Samuel Nils Jones

 And now for the first-born child of Peter and Julie, Samuel...Sammy....or Sam. I asked him once which he preferred and he told me that he liked them all and would answer when called by any of them. I do think now that he's 12 and about to turn 13, that he has outgrown Sammy though. That belongs to the years of the past. I discovered when looking through my photos, that most of the ones of Sam are in a group. I think that happened for two reasons: 1) that he loves his brothers and sisters and is a very responsible oldest brother 2)  and that if he has free time, he is off by himself or with Will, fishing or other outdoor activity that I wasn't around for. I think he did enjoy Saris (the candy store) but had a hard time choosing. We finally convinced him to try the chocolate, and he agreed it was really special!

 This is such a nice photo of the whole family, and a really nice one of Samuel as well.
He is getting so tall, and will pass up Mom soon.

 Samuel has gone through several phases in the growing up process, but right now he LOVES fishing and all things fishing, and enjoys drawing. We decided that for his special time we would go to the public library to get some quiet time alone and we both would draw. Papa took Calvin and we left them in the children's area, while Sam and I went upstairs to the adult section. I sat down and found a couple of pictures to draw, and waited for Sam. He spent most of the time in the fishing book aisle, reading and getting more facts. He is just as much a reader as Will, but Sam has always enjoyed books of facts: whether airplanes, oceanography or drawing. He does read novels on occasion, but mainly sticks to huge books of non-fiction. We did have a good time together, but I wish it could have been longer.

 Samuel has been taking piano lessons along with Will for a couple of years now. I really enjoyed helping him with his songs for recital while I was there, and he did such a great job.

 This photo is a bit older, but it does show the grin that Sam gets on his face when he has a fishing rod in hand.....

 or a fish on the hook! This boy is obsessed with fishing! Hope he gets to try out our Oregon rivers and lakes one day, or even deep sea fishing. I think he may be headed for a career having to do with fish and biology. We'll see.

Another thing Samuel loves is babies! He is always ready for his mom to have another one, and is excitedly waiting for the next one to arrive in September. Here he is holding Elijah right after he was born. He is a great help to his mother in the baby dept, and will make a terrific father one day. Samuel is a real pleasure to be around and I love the connection we have with him.

That's it for the Jones kids...and now we can move on to all the other interesting things we've been doing. More later....