Our Last Two Weeks

I am completely now blaming our internet connection for my refusal to posts blogs a couple of times a week. I'm presently sitting at my mother's in Syracuse and loving having high speed internet again. How have we survived for a year without it?

First and foremost, we would like to congratulate Todd, Lisa, and Maisy for their newest arrival, Adelyn Lucette Gardiner. Check out her blog for the complete update http://ranchogardiner.blogspot.com/

The JAJ household has had a busy couple of weeks since the last post. So, to begin...

We took Alexis strawberry picking for the first time and have some pictures to prove it. Is it because it's my kid that I get such a kick out of these pictures? Here are her thoughts relating to each picture:

Ok, Dad, I'm ready!

My uncle-in-law Scott says I'm a Dee-Dee-Dee!

I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds fun!

What the heck is this? Mommy tells me it's that food stuff... and I love that food stuff.

Maybe I'll give it a try.

Here goes nothing...

OMG! This is the best ever!

Think I can fit the whole thing in my mouth?

Do I have any on my face?

Will you go strawberry picking with me next year?

Trust me, it's the coolest thing ever.

Before strawberry picking, we took a family camping trip. Now, when I say family, I mean family: Ron, Julie, Mom, Keith, Ryan, Emily, Adeline, Jaimelee, Alexis, Madison Louise Eldred O'Hara, myself and a bunch of Ron and Julie's friends. Good times had by all. These were the first days that Alexis was finally starting to get over her pneumonia. Perfect timing.

Here's a funny story to get the camping blog under way...

Ever hear the one about two guys in the bathroom? It brings me back to the Seinfeld episode where Elaine asks her next door neighbor in the bathroom if she has "a square to spare." First, let me set the scene. When I heard we were going camping, I thought we were going camping. This campground was one step away from the Marriot (where my buddy, Frier, does his camping). Clean water, bathrooms, showers, and most importantly- toilets... all of the things unnecessary when camping. Yeah, we slept in tents, but we got room service when we woke up.

Anyways, as my bodily nature has it, I felt a little rumble in my belly and instead of running to the woods, I ran to the restroom and found myself a seat. After completing my work I went to grab the necessary cleaning equipment. When I took ahold of the toilet paper, it ripped away from its holder and rolled underneath the stall and into my neighbors throne. I simply laughed and asked if he happened to see anything roll his way. He laughed as well and then returned the roll to its proper owner. Unfortunately, my lovely roll, on its long journey, ended up going into some water type of liquid on the floor and thus was almost completely soaked on one end. Sensing my frustration, my nice neighbor asked if I wanted any from his role. Feeling a bit uncomfortable now with the whole situation, I responded with a "Thanks, but no thanks." I then proceeded to unravel many, many layers of my roll until I got to the good stuff. Once completing the task at hand, I left thinking that the woods probably would've been a better option.

Now, try to erase that story from your memory and focus on the cute pictures below of our trip:

Alexis in her Adirondack chair

Alexis and her Papa

Alexis and cousin Adeline

Alexis and Grampon

Cousin Addy- who interestingly enough proclaimed herself "special" when I took this picture.

I'll leave that one alone.

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing the newest swimsuit model, Alexis Brynn O'Hara!!!

Ok, just joking.

Special cousin again

Anyone want to joing us for next year's camping trip. I heard that Alaska and Australia were mentioned.

The patio is now 95% complete. JL has done a good job finding a suitable dining set with matching umbrella, a cool looking fire pit thingy, and enough fancy schmancy lawn chairs to host a small community (new lawn chairs not pictured- six new ones to be exact). All we need to do now is figure out the natural gas hookup to my grill and fill in soil around the edge of the patio (we've already mulched our flower gardens... I should've taken a more updated picture).



JL celebrated her 21st birthday on Saturday, 12th. The whole crew came over and we managed a game of bocce and a few games of cornhole. Unfortunately, the camera stayed inside for this event.

My knee has become quite the topic of conversation lately so I figure I'll give everyone the full update. When you hear a pop, you immediately know something is wrong, but are only left to wonder how bad. My best case scenario, from talking to all who know, was for my MCL to be torn. With an MCL tear, I guess it somehow miraculously heals itself without surgery. Well, I got the best news I could've gotten during my doctor's appointment on Friday. He confirmed that my MCL was gone and schedule PT and a brace for me. I left in a very good mood. Just to be sure, he ordered an MRI and told me he'd call me on Monday with the results. You can imagine my disappointment when he said he had some very bad news when he called on Monday. Not only was my MCL gone, but so to was my ACL.... and I had a fractured kneecap and some pretty serious miniscus damage. Stupid soccer! So, here's to some painful reconstruction surgery rehabilitation. I can't wait!

Now for some random pics to get your mind off of my knee pics before you leave this blog....



Garden and coolest purchase of the year will be my next blog.