To celebrate, all of his brothers and his soon-to-be sister were in attendance, and boy, did we have fun with them and his grandma as well! The department graduation took place immediately after the gala celebration in the football arena. At the latter we had a chance to meet some of Matty’s friends, also future teachers.

After a family picnic, we met up with the Schwinden’s (Caitlin graduated in Business), and later the kids trekked up to the “M.”

We stayed at Ruby’s (of course), and had a lovely dinner at Café Dulce. The next morning we commandeered an entire pew at Christ the King Church, and then bid hard-working Matty a fond adieu.

We haven’t stopped beaming since.

Then, at the end of April, we returned to A2 for Tyler’s graduation. We were so proud to see him walk across the stage of Hill Auditorium to receive his MBA for the Ross Business School. What an accomplishment!

To top it off, we made a road trip to Chicago the next day, as Molly and Tyler needed an apartment beginning at the end of July, when Tyler goes to work as a Senior Manager at Groupon. With some assiduous searching online, Ty set up an appointment with the manager of an apartment in Lincoln Park for Saturday morning. Molly and Tyler visited it, liked it, made a down payment, and secured it by the beginning of the week. Just like that: residents of Chicago.

Next stop: Missoula on the 12th, for Matty’s graduation!

Such has been my experience the past few days with the newest member of our family, Sparky. A Jack Russell terrier, he has already become a wonderful companion to Jo Ann as well as a friend and walking partner with me.

Our walks are becoming a little more controlled already, but his boundless energy and his proclivity for sniffing everything that looks like a tree, as well as going on point to everyone that breathes, has body heat, and moves has made for a real touch and go experience.

Sparky is a joy, however, and certainly gets us all up and moving, and moving, and moving …

The fam was together for the first time since Bill’s funeral (almost two years ago) this past week, and the holiday reunion was enormously gratifying and satisfying. In addition, we got all four boys back until Christmas Day, when Tyler had to fly to Maine to be with his fiancée, Molly. Spenser has been able to stay with us longer, but will leave tomorrow morning to return to Ann Arbor.

Matty begins a J-term with a lit class today(!), and then has one more semester of classes before his student teaching experience. And Jeffrey returned to work this morning at Wendt Communications after an exciting ski hiatus at Showdown and Neihart.

All of those times are so fleeting, so it’s time to replace them with big plans for the New Year. Our college semester starts on the 11th, Molly’s confirmation is on Easter Vigil (April 7th), the Legion baseball season starts soon after, Tyler graduates with his MBA from Michigan at the end of April, Matty graduates with his B.A. in Education in the middle of May, and Tyler and Molly will be married on July 7th in Bangor.

All of Ty’s brothers are attendants in the wedding, and will be flying out sometime around July 4th. We’ll be leaving at the end of June so that we can stay for a few days in northern Michigan with Chuck and Janet, who will also attend the wedding. After the nuptials, Carol will visit her friend Katherine in Maine for a few weeks while I fly back to get ready for the ‘A’ and ‘AA’ baseball tournaments in Great Falls and Whitefish.

Now, if only it would snow!

Well, here are are! Matty, Spenser, and Tyler come home in eight days, and we’ll all take time to relax, re-associate ourselves with one another, and EAT!

And sing, and laugh, and make merry, like the song says.

Aaron Neville sings his delightfully corny Christmas songs, and we snatch a squibbet of our past, mix it into our present, and ponder and plan our future.

Not bad …

The snow has hit hard in Michigan, and the roadways are slick. It’s time for our first real snowstorm of the year in Great Falls, as well. As our surroundings take on their white blankets, there is almost a hush in anticipation of the next weeks to come.

This time of year is also when we begin thinking about what we can control and what we can’t. And priorities begin to shrink a little as we approach the Christmas holidays.

We are so thankful to be in a warm house, to have a steady income, to have children who still adore us and one another. We are so blessed, as well, to have wonderful friends and relatives who give us inspiration and ground us to what is important.

As our priorities simplify, our appreciation grows. Perhaps that what makes Winter so much a Wonderland.

Also, of course, I’ll get a chance to spend some precious time with our future daughter-in-law, Molly. All-in-all, a great time is planned for us four.

Oh! We’re also going to the Wolverines-Cornhuskers football game. Ought to be a doozie!

We also have updates to let you know about, and so with no further ado:

• Spenser is a server at the Jolly Pumpkin in Ann Arbor, and is hauling in some substantial cash, especially around game days and other big events. He is getting his first induction into the non-school environment, but loves A2 so much that he couldn’t think of leaving, at least not yet. He plans to go back to school, although he’s not sure exactly when. He has moved into a new apartment just around the corner from Ty and Molly.
• Matty is a senior at UMontana, has resigned from his Resident Advisor job due to classes and other stressors, and is living in an apartment with three other folks and some interesting pets. His classes will be finished by the end of next Spring semester, and he will be doing his student teaching next Fall (the best semester to do such things). K-8 education is his focus.
• Jeffrey is the Web Designer and Art Director at Wendt Communications, the largest ad and marketing firm in the state. He is enormously busy, but enjoys the diversity of the job’s responsibilities, takes some big-time trips all over the state and region to do job proposals and photo shoots, and is happy with his lot in life, at least at this point.
• Tyler is happy as well, being in the last year of his M.B.A. at Michigan and working lots of hours for the athletic department at UM. He is happiest of all about his upcoming nuptials on July 7^th to the lovely Molly Balentine (see their website at mollyandtyler.org), and the couple is up to their ears in preparations for the happy event. Tyler is considering job options and Molly physical therapy schools for Fall 2012.
• Carol is in the second of a three-year stint as the Title TSA for the school district, a job that puts lots of miles on the Prius and that teaches her a lot about the underpinnings of a school district and the behind the scenes planning that inevitably plays a part in her daily doings. She is doing wonderfully at her job, and is still looking for an opening to come up for a school administration position.
• And I am still trying to figure out what being “retired” means (but I did sleep in until 7:00 AM today!). I teach seven adjunct credits at the college this semester, and will next semester as well. I’ll probably do a class this coming summer (online). And I have been asked to help with the Legion baseball team next summer (although that will be on hiatus for about three weeks in July).

That’s it for now. Please contact us by replying at the end of this overlong post, or by e-mailing us at pauls@tcpaul.com.

According to Legion officials, the number of runs allowed and base hits had to be new records. You can take a look for details at mtabbaseball.org.

For me, it was a totally new experience being the tourney’s official scorer. I had just completed the same function at the District ‘A’ Tournament the week before in Great Falls, so the technicalities were not much different. But the camaraderie in the press box in Butte was second to none: we began the five-day tournament with a clear understanding of our roles (PA announcer/music, sports writer, scoreboard operator, and official scorer) and we helped one another throughout the tournament, a real team effort.

Next year’s State Tournament is in Whitefish, a truly picturesque setting for a truly magical sport. I can’t wait!

102 degrees here today, so I spent the early morning mowing and watering and mowing and …Geez, then it got so much hotter! Need to store this remembrance for next winter, I guess.

And boy, did I drink more fluids. The SodaStream machine was on overload, but the result: ahh, so perfect!