2015-Year in Review

Its the end of another year and the holidays are upon us. We wish you all a 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and hope that the coming year is full of blessings and joy for you.

Thanks for being part of our circle of loved ones. We are blessed to know you.

Here is a quick recap of the events in the Welch house in 2015.

January-started out with a bang as Charles lost his first tooth. It was quite traumatic for him as he was using his teeth to pry apart Legos, which is a big no-no in our house. The tooth went flying and he thought he was in big trouble. After finding the tooth and being reassured he was not in trouble life resumed as normal. 

Soren celebrated his 9th birthday with his first ever birthday party with friends. Whew! It was a fast, loud and furious couple of hours. 

We began the cheapskate remodel of our kitchen by cleaning the cabinetry, adding beadboard wallpaper to the insets, and repainting the cabinets in two shades of gray. What a difference! 

The people in the house went in all different directions: to cheer/drill practice, basketball practice, scouts, mutual, drill competitions, school incentive trips and church meetings. 

February-There was a lot packed into this short month. Hannah had State Drill Team competition. Our team took 3rd place in 1A. They had given it their best, despite losing their best dancer to an injury. 

I got to help with the Valentine’s day party in Charles’ class. Kindergarten kids are just so cute!  

Curtis was in charge of the Klondike campout for scouts again this year. It is a lot of work for him, but he does a really good job making it fun for the boys. There was almost not enough snow. 

School events included the History Fair which was Sadie’s gig this year. How many more of these do we have to do??? We round out the month with Valentine’s Day and celebrating the birthday of our baby James, who turns 4.

March-Track practice started which occupied Curtis and Cambria every day after school. Cambria runs the 400 and 800 and relays. 

March is also the month of Prom. Cambria was asked in late Jan and found a dress online. It came by slow boat from China so we were happy to see it arrive before Prom! 

We also had a week long Spring Break. We decided to do our big family trip during this time since gas prices were so low. We chose to go to Idaho to see Jordan, Lindsey, Emerson and Montana. I know! Who goes to Idaho for Spring Break?? We did have a good time and it was good to see the boys in their elements. It was the first time for the kids to meet Emerson, who was 6 months old. We swam at the hotel, watched movies, ate good food, went to the SLC aquarium, and saw the really amazing Lego exhibit at Fashion Place Mall. The worst part of the trip was losing Soren at the mall for about 20-30 minutes. Such a sick feeling. Thankfully, he was fine and we found each other. 

Charles turned 6, he’s really growing up. 

The girls were involved in Region Solo & Ensemble as well as Region Drama. 

Idaho Falls-Snake River

April-Spring sports and school events are piling up. Lots of track meets in addition to Region Band and Choir. Cambria and Sadie are in choir and Sadie is still tooting an oboe in the band. 

We celebrated Easter and enjoyed General Conference. It’s our favorite weekend. 

Preparations for our Stake Trek are ramping up with square dancing lessons and gathering of supplies/costumes. 

We were thrilled to have Curtis’ sister, Nicole, and her family come to visit us for a couple of days. 

James had his first dentist visit. He was not a fan. 

We were excited to have our local ice cream place, the Shake Shack, open up for the season and enjoyed some cones and dilly bars. 

I also started a new part time job cleaning a vacation rental. Perfect job. I can take James and it’s only a few days a month.

May-AAAGGGHHHHH, hold-on-to-the-end-of-the-school-year time. We had region track, state track(Cambria placed 8th in the 400m), Cambria’s seminary graduation and High School Graduation, band/choir concerts, field trips and Field days, and WHEW. We made it. 

We also got to go north to Midway with the track team. Kids had a lot of fun at the Homestead Resort. While Curtis and Cambria were at the BYU Invitational the other kids and I got to visit our good friends Shaunna and Cami in Provo. :)

We also decided to throw a week of stomach flu in there for kicks! 8-P

Cambria left right after graduation to begin her summer job working for the Utah DNR at Bullfrog (Lake Powell).

The month eases on out with Memorial Day doing our usual visit to the cemeteries to put flowers on our ancestor’s graves.

June-lots went on this month as well. No lazy days of summer here. Hannah and Sadie headed off to girls’ day camp. It’s only a day due to Trek coming up.  

Three days later we went to Bear Lake for the Mike and Ellen Welch Reunion. Third time must be the charm because this was the best time we've ever had at Bear Lake. (it is liberating to have no babies to worry about!) It was so nice to see almost all of Curtis’ siblings and their families. Wow! There are a lot of us now. 

The next week Curtis, Hannah and Sadie went to Wyoming to Martin’s Cove. They were there for 3 days, battling sun, allergies and mosquitoes. It sounded like in spite of all that, they had a good time. 

I decided to make a trek of my own, with my mom, to St. George to visit my sister and her kids. We enjoyed our time there, even though it’s hotter than _ _ _ _ there! The kids had fun at the Children’s Museum and Splash pad and eating mini gourmet donuts. 

Beaver Creek-Logan Canyon

July-Will it slow down? Don’t think so. We did a family hike to the House on Fire Ruin for the 4th this year. We had a lot of water this summer and it was still standing in pools in the wash and the wildflowers were amazing. 

The following week our family had the opportunity to be a part of the San Juan Pageant(church pageant). We got to portray a handcart family crossing the plains. We were supposed to do 3 shows, but the first one got rained out. It was an interesting experience but we were glad when it was over. 

The most anticipated event of the month was Hannah turning 16. She didn’t let us forget that it was coming up. Sadie also turned 14 this month. I do not have little girls anymore. :(

The craziest part of the month was the weather. It rained and rained and rained and hailed and thundered and even spawned a few funnel clouds. I never thought the first tornado I saw would be in Monticello. Who woulda thunk it?!? Pioneer Day was fun this year, with Kami, Shiala and Ford here to enjoy it with us. Parades are just so much more fun with little kids. 

We were also adopted by a cat in labor, who birthed 3 kittens within 4 hours of coming here. Be careful what you ‘wish’ for! I had thought a few weeks before how I wished the boys could have a kitten experience. Voila’! 

House on Fire Ruin Hike

August- Another month of special events. We spend the first weekend of the month in Bluff to celebrate Mom and Dad’s 50th anniversary. We had a lovely weekend having fun together. It was really nice to have Jordan, Lindsey and Emerson here for it. 

James got oriented for his preschool program through Waterford/Upstart.

 On the 15th we went to Salt Lake to be with Ford, Shiala and Kami as they were sealed as a family in the SLC Temple. Such a wonderful day and Kami was super adorable in her little white dress, saying hello to everyone. :) 

School started on the 13th. Hannah is a Jr, Sadie a Freshman, Soren in 3rd grade and Charles is a 1st grader, loving being at school all day. James began his preschool computer program and is very disciplined to do it first thing every morning. Hannah and Sadie get to go to the Utah Shakespearian Festival and see a couple of plays. 

The month ended with Curtis and I celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe it’s been that long. We’ve had a good life together :)

Barton Reunion-all the Barton grandkids except Montana, Corbin and Ariel.

September-September brought cooler air and colorful leaves. The weather stayed nice and there was a lot of playing out of doors and with the growing kittens. We took our yearly drive up to the top of the mountain before the snow falls. We are blessed to live in a beautiful place where mountains and canyons can be enjoyed easily. 

Cambria came home from Lake Powell to celebrate her 19th birthday. Somehow, my baby girl has become a lovely young woman.

We have no one participating in sports so it’s a relatively calm month. The girls support their friends in meets and games but don’t have practices and games themselves.

October-General Conference rings in the month. What a treat! 

Scouts started back up for Soren, with Pack and den meetings. He is working on getting his Bear badge. 

Curtis, Cambria and Kassie headed to Idaho on the 2nd weekend on a quick trip to pick up the car Cambria bought from her brother, and to get a washer since ours konked out. It was supposed to be a quick up and back trip, but it turned into a 5 day adventure when the brakes on the Suburban went out on our way home. Thankfully we had only gotten as far as Idaho Falls, so we left the vehicle at a repair shop and Jordan rescued us. After a laughably hard time getting the right parts the car was fixed and we made it home. The fact that I only packed a clean shirt and socks made it even more fun! Thank heavens there was a Deseret Book/Distribution in Rexburg so I could purchase new underwear. ;)

The weather continued rainy and unseasonably warm. It is so strange to get gully-washers on my birthday rather than snow. Curtis and I added a new digit to our ages. 

Hannah became a legally licensed driver. Watch out world! 

Charles lost more teeth, working on his All-I-Want-For-Christmas-Is-My-Two-Front-Teeth look. 

We went to the Harvest Festival and did some trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with Kami to bring the month to a close.

November-A month of much to be thankful for. Sadie was presented her Young Womanhood medallion in Sacrament Meeting, after completing her Personal Progress in YW. She was very motivated to complete it and really pushed herself to get it done. We were very pleased with her efforts. 

Charles placed 5th out of all the 1st graders in the Sugar Run at school. I think he surprised himself and me. 

We finally got our first good snowstorm. James went out and jumped on the trampoline covered in snow for his PE. The first snowfall is always so much fun!

I decided it was time for a change and chopped several inches off my hair. Then I wondered why I always seem to cut my hair at the beginning of winter. 

Hannah participated in the school play. She had been attending practices since Sept and it was fun to see what they’ve been working on. I’m happy my kids have discovered the fun of drama. 

We began to declutter, purge and rearrange rooms in preparation to host Thanksgiving. We finally got the kitchen walls painted and can can almost call the kitchen remodel done.

We celebrated Thanksgiving here with Mom, Karla’s family, Wendy’s family and all the Monticello Welches. As always there was more than enough food and pie. We all waddled away from the table. Then we all traveled to Price to be at the wedding of my mom on Nov 28. She was blessed to find a very nice man who makes her very happy. We are so happy that they have each other to spend time with and don’t have to be alone anymore. It was a very special day. 

December-Now December is here…We’ve gone to our Ward Party (in Bethlehem), had several Wii bowling tournaments, decorated for Christmas, attended a Band/Choir concert that the girls took part in, read our nightly scripture advent as well as some fun Christmas stories. We have also had a lovely new snowfall and have been enjoying playing in it and sledding at school. The shopping is done and we are looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the season. 

We are so thankful for the reason we celebrate at this time of year. We are so blessed to know of our Savior and what He did for all of us. We pray that the peace and joy of the season may fill your homes and lives. We wish you the merriest of Christmases. 

Love, 

The Welch family

Curtis, Kassie, Cambria, Hannah, Sadie, Soren, Charles, James

San Juan Pageant