Our “Dodge” Petit Grand Piano

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Well it only took 10 months to have our piano tuned for the first time.  I think that poor piano just had its first tuning in more than a decade.  We have begun the long process of getting it whipped back into shape.  Our tuner, who will be back up in six months, told us that our Howard piano was known as a Petit Grand.  That is due to its length of four feet.  He further described the Howard brand as the Dodge of pianos, meaning that it is not the Cadillac of Grand Pianos, but very utilitarian in nature.  He assured us it would eventually sounds beautiful again so we have begun the adventure of tuning and repairs that are expected in a 90 year old piano.  Needless to say we learned a lot last night about our piano and are excited to get it whipped back into shape.  We are currently half a step flat in the tuning, but our main purpose was to begin to stretch out the strings again.  This is actually a blessing because of how busy we are this year with school and learning how to be parents.

RVRCE Finals & Mylea’s Birthday

This weekend was the finals for the RVRCE.  Above are pics from the weekend, and below is a video of Rustyn laughing up in the timer shack during the rodeo. We also had Mylea’s birthday at our house on Sunday. We set up the Wii in the garage on a projector, and played ping pong outside. Later in the day we had a Dummy Roping in the middle of the street with our neighbors.

The days are getting shorter.. :(

Arizona State University

Northland Pioneer College

Well it’s that time of the year once again.  This week has been the beginning of the Fall semester for both of us.  Amanda started her second year of Nursing school at Northland Pioneer College.  I think she’s excited, and we are learning how to juggle Rustyn between work, Church callings, and studying.  I’m back at ASU for another semester.  Rustyn is growing so fast, and he will probably be the thing that keeps us going this semester.

A little Team Roping to relax

While Amanda is out of town I’ve been up to my neck in work for ZNET, my personal business, so my Mom thought it smart to invite me to rope this evening.  I can’t tell you how much I needed it.  I always forget how relaxing horses are, and when you’re roping well how relaxing that can be as well.  I promise I caught almost every singe steer, but was so enamored with the photos my mom took of me throwing my loop that I wanted to show them off.  Mylea even got to rope Noel.

Water Baseball with the Youth

So pretty much I got a new calling a month ago, and I’m starting to get a hold on what I’m doing.  Little did I know what a Young Men’s President did.  Our first combined activity was on us so we used an idea the Young Women had the month prior that got rained out and played water baseball.  We ate hotdogs, and had a great time.

A visit to Crown of Life

After the Diamondbacks game we enjoyed a nice evening with Clancey and Cynthia at Oreganos. The next morning we got up and packed everything for home. Our first stop was a run up to Sun City West to see a customer of mine, Crown of Life Lutheran Church. Sue was excited to meet Rustyn so it was a nice trip. I had the feeling we needed to go home through Payson, no joke, and we ended up getting a call from Kody. He was out of gas between Payson and Heber so we were able to stop at the Walmart, buy a gas can, and get him enough gas to get to Heber’s Circle K for a fill up.

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