Hitting the Links

• Rocki seems to have gotten back in the swing of blogging. Her new series about her prison journal is a must read series.
  
  
• I don't think Shelley's recent post about Mary Kay postcards could be classified as sweet, but it's pretty funny. And anything that saves someone 50% off the regular price is a great idea in my book.
  
  
• I love reminiscing on my childhood. That's just what Rob's recent post about toys he misses made me do.
  
  
• Mandi wrote about a trip her family took to Yosemite. It made me want to go there and climb Half Dome.

A Dozen Recent Pictures

Makenna reading in the driveway

Coming home from VBS
Makenna and Kylee are showing their concern about a spider
in the van - Kaciee, not so much.

Cousins from near and far at the Nappanee Junior Olympics on the 4th of July
Makenna brought home a first place ribbon in the long jump and second place in the 50 yard dash.

My dad and I watching the 4th of July parade in Nappanee.

Our kids, along with their cousins and friends have been working on digging a giant hole behind our shed this summer.

Kylee, Makenna and Abby playing human foosball at family camp

Our family camp cabin

Makenna on the water slide at family camp

My father-in-law getting blobbed

Coming home from family camp

Kylee and Makenna arriving at Prairie Camp

Prairie Camp

Faces at the Fair

MSNBC.com had a booth at the Elkhart County Fair last week. During the week they took pictures of fair goers and asked them questions about the economy. The picture slide shows are on MSNBC's website, here.

New Blog Address

Last winter I noticed that the domain stevegall.com hadn't been renewed by its owner and was about to expire. That's the domain I wanted when I started this blog. I was just pretty sure that everyone and their brother was staking a hot domain name like stevegall.com. - so I called in the experts, SnapNames.com. They specialize in grabbing domains when they expire.

The domain did end up expiring and SnapNames secured the domain for me. So, I, Steve Gall, now own stevegall.com. I've been reluctant to go ahead and switch this blog over to the new domain name though. I mean I hate to confuse all 12 of my readers. I also hate to ask the kind souls who have linked to my blog to update the link. I hate to lose any momentum I have gained with various Google searches that land this blog high in the results - I mean how will people know what chapter books to read to children under ten?

I'm throwing caution to the wind though. This will be the last post to iblogdoyou.com. All future posts will upload to stevegall.com. I hope you come along.

Nappanee Mayor Larry Thompson on MSNBC

MSNBC interviewed Nappanee Mayor, Larry Thompson at the Elkhart County Fair. Here's the clip.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Nastia Liukin "Interviewed" on ESPN Sunday Conversation

July Rundown

I've been on a bit of a blogcation so far in July. We've had a busy month. Here's a rundown.

July 1 - 5, my dad and sisters were in Nappanee from out of state.

July 6 - 11, we were at Life Action Family Camp in Buchanan, Michigan with Kristi's family.

July 12 - 14, we spent a few days at home catching up on yard work, house work and grocery shopping.

July 15 - 17, Kylee and Makenna went to our church denomination's camp, Prarie Camp in Elkhart, Indiana. Landen went to Camp Grandma and Grandpa. Kristi and I went to Sandusky, Ohio. We spent an evening at Cedar Point, enjoyed dining out and spent some time shopping.

We Didn't Start the Fire - What I Think - Part 8

This is the eight post in my blog series about the song We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel. I am writing about the significance of each item mentioned in the song. That is, what significance I THINK they have. I am not doing any research or looking anything up, so I could be totally wrong. (And I've been starting to take a little ribbing at just how wrong I have been on some of them. That's OK though, I think I've got today's nailed.)

More information about this blog series can be found in the series' first post.

Bardot - Bridgette Bardot was an American movie star. She won an academy award for best actress for her role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1962.

Budapest - Budapest is the capital of Hungary. The 1962 Winter Olympics were held there.

Alabama - Alabama was at the center of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. From courts ordering that black students be admitted to Ole Miss to the Birmingham Bus Boycott and the marching across the Montgomery bridge, much of the fight for civil rights that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lead occurred in Alabama.

Krushchev - Nikita Kruschev was the president of the Soviet Union. His regime was embroiled in the Cold War with the United States. One of his main goals was spreading communist influences to other nations. Kruschev once became so enraged during a speech at the United Nations that he took off his shoe and pounded the heel of it on his podium.

Princess Grace - Princess Grace was the princess of Monaco. She got married in the early 1960s. This was the first televised royal wedding and it was viewed by millions all around the world.

"Peyton Place" - Peyton Place was a television drama that was popular in the 1960s.

trouble in the Suez - The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. It is between Egypt and Israel. The trouble in this region was that these two nations were not getting along.

My Top 10 Favorite Michael Jackson Songs

10. Jam
9. Remember the Time
8. P.Y.T.
7. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
6. Beat It
5. The Way You Make Me Feel
4. Rock With You
3. Black or White
2. Wanna Be Startin Something
1. Billie Jean

One Year Ago Today . . .

I took this picture.



Rocki took this picture.