Wrapping Up the Season

Hi, everyone!

I did decide to wear my orange Kings Day vest to help Grandma put together her Kings Day puzzle.  Almost everybody in the puzzle was wearing orange, so I fit right in!  Between Christmas and New Years, the Packer-sans came to help Grandma pack the Ground Hog Day cookies.  Katie-san brought along her boyfriend, so we had an extra set of hands.  We set a new speed record:  seven boxes packed and ready to ship in 43 minutes!  Now the boxes are back in the freezer until it’s time to mail them.  It’s been so cold that the freezer is actually warmer than outside most nights and some of the days!

When Grandma and Grandpa took me out to the bay the weekend before New Years, I was surprised to see that the bay was completely and solidly frozen over!  There were lots of ice fishermen out in their fishing shelters!  There were icicles on the front porch and hanging on the deer fencing, too!  It was very cold out, so I had to wrap up to go outside even for a little while!

It was still very cold on New Years Eve, so I was glad to stay inside for Grandma and Grandpa’s party!  Tilly and Moose-san got to stay up late to celebrate with me and all our New Years Eve friends.  We watched the New York City celebration on television so we’d know exactly when to toast the new year.

Grandma and Grandpa decided to take the Christmas tree down on January 2, because they thought the town would be around to pick up the trees on January 3.  I helped Grandma take all the ornaments off the tree!  Then we put them all on the table so Grandma could match the ornaments with their storage boxes or wrappings.  Meanwhile, Grandpa took the lights off the tree and I helped him wrap the tree up in a tarp to take outside to the edge of the street.  Then I helped Grandma pack up the ornaments and the other holiday decorations we had out.  That took all day, but we finally got everything into boxes after dinner!  There was nothing left on the table at all!  The town did come to pick up all the trees the very first thing on Wednesday, January 3, so our timing was perfect!

On Thursday, I got a thank you card from Moose-san for his Christmas present!  Don’t you think he found a really appropriate note card to send?  Because the weather was supposed to get even colder and windier for the weekend, Grandma decided to undecorate the sanctuary tree at church on Thursday afternoon, rather than waiting until Sunday.  Some of my choir friends helped!  I kept track of the special bird ornaments and made sure they were safely packed away for next year.

The weather was even colder and windier on Friday and Saturday so Grandma said we should hibernate!  I spent time with my new amaryllis friend, then I helped Grandma make Ground Hog Day cards.  I was glad I didn’t have to go outside at all!

Compared to Friday and Saturday, Sunday was much warmer!  The temperature got all the way up 20 degrees F.!  That was warm enough for us to go out when Rudy invited me to a party at Papa Dick-san’s and Grandma Sue’s new house.  Grandma Sue made lots of yummy things to eat, so I made sure to thank her!

Grandma Sue pointed out the fireplace decoration made with Petoskey stones!  They looked just like the ones I found when I visited Grandma Sue and Papa Dick-san in Michigan!  It’s fun to know the special story about what they are and why they are found along Grand Traverse Bay!  Even though it was warmer, I still had to get wrapped up to go out in the cold at the end of the party.  Grandma lets me wear the scarf Aunt Kara made for Christmas!  Papa Dick-san gave me a goodbye hug and kiss.  I am a very lucky lion to have so many good friends and adventures!

Love,

Lion-san