2013

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Jones Family!  We hope this finds your family doing well; it is hard to believe we are already through another year. We've decided to go "green" with our Christmas cards, and by green, I mean cheap (and lazy?). We figured since most everyone we know keeps tabs on us via Facebook, sending something that finds it way into your trash can with stories you already have heard, is, well, a bit of a waste. Gone are the good 'ol days of licking hundreds of envelopes and risking a paper cut on my tongue. We've seen your fridge... you don't have room for another picture anyways.

Here's our year end update: Avery is six years old (going on 17…) and in first grade. She loves drawing, painting, dancing, and doing girly stuff.  Luke is 4, and started preschool this year, along with his first season in t-ball and soccer.  Poppa Tim has brainwashed him into a 49er fan. He and little brother Beckett (turning 2 in March) love pestering their sister and deleting apps on our phones. Beckett is just starting to use “real” words as he cruises through the house like a tornado, leaving a path of destruction in his wake. Rudy (our firstborn) has returned to his old self -- sleep (by the fireplace in the winter or a sunny spot in the summer), snore, eat, sleep, snarfle, eat, sleep, repeat. Justice wants to have him stuffed when he dies. Ashley thinks he will never die. Time will tell...

Justice and Ashley celebrated 10 years of marriage this past October, and almost had their first ever disagreement when Justice tried to convince Ashley to drive cross country with three kids in the car.  We settled on a flight to Boston to visit Grandma Tina, and a 1800 mile east coast road trip visiting some really cool baseball stadiums, a really big waterfall, and our neighbors to the north, eh!  We mixed some serious water-parkage into the trip and had a blast between baseball games and drive-a-thons. We decided, on the return red-eye while Beckett was howling at the top of his lungs, we’ll probably wait another ten years before we all board a plane together as a family (Jet Blue's restraining order against us should be expired by then...).

On a more serious note, a bittersweet end to the year came just a few weeks ago as Justice’s grandmother, Thedalea, went home to be with our Lord Jesus.  It was nice to see family we don't get to see nearly often enough, and a heartwarming time of reflection of a life lived for the glory of our Savior. We are reminded in these times, especially when we find ourselves rushing from one commitment to the next without a moment to spare, where our true hope and joy are found: In that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  We pray you rest in the blessed assurance of Jesus and His unchanging promises through this and every year!