My "other" home

I wanted to share a glimpse of my other life that consumes so very much of my time and energy. The refinery is putting together a Martinez Village photo albumn. I've gotten to take the photos for the Planning dept, my HR team, the Learning & Development dept and the Medical dept.

Here's my HR Team

That's my little work family! Everyone is absolutely wonderful!!!!!

Me & Rach (my friend that's my reminder of younger days)

And here's some of the crew at the company picnic.We told Brent we're his version of "Charlie's Angels" so we were playing it up.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!!!  We can only hope all are enjoying their weekend as much as we already are.  Last night was an open the windows kind of night, which lasted until about 11am when it was time to contain the cool air inside, still without the aid of the a/c, though it's definitely getting warm outside.  LOVING IT!

Shelby got lots of 4th of July presents from Mommy...obviously with the not-so-hidden agenda of a photo shoot.

Our little man is Proud to be an American.

Have a safe and happy 4th!

Love, 

The Jones Family

NAPA!

Stacy and I had the absolute best time in Napa Valley for our 5 yr wedding anniversary on June 19th.  THANK YOU, MOM and NONNY for coming out so we could have our get-a-way!

We stayed at the McClelland-Priest B&B in downtown Napa.

After LOVING down town Napa and all its shops on Friday, it was off to Celadon Fri night for dinner.  We were so excited to sleep in without Shelby getting us up at 5:30am.  But, the windows were high and the rooms were bright and hot.  7am we were up and at 'em.  We took a lovely stroll & jog that morning to start our day.

Breakfast....then WINE TASTING!

Our first stop was Black Stallion.  The property was gorgeous, but the wine wasn't too impressive to us.  We did get Shelby his gift here: a sweet little touch and feel Pony book, which he loved.
Check out the size of the beautiful door!  I threw Stacy in for size comparison.

Chimney Rock was unique and beautiful, but the wine tasting was $25/person.  As Shelby says, "No, tanks, dough."

We had lunch in St. Helena at a little hole in the wall burger joint called Taylors.  It's so popular we stood in line for about 45min just to order and waiting 30 more to get our food.  It was fun, because it was outdoor picnic-type seating, but the weather was too cool for a summer day for me!  I was shivering half the time.

Next stop: Castello di Amorosa (The Castle)

I owed Stacy a bottle of Joseph Phelps wine from a funny story (he doesn't think it's funny) in which during our first few months of marriage, Cantrell was out to visit in Santa Fe and she and I downed some bottle of wine Stacy had.  We had no idea that it was #1 Pricey and #2 from the winery owned by the President of the company Stacy & Jeremy were working for.  Our bad!  So, 5 yrs later, our debt is repaid.  LOL!  Here's us at the winery.

It was just the best weekend in so many ways.  Short drive (1.5 hrs), beautiful scenery, great weather (though I was cold during the day and hot sleeping at night) and just spending time giving undivided attention to each other and to the amazing 5 years we've spent living out our vows. 

Dear Napa,

We'll be back!

Love, 

The Jones'

Bike Ride

This is from a few weeks ago.  Shelby wanted to ride his bike, like Chaila and Aaron.  His bike from Grammy and Grandpa is completely pimp!  It's got blinkers, a horn and a pretend radio that plays a few little tunes.  He's since gotten better about using the pedals vs Fred Flinstone-ing it.

Sweet Dreams

At night when I go to bed, I always check on Shelby one last time, re-distribute his covers and blow him a kiss.  It's at this moment that my day fades away.  None of the rest of it suddenly seems to matter, because it's all suddenly clear.  How innocent and precious that peacefully sleeping face looks.  I wonder what he's dreaming and wish nothing but happy ones for my little man.  I hope that he feels safe from the boogie-man that seems to come at night, knowing that Mommy and Daddy are there.  And I realize that the most important thing I did all day is tuck him in and sing him our song.

S-H-E

L-B-Y

Close your eyes and sleep, Shelby.

Mommy loves you.

Yes, I do!

And Daddy will always be here too.

Close your eyes

And have sweet dreams

And know that I am here.

Close your eyes

And have sweet dreams

No, there's nothing to fear.

Last night after I sang and tucked him in, he looked up at me and smiled and said, "Good-night, Mommy" so sweetly.  

"Good-night, Shelby."

Livermore Rodeo

So, yes, I've been behind in blogs.  There's lots to catch up on, as Stacy and I took a vacation to Napa Valley for our 5 yr anniversary!  Mom came to take care of Shelby.  

Here's the Livermore Rodeo weekend.  It started with a parade.  Shelby had fun watching the flags and listening to the bands.

The moo cows were funny.

And he liked the cool military vehicles.

I love the little downtown fountain area.Livermore Rodeo is pegged to be the Fastest Rodeo in the world.  They weren't kidding.  By the time Shelby got up from his nap and we got there, it was over a few hours later.  What rodeo ends at 5pm?  We had a great time, and cheered for the bull rider from San Angelo, Tx.

Shelby was funny.  In between riders they'd play music and about the time he got to jammin' the rider would come out and the music would stop.  He got so mad he yelled in the general direction of the press box, "Hey!  I wanna dance!"

We stood in line forever and Shelby picked out the one horse he wanted to ride so we had to await that horse's availability.  He was so excited, but when he got on top of it, he freaked out.After a few rounds, he was calming down.And by the end he was good to go.  "Hey, Daddy, I like the horsey now."

Taiko Work Shop

For Christina's 30th birthday, I (Stacy) bought us a 3 hour workshop for Taiko Drumming.  We saw a performance in Houston a few years back, and she loved it instantly.  I was mainly looking to buy us tickets to a show, but I saw that they do workshops.  They also offer semester classes, if you wanted to become a real Taiko Drummer.

We had a lot of fun, but we are both going to be sore tomorrow.

 If you have never seen Taiko Drumming before, here is a video to watch how it is suppose to be done. 

Future Aggie Football Stud

While Daddy slept in this morning, Shelby and I decided to go outside and play with his Aggie football costume from Grandpa Dino.  I couldn't get him to wear the shoulder pads, but we had a fun time.  We wanted to surprise Daddy with pics of his future Aggie football player.

Abby

For those that haven't heard, I wanted to share an update on Abby.  She was diagnosed with Diabetes recently, but is doing much better.  She started randomly urinating in the house and drinking water excessively.  And not just loosing her bladder on the way to the back door.  Clearly going in her sleep and waking up in a puddle on the bed, on the couch.  

Yes, our next comforter will be washable and I have to steam this couch!

She's been reacting well to her insulin (Stacy sticks her twice/day!), so cross your fingers we've gotten the right dosage.   She's 10 yrs old this past March, so this kind of stuff is bound to happen, I know.  I'm glad it's something manageable.   
Her 7th birthday look back.

Photography

If you haven't checked out my CAJ Photography blog lately, please do.  I've posted a few recent shoots.  I'm excited because I finally saved up enough for my new lens!  I got to use it today and I just love it!!!!!

www.cajphotography.blogspot.com