Hello Everybody.  My name is Caleel.  I know you are expecting to hear from Stormy, but she is a little indisposed right now so I took the opportunity to write the Christmas Letter, it is quite an honor for us cats to have the job.   You've probably heard of me from previous letters, but don't believe anything Stormy said, I'm really quite a nice cat, especially since I've lost weight, you might say I look pretty classy now.  Since Gunnar the Springer disappeared last summer, the yard is now safe for a cat to prowl around, and believe me, I've done quite a bit of that.
    Anyway, on to other things.  The Big Guy is still around underfoot, writing columns and letters to the editor, still running the family construction company but things in the area are pretty slow.  He was the 2006 president of the local builders association, I've heard he did some pretty remarkable things with that, but, remember, that's him talking so take it with a grain of salt.  He says you can go to www.croweconstruction.com to see what he's been doing.
Mom still tolerates me, but I think we get along a little better than we used to.  She maintains the afore mentioned website, gives piano lessons, keeps the company books and does a host of other things, like the auction trailer, too numerous to mention.  I heard BG telling of taking her to the Twin Cities where she got to Belly Dance at a couple of Middle Eastern Restaurants, unfortunately she hadn't taken her costume along.  At least she got to dance the full length of the Tall Timber Days parade in  Grand Rapids.  She and BG do a service at the assisted care home every Sunday along with serving on the Praise Team at the Alliance Church in Grand Rapids, Sundays mornings are pretty hectic around here so I just stay out of the way.
    Travis is still in Iraq, we expect him home in April.  We haven't seen him in over a year although the family has had some teleconferences with him. He was doing convoys for awhile, but now I've heard he is doing scheduling for gate security.  He went to Europe for his leave, He met Erika there and they toured several European cities, I peeked over Mom's shoulder when Erika brought the pictures over and it looked like they saw all the good stuff.  Who's Erika?  Well, Travis met her online last year, she visited him in Mississippi before he left for Iraq, She's a chemist for Ecolab and drives a Harley (want to see a picture of the Harley?).
    Heidi and Robbie moved into their house on Elk River last May.  Robbie landed a job with Polaris and Heidi is a 2nd grade teacher in Rogers.  Oh, I guess I'd better mention that they also have a cat named Shelby ( see story below). BG and Heidi sang Wonderful, Merciful Savior (accompanied by Mom) for Church one Sunday when she was home, I'm told it was pretty nice, I know it sounded pretty good when they practiced it here the night before.
    Erin graduated as a Civil Engineer last May from the University of North Dakota and worked as an engineering technician for Braun Intertec all summer, then was laid off and went on an early December cruise with her friend Britney who works for a travel agency.  I'd liked to have gone along, unfortunately I wasn't invited.  She's bought 40 acres near Cherry and still sees that guy named Kyle, and they've got a dog named Diesel .  He's been here a couple of times, Shelby got mad at him and ran him all the way upstairs one day to the delight of all us cats.
    Alyssa is in the fourth grade, takes piano lessons from Mom and was a Seahorse in Little Mermaid last fall.  She's a bookworm and also a great singer.
    Katelyn, second grade, loves animals and the outdoors.  She also takes piano lessons from Mom and likes to help BG in the yard.
Valeri is in kindergarten and ready to be a teacher.  She has lost one tooth and wants to lose some more, coming up to BG every morning to see if the next one is loose enough.
    The little girls attend Awana every Wednesday night at Grace Bible, they all enjoy it very much.  Also, they took dance lessons through May and the picture was taken at the spring dance recital.
    Spring, the remaining Springer, has become a house dog.  I'm not too sure I like it, but she has behaved reasonably well, I just don't let her get too close.  Still some animals out in the farmyard, 5 cows and one bull, lots of hay in the yard due to a couple of years of very good hay growing and harvesting weather.  The equipment was persnickety, as usual, providing several columns worth of writing material.
    Stormy and I get along just fine as long as we stay at least 3 feet away from each other.  She says she might be able to write the letter next year if it comes at the right time of the month.
    The family left me at home in charge in June as they went to Kentucky for the Crowe/Bryant family reunion, taking Grandma Crowe along.  They took in a few sights on the way home, I saw some pictures they took at the Rock Island Arsenal and of a Barge going through the Locks on the River, looked like fun.  I've attached a cute picture of the little girls atop a Sherman Tank that was damaged at the Battle of the Bulge on display there.  They also made their annual camping trip with the Tatting clan to Lake Carlos, I heard they had fun riding bike, fishing and swimming.
    Well, I've got to go now, I hope you all have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Caleel
Rob and Dawn, Alyssa, Katelyn, Valeri