Hiles Places, Birthdays & Doings

Another great week in terms of weather and in terms of "stuff". The stuff mostly refers to Dino the pup we are raising for Guide Dogs for the Blind. He continues to amaze us and it is surprising how one 21 pounds of energy can impact daily life. The day starts about mid morning -- that is 2 -3 am for his first "outing" of the day. He does go back to sleep until about 7 or so . . .

The above are some candid shots of his week . . . top left he is sitting among some of his favorite items. Then it was a first-time to wear the "uniform" -- he did well and seemed to enjoy it.   He made several trips out and about and made friends with many folks. We look forward to more of these trips and meetings.

An Update to the Garage Stuff


We expanded the garage via a "Tuf-Shed" to cap off the project -- we just have one more thing to do and that is to paint the cement floor the "garage-gray" and we'll be done with that project. It is almost nice enough to have a "dinner" out there. And the shed, if insulated might be a place of refuge at some point . . .

This is the way to put up a shed -- it took the three very professional guys a little less than two hours and voila . . .  we have managed to almost fill it.

Where My Hiles Come From


Some of you were asking about where geographically my HILES came from within the U.S. -- after the East Coast and Ohio it was Wisconsin. Here is a map of Wisconsin showing the counties -- my Dad was born in Racine, and his Dad was born in Monroe County.  Today we have relatives all over the state including Vernon County, La Crosse County, Dodge County and many others and even a Town of Hiles, though the connection to my branch has not been proven -- but never-the-less I have visited there years ago:

Where Did Santa Come From?


It is that time of the year and while I guess it was not Wisconsin I did find this great article about good ol' Saint Nick. I found it in the www.historybuff.com site:

The story of Thomas Nast is amazing and the pictures are very nostalgic and recognizable -- I am pretty sure that Gail has needle-pointed some of them and maybe has put together a jig-saw puzzle or two.


Some Birthdays from my Branch


And now looking at the Hiles Family History site, I count some 182 December birthdays -- and also 7 that happen to occur on this date -- December 10 -- various years . . . So Happy Birthday to my daughter Lisa today and to my sister, Marilee tomorrow:

And so ends this week. I have had really limited chances to work on family history this week given our new assignment -- but each day a little more time is recaptured.

Slider Saturday Night is a welcome feast -- Gail has just returned from a full day of teaching and I am coming off a full day of puppy-care . . .

Fifteen more shopping days until Christmas -- see you in a few!