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 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
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