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The big reason Jack and I went to Michigan was because of Papa's big birthday. He turned 80 years old. He is quite a celebrity in town because he was the first baby born in the local hospital and thus a local hero and part of local history. Here is a link to the newspaper article about him. Of course you can't trust the media these days because they have my age wrong at 32 instead of almost 40 (gasp). Hehe I can take a wrong age that way any day.

We are very happy to have Papa still with us because if we were betting people, we would not have bet 25 years ago, he would still be with us at 80. He has 20% left of his heart after a massive heart attack, but he is still doing great and still able to get out in the snow and play with Jack. He even helped us build a snowman. Happy Birthday Papa!

We had the opportunity to tour a local fire station while in Michigan, thanks to my 2nd cousin Steve, who is a "real fireman". Oooohhh. WoW! He was so nice to us and we all got to ride on the big fire truck, even Grammy and Papa and Mama! Of course, Jack was all smiles while on the truck. Steve showed us all kinds of neat fireman gadgets that Jack just thought was the neatest things since trains!

Jack, the real fireman, putting on his mask and air tank. Yes, he was very thrilled.

Jack playing with the hoses, just like a real fireman.

Jack and Cousin Steve the Fireman looking at the thermal image camera, which by the the way, was totally cool.


We arrived back home last night. Of course, the plane was late leaving Grand Rapids, which meant we missed our flight out of Atlanta. In fact, as we were pulling up to the gate in Atlanta, I watched my Gulfport bound plane taxi away without me and Jack. So then we had to wait almost 3 hours in Atlanta, during which time, Jack and another little boy crawled all over the floor playing trains. Jack was absolutely filthy by the time we finally got home.

My husband, being the greatest husband in the world, cleaned the house from top to bottom. It was absolutely spotless when we walked through the door. However, Jack could not let it stay that clean for more than a few minutes. It is back to having trains, trucks, cars, and tractors strewn all over the place. But there was a few minutes there where it was clean. I can say that I DID have a clean house at one point in time.