We openly admit that we are not the best bloggers. In fact, the infrequency of our posts makes this more of a yearbook than a blog. I could blame it on our village internet connection, which like our hillside donkey (who Jackson has imaginatively named Jack), comes and goes as it pleases. But the truth is that Sarah is to blame, as any time I have a free minute, she drags me and Jackson off on some all day pilgrimage up some mountain to sing with a bunch of burly guys (we leave at 6:30am tomorrow).

So you’ll have to make due with what feels like a good few months of pictures. What I hope you’ll see is a boy (a still quite blonde boy, incidentally) who has learned how to wield a walking stick, spot pigs, give a thumbs up, change his doll’s diaper, stare down a dog, swim in a river, charm older girls (and even get one into his bed), try on a number of items (including his dad’s vest, a bucket, Mr. Potato head’s teeth and mustache, and a huge pair of flippers, etc.), make his mom bust up laughing, eat his mom’s cheek, hide in a garbage can, spot a large prehistoric porcelain bird in a window, tighten the screws on a chair, do his now famous (in Tralonca, that is) slide move, feed a donkey, swing on a hammock, drive his first car, climb a mountain, sail on a boat, hustle the locals at pool and storm a castle.

You’ll also see a few pictures from a superb trip with Omlette and Pop to Barcelona and a picture of Sarah feeding a bunch of goats. (What you don’t see in that picture is David being kicked in the nuts by a cousin of one of those goats.)

I think these pictures show how overflowing with life this boy of ours is, how much he makes us laugh, how imaginative and adventurous and energetic he is (things we like to remind each other when he wakes us up at 6am and immediately wants to go down to the square to run around).

What perhaps isn’t obvious from these shots is that Jackson now knows nearly everyone in our village by name. Big deal, you might say, in a village of 40. But these names aren’t exactly easy, and in fact, as it is summer, our population currently is well above 80. Jackson stands on our porch and hollers the names of the folk as they go by. He also exchanges pleasantries with them in French.

What you also can’t see is how brave he is, now jumping into our arms in the public pool and rushing into the rivers and Mediterranean. He has a small inflatable boat, which he named Seepy (unsure if that's the way he'd have us spell it), and he captains that ship with great focus and skill.

Okay. Enough words. With our luck, if I keep writing, the connection will go down. On with the batch of pictures. Enjoy.