that no one sees. Sacrifice for your children in places that only they will know about. Put their value ahead of yours. Grow them up in the clean air of gospel living. Your testimony to the gospel in the little details of your life is more valuable to them than you can imagine. If you tell them the gospel, but live to yourself, they will never believe it. Give your life for theirs every day, joyfully. Lay down pettiness. Lay down fussiness. Lay down resentment about the dishes, about the laundry, about how no one knows how hard you work.
Stop clinging to yourself and cling to the cross. There is more joy and more life and more laughter on the other side of death than you can possibly carry alone."

Seymour Old Settler's Celebration

Last weekend we traveled to Seymour for the annual Old Settler's celebration.  We enjoyed time with family, watching the parade, Justin playing in a whiffle ball tournament, Lily participating in the Cutie contest and supper & live music in the park.  It always falls on the second weekend in July which is the same weekend Ankeny does their summer celebration so we have a bit of a dilemma - we may just have to rotate years on which one we attend!

 Lily enjoying the parade

 Cousin Jaden is second from the right

 Lily loved seeing the horses.  I can't wait for her to ride someday!

 Mommy & Lily up on stage receiving her lei and prizes.  

She won 'Best Eyes' in the Cutie Contest.

With cousin Gracie.  These two walked back & forth on this sidewalk for the longest time holding hands.

 LOVE.

 On Great Grandma Karen's lap

 Trying out the bounce house for the first time.  She wanted to go in but only if I held her.  Let's just say it was fairly short-lived.  This mom is in no shape to bounce tirelessly in one of these contraptions.

With cousin Reece.  Doesn't he look like his uncle Justin?

This expression has been showing up in a lot of pictures lately. :)

 Right around this point in the day, Gracie turns to me and says "Lily's too cute for me". 

Gotta love the things they say!

Not Bad For An Amateur

This is a photo that Lily took of my cherry coke at Hickory Park. 
I thought it was pretty good for her first try at photography! :)

Lily's Vocabulary

I've realized over the past few days how much Lily's vocabulary has picked up in the last couple of months.  So I decided to write down everything she can say and the count came to 20 words!

Here's a breakdown:

Mama
Dada
Lily
Jax
Papa
Jesus
Bible
Whoa
Uh Oh
Up
Hot
No
Baby
Diaper
Hi
Hello
Ball
Boat
Duck
Eye

He's Got the Little Bitty Babies......

Lily will do the motion of rocking a baby when I sing that verse of the song "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands".

Support Compassion International

It's quite simple.  All you have to do is make Yahoo.com your home page for two days and they will be contributing a large sum to Compassion International.  Follow this link to help out!  Also the author of this linked blog will contribute $1 per person for anyone who makes Yahoo their home page and then leaves a comment on her blog.  Pretty sweet!

Compassion International has been able to accomplish amazing work all over the world and continues to do so.  Thanks in advance to those of you who take a second to help in furthering their mission!

Lemon Face

16 Months Going on 16 Years

Fireworks and a Parade

We watched the Prairie Meadows fireworks from a distance and even though Lily was up 3 hours past her bedtime, she did very well.  Then on the 4th, we went to the Ames parade and happened to run into our friends, the Jacobsen and Lanz families.

 You can barely see the fireworks off in the distance....

the Lanz boys, Jonah and Colby

Representin'!

 Levi and Colby

Courtney and I with our girls.  Doesn't Ruby look just like her momma?

 Enjoying a cheeseball at Hickory Park

After a late night and a skipped morning nap to watch the parade, Lilybug was plum tuckered out.