June 2013 News

Senior Jacksons Visit California Kids 

May was a very busy and fun month for the Senior Jacksons.  The first of the month was filled with birthdays;  John, Connie, Jen and Josh, who have all gained a year.  But they all still are busy and happy.  We had birthday parties with cake and pie and ice cream.  What more can a guy ask for?!?

Then the middle of the month the temple was closed for cleaning, etc, so Grandpa and I headed for Northern California to Jen and Brent’s.  The fun events we attended were Brent’s graduation from Law School (hooray for Brent), Josh’s first prom, and let me tell you he looked smashing ( and he has since got his driver’s license); Josh’s award banquet and Hannah’s choir concert (which she had a solo in and did very well).  Jen and I also made 34 hero capes for the teacher appreciation luncheon which she and Usha were in charge of, and which she said subsequently was a great success.

After our week with Jen and family, we headed for Southern California to spend some time with Carri and her family.  She had lots of things ready for Dad to do to finish up with the house clean-up, like painting, fixing a light switch, cleaning the room off the living room and we cleaned the chandelier, which Carri did most of while I held the ladder, and it looks very nice and sparkly now.  We also took some paint splatter off the back patio bricks.  So all in all, we kept busy and got a good many things taken care of.

In both No Cal and So Cal we had a great time with the kids.  They are all growing so fast.  Josh is as tall if not taller than his dad, Hannah is getting taller and Jackson is also.  Jackson spends as much time in their pool as he can get away with.  He is a little fish.  Ben and Lauren are busy kids.  We went to Lauren’s school open house and the teachers had nothing but great things to say about her.  Ben is loving his water polo and does very well.  What neat grandkids we have!

Now it’s back to the regular routine.  Temple is open this week so Dad will spent 3 days of this week there and I will go once.  We love the temple work and love our family and are proud of each and everyone one!

Love to all,   Mom and Dad

Greetings  from  Portlandia

Most recipients of the JFC know that I have left the comfort of Utah and come to the weirdness that is Oregon.  First of all, it rains!  So it is quite beautiful and green.  Instead of people running around with their Big Gulps they all carry around coffee cups.  The number of dogs in the family outnumbers children and if you were to run over one you would really be in trouble…not sure about running over their kids.

Except for missing my wife and grandkids, I really enjoy it here.  I am fitting in at the prison and they still let me out every day.  I get up at 4:30 and get to work by 6:00 and get off at 2:00 so I have the afternoon to enjoy the area. 

I have been accepted into a great ward and have attended the temple with the youth and they even let me give a talk.  The lady who spoke in front of me only gave me 8 minutes though, but it was fun.

Christine was able to schedule a medical conference in Portland so I got to introduce her to the area.  I think she liked my little duplex but began looking at houses so she must have given the thumbs up to moving out with me J

I took her to a bed and breakfast in Lincoln City which is about 40 minutes from where I live.  It has a beautiful ocean front view and we spent some time walking the beach.  Then we went to Sea Lion Caves and saw many sea lions…they are different from seals.  Do you know why?

I miss my family but am enjoying my job and look forward to some visitors

Love John

Hallelujah, Hallelujah!  Celebrations have been happening all week long for all kinds of reasons.  The biggest…Bianca successfully made it through High School and her graduation, with high honors to boot!  The graduation ceremony was held at Utah Valley University and Grandma Chatfield was there to help us celebrate.  We hope all of the walking in the airports, the grad ceremonies, restaurants, and ball games didn’t wear her out too much.  It was really fun having her around for the important things in our lives, once again.  We’ve missed her.

 

Jake and Kate also finished their school year with a great hooray!  The month of May was filled with all kinds of fun, especially for Kate.  We went from one event to the next, almost missing a few important ones.  We were sitting at one of Jake’s baseball games and a friend walked by dressed in nice clothes and said, “Aren’t you going to the piano recital today?”  We looked at one another, ran to the car, dropped Kate off at the recital venue, ran home to get her dress clothes praying all the way that she was not first on the program.  We made it back just in time for Kate to change and then walk up calm and collected, play her piece beautifully and then sit down.  Jake was left at the ball field although he wasn’t terribly sad about missing another recital…not his favorite thing to go to. 

Just a few pics from our May events:

Kate’s School Play-The Emperor’s New Clothes.  Kate played the Court Herald very regally.  The school’s play director unfortunately (for us) got engaged and will be moving to Texas.  We wonder what will happen next year without Miss Winkle. 

Kate’s 5^th Grade Float Parade-She chose Oregon!  Kate called Uncle John who just happened to move to Oregon and asked him what his favorite things were about his new home.  He said the strawberries and the beautiful green trees.  On Memorial Day we had breakfast with Spence and Kathy and Kate was able to quiz them on a few facts about their home state.  They were almost 100% correct, says Kate!  The float even had a little beaver dam.

Jake is now looking for another part time job.  Dr. Davis (our friend and local vet) broke the news to Bianca and Jake last Saturday that he was in the process of selling his business and will be retiring soon.  This marks the end of a very good job at Mountain West Animal clinic.  Dr. Davis was a one of a kind employer and will always be well thought of at the Chatfield home.  We’re excited for his upcoming retirement plans and if you know him you know that doesn’t include a rocking chair out on the porch!  For the fond farewell, last day of work he let Jake and Bianca take one last spin around the property on the ole’ tractor.  We’re going to miss Dr. D! 

Come see us this summer!  We love and miss you too.

Kellie, Kels, Bianca, Jake and Kate

YEE-HAW it's Summer!

Hi family! Happy Summer! Today (June 5^th) was our kids last day of school for the year. Can I hear a YEE-HAW!!!!! We are doing the happy dance around here. It’s been a fun year, but glad it’s over. Now onto swimming everyday and relaxing by the pool. 

 

This past month was a great one for our family. Brent graduated from Law School. Everything went great and now he is staying busy studying for the bar. It never ends. He’s such a hard worker and we are all so proud of him and his accomplishments.

Josh had a pretty exciting month. In just one months’ time he was offered a job as a Lifeguard, He turned 16, he went on his first date (to Senior Ball no less) and he got his driver’s license! Very exciting time for him. He’s thinking this is going to be the best.summer.ever.

Hannah has had a busy last month of school with several choir performances a piano recital and she got the “presidential award” in a bunch of PE events at her school. This little girl is turning out to be quite the athlete.

Jackson has been enjoying swimming in the pool. He called me out to watch him and said” Mom, watch how long I can hold my breath and swim” – He swam the length of the pool and my jaw dropped when he did an underwater turn and went back the length of the pool all without taking a breath. Our little preemie sure has some great lung capacity.

Brent’s graduation party was a big success. We had so many family members and friends come and help us celebrate. Brent and I both felt very fortunate to have so many supportive people in our lives. Our latest blog entry on http://www.chocolatesforbreakfast.blogspot.com/ is about the party with lots of pictures (PS- have you subscribed to the blog yet? J)

We hope you are all getting a great start on your summers. Hope to hear from everyone soon!

Love,

The Holtry’s