JOYCE JOANN JONES is BORN

It's a GIRL!!!

JOYCE JoANN JONES


Born April 15, 2011
8 lbs. 11 oz
21 inches

Holly was amazing and is doing wonderfully.  With the birth of Joyce JoAnn (baby number six), Holly has now given birth in three states, on two different continents, and under almost every variety of non-complicated modern medical care. (in-hospital natural birth with midwives, in-hospital birth with Ob/Gyn and epidural, in hospital birth with Ob/Gyn and IV pain control, and now natural birth in a birthing tub at a birthing center with direct entry midwife.  She is my HERO and a shining example of the courage, strength, grace, and FAITH that all women must possess to undertake the journey to motherhood.
 

 Holly just 24 hrs before going into Labor

 Holly blames the above photo for starting her labor

Holly and Joyce at 0400 on April 15th, just 2.5 hrs after giving birth.  This is our Midwife, Heather and her assistant, Jenee.  We were home and asleep in our own bed at 0500 that morning.  It was fun to have the kids wake up that morning and not even know that we had a new baby until they came into our room to say good morning.

JUNGLES, BATS, CLOUD FORESTS, ALLIGATORS

JUNGLES, BATS, CLOUD FORESTS, ALLIGATORS

January on a secluded beach in Manuel Antonio NP, Costa Rica

Despite Holly being 6 months pregnant, we decided to start the New Year with a bang and took off for a week of jungles, crocodiles, monkeys, cloud forests, birds and beaches in Costa Rica. Why Costa Rica?  Three major reasons:  We wanted sunshine in January, we didn't have time to adjust to a new time zone, and we wanted more adventure and freedom to roam than you get with a Carribean or Mexican resort destination.  Because Costa Rica is only slightly east of Utah, the time zone is only one hour different.  Rather than book a package vacation deal, which probably would have been cheaper, we decided to go for spontaneity and freedom.  We purchased plane tickets, rented a car online, and booked only our first hotel, planning to make up the rest of the trip as we went.  It worked out great and we thoroughly enjoyed a week of adventures, some among throngs of tourists, and others way off the beaten path.

Another secluded beach in Manuel Antonio NP

The Costa Rican National Motto, the PURE LIFE

 As with most destinations we have traveled to, we found more to do than we could possibly pack into a week.  We promised ourselves we will return to this amazing country in Central America.  Here is the introductory paragraph about Costa Rica from Wikipedia:

"Costa Rica, which means "Rich Coast", constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949.^[6][7][8] It is the only Latin American country included in the list of the world's 22 older democracies.^[9] Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in the Human Development Index (HDI), ranked 69th in the world in 2011.^[5] Also was cited by the UNDP in 2010 as one of the countries that have attained much higher human development than other countries at the same income levels,^[10] and in 2011 was highlighted by UNDP for being a good performer on environmental sustainability, and better record on human development and inequality than the median of their region. It was also the only country to meet all five criteria established to measure environmental sustainability.<sup>[5] "


Here are a few photos from our amazing adventure:</sup>

Not quite Walmart, but it had everything-- at great prices!!

Holly on a suspension bridge in the Cloud Forest NP at Monteverde

The CASADO-- meat, fried sweet plantain, beans, rice, and salad, for $2-- this was our staple

I probably took 300 photos at the hummingbird garden just outside the Cloud Forest NP

Holly admires one of seven chicks being raised by six year old Jose.  He keeps them warm in the family outhouse

Here is Jose's home.  His grandmother, parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings all live here.  They own a banana plantation and charge lost tourists for access to a local waterfall in the jungle.

 On our second day in the country we drove about 10 km from Monteverde on a very steep mountain road.  We found ourselves in a beautiful valley full of coffee plantations and home to the University of Georgia's Costa Rican campus.  While driving along the road we passed a middle-aged man that looked American.  We stopped to ask him what he was doing in the area.  He explained that he was a biology professor from a small mid-western state college and had brought a group of undergraduate students to Costa Rica for a month-long study abroad.  They were specializing in bat studies.  He invited us to join them that night catching bats with mist nets and then studying their characteristics.  We couldn't pass up that kind of offer and so after dinner we headed back to the UGA campus and joined the group.  We caught 5 bats in 30 minutes and learned all kinds of fascinating stuff about the little mammals.

Our kind professor, examining a bat's wing for distinguishing features

On our drive down the mountain from Monteverde, we came upon some fellow tourists who had lost a tire.  It wasn't just flat, it was gone.  They had watched it roll away from their car and off the side of a 500 foot cliff into a jungle-fill ravine below.  They had splurged for the full-sized SUV at the rental agency, but somehow the car didn't come with a usable jack or extra lug nuts.  We were the first folks to stop and help, but as you see below, within 30 minutes we had plenty of other willing hands.  I felt bad for this young couple who had planned a tight itinerary and were now going to have to spend a full day waiting for a replacement vehicle to be driven from San Jose.

Holly with our unfortunate friends as a tour bus driver explains the options

^{We gave them a ride off the mountain so that they could wait in a restaraunt at the base of the mountain rather than sweat it out in 90 degree heat with their non-functional car on this rocky, dusty road to Monteverde.}

En route from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio, we stopped and took a boat tour entitled "The Alligator Man Tour".  I had to take some pictures of the locals fishing the waters that were infested with these monster gators.  They were more than happy to pose for my shots and show me their catch.

Aptly named vessel "The Miracle"

Some Interesting Bird

Our tour was amazing for both the alligators and the birdlife that we got to see and photograph.  I wish I could remember the names of these specimens, but I know I have never seen them north of the border.

American Pygmy Kingfisher

Southern Crested Caracara

That is a WILD ALLIGATOR.... Need I say more

A recent hurricane had really wreaked havoc on the trails in Manuel Antonio NP, so we just ignored the signs and found lots of VERY secluded beaches.  :)

Road Trip to the Redwoods

Spring Break Roadtrip to Redwood National Park

When we moved back to the USA in 2008, Holly and I promised ourselves that we would not stop traveling.  While living in Europe, we utilized every school vacation to it's fullest and sometimes even kept the kids out of school for a few days to accomodate our family road trips.  We decided that here in the America, we will do the same thing.   We have decided to make the National Parks our major destinations and to explore interesting places as we travel between these National Treasures.

We had already made plans for Noah to return to Germany during this Spring Break and to attend school with his old classmates there.  So for the first time, we took off on a road trip without our eldest child.

Sage was fascinated by the Salt Flats just outside Wendover, Utah

We stopped and tasted more than 40 types of olives in Corning, California-- The Olive Capitol of the USA

Danny collects huge pine cones along the Trinity River

 Holly and I fell in love with Redding, California.  What a beautiful small city in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The drive along the Trinity River from Redding to the California Coast was gorgeous, but the road was definitely not strait.  We stopped many times to enjoy the beautiful riverside scenery and let the kids have a break from the car to prevent car sickness and the ugliness that follows.

From 07 08

Noah will turn Twelve this week. How recently it seems he was our little toddler in the Bronx, responding to the question, "How old are you?" with the unexpected, "I'm Eightween months."

We have been fortunate with our oldest child. He has been fun and easy to raise and so eager to learn about and explore the world. For those who share our Faith, you can appreciate the thoughts we have as Noah passes from the ranks of a Mormon "child" including participation in Primary, Cub Scouts, and efforts to earn the Faith In God Award, into the brotherhood of the Aaronic Priesthood, Boy Scouts, and young-adulthood. We hope he is well-prepared to face the challenges of adolescence in this wonderful, high-tech, high-speed world with all it's amazing opportunities, but also it's intense bombardment with things profane, selacious, and negative.

He and I will leave tomorrow for a Fly-fishing Adventure on the Green River. I hope to make it a family tradition to take each of my boys on such an adventure at the time they turn twelve. I remember my Dad taking me on such a trip when I turned twelve. For me it included my first airplane flight, my first individual fishing adventure with my Dad, and many memories of my Father that have inspired me in my own attempts at loving and nuturing my own children.

Hopefully Holly will have a similar adventure with each of our girls as they reach that magic age.

We just returned from Noah's Orchestra concert. The music was superb and I loved the excited smile Noah gave me as I told him how much I enjoyed listening to the concert. He said, "It is pretty cool, uh, Dad."

I realized last week that I will likely never keep up with Noah in my knowledge of things. I may have a slight advantage now, only based on my extra 25 years of study and experience, but I am not a learner like he is. At this point he reads an average of 1,000 pages a month-- and that is without any pressure from school or parents. I only hope that his formal schooling will never get in the way of his education and love of reading.

The only thing Noah likes more than learning and reading, is telling others about all his thoughts and ideas. During a recent game of BLOCKUS with our boys, I was becoming frustrated with all the time spent talking between turns. I told Noah to "stop commentating and take your turn." Oak, our quiet observer immediately replied, “Noah is very good at commentating.” Oak our observer speaks truth about Noah our commentator.