2025 has been a great year for our family, with some big highlights that I will get to shortly, but most recently we had a really nice Christmas at home. We didn’t travel this year, but Jessica, the kids, and I are all off together for two full weeks, which is both wonderful and pretty rare. Elise and Enzo woke us up right at 6:00 a.m. on Christmas morning, with Ava not far behind. We tried something new while opening presents this year, and Jessica deserves full credit for finding a way to slow things down so we didn’t tear through everything in twenty minutes. Instead of writing names on the gifts, we wrote clues about who each present was for. The kids had to work together to decide the answer, and if they were right, that person could open the gift, but if they were wrong, it had to be set aside and revisited three presents later. Some clues were obvious, others were surprisingly tricky, and they even missed a few. It was fun for Jessica and me to watch them puzzle through the riddles, and it absolutely accomplished the goal of stretching out Christmas morning.
Each kid had a few standout gifts this year. Ava received a drawing tablet, lots of new clothes, a button maker, and a prepaid debit card. Elise got her second set of ear piercings, an Apple Pencil for her iPad, plenty of clothes, a pair of Uggs, and a prepaid debit card as well. We liked the idea of giving the girls their own cards because it introduces some real responsibility around money; it also solves a very practical problem, since they are often out with friends and need to pay for things at places that do not take cash. Our hope is that this helps them learn to hold onto their money and make thoughtful choices instead of spending it all immediately, so we’ll see how that experiment plays out.
Enzo’s main gift this year, shared between Christmas and his late January birthday, was a computer and a desk for his room. He has been asking for one for a while, so I picked out a very nice Mac from Apple. I told him that if he wanted to get into computers, I would happily teach him, but he would need to take it seriously and understand that it could not be only about playing games, which he had no problem agreeing to. For a school project, he wrote a letter to Jessica and me about what a good kid he has been this year and what he hoped to get for Christmas. In it, he said he wanted his own desktop computer because “my Dad is a Principal Software Engineer and I want to follow in his footsteps.” That line definitely made me smile, and we are already having a lot of fun working through lessons together at home.
Jessica’s main gift from me was the new Google Pixel Watch 4. She relies pretty heavily on a smartwatch, especially at work, where it is great for setting timers, quickly checking messages, and staying on track throughout the day. She has been using the same Fitbit we bought back in 2021, and it was clearly on its last legs, so I wanted her to have something new and really nice. Her main gift to me was a portable wood-fired pizza oven, which I absolutely love. I have already used it twice, once for pizza and once for something completely different. Even though it is marketed as a pizza oven, it is really just a small wood-fired oven, so you can cook just about anything in it. I have a cast-iron skillet that fits perfectly inside, and one night I used it to roast a chicken. I have always loved making my own pizza, and this is definitely going to take things to the next level.
Our neighbors have a long-standing tradition of dropping off small gifts around the holidays, usually something like cookies or a festive candle. This year, we decided to switch things up by making homemade salsa, jarring it up, and delivering it with a bag of chips to friends in the neighborhood. I have gotten really into making my own salsas over the past year, so Elise and I took a trip to a Mexican grocery store and stocked up on ingredients, after which I made a very large pot of salsa to share. I kept the spice level on the mild side since it was going to so many different people, but it turned out great, and we have received a lot of compliments. We liked the idea of doing something a little different, and since no one is ever lacking sweets this time of year, it ended up being a big hit.
On Sunday, my mom and Uncle Terry came over for a holiday meal where I more or less recreated Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Uncle Bob and Aunt Sandy were not able to join us, but it was still really nice to have a small family get-together. I made roasted garlic mashed potatoes the day before, then got up early Sunday morning to get the turkey started. I also made stuffing, roasted carrots, green beans, and gravy, while Jessica handled the appetizers, salad, and a really good lemon cake for dessert. It was definitely far too much food, but hopefully Mom and Terry have been enjoying the leftovers we sent home with them.
We are looking forward to ringing in the New Year with friends from the neighborhood tonight, but first, we are excited for our family’s annual New Year’s Eve tradition, which we call the Memory Jar. Throughout the year, whenever something fun or meaningful happens, we write it down on a small piece of paper and drop it into a jar in the house. Then, on New Year’s Eve, we sit down together as a family and read through all of those memories. It usually leads to a lot of laughter as we relive moments from the year, and it has easily become one of our favorite family traditions.
December has been an overwhelmingly positive month for us, but there was one small downside, which was the difficult decision Devin and I made to shut down the Cappers website. We poured everything into it over the past three years, but ultimately, we were never able to fully break through in the sports betting market. We had a small, loyal group of users who truly loved the site and were genuinely sad to see it go, but the overall customer churn was tough to manage. Some months we would gain ten new users, only to lose ten others, and on top of that, there were frequent failed payments, which made growth feel like an uphill battle.
Sports betting is incredibly cyclical, with business nearly disappearing once football season ends, leaving you in survival mode until the next season rolls around. On top of that, dealing with customers who blamed us when they went on a losing streak was never enjoyable. After three years of riding those highs and lows, we decided it was no longer worth continuing. We even ran a radio commercial on VSiN back in October as a last-ditch effort to bring in more users, but when that didn’t move the needle, it felt like the right time to move on. That said, I have no regrets. I learned an incredible amount through the process, including getting deeply involved with AI well before it became mainstream, and that experience directly contributed to landing the job I have now. Building the entire Cappers platform taught me more than almost any project I have worked on professionally, so it was absolutely a worthwhile experience.
While part of me is sad to see Cappers come to an end, another part of me feels a real sense of relief not having to worry about it anymore. I have more free time now, and I have been enjoying putting that time toward things like music and cooking. There is always a positive side to every ending, and while Cappers never became the massive success I once imagined, so much good still came out of it. New friendships, valuable experience, important lessons, and even freelance opportunities all came from that journey, and that is what I choose to focus on moving forward.
As I look back on 2025, there are a handful of experiences that will stay with me forever. At the top of that list is our trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in May. It was our first big international trip as a family, and it gave the kids their first real glimpse of life in another culture. Between the fun activities, beautiful beaches, welcoming people, and incredible food, it was a trip we still talk about often and would love to repeat someday. It felt like one of those experiences that truly shapes you, and it set a precedent for the kinds of trips we want to prioritize in the future.
Another major milestone for me this year was starting my job at HealthEdge. The tech job market has been rough over the past couple of years, and after riding my own personal rollercoaster last year, landing the highest-level role of my career at a great company, on a team full of genuinely good people, is something I do not take lightly. It has been both validating and energizing, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity.
2025 was also the year I stepped into coaching softball as a head coach, and it quickly became one of my favorite things to do. I still remember feeling nervous before our first practice back in February, but those nerves faded fast once we got on the field. I found myself loving the time spent working with the girls, teaching the game, and watching them grow. There were plenty of lessons learned during that first season, and there will always be more to come, but we held our own. The second season, which I wrote about last month, turned into an unforgettable run that ended with a championship win; something I did not expect, but always believed we were capable of. That kind of success so early in a coaching journey is rare, and it was truly a team effort. I’m humbled to have played even a small part in it, and just last night, Ava and I were talking about how excited we are to get back out on the field and start preparing for the next season.
The kids had some great experiences of their own this year, including a two-week RV trip with Grandma and Grandpa Martin. They visited several national parks in Utah, slid down sand dunes in Colorado, and spent plenty of time playing in the mountains. Jessica and the kids also made a summer trip to Iowa to visit family. This was a huge year for Jessica as well, as she became a full-time teacher. As if taking over her own classroom were not enough, she has continued working through her Master’s of Education program at UNLV, earning straight A’s and staying on track to graduate in May 2026.
Clearly, we have a lot to be proud of and thankful for. Everyone is happy and healthy, taking on new challenges and staying busy with the things they love. 2025 was a great year for our family, and 2026 is already shaping up to be a good one as well. We’ll be heading back to Colorado in March for Spring Break, which has become a nice annual tradition for us. We are also looking forward to Jessica’s graduation in May, and excited to visit friends and family in Washington in June to celebrate Aunt Norma’s 100th birthday. I’m sure there will be plenty more good moments along the way, and we are more than ready to start filling up the next memory jar.
