| Time is
flying so fast this year. I don't know why, or how, but I haven't
had very much time to get anything done or keep up with letters so this
will be a catch up letter. |
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Over the kids
Christmas break, we took them to a place in Tucson called Get
Air. This is a place that has many different trampolines built
into the floor. The kids had a great time jumping around the
place and landing in the foam pits. We spent an evening there once. I think the kids and Terra have been there in the past, but this is the first time I joined them. They had a really good time. I was worn out after about 20 minutes, but they kept on going. |
| This
year was Landen's first pine wood derby. (It may also be his last
depending on what happens). He built the car. Well
almost. He planned the design and I cut out the basic shape and
then he did the sanding. |
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He did the sanding of the axles and I put them on the car for him. Then he was in charge of the painting of the car. He painted it blue with some stripes. |
| Here
he is putting some finishing touches on the axles. His car was
actually a truck. For the weight we put two AA batteries in the
bed with some hot glue. At the weight in the weight of the car
was 4.85 ounces. A couple of pennies and some more hot glue and he was right at the 5 oz limit. |
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At the church they had this little set-up to take some photos next to. Landen didn't really want to take any photos, but he was amicable. With Terra running the operation, I
took him around and got him checked. He did pretty good, he won
some and lost some. I think there were about 15 people
racing in the wolf den with him. |
| A
few weeks ago, I noticed the truck was handling funny when it went over
bumps in the road. The back end wanted to move to one side rather
than just move up and down. Upon further inspection I found one
of the rear leaf springs was broken. After acquiring a new set of
springs. I attempted to change it out. As it turns out the bolt
that holds the springs on in the front was installed from the center of
the vehicle out. This put the nut on the outside of the
frame. The only issue with this was that you had to drop the gas
tank for the driver side change out and remove the muffler for the
passenger side swap out. |
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If the bolt was
installed from the out side of the vehicle in there would have been
plenty of room. I debated cutting the bolt, but finding a similar
one for replacement was difficult. So I put it all back together,
procured some replacement bolts and then cut them off. The end product seemed to work pretty well. The only downside is that the back-up camera functionality has ceased operation after the installation. I suspect that using the sawzall to cut off the bolts did such a good job that I also cut the video cable going to the back-up camera. One of these days I need to run the cable down and replace the cut section. This is just one of those gifts that keeps on giving. |
| This past week I changed out the spark plugs and wires on the suburban and found this gem. It may be hard to tell, but is is a broken piece of a casting that used to be part of a screw hole. This particular piece was wired to the bracket that bolted on top of the valve covers that held the heater hoses. This contraption was placed such that it dangled and vibrated next to the spark plug wires and the heater hoses. The lovely installer of this gem seemed to be installing a time bomb that would render the vehicle useless somewhere out of town. I don't know why, but I seem to have all the luck when it comes to unique vehicle problems. |
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The day after
New Years day we received 3-4 inches of snow. I know this has
been reported prior, but I liked this picture. This is Caden
Barney, one of Ethen's friends that came over to play in the snow. |
| The kids made some snowmen that lasted a few days. Most of the snow had melted by the next day with the exception of the snow on the north side of the buildings in the shade. |
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Terra took this
picture when we were off do something, but now I have forgot
what. Ethen, Kyle and Rachel are all getting bigger and
bigger. Ethen is legally eligible for his permit this
Saturday. He still needs to learn 16 of the 20 songs before his
mother will allow him to apply for it. He keeps telling me that
there is no worries and he will make it, but I have my doubts. I
am eager to see how it works out. |
| At
Kyle's school he is the person that takes care of the flag. He
puts it out in the morning and takes it down in the evening after
school. He likes to be responsible for it, and really enjoys it. |
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Rachel has been
playing basket ball for the school. She actually has been playing
soccer and volley ball as well. Out of all our children she so
far has the biggest desire to play sports and all kinds of sports. She likes soccer the best thus far. |
| This
is Sam Wise. He is an older gentleman, that Janelle has taken a
liking to. Every Sunday she seeks him out to give him a hug and
in return he gives her some candy. I am not sure which one of
them likes it more. She refers to him as grandpa. She has several
grandpas in the ward. |
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