The Kleiber Family Timeline

Author: James Dad

  • James 4.0 GPA First Semester at WCCC

    James was dropped of for his last day of finals and when we picked him up, he felt he had done very well but due to a power failure at the school (high winds throughout the midwest caused many power failures) he would not know his actual score for several days. When he did get the results we found out he had a perfect 4.0 gpa for the semester.

    James was rewarded with a trip to his favorite restaurant – Bubba’s – on Eureka road just around the block from his school. Mom and Dad had several gifts for him which you can see in the pictures (t shirts, pennants, Christmas bulbs, etc.)

    Later that day James made up 5 Christmas bulbs, one for each A he got that semester and placed them on his Christmas tree for display.

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  • Christmas Decorations Modified

    There have been several changes with our Christmas decorations, some due to high winds, some due to props breaking, and some due to little Hoot swiping them from under our noses. Regardless we have been taking pictures and while the evolution of the decorations is subtle, we though it worthwhile to record just so we could keep up.

    Our antique bicycle decoration broke after one day and we had to return it for credit, which broke our hearts since there were no more available anywhere in Michigan. We ended up getting some spiral trees to fill out the yard which gives it a nice look. Unfortunately all the snow is gone and we are hoping for a White Christmas as our outside display looks so much better with all the snowmen in the snow.

    As far as inside, most of the decorations swiped by Hoot have been found, but she really has it in for signs in our little Christmas village.

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  • Putting Up Christmas Decorations 2021

    After a great meal and watching the Lions lose on Thanksgiving we began putting up the Christmas decorations. This year we had to do things differently due to “Hoot” getting into everything and we certainly did not want her to get hurt. We tried to make it so she could not get into the trees by putting items around it but it did not work, she still got into everything.

    We use snowmen outside because they look great if it snows, and sure enough we got snow on Saturday during the Michigan Ohio State game.

    A big surprise for us came Saturday as the Michigan Wolverines beat the Buckeyes soundly in a game that they were favored to lose. Michigan did not have any plays for a loss and did not run a third down play the whole second half. It was a very entertaining game but Michigan was clearly the better team on this day 42-27.

    We are off to a good start for Christmas this year!

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  • Thanksgiving 2021

    Despite another trying year with covid we certainly had much to give thanks for. Our Thanksgiving was a complete feast and the deviled eggs were great. We did the turkey a little different, getting a smoked turkey without legs and buying 4 drumsticks separately for a very tasty turkey dinner with all the fixings.

    Lions lost again so we began putting up Christmas decorations a day early. Currently the Lions have not won a game (they did manage to tie Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh) and many people including myself thought that a home game against the Bears would be their best chance but once again they lost on a last second field goal.
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  • After Halloween Sale 2021

    After Halloween is a holiday in our family. This year we kept saying we really did not need anything, but we went out anyway and could not resist the 50-80 percent of sales that were going on. We hit Halloween City first, then Spirit Halloween, and finally Jo Annes, Michaels, and Walmart.

    This year was certainly different as there was many empty shelves in many of the stores as they were having a hard time getting inventory in. Because of this we did not expect much to be left after Halloween but we got lucky because we shopped in a city outside of the suburbs where the population was a little light.

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  • Trick or Treat 2021

    Great weather for this years trick or treat, it was overcast all day but it never really rained until about 8pm which is the official trick or treat end time. This year we put out a couple animated figures since it was not windy either. The skeleton prop Grim went over very well with some kids staying on the porch to listen to its clever sayings.

    James, Dad, and Mom rotated duties handing out candy and we had a ton of kids show up. Everyone had fun, lots of great costumes were worn, and we are looking forward to next years trick or treat as we figure nature owes us a couple good weather days in a row.
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  • Halloween Videos 2021

    Halloween 2021 Movies

  • Introducing “Hoot” 2021

    We actually got Hoot the kitten the day before, but because we had live event tickets the store said that they would hold on to Hoot for a day and we could pick her up in the morning. Also Hoot had just had her tubes tied and was taking medicine for pain so it made lots of sense not to move her into a new environment.

    James was in College so Mom and Dad picked up Hoot and brought her to her forever home and she is fitting in just fine. She is very playful and gets along very well with our other two cats, Thelma and Carmine.

    We were all shocked when our cat Turtle Little Bit passed on a few months back, and she will always be remembered with love by her family.
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  • Concert At Magic Bag in Ferndale 2021

    Our first family concert since the pandemic was at the Magic Bag in Ferndale where we saw two great Blues/Rock bands live. The first band was GA-20 which is a band from Boston and was simply awesome. The second was J.D. Simo who had a definite Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robin Trower style guitar.

    After the concert, Mary and James got a chance to meet the band members, buy CD’s and T-shirts (which they autographed), and get their pictures taken with the band members. They were all great and a great time was held by all.

    I should mention that this was the first time we had to actually provide proof of vaccination for anything.

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  • 2021 Halloween Party

    Since we had the pandemic last year, it had been two years since we had any guests at our house (outside of plumbers and roofers) but that came to an end October 9th as our 11th Halloween party took place.

    James had college classes this day so he did not show up till 4:30 from Wayne County Community College, but once their he became the “balloon guy” filling up helium balloons for all the kids.
    Once again, the most popular item was the magic mirror (this was our third time using it) and guests got to take home a souvenir picture of themselves.

    Since many of the guests were St. Albert Alumni, we also had St. Albert pics and the new book available in the garage for pickup.

    A great time was had by all and it appears we will be having at least one more Halloween party next year.
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