Happy December to our friends and family! We hope that this letter finds you all well and at peace! As you will read, 2023 has been a busy year for the Rogers as usual!
JANUARY: After enjoying our annual New Year’s Eve party with our friends on 12/31/22 and then putting away all of the Christmas decorations at the house, Redgie and I packed up and headed to San Diego on 1/6/23. Christina was due to deliver our third grandchild and Redgie & I were “on duty” to stay with Charlotte and Ezra when the time came for Brooks & Christina to head to the hospital for the delivery.
Gemma Rae was born on 1/16/23!
We were so glad to be able to care for Charlotte and Ezra for those few days while Brooks spent those first few days at the hospital with Christina and their new daughter. How precious it was to witness Charlotte and Ezra meeting their new baby sister when they brought her home from the hospital a few days after she was born.
During our time in San Diego, Redgie and Brooks worked on a big improvement project at our house. Brooks acted as our contractor and made arrangements for all of the hardscaping in front of the house to be removed along with the fence & gate. He supervised the installation of a large brick-paver parking area and patio around the front porch as well as artificial turf along the side of the house. Finally, a custom (black powder coated) steel fence frame was installed and Brooks completed the job by staining & attaching all of the fence boards along the frame of the fence & two gates. It sure turned out beautifully and is such a big improvement to the curb appeal of the house, not to mention the very convenient, three private off-street parking spots that we gained. We are grateful for all of the hours of work and supervision Brooks contributed to the project. We couldn’t have done it without him!
During all of that activity we managed to close on the purchase of a new condo in Fort Walton Beach, FL on 1/17/23. You may remember reading from last year’s letter that in the fall of 2022 we sold our two remaining Dune Pointe condos with the intention of reinvesting the money into one larger condo, so that is what we did. Our new condo is in “Azure”, a newer building which is located on the same beach as our previous (Dune Pointe) building.
After the sale was complete Redgie made a quick trip to Fort Walton Beach & the new condo. While he was there, he disposed of a lot of the furniture, etc. that we knew we were not planning on keeping and prepared the condo to get it ready for our painter to come in and start painting. Then he flew back to San Diego, because on 1/29/23 Redgie & I went down to the cruise ship port there in San Diego and boarded the Diamond Princess ship for a one-week cruise to Mexico.
FEBRUARY – MARCH: Our cruise itinerary included stops in Cabo, Loreto and La Paz, none of which we had ever visited before. We had a very nice, relaxing week enjoying the food, entertainment on board the ship, exploring the towns and focusing on time together. I love cruising!
We returned back to San Diego at the end of our cruise on 2/5/23 and two days later we flew to Fort Walton Beach to begin the task of getting the new condo ready to rent. We were disappointed to find that the painter was still NOT finished; in fact, we were there for a week before he finally completed the job. He painted the entire 4 bedroom/3 bath condo including all of the ceilings, walls, trip, doors and cabinets in the kitchen and all 3 bathrooms.
We had originally planned on being finished (getting the condo ready to rent) in early March, but in the end due to some delivery delays it took us until the end of March to complete the job. We were happy with the end result, but glad to finally be finished and to be able to start renting the condo on the short-term rental market & start earning some revenue!
Redgie went to Myrtle Beach the last week in March for his annual golfing trip with his Altoona buddies. I was glad to go home!
APRIL: In April we flew back to San Diego for Ezra’s 3rd birthday! He had a fun birthday party in a local park with lots of friends and family there to celebrate with him. We enjoyed the time with the grandchildren as always, but especially getting to know our little Gemma more! She is such a smiley, happy little girl and such a joy!
On April 16 I had to make an unexpected trip to GA to attend the funeral of my Uncle Franklin (my father’s brother) who died suddenly after a short stay in the hospital with pneumonia. I only got to stay for 2 days but I was glad to be able to visit with my father and my brother Jeff & family as well as my little sister Holly and her oldest daughter Savannah. I also got to see my cousins Kimberly and Johnny (Uncle Franklin’s children) whom I have not seen in decades.
Later in the month Redgie & I flew to Pittsburgh to attend the wedding of his good friend Ken. Ken is a pastor at a church in Pittsburgh where he met his fiancé, Michelle. We were very happy to be able to celebrate their love & union with them on their special day. We enjoyed visiting with a lot of Redgie’s old youth group friends from their growing up years in Altoona.
MAY: We pretty much were able to stay home in May, with the exception of a quick trip up to our condo in Dillon early in the month. We had some new living room furniture delivered and so enjoyed a few days in the mountains.
JUNE: Redgie went to Lynchburg during the first week in June to attend a golf tournament at Liberty University. Some of his buddies joined him at the house and played in the tournament as well. From there Redgie flew to Salisbury, MD for a Perdue meeting. In the meantime, I went to San Diego June 9 – 23 to spend a few weeks with the kids while Redgie was traveling. He popped over to San Diego for 2 days (17th & 18th) before flying to Charlotte, NC for another work function.
JULY: Redgie & I spent one night in Dillon so that we could attend the annual HOA meeting on July 1. After the meeting we took the time to enjoy our favorite hike to Lily Pad Lake in Summit County (beautiful!) before driving back down the mountain to home.
AUGUST: On August 3 I flew to San Diego to pick up Charlotte (our granddaughter) for our “Grammy & Pappy” trip. Two days later Charlotte & I flew to Fort Walton Beach where we met Redgie for a one week stay in our condo at the beach. The three of us had so much fun! We played in the pool a LOT, played at the beach where Charlotte met a new friend, Charlotte played in the waves with Pappy, we went on a sunset dolphin-sighting cruise and to the “Gulfarium” (aquarium), ate ice cream and popsicles and Jello, read books, played games, did some art and went to a movie one day. Charlotte did great! She was a little bit homesick for her brother Ezra, but at the end of the week she told me she could have stayed one more day. 🙂
After taking Charlotte back to San Diego after our beach trip we stayed for another week so that we could celebrate Charlotte’s 5th birthday! During that week Charlotte was not in school so she & I spend a lot of time together going to the park, the Children’s Museum and the zoo. Redgie & I also enjoyed time with Ezra and Gemma (who is growing so fast and has new teeth!)
Charlotte’s birthday party was at a neighborhood park with lots of her friends and family. There was even a rainbow unicorn pinata that Charlotte chose….the kids loved it!
A few days later was Charlotte’s first day of Kindergarten! While she had been expressing some anxiety about kindergarten she was soon right at home with her classmates and teacher and loves it (as we knew she would!)
SEPTEMBER: Redgie & I flew from San Diego to Lynchburg, VA for a week at our house there. We enjoyed time with friends who joined us for the weekend, the highlight of which was the football game on Saturday with a victory against Bowling Green. After that, I flew back home to CO but Redgie went on to Altoona to participate in the annual Precious Life golf tournament. He always enjoys that tournament when he is able to play golf with is Altoona buddies. Later in the month I went to visit my father in GA for a week. It was so nice to be able to spend that time with him. I was also able to visit with my brother Jeff, his wife Karla and their boys Jeffrey and Philp. Precious time with family is the best!
OCTOBER: Redgie went back to Lynchburg for a few days so he could attend the football game against Sam Houston (another victory!) Then he drove up to Salisbury, MD to attend a meeting at Perdue. Later in the month we both went to San Diego for the purpose of staying with Charlotte, Ezra & Gemma while Brooks & Christina traveled to Annapolis for a reunion at the Naval Academy. Redgie & I were “on duty” from Wednesday through Sunday afternoon. I was a little bit worried about how we’d manage three rambunctious kids, but they were great and we had a great time! (I confided to Gemma that she was the best-behaved of the bunch that weekend! She’s such a good, happy baby!)
We came back to CO for a quick stop to attend a wedding, but a few days later we headed to our condo in Fort Walton Beach for our annual autumn visit. The weather was beautiful, the condo was so comfortable and we enjoyed daily walks on the beach and gorgeous sunsets each evening. Shannon joined us there for the latter part of our visit so it was nice being able to spend that time with her.
NOVEMBER: We left Fort Walton Beach on Nov 9 and flew to Lynchburg again for another weekend with friends and football! Liberty won the game against Old Dominion.
It was nice to have a few weeks at home after that. Redgie, Shannon & I enjoyed Thanksgiving in Colorado Springs with Christina’s parents Harry & Irene. They hosted a very large gathering of family & friends, including Brooks, Christina & the kids (of course!) and we were honored to be included in the “Partridge Family” Thanksgiving. The next day Redgie & I went back to Colorado Springs to spend the day with the kids at the Great Wolf Hotel Resort water park. What a great way to spend a snowy, wintery day! The indoor water park had lots of slides & pools and the kids loved it….even Gemma!
DECEMBER: Redgie & I flew to Nashville, TN on November 30 to attend the “Come Home for Christmas” weekend hosted by the gospel music artist Matthew West. It was so much fun! We spent most of the weekend in the charming town of Franklin. The weekend schedule was full of great music and fellowship, food and fun and the group of about 200 people thoroughly enjoyed every event, including the lighting of the Christmas tree in Franklin’s town square! On Saturday night Matthew performed a Christmas concert which was televised by TBN and is set to air on December 22 at 7pm CT on TBN. You should try to watch it if you can, it was a wonderful concert and you might even see us in the audience! 🙂
We will be home in Colorado for Christmas, but a few days later we will be heading to Phoenix, AZ for the purpose of attending the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl because Liberty University will be playing in the game against the Oregon Ducks! The LU Flames had an undefeated season under the new coach Jamie Chadwell and won the CUSA Championship against a respected opponent (New Mexico State Aggies). Even so, it was a great surprise to learn of Liberty’s opportunity to play in the Fiesta Bowl on New Years Day! This is the biggest thing that has ever happened to Liberty’s football program and Redgie & I are so excited to be present to witness the game in person. We are definitely the underdogs against the mighty Ducks, but who knows? We may just surprise them, in the end. Go Flames!
As I bring this letter to a close, please know that Redgie & I have prayed throughout the year for our family and friends, especially for those who have had a difficult year with health or other circumstances or have lost loved ones. We wish we could do more but we know that everything is in the hands of our Heavenly Father who loves us & only has good plans for us. We praise Him for our blessings and are thankful for you all.
Love,
Valerie & Redgie