Goodbye 2010!

It seems I've started a new tradition. I am always so wrapped up in the Christmas holidays (parties, gifts, baking etc.) that I just don't think to do Christmas cards until after Christmas. It seems the right time. I can feel the closing of the year, the urge to thank all my family and friends for all that they have done for us in the waning year, to wish everyone a wonderful new start to the next. So I'm sticking with it. In the serene quiet of my house before the girls wake in the last couple of days of the year I can reflect in peace over how great this year has been, how blessed we are.

This year we had many firsts and lasts, moving from Colorado to Dallas. We had our last session with Workshop, which has been a staple in our homeschooling for years. We were very sad about that, but we are thankful for all the wonderful memories and opportunities we had to grow with the friends we have there.

We had our last bike ride to downtown Denver to enjoy ice cream with friends at Little Man Ice Cream. We had our last stroll through the garden we planted, our last visit to Bear Creek with all of our dear friends there, our last hike through Matthews/Winters park. Well, we do hope to go back to some of those things, but it was the last time it would be there calling it home.

We had our first homeschooling experience in Texas with a wonderful group called Homeschoolers East, which we have been so fortunate to find. In many ways it is what I had envisioned many years ago when I considered what a homeschool 'group' should be. The people have been wonderfully kind and wonderfully consistent, encouraging and talented. We are grateful to have found such a group.

2010 Highlights include:
The 3rd annual (for us) 2010 Evergreen Plunge (and dinner at Beau Jo's afterward!)

Our largest ever Easter Day Scavenger Hunt, which grows more and more elaborate every year.

Our own bees swarming, which was quite an adventure.

Many many fun times with our Workshop group and our friends in Colorado.

A spring trip to Texas, where Zana rescued a turtle.

David's mother and sister visiting Colorado the week that we moved. Fun times!! (Remember the trip to Woody's in Golden?)

Moving to Texas

Britton visiting us and getting to spend time with Pop-pop, Kelly, the boys and their family out in the 'sticks'. :)

Lots of fun park days with Homeschoolers East.

Piling all the cousins we could get into the car and heading down to Brownwood to see 'Annie'.

Several fun trips with Dad! We went to Lubbock, Austin and Wichita Falls several times and stayed at the hotel, swam, ate, played and learned!! And OH, that trip to Austin. *sigh* Loved it.

Barton Springs!! Say no more!

Manaw and Poppy got us a membership to the Fort Worth Museum of S&N that can also be used all over the nation!! We've been using it lots!! What a gift!

Alan & Doty visiting us and visiting them in Coleman. (Alan and Doty RULE!)

Hopping in the car and heading down to Houston for Josh's birthday!

Several trips to Coleman and Abilene to visit. One great day visiting my aunt Judia.

Camping with HSE!! That was pure Grade A 100% fun, can't wait to do it again in April.

A super wonderful awesome Thanksgiving. The best one ever. I got to be home with my momma and whats better than that??

The play, OH the play. 'Alice in Wonderland' was a wonder to behold!!

Waking the girls up at 2am and making a cozy bed in the grass so that we could lay down and watch the Winter Solstice eclipse. THAT was amazing.

Several impromptu visits with Stef & Tyson, Grandma and Poppop, Jach & Yvonne (&kids), Brian and Amy, Dad and Kelly, Manaw & Poppy, Camille & Joy, Nana & Jasmine, the Kemper Cousins, Mat&Amy&Erin, countless friends and family. Each one was a highlight! We have missed everyone so much and it has been so nice to get these special little visits and to see all the kids growing up.

There have been so many things happen this year, as they do every year. We can only hope that the next year brings more marvelous things into our lives and more of those moments that make life SO worth living!! :)

Happy New Year everyone!

Love from the Jones family.

Eden's Organic Farm

This weekend we went to Market Day at Eden's Organic farm. Wasn't much produce to be had, but there was a lot of socializing to do. We had a long conversation with co-founder of the Texas Honeybee Guild, Susan Pollard. The Pollards have been deemed beevangelists and urban bee wranglers. They truly are trail blazers in this land, selling Zip-Code Honey, educating the public and rescuing bees from all over. Susan was very warm and informative, filled with knowledge about many things, not just bees. We bought some honey and savored some of it before we even got home.

Sitting in the shade of oak trees growing behind an old farmhouse, the girls had so much fun holding a baby chick and loving on Solomon the cat. Eden's is only 4 miles from our doorstep, just a jaunt down the road. It's nice to find organic produce so close.
For those of you that are farther away, I'd save a trip to Eden's for summertime, when the produce is bountiful. If you have the yearning to learn more about organic practices, they do love volunteers.

Being Here

The purpose of being here in Texas is that we are here, near all of our family, so that we can serve them and love them, show them what they mean to us and show our children the importance of family. You can't replace them, no matter what. Family is part of the fabric of our being.

So, today we enjoyed just being here. Manaw and Poppy came to visit before I drove them to the airport for a long 35 day vacation in Phoenix. They came with goodies and treats as they always do, and their presence was a blessing as it always is. Poppy, of course, helped teach Alecia public speaking skills and she recited some of the poetry she has been memorizing as a portion of her Literature studies. Zana was just happy to play, and she and Manaw played game after game while she was here. They really enjoyed Pictureka the best. We talked and laughed 'til our faces hurt.

Stef was even able to join in on the fun and came to visit just in time. She stayed and played with the girls while I drove Manaw and Poppy to the airport. When I got back we played Sorry and discussed the deeply ingrained competitive Jones genes. We talked about scary movies and danced to Michael Franti.

We didn't get any schooling done today, (nor did we get pictures) it was just a day full of good times with family, a little bite of what its like just 'being here'.

Resuming the Jones Family Blog

After what appears to be a year long break (for specific reasons unmentioned here) I have decided to resume our family blog. It is a good way to map out what we have done and where we are going, plus it is very therapeutic for me. Helps me to end the day on a positive note.

Life is new and different now, we are entering a new phase of our family. It seems strange to me how some transitions happen very slowly so that you scarcely notice them, while others seem so quick they leave you wondering about the part of your life that so clearly now lays behind you.
Moving is one of those changes, of course, but there are others. Life changes. Diet changes. An opinion that is forever swayed by one particular event. Or personality changes, like those in a particular pre-pubescent girl who was so recently such a predictable child and has now become quite independent and intense.

Life as we know it right now is a journey, one where we are ever reminding ourselves that the journey itself is a gift and that today, right now, is the only thing we can be sure of. We must make it count and let go of worries, fears and things that are holding ourselves back, things that are inevitably stealing our 'todays'. We must let them aside for the sake of the present.

There are a few things that are a real priority right now. One is the enrichment of our daughters' homeschool education. The wind of change can't take away the thirst for learning, but must serve to enhance it.
Another priority is now equipping Alecia with the tools she needs to get to know and be comfortable with her ever changing inner self as she grows.
Lastly, PEACE as a family. We are reinventing ourselves always, but especially now. We are re-examining ourselves, learning what is truly important to us as we grow and change together.

Change begins in the moment that you realize that things can not go on as they have been and that change is inevitable, in fact it is vital.

I hope to begin sharing the posititve changes we are making here with some time, and also sharing those things that have become a faithful constant in our little family.