Chris Wells Family Newsletter December 2015

Dear Family and Friends,                                                                                                December 2015

Merry Christmas everyone!  We are glad to have you as friends and family and hope you are enjoying the season.  This year has been a very eventful one.  We got a new puppy, A King Charles Cavalier which we named Ruby, went to Colorado for Easter, boys traveled to the UP in Michigan for High Adventure and camped at the Pictured Rocks, moved to Colorado August 1^st, sold our house October 15^th, went to Utah for Thanksgiving, and will travel to Santa Fe, NM for a couple of days for a special Christmas concert Chris’s siblings are performing in.                                                                                           

Chris is still working for Jackson but has moved to the Denver, CO office.  There is a possibility for a change in departments, we are just waiting for the final word and he will have a new title and more responsibility.  SO excited for the change.  He continues to try and make the commute worthwhile with books on cd, radio and music,  but the scenery is beautiful!  The biggest thing that happened this year for him was in February he was in Denver on a business trip, eating lunch with a coworker, and had a grand mal seizure and ended up in the emergency room of the hospital.  A month later he had one more and then a few days later had another grand mal.  At that point he went on medication.  After much testing (months and months) he found out there is a sign of something in his brain that will cause him to have seizures.  Medication has been working completely, but it was a pretty rough 6 months since he wasn’t able to drive for that long.  He continues with his hobbies of hiking and outdoor astronomy.  He also

started up his fish tank again and we love it!! 

                 
We moved into a great ward in Monument, CO and both received callings in the first month.  Chris is AGAIN primary pianist.  He was so thrilled!!  And I accepted a call as choir pianist.  Biggest month of the year for choir so stress is at a high!  Especially since this week is also finals week for the kids.  The church ward family has been very welcoming and the kids are comfortable here.  We are feeling more comfortable each week, but they do miss their friends back in Michigan.  Thank heavens for technology so that they can keep in touch so frequently.

               
Karen has transitioned into Colorado living very well.  She started teacher piano again and has 11 piano students and room for a few more!  J  She keeps busy with her Etsy business and piano students as well as driving kids to after school activities.   Our puppy is very busy and keeps us on our toes.  Loves playdates with her cousin.  Chris’s brothers dog, Jules.  They love to play!

Jonathan turned 18 this year and graduated from high school this year with very good scores.  He was accepted to BYU-Idaho where he has been attending this semester.  He has lived on his own for the first time and seemed to do ok with it.  He wants to study Chemical Engineering and hoping after two years to transfer to BYU-Provo to get into their program.  We shall see how it all goes.  He is on a Fall/Spring Track so will be home from January to midApril.  For Christmas Break we drive to pick him up Friday the 18th in Utah at my brother’s house.  He is picking him up on Thursday and bringing him down to Utah to save us some time on driving.  Praying for good weather to get back Saturday night.

Mikael loved going to the Pictured Rocks in the UP of Michigan for High Adventure this year.  Beautiful scenery!!  He also got his permit and has started driving.  He got a job at Arby’s and possibly will start looking for a new one.  This particular one is not very busy.  He enjoys the new school and has had many opportunities for unique classes he didn’t have in Michigan.  Woodworking has been a particular favorite.  Takes after his Great Grandpa Art and Grandpa Lynn!  We feel very blessed!

Elizabeth, as an 8^th grader, back in Michigan, she got to go to Mackinac Island.  One of the highlights of last school year.  She is doing great at her new school!  She is involved in so many things and has been very busy.  She started taking gymnastics to get practice for cheer tryouts in the spring, has started voice lessons with her Aunt Heather in September and she is involved in the schools mixed chorus.  She is hoping to audition for a different choir next year.  So happy she loves to sing!  She also volunteers at a horse stable once a week.  She loves animals!  She turned 14 this year and moved up to the Mia Maids in church and has made some really nice friends here.  She also has become an excellent baker!  Her favorite pastime right now is doing her nails.

In September, we went to a family campout with Chris’s siblings and their families.  Such a pretty area and we had decent weather the whole time.  Didn’t see much in the way of wildlife (to Karen’s relief), but the memories they made with cousins is priceless.  We kayaked, canoed, hiked, ate lots of yummy camping food and enjoyed camping in the mountains.  Some of the cousins got to swim, accidentally.  Their canoe tipped over.

                Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.  May God Bless you in all you do!

Love,

Chris, Karen, Jonathan, Mikael and Elizabeth Wells

Chris Wells Family New Year Letter 2014/2015

Chris Wells Family November 2014

2014 has been a whirlwind of events:

Karen is choir director at church, organist and primary 2nd counselor.  Karen started a new business venture.  Karen and Chris got to visit England for a week.  Chris is music chair, 11 year old scout leader and primary pianist.   He started taking karate lessons, is a manager at Jackson National Life Insurance.  This year brings more travel back to Denver, CO - he is excited about that since he loves Colorado.  Two of his siblings live there now he will get to visit family!



Jon is a senior.  He has received 3 acceptance letters from colleges, 4 more to hear from - and has been dual-enrolled in some college courses.  Jonathan will officially graduate in May.

Mikael is a sophomore.  He is still taking karate and is working towards his Life rank and onto his Eagle.  Mikael loves to create things - building games of all sorts from modules for computer games to board games.

Elizabeth is in 8th grade.  She finished up her 3rd year of football cheer and 2nd year of basketball cheer.  She is also amazing at drawing

  

In November we had a Bulkley Family Reunion in Utah.  Beautiful weather for November and loved seeing all Karen's family!  We saw Temple Square lite up in Christmas Lights and played lots of games!

In August boys and Elizabeth went to the pictured rocks in Upper Pennisula of Michigan and had a wonderful time.  Gorgeous views, lots of hiking, but it was very fun!

In December we have a Wells Family Reunion in CA.  Disneyland was on the menu, of course.  It was packed but we still managed to have fun!  We went to Griffith Observatory and rollerskating, bike ride up the PCH and enjoyed time to chat and hang with family.  Beautiful weather.  Coming back to Michigan was very hard...negative temperatures

We also did something we thought we would never do.  Oh, wait, thought Karen would never do...we bought chickens and Chris and Elizabeth built a chicken coop to withstand the strongest wind!!  We had 6 chickens.  One didn't lay eggs very well, she passed sometime in December.  They have been laying eggs since September.  One of our first few eggs was huge!  It had two yolks in it.  Very fun!!  They sure do keep Elizabeth and Chris very busy!







In August, our poor dog Brownie passed away.  He was almost 7 years old.  Took awhile for us to get over it, but maybe there is room again in our hearts for another puppy this coming year.

We shall see!

We hope you all had a great New Year and that 2015 brings you many God-giving blessings!!

Love, Chris, Karen, Jon, Mikael and Elizabeth

Christmas Letter December 2013

                                                                                                                                                                                             December 2013

Dear Family and Friends,                                                                                                                                                                                               Merry Christmas & Happy New Year everyone!  We are glad to have you as friends and family and hope you are enjoying the season.  We didn’t move, we didn’t have any more kids, we hung around Michigan until August when we traveled to Colorado for a Wells Family Reunion.  LOVED IT!  It was beautiful and the blue skies and mountains were breathtaking.  We spent time on a Cog Railroad traveling to the top of a mountain, toured the Air Force Academy, climbed the incline, toured the Olympic Training Center, tried to camp and make dutch oven dinners but it rained on us and we got out just after they were eaten and before the mud slides.  We enjoyed the taste of bluebell ice cream, played outdoor laser tag and visited the Family Ranch that is no longer owned by family, but went anyway to show our posterity and take family pictures.  The weather was so nice and full of more blue skies.

Chris will still be working at Jackson this coming year.  We thought it was time for a change, but it’s not in the cards yet.  He is making some changes and looks forward to working on some upcoming certifications as well as doing a bit more traveling.  His new calling at church is Music Chairman.  He is doing a fabulous job!  He is getting the choir going and we’ve already had three performances with the biggest coming up next Sunday for our Christmas program.  Not only that, but he’s also leading the choir, planning sacrament meeting music and plays as the pianist in primary, along with twice a month helping with the boy scouts venture crew boys (aged 14-18).  Busy man!

Karen is busy as well.  Still working at Jackson too, but she started working at home in May and has enjoyed being at home and not having to commute to work.  It’s been a true blessing.  She is still in the Primary Presidency, co-choir pianist and most recently called to play as a co-ward organist.  Her students for piano increased from 7 to 12!!  It is something of a challenge with balancing everything else, but she's making it work.

Jonathan keeps up with school quite well.  His load is very heavy for his junior year.  Honors Algebra II and College Prep Chemistry keep him very busy, still managing A’s and B’s in all subjects.    He recently took his last practice ACT before he takes the real thing this spring and has improved his score by 5 points!  We are so pleased with his progress.  He doesn’t have a job yet and drivers training will be coming this summer, but continues to work hard at everything he does.  He is also in seminary but is doing home study and has early morning face time every Friday over the internet with the rest of his class.  His goal is to work on getting his Eagle Project done this Spring.  So proud of that boy!

Mikael just had his karate class anniversary, he has been going a year and is a green belt now.  He still struggles a bit in school, but is anxious for a chance to go to Germany the summer of 2015 with his German class and good grades mean dad pays so he has started getting his mind in gear.  He is still a comical clown and wants to make people laugh.  He is working toward his Life badge in scouts.  This summer he may try to start drivers training as well but still seems unsure. He is also doing seminary at home with Jonathan. 

Chris, Jon and Mikael all did High Adventure for a week canoeing for 5 days this past summer.  Quite a work out.  Chris came home about 15 pounds lighter and they all had arms of steel.  :-) They also went to the Boundary Waters for a week in Northern Minnesota where they portaged and canoed for another 7 days.  They want to go back but leave the mosquitoes at home.  

Weather was beautiful except for the major rain storm one day and the scenery was breathtaking.  Mikael and Jonathan attended scout camp for a week as well and were able to complete a few merit badges each.  Crazy busy summer for them.  Their goal for this coming summer is to attend camp with their cousins in Colorado.  We are ALL hoping it works out!

Elizabeth is as smart as they come and started 7^th grade this year.  She is getting straight A’s even with her crazy cheerleading schedule!  I don’t know how she manages.  Cheer lasted a bit longer this year as she went straight into Basketball cheer where she has learned stunting – throwing girls up in the air, tumbling and how to do a cartwheel.  It’s been a crazy busy schedule, practice and games four days a week.  Her competition was supposed to be the last day of school before break, but school was cancelled and so was the competition.  Elizabeth wasn't completely heart broken as she was VERY VERY nervous, but I think she might try for next year.  She really wants to do high school cheer and has a goal of being able to do a back walk over.  You should hear the noises coming from her room sometimes.  She uses Mikael's karate head gear when she does it, just in case...hahaha!  She turned 12 this October and started Young Women’s and is learning to enjoy being with the older girls.

The snow has finally come to Michigan.  And the ice and rain too!

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.  May God bless you in all you do!

Love,

Chris

Karen

Jonathan

Mikael

and Elizabeth 

Christmas Letter December 2012

Hogwart's Express - Universal

Dear Family and Friends,                                                                                      December 2012                                      

We hope this letter finds you all well.  This year was a big adjustment to everything American.  We are getting back into the groove of Mac & Cheese and less expensive most everything, but are always wondering where are money goes.  Our year was super packed!!  Now that the holidays have come it’s slowed down a bit, but we still manage to be busy.  Michigan weather has been extremely strange.  It seems mother-nature is confused and it is very warm for this time of year.  I don’t think we will have a white Christmas but you never know.

We spent spring break visiting Chris’s sister in Virginia.  On our way we stopped at Shenandoah National Park and spent a couple days in the Appalachian’s hiking.  The LONGEST and toughest hike I’ve ever been on.  There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth but we made it and are better people for it.  Once we got to VA we planned days to see Gettysburg, Jamestown, and many other historical sites including a trip to DC, of course.   There is so much to learn and know about American History my mind was completely full by the end of the week.  I think our favorite spot was Gettysburg.  It’s so big you cannot just take one day like we did.  We would love to go back. 

On the last day of school we took a week to go to Florida with my family for our Bulkley Family Reunion.  In July we took a week and a few days to drive to Idaho with Chris’s family.  Both family reunions were great.  Florida was sweltering and our clothes were soaked daily from the heat.  Disneyworld and Universal Studios were places we visited and we had lunch at the Three Broomsticks with Butterbeer to drink.  Kids enjoyed that a lot.  The one nice thing about Florida was we got to swim in the pool daily.  In Idaho we spent time ice skating, white water rafting and horseback riding.  Such a busy summer!

Chris is still at Jackson National Life Insurance.  His job has changed a little bit for the coming year so we hope that will help with the slow audit times.  He will be managing and directing multiple audits and providing communication between teams in the US and UK.  Bishopric duties still keep him very busy.  He was also volunteered to help put together the Ward Christmas Party this month.  He still keeps involved with his boys and the scouting program which takes up most of his down time.  He is a very busy and stressed man. 

I have changed my work schedule
around and work three days a week 8-1.  My piano students have increased – Yay!  I now have 7 students.  It’s been wonderful teaching all these children.  Also, I was recently called into Primary as the 2^nd counselor in the presidency.  I look forward to working with the young children in this capacity.  My other duties still include Pack Committee Chair (to be released soon) and I help on the scout committee over training.  I have learned to say no, but this month I’ve been very busy playing piano.  My skills have been requested to help at voice lessons for a friend (and I get paid).  It’s been really fun.  I do practice more than I ever did which keeps my brain a workin’.

Jonathan keeps up with school quite well.  He has not has any major issues which means he is maturing.  His teachers love him and think he is the hardest working student.  Science Olympiad is new on his plate.  He doesn’t know how it will go, but we are glad he is trying something new.  His favorite class in school is World History.  His teacher has stated Jonathan remembers everything to do with dates and events.  He’s brilliant!  Well, the teacher didn’t exactly say that, but memorizing those dates and events would make anyone really really smart.  He has been taking practice tests for the ACT and SAT this year.  His mind becomes more and more involved in future thinking.  One of his classes had a project to put together a resume and an idea for a  career.  He’s thinking Chemical Engineering.  After this decision was made, we found out that Great Grandpa Wells was also a chemical engineer as well as Grandpa Wells and his Uncle Steve.  Jonathan feels that it would be a good career for him.  We shall see…

Mikael has started karate recently.  We hope this will be really great for him.  His sometimes shy nature and anxiousness make certain things difficult for him.  The karate course we have signed him up for will help him overcome these things.  We are happy we can do this for him and he really seems to like it!  His grades are good and he enjoys most of his classes.  He still loves being outdoors when he can and is still talking about the Boundary Waters trip this coming summer. 

        Elizabeth is as smart as they come.  Her grades are great.  She signed up for cheerleading this past fall.  It went super well!  So much so, that she feels she wants to do it again next year.  It was a very busy schedule but we are so glad she has found something she loves.  She has a great skill for memorizing things.  The routines were a breeze for her and she was constantly practicing at home.  Right now she continues to stretch and exercise when she gets home so that she is ready for the next year season when it starts. 

           

   The children and Chris built a tree house at the end of the fall season.  They haven’t had much time to use it in the warm weather; if it is still there in the spring, many days will be spent there.  The kids love it!  Our yard is still a work in progress.  We did get all the weeds cut down and the raised beds fixed before winter set in.  Hopefully that will cut down with weeds in the fall.               

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.  May God Bless you in all you do!

Love,

Chris, Karen, Jonathan, Mikael and Elizabeth Wells

Christmas Letter December 2011

Christmas Letter December 2011

 Dear Family and Friends,                                                                                                                                              

We hope this letter finds you all well.  It has been an exciting and very eventful year for the Chris Wells Family.  Our time in England came to a close mid-August of this year.  We were very sad to leave our new-found friends and we look back on our time together fondly.  But we are very happy to be back in our small hometown of Fowlerville and were able to move into our house again a few days after arriving in Michigan.  It was very warm when we arrived, but is now colder and rainy and damp.  Reminds us a lot of England!  J

Before we left we were able to visit Ireland and Italy.  Then in July Chris’s parents and siblings with their spouses came over for a visit.  It was a really neat experience!

Once we arrived back in Michigan, school was fast-approaching.  The shipping container full of our household items wasn’t due to arrive for 6 more weeks so we only had rental furniture and whatever we brought in our suitcases.  We didn’t bring any school supplies so a trip to the store was due.  The children attended all their orientations and have been loving US schools since the first day.  They really missed not having to wear uniforms.  Jonathan and Mikael are both in different buildings but Elizabeth is in the same one she left from.  Everyone is adjusting well.

Chris is glad to be back at Jackson National Life in the USA.  While we were abroad, the Jackson audit team moved to another building 5 minutes down the road.  It has taken him some getting used to, but he gets to wear jeans everyday to work, poor guy.   He is 2^nd counselor in the bishopric which can be challenging at times, but overall he’s handling things very well. 

Karen is happy to be back in the USA, although the first month or two was rough.  She missed her friends in the UK very much.  She also missed not having to work.  Right before Thanksgiving she put in an application at Jackson and they called her for an interview.  An hour or two later she was offered a job.  She works three days a week from 9-2pm when needed, it's that flexible.   She works with some of the same people two years ago when at Jackson and have gained new friends.  She plays piano in Relief Society and sometimes plays the organ in sacrament meetings, musical numbers and primary.  Pack Committee Chair is her calling in the ward where she works with the cub scouts.  She is also Vice President of the PTO at Elizabeth’s school and teaches piano after school two days a week at the moment.   Her life is never dull.

Jonathan grew about 5 more inches this year.  He is now 5 foot 7 ½ inches tall at the age of 14 ½.  His voice is so deep that he sounds like Chris.  When people aren’t looking at them it’s hard to tell their voices apart.   He just finished reading the Harry Potter series.  That was a hard one for him.  He doesn’t really like Harry Potter but he did it anyway.  He is really into sci-fi; Loves the Lightening Thief Series and Percy Jackson.  Video Games are his thing.  If he’s not doing his chores or reading he’d rather be video gaming or talking about Dungeons and Dragons and which monster would win in a fight.

Mikael is a funny kid.  He has a very quick wit which keeps us laughing.  He still loves to draw although due to some school schedule changes in the beginning of the year he was not able to get any art classes which was very disappointing.  He loves being back in the US schools and has adjusted well.  Outdoor stuff is his passion.  He loves camping in his new scout tent that Chris bought for him and Jonathan.  They’ve even set it up inside the house to sleep in it because it has been too cold and rainy outside.  He can’t wait to go camping this summer and summer of 2013 will be a big Boundary Waters trip which he talks about constantly.  He still gets anxious over new things, but is slowly learning that it is not always as bad as he thinks it will be.

Elizabeth is still a bundle of energy.  Singing is her favorite thing to do although she won’t always perform when asked.  She is in Honors Choir at school and loves every minute of it since they like it when she sings.  She attends activity days at the church twice a month and has horse lessons twice a month on Saturdays.  She has started reading the book series about dragons that starts with Eragon.  She loves them and I’ve never seen her so anxious to read!  She brings the books with her everywhere.  Her emotions have been a roller coaster ride since arriving back from the UK.  Some days we’ve ruined her life, other days we are her best friends.  Can’t wait for the teenage years!  Not!!

                Our house is almost back to the same condition it was before we left.  We repainted some rooms and had to buy some new electronics, but the outside still needs work.  It will keep us very busy come spring.  Can’t wait to see the blooming flowers and start a garden again.  But we are happy to be able to spend Christmas in Michigan for the first time in two years.  The kids were so excited to get the decorations out.

                Over the past year we have seen our Heavenly Father’s hand in our lives and are grateful for it.  We are very blessed. 

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.  May God Bless you in all you do!

Love,

Chris, Karen, Jonathan, Mikael and Elizabeth Wells