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Finally, The Official End Of Winter 2014
The winter of 2014 was record setting not only for snow fall but also for the extreme cold brought about by the new buzz word – Polar Vortex. This has to be as close to living inside a freezer as possible. From a driving perspective we have seen every type of driving hazard (white out, snow, sleet, freezing rain, etc) sometimes on the same day, we have gone weeks without dipping above freezing (temperature in the 30’s is a heat wave) and for the first time in my life I noticed frost on the inside windows one extremely cold day in January.
I think everyone is disappointed with the intensity of this winter and trying to make the best of it. Warm days are ahead and I don’t think you will hear any complaints from the people of Michigan once the hot weather hits.
I am posting these pictures so that I never complain about the heat or humidity during the summer months again.
Thank You For The Get Well Basket 2014
James wanted to thank everyone who got him the fruit basket when he caught cold this winter.
Hoover Elementary Movie Night 2014
This had to be one of the coldest days of the year, in fact, school was cancelled for the next day. But Dad had promised James we would attend the Hoover Elementary Movie Night and watch “Monsters University”, the prequel to the Monsters Inc movie that James loved as a child.
The event had an average attendance so I am sure this was affected by the weather. However once inside it was warm and the popcorn was fresh. The screen was an inflatable screen on the stage which I had never seen before. The movie went over very well and James enjoyed the evening.
We hope to attend the next showing at Hoover, but this weather has got to break first. Going out and starting the car to go home the temperature was about -10 and we did not feel warm air until we pulled up in our drive at home.
Kittyville 2014
James got a surprised this Christmas when he received a new pet from the Humane Society. These kittens were rescue kittens and have really become a part of the household (especially with the cold winter we are having where everybody is inside most of the day).
Currently these kittens are on a kitty chow diet and I don’t know what they put in that stuff but the kitty litter used in the house has gone up a lot more than you would expect. We also keep the kittens out of the basement because we don’t want them messing around with some of the nooks and crannies you can find in a basement (or with the decorations stored down there). Once it warms up we should be able to put the Holiday decorations in the garage and the kittens will be much bigger and not able to crawl into small places.
All in all, everyone is enjoying the new additions and watching them grow.
Dinosaur World Kentucky 2014
After Granpa Landis funeral we had a long drive back to Michigan, but we felt James needed an emotional break so we took him to one of his favorite places on earth, Dinosaur World in Kentucky.
James was very unselfish this trip and spent his money buying souvenirs for his classmates back in Michigan. The gift shop specializes in educational material for kids, including dinosaur books, models, toys, fossils, games, postcards, and dinosaur movies. All these things help children learn about the prehistoric past that we all share. Dinosaurs must be the most fascinating animals that ever walked the earth and you can certainly understand why kids gravitate to them so. James made sure each of his classmates got at least one souvenir from Dinosaur World.
All things considered James held up pretty well, but he was much more quiet with his enthusiasm on this visit than past ones, and who could blame him.
Nashville by Air 2014
This year our trip to Nashville was not as joyous as ones in the past had been. Mom had to fly out to Nashville under difficult circumstances – Grandpa Landis had passed away.
Mom took these pictures on the flight down where she met Uncle Bill to help with the funeral arrangements. James, Grandma, and Dad drove down one day later in what could best be described as an incredibly wet drive with nothing but rain from Cincy to Nashville.
The funeral service was very nice with military honors and the weather remained calm long enough as well. On the drive home the rain began again, but it was nothing compared to what we went through the night before.
Remembering Howard Landis 1928 – 2014
Howard Landis is the father to Bill and Mary, Husband to Judith, and Grandfather to James.
Howard spent several years in the military (Navy) during the Korean War and was an honorably discharged Veteran. Howard was very good mechanically and used to repair televisions for a living. He was a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and worked for RCA Victor in sales for over 25 years.
He also enjoyed working with cars and likes the Detroit auto industry, unlike certain politicians. Mom said he was thrilled to hear she had married someone from Detroit (even though the person she married knew nothing about cars).
He loved the Three Stooges and Felix the Cat was his favorite cartoon. He loved seafood and his favorite vacation spot was Sarasota Florida. He exercised his choice to vote every election, even while living at West Meade.
Howard past away peacefully at West Meade (which is a nursing home in Tennessee).
New Years 2014
James brought in the New Year several different ways this year. First he had a countdown on the living room wall during the Holiday season. Next, he had a countdown on his Ipad. Simultaneously he had the countdown on the television going along with his Ipad countdown. Finally, he had fireworks saved from the 4th of July that we lit in the back yard.
We stayed up late listening the the music and the bands on the television station while watching the firework show outside. James got to bed around 1am and slept well into the Rose Bowl parade the next day. Watching the Rosebowl game we were glad to see a team from Michigan (MSU Spartans) win the game over Stanford with their great defense.
All in all, a great start to 2014
Christmas 2013
This was a different but wonderful holiday season for us. Everything from hospital visits to humane society adoptions went on this year. During Christmas Day James kept busy playing with his gifts while Mom and Dad watched one of her gifts, the first season of “Nashville”. Dad pointed out that one of the stars (the character called Juliet Barnes) was in one of his favorite sports movies, “Remember the Titans” as a child.
Couple notes of interest. James had time (and enough snow) to build a pretty decent pirate snowman. The weather has been wonderful for Christmas, but I hope the snow stops soon as it is starting to pile up. Its very very cold as well. Looks like this might be a rough winter but who knows. We are only a week or so into the winter season.
Thanks to all the family for the gifts, cards, candy, kind thoughts, and well wishes. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Christmas Kittens 2013
The big gift this year was two kittens coming into the Kleiber family. They arrived on Christmas Eve and in the pictures you can see the traveling box that we brought them home in. They were born on Oct 26 of this year (Halloween time) and the Humane Society people named them Charm and Luna. Mary and James renamed them Karmin (James pick for Charm) and Thelma (Mom’s pick for Luna).
We left most of the indoor Christmas lights off because the new kittens had a tendency to climb in the tree and we did not want them to get a shock. Both kittens were spaded but one (Karmin) kept scratching and licking her stitches so the vet prescribe one of those cones to stop her. Problem was the kitten was too small for even their smallest cone so they made one out of a paper plate.
Thanks to all the family for the gifts, cards, candy, kind thoughts, and well wishes.
