The Power of Suggestion

While at the family reunion last month, Sandy told Tami about how her washing machine quit on her. After we got home from the reunion, Tami did a few loads of wash, and then our dryer suddenly quit on us. (See previous post). We spent $75 to get a replacement dryer, and it quit two days later! Another $100 later and we've got another second-hand dryer - I hope it stays working!

The back side of the dead dryer

Shortly after the reunion, Julie wrote in her blog about how her minivan broke down coming home from the reunion. (see this post). Well it wasn't long after that that a nice sized buck with a full rack did this to my car...

Click to enlarge so you can see the bits of deer hide stuck in the busted headlight and the blood splattered up the windshield... Yummy!

Yes, the insurance totalled it, so we've spent a thousand bucks and got an old beater Kia to replace it.

I know that these things often come in threes, so Maryle, if you've got anything to announce, DON'T TELL US ABOUT IT!

Montana Day Trips - Sherwood Family Reunion

While we were in Montana, we took a couple day trips.

We were so close to Yellowstone, we decided it was worth the drive to take the kids to see Old Faithful and the other sites. It had been 8 years since we had been there.

The thermal pools were beautiful.

The bubbling paint pots (or bubbling mud pots as I used to call them) made the little kids laugh.

The geysers were definitely everyone's favorite attraction.

Spasm Geyser

Fountain Geyser

Of course, Old Faithful is always a big hit.

The rest of our group walked the loop around Old Faithful to see the other geysers and thermal pools while Don and I waited in the shade with Baby M.

On the way out of the park, we stopped to see the lower falls on the Yellowstone River.

The next day, we headed into Bozeman to visit the Museum of the Rockies at MSU. There was a fantastic dinosaur display and we saw hundreds of frogs.

There was also a really cool room for the kids with interactive displays about Yellowstone and other activities.

We wrapped up the day at Hyalite Reservoir. Some of the group went hiking to see the falls.

Great company, fantastic activities, wonderful location! Thanks Sandy and Kurt for putting together a great reunion!

Brackett Creek Inn - Sherwood Family Reunion

This year's Paul and Susan Sherwood Family Reunion was held in Montana. Kurt and Sandy found this great place outside Bozeman.

It felt like a mountain hideaway with all the amenities of home - minus the distractions of technology.

There was a creek to play in ...

trees to climb and swing in ...

and plenty of space for all kinds of other activities, like "Cornhole".

The owners live on the property in an adjacent house with their horses. Annette is a wonderful hostess and even saddled up one of the horses for the kids to ride.

Laundry Gremlins

We went to the Sherwood Family Reunion last week in Montana. Sandy, my sister-in-law, spent a good portion of our last day there doing laundry because her washing machine quit just prior to leaving for the reunion.

One week later ...

The laundry gremlins struck at our house - killing my dryer (or at least the motor).

Don came home at noon and investigated the possibilities of buying a new motor and fixing the dryer ($120 + shipping) or buying a new dryer (for $400 or less).

But wait, another solution presented itself. KSL Classifieds!! We could get that same brand name dryer slightly used and save a bundle!

$75 and 6 hours later, we had dismantled 2 dryers, reassembled one dryer in excellent working condition using all of the good parts from both dryers, and had a lot of fun in the process!

Who knew that the inside of a Kenmore dryer and a Whirlpool dryer are exactly the same!?!

Z enjoyed swapping parts.

He even found some time to play.

My Hero!