The Fildes Family

over due update...

2010-03-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

Joshua and John at the beach

Annie learning what sand is

The Fildes family at the beach

Jessica & Annie

Family time on the bed - think Joshua just slobered Annie...

Great Grandma Greaige, Grandma Pat, Jessica & Annie

Annie being a VERY BIG GIRL - using the big potty

Play time on the floor - not Joshua's favorite thing...

Bath time for Joshua - John helping...

This is way over due... the beginning of Feb. 2010 we took a trip to Florida to visit my grandparents... here a few pictures of recaping the trip... the kids did great on such a long road trip! It is also becomming a tradition for each child to have their first bannana cream pie in FL with the great grandparents... joshua loves bannana cream pie just like Annie and John - suprise suprise...

Another thing John and I tried to do was visit a different beach at sunset every night we were there - some evenings were colder than others - but what joy to be on a different beach every evening watching God paint a beautiful sunset before your eyes... one evening, we got to meat a couple on a motorcycle and got to pray for some needs that they had...another night we to took the kids and met a group of Jewish christians sharing the gospel and they prayed over our family...

Videos to come soon...

A long overdue update...

2010-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Annie & Joshua playing in the kitchen

Joshua enjoying the highchair

Mom & Joshua

Annie eating yogurt

Christmas time with Annie

So it's been a long 4 months with no internet connection at the house and limited times at the library using the public computers...here are some photos and videos recapping some of the highlights...

We stayed in TN for Christmas and hung out with some great friends creating lasting memories. John is still working for his same company at the youth treatment center and we are now in a waiting process for john to receive knee surgry from an injury at work - the blessing is that it is all covered thru workman's comp:)...my horse business is about to get busy with the show season starting in March. A few students are still looking for horses, but hopefully we will find them something soon to be able to start the season with everyone else...Presently, John, myself and the kids are all in Florida visiting my grandparents and my mom came from CO for a brief visit in FL too! What a fun family times!

Annie in the exersaucer teaching Joshua how to use it

Annie stunt-driving trailer video

Annie stunt-driving video

a much needed update...

2009-10-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

the very rare opportunity to capture on film - a smile

joshua and mom hanging out

joshua enjoying daylight

annie and her rain gear ready to play

........................................................

so i know it has been a while, so i will try my besy to do a short recap...

let's see...john still works at PV with the troubled youth, although with two kids now, he is slowly job hunting to see if he can get something that pays a little more than what he makes now...he enjoys his time with the kids and is daily encouraging many of the kids and staff spiritually... i am still teaching at the same two barns, possibly going to pickup another in the next few months and am tyring to get a few more students to help with the winter coming when the horse world tends to get rained-out a lot...

joshua is now 3 1/2 months old and his last weight check he was 11 pounds, 2 onces - he goes in the end of this month for his 4 month check and shots - not looking forward to the shots...he is getting quite the personality...during the day his favorite thing is to still scream/cry - john and i say it is his way of communicating with the Lord...he is starting to recognize annie and smile and laugh at her - which she thinks is amazing:)...at night he is now sleeping about 9-10 hours pretty consistantly...

annie - she is continually growing and trying to expand her vocabulary...john got a very bad case of poison ivy and had a skin infection on top of that - unfortunatly, he gave it to annie so it turned into a nasty diaper rash...so amidst everyone being on strong antibiotics or steriods - we are slowly getting a clean bill of health...

it is now fall in TN with tempuratures dropping into the high 60's/70's - finally cooling off - it makes john's job and mine a lot more pleasant to work outside...

hope everyone is well

A few pictures from the past...

2009-07-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

Annie's first pickle experience...

Joshua's boxing mit to ward off Annie

Joshua & Russ at one week old...

Lisa, Joshua, Annie & John at Annie's first visit to see her hospital...

So this is in reverse order, but the above photos are phots of the first week Joshua was born. Our dear friend Lisa & Russ took care of Annie well John and I went to the hospital to deliver Joshua. Annie has taken some time to adjust to being the 'big sister' especially since it takes time away from her 'Daddy time.' She is very fascinated by Joshua and tries to help out by 'patting' his head and is still learning to concept of 'being nice' and not slugging Joshua across the face...

It was great to have my mom, Pat, here for several days a/f the C-section to help with Annie and to allow me to completly focus on Joshua. Plus, she got to spend time with her grandchildren who live so far away from her...John's mom, Linda, has been here since my mom left and is here for one more it week. It has truly been a blessing getting so much help from family to make the adjustment of two kids a little easier...the true test comes next week when grandma Linda leaves and I am 'mom' on my own with the 2 little ones...

Some photos....

2009-07-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

Joshua snoozing doing Annie's birthday celebration

Annie got her first 'pound-puppy' from great grandpa & grandma Lewis

Grandma Pat, John, & Annie celebrating Annie's first birthday

Everyone enjoying Annie's birthday cupcake...

Annie's first bite of her cupcake

Annie enjoying cousin Josephine's carseat

Joshua and mom's favorite thing to do together...sleep

Oh how time passes...

2009-05-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

New student Kiera at KY learning to jump...

Kaitlin, Kiera, & Abby learning Cross-Country Jumping in KY

Kaitlin preparing for her horse show

Yes, being close to giving birth to Joshua, I am still teaching with a large bellie

Abby jumping her new pony cross-country for the first time:)

The day we realized Annie's ear infection affected her balancing...she had a nasty fall in the kitchen...

Oh, the power of curiousity!

Baby Joshua, always growing...

John and Annie hanging out at the barn...

Enjoying life together

Sorry everyone it has been such a long time since the last post...the Fildes family has been plenty busy to say the least...here is a recap since the beginning of April...

John - has several new boys in his pd and a few of his boys have recently graduated from the program. Now he has the honor to raise the new boys to their fullest potential while trying to disiciple them in the Lord the through his time spent with them... somtimes John feels like he leads two lives, 100% at work when he is there and 100% at home being a husband and father. He has been so generous with his time helping me out at horse shows and watching Annie - what a blessing!

Jessica - busy with a few new students trying to get as many lessons and shows in before baby Joshua arrives. From the second weekend in April to this upcomming weekend (end of May) I have been coaching at clinics or horse-shows either both Saturday and Sunday or sometimes just one day. John, Annie, and myself have been to the KY horse park 3 times in the past 5 weeks for horse events. One of my students, Kaitlin, has her 'big' horse event in KY this weekend that we have been working towards since the beginning of March - crossing our fingers that she does well this weekend. Here is a link to a utube video that a friend put together of a recent coaching for Kaitlin to prepare for her big KY event http://www.youtube.com/user/GrayHorseDesigns.

After this weekend, horse stuff slows down in preparation for the arrival of Mr. Joshua...

Annie - now has 4 top teeth and almost 4 on the bottom...she so desires to be a grown-up lady already. She keeps trying to talk on her own, but isn't quite able to yet and wishes she could speak full sentences to everyone she sees...She is still in the high percentage of growth for her age and is enjoying exploring all life has to offer...on the down-side, she has been fighting with an ear infection since the beginning of April that we are praying the Lord heals it soon...she is scheduled to see a specialist next week...

Joshua - growing as he should - still active as ever and getting closer to for his blessed arrival day

Enjoy the photos!

annie updates 9 1/2 months old

2009-04-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Annie's new clogs & outfit...

Naptime with Annie & Dad...

Annie's first driving lesson

Annie's second driving lesson...

Now that the horse-show season is officially underway, John, Annie, baby Joshua & myself have some very busy weekends ahead of us before Joshua arrives...It's been such a blessing to live in a state that has so many horse competitions so close that students can have a pick of shows they want to compete it. This weekend we are all headed to KY to watch the Rolex KY 3-Day event in person with a few students:) John got to go kyaking in NC last weekend with a friend doing class 4 rapids/water falls - he had a a lot of fun and was challenged in his skills as a kyaker a lot!

We miss CO and our friends in Durango, but we are getting setteled into life here in TN trying to make roots to raise our family. We just started attending a new-members class at our church which is challenging John and myself to wait on God's timing and trust His calling in our lives.

God Bless,

Jess

2009-03-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Annie ready for church...

Annie and her pet monkey learning how to clap...

Fun videos & pictures of past 2 months...

2009-03-17T12:56:00.001-07:00

Here are a few videos & pictures of Miss Annie growing up the past few months...

"Potty time with Annie" March 14th, 2009...

She loves her new potty

Ian Young came to visit & check out Annie's new double-jogging stroller

Potty time with the Noah's Ark book...

When in doubt, bring something to snack on...

Annie eating homemade Bannana Cream Pie with Dad...

Here is another video John just took a few days ago...we were at a consignment sale & bought her her first potty...

We miss everyone!

-The Fildes Family

It's been a long, long time...

2009-03-10T15:40:00.001-07:00

Annie giving 'kisses' after eating...

Paul & Erin Stroup, Ashley & Ellie Stroup, John & Jess & Annie Fildes all in Atlanta, GA for a

quick lunch get-together this past weekend...

Annie sitting in her highchair for the first-time ever...

Annie & Elli getting to meet for the first-time

Annie really likes Ellie Stroup

Annie loves chopsticks already...

Jess & baby #2 fildes still growing...

Greetings Everyone...

It's been way too long since our blog has been updated, we got way too busy getting caught up in life...here are a few recaps of the past few months & some fun pictures of our little Annie growing up!

John has changed clangs at his youth treatment center position and loves the new clang. His new clang has a hunger for God and spiritual discussions that keeps John's walk with the Lord ever increasing. He even had two boys join him for fasting and praying a few times now! God is moving through John in the lives of the boys at the center.

I am now teaching at three barns and have become the head instructor of a new barn in the 'upper class' portion of Knoxville area. God has brought in horse clients from all over and has been blessing the horse business financially in very unexpected ways the past few weeks:) The horse show season is now upon us with at least 1-3 shows per month until I take my maternity leave in June. Our little baby Fildes in the womb is growing as it should with a very strong heart beat.

Annie has her two bottom teeth and we are expecting to see at least one, if not two, top teeth any day now. She has finally hit the crawling stages fro almost two weeks now and wishes she could go even faster! She loves the adventure of being able to be "on the go" on her own right now. She is quite the curious little happy girl:)

We miss everyone!

God Bless,
Jessica

"The Lion Hunt Part 3..."

Lion Hunt...

2008-11-27T06:11:00.000-08:00

Annie very much enjoys lion-hunting in her jungle-jumperoo... Please enjoy her lion-hunting adventures...
The Lion Hunt: Pt. 1 THE JOURNEY

Lion Hunt: Pt 2: THE DREAMER

After the Lion-Hunt adventures...

Getting closer to Thanksgiving:)

2008-11-23T06:50:00.001-08:00

Great Grandma Marylou & Great Grandpa Jim playing with Annie in Ft. Collins a few weeks ago

Annie enjoying our backyard b/f winter

Annie enjoying fall leaves b/f winter hits...

Great Grandpa Jim & Annie playing in Ft. Collins

Grandpa Craig, Cousin Josephine, & Annie in Ft. Collins, CO

Grandma Pat & Annie enjoying their morning

Annie playing in the jumperoo

Annie 'walking' with Dad to Mom

Annie playing on her jungle playmat:)

Annie is growing up!

2008-11-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

Annie learning how to eat!

Annie excited about eating!

She is now sitting up on her own!

The Annie Elizabeth first rice cereal movie!

Fun Fall Times...

2008-10-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

Student: Alexis - competing this weekend at the "Beginner Novice" level for the first time

Student: Carter from CO

Student: Carter from CO

the show-jumping arena & barn

The barn:)

Spring Ridge Stables

The potential water jump comples - ohh the fun times to come next summer!

Annie enjoying the purple flowers

Annie & mom having fun outdoors:)

Fall time in TN

Oh how she loves her daddy time

Aren't they cute!

so it's about time to add photos of Annie playing in our backyard with John and I before TN winter 'sets' in...Annie is now growing so quickly, she is in the 80% percentile in height for her age - she is definatly a Fildes baby! There are also some photos of the barn I teach at with some of the students jumping. This weekend the girls are headed to their first, official eventing horse show. It will be a busy weekend with halloween, but a fun one with hopefully a good placing at the end of the weekend.

Cades Cove Oct. 08

2008-10-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Jessica & Annie

Fildes family by Abrahm's fall in Cades Cove

Annie not sure about her bathrobe...

Enjoying the leaves @ Cades Cove

John & Annie

Fildes family getting back to the car @ dark after the hike

We decided to drive up to the 'tourist' spot of Cades Cove for a short hike to see a waterfall. We kept trying to keep our expectations really low b/c of the hiking we had done in CO. We quickly found out, hiking in TN has a completely different meaning than CO. We had to follow a long line of traffic around the 11 mile loop, stoping at every turn to view: grass, a baby dear, wild turkey - & who knows what else people were looking at -eventually we found the trail we wanted to do and John was very glad to pull off the loop away from people going 2 mph. We had to laugh at the "steep graded hill" - we definatly saw driveways in Durango with much steeper hills... We were both pleasantly surprised that there were not as many people on the trails as we had anticipated. We even got some fun photos. Annie loved being outside in the woods looking at all the light through the leaves. We found the waterfall, took some photos, and headed back to the car. It turned out to be a beautiful hike to and from the waterfall with all the autumn leaves and cooler air. Now we hope to find some 'not-so-touristy' spots for our next outdoor adventure...

Spring Ridge Stables & Annie

2008-09-23T07:57:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a while...I cna't believe that we have been here for 6 weeks already! God has blessed us in so many ways! Last week we finally got a couch, loveseat, and recliner from Craigslist that just happen to be the exact colors of our rug in the living room. Our house is very slowly coomming together...

John is loving his job at Pennisula Village (http://www.peninsulabehavioralhealth.org/pbh.cfm) with Covenant Health. I started teaching riding lessons and train a few horses every week with Spring Ridge Stables (websiet to come soon) as a private farm about 40 minutes from my house. I am able to bring Annie with me while I teach and the mom watches her on days that John works. We are loving our new church - IHOP Knoxville. We are starting to meet more people through the church and our work.

Our friends we originally met in Durango, CO moved to Atlanta GA a few yers ago. They came to visit us this past weekend - unfortunatly, we spaced taking pictures...guess that means that Paul & Erin have to come back again... we tried a new sushi restaurant in Maryville and everyone had a great time...

Now, onto what everyone keeps asking for - pictures of little Annie...she is doing very well - keeps growing out of her clothes and is now full of smiles - hopefully we can get a few on the camera soon and post it for everyone to view...I have put a lot of pictures on flickr - lok to the right for more photos...

We have made it to TN & are getting settled...

2008-08-23T07:11:00.001-07:00

Well, we have now offically been in TN for 2 weeks - what a crazy few weeks it has been! Thank you to all of our friends in Durango who made it possible for us to move out here when we did - we wouldn't have been able to do it without everyone's generousity of their time & energy! From getting no sleep our last night in Durango, drugging our dog with sleeping pills for the plane ride that took a long time to take affect, & traveling through 2 airports on standby with a 6 week old - by the Lord's grace we made it here on August 9th.

John has been working @ Pennisula Village for 2 weeks now and is really enjoying his coworkers & the boys. His cabin is next to a lake, so he is very happy to do so many outdoor activities with the boys. Annie and I have been trying to unpack the house while she naps, needless to say, we still have a lot of books to unpack & 2 bedrooms to organize...John and I finally feel confident navigating our way through our new town, Maryville. I am greatful for all the times that John came without me and got lost driving on his own, b/c he was then able to tell me his mistakes so I could avoid driving all over TN with no clue where I was headed...

John and I think we found the church we are going to call 'home' - the International House of Prayer @ Knoxville (http://www.knoxhop.org/) - we went last night for the 'profetic worship & prayer' session for a few hours. Annie loved the music and got a few gifts from some of the women in the congration. We are so blessed to have the IHOP Knoxville so close to our house - its halfway between our house & John's work...

The picture below aren't in any specific order, but enjoy the shots & captions:)

Out for a 'stroll' around the neighborhood.

Look what Daddy & Annie found up the street from our house - horses:)

Annie's first bath in the new house - our kitchen sink...

She loves bath time!

The start of the 'rolling-over' stages...phase 1

Phase 2 - quick glance at the camera before the action starts!

And now she is rolling over!

Almost there...

Yeah - "I can now roll over from my tummy to my back @ 8 weeks old"

Grandma Pat, Great Grandma MaryLou, ANnie & I all enjoying our trip in Santa Fe, NM.

Everyone saying their 'sad' goodbyes as the Fildes family heads to TN.

The first 'swaddle-bee' diaper that fits - yeah - we get to start saving diaper $

"SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK" - thanks Tiffany for the onezie -we love it!

Great Grandma MaryLou enjoying Annie in Santa Fe, NM.

Annie's favorite 'thinking' facial expression.

Annie showing off her new dress from Amy.

Auntie Emily getting some holding time before heading to Argentina.

Auntie Jenn & Annie's cousin Joey hanging out.

Grandma Linda & Grandpa Scott visiting in Durango before the move.

Great Grandma Hanson getting her precious time with Annie.

Grandpa Craig & Annie @ his visit to Durango.

Auntie Brook taking her turn to hold Annie.

2008-07-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

Shortley after birth -Annie saying "Hi"
Daddy getting first kiss
Mommy holding Annie for first time after recovery of C-section
Annie adjusting to life & dream land
Goodevening world - Annie was born at 7 pm.

Our Newest Edition: Annie Elizabeth Fildes

2008-07-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

Well, after much waiting, Miss Annie decided to grace us with her presence on June 24th, weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. and measuring 20 1/2 inches with a full head of hair. It has been quite the change for John and I to step into parenthood, but we are enjoying every moment with our little one. For those of you don't know, we are in the midst of moving to TN. Lordwilling, we will be settled in as a family August 10th with John's new job starting August 11th. John will be working at a Youth Treatment center close to the house on a large facility that uses the great outdoors to teach teh kids about life, the kids attend school and are enrolled in the program for a 9 month duration. John is very excited for this opportunity to work with teenagers again and have the freedom to explore God's glory lands of TN with them. Hopefully I will will be working from home taking care of our Annie. Enjoy the pictures:)

Updating Fildes Family...

2008-05-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

So, the blog thing took a back-burner for a while so that school, work, and life happened...

Our old dog, Disciple, unfortunatly, got ran-over by a truck in Januray 2008, so we had to put him down...we decided we couldn't last very long without a dog in our lives, so we got Israel from a cattle-dog rescue place in Denver, CO.

WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BABY - in case you didn't know...

With a baby on the way, we decided to become House - Owners - although, not what you would typically think of, we are house owners in Maryville, TN. We will be leaving our home-away-from-home of beloved Durango, CO to move to TN the beginning of August. Our baby is due June 24th, we are going to be suprised as to the addition of a boy or girl Fildes into our family:)

Here a few pictures of our adventures - mostly traveling to places like Jamaice (mission trip in March with Matthew's House Church), Hawaii (Jan - fun get away), TX (hang out with friends), and of course - TN (our house and friends)...

first posting...

2007-08-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

So now that I am married, and "everybody" seems to be doing it, I thought I would join the bandwagon and join the blogger world...here goes...

Wedding/Honeymoom Recap...
John and I celebrated our wedding day on March 4th of this year. It has been quite adventerous from the beginning. We decided to go back to the Dominican Republic for our honeymoon since John was recovered from the car accident in the fall. It was such a blessing filled trip. We stayed at a nice hotel in Sosua and walked everywhere we wanted to go in that town for about 5 days. I kept wanting John to meet this Haitian pastor, Pastor Charles Roosevelt, but I didn't know how to contact him. I will just warn all of you reading this, we did not have the traditional honeymoon...

John and I decided to participate in the "Bridegroom" fast with the International House of Prayer for 2 days of the trip. We started a day late, but we figured God would look at our hearts...After playing on the beach we decided to go have a smoothie for dinner at the only place we could find a smoothie in that town. We were lounging around, drinking our smoothies, and a man(Lionel) came up to us, asking if we would like to purchase a book about learning spanish. He sat down and chatted with us for a few moments, and then I asked if he had any books on learning Creole (the language of Haitians). He was very curious why we wanted to learn the language of his people. I told him that I have a friend in Sosua who is Haitian, but he doesn't know Spanish or English. I asked him if he knew Pastor Roosevelt Charles. He became so excited - it was his Pastor!

Lionel agreed to take us to Pastor Roosevelt's house that evening. It was such a blessing! Not only did we get to make a new friend, Lionel, but the Lord provided an interpreter for us to speak with Pastor Roosevelt. John and I both felt like very privaledged people to be talking with Pastor Roosevelt and having as much freedom as we wanted to learn about how his family, life, minstry, and church were doing.

After our time is Sosua, we headed up to Maria Auxilliardora, a barrio in La Vega. We only spent two nights there, but we got to visit with all of the TEARS staff that John had met when he came down to propose to me. It was a joyous reunion with great friends:)

_____________________________

Current Employment...

John is currently working for SkyWest Airlines in the Durango airport part-time. The rest of his days are filled with landscaping jobs for self-employment. He is working on putting together his own landscaping business, "Tangeled Roots".

I am presently working part-time for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe as an Accounts Payable employee. I also work part-time as an office manager for a local church that John and I are involved in, Matthew's House.

_______________________

Presently...and beyond...

We are both working a lot and trying to spend as much time together in the evenings as we can. We both are thoroughly enjoying married life thus far, both the ups and the downs. We are planning on staying in Durango for at least another 2 years and eventually moving beyond the borders of the United States.