Practice Photo Shoot

Last weekend we were scheduled to have a family photo session with Christie Petersen (an old friend of Robby's mom who is a photographer). During the weeks and days leading up to the appointment, I had intended to go shopping to find coordinating clothes for all of us, but we didn't get to do any shopping till the day before. We had a four hour shopping trip Friday night and in the end I was just barely pulling together a complementary ensemble of outfits. When I woke Saturday morning I wasn't completely satisfied with what we had, so I made a last ditch effort by going to Kohl's. While there I called home to asked a question about a sweater in Little Robby's room, and Big Robby found a shirt that still had the tags in Little Robby's top drawer that was perfect for Little Robby. I had forgotten about it because I had bought it a month ago and he had not worn it yet.

I was so relieved to have the clothes chosen, and I figured everything would go wonderfully. That is until... Well, as we were doing the laundry and drying a few items for the photo shoot Robby checked the dryer mid cycle and chose to clean the lint tray. When he removed the lint tray a piece of paper fell in to the lint trap hole. At first we weren't going to worry about it, but then when he turned the dryer back on it made a really bad noise. We were a little concerned at this point because some of the wet items were clothing we had to have for our photos and the time was ticking away till we had to leave. Robby tried to pull the dryer out and take off the back to see what was making the noise, but only found the piece of paper and a small bead. We hoped that was the source of the noise and decided to close the dryer back up and try again.

This time the dryer made an awful noise that was much louder than before! Frustration arose, and we decided to try in desperation to find a neighbor who would let us borrow their dryer for 15 minutes. After four phone calls I was relieved to find someone home, so I rushed over to their house with our essential clothing.

Well with all of the delays we were about 15-20 minutes behind schedule when we drove off, and unfortunately when we talked to Christie on the phone she felt that if we came the sun would be too low in the horizon by the time we got there to get good photos.

So... since we were dressed up with no where to go, we decided to go and do our own photo shoot up at the university. These pictures are from our "practice photo shoot."











In the end we were glad things worked out this way because we learned a few strategies for the real shoot (like bring candy to keep Jenna happy!)

To see the rest of our pictures click here to go to our Media Library and see the photo album labeled "Portrait Practice."

The Dryer Fiasco

Okay, so here's the conclusion to our dryer story. When we got home after our "Practice Photo Shoot" Robby inspected the dryer further by removing more of the back panels and found that the blower wheel (AKA fan) had broken. The noise we had heard was the broken pieces getting thrown around in the back of the dryer.

After a little research Robby found that the price of a new blower wheel would be about $17. Relieved that it was cheap and appeared easy enough to replace he figured he could do it and save us the cost of a repairman. So, Monday I went and purchased the part, and Tuesday he embarked on fixing the dryer. Little did he know what a project he got himself into!

Tuesday morning I went shopping and when I got home this is what I found:

I never knew what the inside of the dryer looked like! Neither did Robby! Nor did he expect to find out!

When I arrived home he said he I had perfect timing because he need someone to hold the motor shaft inside the dryer while he unscrewed the blower wheel from the back. After several attempts to unscrew the blower wheel Robby began to get discouraged becasue he could not get a good grip, and wheel wouldn't budge. After all the frustration he had gone through taking the dryer apart to access the motor shaft, he began to think that we might have to pay a repairman after all!

At this point we took a break and I suggested that he do a little more research on the web while I picked Little Robby up from school. While I was gone he called me on the cell and asked if I thought he should spend $5 to see a web video of a guy doing the same repair on our brand of dryer. I said yes since I figured what's $5 more dollars even if we still have to call a repairman. Who knows it might reveal the secret.

And guess what, it did! What we didn't know was that there was a clip just inside the dryer that went over the part of the blower wheel attached to the motor shaft. The guy in the video simply pried it off with a screwdriver and then positioned two wrenches just so and unscrewed the blower wheel with a sharp twist!


What took Robby about four hours to do, would probably have only taken about 30 to 45 mintues had we had a clue as to what we were doing! Hey, you have to be impressed with Robby's perserverance through it all! At least he came out successful in the end! And we saved ourselves $70, right?

Our Little Climber

The other day while Robby and I were talking in our bedroom we could hear Jenna composing her own "music" on the piano, or so we thought... Well, when we heard other mysterious noises we decided to go check and here's what we found!

She was apparently entertaining herself with the little figurines we have sitting on the piano. I'm sure the next time I look away she will be sitting on the top of the piano because right after I took this picture she tried to stand on the keyboard!

Our September Grand Canyon Trip

At the beginning of September we had the pleasure of taking my parents to see the Grand Canyon for their first time. We had a lovely trip. Here are some of the highlights:

Jenna's ready to drive off.

While we were setting up camp for Robby and Little Robby (my parents, Jenna and I opted for the lodge room), Jenna and Little Robby romped around the campsite. Here they are "King and Queen of the Stump!"

Gazing at the canyon. We had two beautiful days to enjoy looking at this beautiful wonder.

Jenna enjoys being with Grandma.

Oooo Grandpa, your skin is so smooth when you shave!

Our little camper!

My mom and I are sitting together on the shuttle bus that takes you to the lookout points along Hermit Road.

My little koala girl.

Here we are sitting in front of the cool fireplace at Hermit's Rest.

My parents, Little Robby, and I hiked a short distance down Bright Angel Trail to see what it looked like below the rim.

Our little cutie is ready for the Sunday church service at the Grand Canyon. It was fun going to church with the branch at the Grand Canyon. The chapel of the building they attend in has a wall of floor to vaulted ceiling windows that looks out into a the woods surrounding the canyon. There were only about 15-20 people there, and they told us that if we got bored they wouldn't be offended if we gazed out the window at the beautiful scenery.

Here we all are with my parents standing at Mather point just before we left for home. We really had a great trip!