Time with B, L & Little E

We were so thankful that Bret, Laura and Ethan were able to visit this summer. It was wonderful to have some time with them.

There was hammock time

and cousin time.

There was definitely bath time!

My personal favorite-Nana time.

And of course there had to be some Papa time too!

There's a hymn called "Improve the Shining Moments" in our church hymnbook. The second verse is a great reminder. It goes: Time flies on wings of lightning; We cannot call it back. It comes, then passes forward along its onward track. And if we are not mindful, the chance will fade away, for life is quick in passing. 'Tis as a single day.

I'm very grateful that our Utah trio made time to have time with us during summer time. They are loved so much.

Remember to be mindful and take time.

NS

Of mail and lakes and walks and time spent with Ty

Michael and I had Ty while Carynn and Jamie were "Ma and Pa" for a youth conference trek. We had him from Sunday night to Friday afternoon. We had a wonderful time; and though he missed his mom and dad alot I think he had a wonderful time too. Here's some of the things we did.

1. We started a tradition! When his parents were away in March every morning Ty would look outside his room and there would be mail for him from his mom and dad. Well, every morning while they were away on the trek Ty would look outside his door and there would be mail in his basket. The mail consisted of a note with a goodie or toy from his mom and dad. So now that we've done it twice, it's officially a tradition. Ty LOVES mail. (Nana loves mail too!) The bubble gun was one of his "mail" items.

2. We went up to the cabin on Monday and had a wonderful time. Ty helped Papa fish. We also played with cars and had snacks, watched movies and played on the beach. Ty was wearing his rain boots when we first went down to the beach. He was able to walk in the water a little ways because he was wearing them. Oops, he walked out a little too deep for the boots and then the boots were wet inside AND outside. Boots and little boys can be dried off so they were. It was still a bit too cold to swim in the lake, but it sure was fun being there.

3. Ty loves helping Papa in the yard. We had a major plumbing disaster (major to us anyway), and we had excavating equipment in our side yard to help find the problem (broken sewer line from the house to the septic tank). After the plumbers, equipment operators, etc. got done with their part there was still lots of clean-up. Ty likes to use the small shovel, rake and what he calls a "cracker" (forked tool for weeding) to help. He used the "cracker" to "crack up" dried mud and as another digging tool. I was his assistant. Ty always likes to help, but he also says, "I need to take a little break." Papa needs to take little breaks too sometimes.

4. Ty and I sometimes take walks on the paths around our home. We've been doing this for a while now. We like discovering flowers and pine cones and rocks and other interesting things like that.

5. Ty has such a great imagination! We practice using his imagination when we play. He and I had a fun time doing that with toys and books during his time with us.

6. He's such a sweetie! Carynn and Jamie have his night time rituals down to a science. They are such faithful parents. He always has prayer and a story (or stories) each night. Sometimes he gets a little drink (a very little one) so as not to have "issues" in the middle of the night.

The following picture is my current favorite of Ty.



And a wonderful time was had by all! (Yes, I used "wonderful" alot in this post.)

NS

PS. Carynn and Jamie had a wonderful time too.

More Ty-isms

I should have titled this more Ty-ias. Because that's Ty's favorite suffix right now. I've heard these come out of his mouth.Try them on for size.

Obvious: Momia, Daddia, Papaia, Nanaia. Melinda is still Mina (sounds like meena)

Others: Bearia, giraffia, tigeria (these are all animals that live on his bed). Every now and then he'll come up with a new one.

Byia for nowia,

NS

Ethan is 9 months old!

August 26, 2010

Welcome to the World, Ethan Thomas!

May 26, 2011

You're getting to be such a big boy!

Ethan had his 9 month check-up on June 1. His parents report that it was a "happier" check-up since it was a "no shots" check-up. Here are his stats:

Weight-19.81 pounds

Height-28.5 inches

100% Precious

We were able to Skype with Ethan recently (his daddy and mommy helped). It was fun to interact with him. I love technology!

Skype: The next best thing to being there.

NS

Fireman Ty

Children grow and change so quickly. Ty is wearing his fireman (firefighter if you want to be PC) raincoat and hat that his Aunt Lynette sent to him. So cute!

But then, he is so cute!

NS

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