The kitties are very familiar with Christmas day and we believe they now anticipate it when the decorations go up. Christmas is the day they get new toys plus catnip on paper plates. In addition to the new toys (which come in stockings from the pet store), the kitties also got 4 new Christmas based scratch pad houses which James put together in the back room as a sort of city of kitty houses.

The kitties also got special food which they enjoyed and we even shared a little ice cream with them, which of course they enjoyed. It was a wonderful time for the kitties this Dec 25th and at the end of the day the kitties repaid us by snuggling up to us and helping to keep us warm this December day.
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Dad celebrated his birthday today with a very special cake – a Lions cake – which a few years ago would have been unthinkable but the Lions have been playing great football this year despite having a large amount of injuries on their defensive side of the football. So Dad was very happy to see the Lions cake and hopefully the Lions can continue to win despite the injuries.

The ice cream was Mackinaw Fudge because Mackinaw is one of Dad’s favorite places to visit in the summer.

Dad got alot of great gifts this year, many of which were Halloween animatronics which made the day interesting since his birthday is so close to Christmas.
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We met up with our VIP camp friends at Fantasyland and had a very fun time. We have gone here the last several years and it never fails to amaze or entertain. The most popular exhibit is (as you may have guessed) is the Santa photo where kids and adults get their picture taken with Santa. James showed Santa his report card and asked for a scholarship to college and gift cards to Bubba’s and Texas Roadhouse, his favorite restaurant.

We also visited the train display upstairs which was founded by Dad’s old baseball coach, Mr Nick. They have a few pics of Mr. Nick that I took a picture of. Anyone who went to St Alberts would know who Mr Nick is.
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We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We ordered the turkey precooked from Kroger and that took some of the pressure off Mom Thanksgiving morning. We had turkey, stuffing, potatoes, deviled eggs, bean, cranberries, and a very good squash item that tasted wonderful and included bacon. We all settled in to eat and watch the Lions game and they finally won a game on Thanksgiving for the first time in 8 years.

After the Lions game the focus was on swapping out the Thanksgiving decorations (including the last of our blow molds, the light up turkey) and began the transformation from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Later that weekend we got the biggest surprise of all when Michigan beat a 3 touchdown favorite Ohio State team at Ohio State.

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The weather was perfect for Halloween Trick or Treaters this year. As usual, we had at least 100 kids show up for their treats. James handed out most of the candy with Mom giving him breaks during the evening. We saw a lot of creativity in the costumes this year as many people decided to make their own which made it a lot of fun.

After all the trick and treating was done, we settled in and watched monster movies for the remainder of the night. Dad had the next day off to tear everything down so we could stay up a little later than normal.

Once everything was down, our front lawn was transformed into the political landscape of the day.

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Everyone had a wonderful time at this years Halloween party, some felt it was the best ever. Lots of food as many of the guests brought food in addition to what we had (thank you very much). Once again the weather was great and we were able to have the back yard (garage) open.

What really makes this party fun is seeing folks I have not seen in decades and once again this year it happened again as I met up with a couple friends I had not seen in ages.

This year we made some major changes to the displays, the back room became a skeleton room, the living room became a carnival (or carnevil if you prefer), and the kitchen became a Beetlejuice display since the new Beetlejuice movie had just came out earlier in September.

A great time, not many pics of the party folks this year as we were very busy with the guests, although many of the attendees did have their pics taken by the magic mirror.
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James celebrated his 21st birthday in many ways. First he surprised Mom and Dad with gifts in the morning he had his annual physical and blood draw in the morning, then he went to class, and finally after class he went to his favorite restaurant, Bubba’s 33. At the restaurant James met his friend Nick and his Mom who joined us to help celebrate the event. James surprised Mom and Dad by paying for the meal

After Bubba’s 33 we headed home where James had a surprise as one of his gifts was a new bed set including mattress, sheets, and covers.

James then opened gifts in the living room from Mom and Dad and after the gifts were opened we all enjoyed some cake and ice cream.

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The Tigers are in a wildcard race, so we had that to cheer for when we went with Nick and his family. It was Nicks birthday which made the event that much more festive.

The pregame activities were great. Everyone got a free shirt to start. Then James got a foul ball during batting practice, and James was on Jumbo screen twice this game, a record for him. This was also Latin America night and their were some awesome dances and a tribute to all the Latin players and their contribution to baseball and the Tigers. Alex Aveilia through out the first pitch.

Unfortunately the Tigers ran into some strong pitching and did not score until the 9th inning (2 runs), but unfortunately Baltimore scored 4 runs in the first 8 innings to win the game 4-2.

Beautiful night in downtown Detroit, and all is not lost as the Twins were losing big time when we left the park. Big thanks to Nick and his family for inviting us.

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Happy Birthday Mom

This was an interesting Birthday for Mary because we had reserved tickets to the Beetlejuice movie on her birthday and because of this we could not have any flowers delivered on her birthday, so they were sent one day ahead which is actually our wedding anniversary so it all worked out.

The highlight of the gifts was one of those unknown presents that James had bought during our visit to Sea Shell City on the way to Mackinaw. No one knew what was in the package and that made it kind of fun for everyone.

Again, Happy Birthday Mary

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