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Brick Repair On Porch and Chimney
While the sod was being put in on Monday we received a call from the brick people saying they wanted to come by Tuesday to do the repairs on the porch and chimney. Once again we agreed but logistically it was difficult for several reasons. First, we told them about the new sod and how they have to be very careful not to walk on it. Second, Mom has a dentist appointment so Dad had to make arrangements to stay home from work since James is still not quite 100 percent from the wisdom teeth extraction on Friday, and third, we had a guy coming by to pick up a table he bought at our recent garage sale. The brick people said it would be no problem and were willing to move cars and trucks around to accommodate our busy schedule this day.
As it turned out everything went fine and we were able to get the porch and chimney repaired and up to snuff. We took our first picture of the sod with the porch repaired in the afternoon and it is shown in the gallery by clicking the link below.
New Sod Added To Front Lawn
Sunday night we received a call from the sod people saying they available to put the sod in the front lawn tomorrow if we wanted. Even though James was still not one hundred percent from his wisdom teeth being pulled on Friday, we agreed to have this done on Monday. The sod workers (and many other outside repair companies) were way behind due to the rain and we had been on a waiting list to have this done for about a month so we were glad to finally have it happen.
The sod when installed was a little longer than what we expected, this was due to the sod farms being unable to mow the sod because of all the rain. Hopefully the rainy weather will continue a little longer as it will help the sod take root, otherwise we have to water it 3 times a day.
James Wisdom Teeth Removed
The family has been waiting for this day for a few months as James scheduled his wisdom teeth removal the day after the last day of school. James had perfect attendance for the year and did not want to jeopardize it which is why he waited. However with all the snow days that happened we were a little concerned that there may be a makeup day which would mean James would lose his perfect attendance on the last day, fortunately this did not happen.
James reported to the Dentist at 7 am, was prepped till 7:30 am, and was out of the office and on his way home by 8:20 am. The doctors gave us extra gauze for the bleeding and told us to use “tea” packets as gauze if the bleeding continues. We did try the tea packets (removing the string from the little bags) and they seemed to work pretty well so it was a good suggestion to remember.
The picture shown here is of James teeth before the operation and you can clearly see the wisdom teeth coming in on an angle.
James Graduates Tenth Grade
James made the honor roll and graduated tenth grade (his sophomore year) at Annapolis in style. He also did something he never did before – Perfect Attendance. James attendance has always been good but there were always a sick day here or a doctors appointment here or there that would mess it up. This year we paid special attendance scheduling appointments during days off at school and it paid off.
James will start back up at Annapolis in September as a Junior. Its amazing how fast the time passes as it seems just the other day he was at Annapolis orientation. Now he is halfway through High School and looking forward to driving classes in the fall.
Town Peddler Flea Market 2019
Well the weather stopped raining just long enough for the Town Peddler Flea Market to happen on a perfect June Saturday. Attendance seemed down a little probably due to the weather this spring which has been a constant rainfall for most of May and early June.
Lots of bird houses were out there this year, in fact the bird houses could now be considered parts of a bird city with bird houses shaped as fire dept, homes, etc. Lots of bar signs as well. James enjoyed the large selection of books that were available for a quarter each.
We try to attend this each year as we have fond memories of when we were sellers here for a couple years. Those pictures are somewhere on this site.
Annapolis Track Award Ceremony
James and his family went to the Annapolis Track Award Ceremony where the track team received awards, letters, and such. James got his letter last year so this year he received a chevron for his participation. The track ceremony was actually held at the O.W. Best cafeteria which made it a little closer to home for us.
After the ceremony there was a pizza dinner for all, along with cookies, cake, and drinks. A great time for all and a very special moment for James.
It was a well deserved moment for the whole track team who really worked through some awful weather and construction which made even getting to some of the track events challenging.
Track Season 2019
The Annapolis track season ended and James had a great time participating both as a shot putter and also as a discus thrower. This year was a little more difficult logistically due to the flooding, raining, and probably most important, construction on Annapolis which made visiting some of these events nearly impossible and postponed several track meets.
Despite the logistical issues it was a fine season and James had a great time participating in his second (sophomore) season of track at Annapolis High School.
Mothers Day 2019
Mothers day started off the same way as others, with a picture of James and his Mom in front of the house. We picked up some flowers at Kroger on the way to the cemetery, the weather fighting back rain constantly throughout the day made for a windy day with little annoying drops of water from time to time. However we did manage to get the flowers out. We did take pics of all the graves with flowers so mission accomplished despite the poor weather.
Next was the antique store in Flint, which had added an airplane with skeletons to their display, and only at a cost of 2,500 you too can have a crashed airplane in your living room.
Next stop was a visit to Grandma’s as today was James visits Grandma day. After dropping James off, Mom went to a couple more antique stores before we finally stopped in for Mothers Day dinner.
A great Mothers day despite the weather.
Magic Flea Market 2019
Mom was a little sick this day so James and his Dad had to handle the 2019 Magic Flea Market in Colon Michigan, the Magic Capital of the World. We did not have any magic to sell so Jame sold some of the Halloween freebies he gives you at his Halloween party and did pretty alright.
The flea market began at 9am, although setup was from 8am till 9am. At noon their is an auction and each table auctions one thing off. After the auction everyone went to Abbotts where they were having a 10% off everything sale.
There was lots of great stuff this year, but not much Halloween (except for James table). We saw a mutilated parasol, A Duck Bucket, a Find The Lady effect, and even a light and heavy chest among the hundreds if not thousands of used magic be sold here today.
Michigan Memorial Maps and Photos 2019
Today we took a day off from work and went to Michigan Memorial to finalize Pegs grave marker. Shown on the left is a preview of what to expect, it should be finished in 8 weeks and we are hoping everyone can get together around labor day for a little reunion.
People may have noticed that part of the wall near where Peg was buried is being removed, this is to make room for a stations of the cross monument where all the stations will be honored. It should be completed in 5 years so there will still be a landmark to find these graves for us.
We did travel to the 3 grave sites that we are most familiar with and had Michigan Memorial create maps on how to get to these areas. Each is identified by a block number which makes it easy to find the location on the main map (included with each block pdf). two secondary maps are also included in the pdf which show the exact location of the graves in the block. Please note if you see green in the one map that means that plots are available to buy. We will do these in order.
Block 6 We Call The Kleiber Plots – This has James Great Grandma Kleiber, James Great Grandma Kleiber, and James Great Uncle Raymond Kleiber who died in WW2 and was the first in the family buried at Michigan Memorial Cemetery. This is located near the first entrance to the cemetery from Huron River Drive, not the main entrance. When you come in through the entrance look for a bench on the right, the graves are about ten yards to the right (north) of that bench. You can find maps to block 6 in the link below –
also there are pictures in the gallery below to help.
Block 24 We Call The Graf Plots – This is the largest block of relatives with 12 plots owned by the family and 9 currently used. James Grandma and Grandpa Kleiber, Great Uncle Joe, Great Aunt Louise and her Husband Harry, Great Grandmother Graf, Great Grandfather Graf, Cousin Mark, and most recently Aunt Peg. To find this simply stay right when you enter the main entrance until you see the long brick wall (or crucifix island). FYI, the wall is being turned into a Stations of the Cross monument and should be complete in 5 years. You can find maps to block 24 in the link below –
Block 29 We Call The Kelly Plot – This is where Natalies husband and child lay in rest. If you are going there from “the wall” veer to the left at the fork and go straight till you see a hill on the right. A landmark is a small building with a street next to it which can be seen in the gallery below. You can find maps to block 29 in the link below –
This Kelly grave was the hardest of the three to find for us so I used my phone to get gps coordinates for the grave, they are below. (we will try it out for accuracy next visit which should be Moms Day, weather permitting)
Latitude (LAT): 42.117504
N 42°7’3.01368″
Longitude (LONG): -83.349019
W 83°20’56.46804″
also there are pictures in the gallery below to help.
