What I've been up to...

Well, I'm the new primary pianist. Ryan was the previous pianist, but he was ready for something different. He hasn't gotten a calling yet, but he keeps busy watching Elayna and helping Katie with bathroom breaks. I really enjoy being the pianist. It is a great excuse to play the piano as many days as I can. The girls just play downstairs while I practice. Some of the songs are challenging, but thankfully, not too many. It is nice.

We got our front driveway fixed. I don't have pictures, but imagine a big hole beneath my driveway. Now imagine the cement in the driveway got broken in half because of the weight of the car. Also, the cement had dropped about 6 inches from it's original placement. The sidewalk had also broken. There was a 6 inch step where there shouldn't be, and the upper pad sounded hollow underneath. We were sure it was going to fall and break any day.

When we got the bid (last year) to get the driveway lifted (they pump cement into the hole under the cement, which causes it to rise to it's original spot), it was going to cost between $700 and $900, depending on how big the hole was. We knew the cost of cement had risen since then, but even with that, it only cost $562!

I know that we have had many blessings given to us by our Heavenly Father. Some are because we pay our tithing no matter what. We have been very blessed financially because of this. Ryan has a wonderful employer that appreciates the hard work he puts into his job. There was a large project that his department was working on, and because they completed it on time, they were given a substantial bonus. We used most of the bonus to pay towards our credit cards, but decided the driveway needed to be fixed.
We are constantly showered with blessings!

Amanda and I went to an Enrichment activity last Tuesday. Ryan was kind and generous enough to watch Katie, Elayna, Junior, and Abby. AND on a Tuesday, which is "his" night. He normally spends it with his cousin Derek in Provo, so Derek came to Santaquin that night. Well, as Amanda and I drove in, I noticed the front door was opening, and since the kids normally race to the door to see us, I figured it was them. I yelled "Boo!" as the door opened, only to see Derek kind of avoiding my eyes and going outside. Awkward!

My aunt Lynette let me come pick some of her plums. I got about 7 gallons worth. I steamed the plums and got about 3 gallons juice, that I will then make into plum syrup.

There has been idle speculation on the fact that I like dining tables. Indeed, I just bought my 4th dining table in 4 years. This post refers to the other tables.

This is the table I had until today:

It is a beautiful table. When it is clean. Which isn't as often as I'd like. Cleaning glass is just no fun. Plus the sun comes in from the windows to the side of it, magnifying the streaks that get left there each time I wipe it off. Plus, Katie and Elayna love to touch the underside, and see their hands from above. Ugh. Even more fingerprints to clean off. Also, because of the beautiful scrolls and leaves, there isn't much room for more than one chair on each side. It is also a little wobbly.

So I decided I wanted a table that was easy to clean, looked nice, and came with at least 4 matching chairs (the previous table had 3 matching, but only 2 functional). This is what I bought:


I actually got this table, 6 really nice chairs, 3 not so nice chairs, and 3 bar stools for $125. Not bad. Katie really likes using one of the bar stools to eat at the table.
The table top needed a little work. Mom let me borrow her sander, and a dark glaze. It isn't real wood, just a wood laminate. So I barely sanded it, then put 2-3 coats of glaze on it. Then I lightly sanded it and put a clear varnish on it. Repeat 4 times. But, I am happy with how it turned out:



We ate dinner at it tonight. The cleanup was so easy, it felt very stable, and we had more room. Very nice.