Merry Christmas 2012 from the Jones Family

Where to start?..... oh, yes, Merry Christmas 2012! 

Things have changed since this picture was taken a year ago!  We were living in West Monroe, Louisiana, the weather was in the 40s and 50s, we still had Sliver, and we had just returned from a vacation out in Washington State.

Adam was almost 4, and going to pre-school with some of his best friends.  I was working as a Territory Manager for John Deere, and Ted was keeping the house together and training for triathlons.  



 

 

And what is different today?  Ted is still keeping the house together and training for triathlons (and a 1/2 marathon coming up in January).  I am still working for John Deere, as a Large Ag Tactical Sales Manager, and Adam is almost 5 and going to pre-K with some of his best friends. 

 

We have also moved from Louisiana back to Kansas, sold a house, bought a house, lost 2 cars, bought 2 cars, I have run a 1/2 marathon, Ted has run several triathlons, visited Washington State to visit friends and family and attend a wedding, Adam has started to write and read, we lost Sliver in September, and we are about to gain a new niece or nephew.  A lot can happen in a year!

Adam celebrated 4 years in January 2012, with a "Car and Truck" birthday party - not a big surprise, as he continues to be fascinated by all things powered by engines.  We are looking forward to birthday #5 coming soon - It may be another "Car and Truck" birthday again!

 Adam also enjoys lots of imaginative things - he has at times been a fireman, bat, cat, mouse, armadillo, dog, shark, snake, jellyfish, and other assorted animals, sometimes all within about 10 minutes!  He keeps us entertained and we get to answer lots of questions about what each animal eats, how it sleeps, etc. 

 

In March we met up with my parents in New Orleans to have a good visit, and so I could run a 1/2 marathon there - it was a fun few days, and I had a good run and finished in my target time.  I haven't been motivated to run that far again since then, though! 

New Orleans has a great Aquarium, and also a wonderful Insectarium - Adam was fascinated by all the cool bugs, especially the hissing cockroaches!

We also made several trips to state parks around Northern Louisiana this spring, and found some wonderful places to play and enjoy getting out into nature. 

Our backyard provided plenty of entertainment throughout the year - it backed onto a wetland, and there were always birds and animals to spot. Some of our favorites were the woodpeckers (three different varieties), egrets, and hawks.

As always, there were plenty of home maintenance and home improvement projects to keep us busy.  Adam has gotten quite handy with a wrench and screwdriver so he can help us out when needed!

In March Ted completed the University of Monroe Triathlon, to kick off the triathlon calendar. Adam ran the last hundred yards with him. 

At the end of March Jean had an offer for a new job with John Deere back in the Kansas City area - so the house went on the market, we finished all the home improvement stuff we should have done way back when we first moved in, Ted found us a house in Olathe, KS, and we got ready to move!

We will miss the wonderful people we met in Louisiana - we had great neighbors, coworkers, and the John Deere dealerships were full of amazing interesting people that I enjoyed working with greatly!  We will miss everyone down there!

We will also miss the wonderful wildlife we encountered down in Louisiana - this was a little lizard that was in our back yard one afternoon.  We will even miss the giant spiders, cockroaches, stinging ants and giant red wasps, alligators, 6 kinds of poisonous snakes, etc.  They made thinking about nature walks interesting!

 

We moved into the new house in the Kansas City area in early May, and luckily only had one night in the new house before the movers arrived with all our stuff.

 

Then it was an adventure to figure out where to put everything. More than 6 months later we are still arranging and rearranging!  We do like the new house, and especially the new neighborhood, which is actually our old neighborhood, since we lived in this same area when we were in Kansas City last time!  It has a great community pool for the hot summers, a new park area with things for the kids to climb on and play, and a great path that runs almost from our doorstep to two different city parks.  It is great! 

We have enjoyed lots of activities around Kansas City since we have been back - the Zoo, Children's Museum, Deanna Rose Farmstead, Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop, and other special events (like the one pictured above where Adam got to sit in about 30 different trucks, cranes, rescue vehicles, etc on the same day) have kept us busy.



For the 4th of July we participated in a kid's parade at the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop, and Adam won a prize for best decorated bike (and boy).  They also had a band playing, tours of the buildings, and fireworks - fun stuff!  

In July we traveled out to Washington State to visit family and attend a wedding. That is a great time of year to be in Washington - we had mostly good weather and got to visit with most of Ted's family and a huge number of my relatives.

 

It was great to take Adam over to Eastern Washington for the first time, and to enjoy wonderful "camping" with my mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law near Leavenworth so we could go to a wedding there.  Weddings are always such a great opportunity to see all the relatives!

 

We enjoyed all the seasonal fruit while we were out in Washington as well - fresh off the bush or vine.  Adam was very good at picking strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and other things, but they often ended up in his mouth instead of the bowl!

 

 

Being in Washington is so much fun because we spent time in the mountains, and we also spent time at the docks in Olympia, where Adam got to see seastars, anemones, crabs, barnacles, and lots of fish in the saltwater. 

 

After we got back from Washington in July, it was back to work, and Adam started a Pre-K program at the end of August.  While he misses the fun "Dad" time he had during the summer, he has really enjoyed his classroom, teachers and especially playing with the other students.  And we never know what he will come home and tell about that he learned in school!

 

We did a group bike in September to raise money and awareness for mental health issues, and Adam was the youngest rider to complete the 10 mile route (we were supposed to only ride 3, but that is a whole different story), so here he is accepting the smallest trophy I have ever seen!

 

In September we lost Sliver - she was 14 years old, and we miss her terribly.  We haven't even started to think about getting another dog or pet yet, as she was a member of the family and will be impossible to replace.

September also involved a weekend where Adam and I went camping with cousin Rebecca while Ted participated in a triathlon, lots of trips to zoo and Deanna Rose, and lots of warm dry weather.

October was LONG, as Adam was looking forward to the double excitement of having my parents come and visit, AND Halloween!  He really had a good time for Halloween - we made a shark costume for him, and he liked that, but the BAT costume his grandma Beth brought was the real winner!  It was too small for him even then, but he managed to squeeze into it for Halloween, for Thanksgiving, and was just asking about it the other day.  It is starting to split at the seams, so it won't last much longer!

And here we are almost at Christmas again!  We put the Christmas lights up on Thanksgiving, had the tree up that weekend, and Adam has been making lists of what he would like to get for presents.  It has really helped to get him writing (and reading), as he has to write down what he wants, and to read the toy boxes to figure out what to write!

 

Well, enough about our year!  We are all settled in Kansas City, Adam is looking forward to a winter with snow, I am enjoying my new job and all the office activities, and Ted is keeping fit, and we are looking forward to the next year!

 

We hope you had a WONDERFUL 2012, and that the new year brings great joy!  Take care and keep in touch! Happy Holidays!

 

Jean, Ted, and Adam Jones!