Latest happenings in Michigan!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything. Since I've last posted, Nick was given two horses. They are both American Paints. The first one he got is named "Whiskey." Whiskey turned three years old on June 2nd. A few weeks later he brought home "Bourbon." Bourbon turned two years old on April 29th. Even though Bourbon is younger, he is quite a bit bigger than Whiskey. They are actually half brothers, as they have the same father.

This is bourbon



Here are Whiskey on the left and Bourbon on the right. They are eating some grain.

Then, on the 23rd of June, Tim, Jill & Malachi flew in to Detroit. They are staying till July 17th. No one here in Michigan had met Malachi yet, except for me (Nana) and Jill's parents, because we all flew to California to meet him back in January.

Pop Pop feeding Malachi a bottle.

Sitting out on the back deck.

Malachi loves this Jump-a-Roo. Michael's girlfriend, Laura, lent it to Tim & Jill to use while they are in Michigan.

Malachi is the most pleasant baby ever. He is always smiling!

When he first got here, Tim took off with the boys to go to the lake. It was time for Malachi to eat, and Tim took all the bottles with him. I found one of James' old baby bottles in the cupboard, so Jill used that. Malachi is used to a certain kind of bottle, so he was a little fussy and would only let his mommy feed it to him. He loves his mommy!

Tim and his little buddy, "Mac."

He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and fourth. He should be crawling in the next few weeks - hopefully he starts crawling while he is in Michigan!

These are the sunglasses that James used to wear when he was a baby!

Uncle James & Malachi. Uncle James was supposed to be at wrestling camp, but somehow he overslept and missed his ride. He was bummed that he missed his ride, till his little nephew showed up later in the day!

Uncle Michael getting to know his little nephew.

Uncle Nicholas playing with Malachi. Nick has poison ivy on his arm, so he isn't going to hold Malachi till it is all cleared up.

Nick has a way with babies, and he had Malachi laughing out loud. It was so cute!

Malachi got up a little early one morning, so James got to see him again before he left for wrestling camp.

Did I mention that Nick had a couple of horses given to him???

Nick and Whiskey

Whiskey & Bourbon have never been broke to ride, but Nick has been working with Whiskey since he got him. Here is James getting on Whiskey. James is the first ever rider.

Nick has a saddle for Whiskey, but for his first time having someone ride on him, James is riding bare back.

Nick leads, while James just hangs on. That is step one in the riding process.

I got to be the second rider. This time Nick put the saddle on him.

Whiskey is such a gentle horse.

Margie & Whiskey. Margie & Jacob had come out here for a long weekend over the 13th of June. Well, Whiskey decided to get out of his fence one afternoon and we had to go searching for him. He had wandered down the road almost two miles and found more horses, so the farmer that lived there put Whiskey in one of his fenced in areas till we came to get him.

And this is Isaiah on Whiskey. Isaiah is the son of Michael's girlfriend, Laura. Isaiah will be two years old on Oct. 26th. He was so happy to be sitting on the horse, that he cried when it was time to get off!

New Pictures of Malachi - My Grandson

These are the most recent pictures Jill sent me of my adorable grandson, Malachi. He is getting so big! He will be three months old on April 8th.

Tim & his little boy, Malachi (aka "Mac")

Tim likes to cut the sleeves off of his old t-shirts, so he thought his little baby should look just like him. Jill wasn't too keen on the idea of cutting up her baby's clothes, but she found this U of M t-shirt and she didn't care what Tim did with it. (She is an MSU alum.)

He is a Michigan State fan, just like his mommy - Go Spartans!

Here he is modeling his new bathing suit. He's been to the beach a couple of times already in his short little life!

Here's Malachi & his mommy.

He looks like he is getting so big.

Hudson Tiger Wrestling Team - STATE CHAMPS 2009!!

On March 7 & 8, the Hudson Tiger Wrestling Team competed in the Division 4 Team State Wrestling Championships held at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, MI. To make it to the State Championships, Hudson won their District and Regional. Then, in the first round of the State Meet on Thursday, the 7th, Hudson FINALLY beat Bronson 37-25. Back in 2002 & 2003 Hudson had made it to the State Meet and lost in the first round to Bronson, so this win got that monkey off their back! On Saturday, the 8th, Hudson had to wrestle undefeated Iron Mountain - a team from Michigan's Upper Pininsula. Hudson was able to beat Iron Mountain 41-22. This win moved Hudson into the Championship Finals against Hesperia, a team from the West side of Michigan who had beaten Hudson last year in the first round. It was a very intense match, as Hudson found itself losing 23-13 with only five matches left. That might not seem like a lot, but in wrestling, that is huge. (Oh yea, Hesperia is the returning Divison 4 State Champion Wrestling Team from 2008 and have been ranked first all season long, with Hudson ranked 2nd right behind them.) Hudson ended up winning the last five matches to beat Hesperia 31-23 to win THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP! This is the first ever State Championship that Hudson High School has won in any sport since the MHSAA started having playoffs back in the 70's! Needless to say, the whole town is very excited. I think just about the whole town of Hudson showed up for this historic occasion!

Here is James receiving his State Championship Medal

James & some of the team (his buddy, Devan, who went to French Creek a couple years ago is on the bottom right)

The 2009 State Champion Hudson Tigers Wrestling Team

James with the State Championship Trophy

They're excited!


There are seven sophomores on the team - Jesse, Dakota, Matthew, Tyler, James, Grant & Camden

Visiting My Grandson

I flew to California on January 25th. I didn't arrive till 10:30 p.m. California time, which is 1:30 a.m. Detroit time. Tim picked me up at the airport in Santa Ana. I am staying in California till Feb. 7th - plenty of time to get to know my new grandson!



Nana & Malachi getting acquainted

Jill snuggling with her new baby boy



Tim & Malachi

Uncle Kyle & Malachi - Kyle lives with Tim & Jill -
he is also stationed at Camp Pendleton in CA

Here is Tim giving Malachi a bath

Malachi does not mind his bath at all -
even when Tim squirts the water right
in his face!

Chillin' on Mom's lap

Isn't he adorable?!

Uncle Kyle & Malachi relaxing on the couch

Isn't he just the cutest?!

My grandson, Malachi

Road trip - we are on our way to Camp Pendleton. We are
going to go to Del Mar Beach, which is located right on
Camp Pendleton

We passed by Kyle's workplace - he is a crew chief
on a CH-46 helicopter - his squad is
HMM-364 - the Purple Foxes

These are the CH-46 helicopters

We ate lunch on the beach, then Malachi
needed his diaper changed

Okay, we're ready to stroll the beach!

Jill, Tim & Malachi at the beach on
Camp Pendleton

Nana & Malachi

Nana & Malachi again

Can you read what Jill wrote in the sand?
Tim, Jill & Uncle Kyle call Malachi, "Mac"

We were actually looking for sand dollars and
sea shells, when Tim found a crab

The crab Tim found

The rocks actually had sea shells stuck to them

Here's a close-up of the shells on the rocks

While we were walking on the beach, some
AAV's (Amphibious Assualt Vehicles) came
riding up the beach

They rode thru the water then up the beach
to the road

Here's one after it left the beach, going
back to the AAV parking lot, I guess

Here is a CH-46 helicopter that flew over us

And here is an L-CAC, which is like a
giant hover craft, out in the ocean

We did find a lot of sand dollars and some
cool shells

That is my trip to California so far...