Setting Up the Christmas Tree

We set up the tree today

We Voted!

Three generations voted early this year: Grandma Claeys, Nicholas and Christy

18-year-old Nicholas

Grandma Claeys and Nicholas

Campaign News

CAMPAIGN NEWS

We've had some memorable experiences over the last 11 months while helping out a few candidates as they set their sights on a November 2nd win! We've been able to pool our efforts and work with a great bunch of volunteers who care about their elected leaders. As we enter the homestretch, we're doing a final post. Hopefully, our next post will include news/photos of wins for our candidates! Much of our work has been behind-the-scenes:

daily internet work;

videotaping/editing; 

financial accounting; 

attending events/rallies/debates; 

phone banking;

going door to door, passing out literature; 

and making connections with people we know, on behalf of the candidates.

John has spent unending hours researching the internet and making sure he's up to date on internet/social media news, trying to maintain public awareness of the important campaign issues.
Though under paid and overworked... You do a great job, John!

We have particularly enjoyed working as a family on the Tim Wesco campaign. He's running for State Representative of Indiana's District 21. Tim is a fine example of the type of man we need in government!

 Some pictures of the Wesco campaign:

 

Joshua going door to door

  

John going door to door

Tim  Wesco - Candidate for Indiana's House District 21

Noah and Gabe

Nicholas and Nicole

Lawrence

Lawrence and Zack

Logan

 We always fill the room on phone banking nights!

  Noah Emery (yellow shirt) runs the Victory Center in Mishawaka. He's the perfect guy for the job!

Thanks for all your hard work and your great attitude, Noah!

It will all be over on November 2nd -- See you at the Polls!

Busy!

We haven't done a post in... a long time!
We've been super busy helping out a couple local political campaigns. Noah was even featured in a recent MSNBC article! You can check it out right here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39778934/ns/politics-decision_2010/

The best way to keep up with us is to friend Nicholas or John on Facebook. www.facebook.com/ndhanlon and www.facebook.com/jugglingwj

Don't forget to vote on November 2!

"The ballot is stronger than the bullet" - Abraham Lincoln

Noah - 1st Place at Indiana State Fair

Noah's Winning Camouflage Duffel Bag
Noah's duffel bag won a 1st Place Blue Ribbon at the Indiana State Fair. We were thrilled! The bag has padding, and it's reinforced on the bottom. Extra sturdy---It's a perfect bag for traveling. Congratulations, Noah!

 

Cheesy Laughing with Grandma Claeys

 

Great Job, Noah!

2010 VACATION WRAPUP

Some final thoughts about our July 2010 vacation:

1) Thank you, Lord, for keeping us safe and healthy and providing for our needs.

2) Thank you, John, for keeping up the blog. You stayed up late many nights, choosing photos and completing a blog post for each day.

3) Thank you to our five teens, who took 99% of the photos so we could preserve these memories!

4) Thank you to each of you who took time to comment and email, encouraging us along the way.

5) Highest Gas Price: $2.65/gallon at home in Indiana, as we left town on July 16th! Who'd have figured that??

6) Funniest comment we heard throughout the 17 days...

As we all got out of the van one day, a lady asked, "Are you in some kind of contest to see how many people you can fit into one vehicle?"

7) Total Miles Traveled: 2,680

8) Total Water Consumption for our 7 people: Not sure but it must have been at least 500 gallons!

9) Hottest Temperature: 109 degrees in Virginia!

10) Cost of all hotels: Other than a discounted rate for the resort in Tennessee (a friend owns it), we didn't pay a penny for any of our hotels--not even the tax! We used points we'd earned!

**Inexpensive Vacation but Priceless Memories**

DAY SEVENTEEN: OUR FINAL DAY - August 1

We started our day near Pittsburgh, ate a great cooked-to-order breakfast at our hotel, then drove two hours to Akron, OH.

We had a wonderful 3-hour visit with Don "Pick" and Barb Dillahunt, childhood friends of Tim's parents and subsequent friends of our family. They were very hospitable, providing us with a snack, including cookies Don had made! We looked at lots of old pictures while Don told us stories about the old days when he and Tim's dad drove race cars. The 48-star American flag is from Don's cousin's casket; he was a WWII vet who died in 1945.

We drove home from Akron, OH, arriving at 10:30 PM. This has been another wonderful vacation to add to our list of family memories! Everyone in the van was talking about our next vacation, planning which states we'll visit and the most suitable dates. Thanks for following us as we visited many great locations in our nation.

DAY SIXTEEN - July 31

How could a nation work so hard to gain independence, only to divide itself less than 100 years later, resulting in so many deaths? On this vacation, we've visited sites that tell the story of our nation's birth; and now we've visited Gettysburg, the site of a horrendous battle between states, families and friends. We pray that our nation will turn to the Lord and that our leaders will look to Him for guidance.

We spent a final day in Gettysburg, visiting a few places we missed yesterday. We bought some items to add to Noah's Civil War collection. We visited a T-shirt shop that sells shirts as big as size 6X. That's a huge shirt!

We stopped at Gettysburg College, Aunt Tina's alma mater.

We spent awhile at the site of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

This evening, we drove to Coraopolis, PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh. We're staying at Embassy Suites tonight, our last night away from home. We're all sad to be going home. This happens every time we travel; it's tough to go home when there are so many wonderful places to visit!

DAY FIFTEEN - July 30

We spent the day at Gettysburg, PA today. We love Gettysburg but haven't been here for several years. After checking out today's ranger-led programs at the Visitor Center, we were ready to go. We chose to drive our vehicle around the battlefield, listening to the audio CD as we go. The tour was supposed to take 2.5 hours, but our family took 6 hours! We walked some trails, read many markers and stayed at a few places for almost an hour. We got in on a ranger-led tour at High Water (where Pickett's Charge took place). What an educational, interesting place! We'll return there tomorrow before leaving town in the evening.

Pennsylvania Monument

Photo Taken at Little Round Top

A monument honoring Indiana's soldiers at Gettysburg

DAY FOURTEEN - July 29

On our way to Harrisburg, we stopped in King of Prussia (yes, that's a city in PA) so we could visit two stores in their mall. The Lego store was, as always, a hit with our kids. The older guys spent awhile in the Apple Store, checking out their latest techy stuff, but not purchasing anything. That satisfied our shopping desire for this vacation.

We then drove to Harrisburg, PA to tour the Capitol. There was quite a lot of gold plating in some of the rooms. We were surprised to see so much dark paint in the rooms. We've been to many Capitols across the country, and the color schemes are usually light-colored and airy. Our timing, on vacations, is often right-on. We just happened to be visiting the Capitol on the weekly date/time that Civil War re-enactors walk around and chat with visitors. That was great!

The letters in this painting spell

 Love

 Law

Wisdom

Can you find it?

After our tour, we drove to Lancaster, PA to watch a performance of Joseph at Sight & Sound Theatre. Wow! What a fantastic performance! With our interest in drama, sound and lighting, all seven of us were in awe. We discussed the musical during the drive to our Harrisburg hotel afterward. This led to a theological discussion about whether Joseph was innocently telling his dreams to his family or being conceited. This is an age-old argument that our family of seven will certainly not be able to settle. Tim has been doing most of the driving on this trip, but Nicholas drove this evening.

We're staying at SpringHill Suites in Harrisburg for two nights. This hotel is only 10 months old -- pristine and state-of-the-art. Admittance to a room only requires waving the room card in front of the room's scanner. The guest laundry has a high efficiency washer and top-notch dryer. The indoor pool even has a waterfall!