The Bauer Family

It is the day after Christmas and all through the house, not a creature is sturring.  Well, except for me.  So it is a good time to get caught up on things here.  The Christmas stress is done and now preparing for the New Year.  This was our fourth Christmas together.  It is hard to believe, but time does fly when you are having fun! Thursday was our Christmas Party at Church.  We had a short praise and worship, some readings by Scott and music by Jay Jay, Sam, Dean and Scott.  This was followed by dinner and some fun games. The boys performing. Scottt reading the  story of our Savior's birth. Dawn Singing Pastor Reuben excited about his presents! Michelle and Faye. We started our Christmas Saturday with A church service at the Burt Methodist Church.  A very short, but very nice service by Pastor Schroeder.  This is the first time I have heard him deliver a message.  He is very good.  After the service we went to ...

So we have survived another pre Christmas weekend and I did not get in ride.  Been close to three weeks off the bike.  I must say it is a nice and deserved break.  On Saturday Michelle worked in the house and did Christmas baking.  I cut, split, hauled and stacked two truck loads of firewood.  This included driving 8 foot t-posts into the ground.  I was really tired and sore after this work which led to me not riding on Sunday.  Saturday evening we went to Michelle's mom and dad's house and celebrated her sister Dawn's birthday (41).  On Sunday I took the boy's to church then we brought Mackenzie back with us while Dawn and Reuben went on a birthday date.  Michelle did more Christmas treat work and I worked on the tandem in the basement and watched the Lions.  What a game they had! Only six days left till Christmas!  I am going to try and sneak a short ride in on Christmas Eve morning.  We will be at Dawn's that evening for...

With everything going on we have had very little time for our own pursuits.  Our free time has consisted of trying to keep the house clean and cutting wood to get us through the winter.  This saturday should be the last day of wood cutting for this winter.  Anything cut after this will be for next year.  Keeping the house clean is very difficult.  The boys seem to only help in messing it up.  We are not sure who will be hosting Christmas Eve.  However, we figure it will be us.  My parents will then be over on Christmas and we will go to Michelle's parents on Christmas evening.  We will again be having our traditional Panda House feast. There has been no time for any riding.  Looking at riding home from church on Sunday.  While looking at the MMBA website this morning I found a new trail in Owosso called Hopkins Lake.  It was built this year to good reviews.  When the ground freezes I will have to make my way out there ...

Sunday evening was the Wise Kids Christmas program at the Burt Methodist Church.  Michelle's mom Sherry directs this program annually.  Very nice traditional Christmas program with a few hiccups. Santa stopped by. Sherry opening the program. MacKenzie an angel? Brendan with a King and Wiseman. It truly was the greatest story ever told by our children!  

Today was the annual Christmas Party that is held at Michelle's aunt's house.  Aunt Sandy and Uncle Don are wonderful hosts and put on a great party.  The meal was all the tacos you can eat (beef, chix, shrimp, etc.), chicken strips and a variety of salads and drink.  It is the one time of the year that I will have a couple of Corona's with lime, very good. This party is really about the kids and Michelle's mom and her sisters getting together.  Unfortunately two of the sisters (Cindy and Sue) were not able to make it.  It was the first year with out their mother (GG/Arlene), she was missed by all of us.  Earlier this year she lost her battle with cancer.  We all had fun just as GG would have wanted. OOPS!  Almost forgot mom's birthday.  December 7, 2011.  60 years old.  Buffet at Don and Sandie's. Reuben, Uncle Don, Michelle, Dad and Mom.  Opening presents! We had great time with our family. Tomorrow brings another...

The week after Thanksgiving we had our first snow fall, some would call it a storm, of the season.  The boys had their first snow day ans were very excited.  It did not last long and as it was melting Michelle and Brendan took advantage of the packing snow. As you can see Brendan had a great time with this and got to enjoy the snow before it was all gone.  The weather has been warm for this time of year with the exception of the last couple of days.  It is going to warm up a bit this week and should be normal Christmas and the week leading up to it.  

We had a full house on Thanksgiving Day (15).  The entire family made it.  A great time was had by all.  Two turkeys and all the sides, my wife is incredible.  The usual problems were encountered with the guests not arriving on time.  Mom (Sherry) forgot to make the ham. Everyone cleared out by 8;30pm and Michelle and I started our preperations for Black Friday.  It was the first time I did the shopping thing.  We started at Sam's Club at 5:00am and wrapped up around 10:00am.  We had a lot of fun.  Christmas is just around the corner.   

A lot has happened since our last post and want to bring things up to date.  I will post photos after we get home and get a little more organized. We are currently at Crystal Mountain having done the Peak 2 Peak Mountain bike race.  We will be leaving this morning for home.  Soccer season started back up in September for the boys.  JJ's team is again coed and they are playing well.  They  have really made progress since the spring season.  Brendan is now in U6 and doing well, he likes practice more than his games. On September 11 we went to Addison Oaks County Park and raced their Fall Classic Mountain Bike race.  Everyone had a great time.  JJ took third place in his race.  It was around 7 miles long, the longest he had done to that point.  They had barbecue pulled pork sandwiches, etc.  It was a lot of fun. Brendan turned 6 on October 10 and had a party at Chuck E Cheese.  My parents came and joined in the festivities....

This is out of order, but while we were on our O2S vacation our landscaping was started.  When we got home this is what we saw. The Front  The Driveway The side w/retaining wall. Michelle also put on an Angry Birds birthday party for JJ after we got home. Angry Bird Brownies   So a lot of fun and excitement since we got back.  More posts to come as the yard turns green.

It has been a while since I posted anything.  Today was Saturday, August 27, 2011 and we were preparing to celebrate 3 birthdays.  JJ, Micah (brother in law) and mine.  JJ turned 14 on August 23, I became 48 on August 24 and Micah will be 25 on August 31.  Day started great with a breakfast of leftover pizza reheated in the oven.  We did some cleaning then Brendan and I set out on a bike ride so Michelle could go to the store. Brendan and me ready to roll. Brendan and I did around 21 miles.  I had just changed my gearing on the single speed to work myself harder and it proved to be just that.  We got home and Michelle was still out.  We got a call from her and she was stuck in a traffice jam in Birch Run.  So we hit the showers and started cleaning.  We were finishing up when my parents and her sister arrived. Dawn and Family. L to R: Scott, Dawn, MacKenzie, Rueben Dad, me and Mom We had a great birthday celebration with the entire...

It is 6:30am and everyone else is in bed.  A quick check of the weather shows that it is 61 degrees and the radar is clear.  Forecast is a high of 69 degrees with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms, calm wind becoming 5 to 10 mph out of the east.  Looking like a great day. So I met Raymond for breakfast and then we headed to the starting line of the Soft Rock.  Weather was perfect for the race.  There were some wet spots on the trail from rain over the previous days. Ready to race! Anxiously waiting the start. From the first turn of the pedals I knew it was going to be a good race.  I started mid pack and ran into a few traffic jams.  I started passing riders as space allowed and quickly moved up.  I finished 18th in the Single Speed class and 322 overall.  There was a total of 922 riders in the Soft Rock.  I topped my previous best time from 2009 by 3 minutes, 1 hour 53 minutes. 28 miles later. I was back to the hotel for...

We headed to the spaghetti feed at 5:00pm at the Arena.  The Lions Club again put on an excellent carbo loading feast.  I especially liked the cake this year!  After eating we got in line to get our race packets.  First time that I have been there so early and the process was very quick.  The boys each got additional t-shirts from races past and we toured the vendor areas.  I really enjoy looking at the bikes on display.  Below are some samples. SISU Hardtail SISU Full Suspension 650b Giant XTC Composite 29er Next in store is a good night sleep and I will be up early for the race tomorrow.