Saturday Trial

Poking around looking for a way to do something I discovered that there's a new editor for posting my Blog.  I don't know if it's going to be any better for you or for me, but I do like trying new things.  It makes inserting pictures a lot easier, hopefully it still looks good, really wont know till I try.

Last night Spencer and I finished our week long Monopoly challenge.  I told him I loved him as I drove the lad into bankruptcy, it's called tough love!

Here's a shot of one of the buildings that was near where we stayed while in Haiti.  If you look you can see it was a three story building.  Whenever we were near a building like this, the stench would get very strong.

Right down the street would be another building in great shape.  It made me wonder if it was location, or construction or what.  For example the shot below was take in the previous block.

Have a great day!
Pat

Happy Friday

Well, it's official, the boys are out of school. I always gain weight during the summer because coming home is usually too crazy for me during lunch. Now, with the dog, it's even crazier. Regualar readers will know that last night was my sleep test. Judging by the way I've been dragging around today, I'd say that I failed! Trouble is, who can sleep with 20+ electrodes attached at various places. I know someone is interested in knowing the results, so I'll share them, but it's going to be off line. If anyone else is, let me know and I'll share.

Here's a shot of the local art gallery in Port Au Prince. Behind the wall with the art are some pretty solid tents. Of course, I doubt that I'd call it solid after living in the tent for over 2 months. We did pick up one print, and that's pretty cool! Ian picked it out and all we need to do is get a frame going.


Have a great day!
Pat

Seems approriate

Here in Rockford it's the last week of school, you know, final week. It just seems appropriate that I would be retaking a sleep test during this time. Last fall I took it, merely to humor my lovely wife because she claimed that I snored. Since I am retaking the test, you can probably tell that I failed. It seems that I have Sleep Apnea, which includes snoring but it's that stopping of breathing that really drove Holly crazy. I have since procured a Suad Device, which is a Oral Mandibular Positioning Device, commonly referred to as and O Mad. Follow the link by clicking on the Suad Device above to see what I am talking about. Tonight is a retest to see if that device has stopped or significantly reduced my incidence of Apnea, we'll see.

Here's a shot of some Jewelry that was custom made by a gentleman named Frantz who's a interperator at Hope House, where we stayed. I bought Holly a necklace that looked pretty good and while we were in Haiti buying the necklace she bought herself a red blouse that looks like it was made to match the necklace.


Have a great day!

Dinner with the grown ups

Tonight Holly and I went to dinner at a local country club with the owners of our company and the other directors that I work with. Pretty good dinner, lots of different wines to test. After dinner we went out and had a putting competition. I haven't played golf for over 8 years so I was terrible, but my partner was pretty good, so we ended up in the middle of the pack. There were 4 couples at our table and while the guys worked together the ladies we're as familiar with each other and yet, we had good dinner conversation, where everyone seemed to share a little and the humorous beat out the sad or the sappy. A good night!

Here's a shot of my friend Heather with one of the babies. It was pretty cool how you could pick up any kid and hang out and that was encouraged. I don't remember this one's name, but I'll check with Ian and he'll probably remember.



Have a great day!
Pat

Cooler weather again

Today I was at a customer talking over some projects that are getting ready to go, and while there I realized that I've been to that site 3 times in the past 2 months and it was raining every time I was there. I hope that's not an omen for the business that we're hoping to generate.

Here's a shot of Ian and a 15 year old Haitian, Alex. Ian was showing the finer points of using a Tech Deck finger board. The black line in front of Ian is a mini skate board that's about 2 feet off the ground as he's performing a trick. Pretty cool how they entertained them selves even though they spoke Creole and Ian spoke English. Just barely visible on the bottom of the shot is Daveed, Alex's younger brother. The three got along great, when we'd return for the day, we'd hear the boys yelling, "Hey, Ian!" Once the truck was parked they'd go off and hang out.


Have a great day!
Pat

Happy Birthday David! June 8th is the date!

Here's a Birthday Shout Out to my Brother David. He's a great guy that's been there for me more often than I'd like to recall.

The photo montage is in honor of him, his sense of family and my sense of humor.

Here's an early shot with Grandma Ames and John

This is just with John, same vintage as above.

Here's an uncomplementary shot of Dave, but take a look at how good I look!

Here we Young Boys are in the Ames backyard with our wheels, John had 2 wheels, I had 3 wheels and David had 4 wheels. We were awesome.

But wait, it doens't stop with wheels, here we are with guns!

Here are the few school shots that I got scanned in. Kinda cute wasn't he, in a Danny Bonaduce sort of way.

If you're a follower, this is another that I've used before. But focus on David's look, the tight t shirt, the athletic build, he was a scary guy!

Family photo at the Holiday Inn, some can do silly, some can't.

Just to prove that we can dress up, actually, this was at Dad Young's funeral.

Last winter sledding in Crystal Lake

Dave and Judy at Tom's 50th Birthday

That's about it, if you get a chance, go ahead and spam his in box!

Have a great birthday David, I wish you the very best.

Pat

Happy Sunday!

Awesome weekend here! Some of the highlights were; canoeing the Rogue River Saturday morning and then dinner with friends; Sunday was church (back to being in the Fort with my 2nd and 3rd graders and we had fun!!) and then a friend of the boys over and putting together a new grill, followed that up with hot dogs on the grill. We usually cook hot dogs on a new grill, I know it seems kind of silly, but I'd just as soon learn the new hot spots on a low cost meal, not steaks.

Here's a few more shots from our trip to Haiti. Both of these were taken while riding in the back of the pick up truck. What an awesome way to see the city of Port Au Prince. First up is Ian sitting next to David (pronounce Da Veed) Ian and this boy and hi s older brother really got along great. They played soccer and hung out. It was a good release for Ian since parts of the trip were pretty difficult.

This is the road to the house that we stayed at. It looks pretty normal but the road was killer bumpy. The flowers were awesome though and the people were 95% friendly waving and saying hello in Creole.



Have a great day!
Pat