All Bolt, All the Time!

Training Camp!

2009-08-06T16:09:00.002-04:00

Nicolas and I had a great time at the evening practice last night. There was a huge crowd. Here is on of the shots from last night....

Colts Training Camp Schedule Announced!

2009-07-30T16:08:00.001-04:00

Looks like some house renovation delays!

http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=Events_dynamic&id=135

July 4th Renovation

2009-07-03T23:32:00.006-04:00

Well, since the floor jacking is a bit of a slow and tedious process, we decided to tear down some wallpaper today. As Nic and I were tearing through layers of wallpaper today, I said to him "Hey, I wonder how many U.S. Presidents were in office since this first layer of wallpaper was put on?" Well here is the answer in order courtesy of www.apples4theteacher.com:

23	Harrison, Benjamin	(1889-1893)
24	Cleveland, Grover	(1893-1897)
25	McKinley, William	(1897-1901)
26	Roosevelt, Theodore	(1901-1909)
27	Taft, William Howard	(1909-1913)
28	Wilson, Woodrow	(1913-1921)
29	Harding, Warren Gamaliel	(1921-1923)
30	Coolidge, Calvin	(1923-1929)
31	Hoover, Herbert Clark	(1929-1933)
32	Roosevelt, Franklin Delano	(1933-1945)
33	Truman, Harry	(1945-1953)
34	Eisenhower, Dwight David	(1953-1961)
35	Kennedy, John Fitzgerald	(1961-1963)
36	Johnson, Lyndon Baines	(1963-1969)
37	Nixon, Richard Milhous	(1969-1974)
38	Ford, Gerald Rudolph	(1974-1977)
39	Carter, James Earl Jr.	(1977-1981
40	Reagan, Ronald Wilson	(1981-1989)
41	Bush, George Herbert Walker	(1989-1993)
42	Clinton, William Jefferson	(1993-2001)
43	Bush, George Walker	(2001-2009)
44	Obama, Barack Hussein	(2009-present)

Here are some pictures of the wallpaper mess:

I can't get this song out of my head as we work on this house.....Does that make me weird? Don't answer that....

Happy Fourth of July!

New House!

2009-06-28T19:13:00.006-04:00

Well the Bolt family has finally made it....We now own a house free and clear. All of those years slaving away at the rock pile finally paid off. Of course it looks like it is about ready to be condemned, but it is ours. This beauty was built in 1890 and is just massive! It is listed as a six bedroom house, but I think it is really five bedrooms , with one having an extra large area within one bedroom. Oh well, whatever keeps the tax man happy....Now I get to play construction worker. No, I look nothing like that guy in the Village people....I know you were thinking it. I only wear a hard hat when I have to at work.

It has some beautiful oak woodwork and maple floors that you just can't get in a house today. Tall ceilings, over 9ft...We have met the neighbors and they are all great people. I really enjoy them and think it will be a blast to live there. They are all as insane as we are. After all, they have all taken on rehabing their houses. This house is in downtown Noblesville, so we can walk to the many events held there. They have some great live music downtown every other Friday, that we have been enjoying recently. And if you have not been to The Artist's on the Square, I highly recommend it. Who knows, maybe you will see some of our photos in there someday.

We are currently working feverishly to fix it up so we can move in and enjoy it more. We just had all of the asbestos removed from the basement. Our current project is leveling out the floors so I don't get a bad case of vertigo when walking through the house. I plan on putting some updates here to show the progress we are making. Here are a couple of pictures to start it off...

My Little News Anchor....

2008-12-20T15:53:00.003-05:00

There is a new news anchor at WNOR News Desk....Her name is Ellie. I was at the school for Jake's field trip and captured her in action. Isn't she so stunning?

Merry Christmas

2008-12-13T09:23:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The End of an Era, or Maybe Just a Season!

2008-08-26T21:38:00.003-04:00

The Setting:

Saturday morning football, Dillon Park....A goal line stance in the last seconds of the fourth quarter.....(NFL Films music playing)

Safety Nicolas Bolt (#10) charges the line and attacks the runner before he reaches the goal line. Unfortunately, so do about ten other kids on the field....Safety Nicolas Bolt goes in and........breaks his left arm!!!(ouch!!!) He plays the next play because he is as tough as Bob Sanders! Then the game is over and we speed to the ER for xrays..... He broke both bones in his forearm. The season is over for the young sixth grade safety....

Welcome to My Midlife Crisis!!!!

2008-08-25T13:19:00.003-04:00

I use the excuse that gasoline prices are too high to drive the family truckster to work everyday. It works pretty good, but honestly this thing is just so much fun to drive! I have had my eye on one of these for a couple of years now. I really do get 27 MPGs out of this thing, and it is exceptionally fast.

Isn't she lovely? I have yet to name her....I am thinking Monique. All those years of French class in high school have finally paid off. I guess I should come up with a nice German name for her, but I like Monique....

Everybody has been telling me that I am going through a midlife crisis, but that is ok. I love driving this thing!

Indianapolis Colts Training Camp 2008

2008-08-13T12:23:00.003-04:00

We just returned from our "mini" vacation that included a couple of practices at that Indianapolis Colts Training Camp. We were able to attend a night practice and a morning practice. It was a good time. I captured some decent images, I will post more in the near future. Nicolas was able to get seven autographs on his Super Bowl ball so he was happy with the trip.

The crowds were much smaller this year. We arrived on Aug. 8th for the evening practice and watched the Aug. 9th morning practice. There were very few people at the morning practice. I think that is the way we will do from now on. We will go after Family Day.....

The night practice was good. It was good to watch them do the two minute drill. Here is a photo that I took of Marvin Harrison making a touchdown catch. It is a little soft due to my manual focus...

A Stunning Gift!

2008-08-11T15:49:00.003-04:00

I received an absolutely stunning gift in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I am sorry for the late update, but I have been going through my midlife crisis (more on that later). I received the Colts watch from Theresa Menke in the mail last week. Theresa is the wife of Frank, my pal from Cincinnati in what is now the old days. Theresa is also an avid reader of the blog. Two wonderful people that I miss. I even miss Theresa (I can't believe that I put that is writing). When are you going to start the Menke Madness blog?

OK, now here are my suspicions. I figure that one of the Bengals players stole the watch from one of the Colts players or coaches. After all, the Bengals team is full of felons! It then hit the street at a minimal value and Theresa was shrewd enough to pick up the watch from the trunk of someone's car in the parking lot of Paul Brown Stadium. It probably came straight from the locker room to the trunk of the car. I have not yet figured out which locker it came from. That will take several months to track down.

I have several more things to post. I plan on posting about my midlife crisis soon and about our trip last weekend to the Indianapolis Colts Training Camp....

Thanks for the nice watch Theresa, it was a very nice gift! We will try to get some tickets off of StubHub for the December game this year.....

Indianapolis Colts Training Camp Update....Again

2008-07-23T12:29:00.002-04:00

Breaking News!!!! I just heard on the radio that Marvin Harrison will be at training camp and practicing! Tony Dungy said he is all ready to go and that the carwash incident is over and behind him. I can't wait to see him practice....

They will arrest us all soon!

2008-07-22T11:06:00.004-04:00

I received this article from a coworker. Since we are the network infrastructure admins, this pertains to us. You really do have all kinds of people in this business. While we still don't know the whole story, I can't believe they arrested him. Only in San Fransisco I guess....

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/3368107/121280916/127124/0/

I guess I should classify this post under geekdom, since I rarely go there in this blog....At least to extremes.

By the way, we are selling our van. Hurry and buy it before it goes!!! It is perfect for you and you would look great in it! You can see it here:

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/car/764618770.html

Colts Training Camp Update!!!

2008-07-22T11:00:00.003-04:00

I heard on the radio this morning that Peyton Manning, Bob Sanders, Dwight Freeney, and Marvin Harrison are not even going to be at the Terre Haute portion of training camp this year. The players are supposed to report Thursday to camp. While this news is unfortunate, I guess it will cut down on the autograph seekers and bandwagon fans. The crowds should be drastically reduced once this word gets all out.

It won't stop us, we will still be there. We also got the stadium tour tickets for the 16th of August. I need to check to see if I can take my camera in there. I will post some pictures if I get any...

My Quest for the Ultimate Black and White Photograph.

2008-06-09T13:23:00.008-04:00

Since trying out my new darkroom equipment, I have realized how much work I have to do to get a really good black and white photograph. I have decided to forgo printing images for a little while to really pursue getting the photo correct on the negative. I have found several people on Flickr that have been helpful. I have also found Fred Parker's site to be helpful when it comes to determining exposure. I have read books on the Zone System. I have borrowed some "old time" gear from a coworker friend, which includes a light meter and an old TLR camera. It is incredible how much I have learned in the last couple months, yet it is daunting to see how far I have to go.... Just to think it all started with the purchase of some old manual lenses for my Nikon D40 (Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens). I guess there is no doubting that I am a true geek!

I guess you don't realize how difficult some things are until you try them yourself. I have to admit, I never thought the kids would be into this like they are. I get asked almost every night when I get home from work; "Can we make some prints today?!??!!??" I guess I will have to hurry up and learn to get the photo right so they can get back in the darkroom! They really like to see the image come up in the developer. They have asked me to take more photos of them so they can develop their own photo with them on it. They now stop turning away when I point the camera at them! This has been a very fun project to do with the kids and I am glad that we have all had a chance to experience it! When we get a little better at print making, we will scan one and upload it for you to see...

We Made it to the Fest!

2008-06-07T22:49:00.004-04:00

We made it to the Colts Fan Fest. It was a good time. Well, except for the part about the cheerleaders flirting with me constantly. That did get a little old. Again, they must have recognized me from this blog that is getting so huge! I walk out of the house without my wife for one second.....Ok back to reality. They had Matt Giordano and Tyjuan Hagler there to sign autographs. Matt G is a great guy. He was very friendly and talked with the boys as he signed their stuff. It is good to see pro players like him. I can't wait to see his special teams coverage this year.

It was just me, Joey, Sammy, and Nicolas that went. Jake is too big of a Chiefs fan to go....He probably would have wanted to wear his Tom Brady jersey if he did go....So it all worked out for the best.

It was a fun night out with me and the boys partying down. Although, we had to hold back some on the soda drinking so Joey would make it the whole time without having to go potty (he is frightened by big "potties") . We made it without any incidents. We were also able to make it out before the big storm hit.

This is a picture of the main stage area at the Indianapolis Colts Fan Fest, Anderson 2008....I kept asking those people to move out of the way so I could get a better picture, but they would not listen. I think I need a press pass....

Colts Fan Fest

2008-06-03T09:31:00.004-04:00

There is a Colts Fan Fest in Anderson, Friday (June 6th). You can read all about it here. I may have to see if we can take the kids up there and hang out for a bit. They never list what players are going to be there for the autograph sessions, but it is still always fun. It always helps us to fire up for a new season of Indianapolis Colts Football.....

Another Stockphoto Update....

2008-05-30T13:19:00.003-04:00

It has been a good month at iStockPhoto for me. I have sold quite a few photographs. The subscription service started on Memorial Day, but it has not affected me at all up to today. I have yet to sell a picture via subscription. I really need to get some more photos uploaded, as I have not done any since the last update. Time to stop making excuses and get to work!

I have not sold any on Dreamstime or Fotolia this month. Although, Fotolia is starting to look more interesting to me because they are also going to offer a subscription service. If you are looking for some microstock photo agencies I would sign up with these three. I plan on putting a spreadsheet together soon to show the downloads from each site....It is on the list of my things to do.

I recently have been shooting and developing some black and white film. I have really caught the photography bug. I also bought used darkroom equipment from an older gentlemen on the North side of Indy. I hope to make a few prints this weekend of some pictures I took of the kids. I have a whole kit of stuff. Too much stuff to mention. The enlarger is a Omega Bessler 22. If any one knows anything about these, drop me a line. I am very excited to try it out this weekend. I may try to scan a few of the negatives I developed and post a few here....I might even upload some to a stock site....

Another Memorial Day Weekend to Remember!

2008-05-26T22:05:00.004-04:00

We had our annual trek to Cincinnati this weekend. We went to Eden Park, the Cincinnati Zoo, the new Ikea store, among other places. Then we went to the Air Force Museum in Dayton on the way home. It was a great weekend. I love going to Cincinnati. I miss living there. As a matter of fact, I found a seven bedroom house in Avondale that we could buy with cash. Take a look, it is here....I could most likely get my old job back at Children's Hospital. Living at that house, I could even ride my bike to work.....But then it hit me, I would have to become a Bengals fan and there is no way I could do that! Go Colts! Although, it would be nice being around the old pals....I'll ponder that a bit.

Here we are at our annual picture taking spot, the Eden Park overlook (you can't see me, I am hanging off the cliff). Ahhhhh the romance that comes to mind when I think about this. Dawn used to pick me up at work and we used to go to this park and eat lunch. That was before kids when we both worked and I was skinnier. There is always a wedding party here at this time of year to get pictures taken in this beautiful park. As a matter of fact, we were walking past the wedding party and one of the bridesmaids yelled to me "Go Colts!". She must have recognized me from this blog as it is getting huge! I am sure it had nothing to do with me wearing a Colts shirt!

I'll post some more pictures of this weekends trip soon. The Air Force Museum was really good. It was so fitting to be there on Memorial Day.

By Request....Here is Maddie!

2008-05-26T21:54:00.005-04:00

Maddie is enjoying Ellie's games as you can tell in this picture. She is growing up so fast! She is also very cute!

Indianapolis Gets the Super Bowl!

2008-05-21T22:05:00.006-04:00

The day that they announced Indianapolis getting the Super Bowl, we happened to get to hear Tony Dungy speak at the Sheriff's Forum here in beautiful Hamilton County, Indiana. The forum was really good, it made me glad to be a resident of this county. I really like the way Sheriff Carter is reaching out to the young people to make the right choices in life. There was an example of an inmate serving 28 years for killing people while driving under the influence of alcohol. It was very moving.

The icing on the cake of the forum was to hear Tony Dungy speak. I think Nicolas had the best time of his life. Here is a picture of him getting Tony's autograph after the forum. Tony had just told him what a nice shirt he had on (Colts Champs shirt). It is amazing how nice this guy is...He stayed and talked to people after the forum when he could have just talked his half hour and scooted out. He actually came back early from Atlanta to do this talk. He had to hear the results of the Super Bowl vote on the plane.

We are more than fired up for the Colts this year! We can't wait for training camp!

Determination!

2008-05-09T17:22:00.005-04:00

I hate the way this picture turned out technically, but I love the shot! Try to ignore the chromatic abberation around his pants.....Just look at his face! I don't think Jakey can try any harder to hit this ball! Baseball and softball are going good so far this season. I will post many more pictures here of the kids playing this year. At the next game I will not shoot with the lens wide open. Hopefully I will limit the ca in the future.

It's Official, The Colts are Back in Terre Haute....

2008-04-27T18:25:00.002-04:00

It is official, the Indianapolis Colts Training Camp for 2008 is at Rose-Hulman in Terre Haute, IN. You can read the entire story here.

Maddie Rolled Over Today!

2008-04-25T23:23:00.003-04:00

No this is not our first child, it is our sixth! I just never had a blog when the others were this little! I didn't take a picture. It just doesn't do it justice. I refuse to post video on the blog!

Stock Photo Update....

2008-04-22T15:16:00.004-04:00

For the stock photo followers, here is an update on the three sites I use....

My best performer by far is iStockphoto. This site has the most traffic and buyers. They are getting ready to implement a subscription system in addition to there normal business model. I am anxious to see how this will increase or decrease sales. I have not been on there long enough to see the peaks and valleys of sales, but I will report on that when I know more. It was a little bit of trouble to get accepted to Istockphoto, but it was worth it. One thing I really like about this site is that they give you very specific reasons for a rejection. You can usually fix the problem and then resubmit your photo. Now I need to find some time to shoot more of the concepts that I have thought up! I also need to find some willing models, since the family is not really up to it.

My second best performer is Dreamstime. This site started off with a bang, but has now slowed down. I have the second most sales here. It will be interesting to see their reaction to the subscription service of iStock. I have had a real difficult time lately getting images approved here. These are the same images that are selling on other sites. I am not sure about their approval process yet, and I have been on this one the longest. I still have an occasion sale on here, but I have yet to get another image approved. I need to study this more and see if I can figure out the trick. I will now become more liberal with my image uploading to see what gets approved and what does not.

The last performer is Fotolia. This is a great site to get started on to learn the whole process. One thing I love about this site is it has a very quick review system. They usually tell you within a day or two if your image is approved or not. I don't have a lot of good photos on this site and that may be some of the reason for the performance.

I will try and update a post every so often detailing my stock activities. I may sign up with a few more sites to add to this list.....

Indianapolis Colts Training Camp 2008

2008-04-22T14:57:00.003-04:00

I have heard rumors that the Indianapolis Colts Training camp is staying in Terre Haute for 2008. I also hear that Rose-Hulman is remodeling much of the training camp quarters to keep the camp there for a little while. The last story I could find about it is here. Since I have been contacted by a few different people about training camp, I will be posting a lot more about this year.

My next post will include items about the facility, with maps and the locations of the activities at trainging camp. I will then go into the autograph stuff and mark up a map to show the best locations. I also plan to post many more pictures from our visit. Be sure to say hi if you see us there. We are not hard to find, we will be the family with six kids!

Please remember to click one of my ads if this is helpful to you. I have a lot of kids to feed!

I think she might grow up to be a supermodel......

2008-03-01T22:02:00.007-05:00

In what little free time I have had lately, I have been study my photography books. I came across a book by John Kobal called The Art of the Great Hollywood Portrait Photographers. I love these pictures of the old movie stars. I like the way they did the lighting and I am going to try to reconstruct that for some portraits of the family (when I get some more free time). I was looking at a picture of Clark Gable that would be a great setup for Joey. I will post that when I get that one figured out.

I continued to look through the book and one thing just made me gasp when I saw it! It was a picture of Marlene Dietrich. This was a portrait that was made for the 1930 movie Morroco. Here is the picture:
It is such a strking picture. The depth of field is very shallow, only her face is in focus while all else is blurred. I am looking at aquiring some old manual focus lenses so I can try to recreate some of these pictures. ( any of you people out there wanting to get rid of some old nikon 50mm manual focus lenses at a good price, drop me an email) I hope to find some models around the house here to practice on.

Anyway, that is not what made me gasp. What made me gasp was the fact that my niece Kaitlin looks exactly like Marlene Dietrich! I kid you not, look at this picture:
She had no idea I was taking this picture. It was a complete candid shot, so she was not posing in any way. She was working with Ellie at the art desk in my sunroom. I was sitting at the dining room table. I saw the way the light was coming in through the blinds and thought it look cool, so i grabbed my camera and shot this picture. The bad thing is, Kaitlin hates me taking her picture. I may never get another one like this. Hopefully she will let me take some Marlene Dietrich's recreates of her some day.

Kaitlin, I think you may have a future as a supermodel or movie star. When you go on and are earning 20 million per gig, remember your favorite uncle.....Not much, a couple million will do!

More Brotherly Love!

2008-02-24T21:47:00.003-05:00

Joe did not want to be outdone by Sammy, so he wanted me to post this picture of him with his baby sister.

Brotherly Love!

2008-02-19T21:36:00.003-05:00

Sammy has finally accepted little Madelyn as one of the family. It took him a little while to come around, but he loves her now! Here he is showing his love for his tiny baby sister!

Congratulations Kelsey and the Lady Raiders!

2008-02-16T23:18:00.005-05:00

Congratulations Kelsey! We are proud of your hard work and dedication. You helped your team win the regionals! I will show the kids the pictures tomorrow. They will think you are a celebrity! I'll email you the rest of the pictures soon! Good luck next week at the semi-state tournament.

More Pictures...

2008-01-29T21:27:00.001-05:00

As requested, here are some more pictures. I created a Flickr page to host the pictures. Click here to see more pictures of Madelyn and her brothers and sister....

It's A Girl!!!!!!

2008-01-22T17:18:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it, it is a girl!!!!! Madelyn Kay was born at 4:30pm Wednesday, January 22nd, 2008. She weighed 8.45 lbs and measured 22 inches long. Here is a picture of Dawn holding her soon after she was born.

The Baby is Coming!!!!!

2008-01-21T21:42:00.001-05:00

Well, so far everything is going well with the pregnancy. We are going in to have the baby. The hospital is supposed to have in room internet access, so I will bring the laptop and have a picture posted as soon as possible. If all goes well, I hope to have a picture up by tomorrow evening.

The kids are excited, I am a nervous wreck! Even though this is number six, I am still very nervous! Dawn is doing well, if she is nervous, she does not show it. Hopefully we will have some good news to post soon!

Wii?

2008-01-11T12:31:00.001-05:00

We are a new Wii household. This thing is awesome! I guess that is why it is so hard to find. I ended up getting two. I was lucky enough to have good timing and a wonderful wife that is good at working the phones.

Wally World put a Wii in their ad last week. We knew that most of these stores were open twenty-four hours, so we wondered when they would put them out on the shelves. Dawn found out that they were going to put them out at 12:01 am on Sunday. I wouldn't dare think of making the 9 month along pregnant lady stand in line for hours to wait, so I took it like a man and went to wally world to fight the teenagers for a shot to buy a Wii.

I left during halftime of the Jacksonville-Pittsburgh game (that is how much fun this Wii is...). Luckily when I got there, there was not much of a crowd. I ended up being in line next to someone that used to work a Cincinnati Children's Hospital the same time I did during the 90's. We did not know each other, but we knew other people that we were able to discuss for a couple of hours while we waited. It was really kind of fun to discuss the old days.

I ended up being number seven in line and they had nineteen Wii's in stock. I paid cash ( the kids even chipped in some money) and walked out without getting mugged. We have been enjoying the Wii since. You guys should see Jakey play this thing, it is hilarious!

I also scored a Wii through Sears.com. I used a free service called NowInStock.net. It is a great site that tracks where the Wii is in stock online. If you are looking for a Wii, I would highly recommend Justin's site. Although Sears had taken a long time to ship it, it is worth the wait.

Contrary to what many of you are thinking, I am not going to scalp my second Wii on Ebay. I am offering it to someone I work with at cost. If that falls through, I may sell it to the highest bidder!

I will post some more pictures of the kids playing the Wii soon.

Merry Christmas from the Bolt Bunch!

2007-12-15T14:54:00.001-05:00

This is the picture for the Christmas card for this year......

Pregnancy Update.....

2007-11-19T10:34:00.001-05:00

The pregnancy is going well. Dawn is still not feeling well, which is really unusual for her. She was never this tired or ill feeling with the other pregnancies. She keeps saying that there is no way that she can do this anymore. I need to take detailed notes to show her this just in case she gets any wild ideas a couple of years from now! Maybe I should turn this blog into a last trimester journal????

Although she is not feeling well, she still looks as stunning as she did the day we were married! She won't let me put any more pictures of her up here.....maybe I can sneak a few more in later...

What Makes a Man?

2007-11-19T10:12:00.001-05:00

What makes a man?.....Have you ever asked yourself that question? Society in general gives us it's view of what a man should be from TV and movies. This is not what I think a man is or should be. I have discussed this with a friend of mine (Curt) often. We used to discuss this at work while we babysat a wireless system that was having issues. We were passing the time while we waited for the system to break. We thought we would try to use the time for something good, so we discussed things like this often. During our conversations we came up with several things that we thought made a man "a man".

Well recently, I think I came a little closer to figuring out what makes a man a real man. There is no perfect version of a man walking this Earth today, but there are many fine examples. I realized what a great example I had my entire life up until know. With the recent passing of my grandfather, I realize that many of those things that Curt and I discussed were found in him.

Many of those things were value related. I had a chance to look back at my grandpa's life the last couple of days and it hit me that he had many of these characteristics that make the kind of man we were discussing. Number one, he loved his wife very much. She was by no means a perfect woman and he was by no means a perfect man. None of us are, but he loved his wife unconditionally. My grandmother died in 2004. They were married for 58 years. They raised 4 children and lost one at a very young age. He and my grandmother had experiences that many of us would consider overwhelming.

My grandfather worked hard all of his life to take care of them. Working in a factory by day and farming on the nights and weekends. He built two houses during his life for his family. They may have not been the most beautiful mansions in the finest neighborhoods, but they were very nice modest structures. It is still a dream of mine to do this for my family one day. I was four years old when he was building his last house in 1976. I can remember going out to the farm in the evening hours so my dad could help my grandpa build his house. That house has grown slightly over the years and has been a place for many family gatherings over the years. I have talked with my grandpa many times over the years about how he built his house. He has shared some details with me about how he did it. He just told me recently that it took him two years to put the stone on the outside of the house. He told me that if I were to ever do that, make certain that you put the big stones on the bottom, because they get very heavy when you have to lift them up high! I did a quick survey of the outside of his house, there were a few big stones near the top, although I am sure he put them up there no problem and also without complaining.

He came from a time when education was not highly valued. He never completed high school. He told me about the time that I graduated from high school that he wished he would have finished high school. I don't think that made him any less of a success, or any less of a man. He could fix or build anything. I remember a story he told us about his car breaking down on the way home from work one day. His tie rod end went out on his car. He happened to break down next to an old broken wire fence. He snipped some of the wire off of the fence, wired the broken piece of the car back together and drove home where he could fix it. What would most of us done? Probably called a tow truck and sat and waited for a few hours and then paid way too much to get our car fixed. I guess today we have more money than brains!

He loved sports and coached baseball for many years. He even coached me for a short time during my babe ruth years. The First National Bank Babe Ruth baseball team…..

As the Reverend Lloyd Hall put it yesterday, he died with his boots on....There was no better way to put it. My grandpa died in a tractor accident at 82 years old doing what he loved.....working. That funeral service yesterday was the most uplifting funeral service I had ever attended. I wish I had an audio version to play back for all of you to hear. My written words would not do it justice. There is hope in an eternal life...... I am just glad I was there to experience it.

So what makes a man? I still don't know the complete answer to this, but I do know that it includes commitment to your wife, taking care your family, and working hard. That doesn't make a good Hollywood movie, but it does leave an impression on a grandson.....

Here is his obituary courtesy of the Anderson Herald Bulletin:

Published November 14, 2007 08:27 pm - Robert Bryce Bolt

Robert Bryce Bolt

HARTFORD CITY – Robert “Bob” Bryce Bolt, 82, died as a result from a tractor accident this week at his residence in Blackford County.

Bob was born on Oct. 8, 1925, in Lapel, the son of Oscar Cleveland Bolt and Clara (McGuire) Bolt.

Bob attended Anderson High School and moved in Blackford County from Anderson in 1965. He was a Blackford County farmer and retired from Container Corp. of America in Anderson in 1987, after 41 years of service.

Bob married Wilma Jean (Gulley) Bolt on Nov. 17, 1946, in Madison County. Wilma preceded Bob in death on Sept. 22, 2004.

Bob enjoyed farming and loved baseball. In his younger years, he was a Babe Ruth coach.

Bob will be sadly missed by his sons, Dennis B. (wife, Pamela D.) Bolt of Hartford City, Dick D. (wife, Vicki S.) Bolt of Hartford City, Darrin T. (wife, Monica R.) Bolt of Fairmount; daughter, Deborah H. (husband, Carl E.) Volz of Brownstown, Ind.; grandchildren, Traci Street, Shelby Bolt, Teresa Bonewit, Rick Bolt, Karl Volz, Robert Volz, Robert Volz, William Volz, Brittany Bolt, Brandon Bolt, Ashley Bolt, Kayla Martin, Kristin Martin; 12 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and several nieces and nephews.

Bob is preceded in death by his parents; his wife; a daughter, Denise L. Bolt; brothers William Bolt, Curtis Bolt and Wayne Bolt; and sisters Betty Reeves and Doris Morgan.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Keplinger Funeral Home with Rev. Lloyd Hall officiating.

Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. Friday at Keplinger Funeral Home, 509 N. High St., Hartford City.

Interment will follow at Anderson Memorial Park Cemetery in Anderson.

Pallbearers will be Randy Bonewit, Rick Bolt, Karl Volz, Robert Volz, William Volz and Brandon Bolt.

Adventure Weekend....

2007-11-10T22:31:00.001-05:00

We had an adventure today! We went exploring in Lafayette, IN area! We visited the Tippecanoe Battleground memorial and museum. It was just vandalized a few days ago, but it was all repaired today. They did a great job getting it back to normal. This is one of my favorite places and I am glad I was finally able to take Dawn and the kids there. I stop here often and eat my lunch on my travels home from up North.

We also visited Prophet's Rock and downtown West Lafayette. We all had a great time. If you want some more info about this place it can be found here and here.

Here are some pictures that I took during our visit. Click on them for the bigger version. Is that a good looking group of Colt's fans or what? Take notice of Joey's coonskin cap that he purchased at the museum....

Nicolas this is for you!!!!!

2007-10-30T19:36:00.002-04:00

I Sold My First Picture!

2007-10-29T12:38:00.001-04:00

I have sold my first picture in the microstock site Dreamstime! This motivates to get out and shoot more. I am getting views but limited sales at this time. Although, I have very few pictures up at Dreamstime and Fotolia. That does make a difference. I plan on trying to get 20-30 pictures online and approved at each site by the end of the year. I also plan to try to get into Shutterstock by the end of the year, as this seems to be the most popular microstock site. That is a pretty hefty goal since I have zero free time! If all is successful, next year I may try my hand at some macrostock sites!

Joey's Birthday!

2007-10-29T12:32:00.001-04:00

We celebrated Joey's birthday this past weekend. We had lots of fun! We all went bowling and played games in the arcade at the bowing alley. The kids had a great time. Joey is so into Spiderman. He received a new Spiderman suit with muscles sewn in and all! He looks really good when he does his "moves" in his new Spiderman outfit. I'll post some pictures of him soon in the suit.

The pregnancy is still going well, but Dawn is very exhausted and not feeling well often. She says this is the last one because she doesn't know if she can go through this again. She is very tough, it has taken up to the sixth one to wear her down!

Football Season is Over....

2007-10-15T08:26:00.001-04:00

The kid's football season is officially over. We can now have our normal lives back! Jakey's team did very well this year. They listened well, practiced well, and played hard. Nicolas had a good learning year and was trying very hard by the end of the season. I hope that next year is as good as this year. Now I can get back to posting on our blogs more often!

I found this new blog via our webstats, it is very nice. I am linking to this post that is very moving. It is a must read!

We seem to have had a bad bug hit our house. Sammy and Jakey have been ill lately. I hope they start feeling better soon! Mom is taking good care of them.

We will post more soon...

Pregnancy Update....

2007-10-01T21:20:00.002-04:00

Dawn's pregnancy is going well. We recently went in for an ultrasound and everything is coming along nicely. Dawn decided that she did not want to know the baby's gender, so we did not find that out. She thinks that will give her a better chance of having a girl if she goes into the birth not knowing the baby's gender. At least that is how it happened with Ellie our second child! Here is a picture of number six. Isn't he or she stunning?!! Sorry for the lack of updates recently, work has been very busy...

Go Colts!

2007-10-01T08:44:00.001-04:00

What about those Indianapolis Colts?!?!?! What a game! Although there were many injuries to the players, we will find out more at Noon at Tony Dungy's press conference. One of our favorite players, Dallas Clark, had a great game.

There are rumors that I may be at next week's game in a suite. If that works out, I will post some pictures here. Next week we take on the Bucs... Go Colts!

Football Pictures

2007-09-21T11:28:00.002-04:00

There are some great football pictures of the boys off of the mugshots website. A link to the NEFL galleries is here. Jakey is in the minor flag section. His team is the Wisconsin Badgers. Nic is in the major tackle section. His team is the Jacksonville Jaguars.

A Trip to Northwest Ohio....

2007-09-07T09:04:00.001-04:00

We recently had a fun trip to Northwest Ohio. It was nice to visit with family and go to the Sauder Village Museum. The kids always have a good time here. They are many things to do, such as milk a fake cow, tour the 1910 era farm (my favorite), go through the museum, etc. Here is a picture of all of the kids "driving" their wagon and getting it stuck in the mud.

By the way, did you catch the Indianapolis Colts game last night? We stayed away from downtown because it was a huge crowd and traffic mess. We watched the game from the comforts of home. 41-10, wow, I didn't expect a blowout like that!!! Go Colts!!!!

Dreamstime Stock Photography.

2007-08-31T09:31:00.001-04:00

You may have noticed the new links on the right of the page. One of them is a link and the other a button to the Dreamstime Stock Photo site. I guess I am officially an amateur stock photographer. I have had my lighthouse sunset picture accepted at Dreamstime. I am very excited about this! I was reading in their forum that over 1500 images were submitted this month and only 20 were approved. I am very happy that one of mine made it. The other six I submitted did not make it. The kids and I are going out on a photography adventure this weekend. I hope to have more ready for upload by next week.

If you want to try your hand at selling some of your pictures click this link, or click the link on the side of the page. I get a little bonus for recruiting new photographers! It is free to sign up and upload your photos, they just need to be approved by the staff before they will be available for sale. Here is a link to my portfolio, which I hope will grow to more than one picture soon!

I have an inspiration for a financial post that I read on another great blog, I am getting ready to bore all of you with it! Also, I plan to post some pictures of our Ohio trip soon....

Thankfulness.....

2007-08-26T20:58:00.001-04:00

There are so many things for me to be thankful for. I am thankful that we have a great group of kids to teach at Sunday school this year. This was our second Sunday since they moved up a grade and it was very enjoyable and I feel that the kids are having fun while they learn some very important stuff. I hope they keep the interest that they have now for the rest of their lives.

I am also very thankful for my large family. Without them I don't know what I would do. They make life so interesting for me and their mother. Take for instance this weekend. I had to clean the garage out. This is one of the worst jobs in our house. For me, it was very fun because I had some special help. Joey was out there with me almost the whole time. He would sweep and pick up junk. He would get his tools out and work with me. He is such a hard worker! This is a picture of Joey. As you can see, he is very cute too. Don't worry, I didn't buy him a fantastic colored coat! Thanks for all your help this weekend Joey!

We are planning a short trip soon. I'll snap some pictures and post here soon!

Meet Esther...

2007-08-20T12:45:00.001-04:00

You may have seen our link to World Vision on the side of the page. We have been a sponsor of a World Vision child for some time now. This is Esther and she is from Kenya which, for those of you that don't know, is in Africa. Dawn and I have always said that we wished we met earlier and could have had more kids at a younger age. Since that wasn't possible, we decided to sponsor. We consider Esther our "oldest girl". She will be twelve years old this year.

It is fun to receive letters from her telling us what her life is like and what her home is like. She told us in one of her letters about how she lives near a wildlife refuge area where there are many lions and other large animals that roam free.

It is rewarding for us to help someone like Esther. It helps her attend school and receive food and medical care. If you want to look into sponsoring a child, click the link on the side of the page. It will take you directly to World Vision's site. We don't get anything out of your sponsorship other than knowing another child gets help. Please leave a comment if you decide to sponsor.

It's Football Season!!!

2007-08-19T12:16:00.001-04:00

Football season officially opened this weekend. Jakey and Nicolas had their first games Saturday. We had very good first games. The kids did great and nobody was injured. Let's hope it stays that way all season. Joey cant' wait to play! He has a few years until he can start. I can't wait to see how they improve throughout the year.

Tough year for Peyton Manning!

2007-08-07T16:12:00.001-04:00

This is going to be a tough year for Peyton Manning. It looks like practice is tough on him. I hear the Colts signed a couple of small tough guys this year. These guys are really tough! Their names are Jakey and Joey. We accidentally knocked over this Peyton Manning while we were goofing around, but luckily we caught it before it hit the ground. Don't the boys look cool?

Fun at the Falls...

2007-08-07T15:58:00.001-04:00

Here is a picture of the bunch at the Falls. Every year we stand in front of the Little Sister Falls sign and snap a picture. You can tell by the looks on their faces how much fun we have here every year. Jakey was a little excited in this picture!

Is that a pregnant tree?

2007-08-06T11:35:00.002-04:00

I think we made a major scientific discovery! We spotted a pregnant women next to it! This was a neat find as we were all out exploring on the trail. Very appropriate to our situation. The pregnancy is going well. It will be January before we know it!

Indiana's Largest Waterfall...

2007-08-05T11:52:00.001-04:00

Another annual Bolt tradition, is to visit Indiana's largest waterfall on the way home from Colts training camp. Cataract Falls is located in the Lieber State Recreation area. The water was a little low this year, but it was still very nice. You can see what it looks like when the water level is higher here.The kids really like this, and it takes a very short time to see it all. It is a nice break from the driving.

This time we practice some of our photography experiments. We took a normal picture followed by a slow shutter speed to blur the motion and make more of an "artistic" picture.

A visit to Cataract Falls is highly recommended by the Bolt Family, it is fun for all ages!

Training Camp Bust!

2007-08-05T11:23:00.001-04:00

Training camp was a huge bust this year! The Superbowl bandwagon fans were getting in our way of the fun that we have every year with our favorite team, the Indianapolis Colts. There were people showing up wearing Bears and Cowboys jerseys. Why even bother, go support your team, don't show up at ours! There were hecklers in the crowd. That really gets me upset, I bring my kids to this for fun, save that for a game and don't do it around my kids. People were stealing our rosters. People would show up at the start of practice and gripe because they can't get a bleacher seat. There were even more people trying to cut in the autograph line than there usually are.

We have decided to skip the "family day" for the rest of training camps to come. We will just take time off and go back during the weekdays when the crowds are lower. We will work up a new strategy for next year and post here.

At least it did not rain on us, although that may have been a blessing, since it would have run off all of the bandwagon fans. All was not lost, we were able to get a few good pictures, as you can see. Here we posted a good one of the Superbowl MVP, Peyton Manning.

We are at the Indianapolis Colts Training Camp!!!

2007-08-03T20:50:00.002-04:00

We are in Terre Haute today at the Indianapolis Colts training camp!!!!! The bad news is the weather is way too hot and the crowds are insane this year! We showed up late and missed the tent autographs today, but hopefully we will get some tomorrow. Here is a picture I took today of Jeff Saturday, the best center in the NFL, signing autographs for a bunch of eager fans! Remember that fumble recovery in the end zone against New England? What a touchdown for the big guy!

Launch of Stock Photo...

2007-08-02T22:17:00.001-04:00

Today we added our stock photos to zooomr. We will be adding more picture to our portfolio for sale. We are excited to see what the response will be from this. We will soon submit to other stock agencies as our portfolio grows. You can view the portfolio at www.zooomr.com/photos/rickbolt/ .

Indianapolis Colts Training Camp Autograph Tips!

2007-07-30T13:30:00.001-04:00

I have noticed some hits coming to this site for Colts autograph tips, so I thought I would post some past experiences at training camp.

First, an update, the pregnancy is going well! Dawn is looking fantastic. As a matter of fact, more fantastic every day! Please support our site with the ads/affiliates on this page, they help pay for the kids college fund!

Ok, at Indianapolis Colts training camp, it can be a mad house! It helps to know what to do, so you don't waste time in the wrong line, etc.

The first and most obvious place to get autographs is the autograph tent. This is usually located near the East end of the main football field. It sits just between the main field and the practice field. Here is the need to know about the autograh tent: In years past, they only sign here after the morning practice. I would get in line during the morning practice or earlier ( depending on which day it is...) They will bring the players up on golf carts after practice to sign. You really never know who they will bring to sign, as there is no set schedule that I know of for this. This is how we got Reggie Wayne's and Joseph Addai's autographs. It is worth the wait in line. I have heard from talking to others in line that Peyton Manning is always in the tent on family day. I have also heard that people start getting in line there at around 5:00am........

At the afternoon practice it is all about luck. Some of the players will come over to the bleachers after practice and sign. We have seen Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison do this after an afternoon practice, but we failed to get their autographs there. Nicolas was really disappointed! It is a mad house when they come over to sign. Watch your little ones closely to make sure they don't get trampled!

We have a few more top secret tips for obtaining autographs, we will post those soon! Check back, and please support our site!!!!!

Photography Practice..

2007-07-24T23:07:00.001-04:00

I am practicing my photography skills trying to learn as much as I can and improve. Here is a sample of one I took at Washington Park, Michigan City, IN. The two oldest Bolts are getting into photography also. It is fun to share an interest with the kids. Nicolas is especially taking a real interest in it. Even reading a camera manual and trying to learn! We hope to get some photos accepted on some stock photo sites and make a small amount of cash with them. Of course we are going to try our best to be amateur sports photographers at Colts training camp in the coming weeks. Maybe we should start a photography blog also........

Fire Up For Colts Training Camp!

2007-07-23T23:45:00.001-04:00

We are starting to get fired up for this year's Indianapolis Colts training camp! The players arrive this Sunday (July 29th). We will head down at the end of that week for autographs and pictures. Here is a picture of all of us at the night practice last year. (Thanks Dan for taking the picture.) It is a great time to see the Colts practice this close. You can hear them yell everything and complain about holding, etc. The two minute drill is awesome! Nicolas has most of the autographs of the players, but this year he really wants to get Peyton and Marvin to sign his Superbowl football. We have not been able to get those autographs in the last few years. We will keep trying. Although, Dallas Clark (#44) is one of our favorite players because he always makes time to sign autographs for the kids. Stay tuned for recent training camp pictures to come in the next couple of weeks.

A Great View

2007-07-22T23:08:00.002-04:00

We had an excellent week. We worked very hard on updating the master bedroom. It looks fantastic! I won't post a picture here, but if you really want to see it, send us an email.

The pregnancy is going well and Dawn looks as beautiful as ever! We are all anxiously awaiting little number six!

Over memorial day we took a trip to Cincinnati. It was great to see some friends and do some remembering of the times that we lived there. By the way Frank and Theresa, congratulations on the new little one. What a close call! I am glad that you did not have him in the car! This picture is of all of the good looking people in our family. It was taken at Eden Park in Cincinnati where Dawn and I use to eat lunch together. What a great view of the area from up there! Also, what a good looking bunch! I will ramble more this week......

Home Improvement Time....

2007-07-15T21:37:00.002-04:00

This weekend the Bolt family took on the biggest home improvement project that we have done yet. We decided to replace a small window in our master bedroom with french doors. This turned out to be a huge success! This was a big project because we had to tear a big hole in the side of the house (in a load bearing wall) and then re-frame the area to support the doors. We were able to do this with a lot of help. Grandpa Roth came down to help us install the door and put the siding back on. Grandma and Tana help watch the kids. Dawn had to sit much of the heavy stuff out because she is expecting number six, but she did make a fantastic lunch!

This first picture is a picture of before the project. The window is where the french doors are going to go. As you can see the back area of this house was pretty plain and needed some jazzing up. We had to remove the siding and that window. You can also see in this picture that we already have the gravel base down for the patio that is going to be built.

The next photo is a shot of the work in progress. As you can see, there is a huge hole in the wall. We had to build a temporary wall on the inside to support the load bearing wall while we re-framed and installed the header. It is difficult to see from this picture, but the 2x4's are actually inside the house.

The final picture shows the finished door. Thanks Tana for modeling and also thanks for help with the kids. You are the best, I don't care what your parents say about you ;).

This was a very rewarding project. It makes a huge difference with the back area of the house. Of course it was completed with no debt. I'll get more into that later..

Sunday was a nice relaxing day since we finished most of the project on Saturday. We went bowling and watched the NFL Replay of the Indianapolis Colts vs. Kansas City Chiefs playoff game. Just in case you forgot, the Colts won that game! Training camp is in a couple of weeks! Check back for some Colts training camp updates....

After we finish the interior trim around the door, the next home improvement project will involve building a patio outside the french doors.....

Chicago 2007

2007-07-09T13:02:00.001-04:00

We recently went on a site seeing trip to Chicago with all of the kids. A large family trip is always an adventure! We all had a fantastic time. We started off with a trip to the All Aboard Diner, which was a big hit with the kids. We had our food served via a model train. There also happened to be a Pro Jersey shop next door so we picked up some more Colts gear. Although, Jakey bought a felt Bears helmet! We forgive him....

We did many of the usual things, Sears Tower, Lincoln Park Zoo, and the American Girl store. We saw the Chicago River about 37 times in a matter of a half hour because I became lost and missed my turn a few thousand times. Every time we would say "Look kids, Chicago River". It became old quick! It was much like the European Vacation line with Big Ben, Parliament......

We are planning a major home improvement project this weekend. I plan to try to document some of that and post here. Also, in the next few weeks, you will see some updates from our trip to the Indianapolis Colts training camp. I am going to check into renting an expensive telephoto lens to get some good pictures this year. Go Colts!

1st Annual 4th of July Flag Football Game

2007-07-07T00:52:00.001-04:00

We had our first annual July 4th flag football game. We had a great time. This year the Lightning Bolts edged out the Thunder Bolts by one touchdown. We even painted a football field in the front yard! We are currently on a short trip to Chicago to do some sight seeing. We will update soon with more....

2007-06-29T21:31:00.001-04:00

We finally have the first picture of the new baby! Here he or she is to the left. The official due date is January 31st, 2008. That makes three birthdays of our kids that are within 10 days of each other!

Happy Birthday Dawn!

2007-06-29T12:20:00.001-04:00

Today is Dawn's 38th birthday! She gets more beautiful everyday. Happy birthday Dawn! We love you!

Official Bolt Blog Launch!

2007-06-29T10:51:00.001-04:00

Today is the official launch of the Bolt Family Blog. We are a family of seven. There is Dad- Rick, Mom-Dawn, Nicolas, Ellie, Jakey, Joey, and Sammy. We have great news! We will be adding a new Bolt to the mix on about January 31st. We are very excited about the birth of number six! Pictures will come soon........