Grandpa Craig and Grandma Robyn invited us to have brunch with them last Sunday. We had a great time. It got really exciting for the boys when Santa flew in on his shiny white helicopter! You should have seen the beard on this guy, he must have been the real Santa! The un-marked aircraft was curious though…maybe he worked for the government! I took these pictures with my phone. They are a bit fuzzy, but still fun to see.
Does this actually count as a meal???
If ever you are asked “can you look at the dryer, it doesn’t seem to be getting hot”, run the other way screaming as loud as you can! I was asked that question just the other day, and remembering that we had purchased the washer/dryer set when we moved into our house 11 years ago, I thought to myself “wow, it’s about time”! Well, actually I though “Oh, @&!%”. So, Mo and I looked at a couple of of the “Black Friday” specials around town. Some of them seemed like great deals, most these new washer/dryer sets would feel more at home on the Starship Enterprise then in my laundry room. Before committing to the cost of a new dryer I thought I would take a look at the old one. I thought for sure it was the heating element because everything worked, except it would not get hot. I found some great resources online for troubleshooting, testing, and purchasing appliance parts. With printed schematics in hand I tackled the task. Long story short, I finally got the old heating element out (You have to take these *%^$ things apart in a particular order, the whole thing! Why can’t they put an access panel on the back?) tested it with my Ohm meter, and it was bad. A brand new heating element is $30 dollars online! What a deal! While I was at it I replaced the belt that turns the bin. So. for about $50, and a good cleaning, my dryer works like it was new! Makes those “Black Friday” deals look a bit scary…
We have some new hurlers in the family. Uncle Brian & Aunt Ann (Thank you so much!) sent the boys hurleys, sliotars, and a book about it all! Erik & Henry think it is so cool, and are now wondering why the Utes (University of Utah) don’t have a hurling team. For those of you not familiar with hurling, HERE is a link to explain it all. In a nutshell, it is an ancient Gaelic game that is like a mixture of soccer, field hockey, ice hockey, and boxing played at 100 m.p.h. with no pads! I included boxing because Uncle Terry taught me from when I was young that there are always two matches during a football (soccer) match, the actual football match & the boxing match that coincides with it!
Because of recent world economic happenings many of us have re-considered & adjusted our Christmas budgets and activities…
I like this guys approach (the house on the right)!!!
