THE END OF 2010

Well, that was fast - 2010 basically flew by! 

We are just gearing up for Christmas now, and on to New Year's and 2011!

A few updates:

Christmas
This will be Cam's first "real" Christmas where he kind of knows what is going on and everything, so we are very excited.  My parents and Beej are coming to GR from Troy, and Dean and Lisa and Devin are coming as well, so it should be good times.  This is our first time celebrating Christmas in Grand Rapids as well (at our place), so that should be an interesting experience.  Good thing we have enlisted the help of a cleaning lady - don't think we have the time to get the place in the shape we want it to be otherwise!

Cam
As always, Cam is growing up right before our eyes.  Having Cam older and more aware of everything has been a lot of fun for sure!  Although - that is not to say it doesn't have its drawbacks.  I am pretty sure I have watched enough Yo Gabba Gabba for not just my lifetime, but probably every citizen in Michigan's lifetime as well.  And oddly, he never seems to get tired of it - even if it is the same episode he has seen like 10 times.  If anything he gets MORE excited.

So my suggestion to any parent out there - Yo Gabba Gabba is an EXTREMELY slippery slope.  If you want to avoid a lot of pain, DO NOT START showing your kid Yo Gabba Gabba.  Avoid it at all costs.  Trust me on this one.

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All in all though, watching Cam grow up is awesome!  It looks like he will get "promoted" (not sure what the correct word is here) soon to the older toddler room at Day Care (he has been spending time in the Pre-School Room this week and doing really well), he is talking a ton, and (hopefully) potty training is right around the corner.  Here are some recent pics of Cam for everyone:

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Michigan Football
Honestly, there really isn't much to say right now.  It was a frustrating season, with some good times and some bad times.  We finished right about where everyone expected us to, we are playing in a New Year's Day Bowl game, and we'll go from there.  Personally, I would like to see Rich Rodriguez retained, but I suspect he won't be.  We'll see what happens - it just doesn't make sense for Dave Brandon to keep his coach dangling in the wind like this if he intends on keeping him.  Either way, I will support whoever is the coach at UM in 2011.  There are too many people who count themselves as UM fans who cannot say that, and can't say they have supported the coach the last couple years.  It has been a bad environment, and one where Coach Rodriguez has been set up to fail - political infighting, backdoor politics, factions, honestly - just crap.  The UM fanbase needs to grow the hell up and get on the same page, or else this thing is going to go downhill quickly.  We'll see what happens.

One thing I will say though - if Michigan wins their bowl game with Rodriguez as coach, it is going to make it very difficult for Brandon to fire him.  At the very least it will make Brandon look bad because it will be obvious the decision was made prior to the game, and he just kept hung Rich out to dry.  Again, it is a very interesting situation, and I don't think anyone really knows what is going on, so we'll just have to see what happens.

Michigan Basketball
I really didn't expect much, if at all, from Michigan basketball this year, but they have surprised early on.  It seems the departure of Manny Harris and Deshawn Sims may actually be working to our benefit, because it has really gotten everyone involved instead of having the game revolve around 2 players.  It is still early obviously, but we are 8-2, and I wasn't sure we would win 8 games all year.

I don't necessarily think this is an NCAA tournament team, but I think it is a young team with a lot of potential, one that probably will play in the NIT this year, but should be able to use the success it sees this year as a springboard to have a very successful run over the next couple years. 

My advice - if you are a UM fan and haven't been paying much attention to basketball so far this year - start paying attention.  It is a fun team to watch.

SO, hopefully everyone had a great year, and has an even better 2011!  Happy Holidays!

CMC