Christmas Letter 2020
Dear Friends and Family
In 2020 our kids got taller and I got wider. I really took that COVID-19 to heart, or should I say stomach.
However, even though we all like to talk about the trashcan fire 2020 was, all is not bad!
We started 2020 with a pregnant Heidi, and purchasing a new house. Not a bad combo, however that house needed a complete gut remodel and Heidi was 9 months pregnant with two little kids. I guess I am a glutton for punishment. In fact, we picked out all of our final finishes and appliances just a few hours before we went to the hospital to induce Maxwell Robert Hans on 27 February 2020. Nothing like a little pressure to get it done!
We consider ourselves very blessed to have a third child and even more so to be out of the hospital before the pandemic made everything harder. Max has had quite a year with two older siblings who believe showing love looks a lot like a WWE wrestling move. At the beginning of November Heidi noticed that he had a slight spasm, I couldn’t even tell anything was off, but she smartly took him to the ER. We were very fortunate because she caught the Infantile Spasms, which are seizures, very early. He lost his personality for a few weeks but after heavy steroids is starting to gain it back and we now just have to wait and see if any of his development gets delayed. Overall, we were blessed to have just about the best outcome that could have been hoped for, the doctor wants us to prevent him from getting sick for a few months and believes he may grow out of the diagnosis. Max is now crawling and is basically a heat seeking missile for the Christmas Tree, he has been relegated to what the kids call baby jail (a pack and play).
Our other wimpy white boy is Dexter. He has gone from grunting to holding full on conversations this year. He is as natural at sports as a 3-year-old can be. One day he just took up hitting a ball that I tossed him and he probably has a better golf swing than I do too. He loves (in no particular order) football, basketball, golf, soccer, baseball, bouncy balls, and his power wheel. Dexter is our sensitive kid and typically needs cuddles after naptime. He gets shy easily and loves OU football nearly as much as me.
The dictator, I mean Lily, has continued to allow us all to live in her presence. I prayed and planned to have a little girl that was assertive and confident. Be careful what you pray for! Nothing gets by the girl, she can decipher whatever we spell, is always conniving her own plan, and wants nothing more than to play the teacher or mom. We all have to take turns getting told what to do. She is also the sweetest thing ever, took to a riding a bike immediately, and loves to help in anyway she can.
Our minivan chauffer and butt wiper, Heidi, has somehow continued to function with less sleep than is possible for most people. Besides keeping track of all things in the house, shopping, cooking, breastfeeding, and a lot of the child rearing is slowly starting a new career, working with me! In January we are hiring help around the house and with the kids so Heidi can come clean up all my business messes too. She is taking on Climb Capital’s administrative functions as my executive assistant. I was preparing to start a hiring process and realized that Heidi is way more capable than anyone I would find, probably should know more about the business anyway, and is pretty much good at all the things I am bad at.
Then there is me, Dad. 2020 has been incredibly fun, demanding, stressful, interesting, incredible, and overwhelming. Much to my own dismay I have continued to serve full-time in the Navy Reserves. However, the professional rewards have been incredible. This year I was sent in the first group of 4 Navy Pilots to fly the newest training helicopter. I spent much of June at the Leonardo factory in Philadelphia flying the TH-73, a much-needed replacement to the aircraft I have flown for the last 7 years. Since returning home I have been writing the curriculum for future Student Naval Aviators. I am going to be able to create a pretty cool legacy that will outlast my time in the Navy. However, barring any unforeseen circumstances this will be my last year on full time orders. 13 years later its time to move to only part time reserve work.
This year also saw the official launch of our new business Climb Capital. In March my partner Bob and I launched a Real Estate Private Equity Company that is focused on buying and improving workforce housing across the Gulf Coast and the Southeast. We set goals for the year, then blew right through them all. We own and manage hundreds of units of apartments, mobile home parks, and RV parks. We are launching ancillary companies in the next year and after my orders are complete Climb Capital will be my full-time focus. Entrepreneurship and business ownership are often described as a roller coaster ride and that is definitely how I have felt this year. God has been so good and also demanded that we recognize that all that we have accomplished has come from his grace, not our ability.
In September we experienced our first Hurricane, Sally. Not recommended, it was pretty crazy to ride out even though it was “only” a category two. We were without power for 3 days, had to replace our roof, and had massive damage at our rentals. We also had a lot of people that helped us out.
At church I have now tried just about every online option for connecting. Zoom, Google, Online services, Facebook live, we have used it as our young family’s group has continue to grow. We were able to start in-person classes again in September with new covid friendly protocols, though I have to created a pretty elaborate setup so that the webcam we use to record isn’t directly pointing at my double chin. Priorities.
Our move in April was great because we have a little more space and a more kid-friendly neighborhood. I may have spent a little too much on creating the nicest lawn in the neighborhood, but seriously come visit just to see the lawn! Its awesome. We traveled very little this year, but have spent a lot of time riding our bikes to the playground, that’s the same right? We look forward to getting back out more and having people over soon, but until then we have built-in entertainment with these crazy kids.
We hope this letter finds you well, or as well as can be expected right now. We love you and pray for better days to come. Reach out and plan to come visit the beach (or the lawn)!
God Bless
Jeremy, Heidi, Lily, Dex, and Max
