Mitch Made The Deans List!

This is what is on my refridgerator this week! A letter from Mott Community College stating that Mitch is on the Deans List for the fall semester!

He is very happy about it as well!

Seriously, we are very proud of him!

Eagle River Results

Actually, there are no results from Eagle River. No good ones any way! There were many problems with both champ sleds and a couple of bumps from other unsafe drivers that sent Joel and Mitch flying off their sleds, leading to not being able to make it to the finals on Sunday. They are both okay, just a little sore here and there. It was a long week, and everyone on the team worked hard as usual, so it was a little disappointing. But plans are being made for next weekend in Wausau, Wisconsin. Their sponsor, Tom Lipar, flew in from Texas with his wife Melanie, son Eric, cousin Jack, and employee + Eric's best friend Mike. It was fun to all be together as a team.

Results from Plymouth, WI

There is good news and bad news this weekend. First the bad: Joel got hit in a race on Saturday and took a tumble off the sled. He is okay, but he hurt his foot and had to go get it checked it out. It was not broken, but they gave him some crutches and he did not race on Sunday. He will be back on his sled at Eagle River, WI next weekend. The good news is that Mitch won in his 600 Pro Stock class on Sunday, took third place on Saturday in the 600 Open class on his champ 440 sled, and finished fifth on Sunday in the Champ class. Next weekend is the World Championship race that they all have been looking forward to since last year.

Sleepover

Bryce spent the night with Grandma on Saturday night while the guys were gone to the races. We put together three puzzles, read three Dr. Suess books, played three board games, played Doctor, and watched a movie together. The next day we went to the movies and saw The Tale Of Desperaux, a movie about mice and rats! We had lots of fun, and I even got a kiss and a couple of hugs. Those are hard to get from Bryce!

Race Results

Race results from Amherst, WI:
Mitch won the pro stock 600 class
Joel finished 2nd in the Champ 440 class
Mitch had problems with ice build up in his Champ 440 sled.
Next race is this weekend in Plymouth, WI

Annual Movie Day

Yesterday, January 1, 2009 was our Annual Movie Day! My sisters Bonnie and Judy, my mom Gerry, and I have been doing this for many years. We meet for breakfast and spend all day at the movies. This year we saw 3 movies. We started out with 4 Christmas's which was very funny and makes all our family get togethers look really good! 4 stars! Then we saw Seven Pounds which is a drama and very serious movie. 3 stars! Then we saw Marley & Me, which was cute, sweet, and funny. 3 1/2 stars! (I read the book, the book is always better than the movie. Maybe because it lets you use your imagination!) It was a good day. I ate too much popcorn. Time to get started on that diet!

Happy New Year, New Word, and Resolutions

Happy New Year! In 2009 we will have 365 days, 8,760 hours, or 525,600 minutes. Figure that we sleep at least a third of that time. Which leaves us 5,840 hours, or 350,400 minutes to live our lives this year. I plan on making the most of every moment that I can!



My word for 2009 is Imagine. Morgan helped me pick this word, because we use our imagination together, whether we are creating art, playing Barbies, or swimming in the pool. When she is bored and can't think of anything to do I'll say "Let's use our imagingation" so she insisted Imagine would be the right word for this year. I'm looking forward to experiencing my new word!



I was looking back at last year's resolutions and I pretty much did not accomplish any of them. So, I'm not going to give up, I will just keep trying!

1. The usual of course, lose weight!

2. Be on time. As everyone who knows me, I have a problem with this!

3. Use my imagination!

Wrapping Up 2008

How does one year go by so fast? 366 days, (leap year), 8,784 hours, 527,040 minutes.
This is just some of the inspiring moments I enjoyed this year!

Being in Eagle River, WI to see Mitch and Joel compete at the World Championship Snowmobile Races***A safe race season***Movie days***Bowling with Bryce on his birthday***CKU Chicago***Vacation in Florida with Mom, Jan, and her family***sitting on the beach***enjoying the Florida sunset while a band played "Don't let the sun go down on me", finishing just as the sun faded away over the horizon of the gulf***birthday parties, graduations, showers, weddings***watching Shelly graduate from nursing school***scrapbooking at the tree***swimming with the grandkids in the pool***annual trip to the children's zoo with Grandma Dear***creating my new scrap room (it's almost done, just putting on the final touches!)***summer fun at the cottage***girl's trip up north***celebrating with Mr. Mick***attending the Oprah Winfrey Show***seeing Marnie all dressed up for homecoming***High School football, Matt playing awesome for Davison, and Chuck playing awesome for Lapeer West***a new president-elect***celebrating Bonnie's retirement from the post office***playing Barbies***Miss Perky***a trip to Build-A-Bear Workship with Nicole***bowling with Morgan on her birthday***Angels in the Christmas play at church***funerals (they can be inspiring)***good health!***Christmas celebrations with family.

Happy (Really) Belated Birthday to Christy!

Christy, I am so sorry, looking back through the year I realized I forgot to post about your birthday! So, I am saying it now, Happy 20th, and I know you are really looking forward to the next one: turning 21 on May 18th, 2009!

Happy Birthday to Shelly

Happy Birthday to Shelly, who celebrated her birthday on December 28!

Christmas 2008

Rob and I with our four beautiful grandchildren!

Christy and Mitch

Nick, Shelly, Nicole and Bryce

Joel, Kelly, Marnie and Morgan

The whole gang!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday to Morgan, November 16!

Claire and Morgan were angels in the Christmas play at church!

Morgan turned 8 years old on November 16. This year she started gymnastics with her friend Claire and she loves it. They are both very good gymnasts and show me all their moves in the middle of the living room! Morgan and Claire both played angels in the Christmas paegent at church. When she comes over we like to make crafts or have fun playing Barbies. I am going through my second childhood with my grandchildren!

Catching Up

We stocked up on Oprah souveniers after attending a taping of her show!

Look how pretty Marnie looks in this photo, all dressed up to go to her first high school homecoming dance in October. She looks so grown up!

Also in October, (I can't believe I didn't blog about this!) I received a call from Harpo Studios in Chicago, (that's Oprah spelled backwards) and was offered tickets to the Oprah show to be in the audience! Now, I have been calling the Oprah phone line faithfully every month for 5 years trying to get tickets to her show, always getting a busy signal. This month I happened to request tickets via e-mail and I got the call. The person I spoke with could not tell me what the show was about but I accepted the tickets and asked for two more so my sisters could go with my Mom and I. Unfortunately Judy could not get off work, so Bonnie invited her friend Sharon from work and the four of us set out on the road bound for Chicago! On the way we tried to guess what the show might be about, maybe Brad Pitt would be on, maybe it would be Oprah's favorite things, maybe we would all win a new car! The day of the show we were the second group in line, hoping to get a good seat close to Oprah. We ended up kind of half stuck behind a camera and a monitor screen, but we were still excited to be there. We took our seats and then we noticed a cage sitting in the middle of the stage with two fake chickens in it. We decided it must be a joke they pull on the audience every day and once the show started we would at least see a famous movie star! As it turns out the chickens were there for a reason, and a few minutes later they brought out a fake pig, and a fake calf. The show was about animals kept in cages and pens, versus free range raised animals. I couldn't believe it! But then Oprah made her entrance, carrying her shoes in her hand, right by where we were sitting. She looked beautiful and was very nice. They taped the show, spoke with a couple of farmers and debated the issue. Lisa Ling was a guest and told stories how some animals are kept in pens so small they can't ever turn around or move except to stand up or lie down. They are voting on treating the animals more humanely in California, and it is already being done in Europe. Farmers would have until 2015 to comply, and the change is expected to spread across the nation. So, it wasn't what was expected, but was somewhat interesting, and I guess I learned a few things I didn't know. Oprah talked with the audience after the show, and someone asked her some political questions and about Barack Obama, and she started to comment, but then stopped herself. She said she regretted saying that she would not have any of the candidates on her show until after the election, but she was going to keep her word and not talk about it until after Nov. 4. She handed a bracelet she had been wearing to a woman who was celebrating her birthday, and thanked us all for coming, and she hoped we enjoyed the show. Afterwards we went to the Oprah store across the street and picked up some souvineirs. I don't have any photos, as cameras and cell phones were not allowed in the studio. But it was a fun trip, we did some sightseeing in Chicago and some shopping and visited the American Girls store, and we had a nice hotel room. We saw a broadway show, Dirty Dancing. It was a fun and enjoyable last minute trip!

Also in October we were invited to a surprise birthday party for our neighbor Mr. Lee Mick who was turning 90 on Nov. 4. I wasn't sure it was a good idea to "surprise" a 90 year old, but he really had no idea he was walking into a birthday party and was truly surprised, and grateful and happy to see all of his family and friends. He is a wonderful neighbor and friend, and has lots of stories and experiences to tell us about. He and his wife Lois have a gnome trail in the woods, and allowed us to copy their idea with our own gnome trail which connects with theirs at one point. We all get a lot of enjoyment walking or driving our golf carts through the woods.