Ethan Time

Top of the list of my favorite things we did on the way home was stopping by to see Bret, Laura and Ethan. Here are some great pictures of my favorite grandson born on August 26:

It was fun feeding him. I made the bib, by the way.

Ethan with two of his favorite "girls."

Happy Boy

So kissable

I LOVE making Ethan laugh.

I just wish I could see him more often. He is a delight!

NS

Kitchen Craziness

Late last fall we determined to do a small kitchen remodel-(counter tops, new sink and stove top). We were fortunate in that a lot of the work was able to be done while we were away so we didn't have to deal with it. Special thanks to our home teacher and his wife for being our representatives and supervisors to the granite crew.

I picked out the granite when I came home to watch Ty in March. Things were well underway by the time we got home late on Easter Sunday.

Let the craziness begin:

Too much water, not enough water, too much water again

The water had been turned off through out the home which was a good thing because when we went to turn it on when we got back late Sunday night there was a major leak in one of the water supply tubes. So the water got turned back off because of course, Home Depot is not open late on Sunday night. I had some water in gallon jugs for emergency purposes. This qualified as an emergency, so we used it. Michael got a new shut off valve on Monday and took care of that little situation and then.....the MAIN water supply shut off started really acting up-really leaking all over the place so, off goes the water again and out comes the emergency water again. A call to the plumber and by Tuesday afternoon we had a new main shut off valve!

Too much water again

Two days later I thought I heard a mouse and sent Michael to check it out. He stepped on a soggy rug downstairs. Yep, turns out that the fitting for ANOTHER water supply tube had worked itself loose. He tightened it, we dried out the carpet, all is well with the world.

The moral of the story:

When dealing with 30 year old plumbing check and double check every water supply tube when you turn everything back on. Also, ALWAYS have some emergency water in gallon jugs on hand.

Yes a stove, No a stove, Finally a stove

I had found a really great deal on a new cooktop. I bought it in November of last year knowing that it wouldn't be installed until later. So later finally came on Wednesday, April 26. When the gentlemen from the Heating and Cooling company went to hook it up they found that threads were stripped from the fitting that hooks it up to the gas line (not a good thing) AND that it had pipe dope on it which means that the stove I bought as new was really not new.

I was still willing to live with it, but unfortunately, no matter how they tried they couldn't safely hook it up without gas leaking. So, out comes the stove and I head back to the store to see what I could do. Fast forward to three weeks (and some more $$$) later and we finally have a new stove. In between Michael got tired of me complaining about the gaping hole in the counter top so he "made" me a stove out of cardboard. He even put the right amount of burners on it and controls too. It made me smile.

Now my kitchen isn't 99.9% done! I'm just tweaking some little things.

NS