Happy Thanksgiving!

We shared our first Thanksgiving with Alyssa today. Everyone ate a lot and we watched Home Alone together and passed the baby around. Max and Aunt Shell went into Jarrett's room to find his holiday decorations and the computer was on. Shell said Happy Thanksgiving, Dad when she shut it down. Mikey made sausage and cranberry stuffing and it was a bigger hit than his oyster stuffing from last year. The oyster stuffing was ok but it made 5 tons of the stuff! He also made an apple pie. We taught Max to play Uno, a great family tradition. He also ran around singing Aunt Shell's least favorite song. My Dad used to sing Lynrd Skynrd's That Smell to her...with a twist. Here is Dad's version..OOh that smell, Smells like Michelle! OOh that smell, can't you smell Michelle! When Max was a little younger and had a dirty diaper, we would sing smells like Maxwell. Well, he sings smells like Aunt Shell, which she is so thrilled about. Off to bed, Mikey wants to go shopping in the morning 'cause he's crazy.

Alyssa

Baby Girl

Dear Dad,

I've been thinking about you alot as Kimmy's due date approached, mostly because you'll never see this baby, just like you didn't get to see Max. Your first granddaughter was born yesterday. Mom says she looks just like Matt. In the midst of my errand running yesterday (no school for the boys, so I had to run home from work ASAP when Mom called) I stopped to visit you. I showed you the picture they texted me. I told you how much we miss you, especially now. We love Mark, but it hurts to know that you won't see Alyssa. I told you to keep an eye on Thrower, we know he's there with you. Mostly, I just cried about it all. Happy about the baby. Sad about Thrower. Missing you being Pop-Pop for the grandkids. This morning, Jarrett's computer was on. I just smiled and said Hi Dad as I shut it down. Mom says maybe we'll give to Alyssa so you can say Hi to her, too. Love you. Miss you.

Are We Done Yet? No More Death This Year!!

I am so ready for this year to be over!! So much death and bad news this year. In our family alone 2 cousins and 1 uncle died this year. 2 good friends each lost their mother. Friday, a good friend of my brother Matt, Matt Thrower (we just called him Thrower to avoid confusion) died. No one is sure what happened. Autopsy being performed to determine what happened. I've heard so many stories, it's clear that no one is sure. It's so sad. He was so young (20) and he has a 2 year old daughter (Abbi). I just don't have the words. It's too much. We'll miss you, Thrower.

Trick or Treat

Those who have known me for a while will love this!! How interesting is it that my younger son managed to unknowingly frighten other small children on Halloween with his costume? There was a little girl dressed as Dorothy walking aroung with her mom, she was probably about 3, that was completely afraid of my mini Gene Simmons. They were right behind us trick or treating and if she saw us leaving a house she was approaching, she would hide behind her mom until we passed. All the adults we saw loved his costume and a couple people asked if they could take his picture. They had fun, that's the most important part.