January Update

I haven't REALLY updated in a while, except for pictures, so here it goes..... Things are going pretty good here in VA. I'm still working in 3rd grade and Aaron is half-way through his second year of med school! Praise the Lord! It hasn't really felt like winter here yet because there hasn't been any snow and it's been as warm as 70 degrees sometimes. I am anxious for some snow to come our way so that I can stay home and sleep in!!!
There is a little bit of new news with us......we are suppose to be getting a new car, (was my dad's company car), hopefully this weekend, which will be nice. Aaron is especially excited because he will be driving it and won't have to worry about his truck dying on him. Also, we found out where Aaron will be doing his rotations next year. He will be in Blacksburg for 3 months, Radford for 1 month(which are both 10 minutes away), Marion for one month(which is 1 hour & 10 min away), and Wytheville for four months(which is about 45 minutes away). So this is the plan, but as we have found out from other students, these plans can change for any given reason really. It is hard to believe that Aaron will be starting rotations in September! But before that he has to take his boards, probably August 30th. For those of you who do not know, this is probably the HARDEST test he will have to take while becoming a doctor. So, please be praying for him as he starts to prepare and study for it. Pray that God will continue to give him discipline and motivation and encouragement. God is really empowering him to learn and study and have a good attitude during this time.
On a lighter note, I'm contemplating getting a dog. We have a little backyard that would be pretty good for a dog, but we would need to enclose it so that we don't have to keep it on a leash. I have stopped by the animal shelter to look at the dogs that are up for adoption. There are a few cute ones. Cute and friendly are about my only criteria. And this would be an outside dog, which is shocking to most people who live around here. I think I sound harsh and cold-hearted when I tell my friends we would be keeping it outside. But, hey, they are ANIMALS, created by God to be outdoors :). So.......we'll see......I know it's a big responsibility, but I think it would be nice to have a dog around.
I am excited that our girls bible study is planning on starting a new Beth Moore bible study called "Believing God." I've read the book and it was GREAT! So I am really excited to do the workbook and videos. Our bible fellowship class is going well, we would like to see more people coming to class, but we just keep praying.
Oh, and the pictures are of my FIRST HOMEMADE loaf of bread!!!! This is why I need a dog, because I am too excited about bread :). I got a bread machine for Christmas (thanks Laura) and it's pretty neat. I made a multi-grain wheat bread, and it tastes great with butter and honey! Anyway, there are a lot of different recipes I am hoping to test out. So let me know if anyone is a big fan of homemade bread and maybe I can bring you some :).
Ok, well, I guess that's enough updating for now. Hope everyone is having a good January and feel free to come visit anytime. Our latest guest was Craig Wells who stopped by last Friday night. It's always fun to hang out with good friends.
Have a good rest of the week!

More Christmas pictures

Here are some more pictures.....not in any particular order. On the left is my Granny and Pop who live in Middle TN.

On the right is Scott, Colton and Michael enjoying some of Colton's Christmas presents. And below is our annual Christmas photo at my Mom's house. Our family is definitely growing! More family pics...Colton is trying to hide between his mom and dad.
Michael & Katy

Carla & Colton in the Christmas parade.

ok...here are some more pics from Christmas. I was so excited to get to hang out with my best friend, Alicia, and her husband Eric for a little while in TN. Here's a picture of my pregnant sister :)........isn't she cute? she is about 6 months pregnant and they are having another boy!!







Our 2nd Christmas in Virginia!

Just a few more Christmas Pictures

Christmas As Seen Through My Sister's Camera

Aaron Here,
here are a few pictures from last week. We forgot our camera at Sonya's parent's house, so on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my parents house we had to use my sister's camera to take and then download the pics onto my laptop. We had a great break and a great Christmas!!!



Here's Gavin, he's a lot more exciting this Christmas than he was last year!!



















Caryss Loves Bandaids, and Mermaids... it's actually the same word for her. You aren't sure if she wants to watch little mermaid or if she needs (wants) a bandaid!


















Sonya looking fashionably sexy and Caryss with her "Cheese" smile

















My sister, her husband and their kids... the life of the party. Not laura and david but the KIDS

Lots to be thankful for....

Well, this blog is motivated by my brother, Michael, who was tired of looking at our Halloween pictures! Sorry it's been a long time since i updated....let's see...we had a great Thanksgiving spending time with our families in TN. We always go to my Granny & Pop's in Middle TN for a big family get together. Then we stayed in Knoxville a couple of days. Aaron and his dad went to the UT game, while me, aaron's mom, aaron's sister, laura, and my sister, carla, and my nephews and niece went to Fantasy of Trees. It was a really "festive" place and i think the kids had a lot of fun. Aaron and I were talking on our way home Sunday night just about 'stuff' and we realized that we have not been thanking and praising God enough, but mainly just asking for stuff each day, and we feel like that has really caused us to have a bad perspective on things right now. so we are setting our minds on only praising and thanking God this week and trying not to ask for stuff. so far it has been really great, and God has just reminded us of how much He deserves our praise and worship and how much we have to be thankful for...... hope you all are doing well. we praise God that Aaron did well on one of his tests today, he hasn't found out about the other one yet. we are looking forward to seeing everyone at Christmas. sorry I didn't get any pictures of Gavin, but I will get some this weekend bc they are coming to visit us in VA!!!
Here's Caryss at the Fantasy of Trees.....cute as always!
Colton thinks this tractor is 'trevor' off of Thomas. This is at Granny & Pop's house.
Mom showing off her 'fake flowers' for cake decorating.....they are edible ;)
She's pretty good at this stuff!
Colton before Halloween......he really enjoys trying to scare people.

Halloween party!!!!

Well, few people know how to party on Halloween night like some Christian couples hanging out, dressed up like little kids and playing games that any 7-9 year old would be really good at.

Sonya and I went to a party last night with our friends from church/school and had a great time. No we didn't win the costume competition, or the balloon burst relay, or the swinging apple and doughnut competition, or the balloon stomp game or the drop the skittles in a cup game, or the guess how many pieces of candy are in the glass game... but we did get to go home with a prize just for looking so funny!

We found out that we had to dress up for the halloween party this year at Aubrie and Jason's house (aka candy corn and Geroge Strait in the pictures). while rummaging through our clothes i found some Thai kickboxing shorts that I had bought a few years ago when I was over there. So then my friend Sem in Thailand bought me a shirt which I gave to Sonya to wear... and it all came together, i even oiled myself up to look a little more authenic.

Sonya would kill me if she knew i put the pictures of her "unhumanly busty bosom" on here but it was all part of her costume.

No ghost came to visit us cause they were scared when they saw the sights of me









I had to put a lawsuit against NBC because Law and Order are trademark names for my fists and feet!

So we had lots of fun and acted like we didn't have 50 hours of studying in front of us for the rest of the week.
Our birthdays are coming up so feel free to get us something good!! Good night!

Hiking the Cascades

So last weekend my brother, Michael and his wife, Katy, came to visit us for the weekend. I was so excited for them to come and hang out with us for awhile and they got to come to church with us too. I really miss hanging out with my family, but I'm thankful for the time we do have together. So Aaron took them on a tour of his school and they got to see all the dead people in the anatomy lab, and I actually saw them too for the first time! It is quite interesting :). After church on Sunday we went to hike the Cascades. It is a 69 foot waterfall about 30 minutes from where we live. It was a great day for a hike. Don't worry, this isn't what it looks like, but it does look funny :). Aaron and Michael had to practice self-control to not climb every big rock we came across. Aaron almost fell in while playing on the rocks, but managed to keep himself dry. Although on the way back down he did manage to topple backward over a rock and land on his rump in front of a group of people. But he's okay :). Just hurt his pride a little. Katy & Michael
Me & Aaron
The gang at the falls. It took us about an hour and a half to hike to the top. 2 miles up.
The Cascades! It was very pretty with the trees changing colors too!

Well, I guess all is about the same with us. We went and looked at a car last week, but it wasn't the one. I started with a new client last week, so now I have 4 kids. I am getting really burned out on doing paperwork all the time. Please pray that God would help me do my job well and not get overwhelmed. Aaron's first test in this block is this Friday. He's been doing better with having motivation to study it seems....Praise the Lord. I honestly don't know how he keeps going and studying as much as he does. Our Bible Fellowship class (sunday school) is going really well, there are more and more new people our age showing up at church. It is so encouraging. Well, I think that's about all, I'm going to go eat some lunch now. Have a great week.

Caryss and Gavin

Well Clint came up this past week and kept me company for a few days while Sonya went and worked everyday. We played Halo for a few hours a day and watched Lost at night with Sonya. I took Clint to see the Anatomy lab and he held a few organs. We did do some productive things. I cooked dinner every night and did all the dishes and laundry. It doesn't make up for the 50 weeks out of the year that Sonya does it but hopefully it helps. I love my weeks off school, but monday I start my official 2nd year material. Pathology and Pharmacology are the 2 big classes this year. But at least Anatomy and Physiology are over!

Anyway here are some pictures of our niece and nephew Caryss and Gavin that Laura sent us. They are great!! Happy Friday the 13th!

Birthdays everywhere

Here is Gavin and Daniel, Aaron's brother....Gavin just finished opening his exciting birthday present.....clothes!! Gavin hanging out in the floor, being tickled by Uncle Aaron.
This is a picture of what my family takes pride in.......how many roundbales you can stack on a trailor at one time without losing any :). My brother Michael, on the left, and my Dad on the right.
My sister Carla, her husband, Scott, and their little one, Colton.....with Aunt Sonya and Uncle Aaron. His present was a little more exciting... He got a Thomas the Train DVD. He is really into Thomas the train lately. He'll say "Tom Choo Choo", over and over and over.


Well, I just had a few pictures to share. Last Sunday was my nephew Colton's 2nd birthday and yesterday was our nephew, Gavin's 1st Birthday. Unfortunately we missed both parties, but we still got to see both of them last weekend so that was nice. Things have been going pretty well here in VA. Aaron is having a hard time getting motivated to study lately, and he has 7 exams and 1 quiz in the next 8 class days. The good news is that he has a break after that starting Oct. 6th for a week. I found out that I will probably have 5 kids (clients) in my classroom this year. Right now I have 3, but the other 2 are in the process of getting services. I am a little overwhelmed thinking about how I'm going to get everything accomplished that I need to with 5 clients. Please pray that I will depend on God, and not my own understanding and abilities. I know He's going to teach me a lot about that this year.
We found out today that our new Sunday school class will be starting next week!! We are so excited about it. We still don't have an extra trailor yet, but our pastor thinks he has arranged something for the next couple of weeks until the other building arrives. So please pray for our new class and Aaron and I as we lead it.
I guess that's about all for now. It's officially fall and almost October.....whew, I'm sure it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas before we know it :) . Have a good last week of September!

Heading Home

Just wanted to let you all know that Aaron's grandmother passed away last night. We will be traveling home for the receiving of friends and funeral this Sunday afternoon. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for our family. We praise the Lord that she had a clear testimony and was a Godly woman who is now with the Lord. Please pray for comfort and strength for Aaron's grandfather and family during this time.

September Stuff

Here's a pic of Colton when he came to visit us......he likes to play guitar, sing, and dance!! Just like his Uncle Aaron! Me and Alicia, at her home in North Carolina! We had a great weekend.This is a picture from our balcony at the beach!! It was gorgeous!! And another view of the ocean.........ahhhhhhhhh



hello everyone, sorry it's been so long. Quick update, Aaron's break was great. He was able to go and shadow some doctors back in Knoxville. My mom came and kept me company that week which was really nice. Then we went to the beach for a few days and got to hang out with my best friend, Alicia, and her husband Eric. It was a great vacation, except for the jelly fish sting!! Don't worry, I have pictures! So now, school has started back for both of us. Aaron is now in his second year, and I'm still in 3rd grade as a counselor. Last weekend we were able to go home to TN and camp with my family for a few days, which was really nice. Aaron's grandmother has been moved to a Hospice care facility, where they are trying to keep her pain to a minimum. Please pray for his family as they stay with her 24/7.
We are excited that our new "bible fellowship" aka as Sunday School class is getting ready to start soon. We are having to wait for our church to purchase another trailor to have classes in because we have no more rooms available in the church!! Kind of a good problem I guess because we are growing so quickly. We are really looking forward to see how God is going to use this new class. Also, the girls bible study I started met again last week and we had a GREAT time. It was very encouraging to be in a bible study group again.
Oh, on a side note. I am proud to announce that my brother was ordained as a deacon tonight back at my home church in Dandridge. Their church is without a pastor right now, but I know God has exciting things planned for them.
Anyway, I guess that's about all for now. Hope everyone has a good week.

Hooray Hooray, 1 down, 3 to go

We are celebrating Aaron completing his first year of medical school!! 1 year down, 3 to go until graduation, then 3 years of residency. But he gets paid in residency :). We give God ALL the glory and praise for providing for all our needs this year and teaching Aaron all he needs to know to be a good doctor. So now Aaron has 3 weeks off to celebrate and relax before he starts again. He is now officiall a "second year" student. It's really exciting for us. Around here med students are referred mainly by there year.
So we had a great weekend hanging out with my sister and brother-in-law and nephew! i will add pictures soon. Colton entertained us mostly. My sister and I enjoyed bargain shopping at the Goodwill store. It is the BEST!! If you like to bargain shop, and don't mind spending some extra time rummaging through things, you can find some GREAT deals!!
Aaron is getting ready to head back to TN.....without me :(. But it's ok, he deserves it. And he's going to have some great opportunities to shadow some Dr's in Knoxville everyday. Meanwhile, I will be in VA with my mom who is coming to stay with me while Aaron is gone.
Next Sat. we are heading to NC to see my best friend, Alicia, and her husband Eric. I am soooo excited that we are going to finally get to see them!! THEN...on Sunday we are driving on to the beach, Myrtle Beach!!! God provided a GREAT deal on a condo place for us to go and relax a few days. We plan on being back home Thursday.
This week is my last week of our "summer program" at school. WHEW!! it's been a long 8 weeks! i am ready for a break. But i thank God so much for my job. He has really opened up some amazing opportunities for me to share Him and witness. He teaches me a lot through my job. ok, time to get ready for bed. hope everyone has a great week. and please continue to pray for Aaron's grandmother, she is still in the hospital and not doing well. and please pray for my dad's back, his ruptured disk. he is still having a lot of problems. thanks

Watch Out Here Come the Jones'

The "VCOM Dream Team"
We were named after the greatest athletic team ever assembled the 1992 USA olympic team. I was Clyde the Glide Drexler and I hate to brag but I think I made ol' Clyde proud. Sonya was a last minute add so she had to wear another shirt but after much consideration she would have been wearing the name "Air Jordan" because she gave such a stellar preformance!






What excellent form!!!!

















Saturday July 29th my school, VCOM, hosted a basketball tournament for all the students, spouses and staff. The first years had 4 teams, the second years had 1 team and the teachers had one team. Well, you had to have a girl on the floor at all time and one of our girls on our team was sick, but never fear I had a secret weapon I like to call "The Sonya".

So Sonya showed up, and as you can see from the picture below she was not afraid to shoot, even though it was a guy's ball and she had hurt her knee in the 2nd of 5 games. She outscored me a few games and had a 3 in the staff/ student game that sparked a big run ( you can see I was awe-struck from her rain of threes). We ended up winning the whole tourney and accomplished something no team has ever accomplished, we beat the teachers but only by 4 ( they had payed the refs, and it was their 1st game and our 5th).
So we had a lot of fun and her knee is doing better. We were just excited to get to play on the same team. I wanted to dedicate this blog entry to my allstar!!!!

Answered prayers

Hello everyone, just wanted to share how God has been working and answering prayers in our lives this week. First, my neighbor, Brenda, who we have been inviting to church for over 6 months, came to church with us this morning for the first time! She has been active in church previously, but quit going for a long time. So, we just Praise the Lord that she was willing to go. Please pray that she will continue to have a desire to be involved in church and God's word.
Also, Aaron has had some good opportunities to encourage and befriend one of his fellow students who just recently became a Christian. He also came to church this morning. He is looking for a church home.
Also, we were discussing with our pastor last night about the need for a new sunday school class for our age group because there are so many new people coming in. And after talking about it, our pastor said that he had been praying about the same thing, and about Aaron and I leading it. So.........we are very excited about starting a new sunday school class in about a month that we will be able to invite other students from VCOM and other couples our age to come to! God just really worked it all out and confirmed it completely through all of us!
Also, our girls bible study at my house is progressing some and we have ordered a book to check out and see if that's what we want to use and there have been two more girls who want to come and be a part of it! It's been a slow process getting started, but I know it's all about God's timing and not mine.
Please just praise God for all of these answered prayers and encouraging things that are happening, and also pray that God would open up an outlet for me to be able to have a "Christian" influence at my school, whether it is by starting an FCA or something else. I'm not sure what I could do, but my heart is very heavy to be able to share Christ with all my kids. They need to hear it so bad, and I want to tell them. So please just pray God would work that out for this upcoming school year. THanks so much!!

My crazy husband

I just had to share this with all of you......Aaron does spend a lot of time at his desk......mostly studying, but what you might not know is that he is also practicing his kareoke routine for next year's VCOM Idol (like American Idol)!!! Here he is learning the words to Elvis' "A little less conversation". This is just one more reason I love my husband. He is one crazy guy!!

And this is just a picture I took at a park Sat. night. I like playing with our camera. Maybe someday I'll know what I'm doing and will be able to take really cool pictures.

Anyway, hope everyone has a good week. Please pray for Aaron's Grandmother Jones. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and has had surgery and is awaiting chemo, but has been put back in the hospital this past weekend because of complications. Pray that the doctors will have wisdom to treat her. Thanks. Sonya