RIP, Mr. Grinch 1993-2013

This is hilarious.  Thanks for the obituary, Greg!! 

     Well, the joyous season always has its down moments. The ongoing saga of our beloved Mr. Grinch has come to a bittersweet end. Saturday, after his open heart surgery, he was placed back in his place of honor overlooking all the other decorations in the back yard but suffered a traumatic blow to his seams
that reduced his air pressure to a point that he couldn't stand up on his own again. He was rushed back into emergency surgery but to no avail. Although he tried to recover from the inoperable seam re-sealing procedure, he just couldn't hold any pressure. He was laid to rest in the dumpster Monday morning in a quiet and peaceful manner to join all his other decorations that have gone to the happy living room/lawn in the sky.

It Looked Grim for the Grinch...

Pictures and captions courtesy of my sister :0)

 The Grinch looked dead...

 Then he went in for open heart surgery...

Now he is all better!! :)

Lots of Laughs

     We had a ladies' night out recently to celebrate Simona's birthday.  We headed to the Mall of America to have dinner at Dick's Last Resort.  It was quite the hoot!!  The workers purposely were rude/sarcastic to us (hence the title of the restaurant), so that in itself was an experience!!  We all had specially made "hats" that were very inappropriate, so I am not including photos of those (didn't want to give my brother, Bob, or my nephew, Eric, any ammunition)!!

Claudia, Heather, Holly, Me. Simona, Jill, and Margo

 Our funny waiter took this self photo. :0)

 Our waiter even put a bib on each of us.  Here's Heather and Claud sporting theirs.

 Fun in the elevator...thanks to Claud!! :0)

Lake Maria

Enjoying more of Minnesota's fall beauty...

 It was a beautiful day for a hike and to enjoy the gorgeous leaves!!

After getting our exercise, we enjoyed some comfort food: 

grilled cheese and tomato soup.  YUM!!

Such a fun photo op!! :0)

MEA Fun

MEA meant a girls' trip to Duluth to enjoy the beauty of Minnesota in the fall.

Our first stop was Jay Cooke State Park.  

The view on our hike was amazing!!

A stop at the gift shop...

Back in the rain to finish our hike...

We decided that the rain made the colors even more beautiful!!

Dinner at Little Angie's Cantina...yum!!

The view of Lake Superior from our hotel...

Sunshine the next day :0) 

A stop at Tobies on the way home for a very delicious apple fritter...

Blessed to have great friends and the opportunity for this beautiful photo!!

Beautiful Boston

Another October SISTAS' trip...:0) 

This time we headed to Boston.

We stayed in the theater district of Boston at the W Hotel.

 

Lunch with my "sissypoo" (one of the days she was in between meetings)

 My favorite picture from our tour of Boston on Lake Charles 

(LOVE the colors of the tree on the left, the green on the right, the blue of the water, and the sailboat)

 We had a fun day by the harbor.

 Peeking at my "sissypoo" outside of the Boston Tea Ships Museum

 

Dinner at The Melting Pot one night...so yummy!!

Dessert...a "Flaming Turtle"

We were affected by the government shutdown in places throughout Boston. ):

 Love this photo from our boat tour :0)

 If you are ever in Boston, you must go to Mike's Pastry on the North End for a cannoli.

I had chocolate chip, and Cathy had a pistachio nut cannoli.  SO YUMMY!!

I went on the Freedom Trail one of the days when Cathy was in meetings all day.

It was a beautiful day, and there was lots of history to check out.  

Plus I couldn't get too lost because I just had to follow the red trail...:)

Here I am in the Boston Commons.

Fall colors were definitely present around Make Way for the Ducklings in the Boston Common.

 Of course, we made a stop at CHEERS!!!!  

We actually went to both of them, but the original one was definitely the best!!

One of our favorite dinners from all of our trips together: the Union Oyster House.  

It is America's oldest restaurant.  It has a rich history and amazing lobster!!

I toured the New England Holocaust Memorial (the six glass structures).

We finished our trip with an unbelievable chair massage at a spa.  

It was just as good as a regular Swedish massage. :0) 

Thanks for another wonderful trip!!  Love you, SISTA!!!