http://mikeansel.com From field to freezer and everything in between! Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:32:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Went to watch the Clawson Middle School cheerleading competition today.  My oldest grand-daughter (Nadia) is in the back row third from the right.  She's one of the two girls that the others hoist during their cheer.  Makes me a little nervous, but they did very well in taking 3rd. place ... http://mikeansel.com/2010/01/31/saturday-in-clawson/ Son-in-law Glen, daughter Tara, and grandson Kyle inside a reproduction of a Native American birch bark home.  We were staying at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mt Pleasant Michigan for a Mohawk carpet convention.  None of us gamble, so that attraction was scratched off the list, before we ... http://mikeansel.com/2010/01/28/michigans-chippewa-heritage/ It isn't the biggest elk in the world, but it's meat in the freezer.  Except for a few packages of fish, my freezer was empty this year.  Not now, as a few hundred pounds of boneless elk steaks, roast, chops, and burger now sit on those empty shelves.  In fact ... http://mikeansel.com/2010/01/14/elk-in-the-freezer/ Much has taken place within my immediate family since the last post.  My mentor, friend, and Papa went to be with the Lord several weeks ago.  Hard to believe that Joe Giarmo is no longer around to give me advise and fix my mechanical problems.  I miss our mornings at ... http://mikeansel.com/2009/12/04/ansel-update/ Pictured on the hay wagon is daughter Meghan, Courtney (holding Addisyn) Ava, and Logan.  We do a couple bonfires every year about this time, and I thought of a way to add some excitement for the grandkids.  I used my 4-wheeler trailer and a couple bales of hay so we ... http://mikeansel.com/2009/11/02/precious-cargo/ It's has been ages since I've done a post on this site, so I may not have anyone reading it anyway.  We just got back from a trip to the Upper Peninsula with several of the kids and grand-kids.  We stayed at Gary and Nancy Baldwins beautiful 16 Mile Lake ... http://mikeansel.com/2009/08/06/munising-vacation/ Seem the older I get the more my family tree means to me.  Memorial day and the Normandy Invasion Anniversary (D-Day) just passed, and I'm finding out about some famous, and not so famous heroes in my family tree.  The Ansel's have a long family tradition of serving in the ... http://mikeansel.com/2009/06/10/heros-in-the-family-tree/ Now that turkey season is behind us, watching grand kids play sports is upon us.  Recently my wife and I went to see our granddaughter Ava play "T"-ball.  In the above picture she looks like a pro getting ready to field the ball. The league she plays in (Carleton Mi.) has ... http://mikeansel.com/2009/06/03/summer-baseball-fun/ Six days ago we had a little 5 year old girl, Nevaeh Buchanan, disappear from her apartment complex.  The first day our local newspaper reported on her plight, there was also an article about our prison systems problem with overcrowding.  In this article it stated that the state had no ... http://mikeansel.com/2009/05/29/nevaeh-buchanan/ Webster's dictionary defines memorial as "something that keeps alive the memory of a person or event.  The last Monday in the month of May is the day our country has set aside, to honor our fallen war hero's.  We all need to take time to reflect on what those brave ... http://mikeansel.com/2009/05/24/memorial-day-2009/