Maureen and I wish all our “blog readers” a very Happy New Year! We hope this is a year of being positive, open-minded, and forward looking each and every day. And certainly one of good health and enjoying your respective family, your extended families, your neighbors and friends! Remember to smile and laugh … and never to go to bed at nite unhappy! We are all so fortunate! And a special Happy New Year to Cayden, Maddy, Alta, Mather, Maya and Case!!! You make your Papa and Grandma happy each and every day with your smiles, laughter, comments, facial expressions and innocence!
It is the morning of the 24th and it looks like no snow for this Xmas. If I had my wish it would snow only on Xmas Day. Oh well, we are still as excited as ever and looking forward to the next 3 days.
Why 3 days? It begins for us today with a 4:30 children’s Mass at St. Patrick’s Church in Ohio City. This historic and beautiful chuch is where Ashley and Damon were married and thier 3 kids were baptized. After Mass, we are heading over to their home on Fulton for a Xmas Eve Dinner. Joining us will be Mitch, Doreen Maya along with Damon’s Mom. Looks like Damon is planning a great dinner and will be fun seeing the kid’s excitement!
Tomorrow morning early we are heading back to Fulton to watch Alta, Mather and Case (his first Xmas) open presents. We did this last year and the eyes were so huge! Then we head to Avon for Maya’s second Xmas along with breakfast. The afternoon will be quiet and think we are going to clean the house and watch a movie!
Monday we prepare our Xmas dinner and the arrival of Matt, Nicole, Maddy and Cayden. Everyone (Mann’s and Taseff’s) should be here in the 2 pm range for appetizers, opening of the gifts, and then dinner! Should be a wonderful and thankful time!
As you think about this Xmas season please keep in mind again our troops and all armed forces. Also our deceased parents and relatives along with Uncle Bill. Merry and safe Xmas to John and his family, to Jim and his family and to Beth and her family along with Grandma Rita! Wish we were ALL together and we are planning on that to take place in 2012! Love you all … keep smiling, being positive and forward looking!
Happy 4th Birthday to our beautiful Alta! She is so cute and fun loving and she enjoys every day to it’s fullest. We love you and can’t wait to see you later today on this your very special day!
This week we wrapped up our Xmas shopping. I would say it, overall, was very easy and delightful. We have some real surprises this year and look forward to next Monday (the 26st) to share them. Mo even has them all wrapped and did it without boxes this year which, I think, turned out very well!
We received our first snowfall of the season yesterday (the 17th). The forecast was for a trace of snow and we received approximately six inches. It does make it seem more like Xmas but one inch would have been enough. Luckily I had the snow blower ready and it came in handy as the snow was of the wet and heavy variety! I think the only one (other than kids and ski areas) is Maggie who loves to get her nose down in and then shake it. I think most dogs love the cold better than the hot, muggy weather.
This past week I bought a new HD TV (42″ LG) and our first blue-ray disc player (also a LG). Mitch came over yesterday and we got it installed and running. It is a pretty easy process today vs years ago … one new HD cable and basically a plug and play! Thanks for your help Mitch and only cost me a couple of bud lights!
I also got a new 4G phone this past week or so … a Samsung Stratosphere! I really like it and have been enjoying all the apps, particularly at work. There are times in the evening when Mom is on her IPad and I am on my phone … not sure this is a good thing or not! I wanted a phone that was touch but also had the slide out key board for texting, etc. This phone is so easy that I have yet to use the much desired key board. Have I finally come into the 2000+ era??? Think so!
I hope everyone has a safe, joyous and fun-filled Holiday Season. I am so happy that the troops are all home from Iraq and can enjoy, for many, their first Xmas at home in years. But we must also remember there are many more troops still away in places like Afganistan, Germany and so on. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Also I would ask that everyone remember their respective relatives that are no longer on this earth … for me, especially my mom and dad, Maureen’s mom and day, and Maureen’s brother Uncle Bill. We love you all and think of you often! Merry Xmas everyone!
It is a Thursday evening and pulling in the driveway tonite after work I was surprised to see that our Xmas tree was up and the lights on (bulbs, etc to come). Bought a couple of very little trees, with lights, for the front outside area by the front door and those coupled with the tree looks so awesome. It is hard to believe that in 24 days it will be Xmas!!!!
This past weekend we were in Chicago visiting Matt, Nicole, Cayden and Maddy. We had a real blast and kept busy as always when we are there. After watching most of the OSU / Michigan game Cayden and I headed over, in the rain, to watch his dad (Matt) play in their annual turkey bowl. They had eneough guys for 4 teams and it was a great setup. Matt’s team ended up 8-1 which qualified them for the finals which, unfortunately, they were upset. Cayden was a real trooper in the rain and was so proud of his daddy catching the ball and scoring touchdowns!
That evening we headed out to Dirty Nellie’s for dinner and to watch even more football. It is a great pub and is home to many well known area bands. Cayden and Maddy were both able to spend a couple of minutes on the stage while stage hands were setting up for the night’s band later that evening.
Sunday we headed, as usual. to Dunkin Donuts to buy donuts with Maddy picking out two pink donuts with sprinkles. Then, after donuts and coffee, we headed downtown to a beautiful outdoor rink at Millenium Park. The twins did a great job for their very first time skating and Matt, Nicole, and Maureen also showed great skills even though I never saw a jump or spin of any kind. Great job everyone! After skating we met up at a local pub to have breakfast with Grandma Pat and Grandp G. Great to see them and a wonderful breakfast (and bloody mary’s). Then we headed to yet another pub to see the latter half of the Browns / Bengals game and another heart breaking loss. Sunday evening was one of games, IPad, reading books and heading on to bed.
Thanks to Matt, Nicole, Cayden and Maddy for a very nice couple of days and we will see you all on the 26st!
Ashley, Mom and myself have all been fighting colds so hopefully that will soon be over for the year. Ashley, and kids, have been busy putting tree up (check her blog) and looks like they have been having a wonderful time doing that!
Have a safe time over the holiday period and have fun shopping … it is great seeing all the lights and how everyone, for the most part, is smiling and just being more positive. Love you all!
It has been over 3 weeks since I last blogged and that is primarily since it has been relatively quiet here in our Westlake home. I think it being quiet is good!
We have seen quite a bit of Alta, Mather, Case and Maya and that is always great. Alta is busy with her 3 mornings at pre-school and it is always fun to get her updates … she has made a few new friends (but no boy friend) and is busy with her crafts, etc. Mather continues to be our dinosaur man and is very cuddly. Case and Maya continue to surprise me at how much they grow and change day-to-day. Their personalities … smiles just warm you. Maya enjoys the “circle” at our home where she can start in the kitchen, down the hallway, through the living and dining rooms and back to the kitchen. Case looks to be ready to crawl anytime soon and is way too cute!
We are looking forward to Thanksgiving this week. Maureen, as always, will be cooking up her delicious dinner (she is the bestest cook) and we look forward to having Mitch and family, the Taseff’s, and Rita over for conversation, football, playing and watching the kids, food and drink. We are going to have some Taseff Xmas Ale though Damon seems a little disappointed in how the taste has turned out. Think he needs to continue tweaking and then it is just more to drink! I hope we all remember that this day is truly for giving thanks. As I get older the meaning of holidays really comes to mean more and more to me … again, we are all so fortunate and we need to reflect on that during these special times.
Saturday we are heading to Chicago to see Matt and family. Can we get there by noon to see the start of the OSU / Michigan game? Even with OSU having a rare down year this game is so much fun and still has a lot of pride on the line. Go Bucks! It has been since late May since we have made this trip. I look forward to going since Chicago and the Arlington Heights area provides so much fun! But even more so I look forward to having Cayden and Maddy sitting on my lap and getting to hear all they have been up to … school, Halloween, sports and just them being them (and, of course, seeing Cayden’s ongoing facial expressions!).
The leaves are 90%+ picked up … now it is just the wind and blowing around neighbor’s leaves to our lawn. But overall this year it was not too bad since it seemed the far majority of them came down in approximately a 3 week period. Listening to the local weather this morning (Nov 21) is sounds like it may be time to get the snow blower filled up and ready to go (good chance early next week). But it looks like we will get thru November with little or no snow so that is a victory of sorts.
I hope everyone has a fun-filled and thankful Thanksgiving. My thanks, as always, if for my family first and foremost. I have the greatest wife, children and grandchildren a person could ever hope for. And I am thankful for our brothers, sisters, their kids, and Rita. I am thankful for the best mom and dad I could’ve ever had (love you Mom and Dad!) along with the Mo’s parents too! I am thankful for our armed forces that keep us safe each and every day. And Uncle Bill … we love you too and will never forget you! Love you all!
It has been a while since I last blogged primarily since it has been relatively quite here on Sperry’s Forge Trail. And that is not bad … just rainy, cool and quiet! But that all changed this past weekend and it was a weekend that was one of the best weekends as a grandparent I could possibly have!
The twins (along with Matt and Nicole) came home this weekend for a wedding … a good friend of Nicole’s from her days at OU (go Bobcats!). Our kids (Matt, Ashley and Mitchell) decided some time back that they wanted to get together (along with spouses) for a nite on the town (Ohio City). And that Mo and I would watch all six grandkids. So the six adults partied in OC and all stayed over at the Taseff’s Friday evening which left, as promised, the six kids with Mo and me. What an evening … I do think it was the first time we had all six for the evening. Fantastic other than four of them woke up way too early Saturday morning. But that’s ok … more time for play, stories, tv and so on.
The real, real, real fun came on Saturday … we, along with Ashley, Mitchell and Doreen, took the six kids to McDonalds for dinner and play time before heading out to the metroparks in Lorain for Halloween fun. If you have not gone there I highly recommend it (with kids or not) … it is about a 1/2 mile trail of ghosts, goblins, scary houses, lights, pumkins, and skeletons. It is awesome and maybe a little too scary for little one’s including Mitchell. After the trail … plenty of laughter, hugging, screams, etc we topped the nite off with a wagon ride through yet more Halloween items including many blow ups of various characters. Alta was asleep in the car before we had the twins buckled up and they (the twins) were soon asleep as well. It was a blast! Can’t wait till next year though Cayden said he was gonna skip a year and Maddy said she was gonna skip 3 years.
Sunday morning was a great breakfast, more fun with the twins and then seeing them head back home for Chicago! It was one hectic and fun-filled weekend. Love these six soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!
Today, September 29th, is the 30th anniversary of my Mom entering Heaven. It is hard for me to believe that it has been this long since that terrible day. I think it is a very natural thing for people to have special feelings for their mom and I certainly do as well. My mom was a very special person … a nurse, terrific wife to my Dad, a wonderful and caring and loving mother to my brother and me. When I think of her, which I do daily, I think of this smiling, even-tempered person that loved life, her family and her friends. And of course, she was very, very curagious fighting cancer for approximately 13 years and never complained or felt sorry for herself. She took this terrible disease on and fought it daily for a too long a period of time. If there is a hero in my life, it is my Mom! Thanks for all you did for my Dad, for John and for me. You are an example for how life should be lived and how priorities should be set and lived by. I love you today and will love you forever!
Case’s baptism today was this morning at St. Patrick’s in Ohio City. We, along with many of Damon’s family, met at Ashley’s for coffee and donuts at 9:00 before heading over for the 11:00 mass and baptism to follow. The little kids (Alta, Mather, Case, Maya and a few of their cousins) were all terrific and Case looked so cute in his baptism outfit (and hat). Congrats little Case on your very special day.
After Mass we headed over to Ashley’s to watch the first half of the Brown’s game. I am happy to report that they beat Indianapolis today to even their record at 1 and 1! Go Browns! Nice job!
Mather got his haircut this week and looks now like a little boy … very similar to when Cayden got his cut. Mather is even looking a little like Cayden too. Alta started pre-school on Thursday and she looked so grown up. And little Case continues to grow so much and is so much more alert. Maya is walking … maybe running now and is all the go all the time. How cute it is to see these kids changing so fast. We miss Cayden and Maddy so much and I am sure they are enjoying school as well. Matt and Maddy were to go camping Saturday evening so can’t wait to hear about that. She is such a trooper!
Looks like next weekend will be fun in Findlay with about 22 or so in attendance for my Mom’s 30th anniversary Mass on Sunday. We are gonna spend Saturday evening in the clubhouse (thanks Jim and Christy) eating, drinking, laughing and having good old memories. Mom actually died on September 29th of 1981 so we are a few days early but this works out with brother John flying back up from Florida. We will miss Kelly and Matt (and family) and know they will be thinking of my Mom as well.
Mom had a great time with Sandy in Boston and sounds like they walked the complete city. Such an historic city and hope to go there myself sometime.
I hope everyone has a great week and enjoys the wonderful cooler weather we are now having. Be safe and keep smiling!
I am writing this at halftime of the Browns / Bengals game so I am still confident of the Browns and that they will have an excellent season winning 8 or 9 games. Having the right management and coaching staff is so very important and this team with Holmgrem, Heckert and Schurmer is just that. We have some core players now and think this season is the beginning of something good with a Browns Super Bowl Championship in about 4 years! Why not!!!!!!
Today is the day that I will remember for the rest of my life. September 11, 2001 will live forever in my memory and in my thoughts. I have watched so many of the specials and I continue to be enamored with the stories of that day and the days afterwards. I will forever think of those families and what they went through that day and what they continue to go through today. I am so happy and pleased with the reflecting pool memorials there in NYC as well as PA and in DC. Those people, and that event, should never, ever be forgotten and it reminds us of how very fortunate we are to live in a country of freedom and democracy.
Mom is in Boston with her friend Sandy and it sounds like they are having a blast visiting the various sites. I hope she takes a lot of pictures and it will be fun to hear the stories. Come home safely!!!!
Ashley and the kids came over yesterday early afternoon and stayed the nite while Damon had six or seven frat buddies overnite from OU … they were attending the Browns game today too! Also, Mitch and family came over for dinner (pizza and salad and beer) and is always good to have the family together. We had a great evening and topped it off this noon with lunch at McDonalds. Thanks Ashley, Alta, Mather, Case, Mitchell, Doreen and Maya.
I love my family so much and am so very proud of them and all they do each and everyday as adults and parents. I have the best 6 grandkids one could ever hope to have. I pray each day for their safety and that the have the best life they can have. Let’s enjoy the week ahead and give special thanks this week for our armed forces personnel, the firefighters and policemen and women that keep us safe each and every day so we can have our fun times!
GO BROWNS!
Happy Birthday Nicole and Matt. How cool is it to have your two birthdays only two days apart within the same month? I wish you two the very best of birthdays and let you know how very, very, very proud Mom and I are of the two of you. You are tremendous partners, parents and human beings. Continue to do what the two of you have done to date and each and every day will be filled with fun, laughter and memories. We love you both so very much!
