New Great Nephew and Tiger Baseball

Whew! I finally got caught up with reading everyone's blogs from the past couple of weeks. I hope I'll be able to STAY caught up, but with our crazy-busy lives, one just never knows.

We've had a lot going on lately it seems. A couple of weekends ago, we attended a family engagement party at a fancy-schmancy banquet facility on a golf course (we had a blast!). It was good to see, and hang out with, some of  my hubby's family who we rarely get to see. The next night, we attended a wedding and reception for a good friend of my husband's that he's known since 2nd grade. Tom (hubby) was a groomsman, and his youngest brother was the best man. One of my nephews played music during the wedding on his guitar, and my youngest sister-in-law and I got to carry up the Holy Communion elements during the wedding service. A good majority of my hubby's family attended, and at the reception hall, we took up 5 or 6 tables...chairs on both sides! There was good food and lots of dancing. Fun, fun, fun!

Tom & I at his friend, John's, wedding.

Last Friday, Tom & I decided we needed a night out and some alone time (which is tough to get nowadays with our daughter, her fiancee' and grandson living with us), so he took me out to dinner at a very reasonably-priced restaurant about 20 minutes from home that we've always wanted to visit, then we spent the night at a hotel down the street from it. This place was absolutely adorable, and very reasonably priced too. The interior furniture was all Amish--beautiful light-colored pine dressers, nightstands and a headboard. (I would have loved to have that furniture in OUR bedroom here at home!) The hotel was also on a lake and had a 120' long, covered, log deck/patio running along the back of it with a small swimming area, a paddle boat, feed for the duckies on the lake, a nice dock with patio furniture, etc. Several of the rooms had doors that opened onto the patio/lake. Ours didn't, but all guests are welcome to hang out on the patio, and so we did. We fed the duckies and had a great night.

The next day was cold and rainy, so once we got home, we slept a lot. Then, in the evening, we got together at a friend's house down the street with our Rifle River family. The "gang" usually tries to get together every couple of weeks just to hang out, share a few drinks, and LOTS of laughs. LOL We watched the Detroit Tigers play baseball on a 60" TV (we need to get one of those giant things!!!) and were happy that they won the game. They've continued to play well and, who knows? We might be playing in the World Series starting next week! We sure hope so! Go, Tigers!

On Monday of this week, Tom's nephew and niece-in-law had their first baby, a boy they named Anthony Michael. Tom & I went to see him, and his parents, Monday night at the hospital. We got to hold him and he was just SO cute! Unfortunately, two days later, he had to be transported to the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor because he has 2, possibly 3, very major medical problems. It truly broke our hearts to hear this. He will probably need heart surgery and who knows what else, and even then, it isn't known yet if he will be OK. If all of you could PLEASE keep baby Anthony in your prayers, it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hubby, Tom, holding newly-born baby Anthony on Monday evening.

 This upcoming Saturday Tom & I plan to leave early in the morning and drive 3 hours to East Tawas on the Lake Huron coast. A few of our river family friends will be camping up there all weekend. We plan to meet up with them Saturday morning and spend the day traveling around the area...exploring. Then we'll leave to come home  Saturday night, probably around 8 p.m. My camera isn't all that great, but I'll bring it with me and try to get some pics. We plan to go inside the  Tawas Point lighthouse (which is only open to the public a few times each year) which, as I understand it, gives beautiful panoramic views of Lake Huron and the city of Tawas. We also plan to visit two natural springs along the Ausable River (the 2 springs are almost next to each other), and possibly Lumberman's Monument, which is a park with a huge statue of 3 or 4 loggers as a tribute to the early logging industry down the Ausable River in Michigan. Now, let me mention, that at both the Spring, and the Monument, the best way to see all the attractions is to walk down to the river itself. HOWEVER, each trip is almost 300 stairs ONE WAY. Tom & I aren't the most physically fit people, so if we try this, we might have to take some breaks coming BACK UP the stairs. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the landscapes; I'm NOT looking forward to climbing all those stairs back to the parking lot. We'll see how that goes. Toward dinnertime, the 6 of us plan to go to a really nice restaurant along the Ausable River in the town of Oscoda. I grew up in Oscoda for some years as a kid, and I'm always just SO tickled to get back up there and say, "Hello" to my old stomping grounds. It should be a good time.

On the homefront: Angela quit the Vet Tech job at that nasty place with all the hateful people. Two days later, she was hired in at one of the best, most quality-oriented vet hospitals in the area, and she has been happy as a lark every since. It has taken her 3 years, and several jobs, to find an awesome place to work where the employees care about QUALITY, not just quantity. The owners and managers at this new place respect and care for all the employees, and they, in turn, respect management and each other. Most of the employees have been there for 10 - 20 years, so you know it's a nice place to work. Ang can get health insurance after 90 days, a scrub allowance of $100 per year, sick days, vacation time, vet discounts for all our pets, and BONUSES at the end of each year. The owners even give a nice employee party at Christmas. FINALLY, she is happy in her vocation, and we see her staying in this place for a long time to come. Equally, the managers and co-workers like Angela too.  :-)   Ang has also found an incredible day care gal to watch Dante while she works. This gal is local, and came recommended by a friend of one of our sister-in-laws. She only watches 3 or so kids, and on different days, so they all get plenty of attention from her. Dante really likes her too!

Jason just moved on from his job of the past 6 months (where the boss was a disrespectful, mean idiot), and is now working for a father and son construction company. Right now, they are building several modular homes in a residential neighborhood--doing all the work from start to finish--so Jason will learn A LOT in his field. So far, he really likes the bosses, and they seem to like him. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this will be an excellent job for him.

Tom's job is...well...slower than molasses. They really haven't had any substantial work to do for probably a month or more. We keep waiting for the hammer to come down saying the owners will be closing the place, and/or moving the operations to their plant in Mexico. He continues to look for a new job, but again, he isn't finding anything in his field except for a few positions out of state. It's frustrating for him!

My job at the church is going just fine. It is a pleasure to work with the friendly, kind-hearted, and well educated theologian of a pastor that we have now. He and his wife/kids live down the road from us. Angela & I have been sharing a car since she's been working, and pastor is always saying, "Do you need me to pick you up on my way in to work tomorrow?" And if I need a ride, he's so happy to give me one. What a sweetheart that man is.

As for Dante, our wonderful grandson, he is 5 months old now and just a bundle of joy. That kid always seems to be smiling and laughing with, and at, us. He cracks us up! He LOVES being outside, and riding in the car to various places. He also likes music and having us dance with him. He's no problem to take places because EVERYTHING is interesting to him, and so he's never bored. He hasn't started crawling yet; is almost turning over on his own; is starting to hold his bottle when he eats; and actually stands up pretty well (when he wants to) with us holding his arms. Oh, and he also loves both our dogs. He just looks at them and starts smiling, even if all they're doing nothing more than sitting on the couch next to him (which is what they do best...SITTING...lol).

That's it for the latest news in our lives. Whew! It's way past my bedtime, so I need to hit the hay. Hope all of you have a wonderful remainder of the week! Hugs!