Author: James Dad

  • James Receives Dale Preussner Scholarship

    Earlier in the week there was an honor awards event at Annapolis but they did not allow parents, instead they broadcasted the event on Facebook. This time we were able to attend an award ceremony since only two kids were receiving them. The award is the first Dale Preussner Scholarship and it was awarded to a boy and girl and was in the amount of $1,000 to be put towards his continuing education (which looks like Wayne County Community College).

    James actually knew Dale Preussner and when he passed on attended the funeral to pay his respects. James said he was one of his favorites at Annapolis so it was especially nice to receive this scholarship for James. (more…)

  • Annapolis Seniors Parade 2021

    The whole family worked on this parade. Dad took the day off so he could help Mom with the cleaning of the car, then the decorating begins and the car turned out better than we imagined. James drove in the parade but because he only has a drivers permit it meant that Dad had to accompany him on the trip.

    The parade began at Mayfair where the cars lined up in the big parking lot adjacent to the board. The parade then went down Annapolis street where it turned into the old St. Albert parking lot and then went back down Annapolis to the Mayfair. It was a great time.

    James enjoyed it very much and especially because he got to drive in it. It was kind of strange telling him to ignore stop signs and such as he was still learning how to drive (he has over 50 hours so he has met the state requirement, the testing facility he wants to go to (Apollo) has not opened since the pandemic so we hope that business survived. (more…)

  • Easter 2020

    Easter weather this year was very mild despite the fact that Easter was a little early this year. The duck family made their annual visit, this time under the watchful eye of “turtle” (yes, we have a cat named turtle). The pandemic is still going on and we are pretty much not allowed much socializing in our home despite that we have all begun our vaccinations.

    This year we really enjoyed the bunny blow molds in the window, I think we had them outside last year and we really do not have enough to make an effective outdoor display (and we don’t want to since we go all out for Christmas and Halloween).

    Easter was great this year, but this pandemic stuff is getting old pretty fast now.
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  • VIP Camp at the National Guard

    VIP camp came into play this day for the first time in a long time due to the pandemic. The staff was working a booth at the National Guard in Taylor MI. It was called “Meet The National Guard” and was open to the public. Military vehicles were on display and for the first time we were able to try out the Halloween Benefit Books we made up before the Pandemic began. Later a military helicopter made its appearance and landed in the parking lot.

    James helped work the VIP camp booth as his parents dropped him off and picked him up. He has his learners permit but is unable to take his test since Apollo driving school has not opened up since the pandemic closed everything down. (more…)

  • A Trip to Petoskey Michigan

    Dad had businessup north at Vanderbilt MI and took the opportunity to visit a friend and drop of some St. Albert aprons and such that he had picked up when St. Alberts was closing (they had a garage sale). Dad’s friend Jim M gave Dad a little tour of the coastline park which had its own clock tower sort of similar to back to the future, except there was not a court house attached to it. The weather was pretty brutal and the roads were not exactly in the best shape since it was the heart of the winter season when Dad made the trip.

    Anyhow it had been a while since Dad was anywhere except work and it was nice to see a different city as the pandemic is really putting a hit on travel in Michigan. (more…)

  • Christmas 2020

    Christmas finally arrived and once again Santa delivered. Lots of thanks to all the friends and family who sent us cards and gifts this year. Lots of digital gifts too as most of the day after Christmas was spent hooking up printers, digital frames, ear pods, and many other items that required “work” to get them going. James got a chance to talk to both Aunt Criss and Grandma on Christmas eve which was about all the socializing we were allowed to do this year due to the pandemic.
    After the gift opening we enjoyed binge watching the “God is not Dead” series of movies which were very good and inspiring especially during Christmas.

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  • Dads Birthday

    Dad celebrated his birthday with his family and enjoyed many gifts and great eats as well. As usual Dad got his traditional “Boneyard” meal of ribs, chicken, and salad. Dads cake was unique in that it had a Halloween design but was just as delicious (if not more) than other cakes. Lots of gifts for Dad including an animated “cocoon” victim for the 2021 Halloween season. The party was fun and a great time was had by all, especially Dad.This year was also a little more fun because Dad took a vacation day as he had to “use them or lose them” this year since the family did not take a real vacation due to the pandemic.

  • Christmas 2020 Season Begins

    We got a very good start on the Christmas decorating partly due to the horrible Thanksgiving Day Lions loss, but we just about have it finished come Sunday. Once again we went with the snowman theme, that way if we get excessive snow in January and cannot bring in the decorations it does not look so bad since we can claim its just a bunch of snow men. We still have a few odds and ends but for the most part the decorating is done and we already got a couple slow drive by’s from cars going down our street. The forecast calls for snow this week and there really is nothing better than these snowmen decorations when their is snow on the ground so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

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