Christmas

Mike and I spent Christmas together at his house, and we had such a great holiday! Look at all those presents, too!

Kitty-Santa!

Mike got into the decorating spirit and bought pilot and Santa enthusiasts, Snoopy and Woodstock. We hit the after-Christmas sales, so wait until you see all of his lights next year!

Making breakfast...

Mike, surrounded by some of our Christmas loot.

Mike really spoiled me this Christmas. Well, he did last Christmas too. Notice the shoes calendar. Does he know me or what? And his parents also left presents for me, too, which was super nice.

Grandpa Gross

In November 2008, my mother's father died after battling lung cancer for more than a year. I've wondered whether I would actually post about this, and now with a bit of time having passed, I think I can. Here are some photos of my more recent visits with Grandpa and his wife of 40+ years, Iris.

Spring Break 2005 in Florida. It was really winter break for me in Grand Rapids, but spring in Florida.

This was taken in late 2005, when I visited in December.

Iris took Grandpa to Illinois to celebrate his 80th birthday in June 2007. Here they are with Aunt May (Grandpa's younger sister) and her son, Danny.

Ever since I went to Illinois for graduate school and went to visit at least once a year, Grandpa and I have been pretty close. When they moved to Florida, it was even nicer to visit since I could enjoy some sunny weather as well.

I last went to visit both Grandpa and Iris in June 2008. I was in Daytona Beach, grading Advanced Placement exams, and so went to see them. I'm really glad I did, as this was the last time I saw Grandpa.

My brother, Mitch, wore his Navy dress uniform to the funeral events (church service, wake, burial).

Grandpa was buried in Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida. He had served in the Army in Japan shortly after World War II. Mitch and my cousin, Gregory, served as pall bearers.

Mitch was presented with Grandpa's flag, which he then presented to Iris.

Mitch clearly broke protocol by kissing Iris on the cheek.

The church memorial, the wake, and the burial all were beautiful services and wonderfully memorialized the good man that was my grandfather.

Family in Florida

My family in Florida has somewhat expanded, as my cousin Jeff got married in October. I wasn't able to go to the wedding, but I was glad to meet his new family. Here he is with Rhonda, and his son, Jeremy. Jeremy had just finished his semester at college.

And here's Brynn.

Aunt Claudia, being a clown. :-)

Pre-Christmas in Florida

Shortly after finishing up my semester, I drove to Columbus, where I flew to Florida for a week trip. It was nice to see everyone and to enjoy a bit of warm weather, particularly since Grand Rapids got about two feet of snow! Here I am, with Shaunda and my Aunt Claudia at Aunt Claudia and Uncle Bud's house.

A bunch of us converged on Red Lobster for dinner. Here I am with my dad.

And here's Uncle Bud.

My cousin Lonnie and her man, Ray.

My cousin, Jeff, his new wife, Rhonda, and her daughter, Brynn.

Mmmmmm......super huge Lobsterita!

Christmas Decorations

When I went to Mike's (in Columbus, OH) for Thanksgiving, I brought Christmas decorations with me. Since we're spending Christmas at his house, I wanted to make sure that we had a pretty tree. So, here we are, decorating.

Here's the tree fully decorated but without any presents underneath. Now there are many! I'll be sure to post more photos of us opening all those presents!

Mike has a window opening between the kitchen and the family room, and we thought it was a good place to display the mustached men. Mike's dad bought the middle one, which is a candy jar. I had the nutcracker one and the one on the horse-rocker. Now that these three are together, I thought names were appropriate: Francois (the nutcracker), Luigi (middle), and Hans-Peter (German rocking horse one).

Hans-Peter looks a little mad. Is it because he's on a rocking horse or because he's the smallest of the mustached men?! :-)

Thanksgiving at Mike's

Thanksgiving this year was at Mike's new house, and we celebrated the first big meal with a nice bottle of champagne (or sparkling wine, I didn't check the label). So, here's everyone raising their glasses for a toast. Mike's mom and dad are on the left, and his brother Steven and Steven's girlfriend, Alison, are on the right.

Now isn't this a nice photo -- men in the kitchen getting the coffee and dessert ready? I thought it was cool, because we women were talking at the table, and the Reale men were in the kitchen.

Survey: Americans Fail Civic Test

I came across this site (see link below) from one of my Facebook friends. I took the test and scored a 94% (I missed two). I thought it was an interesting test; it's too bad that most people fail it. I actually teach some of the concepts in this test in my comparative politics courses, so I hope that some of my students would have learned some recently. Anyway, I just thought I'd post this for those who are interested.

Oh, and you don't have to tell me your score. :-)

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx