I did not anticipate 2023 passing with no posts until the year end wrap up. I guess we got busy and I didn’t have any rants or commentaries boiling up that had to be unburdened from my soul. When last year ended, we had begun the process of grieving Renee’s mom and dealing with all that her passing brought about in our lives. Let me recap what transpired over the year before we end another chapter in the Zeliff family saga.
We began the year by attending the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on January 2nd with close friends who are like family, Michelle and Rita. Despite the USC Trojans defense allowing Tulane to pull out a come from behind victory, we had a great time. Later in the month, Jesse and the Precious would move out of Scott’s house and into mom’s place so we could put it on the market. This set in motion our plans to return to Ogden, Utah so Karri could grow up near her sister Rachel in Logan, Utah.
In February, I resigned from my IT position at Central Texas College so I could be available to help the family with sale preparations and consolidation of three households (Scott’s, Mom’s and ours). For our anniversary, Renee and I visited the Yankus family and enjoyed catching up with Joni and Jarid for the first time since their wedding day years earlier. The following day, we made a return visit to the church where we had served as youth pastors thirty years prior.
In March, we shifted into sales mode with the first of several estate/garage sales. We also took several trips within Texas and one back to Utah. We took a trip to Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose and a couple days later rode the Austin Steam Train from Austin to Bertram, Texas. We closed out the month with a birthday celebration in Utah with little sister Rachel. We went from 80 degree weather to several inches of snow and then back to the heat for more packing and sales.
As we continued selling things, we made the decision to donate one retro robot/video based game to the National Videogame Museum in Frisco, Texas. We met up again with Michelle for BBQ after spending some time in the museum. We ended April by visiting, along with Renee’s sister Carla, the niche where mom and Scott’s ashes now reside.
In May, we packed up and cleared out of the house that Renee was raised in. Jesse celebrated his birthday and we snuck away to Sea World in San Antonio to catch our breath before the final days in Texas. We moved into a local hotel while Karri completed first grade and then we began our road trip back to Ogden. We enjoyed a lunch break with my friend and brother Jim in Colorado Springs midway through the journey. Upon arrival in Ogden, we settled into a long term stay hotel while we looked for permanent residence.
We FINALLY obtained keys to something other than a hotel to kick off June and I continued to await my start date with an IRS IT contractor. Karri was delighted to once again take swimming lessons at the pool where she had previously taken them. Because our domicile was a brand new build, we had to wait until the end of June before reestablishing our Utah residency due to the postal service and landlord delay in giving us a mailing address. Pizza and package deliveries were quite a challenge too as Google maps didn’t show our address as being real.
We surprised Karri with a trip to Disneyland/California Adventure in July prior to us attending San Diego Comic-Con again. She had no idea where we were going until she read the “Welcome to Disneyland” signs. She met several of the Disney Princesses to include Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine and Anna. She also enjoyed almost all of the rides with the exception of Space Mountain which she was not happy her dad taken her on. Following two busy days at Disney, we stopped in Laguna Beach to dip our toes in the Pacific before checking into our hotel in San Diego. Four days of Comic-Con show floor visits and cosplay were followed by a return flight to Utah.
As August began, I was still waiting for the IRS IT job when the Director of Technology for Ogden School District reached out about an opening at one of their junior high schools. I interviewed and was hired which allows me to work directly across the street from the elementary school the Precious attends. We ride to school together and I walk her to school each morning.
We saw Michelle again in September when she was in Salt Lake City on a work trip. Prior to her work meetings, we enjoyed several days with her. At the end of the month, Renee flew to Texas to attend a women’s conference with Michelle. Upon Renee’s return, I was off to Colorado Springs mid-October to do some fly fishing with Jim. I had inherited a tin of hand tied flies from my father in 2009 that I had been yearning to get wet. While there, I also visited with his daughter Christina’s family included taking his grandsons with us on one day of fishing.
As November began, we secured tickets to return to San Diego Comic-Con once again. Our Thanksgiving was spent with just the four of us and missing Renee’s mom who had departed one year ago. With December arriving, we are preparing to celebrate the 8th birthday of our granddaughter and the Christmas holidays. We appreciate you taking time to read this post and pray your year has been full of blessings and triumphs. We hope that next year brings us all more of the same.
