Jonesberries: Summer Coming to an End

As the summer comes to an end, it’s time for another blog post. It actually hasn’t been terribly long since the last post, but I suppose a new blog post would.

4th of July

This Independence Day was Macey’s first. We figured especially since she can’t hear, we MUST see fireworks, and actually have a good view. Last year, we were in Arizona for fireworks and while we saw them (from afar), it just wasn’t the experience we expected. The year before that, we parked along the Provo temple and watched Stadium of Fire fireworks, but it rained on and off, forcing us to make a judgment call to leave assuming the show had been rained out. We found out at home that we were wrong. So this year, we didn’t want to mess up. I found a great place to park the truck the night before and sort of reserve a spot; we would sit in the truck bed and watch over the top of everyone. Weather was clear, and the show was good.

We watched with Nikia and Brandon, Brittney’s 2nd cousin and her husband. Macey was so tired and actually fell asleep, but woke up for the fireworks. While she didn’t smile or giggle much (probably because she was so tired), we’re pretty sure she enjoyed seeing them and even feeling/hearing the loud booms.

The Great State of Idaho……and Yellowstone

We haven’t really had a vacation in quite some time, and with grad school starting, Macey’s surgery, and the new baby, we probably won’t have a chance anytime soon. We figured we should probably do something, just to get away and take a break. We opted to visit Benjamin and Crystal in Rexburg and visit Yellowstone National Park. The original plan was to go camping with Benjamin and Crystal, but after careful consideration, it was decided that camping, small child, and pregnancy (especially in the heat) probably wouldn’t be a good mix.

It was a pretty quick weekend trip, but I think it was a good break. Macey really enjoyed being out and about in Yellowstone. Besides Yellowstone, we played some games, had a bonfire, I finally “toured” BYU-I campus, and tried to relax in Gentry (the name of Benjamin’s trailer).

Flynn Ryder

I think most of you know that to go to sleep, Macey watches Disney’s Tangled EVERY night. She doesn’t seem to like too many other movies, although to be fair, we haven’t tried that many-we stick to what works. I still think there might be a few more that she’d enjoy and stay focused on while being rocked to sleep, but she definitely likes Tangled.

Bath Time

Macey still enjoys her bath time. In the past two months, she graduated from the small tub to the large tub. Before that happened, she learned to splash. Too bad Brittney doesn’t just let me splash like that all over the place.

Walking!?

So Macey turns 1 on Monday. We’ve been working with her on walking and are super pleased with her progress. Now, ever since I became a father, I realized that I didn’t know what actually “counts” for things like first step, first crawling movement, etc. Really, can you count it a step if she puts a foot down right before tumbling over into a wall? I’m pretty sure walking all the way across the living room counts as walking, especially if she does it multiple times. Way to go Macey!

Green Thumbs

What is the fun of having a garden and not blogging about it? I suppose growing food is fun. So two years ago, we had quite the harvest. We had cucs and maters coming out our ears. Last summer, we decided to back off a bit on the plants, fully expecting to have another year of high yield plants. To our dismay, not much fruit was produced. We wanted to make sure we got our money’s worth (and more) this year, but weren’t really sure what made the difference the past two years. We decided our dirt was not good dirt. Apparently, the dirt has a lot to do with it. So, I borrowed a wheelbarrow belonging to Ewles McCoy, and removed 5-6 barrels of dirt. I then replaced it with manure, miracle grow garden soil, and whatever other “good” dirt I thought would help, and mixed up sort of a soil soup. We’re happy to announce that our little garden is producing. We chose to plant a cherry tomato plant this year, which may have been one of the best decisions of my life! Last night while I was watering, I tried to count all the cherry tomatoes I could see from that perspective……75! And there are way more than that. Here are some pics of our cucs and maters.