Balloon Festival and Fireworks

This weekend was the Balloon Festival which kicks off Hall of Fame week at the Football Hall of Fame in Canton. There is no football game this year, due to the strike/close-out between players and owners, that just ended this past week. I went down to Canton last night to see the balloons take off and see a bunch more fly over. Some would get very close to the ground, to throw out something to see if it would hit its mark. I took a bunch of pictures. Some were a variety of colors, and some were different shapes. That ended about 8:30 pm after the parachute jumpers landed. Then I had to wait 90 minutes for the fireworks. I was told that these fireworks are usually very good. I love to watch fireworks. These only lasted 10 minutes and weren't worth the wait. I would be interested in going back down again.

I posted three pictures of hot air balloons and two of fireworks from last night.

Indians Game #2

Yesterday, was my birthday and the second Indians game that Mom and I went to this month. We have at least two more games next month, maybe a third game. We had great seats. We were in left center, five rows from the field. We had a good view of Travis Buck, who was playing right field. Buck made some good catches.

Bottom of the first, we scored one run. Fausto Carmona pitched last night. I had wanted to see Justin Masternson. Carmona did pretty good, better than he did the first half. The Angels starting pitcher had 10 strikeouts, while Carmona, only had 3 strikeouts. After we scored in the first, only zeros were put up on the scoreboard. It became a pitcher's duel. Carmona pitched six innings.

Joe Smith came out in the seventh and did a great job. Pestano came out in the eighth and gave up two runs. The score is now 1-2, in favor of the Angels. Sipp came out in the ninth and didn't allow anybody to score.

Bottom of the ninth, Travis Hafner hit a double and recieved a pinch runner. We tied the game at 2. Two outs and two on, Jack Hannahan came up to bat and was hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases. Jason Kipnis came up to bat. This was only his second major league game, and so far he has had no hits, with a batting average of 0.000. With bases loaded, Jason hit a single, got his first hit and RBI and won the game for us. The team rushed him between first and second base.

That makes both games we were at, where the Indians came from behind to win. Mom said we are batting one thousand (1.000).

Another Sleep Study

Yesterday, I was not allowed to drink any pop or eat any chocolate, because I had another sleep study last night. I slept better last night than I did the first time. I got up twice in the middle of the night, due to sleeping on my back. I went to bed after watching the Indians lose.

I was connected to all of the wires again. In addition, they put a mask over my nose, in order to push more oxygen into my lungs while I slept. It was very uncomfortable to try to sleep on my left side, so I spent most of the night on my back. I think I clenched my teeth more than normal because of the mask over my nose. The mask made it difficult to cough when I had to cough last night. I also thought air was leaking out of the mask quite a bit during the night. I don't think it fit the best.

I was not as tired when they got me up this morning, but after coming up and cleaning up, I went back to bed for another 2 1/2 hours. I will see the lung specialist at the end of September. If I can help it, I do not want to do another sleep study, but if I have to, will not be on a school night.

Greenfield Village

On Wednesday, I went to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. I love this place. Henry Ford took the time and money to bring to MI homes and businesses of various inventors: Firestone, Wright Brothers, Edison and from his own life. There are homes from England and other people. I love American History! This is a very cool place.



Firestone's farm house.




The Wright Brother's house in Dayton, OH.

This is just a sampling of things to see at Greenfield Village.

Spiritual Memorials

Last Sunday, July 10, I went to the Akron Campus to hear Pastor Dave Burnham preach. He is a former senior pastor of The Chapel. He preached on Joshua 4:1-7. The title of the sermon was called, "Spiritual Memorials".

After crossing the Jordan River, Joshua was commanded by God to have twelve men go back onto the riverbed and pick up twelve stones to mark as a memorial to remind the people what God had done for them.

There are three principals for having a spiritual memorial:
1. Remember the promises and power of God.
2. Remember faith requires action
3. Remember the Glory of God.

There are four things to remember in building personal spiritual memorials:
1. A story to tell.
2. A scripture to tell.
3. A song to sing (recall).
4. A scene (picture) to explain.

This got me thinking, that my hole could be a spiritual memorial for me. Yes, I am in remission for stage 3a of Melanoma, but I am in remission. The side effects of my year long treatment of Interfon, was not as bad as they could've been. God has been on the throne during the good times and the bad, and He has never let me go. God has plans to prosper me not to harm me. My hole reminds me of the good God has done in my life.

Indians Game #1

Through a BP promotion, I have been able to get tickets to the Indians this summer. The first game we went to was this past Thursday night, July 7. We sat left field side. I thought I had two seats in this corner, before we left I looked and there was only one ticket. I had to go online back into the promotion and get mom's ticket and print it up. Her seat was in the same section, but up about 10 rows. Turns out, my seat was better than mom's, but after the second or third inning, I sat with her. Where we sat, it was difficult to see the batter at home plate.

This was a boring game. Zach McAllister was pitching for the first time in the majors that night for the Indians. He did not do a good job and only lasted 4 innings. He did get 4-6 strikeouts, though. We made an error and had a hard time catching balls. We even loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning, but left the guys on base. At the bottom of the second, Lonnie Chisenhill came up to bat and was hit in the nose by the ball. He left the game, and Jack Hannahan came into the game in his place. I like him playing third base. I repeat, it was a boring game. Bottom of the 9th, we are up to bat. We are down 0-4. We load the bases and by hits and walks. With a hit, we score a run and keep the bases loaded. Travis Hafner comes up to bat, Blue Jay's change pitchers. Mom says, they should walk Hafner, but they did not, instead they pitched to him. Guess what? On the first pitch, Travis hit the ball and knew instantly, that he had hit a home run. Hafner had hit a grand slam to win the game! Final score, 5-4. We came from behind to win the game!

Before the game, mom and I walked around Heritage Park. I took pictures. Next time, we will walk around the Indians Hall of Fame.