My annual Christmas card....a recap of 2025

 Happy new year to all of our friends and family!  We hope this letter finds all of our friends happy after the Holidays and ready to face the excitement of another year.  I did post a very brief update of all the going ons in the Belt family on facebook around Christmas time but if you want a deeper insight into our family and what has been happening, read on.  If you are satisfied with the brief synopsis given, feel free to skip the following.

Yes, Riley is wearing his coat underneath his suit coat and an arcteryx beanie that he wouldn't take off Christmas day.  We did try to encourage him to dress nicer, which is why he put on the suit coat, so at least we got that.  Also, this is always the way the Belts roll, so none of what I just said should surprise you.

Let's start with Brad.  Brad is still building his sauna.  

He did take a sabbatical from his sauna making as he:

Welded a snowmobile rack for his trailer,

resurfaced a snowmobile trailer,

tied flies,

perfected his new traveling camper,

and fixed wounds, on the table, while eating breakfast.

Brad is always learning and endeavoring to improve our lives and surroundings.  Hopefully, next year, I can report the sauna finished.

Chelsey, that's me.  I am still tending chickens, attempting to prove I am as tough as Brad when I mountain bike, pretending to be a wrestling coach (which while I do like, I know that I really would feel more comfortable coaching basketball), getting stronger (I deadlifted 245 for 6 reps this year and can now do 8 continuous pull-ups) and am attempting to adjust to the reality that life will be very different next year as all my children will be out of the home.  Who will I make instagram reels about now?  No one wants to hear me sing.

Jordan and Molly are thriving in Salt Lake just like last year.  Jordan is in his third year of Dental school while Molly is supporting the family working as a MA for a cardiologist group.  I've said this before but I am so impressed with the two of them and what they are accomplishing.  They really pull the kids together in Utah with dinners at their house and adventures.  This year they took up concerts and backpacking. I should also add that Jordan mountain biked the most miles of any Belt this year.  I wish I could remember the number, but I cannot.  You will have to ask him.

McKenzie is in her second year of dental school.  Has gotten into weight lifting and birdwatching.  If you go on a hike with her, she is always asking, "Did you hear that?" and getting out her binoculars to find out just what bird it is.  She has so many hobbies and, besides becoming a dentist, truly wants to be a naturalist and is learning about plants and animals as much as she can.  

Ben is in his final year of the University and will graduate with a civil engineering degree this fall.  He interned this summer with a geotech engineering firm in Utah that works for UDOT.  He still wrestles with a wrestling club and is a huge help to his brother, Jake, when he comes home and volunteers to be his wrestling partner.  Ben is up for any adventure and has the most perfect hair of any Belt when he actually combs it, but why comb it when a hat looks just as good?

Riley is a sophomore at Utah Valley University and is studying pre-med hoping to become a surgeon one day.  He is ambitious and driven.  He worked as an MA in an opthalmology office here in town trying to get more medical experience for his application to Medical school.  He has been spending a whole bunch of time rock climbing hoping to do a multipitch climb this coming spring.

Last, but not least is Jake.  Jake is a senior in high school.  He is currently in the middle of his final wrestling season and wants to be the first Belt to not only make it to state, but place at state.  He works hard and we hope to see him achieve his goals.  Secretly, he wants to be a jedi master and got a banana katana for Christmas from his sister.  He'd also be happy as a singing cowboy...someone like Charlie Crockett.  Jake keeps us laughing and entertained with his great sense of humor, music, impersonations (he does a pretty good Trump) and charisma.  He wants to attend UVU next fall so he can be with his siblings in Utah and thinks he might want to pursue a pre-dental degree.

We have had many adventures this past year together and apart.  We have grown and changed over the past years and this mandates flexibility, kindness and forgiveness in our family relationships to stay close.  We value our relationships with others and are grateful for the way you all have enriched our lives.  We hope this year, though you may face challenges, that you have much joy and growth and rich interactions with others and that this letter finds you in good spirits.  We love you all!

The Belts