| Tricia was doubly blessed. The first two guests to arrive at her birthday
party were two priests.
On the left is Father William Antillon, a Filipino who is the pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lena, Illinois, not far from Freeport. On the right is Father John Hanrahan, our parish priest at St. Mary's Catholic Church here in Polo. Father William graciously said our grace before eating. Also invited was Father Moises Apostol, a Filipino who is the pastor at the churches in Mt. Carroll and Savanna. Unfortunately, he was unable to attend. |
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| Some of our local Filipino friends. From left to right are Tony Alano, Rey Hofileña, Noel Oabel, and Richard Pacetes. Richard is Cookie's husband and both Noel and Richard are nurses. That brown bottle on the table is undoubtedly San Miguel beer. What else would you serve to Filipinos at a party? |  |
| Here are some of the girls at the party. From left to right are Aileen Oabel, Terry Obciana, Effie Alano and Menchu Pascua. All are nurses. |  |
| More of our friends are enjoying their food at our kitchen table. On the left is Vicky Pantuso, a Filipina who lives right here in Polo and attends our church. Next is Jennifer Hofileña who is also a nurse. On the right is Jennifer's mother-in-law. |  |
| Doctors Yollie and Chester dela Cruz are Filipinos who live in Sterling. Dr. Yo, as she is popularly known in KSB Hospital in Dixon, is an anesthesiologist. Dr. Chester is a well known Neurologist in CGH Hospital in Sterling. Both are from Davao City in the Philippines and used to live in a subdivision next to Nancy's family. They invited the group to their house a day after the birthday party where Dr. Yo served them with her famous rum cake. |  |
| Vera and Harold Hoffman. Very outgoing and friendly people. |  |
| Erica Stach, Richard and Cookie Pacetes. Erika and Cookie both work on the surgical floor at CGH Hospital in Sterling. Erica is an American but often joins the Filipino crowd. |  |
| Larry's grandson Devon was the life of the party and really took an interest in karaoke. He must have sang "Pretty Woman" a thousand times. |  |
| Typical of Filipino parties, we got around to singing karaoke soon after eating. Father William got things started and brought down the house by singing "Bikining Itim" a slightly risqué Filipino song which translates as "Black Bikini." Here, Cookie and Effie take their turn trying to impress the audience and the karaoke electronic scoring. |  |
| Larry on the karaoke. He always got the highest scores. Larry said it was because he had lots of practice singing while driving. However, everyone wanted a recount and protested . . . he, he, he. |  |
