Winding down 2011.....Here comes 2012 part #4....year of the Grandson

As the final hours of 2011 wind down, the weather continues to be unseasonable warm and wet....not much snow, probably less than an inch thus far this season, but plenty of rain...one look at the end of our driveway, torn to Hell by trucks backing across it, attests to that. It is a muddy mess....with broken street parts and deep holes in the gravel....not a pretty site.

Yesterday, after officiating four games the day before, I finished off the basketball week with a single freshman boys contest at Minster....I am now off until Tuesday.  We will head to Centerville tomorrow to visit with Hal, Lisa, and the new Grandson, Kasyn, who turned 5 weeks old on Thursday.  Monday, I will head to northern Indiana to eat, drink, and watch bowl games at Rick's....an event usually held on New Year's Day...but with the Holiday and Bowl Games being celebrated on January 2nd this year, we will have moved it.  Meanwhile the Cincinnati Bengals try to nail down a playoff spot tomorrow hosting Baltimore...it won't be easy, but unexpectedly, the Bengals, with 9 wins, at least are in the hunt...a win, they are in.

The final months of 2011, and the new Grandson____

After the Vietnam Reunions and football officiating of September and October, November came a calling, and with it, we waited on the arrival of our first grandchild.  Before that however,  Patricia, Anissa, and I, headed for lake country in southeast Wisconsin, for our annual "Thanksgiving" celebration.  These last few years, we have taken to going to Pat's parents place in Oconomowoc, a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, to celebrate then....thus avoiding the traffic, and possible bad weather travels that come later in November.   Usually snow doesn't arrive in significant amounts until after mid month...and the traffic is considerably less.

We always eat well, both at Bill and Bevs, and there is usually a classic Wisconsin "Fish Fry" on the agenda as well....this year was no exception.  The food, at home, and at a local restaurant, are the highlights of the weekend....this year it was the case again


The weather cooperated and we made it back safe and sound, just in time for my first basketball scrimmage...we also made plans to do the regular Thanksgiving at Hal and Lisa's in Centerville, those plans however, came a cropper, as grandson #1 would arrive on Thanksgiving evening.  Kasyn Timothy Houseworth would arrive just before 9pm on Thanksgiving....big and healthy, he arrive via C-Section weighting 7 pounds 12 oz, and 20.75 inches long....Thanksgiving meals would have to wait.

That birth would be the highlight of 2011 without a doubt....2 weeks later, my niece, Molly and her husband Aaron would celebrate the birth of their second child, and first boy, Luke Patrick, would come in early December and arrive at 9 pounds 10 oz, and just over 21 inches....the two new great-grandsons of my mom, would be on display together on Christmas Eve, at the family get-together.
 
2012_____

I'm not sure what the new year will bring....I do not have a good feeling about the direction of the country, especially if one Barack Obama, the Kenyan Marxist, is re-elected....but unless the Mayan Calender and it's Doomsday prediction is correct, we will ride out what comes, if God decides to keep us around...either way, I will be around for the duration, ranting, bitching, complaining, and reporting, what goes on around my little corner of the world.

That will wrap it up for 2011....have a safe New Year's Eve{I'm sure I will be in the sack by Midnight again this year}....I probably will be back here with photos and stories to begin the beginning of 2012, most likely on Wednesday morning....back later>>>>

Photos-Top/Parents and Grandparents shortly at the birth of Kasyn on Thanksgiving Evening in Kettering, Ohio....Patricia and her 88 year old father, Bill Callies, a WW2 Veteran of the Pacific Theater, at the Golden Mast for our annual Friday Night Fish Fry, Wisconsin Fish Frys are the best, always plenty of and a big variety of baked and deep fried fish, and just about any kind of beer you might want to try...and I always do.  And Cousins Kasyn Houseworth and Luke Sheffler on Christmas Eve.....my grandson and grand nephew, together for the first time.