Johnny's Clan 2017

Dear Family,

Hope all is well with everyone!  We are doing fine up here in snowy Montana!  We have had more snow this year than in the last 40 years.  Ugh!!

Chelsea, Jackson and I visited Curt, Jerri & Kids in April, and we went to the Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR.  It’s a drive through Zoo, and a lot of the animals are allowed to roam free. Then onto the Redwoods in Crescent City, CA.   We had such a wonderful time!  We all loved it!

In May, John, Michelle (my Stepdaughter), and I attended our Daughter-in-law’s college graduation in Pocatello, ID. Derik, John’s Son, and daughter-in-law, Heidi lived in Pocatello while she attended ISU.  She graduated from ISU, with a doctorate in Counseling.  We stayed with Florence and Larry for the weekend.  It’s always so great to spend time with them.

Chelsea, Jackson, Tyler and Ella visited us for 3 weeks in July.  John and I bought a camper trailer a couple of years ago, so we went camping with the kids.  We had the best time while they were here.  Can’t wait until they come back again this Summer.

John and I went to Atlanta to attend Jason’s son, Alex’s wedding the end of September. The wedding was absolutely beautiful!  While we were there we went to an Atlanta Braves game, the Georgia Aquarium, Botanical Gardens, and the World of Coke.   Chelsea and Jason made sure we were able to see some of the many wonderful sights of Atlanta!  It was so fun!! 

On December 16^th of this year, we welcomed a new grandbaby into our family!  June McKinley Olsen was born on Jackson’s birthday.  June is the daughter of John’s son, Derik, and daughter-in-law Heidi McKinley.  It is pretty special to have their birthdays together!  

Curt, Jerri, Tyler, Ella and Leia (the dog) came to Montana for Christmas this year.  They traveled on some of the worst snowy and icy roads that we have had in Montana in a very long time!   It’s been about 8 years since they had been home for Christmas.  Curt said he would never drive here in the winter again! I don’t blame him a bit!! But, it was so wonderful to have them here!  While they were here, we went on a sleigh ride at Zoo Montana.  They have Lights and Christmas displays throughout the grounds.  It snowed so hard, but it was so fun!   The kids and Leia really enjoyed playing in all the snow we had.

We did some remodeling in our kitchen.  We had the cupboards painted off-white, put in new granite countertops and a new backsplash.  It turned out so pretty!

2017  was a wonderfully busy year for us!  We have all been healthy and happy, and I am looking forward to retirement in July.  Yes!!!! 

Love you all,  Jan & John

Curt & Jerri

Hello Family

During spring break last year we went to Northern California with my mom, Chelsea, and Jackson.  It was a lot of fun to get to spend so much time with everyone and we saw some amazing sights.

We sent Tyler and Ella to spend some time in Billings last summer.  It was their first time flying by themselves so I think everyone was a bit nervous.  They always have so much fun there, but they are some pretty sad kids when they get back for a while.  I have to say we do enjoy being kid-free for a little while, but are glad to see them when they get back.

Tyler and I flew down to San Francisco in November.  We spent some time sightseeing and then went over to Oakland to watch the Raiders play the Giants.  It was one of the few wins they pulled out this year so we lucked out there.

We spent Christmas with my mom and John this year in Billings.  The roads driving over there were not a lot of fun, but the rest of time spent there was great.  It had been about 7 years since I had been back home for the holidays.  We were grateful that we were able to do this. 

Tyler is getting bigger on a daily basis.  He will probably be taller than Jerri by this time next year.  He will be going to junior high next year.  He loves playing/watching football.  He will start another year of flag football this week and we enjoy getting to see him develop.  He also likes writing short funny little stories.  He is a pretty funny little dude.

Ella has become quite the busy little girl recently.  If she isn’t over at a friend’s house, then she has a friend over at our house.  She also is active in gymnastics and softball.  She is very talented in all of the sports she participates in.  We love watching her.  She enjoys school, but I think it is just so she can talk with her friends J

Thanks to Barry for running the show on this year’s newsletter.

Hope everyone is doing well

We love you

Curt, Jerri, Tyler, and Ella

Chelsea

Jan & John 2016

Dear Family,

We hope everyone has had a great year!  Thank you Kim and family for doing the newsletter this year!

John and I went to Mazatlan, Mexico last March for a week and had a wonderful time. We bought a time share and are excited to go back sometime in the near future. 

We certainly did enjoy the Humpherys reunion last year.  Thanks Flo, Larry, Vance, and Parker.  It was such a fun time.  It’s always so fun to see everyone and the kids and grandchildren.  We enjoyed having Chelsea and Jackson visit for a few weeks before the reunion, and then having them here while Tyler and Ella were here spending a few weeks in Montana was wonderful!! We went boating one day with David and Peggy.  David let Tyler drive the boat.  He got to be the Captain of the ship. The kids loved it! Curt had a business meeting in Billings so he surprised the kids by spending a few days here and flying home with them.  Fun! 

We bought a camper trailer and took it for a maiden voyage to Red Lodge, which is 60 miles from here!

We go boating and camping with David and Peggy over Labor Day at Yellowtail Reservoir every year.  We always have the best time with them.  John’s brother, Jim, comes to Billings every year for a few weeks and he always plans his trip around this annual event.  Looking forward to many more camping trips!!

I am planning a trip to go out to Curt and Jerri’s on March 30^th for a few days.  Chelsea and Jackson will be there also.  I am so looking forward to seeing my kids and grandkids!!  John is going to Texas to see his brothers and have some meetings regarding land they own, and of course, he will go golfing as much as he can!!

John retired the end of December and I will be retiring August 1^st.  I am so looking forward to it!!  John and I have a trip planned to Georgia for a wedding in September for Jason’s son, Alex.  Then we plan to go onto Florida and Texas for and extended vacation.  We have friends to visit in Florida and then we will go visit family in Texas.

Take care and we wish you all good health!

Love you lots,

Jan & John

Mikki Ann 2016

Well hello all, I was pretty much threatened that I had better get my butt in gear and get this done, so here I go!

I am doing very well, still working at Woody Smith Ford managing the parts and service depts., going on 22 years now. Yikes!! Seems like all I do is run, but there really is nothing new going on in my life. I am still single, but have many friends that keep me running and traveling as much as possible. I think my favorite thing on this planet is playing and hanging out with my grandson Oliver! He will be 3 March 29th and is getting to be so much fun! I kinda think he likes his grandma too!

Shon is doing wonderful. He is still working for me as a technician and recently him and Oli  moved in with me.  So I get to be with my Oli even more now!! Poor Shon either has his boss (me) or his mom (me) to answer to at all times, bwahahahahaha (evil laugh)!

Austin is living with my sister and her family in St. George, he was going to Dixie College, but decided college was not for him. He is now a manager at old Navy and is working on his music, wonder where he got that from! Yes, he continues to rub it in how nice the weather is there and how crappy the weather is where I am, I definitely visit as much as possible.

I sure wish I had more to report or some exciting news, but we are all just plugging along and doing the best we can. We are all happy and healthy and I enjoy seeing pics on facebook of the ones I can see. I was told (not asked) to send a couple pictures too, well this is all I had as my phone went bad and even though I know I have some pictures on some cloud thing out there, this was all I could come up with on my new phone.

Love you all and hope everyone is doing good!

 Mikki Norlen

Curt & Jerri 2016

Hello everyone

The last year has been fast and fun.  It was great seeing everyone who made it to the reunion last year.  Hopefully, we can make it out this year again.  This year we have been busy with the kids, and their sports/school activities.  Tyler is in 4^th grade now.  He loves playing sports, especially football.  He is playing baseball now despite the almost daily rain we are experiencing in the “great” Northwest.  He is doing really well in school, and his teacher is very impressed by him.  Ella is in 2^nd grade now and really enjoys school.  Her teacher always has good things to say about her.  She is also playing her first year of softball.  She seems to be having fun with it so far, but again the weather makes things a little difficult.  They spent a week with their Grammy, Grandpa, Chelsea and Jackson in Billings in August after the reunion.  It was nice for them to get to spend some time out there and even nicer for me and Jerri to have a week of no kids.  We drove over to Reno for Jerri’s brother’s wedding.  It was a beautiful ceremony.  We had a lot of fun and I was even able to win some money at the blackjack table.  We were able to make a trip out to Los Angeles in September to see Chelsea, Jason, and Jackson while they were living out there.  We also went to Disneyland, Universal Studios, and a few other “touristy” attractions.  It was a lot of fun, a lot of walking, and we look forward to getting back there one day.  There isn’t a whole lot else going on that I can remember to report so I am going to wrap this up.  We look forward to seeing everyone’s newsletters, and thank you to Kim for being the chosen one this year.

All of our love

Curt, Jerri, Tyler, and Ella

Chelsea & Jason 2016

Jan & John 2015

Dear Family,

I hope this letter finds everyone healthy and happy.  We are doing well. 

Last year was a crazy year for me.  I fell on the ice in January and fractured the sacrum bone in my back.  That definitely took a while to heal, and then the end of May, I broke my wrist.  That was an ordeal!  So far, so good this year!!  Thank goodness….  

Myself, John, Curt, Chelsea and their families had a wonderful time hosting the Humpherys reunion in Billings last year!  It was so good to see everyone, and we appreciated everyone making the effort to be here with us.  The little ones enjoyed playing with their cousins, and the time just went too fast!!

Chelsea and Jackson went out to Curt and Jerri’s to watch Tyler and Ella for two weeks in August.  I was able to go see them for three days, and surprise Curt and the kids.  The trip was short but very fun.   

John and I were able to get to Pocatello for a quick visit with Johns’ son, Derik, and Flo and Larry last October.  First time we had been there. We had a wonderful time visiting with them.   

John goes to Las Vegas every year and works for 3 weeks at the Cowboy Christmas in the convention center for his company.  He was able to take a few days off, so I flew down and we went to Cirque de Sol “Mystere”.  It was so great!       

Thank you Curt, for taking on the responsibility of the Humpherys Newsletter editor!  Sorry, I have been so slow in getting mine to you.  (He’s called me 3 times to tell me to get it doneJ)

Take care and love you allJ

Jan & John     

Curt & Jerri 2015

Hello everyone,

Well I can’t really remember what happened this last year in any sort of chronological order.  Everyone is doing well.  We keep busy working, carting the kids off to whatever sport they are playing, and hanging around the house. 

We got the pleasure of having my mom, sister, and nephew come out here for some visits. It sure is nice to have them here.  They will be here for spring break coming up real soon.  We can’t wait to see them again. 

The kids and I were able to make it to the reunion this summer at my mom’s house.  It was great to see everyone who was able to make it.  We stopped over at Yellowstone and spent the day there seeing the sights.  We even got some close ups of some elk and a few buffalo.  One of the buffalo was close enough that Ella thought he looked mad.  Jerri wasn’t able to make it due to her new job requiring a training class during that time.  She was disappointed that she wasn’t able to see everyone and missing out on the park, but she was happy to get a new challenge with her new position.  We also bought her a new car so that was exciting for her.  I hope we don’t have to shop for a new car again anytime soon. 

Jerri’s mom was able to come spend two weeks with us during Christmas and New Year’s.  It made the holidays even better.  It was the first time we have been able to spend time with her during Christmas.

In November, we had to put our beloved dog Abby down.  She was 14 years old and lived a great life, but it didn’t make it any less sad to have to deal with that.  We did get a new puppy in February named Leia.  She is an English bulldog/lab mix.  She is very much loved. 

Tyler is doing very well in school.  He was recently awarded the awesome author award for his class for a story he wrote about badgers.  He played flag football, little league baseball, and basketball this year.  He likes football so far the most and he scored his first touchdown this year.  I was so happy for him.

Ella is also doing great in school and is getting more and more into reading all the time.  She likes to shop and is very much a girlie-girl.  I am nearly positive she has more shoes than the rest of the family combined.  She is in gymnastics and has been progressing through the different skill levels of this very quickly.  She loves it.

Now I will get to my memories…

The best memories are probably fishing with my Dad, Larry, and Bob.  It didn’t get any better than that.  Those three together were priceless.

I remember going to pizza with Grandma one year in Alpine.  I didn’t get to spend much time with her that was just her and me so I treasure this memory. 

I also remember getting to Flo’s house for a reunion.  I was told to go find Vance.  I went outside, found Vance, and he chased me with a wheat sickle.  I ran back into the house as quickly as I could because I was sure he going to kill me.  I was pretty young, but that’s how I remember it.  I have brought it up to Vance in more recent years and he denies any knowledge of this.

I have a ton more memories, but they are vague and mostly involve misadventures with horses like getting clothes-lined or bucked off so I will end this letter for this year.

Hope everyone is doing well,

Curt, Jerri, Tyler, and Ella

Chelsea & Jason 2015

Dear Family,

I hope this letter finds you all doing well!  I want to start out by saying that I am thankful to be a part of this family. I’m also thankful that Curt had the idea to share family memories this year.  I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s news and the memories they have to share.

We had a great 2015, here are the highlights…

In March,  Jackson and I traveled to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, to visit a good friend of mine and her family.  Another couple of close friends, Jeff and Kim (they were at the reunion a few years ago) met us there with their twins.  It was a relaxing week and was wonderful to introduce Jackson to his buddies, Logan and Lila.   

In April, we headed out to Vancouver to spend the week with Curt and his family during Tyler and Ella’s spring break.  We enjoyed lots of walks to the park, going to indoor playgrounds, spent Easter together, and Jackson just loved playing with his older cousins.  They are such responsible kids and take such great care of little Jackson.

In May, Jason, Jackson and I joined Jason’s sister and her husband on a trip to Panama City Beach, FL.  It was Jackson’s first time to the beach and he LOVED it!  My brother-in-law is a chef so he spoiled us with an amazing meal each evening.  We will definitely be taking more trips with their family, as they have a little girl (Eleanor) who is just 6 months older than Jackson, so they are quickly becoming the best of friends.

 

In July, Jason, Jackson and I spent several weeks in Montana.  We had such a great time hosting the family reunion in Billings and are thankful for everyone who made the trip.  We are hoping to get to the reunion this summer so we can catch up with everyone again!  Jason and I took Jackson for a quick trip through Yellowstone and enjoyed showing him the sites.  I can’t wait to take him on the full tour when he’s older.  My Mom and John also took us on a beautiful drive along Chief Joseph Highway, where we came upon a cattle drive that was so impressive to Jackson (and Jason!). 

In August, we headed back to the beach but this time it was with all of Jason’s family on St. George Island, FL.  It was a secluded beach which was nice, except for the fact that the water was full of stingrays :/ so we weren’t able to swim in the ocean as much as we would have liked.  But aside from that, it was a wonderful trip!  Jason took Jackson on a sunrise walk each morning and let me sleep in. :)

Later in August, Jackson and I were blessed to be able to make another trip to visit Curt’s family.  My mom surprised everyone (except me :) by flying in late one night and spending a few days with us.  It was so much fun, we enjoy every minute of our time together. I took the kids to the Oregon coast one day and that was fun, got Jackson’s toes in the Pacific for the first time.

In October, Jason, Jackson and I took our last trip of the year to visit our friends in California.  We started off the trip by going to Disneyland and that was fun but kind of a bust.  Jackson didn’t understand the concept of “waiting in line” so we ended up just going on a handful of rides. We met my good friend, Cindy, there with her two boys and we enjoyed catching up as we strolled the kids around the park.  She treated us to lunch at the Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  That was a highlight of the day for me. Yes, I know I'm getting old when a good meal was a highlight at Disneyland, haha!  But Jackson got to meet Mickey and Goofy and he thought that it was pretty cool overall.  We spent the rest of the week with our friends Jeff and Kim and their two kids.  Kim hosted a BBQ for all of our California friends to attend so we could see everyone in one day.  It was a great day, and we also celebrated Jason’s birthday that fell during the trip. 

In summary, Jackson is growing up way too fast!  He is obsessed with airplanes and can identify everything from a Gee Bee to an X1 to a fighter jet, sea plane, flying laboratory plane, you name it.  We recently took him to the second largest aviation museum in the country in Warner Robins, GA and that truly was his Disneyland.  He raised his hands in the air as he was running through all the planes outside and said, “I’m so excited!”  He’s really getting sweeter all the time and has recently started to thank us (unprompted) for taking him to places that he likes.  I think that he will be a gentleman when he grows up, at least that’s our goal. :)

 (Visit to the pumpkin patch)

(2nd birthday party)

Curt asked that we share some memories of the family.  I was very fortunate to be able to spend several weeks each summer starting when I was 8 or 9 with Grandma Humpherys . My Dad and his band were usually driving down to Star Valley so I would catch a ride with them to get to Grandma's house.  I had so many fun times with Grandma!  We used to go to the dairy to buy milk and she would let me drive her Chevy Citation around the “parking lot”, it was more of a field.  I would just drive slowly in circles, I think I was only 10 or 11 then, so you can imagine the thrill.  She was a brave woman, haha!  I also used to help her make those hangars that are wrapped in yarn and have the little pom-poms on them.  It was a fun craft we did together.  I also remember one night she said we could take turns painting each other’s nails.  I ended up getting some nail polish on my jeans and I was really upset because they were my “good” jeans.  She made light of it and said it was okay and that I could just look at that stain and remember the good time we’d had together.  That pretty much solved it in my mind, and that stuck with me.  She would make me ice cream cones in the afternoons and just always made sure I was having a good time.  Oh, and her homemade bread, that was something special to me.  I miss her so much, and I so wish she could have met Jason and Jackson.

On that note, dear family, enjoy each other, don’t take anything too serious, and be thankful for the many blessings we all have. 

Love,

Jason, Chelsea & Jackson

Jan & John

Jan and John

Dear Family,

I hope this letter finds everyone healthy and happy.  We are doing fine.  It seems like last year was a blur, but here are some of the highlights.

I went to Atlanta last January to help Chelsea after she had Jackson for 10 days.  It was so great to be with Chelsea and Jason and little baby Jackson.  It was great to get to be with my new grandson! He is such a doll!  I can’t believe he is already 14 months old!           

Chelsea and Jackson came to Billings to spend a few weeks with us in April.  Then John, Chelsea, Jackson and I went to stay with Curt, Jerri, Tyler & Ella for a few days.  We had a wonderful time with everyone.  We went whale watching while we were there.  That was so much fun!

John and I were able to get to Star Valley for a quick visit with Flo and Larry in October. We also got to visit with Bob and Sharon.  We had a great time!  Always fun to get down there!!   

John, Chelsea, Jason, Jackson and I went to Curt and Jerri’s for Thanksgiving.  We were able to spend some quality time with the kids and grandkids.  We had such a good time!  Tyler and Ella loved spending time with Jackson.  They love their little cousin!    

We are looking forward to seeing you all at the reunion July 17-18!  We are getting all the plans in place and will send you more details as we get them completed!

We love you all very much!

Jan & John  

Curt & Jerri 2014

Curt and Jerri

Hello everyone

Here is a quick note on what’s going on with me and my family.

Curt and Jerri – Not too much to report for us.  We both desperately would like to find different jobs, but I guess we should be thankful for what we have.  Jerri has been trying to get the family on board with healthier eating habits.  I am resisting until she can somehow make kale taste unlike grass clippings.  We had Chelsea, Jason, Jackson, Mom and John out for Thanksgiving.  I made most of the food and thankfully we are still here today. It was great to have them here for the holiday.  Chelsea and Jackson both just recently came out and stayed with us for spring break.  It’s so nice to see our kids together and we are so grateful that they could come see us.  Jackson is so very smart and I think he might end up being taller than me.

Tyler – Tyler is in second grade now.  He is doing very well and loves math.  He is currently playing soccer, but also plays baseball, football, and basketball.  He is probably best at basketball.  He had a really good game, where he led his team in scoring.  People were telling him what a good game he had after the game and he looked up at me and said “I’m famous”.  I thought that was pretty funny.  He likes football the most.  I have convinced him that he is a Raiders fan.  Please do not report this to child protective services.  He is a great kid and we are very proud of him.

Ella – Ella is in kindergarten now. She loves playing with her friends and is a sponge when it comes to learning new things.  She is also playing soccer now and had 4 goals in her last game.  She is finally starting to play with some aggression.  She is also a princess as far as clothes and shoes go.  She loves to shop with her mom and dressing up.  She is very shy at first, but when she opens up she had quite the motor mouth.  She is also perfect in our eyes and we are blessed to have such a beautiful little girl.

I hope everyone out there is doing well.  We look forward to seeing those of you that can make it to the reunion in Billings.

Love

Curt, Jerri, Tyler, and Ella  

Chelsea & Jason 2014

Chelsea and Jason

Dear Humpherys Family,

We hope this letter finds you all doing great!  Jason and I are still living in Atlanta since moving here in 2012.  We have a beautiful little boy named Jackson who just turned one in December 2014.  He is quite the cutie and we just couldn’t be more blessed.  I can’t wait for everyone to meet him this summer at the reunion in Montana!  Here’s some more detail on what’s been going on with us.

Chelsea – I retired from the workforce to be a stay-at-home mom when Jackson was born.  Prior to that, I was working as a Business Analyst at the corporate headquarters of a nationwide dental chain.  I joined a meet up group shortly after Jackson was born here in Atlanta so we hang out with other stay-at-home moms who have children of similar ages.  We meet up with them around 3 times a week, so it gives me a chance to visit with other moms and Jackson loves seeing his little friends.  Aside from that, I keep busy taking care of Jackson and the home, I finally understand the saying, “a mother’s work is never done”  haha!  We also have 8 rental houses now that I am managing as well. 

Jason – Jason is currently working at Xavient as a Visual Fx Artist.  His company is working on their second game since he’s been there that will launch in a few years.  Jason also enjoys painting in his spare time, he has quite the collection of artwork that he’s had displayed in several local galleries (and all over our house J). Most of his spare time these days is spent playing with Jackson.  Jackson squeals with delight when he hears the door open each night his daddy comes home and soaks up every minute of time they spend together.  On a very sad note, we lost Jason’s mom to cancer last summer.  It has been an enormous loss to our family and we miss her and think of her daily.

Jackson – Jackson is walking and talking and is such a busy boy.  He wakes up ready to go and explores everything we’ll let him.  He can make around 10 animal sounds and he recently learned how to throw a ball (he can even toss a football).  He loves to flip through his books and his favorite words are “Elma” otherwise known as “Elmo” and “ana” for “banana”.  He has even started to sing along with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star!  It’s shocking to me that he’s trying to sing the words already (without coaxing) and I’m wondering if maybe he inherited my Dad’s talent of music.  Maybe it skips generations? J  We try to make it to a baby music class once a week and I’m encouraging him where I can.  He is off the charts for height and in the 90^th percentile for weight.  Curt thinks he might take his title of the tallest Humpherys.  Haha! He was 10 pounds 9 ounces at birth so if that’s any indication, Curt may be right! 

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion this summer!  I hope it will be a great turnout, we are anxious to catch up with everyone!

Love,

Jason, Chelsea & Jackson Key

                                          

                                                       

Jan & John 2012

Dear Family,

Well, another year has gone by – so fast!!  We hope everyone is doing well! 

John and I did some remodeling on the house last spring.  We added a living room on the house, and then the old living room became our formal dining room.  It turned out so nice.  We are very happy with it.    We also resided the house with no maintenance steel siding.   We had to have the cedar siding stained every 3-4 yrs.  Which, was expensive and a pain.

John and the kids surprised me with a 60 birthday party last summer.  Oh, my gosh! They really outdid themselves.  They traveled so far to be with me on my big day!  It was special to have the kids and grandkids with me.  Then, one of the true highlights was that Kenny and Myrna were at the party too!!   It was so fun! 

And then, you all know that John and I got married on August 28^th.  We were married on Ke’e Beach in Kauia, HI at sunset.  It was perfect!   The only thing that could have been better is to have our families with us.  They knew that they were with us in our hearts.  We were able to stay for a few more days and do some sightseeing.  The island is so beautiful!

Last October, Chelsea and I went to visit Curt, Jerri, Tyler and Ella.  We went to The Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA the weekend we got there.  It’s an indoor waterpark and they also have all kinds of games for children.  The grandkids loved it, and I did too.  We had lots of fun.  I even surprised my kids by going on some of the scary tube rides! We were there over Halloween, so we all went trick-or-treating.  We had a great time!

Our thoughts and prayers go to Sharon and wish her a speedy recovery from her open heart surgery , and also Florence as she will be going in for surgery for a hip replacement the end of March.

We love you all very much!

Jan & John

Chelsea & Jason 2012

Dear Family,

It’s hard to believe another year has passed already!  We’ve been living in Atlanta for just over a year now and are finally feeling settled.  Jason is still working at CCP (a video game company) and is doing very well there.  I have not been working at a regular job for about 10 months but just accepted an offer yesterday at a company called Kool Smiles as a Business Analyst.   I’ve been managing our four rental properties in the meantime, which has kept me busy!

As most of you know, we had a surprise 60^th birthday party for my Mom last July in Montana.  Curt drove out from Vancouver with Tyler and Ella.  I think it was around a 14-hour drive.  So if you can imagine it, by himself with two little ones…  Yeah, he’s awesome!  The kids did great too; bless their hearts for being so good for their daddy.  We wish Jerri could have made the trip too, but she had to hold down the fort and work.   Jason flew out and Kenny and Myrna were able to be there as well, which was so special.  There turned out to be around 35 people in attendance, and we all enjoyed celebrating my beautiful Mother.  She is amazing, I feel incredibly blessed to have her as my Mom! 

In August, Jason and I joined his family on their annual beach trip.  We went to Hilton Head, South Carolina and it was my first time swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.  Turns out, I really prefer it to the Pacific since it’s MUCH warmer and the waves are a lot milder.  We enjoyed the week with his family playing games on the beach, taking turns cooking dinners in the evenings, and going on some fun excursions to the local attractions. 

In October, my Mom and I travelled to Vancouver to spend Halloween with Curt, Jerri and the kids.  We all dressed up to go trick-or-treating and that was so much fun!  We were able to stay for nine days so it was a nice long visit for all of us.  We are planning to visit them again at the end of April and I can’t wait to see them! 

Sadly, we will not be able to attend the reunion this summer since I don’t have much time off with a new job.  But we are definitely planning to be there next summer so we’ll see y’all then!

Love,

Chelsea & Jason

Jan & Jon 2011

Hi Family,

Boy, this last year went so fast, it seems like a blur!

Last March Chelsea and I went to visit Curt and Jerri and my grandchildren for a few days and had such a wonderful time.  It is so fun to spend time with my family.  I don’t get to do it as much as I would like!

 John, Curt, Tyler, and I went out to see Chelsea and Jason last May, and of course we had to take in wonderful sights and Disneyland.  We had such a good time!   

At Thanksgiving time, Chelsea, Jason, and I went to spend the holiday with Curt, Jerri and the kids again. We knew I wouldn’t have time off at Christmas so we were able to get together at Thanksgiving instead. We had lots of fun shopping for Christmas at the outlets!   

I’m sure you all know by now that John and I are engaged.  He proposed to me on Birthday, July 7^th.  We are very happy, and will be getting married on the beach in Kauai, Hawaii, on August 28^th.  It will be a sunset wedding.  It will be here before you know it!! 

We hope everyone is doing well.  We are all doing fine.

Love you all,

Jan & John

Curt & Jerri 2011

Hello Humpherys family

I hope that everyone is doing well.  Here is how my part of the family is doing.

Tyler—Tyler is now 5 years old.  He will be going to kindergarten in the fall, but for now is still going to preschool.  He loves wrestling, playing with his toys, and video games.  He is a great brother to his little sister and loves playing with her.  He is also just starting soccer and will be playing coach pitch baseball right after soccer is over.  Tyler got to go to California and see Chelsea, Jason, his grandma and John.  He also got to go to Disneyland and Legoland.  Life doesn’t get much better for a five year old.

Ella—Ella is 2 years old.  She loves dancing and will dance to pretty much any kind of music.  She also loves playing with her brother.  She gets to participate a little in Tyler’s gymnastics class that he goes to as a part of his school.  She has become quite the little tumbler.  She will talk at home all the time, but is very shy still until she gets warmed up (then watch out).  She is very independent and wants to do everything herself with the big exception of getting potty-trained.

Jerri—Jerri is a great mom and wife for our family.  She tries to make sure she that everyone is taken care of.  She has gotten into cooking more and is always trying out new recipes with success, which is what you say if you ever want her to cook again.  She loves taking the kids out on outside adventures when it is not raining (which could stop any day now, by the way) or doing crafts with the kids when we are inside.  The kids love spending time with her.

Curt—I started working for a new company in June after being jobless for awhile.  It sure wasn’t easy out there and it was a huge relief to finally land a job.  I am now working at Schnitzer Steel in the credit department.  I initially started working 50-55 hours per week.  That has gotten much better, but I didn’t get to see my family much last summer.  I got to accompany Tyler to California to see everyone and the sites.  It was so nice to see everyone.  It was an unforgettable time and we appreciate Chelsea and Jason helping to make that happen for us.  I have been listening a lot lately to the CD that Newell made of some of my dad’s greatest hits and I must say old Kenny Rogers doesn’t have anything on my dad on the song “Ruben James”.  Thanks so much Newell for doing that.  One more dad related thing here, but if you haven’t seen his old videos on youtube you need to make sure to check that out.  I can’t wait to see everyone again, but I am not sure when that will be so I will leave you with a story I just couldn’t believe.

My friend told me a story about how he had just gotten a dog from the shelter after he bought his new house.  He went to take it for a walk one day and left the dog in the garage, while he ran back in the house to get a jacket.  He came back and saw the dog had tipped over a gas can and was licking the gas off the floor.  He ran to go check on the dog, but the dog bolted.  The dog ran around the neighborhood, through his neighbor’s yards with my friend chasing right behind.  Finally right before my friend caught the dog, he told me the dog just dropped.  I said in shock “Did the dog die?”  No he replied… he just ran out of gas. 

Hopefully you haven’t heard that one.          

Love

Curt, Jerri, Tyler, Ella

Chelsea & Jason 2011

Dear Family,

Hope you are all doing well! Jason and I have had lots of exciting changes over the past year, here is a recap…

In March 2011, my Mom and I went out to Vancouver to visit Curt, Jerri and the kids for a few days. We did some shopping at the outlets and also toured a tulip farm in Oregon. We had a blast playing with the kids and spending time together catching up. Here are some pics from the tulip farm.

In May 2011, Curt, Tyler, John, and my Mom came out to California for a visit. We had an action-packed week!Here are some of the highlights: went shopping at Oakley, took the train from Oceanside to San Juan Capistrano to visit one of the oldest missions in CA, went to Disneyland (John and Tyler’s first time there J , fun for all ages!), took a tour of Hollywood (including the Mann’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood sign, etc.), went toPink’s Hot Dog Stand in Hollywood (I think this was Curt’s favorite part of the trip, that hot dog was amazing!!), and last but not least, we took Tyler to Legoland (I think this was Ty’s favorite part of the trip, although Disneyland would be a close second!). So, we had a blast, and of course, the only thing that would have made it perfect is if Jerri and Ella had been able to make it too!

(Editors Note: Images would only load sideways, tilt your head, they are cute!)







Amongst other things, Jason and I spent a good part of the first half of 2011 renovating and staging our house in California getting it ready for sale. We put a lot of time and elbow grease (aw, painting trim is NOT fun!), but all of our hard work paid off when we sold our house in July at listing price in less than 24 hours! It was quite an amazing feat given the state of the real estate market in California. We actually set a new comp for our neighborhood.

Front of house

Back of house

Once we locked in the buyer, we had about 2 weeks to find a place to live and, fortunately, we found an amazing beach front condo in Oceanside. We were lucky enough to have my Mom and Aunt Lana, Jason’s parents, Jason’s son Alex, Jason’s sister and her fiancé, and a close college friend of mine and her fiancé visit us during the 6 months we were there. We were basically running a beach side hotel.  Each of those visits were priceless, we really made the most of our last days in California.

View from rooftop

Jason and Alex

Jason’s sister & Fiancé



Jason’s Parents:

Mom and Lana:

In September 2011, I took a solo trip to Vancouver to spend some time with Curt and his family. I took the kids to a Pirate Festival in St. Helen’s, Washington and we had so much fun. I was also there for Tyler’s 5th birthday, so that was an extra bonus.

In November 2011, Jason and I went to Vancouver to spend Thanksgiving with Curt and his family. My Mom was there too, but unfortunately John couldn’t make that trip. We had a great time with the kids and enjoyed being together for the holiday. Tyler helped me prepare the dinner and that was hilarious. I had him stuff the turkey since that is not something I enjoy, but he thought it was pretty cool. J He and Ella are such good kids and are just so much fun to be around. Curt and Jerri are great parents.

So this leads into where we are at now… In January 2012, Jason and I made the move to Atlanta, Georgia. We had been planning this move for around 2 years, before we bought the house in California, and it was finally time to quit our jobs and go for it! For those of you who don’t know, Jason is from the Atlanta area and his family is all within an hour’s drive from the city. I drove my car and Jason drove a moving truck across the country. It took us about 6 days to get here with stops in Yuma, AZ, Las Cruces, NM, San Antonio, TX, New Orleans, LA, and Birmingham, AL. It was quite the adventure! I want to give a big thanks to Uncle Newell for putting the CD together of my Dad’s songs and the interviews of him and Grandma and Grandpa Humpherys. I listened to that CD multiple times on the drive and it was so awesome to blast my Dad’s music in my car as I drove across the US. I miss him so much! When we arrived in Atlanta, we moved back into the house that Jason owned here before he moved to California back in June 2005 (he was renting it while in CA). We love it here and couldn’t be happier.

As for work, I have been working remotely for Oakley since we moved and have had to travel back to California a few times for work. My last day at Oakley is Friday, April 6th, and I’m looking forward to wrapping it up.

Jason started a new job this week as a Senior Fx Artist at a video game studio in Atlanta called CCP (based out of Iceland). It is a step up for him and I am very proud of him! I am planning to get my real estate license so we can continue investing in rental properties out here in Georgia. We have two so far, and are planning to get two more this year, and another two next year. My job will be to manage our rental properties while being a stay-at-home mom. No baby yet, but we are hoping to start a family soon. J

I have to say one of the biggest moments in 2011 was my Mom and John getting engaged!! He proposed to her on her birthday on July 7th and they are planning a beach wedding in Hawaii in August 2012. We are all so happy to welcome John to our family, he is a wonderful man and a blessing in my Mom’s life

I hope you all can come out and visit us here in Georgia one day, ya’ll are welcome to stay with us anytime! I am so thankful for our family and we love you all so much!

Much love and blessings to you all,

Jason & Chelsea Key