2017 Year in review

Boy that year sure went fast.  Time for the updates.
Children:

Trica and her family

Trica is a Nurse Practitioner at a Clinic in Northern Minnesota. Trica’s husband Richard is in the Radio Business.  They have a Black Lab named Jade and a kitty named Bailey.  This year they moved to a home in the country.

Jen and her family

Jennifer continues to teach English at a Community College.  She is the Mayor of their little town.   Jen’s husband Andy teaches Electronic Technology and Automated Systems at a Community College.  Andy is a First Responder and very active in Vex Robotics.  They have two Shelties; Miney (12) and Little Elvis(7) and a very old cat that may outlive all of us named Chaucer.  They continue to renovate their early 1900’s foursquare craftsman home.
The Grands:

Savannah and her dog Chewy.  She also has a kitty named Luna.   Savannah works three jobs…she is a sales person at JCPenney, a personal care assistant and works at the radio station for her Dad.  Savannah is our giggly grand.

Maddie… I took this photo of Maddie twenty days before Mikey was born.   Maddie is in school to become a Dental Assistant, she would like to work in Oral Surgery…like she says she will be saving the world one tooth at a time.  She will be done with school in May and do her Internship during the summer. She has her horse of a dog Deacon and a kitty named Ziggy.  Maddie is our most easy going grand…she goes with the flow.

Paige graduated from High School.  She attended St Catherines for one semester and has now transfered to the University of Minnesota in Duluth. She would like to pursue a career in medicine. She spent Christmas in the Florida Keys.  Paige has a pot bellied pig named Sigourney for a pet.  Paige is our Grand that calls just cause she misses us.

Noah graduated from Northland Technical College with a AA degree one week and the next week he graduated from High School.  He has declared a major of Chemistry, attends the University of North Dakota and would like to do something in the medical field. (his Mom is on the faculty at Northland…so she walked for his graduation…and her students)  Noah likes college and he works part time at Noodles. He has an apartment very near the campus.  He is our most serious Grand.

Adam

Adam is a sophomore in High School.  He plays the cello and is very active in Vex Robotics.  He has his drivers license and a car…a red one.   Adam is Adam…he was delighted  at Christmas with a pair of Spock Socks and a lego keychain.  Adam is the grand that always makes us smile.  He is very tall. ( I could have used him when I was decorating that tree!)
Great Grand:
Mikey was born the end of May.  He is a happy little boy unless he is hungry.

hey Mikey!  One month old.

Mikey at seven months old.  He can sit up by himself and is beginning to show some interest in crawling.  He keeps his Mom real busy!
Births in our immediate family:  Mikey…his parents call him Kaine but his Great Grandpa and I call him hey Mikey!
Biggest Changes: We are a nursing home for an aging Border Collie…we have made adjustments to care for him properly.  He almost died the first part of December…so he is on a strict diet. I am not sure what is better, let him eat what he likes and have him live a short time or manage his diet and have him live longer but more whiney cause he is hungry.
Biggest Frustrations:   I had one major surgery and three minor ones…we have learned that only one of us can be sick/recovering at a time.  We are better off if I am not the sick and recovering one.  ( All surgeries had good outcomes except for the carpal tunnel which I am still recovering from.)  People and perfume/aftershave…Far Guy struggles to breathe with every little bit of fragrance…even someone’s fragrant shampoo….body lotion… smelly fabric softner sheets they use on their clothing.  I am tempted to ask everyone that comes into the house to shower upstairs with our soap and shampoo while I wash their clothing and then come down to visit. If you struggled to breathe and then felt like your lungs were burned for days afterwards how would you feel?   Far Guy still struggles with Trigeminal Neuralgia and with Alpha One Antitrypsin Deficiency. Unnecessary germs; Check out clerks coughing and hacking away and then handling our groceries….we stand back and watch the checkout people…and pick the healthy looking ones!   In Walmart we have learned to use the self check outs.
Deaths: Two of my Aunts died this past year.  My Aunt Kay in February she was 76 years old. She was married to my Uncle Butch (My Mothers brother) who died a number of years ago.  My Aunt Karen died in May she was 65 years old ( She is my Mother’s youngest sister.) We are still waiting for her ashes to be returned to Minnesota so we can have some kind of graveside service….it doesn’t seem right to have …nothing. 
Happiest Moments: Watching our daughters manage life events… graduations and births.  When Mikey was born safely and Maddie was okay.  Spending time with our children and grandchildren and now a great grandson too!

And of course time spent with Chance.  It is his favorite time of year…snow eating time!
That about wraps up our year. We spend much of our time quietly at home, most days we get along together just fine.  Sometimes we kinda feel like hermits…but that is okay too. 
Happy New Years Eve! We will have a nice supper…steak I think…and maybe we will share a beer…and we will most likely be asleep before the new year is ushered in.