The Block Family

Liz's quad monitor work station

2011-03-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

Pretty sure she could direct a war from here.

Sent via BlackBerry

Family Time

2010-08-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

Sent via BlackBerry

Trip to Sanibel Island, Florida

2009-05-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

A day on an uninhabited island: it was so beautiful!

Dan and Sarah (far right) with Sarah's whole family.

Like father, like son!!!

2009-04-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

Just chillin' out ...

2009-04-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

New couch?

2009-04-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

This is our old blue and white couch with a slipcover and pillows that
mom recovered for me. Isn't it such a change! :)

**I would also like to officially apologize for the lack of house
pics. Right now we are scheduled to get internet on the 22nd, but I
broke my camera in FL... So.. the best I can do is cell pics for now.
More to follow. **

Spring street in Washington

2009-04-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

_________________
Sent via BlackBerry

Short haired boy!

2009-03-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

Check out Will's new cut! Thanks Mima! :)

The most beautiful city

2009-03-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

_________________
Sent via BlackBerry

The Important Thing

2009-03-06T04:43:00.001-08:00

When you are two and very cool, it is of supreme importance to make
sure you have ALL your favorite trucks AND your pink bottle of juice
in the back of your bike for easy access.

Some of the real cousins with their Dad

2009-03-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

_________________
Sent via BlackBerry

Congratulations Jonny and Sara

2009-03-04T07:37:00.000-08:00

on your engagement! We are all very happy for you both, and are looking forward to the Block family expanding to include another special person! Much love to you both!! :)

Our painting

2009-02-16T07:28:00.001-08:00

On Valentine's Day, Dan and I took a couple's painting class. This is
the result, which I am really happily surprised by!! It was really
quite fun. I did the sky and Dan did the water. It was supposed to be
the lake the night he proposed to me, but I think it looks more like
the ocean... But whatever! We had fun! :)

2009-02-09T17:51:00.000-08:00

What did the lion say after it ate a clown?

That tasted funny!

_________________
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I'm a real big quadder

2009-02-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

_________________
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Look what we got!!

2009-02-04T06:48:00.000-08:00

We just got this train table, tracks, and trains-- for $60!! It is
super popular around here. (Shelley, we're not in the R2D2 stage quite
yet...) :)

2009-01-29T08:55:00.001-08:00

Folks, Sara works at an organization that works to bring kids up to
grade level in reading and math through targeted, aggressive
after-school tutoring. She's been at the organization for one
semester. Recently, she gave some of her students diagnostic tests.
The results are below. (As you read them, keep in mind that these
kids see tutors for just a few hours a week and they've only been at
it for one semester.)

Of the 6 children tested in reading comprehension:
2 moved forward one-and-a-half grade levels
1 moved ahead one full grade level
2 moved ahead half a grade level
and 1 made no growth

Of the 3 children tested on word recognition:
1 moved forward 2 grade levels
2 moved forward 1 grade level

Mega props to Sara!

_________

www.theflatcousins.blogspot.com

New Blog!

2009-01-29T07:51:00.001-08:00

Fam,

I am starting a new blog devoted to the adventures of the Flat Cousins. They traveled with me all over the country during the campaign trail and their adventures were posted to the family blog, but I thought now that the elections are over and I am trying to move to St. Louis, I'd let the cousins have their very own blog.

The website is www.theflatcousins.blogspot.com

Mark it today and be sure to subscribe so you can get all of our posts!

_________________
Sent via BlackBerry

Will and monkey in matching fur vests by Mima!

2009-01-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

Beautiful red door

2009-01-18T10:45:00.000-08:00

South City, StL.

_________________
Sent via BlackBerry

2009-01-14T19:12:00.000-08:00

And Happy SEVENTH birthday to Noah!!!!!

I love you, buddy! May the Lord bless and keep you for another year (and many, many more!).
love kak

Two Beautiful girls

2009-01-14T12:04:00.000-08:00

We miss you Cha and can't wait to see you in Feb or March! I love you, babe.

Christmas at the Block's

2009-01-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

Uncle Jonny nearly herniates as Luke crawls on top of the 1 million dollar table.

Buddies: Noah and Will

8 out of 10 grandkids--prior to Kak and John's arrival

Pictures of the Blocks

2009-01-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

2009-01-14T11:28:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of pages from our profile that features the family.
I love you guys.
Duke
P.S. Happy 7th birthday to Noah, our sweet fearless leader of the grandchildren! I love thee buddy and I'm very proud of thee and the young man thee's becoming. Thanks for being such a great big cousin to thy younger cousins. I'm glad they have thee to look up to.

Saras parents holding the flat cousins

2008-12-23T20:03:00.000-08:00

_________________
Sent via BlackBerry

Christmas in Washington

2008-12-16T18:18:00.000-08:00

The Flat Cousins celebrated Christmas with Aunt Jeannie and me at the White House this year.

America's finest

2008-12-16T18:15:00.000-08:00

The Flat Cousins (not pictured here) visited the home of some of America's finest heroes today in a visit to the Pentagon in Arlington, VA.

Family meeting!

2008-12-11T20:03:00.000-08:00

The Flat Cousins meet their first cousin twice removed (my first cousin once removed), CB Elkington and her husband, Duane, in Boiling Springs, PA.

CB and I emailed all campaign season long and she was kind enough to invite me over for a delicious dinner as I drove from Bear Creek to DC. It was great to see her again and meet Duane.

Cozy on a cold day

2008-12-11T09:45:00.000-08:00

The flat cousins enjoy hot chocolate and cookies made by Miga/Mima at one of the cabins in Bear Creek, PA.

My friends Grant and Christy

2008-12-07T17:06:00.000-08:00

With the flat cousins in Bellefonte, PA

Caleb wears Uncle Jon's jacket

2008-12-06T15:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Dirf-bay to Maffew D!

2008-12-02T18:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Dirfbay, Maffew-D!!

So, tomorrow, December 3, around 0700, our little Maffew D is going to be 1. I can't believe it. My labor with him was easy and fast (literally 3.5 hrs), and from then on out, he's been a pleasant, sweet addition to our family. What a freakin' blessing he is--I couldn't imagine our lives without him.

Thank you JESUS for the gifts of my children. I am SOOO blessed.

PS Caleb wants to be called "Maffew D"; he thinks that if he is called that, he'll get the cake and candles! :)

2008-11-28T17:12:00.000-08:00

hey family,
i was showing jake the pics of my family and he said nice things. he think that Jonny and Danny look alike and its so weird for me to even see that...... i couldn't see it b/c i grew up with them could always tell them apart............
anyway, we are just relaxing and enjoying thankgiving. jake will be getting ready for his deployment soon and will be going to FL for his training, so not bad at all!!! i am actually really jealous b/c i wanted to go there..........
anyway, work is getting really busy but it will be nice since our breaks will be coming up.... i won't be coming home for Christmas b/c their are people in my office that are taking off and i won't be able to....... anyway, i miss everyone and i miss my neices and nephews............. send them my love and will talk to you guys later.....
Love you,
Cha

Primanti Bros part II

2008-11-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

So Flat Pharoah so enjoyed his stein at Primanti Bros in Pittsburgh last month that he came back for a redux. And this time he brought my girlfriend! See the pictures for evidence.

Funny Caleb-isms

2008-11-23T18:20:00.001-08:00

So, today we did the Operation Christmas Child (the shoebox project through Samaritan's Purse.). It was with great angst that Caleb gave the shoebox over at the drop-off church, aka "shoebox church".. He really wanted the cars inside.

However, when we were on our way home from church, we saw a desk at the end of someone's driveway--a sturdy Little Tykes kid desk, complete with a lamp, lots and lots of room, nooks and crannies and drawers for different projects, drinks, paper and crayons etc. Perfect gift from God for a little boy who gave over some much-wanted cars. :) I'll post a pic soon. He LOVES it. It's just perfect for him.

Tonight, I was telling him how much I loved him, and I asked him if he knew where he came from. Without missing a beat, he said, "Shoebox!" John and I laughed and laughed. :)

My New Haircut

2008-11-15T14:03:00.001-08:00

By request of Duke, here I am with my new 'do!
I just ran in from the car in the pouring rain, so it's a little damp. :)

Steal of a Deal

2008-11-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

We got three sinks exactly like this one for $100 (total)! These are granite tops with nice faucets. I found them on Craig's list. They were previously used in the 5-star Hotel Raphael on the Plaza and they are currently updating all of their bathrooms. We are also updating our bathrooms, so we're really excited to be able to put in new granite tops.

2008-11-08T20:07:00.001-08:00

Yay, I'm finally a full-fledged member of this blog and can post on it just like the big guys... thanks, Corey!

Since Dan's brain injury...

2008-11-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

We have discovered that he has a new appreciation for flora and fauna.

Headed to grandma's for the weekend

2008-11-07T12:51:00.000-08:00

Ruby Mtns NV

2008-11-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

November 6

2008-11-06T08:37:00.000-08:00

I have a few thoughts on the election I'd like to share here.

I do not feel sad over Senator McCain's loss. I don't feel anguish. On Tuesday evening, I felt the kind of muted grief you feel after hearing that a distant relative has died after a long fight with cancer. It's a grief that is easily routed, perhaps by a glass of Argentine malbec or an interesting conversation. I had that feeling for about an hour. And then it was overcome as pride in America welled up. Pride in the levels of civic participation we saw on election day, pride that our country had shown again we will continue forming a more perfect union, even conquering shameful undercurrents of racism along the way.

In sum, I am proud to be an American. Proud I was involved in the civic process, proud to have served a good President and his wife, proud to have served true patriots in Senator McCain and Governor Palin. And enormously proud of America for electing a good and decent man in President-elect Obama. I look forward to seeing how he will govern.

(As an aside, this is the most I have written publicly about politics in over four years.)

(As another aside, I remember when I was working at the White House in the fall of 2004, on the day after election day, my colleague Nina and I were called upon to gather the telephone number for Senator-elect Obama, which we did in a hurry. The President wished to call him to congratulate him.)

election night coverage..

2008-11-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

Jonny--I want to tell you that I think you've done a GREAT job the past few months working for McCain. I am just SO proud of you. I hope you're enjoying these last few hours of working for the McCain campaign. Live it up. You deserve it. And, tomorrow, as you get on your flight to go back to DC (no home), just know that your family absolutely loves you.

In other news, I am so distracted tonight! I'm trying to study, but it's hard not to keep refreshing cnn.com...

love you guys!
kak

The flat cousins

2008-11-03T13:37:00.000-08:00

Help with build out and order lunch in Elko, Nevada. Flat Obama couldn't make it to lunch, as he was busy manning a phone bank.

Post from Dan

2008-11-03T06:25:00.000-08:00

The photo below captures a disturbing trend that is beginning to affect wildlife in the US .

Animals that were formerly self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democratic Party... as they have apparently learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide for their care and sustenance. This photo is of a Democrat black bear in Montana nicknamed 'Bearack Obama'!

Fall pics

2008-11-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

This is of Caleb, in his "Pooh Bear" outfit. He had a Halloween parade at preschool, and THANKFULLY, we'd gotten a costume from some friends in a clothing box years ago. I kept it, on a lark, thinking that maybe we'd use it for something like this (for some reason, I'm loathe to go out and buy a costume). Anyway, Caleb loved it, and he was laughing hysterically, so I had to snap the pic. :)

John and I got away for an overnight last week. We hiked in the Hocking Hills (our most fun hike EVER!) and just generally had a good time. We spent the night in Columbus, and I went to clinicals the next day. It was great to get away.

I got a fall pic of the boys. They are too cute. :) Caleb calls 'pumpkins' 'punnin's'. So, he's holding a big 'punnin'.

Mr. Matthew is getting so big! Here he is on Caleb's (almost too small) car, and obviously, he's loving it! :)

Dan's first steak since August!

2008-11-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

Voting!

2008-11-01T06:49:00.000-07:00

Gentle readers:

First, we have two new flat travelers to introduce: "Neutral Flat Nobama Nomccain Dayton Flyer not Straight Talk Express but a Plane Because of Dayton's Rich Aviation History" and "Flat Obama."

The first is a contribution of Caleb and Matthew; the second a contribution from Mom. (The blogger appreciates the ease with which the latter flat cousin's name can be thumbed on a blackberry, especially compared to the former.)

The second bit of news is that all 5 of the flat travelers helped Uncle Jon vote today. Emotions ran high and not surprisingly, there were a number of disagreements.

Flat Rocket suggested I abstain because neither ticket will invest enough in NASA. The rocket said it was disappointed by the lack of space-based leadership and leaked drops of oil from its windshield as it told me it might never see its dream of flying to Mars.

Flat Pharoah said he just didn't understand why we need elections at all. "There's something so wonderful about absolute power," he said. "Monarchies work out so nicely for the royalty."

Flat Obama's suggestion isn't hard to guess. He also suggested I use a ball point pen to mark the ballot. Then he suggested inkjet instead of ball point. Then he suggested a Sharpe instead of inkjet. When asked about the changes he said, "Change! Change is what we need, and change is coming!" When pressed, he said, "America can hope again." Stymied, the blogger stopped asking questions.

Neutral Flat Nobama Nomccain Dayton Flyer not Straight Talk Express but a Plane Because of Dayton's Rich Aviation History told me the most patriotic thing to do would be to vote for both candidates, thereby ensuring I vote for a historic ticket no matter who wins. When this confused voter suggested that might invalidate the ballot, the flat traveler kindly told me to go to hell. Asked where he learned such language he said, "Aunt Kak."

Flat Nobama Baby Doll's suggestion isn't hard to guess either. When questioned about Governor Palin's relative newness on the political scene, she said, "She can see Russia from her house!" Asked why that mattered, she winked and said, "let me get back atcha.". The blogger stopped asking questions.

TSA!

2008-11-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

The flat cousins enjoy a trip through security at the Salt Lake City Airport!

Bridges

2008-10-29T19:11:00.001-07:00

Here Flat Nobama Baby Doll, Flat Pharoah, and Flat Rocket explore a bridge in Pittsburgh. Flat Pharoah, contemplating the fall of the Egyptian empire, nearly jumped into the waters below. Flat Nobama Baby Doll convinced him not to by singing about the benefits of Senator McCain's tax plan.

Look what we woke up to this morning!!

2008-10-28T06:18:00.001-07:00

Go Chiefs!

2008-10-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

From the game last weekend...

Fall Pics with the Springfield Block Babies...

2008-10-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we hung out in the yard and snapped some pics of the kiddos....

Flat Rocket and Flat Pharoah's Long Journey

2008-10-26T22:05:00.001-07:00

As regular readers might have noticed, Flat Pharoah and Flat Rocket took a several week hiatus from this blog. It was not their fault, it was this writer's fault. He left them in St. Louis several weeks ago.

For those who might be tracking the progress of the little flat guys, their journey is detailed here for the very first time.

Late September: flat guys are left behind at a friend's house in St. Louis. They are mailed from Ladue to Hillsboro, where they miss me by 2 days. Dad mails them to Sara's address in Washington, DC, where they miss me by 3 days. Sara mails them to Des Moines. I picked them up there and they have resumed life on the campaign trail.

Now they are in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Making Friends!

2008-10-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

Flat Rocket, Flat Pharoah, and Flat Nobama Baby Doll make friends with Gene and Marilee at Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh.

Flat Nobama Baby Doll pledged allegiance to the Steelers, but Pharoah and Rocket rooted for the Chiefs and Eagles, respectively.

Also, Pharoah could be seen occasionally sipping a stein. Contents thereof are unclear to the writer.

Loves it

2008-10-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Breaking News! Flat Nobama Baby Doll, Flat Pharoah, and Flat Rocket are reunited!

2008-10-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

After a long separation and many miles of travel (which is another post by itself), the flat nieces and nephews are back together again.

Here they are enjoying a sign painting party in Des Moines, Iowa. After lots of hard work, they are resting on a sign painted by a supporter named Craig.

Flat Nobama Baby Doll

2008-10-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Buys coffee in downtown Des Moines, Iowa at Java Joe's.

thoughts by jesse and shanee on election

2008-10-23T05:02:00.001-07:00

Jesse and Shanee (missionaries in Nepal) that we know from Truman State had something to say about the election. If you are interested go here.

Dan's ATV accident

2008-10-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

Andrew reconstructed Dan's accident. There are some pictures and a video.

The view from the dip (where the accident started). You can see where Dan ended up.

Dan apparently attempted to slow down before the dip as seen by the skid marks right before the dip (also known as the oh $%&* moment).

This shows roughly where the skid marks ended and where Dan ended up (roughly the distance he was thrown from the quad).

A view of dan (the fish) and the ATV at where they ended up ... although realistically the fish would be on its back ... and the fish would have some messed up teeth.

Just another view of where Dan (fish) and his ATV (wagon) ended up.

A view from where Dan was. That is Jon standing in the dip where the accident started.

Andrew's accident reconstruction video. Good work Andrew!

If you can't see the pictures go here.

The whole family is thankful you are alive and getting better.

Our bear friend

2008-10-22T13:57:00.001-07:00

Visits the kids' slide.

Flat Nobama Baby Doll rents a car!

2008-10-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

In Des Moines, Iowa.

Announcement

2008-10-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

My friends, I do not joke when I tell you that I travel with a baby blue neck pillow clipped to a belt loop.

Bear Video

2008-10-22T05:12:00.001-07:00

Here is the link to the short video Abby shot of the bear visiting us the other day. It's very short, but if you can see the final screenshot, he stops with both paws up on the windows! (BTW, Hallie is still scared at night, while the boys think this is all amazingly cool. :))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdyvHKaZ8Ro

Check out this crowd

2008-10-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

This much I can say

2008-10-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

And I am *proud* to be an American!

(Lee Greenwood is on the left singing in American flag jacket.)

The view from up high

2008-10-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas, Nevada

Notes from the Road

2008-10-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about this job is getting to walk onto the tarmac of airports all over the country and look at planes. I like taking interesting pictures of them. The attached photo is of a small private jet at Lunken Air Field in Cinci. Another photo is of sunset at Las Vegas International Airport.

On that note, I am in Vegas this week. We started our stay here by overnighting at the Luxor (the big pyramid on the strip), which was an absolute dump. Nappy carpet, decades-old bedding, no wireless internet, reeked of smoke, etc. Disgusting.

We switched to a Hampton Inn in nearby Henderson and I have been very pleased. The carpet feels new (no squishy liquid underfoot), the bedding is *white*, clean, and high quality. And the room doesn't smell like the Las Vegas girl scout troop held their most recent weenie roast in it.

Here are the pics (still working on the mobile posting)...

2008-10-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

Nathie wanted to have something painted on his face, too

2008-10-18T19:36:00.001-07:00

Joel Sent from my iPhone

Our resident pharaoh

2008-10-18T19:35:00.001-07:00

Getting ready to give his speech...

Joel Sent from my iPhone

Dan's 1st soda in 6 weeks!!

2008-10-17T09:43:00.001-07:00

(pardon the tongue. He is being a pain--shocking, I know-- and won't
cooperate for the picture.)

More Scenes from Summer 2008

2008-10-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

Scenes from Summer Vacation 2008

2008-10-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Richard!!

2008-10-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

Doesn't Danny look happy to be with me?
"Smile Richard!!"

I love thee Danny and am so grateful that thee's alive to enjoy thy 31st birthday. Please do take care of thyself in the future. Have a great birthday!

Danny's turn

2008-10-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday, Danny.
I'm just so thankful thee's alive. I had a dream last night that thee'd died, and I woke up because my body hurt from crying so hard in my dream. Sounds crazy, but true. I began to wail (in my dream) because I didn't want to lose the brother that was my protector in highschool... The thought of that just killed me.

So, thanks for being my defender. I love thee so much.

Happy birthday. Thank GOD thee's alive.

PS Thanks for the walnut! :)
Ok--who's next?

Introducing Flat Baby doll!

2008-10-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

Here is flat baby doll held by my good friend Jocelyn in Cincinnati, Ohio!

Thanks Abby and Lukey Boy!

Taking the trash can back to the house for mama

2008-10-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

... He insisted on doing this by.him.self. What a big not-quite-two-
yr-old!! :)

Who needs a stroller...

2008-10-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

Out for a walk

2008-10-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ummm, Dad pruned the redbud.

2008-10-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

Sara. Mom and Dads pond.

2008-10-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

Remember When...

2008-10-11T18:00:00.001-07:00

2008-10-10T16:51:00.001-07:00

I have two BlackBerries. I just dropped one in the toilet.

Now I have only have one.

Lock and Dam 15

2008-10-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

Davenport, Iowa

Heading out

2008-10-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

For a late afternoon mule ride. :)

Post Script

2008-10-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

The rally yesterday was very successful. The fire marshal closed the doors after 8,800 had entered; many were turned away. The Governor whipped up the crowd like dad whips boiled potatos. At one point she was yelled at by a protester. She stopped her speech, leaned on the podium as she turned to the left and said, "Ya know sir, my son's fighting in Iraq right now so you have the right to yell like that." The crowd went wild and the rowdy man piped down for a while. It reminded me of the time mom confronted Mr. Branch.

After the rally, we motorcaded to the airport so the Governor could fly to the next city. When we got there, it was POURING rain. I jumped onto the tarmac and directed the bus and van carrying the press corps as close to the air stairs as possible, to ensure the press wouldn't get wet as they boarded. In the meantime, the rain soaked through all of my clothes.

After changing, I realized I missed my flight to Moline, IL, so instead I flew to DC for the night via Charlotte. (Charlotte has a great yogurt stand in the airport food court, FYI.) Arrived DC at 11:00pm. Left DC at 11:00am. Now in Atlanta, en route Moline. Should get there by 2:15pm.

Over and out.

(Late) Happy Birthday to Joel

2008-10-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hey, guys--
Since we haven't been able to do the "go around the table and say what you like about the birthday person" for most anybody in a long time, I thought we could do it on the blog.. That way we can get EVERYBODY, and not just those whose birthdays happen to fall near a Block family get-together.

So, I'm going to start Joel's (even though it's late; better now than never!).. anybody who wants to is welcome to chime in after me--
kak

Joel. First of all, I can't believe thee's 33. That's crazy. Anyway, what I wanted to say is this: What I love about thee is thy committment to honesty. I remember when thee was a senior in college and thee'd gotten thy first laptop. Somebody offered to give thee a burnt version of Microsoft Office software, and thee said no because, even though nobody else would know, that would have been stealing. That was impressive, and it stuck with me. There's so much more that I love about thee, but that's something that I've noticed for a long time and wanted to thank thee for... so thanks.

I love thee. Happy birthday. I hope it was a good one.

kak

The event goes live

2008-10-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Wanna-be

2008-10-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

We're at the dr. this am for Dan's sore tooth. Tristan got two
stickers and apparently thinks he should be seen by the dr. as well. :)

Game Day is Here!

2008-10-06T04:59:00.000-07:00

And buildout is done

A Typical Week

2008-10-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

Kak suggested that I write out what a typical day or week looks like for me. So here's the last week.

Last Saturday (9/28): spent the night at Kak and John's with Dad and Joel in Dayton, Ohio

Last Sunday: Drove from Dayton to Columbus at 6:30 am for buildout in Columbus, which lasted til 12:30 am the next day. Overnight in Columbus.

Monday: Got to the Columbus airport at 8:15 am. The Senator and the Governor arrived at 11am. That afternoon I flew to St Louis via Chicago. Got stuck in Chicago for 5 hours. Dad picks me up in StL at 11:30pm. Overnight at mom and dads.

Tuesday: Spent the day in Hillsboro visiting old friends.

Wednesday: Breakfast at the Wieses in St Louis; brunch with Dad; lunch with NateD. Fly to Fort Myers via Atlanta. Overnight in Fort Myers.

Thursday: Walk thrus at a local university arena in Ft Myers.

Friday: More walk thrus.

Saturday: Walk thrus. Paperwork.

Sunday (today): Buildout begins at 8:30 am. (See previous post). Will last all day.

This is what they call "build out".

2008-10-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

Today I am in Fort Myers, Florida. There will be a rally with the Governor here on Monday. We have rented a big ice hockey arena (seats 9,000) and today we are doing "build-out," which means we are setting up for the rally tomorrow.

As you can see in the picture, we have brought in a vendor who will hang lights and speakers from the ceiling (all currently arrayed on the floor). The little stage that you can see in the back is actually the main press riser. The press will stand there and shoot towards the end of the arena in the foreground, where a stage will be built.

Tomorrow, the arena will be packed full of people excited about seeing the Governor. I will post photos then too.

Yeah, We Rock. :)

2008-10-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

Mom, Anna and I ran a 5k last weekend. It was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad we did it.

Our medals were awarded as follows:

Sarah: 1st place in the 20-29 age group
Mom: 2nd place in the 50-59 age group
Anna: 3rd place in the 15-19 age group

Oh yeah.... Anna beat mom and I by about 15 minutes, (she finished in 24+ min., and was also running against a local public high cross-country team. So she actually earned her medal.) Mom and I finished in 40:30. It really helped that I was the only one running in my age group... lol! No faster way to win a medal!

Dad working away at the dishes while mom's gone in PA.

2008-10-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

I will say, in all seriousness, that Dad has done a great job of keeping the house very clean in Mom's absence.

Flat Rocket and Flat Pharoah meet the candidates!

2008-10-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

Held by my buddies John-David and Elizabeth Wiese.

Storytime

2008-10-01T15:11:00.001-07:00

Here is princess Hallie, doing her favorite thing ever (reading), with
an eager audience making the deal even sweeter. :)

Ps: Joel, now that thee has an iPhone, I expect pics of thy three to
start showing up regularly!!!

Mom and Hallie and Will's soccer game

2008-10-01T15:10:00.001-07:00

Submitted by Dan.

Corn

2008-09-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

The Block Family

Liz's quad monitor work station

Family Time

Trip to Sanibel Island, Florida

Like father, like son!!!

Just chillin' out ...

New couch?

Spring street in Washington

Short haired boy!

The *most* beautiful city

The Important Thing

Some of the real cousins with their Dad

Congratulations Jonny and Sara

Our painting

I'm a real big quadder

Look what we got!!

New Blog!

Will and monkey in matching fur vests by Mima!

Beautiful red door

Two Beautiful girls

Christmas at the Block's

Pictures of the Blocks

Saras parents holding the flat cousins

Christmas in Washington

America's finest

Family meeting!

Cozy on a cold day

My friends Grant and Christy

Caleb wears Uncle Jon's jacket

Happy Dirf-bay to Maffew D!

Primanti Bros part II

Funny Caleb-isms

My New Haircut

Steal of a Deal

Since Dan's brain injury...

Headed to grandma's for the weekend

Ruby Mtns NV

November 6

election night coverage..

The flat cousins

Post from Dan

Fall pics

Dan's first steak since August!

Voting!

TSA!

Bridges

Look what we woke up to this morning!!

Go Chiefs!

Fall Pics with the Springfield Block Babies...

Flat Rocket and Flat Pharoah's Long Journey

Making Friends!

Loves it

Breaking News! Flat Nobama Baby Doll, Flat Pharoah, and Flat Rocket are reunited!

Flat Nobama Baby Doll

thoughts by jesse and shanee on election

Dan's ATV accident

Our bear friend

Flat Nobama Baby Doll rents a car!

Announcement

Bear Video

Check out this crowd

This much I can say

The view from up high

Notes from the Road

Here are the pics (still working on the mobile posting)...

Nathie wanted to have something painted on his face, too

Our resident pharaoh

Dan's 1st soda in 6 weeks!!

More Scenes from Summer 2008

Scenes from Summer Vacation 2008

Happy Birthday Richard!!

Danny's turn

Introducing Flat Baby doll!

Taking the trash can back to the house for mama

Who needs a stroller...

Out for a walk

Ummm, Dad pruned the redbud.

Sara. Mom and Dads pond.

Remember When...

Lock and Dam 15

The most beautiful city