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 2nd 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
