Merry Christmas 2008

We celebrated Christmas twice this year – as usual. Our first celebration was the weekend before Christmas, Dec 20-21. Due to weather-related flight delays the party didn’t begin until Saturday afternoon when Luke got back from Dan’s and Mary & Kurt & Cal & kids arrived from Appleton. Late afternoon we were joined by Joan and also by niece, Kelli Fain Kane from Madison. We had our Christmas dinner on Saturday evening followed by games and visiting. For Dale, Cal, (Tom), Mary & Luke the Christmas gathering must include multiple games of whist. The rest of us join in if needed or play other games – usually the Marble Game. After our holiday breakfast on Sunday (caramel rolls, bacon, eggs, etc) we went to 11A Mass and then did our gift opening – after the traditional Christmas photo. We loved having Kelli as part of our family for Christmas and the unanimous opinion was that her personality made her the perfect fill-in for Tom. But if truth be told we’d like to have her AND Tom next year! Anyway, the beautiful additional “daughter” you see in our Family Christmas Photo – is Kelli. In the photo l-r are Holly, Kurt, Mary, Luke, Diane, Joan in front of Dale, and then Caleb in front of Cal in front of Kelli.

Kelli also sat in for Tom for the opening of the Monson Cookbook gift; with Camille's help I finally got a copy of the book made for each of my kids & their families.

Kelli and Cal & Family left Sunday evening for another few days of school or work. On Tuesday the rest of us drove to Cal’s for the evening – our last evening all-together. We took Mary & Kurt to the Appleton Airport the next day (Dec 24th) and waited with them five hours (played whist!) until we were sure they would be getting on the plane. Their flight was cancelled but they did get as far as Kansas City that night after being rerouted and then home on Christmas Day.

On Christmas Day Dale, Luke & Di drove back to Cal & Joan’s and enjoyed their new Wii and also delicious Christmas Dinner by Joan. Next day we spent five hours fixing a puzzle and then everyone but Joan came back to Rapids. The weekend after Christmas was for sledding and snowmobiling – and more whist and eating of course. For Cal & Family it also included the Panzer Christmas.

Luke's visit and 30th Birthday

Luke’s arrival home on Dec 13th was a happy distraction after multiple failure days at our house: blue screen warning on my computer, washing machine quit, and router died. Cousin Dan & his fiancée, Cherish, were already here and went with Dale to meet the flight. Later, friend Brad arrived and for the next several days Luke enjoyed socializing with his best friends. (While home Luke also installed a new wireless router for me and helped me get rid of the blue screen issue – for now anyway. Dale eventually got my washer working but not until after Christmas.)

We also celebrated Luke’s 30th birthday while he was home; he turns 30 Jan 3rd. Since Luke prefers beer to cake we decided to put candles on a case of beer – a 30 pack of course! Luke was home until 3AM on Dec 28th when he & Dale left for the CWA airport.

Holly's 9th Birthday

Holly celebrated her 9th birthday this year. Grandma & Grandpa were not able to attend her offical birthday party in Appleton on Dec 13th so we had our own separate party the evening of Dec 1oth when we were babysitting the kids while Cal & Joan attended the TransSiberian Orchestra Concert in Green Bay.

Luke Flies F-18 to Visit Tom in GA

The first week of December Luke's squadron received an email saying there was a "cross country window open if anyone was interested." Luke was immediately interested and checked into it. He matched the list of approved flights with places he wanted to fly. He was able to reach Tom by phone and so that was his choice. About noon on Friday Dec 5th Luke departed for Robins Air Force Base south of Macon, GA. Luke & Tom had determined in advance that Tom was not going to be able to get on base without Luke (or get close enough to watch Luke fly in) so Tom waited at the Visitor Center. Luke spent the evening with Tom in Dublin and later with Kathleen, Jordan & Mason who arrived about 8P from Ocala, FL.

Saturday morning Luke took Tom & family out to the base. The Robins AFB has a lot of huge transport jets like the C-5 Galaxy and as they all drove on base Jordan & Mason were awestruck by those huge jets and when they saw Luke's little F-18 they thought it looked small. But when they got to actually sit in the F-18 they were impressed. Dale & I have not had this privilege; Luke said that because he was on a USAF base instead of a Navy Base he had extra leeway as the "senior officer." Above photo is of Luke telling Kathleen about his F-18. This flight was extra flying hours for Luke and gave him some significant instrument time, especially on the return flight. He had to be concerned about icing conditions on the return flight and so we talked about the protocol for that situation. It seems the usual F-18 procedure is to fly fast enough to build up enough heat to melt the ice; alternate procedures are to fly at lower or high elevations.

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving Day: Cal & family arrived about noon and we had a lovely, traditional dinner and a very pleasant evening. We played games and Holly fixed my hair – my favorite game. Cal & Joan returned to Appleton in the evening; the grandkids stay the weekend with us.

Black Friday: Grma did some Black Friday shopping in the morning while Grpa fed and entertained the kids. Grpa left for the hunting cabin at noon and after lunch the kids and I went to the library and checked out books and movies; to the toy store to make a wish list for Santa; to McDonald’s to check out the new playground (it is a new building) and to the Dollar store so Holly & Caleb could each pick out one toy. This was all very fun for Grma & the kids; when we got back home Caleb played with his gift (two little footballs – very good choice) and I helped Holly put together her little craft item. Then Caleb fell asleep watching his dinosaur DVD and Holly also fell asleep. Grma watched her Netflix movie “The Sundowners”; good movie and very relaxing. Kids woke up about 7P and we played games/watched TV until 11P.

Saturday: Cal & Joan arrived in time for the Panzer Thanksgiving but it was canceled due to flu & colds in the families. So intead we had turkey leftovers and watched a movie.

Sunday: Dale called while I was making bacon & eggs breakfast for Cal & family; he was just packing up at the hunting cabin to head home. I had him on speaker so we all sang Happy Birthday to him. When we got back from 9:30A Mass at St. Mary’s Dale was home and had already showered. Cal, Dale, Caleb played catch with Caleb’s little footballs in the backyard while I made dinner. Then I made lefse with Holly as lefse turner; she did a wonderful job. Meanwhile Dale & Cal watched the Packers lose. Cal & family left after the Packer game. Diane panicked as she realized Christmas was right around the corner and she hadn't even started getting ready (except for making lefse).

By the end of the WI deer hunt Nov 22-30, Dale and Cal and Travis and Paul had four deer - all does. Dale got 40#s of meat from his doe. They really enjoyed gathering at their new hunting cabin on Pauls' farm north of Menomonie. The first weekend they were joined by Joe and Norman who came from MN and did not hunt. Sounds like they had a good time with lots of card playing when they weren't hunting. Cal was the phtographer so he isnt in the photos.

Cal & Family come to Visit

Cal & family came to visit this past weekend. Holly & Caleb were excited to see Grandpa for the first time in 11 weeks (they saw Grandma the previous weekend when Grandpa was in Minnesota). Right away Holly asked if she could fix my hair; of course I love that game and agreed immediately. We decided to take a photo of the result; Cal says I look like Cindy Lou Who" from Whoville.

Cal set up his computer in my office and was able to get some work done – including using his frequent flyer miles to book his family’s flights for the cruise/wedding next October. We spent the evening playing games and visiting and enjoying a roast beef dinner. We began watching Wizard of Oz; halfway through Caleb talked Cal into going downstairs to play pool. Caleb loves to shoot pool and I predict that it won’t be long before he gives Grandpa serious competition.

It was a very cold weekend but that didn’t stop Caleb from wanting to go outside and play; he just couldn’t talk any of us into going out with him. While watching the Packers/Bears game on Sunday Grandpa suggested that Caleb go outside and run around the perimeter of the house and Grandpa would watch (from inside). Caleb accepted the challenge and later so did Holly. The kids also played outside at St. Vincent’s playground after Mass while we adults sat in the car and visited.

In the afternoon Dale & Cal went to a shooting range to “sight in” their hunting guns; they had to wait in line even though they went during the Packer game. All the Wisconsin hunters are getting ready for the big deer hunt which starts this coming weekend (Nov 22). Cal & Dale will join Paul and Travis on Paul’s property north of Menomonie for the hunt. This farm is where they have hunted together for more than ten years but Paul rents out the farm and so in the past they have set up camp at a different property and driven to the site every day. This year they have remodeled an old granary into a hunting cabin and will enjoy the luxury of being very close to their deer stands and able to come back to the cabin for a hot lunch instead of packing sandwiches.