Christmas Time!

Here's the Christmas Update - (formerly sent in the mail)

We hope this Christmas season finds you and your family doing well. It has been an eventful year in the Jones’ household(s), here’s the highlight-reel version (cue the ESPN theme music).

Avery passed the 1-year-old mark in July and is growing every day. We recently went through pictures of 2008, and hardly recognize our little girl back in January. She’s now mastered the skills of the “high-speed-out-of-control-walk-not-yet-run,” “drink-from-big-cup-and-spill-half-down-neck,” and “feed-Rudy-over-side-of-high-chair.” Her favorite words [with pronunciation] are currently “All Done” ["ahhh-dunn"], “Hot, Hot, Hot.” ["ha, ha, ha" - with hand raised towards a fireplace or anything lit up], "Mom" ["ma, ma" -- usually said to Justice whenever she means to say Dad], "Rudy" ["ru, ru" -- anytime she sees any dog], "Peek-a-Boo" ["haboo, haboo" -- with face partially hidden behind her hands], and the infamous“Uh-Oh” [perfectly pronounced hundreds of times a day]. Just last week, Justice taught Avery the finer points in blowing bubbles underwater in the bathtub. She'll be slurping Jello through a straw before her 2nd birthday!

January
December

Avery has also learned the belly slide down the stairs, a necessity in a two-story home. We moved from San Miguel to Auberry in October, a result of Justice transferring to Central Division in Fresno. Justice is still doing pretty much the same thing as in SLO, just in a different, bigger, and busier location. We’re about 30 minutes east of Fresno, at an elevation just under 2,500' (above the fog and smog, below the snow). Life on a dirt road in the foothills is much different from what we were used to. It has been a blessing living so close to family (Ashley’s folks and Hayley/Stephen are very near). Did I mention free babysitting? One of the many benefits of life on the hill.

We celebrated our fifth anniversary with a cruise to Alaska in September. We had a great time and saw some amazing sights. Avery spent the ten days with Hayley and Stephen. We had tons of great food and desserts, and did lots of fun stuff at the places we stopped. We visited Ketchikan, AK, where we did a float-plane trip; and Juneau, where we took a helicopter tour and were able to walk on a glacier. It was awesome… looking straight down into a thousand feet of the deepest blue ice we’ve ever seen. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get on all-fours and drink water directly from a glacier! We took tons of pictures, none of which came close to what it looks like in person. We also stopped in Haines, AK, and Victoria, BC, on the way home.

Well, the only other BIG news to share would be Ashley’s pregnancy. Yes, #2, (#3 if you count Rudy), should be arriving in the last week of May. Subtract nine months from that day, and you’ll probably find us somewhere off the coast of Alaska ☺. We hope to find out the gender around New Years, after that we’ll start the beloved “name game.”

We’d like to close by wishing your family a truly Merry Christmas. Especially in these turbulent and uncertain times, it is our hope and continued prayer that you know the peace and joy that comes from belief in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.







We did get a little snow/hail a few days ago --- nothing like playing in the snow in your jammies.