A determined spirit

I stopped by a small park the other day to let Regan play for a few minutes. She was proud to show me that she could "do" the monkey bars. I loved watching her and seeing her determination. It was a beautiful, sunny day, a hint that spring is just around the corner. I watch in amazement as new flowers seem to show up out of nowhere each day. I also watch in amazement as my sweet, determined girl is growing so fast.

Trent Turns Eleven!

This picture was taken at the birthday "get together". The picture really says it all doesn't it? Ten and eleven year old boys doing what ten and eleven year old boys do.....play video games, eat pizza, drink Mountain Dew, make every imaginable gross noise that a body can make and turn my living room into a smelly gym for the evening.

And yet, amongst all of the awkwardness of these tween years, God gives us glimpses into the smart, sensitive, gifted, loving, spiritual young man that he is becoming. He is a blessing to us!

Happy Birthday Trent!

Happy New Year!

2008....Hard to believe....seems just yesterday I was graduating from High School....and now I am staring in the face of a twenty year reunion. Wow. I really don't feel that old. I guess no one really ever does.

Jon begins his second semester of his junior year today. Life's about to get crazy! :) I truly admire his perseverance. Working three jobs, doing well in school, all the while remaining committed to his family. He makes my life look easy.

Trent is enjoying his new experience with basketball. We're so proud of him for venturing out and trying something new....something that really is out of his comfort zone. I pray this will be a confidence builder for him. He is entering the awkward tween years and we truly desire to parent him well. This is new territory for all of us.

Regan is wanting to play softball this spring so, I suppose we'll be adding one more thing to our already busy schedules.

Rylee is frustrated. She is wanting to crawl so badly but, has not quite figured it out yet. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks....so it's just around the corner. She is just precious and continuing to bring our family joy everyday.

We've been here in Virginia for almost three years and this weekend was the first time we've had snow that stuck to the ground. It was really beautiful and the kids enjoyed it so much...brought back fond memories of Chicago.

The Jones' First Annual Christmas Blog

Merry Christmas!

That's right....the Jones' are going high tech and green. We thought we could save a tree by eliminating the paper version of the "Christmas letter" which I'm sure won't disappoint anyone because no one needs another piece of paper laying around the house. :)

So, if you are reading this, welcome to the Jones' First Annual Christmas Blog. Now you can check back with us throughout the year if you find yourself wondering what the Jones' are up to. We are going to try to update this site on a regular basis. But, first we have to play a little catch up.....so here is our year in review.

We'll begin with the "man of the house". Jonathan finished up his Associate of Science degree at Thomas Nelson Community College this year. He graduated Magna Cum Laude. We are very proud of him.

He began his studies toward his Bachelors and then Master of Arts in Teaching at Christopher Newport University in August. He is enjoying school very much. With all of the other responsibilities of life he is living on a little less sleep these days. Jonathan is also working at Space Mart self storage part time, giving guitar lessons, teaching a worship elective class at Summit Christian Academy and occasionally leading worship at church. Of course, all of these things take a back burner to his most important job...Dad.

Missy (that's me) has had an eventful year herself. I changed jobs twice this year. I was presented with an opportunity to work at Langley AFB as a nurse in labor and delivery in a GS position. I started that job in April. In a nutshell, it was definitely not what I hoped it would be and the opportunity arose to get my old job back. I jumped at the chance and am working at Mary Immaculate Hospital again, still in labor and delivery. I'm very happy to be back there. I am working night shift now and am actually enjoying it quite a bit.

The other big event in my life this year was giving birth to our third child. More on her later. I definitely feel that our family is complete. I seriously am getting way too old to be having babies. :)

Trent turned 10 years old in February. We moved this summer so, he started fifth grade at a new school this year. He generally doesn't like change but has made a fairly smooth transition. He is in the chorus and the chess club. He's also trying his hand at basketball this winter. It's nice to see him trying new things. He made A/B honor roll first quarter and continues to play piano. He does a great job with piano.

Regan turned 7 years old in September. She is 7 going on 30. I understand now what people mean when they say that about someone. She wants to grow up so fast and we just want her to be our little girl. She is doing well in second grade. She sometime has problems with what we refer to as "chit chat attacks". The girl loves to talk! Regan is in her second year of piano lessons and she is doing a great job. Regan just recently lost her 2 front teeth....so, she really would like to have them for Christmas. She will be singing her solo in the Christmas program with a bit of a lisp, I think. :)

Rylee Harper was born on May 23. She weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 inches long. She is such a joy. She just recently began sitting up on her own. The kids just love her to pieces. Missy's mom retired from her civil service job of 30 years to take on a new position...Rylee's babysitter. She is shamelessly spoiled everyday by all of us. What a blessing from God!

We moved this summer to a bigger house. (much needed) We were able to find a house just around the corner from Jon's brother and family. The kids are really enjoying living close to their cousins.

Thanks for taking the time to read our Christmas blog. We hope you are all doing well.

Celebrating the birth of our Savior!

Jon, Missy, Trent, Regan and Rylee

Rylee at dinner time

Rylee brings such joy to our family. She spent our entire dinner just squealing with delight. We tried to capture it on video but, of course she wouldn't perform. I thought the video was still cute, though. I especially like the part with Trent doing air guitar in the background. :)