Merry Christmas!

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Wrestling Season Underway

Adam and Jack have wrestled in 2 tournaments so far. First tournament, Adam placed 8th and Jack placed 3rd. Second tournament, Adam placed 3rd and Jack placed 3rd. Adam (in orange and black) pinned 2 wrestlers (one in 4 seconds) in the last tournament.

Indoor Soccer Season Ends

Adam played his final game as a sub for the Rebels 11U indoor soccer team. They earned 3rd place. Adam scored 5 goals in the 21-1 win.

In Loving Memory of George Vettel

We lost an important part of the Vettel family on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2008. James' father was living with congestive heart failure and its complications. He spent the last few weeks of his life in the hospital. The boys and I were fortunate enough to see him two weeks before he passed away. James saw him two days before he died. He was surrounded by his loving family.

Here is his obituary:

George F. Vettel, 78, Cummings, N.D., died Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at the Hillsboro Medical Center, Hillsboro, ND.

George Francis Vettel was born June 26, 1930 in Hillsboro. He was the seventh of 12 children born to Walter H. and Frances Olivia (Schnoebelen) Vettel of Caledonia, ND. He was raised in Caledonia and attended school there. In 1939 he and his family moved to a farm near Cummings, ND. He continued his education at Ervin Township School No. 4 and graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1948. He farmed with his father and brothers.

He served in the U.S. Navy from 1950-54 as a radar operator aboard the U.S.S. Taconic. After his military service, he returned to the family farm. He farmed the rest of his life — in body and spirit — working in partnership with his brothers Walter N. and Tom. He married Betty Ann Germaine of Fargo October 7, 1961. They made their home on the Vettel family farm and raised their seven children there. He was very active in the community and served on a variety of boards including the Ervin Township board, the Shelly Creamery board, the Land O’ Lakes District board, the Hillsboro Medical Center board, the Health and Humanities Foundation board and the Traill-Steele Mutual Insurance board. He was also active in the Knights of Columbus as a grand knight.

He is survived by his wife, Betty; four sons, George H. Vettel; Steven (Jane) Vettel; James (Jen) Vettel; and Joel (Sandy) Vettel; three daughters, Michelle (Mark) McLean; Colleen Vettel; and Sherri Vettel; nine grandchildren, Maggie, Jacob and Alex McLean, Adam and Jack Vettel, Eric and Luke Vettel, and Kennedy and Taryn Vettel; three brothers, Ed (Dorothy) Vettel; Gerald (Lorraine) Vettel, and Tom (Karen) Vettel; three sisters, Rita Frenzel, Lavonne (Walter) Kozojed; and Janice (Jim) Berry.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Carl, Walter N. and Harold; and two sisters, Geneva Anderson and Dorothy McCoy Smith.

Halloween 2009

Shopping for Halloween was easy for Jack. The minute he saw the desert trooper he was hooked. Adam had a hard time deciding if he was going trick or treating or not. Finally, the day before Halloween he decided to go. Even though I thought the Joker from Batman was the creepiest thing I had seen at the movies, he LOVED it.

Fundraiser with Friends

We were invited to attend the Herb Brooks Foundation Gala to raise money for youth hockey. After the event, we went to a couple of bars downtown Minneapolis. One of the photos is taken of us in the elevator at the Foshay Tower.

Can YOU eat 6 saltines in a minute?

The boys decided to take the challenge to see if they could eat 6 saltines in a minute. Jack tried the 1 cracker at a time technique and made it to 3. He had showers of crackers coming out if his mouth. Adam tried the shove all the crackers in your mouth technique. With each laugh, it was a stream of cracker crumbs. They eat about 3 saltines each.