Blessings and Joys

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Scout Edition!

We are the happy new owners of a Scout! Talk about fun family time. This boat is awesome! About three and a half weeks ago, Jeff's dream to own a boat again came true! He came home with a beautiful 2001 Scout. We all thought it was so cool. It has plenty of room, a cabin, lots of storage and even a swim platform! Our first glimpse of it was in the dark!

The next day, we got to root around in the cabin, which was full of very cool stuff. Expired flares, sunglasses, life jackets, cleaning supplies, all sorts of goodies.

Jeff has been working nonstop on the boat. For starters, the engine didn't run. (What???) That's right! So, he set to work on figuring it out. Turns out, lots of things were done wrong, but Jeff got it to running! This video he sent was music to our ears.

Once he got that running, we had our maiden voyage shakedown at a nearby lake on November 17. All went well and he discovered a few more things that needed work. But the boat purred along great and it was a fun outing. The kids got to get in the chilly water too.

Jeff has been working and working on the Scout and yesterday we took it for another trip to the lake! The trim tabs worked great this time! He discovered that the jack plate didn't work correctly, but a quick trip to the auto store and it's working great now! Time for another trip to the lake!!!

We didn't catch any fish, but we did see an overturned crane on a bridge. That was neat. We also saw a huge turtle that I think was trying to eat the animal crackers Rachel was putting in the water and we also saw a huge alligator that was in the cove we were fishing at. Rachel is glad Dad didn't let her get on the bank!

Until next time!

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Zane's Big 8th Birthday!

Wow, Zane turned 8 on the 29th of June! He's so cute. Just the other day he said, wow, I've been around for over 8 years. I guess he's still getting used to it too!

I've been enjoying a bouquet of zinnias every week!

My first hibiscus. The plant is still very small from freezing back.

I made a dress for Rachel which I think is beautiful. It fits her beautifully and she had fun twirling in it. Other than this time, she doesn't want to wear it. But I declare she looks beautiful in it.

Zane and Rachel got into a new mystery series...A-Z mysteries. They love them. The author has also written several other mysteries which they also love. Calendar Mysteries and Capital Mysteries.

Our fridge broke so Jeff salvaged the drawers and added on to the kids work benches.

Reading, reading, reading

Reading, reading, lots and lots of reading

We painted rocks and had such a fun time!

My gift to Rachel! She loves unicorns.

And now for Zane's birthday!!!

I was putting up streamers right and left and Jeff said that these look like carrots! HAHA! They sure do!

Birthday breakfast donuts!

Sometimes he joins me with breakfast unsweet tea!

Measuring the birthday boy!

He grew 3 1/4 inches last year!

It was such a fun time with the birthday boy! Opening all the presents and he exclaimed about each one! He loved them all!

Screwdrivers from his sister!

Clamps for all his projects!

A woodworking book! Lots of ideas for projects.

Grandma D came by and dropped by his gift! We can't wait until we can stay together and party!

Wood projects to do!

An awesome socket set!

Woohoo! Big enough for a saw!

My second rock. hee hee

Us girls had to move the little table in with Zane and his gifts and do something girly. There were so many tools. We had to craft. :) :) :)

Trying on his gifts!

This was funny. Jeff asked online in our neighborhood if anyone had any junk motors that his son could take apart. He got a reply and they got to have a free birthday project taking apart a power washer.