Christmas 2025

We hope this letter finds you well and filled with the spirit of the season! As another year draws to a close, we wanted to catch you up on everything that’s been keeping our family busy and joyful.

The highlight of our year, without a doubt, continues to be our beautiful grandchildren. Watching them grow, learn, and explore the world is the greatest gift of all.

Starting off the year in Florida is a good place to be. This is our tenth year going to our condo in Stuart, Fl. We purchased our condo while we were on our Great Loop cruise in 2015.

It would be hard to be more waterfront unless we were living on a boat.

Sunset cocktails are is a tradition on our dock. Photo by Priscilla

A highlight this year was a trip to the Galápagos Islands. We told our grandchildren they could choose anywhere in the world to travel for their 10th birthday.

It was an absolutely breathtaking experience. Seeing the giant tortoises, marine iguanas, and blue-footed boobies up close was surreal. The islands are a testament to the wonder of nature, and we returned with hundreds of photos and incredible memories.

The obligatory family photo with the giant tortoise.

Music continues to be a big part of our life. We enjoy playing music with our grandchildren and attending open mics. We also play at the Lake Bluff Farmers Market.

We have an annual sailboat cruise on our boat Blue Heaven with Waly and the Good Time Band. The cruise is always followed by a jam session on the dock.

We enjoy getting each of our grandchildren on stage to sing with us. This is Jackson.

We also enjoy the grandchildren’s sports programs.

Parker has become a very good soccer player. His favorite position is goalie.

We do a lot of fishing when the grandkids visit us in Florida. Eleanor with a Lane snapper onboard the mv Safari I.

Every summer is spent sailing with the grandkids. They also take sailing lessons at the Waukegan Yacht Club.

Our sailboat racing season was very successful this year. We were victorious in all ten races. We won blue flags for both section and division.

As a change of pace we celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday and drove to Branson, Mo on Thanksgiving Day. That is a good day to drive with no traffic. We also departed Chicago two days before a major winter storm dumped a foot of snow.

In Branson we had a two bedroom condo with a full kitchen and hot tub. We went to see the live play David. It was an amazing use of technology. We also went to the aquarium, wax museum and played mini golf. On Sunday we headed south through the Ozark mountains to Montgomery, Al. There are no direct interstate highways that go that way. We were glad we didn’t have to go back to the frigid north.

Because we can’t include too many photos of our grandchildren, here is one more.

From our family to yours, we wish you a very merry holiday season.

John and Priscilla Simons and family